title: Viol

text: There were then several important treatises concerning or devoted to the viol. The first was by Silvestro Ganassi dal Fontego: "Regola Rubertina & Lettione Seconda" (1542/3). Diego Ortiz published "Trattado de Glosas" (Rome, 1553), an important book of music for the viol with both examples of ornamentation and pieces called "Recercadas". In England, Christopher Simpson wrote the most important treatise, with the second edition being published in 1667 in parallel text (English and Latin). This has divisions at the back that are very worthwhile repertoire. A little later, in England, Thomas Mace wrote "Musick's Monument", which deals more with the lute but has an important section on the viol. After this, the French treatises by Machy (1685), Rousseau (1687), Danoville (1687), and Etienne Loulie (1700) show further developments in playing technique.


title: Viol

text: Viols were second in popularity only to the lute (although this is disputed), and like lutes, were very often played by amateurs. Affluent homes might have a so-called "chest of viols", which would contain one or more instruments of each size. Gamba ensembles, called "consorts", were common in the 16th and 17th centuries, when they performed vocal music (consort songs or verse anthems) as well as that written specifically for instruments. Only the treble, tenor, and bass sizes were regular members of the viol consort, which consisted of three, four, five, or six instruments. Music for consorts was very popular in England in Elizabethan times, with composers such as William Byrd and John Dowland, and, during the reign of King Charles I, John Jenkins, William Lawes and Tobias Hume. The last music for viol consorts before their modern revival was probably written in the early 1680s by Henry Purcell.


title: Viol

text: Perhaps even more common than the pure consort of viols was the mixed or broken consort (also called Morley consort). Broken consorts combined a mixture of different instruments—a small band, essentially—usually comprising a gathering of social amateurs and typically including such instruments as a bass viol, a lute or orpharion (a wire-strung lute, metal-fretted, flat-backed, and festoon-shaped), a cittern, a treble viol (or violin, as time progressed), sometimes an early keyboard instrument (virginal, spinet, or harpsichord), and whatever other instruments or players (or singers) might be available at the moment. The single most common and ubiquitous pairing of all was always and everywhere the lute and bass viol: for centuries, the inseparable duo.


title: Viol

text: The bass viola da gamba remained in use into the 18th century as a solo instrument (and to complement the harpsichord in basso continuo). It was a favorite instrument of Louis XIV and acquired associations of both courtliness and "Frenchness" (in contrast to the Italianate violin). Composers such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier, François Couperin, Marin Marais, Sainte Colombe, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Schenck, DuBuisson, Antoine Forqueray, Charles Dollé and Carl Friedrich Abel wrote virtuoso music for it. Georg Philipp Telemann published his "Twelve Fantasias for Viola da Gamba solo" in 1735, when the instrument was already becoming out of fashion. However, viols fell out of use as concert halls grew larger and the louder and more penetrating tone of the violin family became more popular. In the 20th century, the viola da gamba and its repertoire were revived by early music enthusiasts, an early proponent being Arnold Dolmetsch.


title: Viol

text: The treble viol in d and the even smaller pardessus de viole in g (often with only five strings) were also popular instruments in the 18th century, especially in France. Composers like Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Georg Phillipp Telemann and Marin Marais wrote solo- and ensemble pieces for treble or pardessus. It was also common to play music for violins or flutes or unspecified top parts on small viols.


title: Viol

text: Historic viols survive in relatively great number, though very few remain in original condition. They can often be found in collections of historic musical instruments at museums and universities. Here are some of the extant historic viols at The Metropolitan Museum of Art:


title: Viol

text: In the 20th and early 21st century, the viol is attracting ever more interest, particularly among amateur players and early music enthusiasts and societies, and in conservatories and music schools. This may be due to the increased availability of reasonably priced instruments from companies using more automated production techniques, coupled with the greater accessibility of early music editions and historic treatises. The viol is also regarded as a suitable instrument for adult learners; Percy Scholes wrote that the viol repertoire "belongs to an age that demanded musicianship more often than virtuosity." There are now many societies for people with an interest in the viol. The first was the Viola da Gamba Society (Great Britain), which was established in the United Kingdom in 1948 and has a worldwide membership. The Viola da Gamba Society of America followed in 1962, and with over 1000 members in North America and around the world remains the largest organization dedicated to the instrument. Since then, similar societies have been organized in several other nations. In the 1970s, the now-defunct Guitar and Lute Workshop in Honolulu, Hawaii generated resurgent interest in the viol and traditional luthierie methods within the western United States.


title: Viol

text: A notable youth viol group is the Gateshead Viol Ensemble. It consists of young players between the ages of 7 and 18 and is quite well known in the northeast of England. It gives young people the opportunity to learn the viol and gives concerts in the North East and abroad. Ensembles like these show that the viol is making a comeback. A living museum of historical musical instruments was created at the University of Vienna as a center for the revival of the instrument. More than 100 instruments, including approximately 50 historical viola da gambas in playable condition, are the property of this new concept of a museum: the Orpheon Foundation Museum of Historical Instruments. All the instruments of this museum are played by the Orpheon Baroque Orchestra, the Orpheon consort, or by musicians who receive an instrument for a permanent loan. The instruments can be seen during temporary exhibitions. They are studied and copied by violin makers, contributing to the extension of the general knowledge we have on the viola da gamba, its forms, and the different techniques used for its manufacture.


title: Viol

text: The 1991 feature film "Tous les matins du monde" (All the Mornings of the World) by Alain Corneau, based on the lives of Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe and Marin Marais, prominently featured these composers' music for the viola da gamba and brought viol music to new audiences. The film's bestselling soundtrack features performances by Jordi Savall, one of the best-known modern viola da gamba players. Among the foremost modern players of the viol are Alison Crum, Vittorio Ghielmi, Susanne Heinrich, Wieland Kuijken, Paolo Pandolfo, Andrea de Carlo, Hille Perl and Jonathan Dunford. Many fine modern viol consorts (ensembles) are also recording and performing, among them the groups Fretwork, the Rose Consort of Viols, Les Voix Humaines, and Phantasm. The Baltimore Consort specializes in Renaissance song (mostly English) with broken consort (including viols).


title: Viol

text: A number of contemporary composers have written for viol, and a number of soloists and ensembles have commissioned new music for viol. Fretwork has been most active in this regard, commissioning George Benjamin, Michael Nyman, Elvis Costello, Sir John Tavener, Orlando Gough, John Woolrich, Tan Dun, Alexander Goehr, Fabrice Fitch, Andrew Keeling, Thea Musgrave, Sally Beamish, Peter Sculthorpe, Gavin Bryars, Barrington Pheloung, Simon Bainbridge, Duncan Druce, Poul Ruders, Ivan Moody, and Barry Guy; many of these compositions may be heard on their 1997 CD "Sit Fast". The Yukimi Kambe Viol Consort has commissioned and recorded many works by David Loeb, and the New York Consort of Viols has commissioned Bülent Arel, David Loeb, Daniel Pinkham, Tison Street, Frank Russo, Seymour Barab, William Presser, and Will Ayton, many of these compositions appearing on their 1993 CD "Illicita Cosa".


title: Viol

text: The Viola da Gamba Society of America has also been a potent force fostering new compositions for the viol. Among the music publications of the Society is its New Music for Viols (NMV) a series devoted to newly written pieces. More critically, the Society sponsors the Leo M. Traynor Competition for new music for viols. The competition was first held in 1989 and has taken place every four to five years since. The competition is specifically for consort music for three to six viol that, like the repertoire of the Renaissance, is accessible to accomplished amateurs.


title: Viol

text: The Palazzo Strozzi in Florence commissioned composer Bruce Adolphe to create a work based on Bronzino poems, and the piece, "Of Art and Onions: Homage to Bronzino", features a prominent viola da gamba part. Jay Elfenbein has also written works for the Yukimi Kambe Viol Consort, Les Voix Humaines, and Elliot Z. Levine, among others. Other composers for viols include Moondog, Kevin Volans, Roy Whelden, Toyohiko Satoh, Roman Turovsky, Giorgio Pacchioni, Michael Starke, Emily Doolittle, and Jan Goorissen. Composer Henry Vega has written pieces for the Viol: "Ssolo," developed at the Institute for Sonology and performed by Karin Preslmayr, as well as for Netherlands-based ensemble The Roentgen Connection in 2011 with "Slow slower" for recorder, viola da gamba, harpsichord and computer. The Aston Magna Music Festival has recently commissioned works including viol from composers Nico Muhly and Alex Burtzos. The Italian contemporary composer Carlotta Ferrari has written two pieces for viol: "Le ombre segrete" in 2015, and "Profondissimi affetti" in 2016, this latter being based on RPS modal harmony system.


title: Viol

text: Since the early 1980s, numerous instrument makers, including Eric Jensen, Francois Danger, Jan Goorissen, and Jonathan Wilson, have experimented with the design and construction of electric viols. Like other acoustic instruments to which pickups or microphones have been added, electric viols are plugged into an instrument amplifier or a PA system, which makes them sound louder. As well, given that amplifiers and PA systems are electronic components, this gives the performer the ability to change the tone and sound of the instrument by adding effects units such as reverb or changing the tone with a graphic equalizer. An equalizer can be used to shape the sound of an electric viol to suit a performance space, or to create unusual new sounds. Electric viols range from Danger's minimally electrified acoustic/electric Altra line to Eric Jensen's solid-body brace-mounted design. They have met with varying degrees of ergonomic and musical success. In the early 21st century, the Ruby Gamba, a seven-string electric viola da gamba, was developed by Ruby Instruments of Arnhem, the Netherlands. It has 21 tied nylon (adjustable) frets in keeping with the adjustable (tied gut) frets on traditional viols and has an effective playing range of more than six octaves. Electric viols have been adopted by such contemporary gambists as Paolo Pandolfo, Tina Chancey, and Tony Overwater.


title: Viol

text: The viola da gamba is occasionally confused with the viola, the alto member of the modern violin family and a standard member of both the symphony orchestra and string quartet. In the 15th century, the Italian word ""viola"" was a generic term used to refer to any bowed instrument, or fiddle. It is important to note that the word ""viola"" existed in Italy before the vihuela, or first viol, was brought from Spain. In Italy, ""viola"" was first applied to "a braccio" precursor to the modern violin, as described by Tinctoris ("De inventione et usu musice", c. 1481–3), and then was later used to describe the first Italian viols as well. Depending on the context, the unmodified "viola da braccio" most regularly denoted either an instrument from the violin family, or specifically the viola (whose specific name was ""alto de viola da braccio""). When Monteverdi called simply for ""viole da braccio"" in "Orfeo", the composer was requesting violas as well as treble and bass instruments. The full name of the viola, namely ""alto de viola da braccio"", was finally shortened to ""viola"" in some languages (e.g. English, Italian, Spanish) once viols became less common, while other languages picked some other part of the phrase to designate the instrument, e.g. "alto" in French and "Bratsche" in German (the latter derived from the Italian "braccio").


title: Viol

text: Some other instruments have "viola" in their name, but are not a member of the "viola da gamba" family. These include the viola d'amore and the viola pomposa. Though the baryton does not have "viola" in its name, it is sometimes included in the viol family. Whether it is considered a member of this family is a matter of semantics. It is organologically closely related to the viola da gamba proper, but if we think of the family as the group of differently sized instruments that play together in consorts, the baryton would not be among this group. The names "viola" (Italy) and "vihuela" (Spain) were essentially synonymous and interchangeable. According to viol historian Ian Woodfield, there is little evidence that the "vihuela de arco" was introduced to Italy before the 1490s. The term ""viola"" was never used exclusively for viols in the 15th or 16th centuries. In 16th century Italy, both ""violas","—the early viols and violins—developed somewhat simultaneously. While violins, such as those of Amati, achieved their classic form before the first half of the century, the viol's form standardized later in the century at the hands of instrument makers in England.


title: Viol

text: Viola da gamba, "viola cum arculo", and "vihuela de arco" are some (true) alternative names for viols. Both "vihuela" and "viola" were originally used in a fairly generic way, having included even early violins ("viola da braccio") under their umbrella. It is common enough (and justifiable) today for modern players of the viola da gamba to call their instruments "violas" and likewise to call themselves "violists". That the "alto violin" eventually became known simply as the "viola" is not without historical context, yet the ambiguity of the name tends to cause some confusion. The violin, or "violino", was originally the soprano "viola da braccio", or "violino da braccio". Due to the popularity of the soprano violin, the entire consort eventually took on the name "violin family". Some other names for viols include "viole" or "violle" (French). In Elizabethan English, the word "gambo" (for gamba) appears in many permutations; e.g., "viola de gambo", "gambo violl", "viol de gambo", or "viole de gambo", used by such notables as Tobias Hume, John Dowland, and William Shakespeare in "Twelfth Night". Viol da Gamba and Gamba also appear as string family stops on the pipe organ. These stops are sounds created by organ pipes made to imitate the sound of the viol da gamba.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: The 2019 Crown Jewel was the second Crown Jewel professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on October 31, 2019, at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was the fourth event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030. A Crown Jewel event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the event returned in 2021.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, SmackDown's "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeated Raw's Seth Rollins in a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason to win the Universal Championship, which subsequently transferred the title to SmackDown. In other prominent matches, Brock Lesnar defeated Cain Velasquez by submission to retain SmackDown's WWE Championship in the opening bout, professional boxer Tyson Fury defeated Braun Strowman by countout, and Natalya defeated Lacey Evans by submission in what was the first professional wrestling women's match to take place in Saudi Arabia.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: The event was met with mixed to positive reception from critics; although the tag team turmoil match, Raw's United States Championship match, the 5-on-5 tag team match, and in particular the singles match between Mansoor and Cesaro were largely praised, Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Fury vs. Strowman were near-universally panned, with the Universal Championship match receiving a polarized reception. The women's match received polarized reactions for its booking and significance, while being considered average in quality.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: In early 2018, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. The 2018 Crown Jewel was the second pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event held under this partnership. On September 27, 2019, WWE's Arabic website announced that a second Crown Jewel event would be held at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on October 31, and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands. The 2019 Crown Jewel was in turn the fourth event under the Saudi Arabian partnership and established Crown Jewel as a recurring Saudi Arabian event in Riyadh. WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker were announced to be making appearances at the event; however, it was later revealed that The Undertaker would not be appearing, but was seen representing WWE in the Riyadh Season Grand Parade Opening.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: The show comprised nine matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, "Monday Night Raw" and "Friday Night SmackDown".


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: On the September 30 episode of "Raw", Hulk Hogan and fellow WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair were guests on "Miz TV" where Hogan and Flair teased a match against each other. The Miz then announced that at Crown Jewel, there would be a 5-on-5 tag team match between Team Hogan and Team Flair, with Hogan and Flair as the respective coaches. Universal Champion Seth Rollins and Randy Orton were selected as the captains of Team Hogan and Team Flair, respectively. Later that night, Rusev joined Team Hogan while King Corbin joined Team Flair. On the October 14 episode of "Raw," Ricochet was added to Team Hogan, while Bobby Lashley and Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura were added to Team Flair. That same episode, Rollins was scheduled to defend the Universal Championship at the event and was subsequently removed from the tag team match. On the following "SmackDown," Hogan revealed that Ali and Shorty G (shortened from Shorty Gable) were added to his team. Later, Roman Reigns was announced as Rollins' replacement as Team Hogan's captain. Drew McIntyre was revealed as the final member of Team Flair on the following "Raw".


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: On the September 30 episode of "Raw," Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman interrupted an in-ring promo by Rey Mysterio. Lesnar proceeded to brutally attack Mysterio as well as Mysterio's son, Dominik, who was seated in the front row. After Lesnar won the WWE Championship during "SmackDown's 20th Anniversary" that Friday, Mysterio appeared along with former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial artist Cain Velasquez, making his WWE debut. Velasquez, who had defeated Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Championship by technical knockout at "UFC 121" in October 2010, entered the ring and attacked Lesnar, who managed to escape and retreated. In a backstage interview, Velasquez stated he came to exact revenge from Lesnar for what he did to Mysterio and Dominik, who was later revealed to be Velasquez's godson. At the Crown Jewel press conference in Las Vegas on October 11, it was announced that Lesnar would defend the WWE Championship against Velasquez at Crown Jewel.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Amid Braun Strowman's match during "SmackDown's 20th Anniversary" on October 4, Strowman taunted professional boxer Tyson Fury, who was seated in the front row. Later during that match, Strowman brutally slung Dolph Ziggler into the barricade, which knocked Fury back into his seat. Following the match, Fury jumped the barricade only to be restrained by security. On the following "Raw," Fury appeared, wanting an apology from Strowman. After exchanging verbal insults, a massive brawl broke out between the two that had to be separated by security and other wrestlers. At the Crown Jewel press conference in Las Vegas on October 11, it was announced that Strowman would face Fury at Crown Jewel.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: At Hell in a Cell, the Universal Championship Hell in a Cell match between defending champion Seth Rollins and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt ended by referee stoppage, thus Rollins retained. The Fiend, thought to be injured, proceeded to further attack Rollins after the match. On the October 11 episode of "SmackDown" (the first night of the 2019 WWE Draft), a match between Rollins (representing Raw) and Roman Reigns (representing SmackDown) was scheduled to determine which brand would earn the first draft pick of the night. Rollins won by disqualification due to The Fiend's interference, earning Raw the first draft pick; The Fiend was later drafted to SmackDown. Although Rollins was drafted to Raw on the second night of the draft, a championship rematch between Rollins and The Fiend was scheduled for Crown Jewel as a Falls Count Anywhere match. That same night, Wyatt as his normal self hosted a segment of "Firefly Fun House," only for Rollins to interrupt Wyatt inside the Fun House. Rollins attacked Wyatt, and set the Fun House ablaze. On the following "SmackDown", a further stipulation was added in that the referee could not stop the match for any reason.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: At Super ShowDown, NXT's Mansoor, a Saudi native, won WWE's largest standard battle royal. On October 14, a match between Mansoor and Cesaro was announced for Crown Jewel.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: On the October 14 episode of "Raw," the largest tag team turmoil match in WWE history was scheduled for Crown Jewel, with the winners receiving the WWE Tag Team World Cup and being called "the best tag team in the world". Nine teams were announced for the match: The New Day (represented by Big E and Kofi Kingston; Xavier Woods was injured prior to the event), Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik, and/or Kalisto), Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, The O.C. (represented by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson; AJ Styles was scheduled for another match), Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, The B-Team (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas), SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder), and Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar).


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: On October 23 on "WWE The Bump", a 20-man battle royal was scheduled for the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show, with the winner receiving a title match against United States Champion AJ Styles later that night.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Due to the limited rights women have in Saudi Arabia, all WWE female wrestlers had been banned from wrestling in WWE events in the country. However, during the Crown Jewel media press conference on October 30, it was announced that a match between Natalya and Lacey Evans had been approved for Crown Jewel, marking the first-ever women's match in Saudi Arabia. In respecting the country's culture, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said that both would be wearing full body suits instead of their normal ring attire, although Natalya's normal ring attire is mostly a bodysuit. Both women also wore shirts from the souvenir shops normally sold at the venue and from the WWE store featuring their branding.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: During the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show, the 20-man over the top rope battle royal was contested to determine AJ Styles' challenger for the United States Championship. Midway through the match, after both R-Truth and Sunil Singh had been eliminated, Truth pinned Sunil with a roll up on the entrance ramp to win the 24/7 Championship. At the end of the battle royal, Humberto Carrillo eliminated Erick Rowan to win the match and earn a United States Championship match later in the night. This match would also serve as Luke Harper's last match in WWE before his release in 2019 and untimely passing in 2020.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: The actual pay-per-view opened with Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defending the WWE Championship against Cain Velasquez (accompanied by Rey Mysterio). Lesnar forced Velasquez to submit to the "Kimura Lock" to retain the title. After the match, Lesnar applied the Kimura Lock until Mysterio struck Lesnar with a chair. Lesnar threw Mysterio out of the ring and struck Velasquez with the chair. Lesnar performed an "F-5" on Velasquez onto the chair. Mysterio struck Lesnar with a chair, forcing Lesnar to retreat.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Next was the tag team turmoil match for the Best in the World WWE Tag Team World Cup. The teams of Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode and Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, accompanied by Kalisto) started the match. Roode performed a "Glorious DDT" on Dorado to eliminate Lucha House Party. The next team to enter was Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, who were eliminated quickly by Ziggler and Roode following a "Spinebuster/Zig-Zag" combination on Ryder. Next was Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker). Otis and Tucker performed a "Compactor" on Ziggler to eliminate him and Roode. The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) then entered and eliminated Heavy Machinery after the “Midnight Hour" on Tucker. The seventh team to enter were SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder), who attacked The New Day after being eliminated by them. The penultimate team to enter was The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson), who eliminated The New Day after performing the "Magic Killer" on Kingston. The final team to enter were Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar). Gallows and Anderson performed "Magic Killer" on Erik to win the match and the Tag Team World Cup trophy.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: After that, Mansoor faced Cesaro. After a back and forth match, Mansoor performed a "Moonsault" on Cesaro to win. Following the match, Mansoor delivered an emotional heartfelt speech to his home country.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: In a backstage segment, Samir Singh pinned R-Truth to win the 24/7 Championship after Truth ran into a door.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: In the fourth match, Braun Strowman faced Tyson Fury. In the closing moments, As Strowman returned in the ring, Fury attacked Strowman, who was on the turnbuckle, with a knockout punch, who was counted out. Thus, Fury won the match. Afterwards, an irate Strowman performed a "Running Powerslam" on Fury.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Next, AJ Styles (accompanied by his O.C. stablemates Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) defended the United States Championship against battle royal winner Humberto Carrillo. Styles performed a "Phenomenal Forearm" on Carillo to retain the title.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: After that, Natalya faced Lacey Evans in the first-ever women's match in Saudi Arabia. Natalya forced Evans to submit to the "Sharpshooter” to win. Following the match, Natalya and Evans shared an emotional embrace in the ring, and then embraced several audience members before departing backstage.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: The penultimate match was the 5-on-5 tag team match between Team Hogan (Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ricochet, Ali, and Shorty G; accompanied by Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart) and Team Flair (Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, King Corbin, Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, and Drew McIntyre; accompanied by Ric Flair). In the end, Reigns performed a "Spear" on Orton to win the match for Team Hogan.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: In the main event, Seth Rollins defended the Universal Championship against "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason. Before the match, Michael Cole explained that if The Fiend won, the title would be taken with him to the SmackDown brand. During the match, as The Fiend attempted a Running Senton through an announce table, Rollins avoided The Fiend, causing The Fiend to break an announce table. The Fiend pushed Rollins, who fell through tables that were stacked on the floor. On a platform, The Fiend performed “Sister Abigail” on Rollins for a two count. On the entrance ramp, Rollins executed several "Curb Stomps" on The Fiend. Rollins performed a superkick on The Fiend, who fell onto electrical equipment; this caused the equipment to briefly catch fire. A spark incapacitated Rollins and The Fiend then appeared behind Rollins. The Fiend performed the “Sister Abigail" on Rollins to win the title. Following the match,


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: The event received mixed to positive reviews. While the event as a whole was praised as a step-up from their previous shows in Saudi Arabia, Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Fury vs. Strowman were generally panned. The Universal Championship match polarized reviewers, while approving of the decision to have Wyatt win, they also unanimously lamented that the title change didn't take place at Hell in a Cell earlier the same month. The "Daily Express" noted that fan reaction to Fury vs. Strowman was notably negative.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Adam Silverstein and Jack Crosby of "CBS Sports" gave a mixed review, giving particular praise to Mansoor vs. Cesaro and stating "While it is obvious WWE is pushing and putting over Mansoor due to the Saudi Arabia relationship, you cannot take away his effort. Mansoor looked like a real-deal future superstar for WWE, and Cesaro did a tremendous job calling the entire match and putting the youngster over." They gave a C rating to both Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Fury vs. Strowman, stating that the first was "failing to let Velasquez get somewhat over was confusing" and that Fury vs. Strowman "was never going to be a good match, but Fury did well enough."


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: "Heavy.com" called the event "A mixed bag. On one hand, you had quality bouts such as Mansoor vs. Cesaro, Team Hogan vs. Team Flair, the tag team gauntlet contest and AJ Styles vs. Humberto Carrillo. But then you have to consider the other half of this show, which was filled with terrible matches that garnered the most hype going into them." John Powell of "Canoe.com" gave a positive review of the event, rating it 8 out of 10. Most praise went to the tag team turmoil match, Mansoor vs. Cesaro and Styles vs. Carrillo, all of which he gave a score of 8 out of 10, but gave bad ratings to both Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Fury vs. Strowman, calling them "[matches] that nobody except the WWE cared about".


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Jason Powell of "Pro Wrestling Dot Net" stated that while 2019's Crown Jewel was the best WWE PPV held in Saudi Arabia so far, "unfortunately, that's not saying much". Velasquez and Fury being new to professional wrestling made their matches "more interesting" than previous WWE matches in Saudi Arabia, however they "just didn't click going into the show". Fury-Strowman was "weak and forgettable", while WWE played it "safe" with Velasquez. For the tag team turmoil match, Powell liked The O.C. win and the segment involving The Revival and The New Day, but felt that the rest of the match was "pretty random", with the victory seemingly due to "luck of the draw than a major achievement". Powell approved of The Fiend becoming champion, but disliked everything else about the main event, describing it as "horror movie campiness" which was "getting worse the more its repeated".


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Tim Fiorvanti, Matt Wilansky and Marc Raimondi for ESPN wrote that The Fiend becoming champion overshadowed the "unsustainability" of his invincible character, Rollins being left "in no-man's land in terms of crowd reaction and momentum", and the main event having poor lighting and being too long. The 10-man match was "must-see" due to their team leaders Hogan and Flair, and was ultimately about "elevating Reigns, who has not had a significant storyline for months". Fury "didn't look terrible" in his match, but Strowman failed to gain a "mainstream rub" and "didn't come across as a monster" at all. Styles-Carrillo was "entertaining", but the live audience was not interested.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Dave Meltzer of the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter" rated the matches of the event. Cesaro-Mansoor and Team Hogan-Team Flair were the highest rated at 3.75 stars. The next highest was the US title match at 2.75 stars. The Universal title match was rated 2 stars. The lowest rated matches were Fury-Strowman at 0 stars, and Lesnar-Velasquez at -1 stars.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: The women's match between Natalya and Lacey Evans was considered average in quality; although it was largely celebrated by WWE as groundbreaking, media outlets had polarized reactions.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Dave Meltzer wrote that although WWE claimed that "the match was a major cultural breakthrough" in Saudi Arabia, it was really "not a Sputnik Monroe situation which changed local culture". This was because "many women performers have [already] been invited to Saudi Arabia", with the city of Riyadh's current promotion of sports and entertainment. Regarding the match, Meltzer rated it 2 stars and wrote that it was "very basic, by design", to avoid "anything that would be taken wrongly" - explaining why Evans did not play her usual character with "sexy" traits. With "no heel or face or heat, and both not having noticeable ring costumes, it came across more like two women in a gym going through wrestling practice sequences".


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: "Heavy.com" reacted very positively. While considering the match itself only "a halfway-decent match here that was a mild step above your usual house show bout", he added that "This bout was clearly put in place to break barriers and further WWE's 'Women’s Evolution' for the proud ladies in attendance and watching all over the world. And for that, I have to give it the utmost props". "Canoe.com" claimed that "nobody seemed to care about who won or lost. Not Evans, Natalya or the fans. The historic match was about and meant so much more."


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Conversely, "Newsweek" called the match part of "Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's [intent on] luring major sports event [...] to position the ultra-conservative Islamic country as more liberal and diversify its economy away from depending on the oil industry as part of its Saudi Vision 2030 plan", with Saudi Arabian Amnesty International researcher Dana Ahmed calling the match "a prime example how the Saudi Arabian authorities are using elite sports to try to 'sportswash' their dire human rights record and image internationally".


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: "CBS Sports" criticized Michael Cole's commentary for "trying to put over the progressiveness of Saudi Arabia" during the match.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: After Crown Jewel ended, it was reported that a flight back to the United States, carrying almost 200 of WWE's wrestlers and other employees, had experienced a major delay on the tarmac. WWE attributed the delay to "aircraft problems including mechanical issues", while the plane's owner, Atlas Air, stated that repairs would be made.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: However, as reported in "The Hindustan Times", former WWE commentator Hugo Savinovich stated he was told a different explanation for the delay by a WWE executive as well as a source in Saudi Arabia. Savinovich claimed that because Saudi Arabia had failed to pay WWE millions of dollars for previous shows, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had stopped the television feed for Crown Jewel from being broadcast in Saudi Arabia, leading to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman retaliating by stopping WWE's chartered plane from leaving.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer reported that WWE had not been paid for their shows in Saudi Arabia by September 30, 2019 while WWE was paid $60 million in around two hours before Crown Jewel. According to Meltzer, 20 WWE employees (including 12 wrestlers) managed to leave Saudi Arabia on private jets without delay; this group included Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Tyson Fury. Meltzer quoted that the delayed WWE wrestlers were disbelieving of whether mechanical issues really occurred, because of the presence of military police and that it took around 24 hours before the WWE employees eventually left. Meltzer also stated that WWE wrestlers were angry at McMahon for leaving without them.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: As the affected personnel would not be able to make it back in time for the following night's episode of "Friday Night SmackDown" in Buffalo, New York, the show was retooled to rely primarily on talent who did not participate at Crown Jewel, including the women's roster, and NXT (which began developing an angle for Survivor Series by declaring war against SmackDown and Raw), while the WWE Championship match from Crown Jewel (also the shortest match of the entire show) was replayed in its entirety. "SmackDown" contributor Renee Young, along with "NXT UK"s Tom Phillips, "205 Live"s Aiden English, and Pat McAfee, filled in as guest commentators, as well as Kayla Braxton filled in as a ring announcer.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: WWE announced on November 4, 2019 that it had "expanded" its partnership with the General Authority for Entertainment through 2027, under which it would hold two "large-scale events" in the country per-year.


title: Crown Jewel (2019)

text: On the following night's "SmackDown", Paul Heyman described Brock Lesnar's victory at Crown Jewel (which was replayed in full at his request) as being "spiritually orgasmic". Heyman also announced that Lesnar had quit SmackDown and moved to Raw (taking the WWE Championship with him), in order to seek revenge against Rey Mysterio for his actions following the match. On the following week's "Raw", after attacking crew members and commentator Dio Maddin, Lesnar was repeatedly attacked by Rey Mysterio with a steel pipe. He then challenged Lesnar to a match for the WWE Championship match at Survivor Series, which was made official.


title: Fasciculation

text: A fasciculation, or muscle twitch, is a spontaneous, involuntary muscle contraction and relaxation, involving fine muscle fibers. They are common, with as many as 70% of people experiencing them. They can be benign, or associated with more serious conditions. When no cause or pathology is identified, they are diagnosed as benign fasciculation syndrome.


title: Fasciculation

text: The most effective way to detect fasciculations may be surface electromyography (EMG). Surface EMG is more sensitive than needle electromyography and clinical observation in the detection of fasciculation in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.


title: Fasciculation

text: Deeper areas of contraction can be detected by electromyography (EMG) testing, though they can happen in any skeletal muscle in the body. Fasciculations arise as a result of spontaneous depolarization of a lower motor neuron leading to the synchronous contraction of all the skeletal muscle fibers within a single motor unit. An example of normal spontaneous depolarization is the constant contractions of cardiac muscle, causing the heart to beat. Usually, intentional movement of the involved muscle causes fasciculations to cease immediately, but they may return once the muscle is at rest again.


title: Fasciculation

text: Tics must also be distinguished from fasciculations. Small twitches of the upper or lower eyelid, for example, are not tics, because they do not involve a whole muscle, rather are twitches of a few muscle fibre bundles, that are not suppressible.


title: Fasciculation

text: Fasciculations have a variety of causes, the majority of which are benign, but can also be due to disease of the motor neurons. They are encountered by up to 70% of all healthy people, though for most, it is quite infrequent. In some cases, the presence of fasciculations can be annoying and interfere with quality of life. If a neurological examination is otherwise normal and EMG testing does not indicate any additional pathology, a diagnosis of benign fasciculation syndrome is usually made.


title: Fasciculation

text: Risk factors for benign fasciculations are age, stress, fatigue, and strenuous exercise. Fasciculations can be caused by anxiety, caffeine or alcohol and thyroid disease. Magnesium deficiency is a common cause of fasciculation.


title: Fasciculation

text: Other factors may include the use of anticholinergic drugs over long periods. In particular, these include ethanolamines such as diphenhydramine (brand names Benadryl, Dimedrol, Daedalon and Nytol), used as an antihistamine and sedative, and dimenhydrinate (brand names Dramamine, Driminate, Gravol, Gravamin, Vomex, and Vertirosan) for nausea and motion sickness. Persons with benign fasciculation syndrome (BFS) may experience paraesthesia (especially numbness) shortly after taking such medication; fasciculation episodes begin as the medication wears off.


title: Fasciculation

text: Stimulants can cause fasciculations directly. These include caffeine, pseudoephedrine (Sudafed), amphetamines, and the asthma bronchodilator salbutamol (brand names Proventil, Combivent, Ventolin). Medications used to treat attention deficit disorder (ADHD) often contain stimulants as well, and are common causes of benign fasciculations. Since asthma and ADHD are much more serious than the fasciculations themselves, this side effect may have to be tolerated by the patient after consulting a physician or pharmacist.


title: Fasciculation

text: The depolarizing neuromuscular blocker succinylcholine causes fasciculations. It is a normal side effect of the drug's administration, and can be prevented with a small dose of a nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocker prior to the administration of succinylcholine, often 10% of a nondepolarizing NMB's induction dose.


title: Fasciculation

text: Even if a drug such as caffeine causes fasciculations, that does not necessarily mean it is the only cause. For example, a very slight magnesium deficiency by itself (see below) might not be enough for fasciculations to occur, but when combined with caffeine, the two factors together could be enough.


title: Fasciculation

text: There is no proven treatment for fasciculations in people with ALS. Among patients with ALS, fasciculation frequency is not associated with the duration of ALS and is independent of the degree of limb weakness and limb atrophy. No prediction of ALS disease duration can be made based on fasciculation frequency alone.


title: Fasciculation

text: Fasciculations are observed more often in males, and clinicians are overrepresented in study samples.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Chiune Sugihara was born on 1 January 1900 (Meiji 33), in Mino, Gifu prefecture, to a middle-class father, , and an upper-middle class mother, . When he was born, his father worked at a tax office in Kozuchi-town and his family lived in a borrowed temple, with the Buddhist temple where he was born nearby. He was the second son among five boys and one girl. His father and family moved into the tax office within the branch of the Nagoya Tax Administration Office one after another. In 1903 (Meiji 36) his family moved to Asahi Village in Niu-gun, Fukui Prefecture. In 1904 (Meiji 37) they moved to Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. On 25 October 1905 (Meiji 38), they moved to Nakatsu Town, Ena-gun, Gifu Prefecture. In 1906 (Meiji 39) on 2 April, Chiune entered Nakatsu Town Municipal Elementary School (now Nakatsugawa City Minami Elementary School in Gifu Prefecture). On 31 March 1907 (Meiji 40), he transferred to Kuwana Municipal Kuwana Elementary School in Mie Prefecture (currently Kuwana Municipal Nissin Elementary School). In December of that same year, he transferred to Nagoya Municipal Furuwatari Elementary School (now Nagoya Municipal Heiwa Elementary School). In 1912, he graduated with top honors from Furuwatari Elementary School and entered Aichi prefectural 5th secondary school (now Zuiryo high school), a combined junior and senior high school. His father wanted him to become a physician, but Chiune deliberately failed the entrance exam by writing only his name on the exam papers. Instead, he entered Waseda University in 1918 (Taishō 7) and majored in English language. At that time, he entered Yuai Gakusha, the Christian fraternity that had been founded by Baptist pastor Harry Baxter Benninhof, to improve his English.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 1919 (Taishō 8), he passed the Foreign Ministry Scholarship exam. From 1920 to 1922 (Taishō 9 to 11), Sugihara served in the Imperial Army as a second lieutenant with the 79th Infantry, stationed in Korea, then part of the Empire of Japan. He resigned his commission in November 1922 and took the Foreign Ministry's language qualifying exams the following year, passing the Russian exam with distinction. The Japanese Foreign Ministry recruited him and assigned him to Harbin, China, where he also studied the Russian and German languages and later became an expert on Russian affairs.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: When Sugihara served in the Manchurian Foreign Office, he took part in the negotiations with the Soviet Union concerning the Northern Manchurian Railroad.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: During his time in Harbin, Sugihara married Klaudia Semionovna Apollonova and converted to Christianity (Russian Orthodox Church), using the baptismal name Sergei Pavlovich.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 1934, Sugihara quit his post as Deputy Foreign Minister in Manchuria in protest over Japanese mistreatment of the local Chinese.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Sugihara and his wife divorced in 1935, before he returned to Japan, where he married Yukiko (1913–2008, née Kikuchi). After the marriage; they had four sons - Hiroki, Chiaki, Haruki, and Nobuki. As of 2021, Nobuki is the only surviving son and represents the Sugihara family.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Chiune Sugihara also served in the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as a translator for the Japanese delegation in Helsinki, Finland.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 1939, Sugihara became a vice-consul of the Japanese Consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania. His duties included reporting on Soviet and German troop movements, and to find out if Germany planned an attack on the Soviets and, if so, to report the details of this attack to his superiors in Berlin and Tokyo.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Sugihara had cooperated with Polish intelligence as part of a bigger Japanese–Polish cooperative plan.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In Lithuania, Sugihara started using the Sino-Japanese reading "Sempo" for his given name, since it was easier to pronounce than "Chiune".


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: As the Soviet Union occupied sovereign Lithuania in 1940, many Jewish refugees from Poland (Polish Jews) as well as Lithuanian Jews tried to acquire exit visas. Without the visas, it was dangerous to travel, yet it was impossible to find countries willing to issue them. Hundreds of refugees came to the Japanese consulate in Kaunas, trying to get a visa to Japan. At the time, on the brink of the war, Lithuanian Jews made up one third of Lithuania's urban population and half of the residents of every town. In the period between 16 July and 3 August 1940, the Dutch Honorary Consul Jan Zwartendijk provided over 2,200 Jews with official third destination passes to Curaçao, a Caribbean island and Dutch colony that required no entry visa, or to Surinam.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: European Jewish refugees began to arrive in Japan in July 1940 and departed by September 1941. An overview during this period is described in the Annual Reports of 1940 and 1941 by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In June 1940, Italy entered into the war and the Mediterranean route was closed. The Committee in Great Germany, forced to seek new outlets for emigration, arranged for the transportation of Jews from Germany across Europe and Asia (via the trans-Siberian railway) to Vladivostok, thence to Japan. From Japan the refugees were to embark for destinations in the Western Hemisphere.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: On December 31, 1940, the Soviet Union declared that all persons residing in Lithuania as of September 1, 1940, had the right to apply for Soviet citizenship. While the great bulk of Polish refugees in Lithuania opted for Soviet citizenship, there was a group of 4,000–5,000 persons for whom the New Order offered little opportunity. These were principally rabbis, yeshiva students, members of the intellectual classes and leaders of various Jewish communal and labor organizations. Most of them immediately applied for exit permits from Lithuania. Although during the early weeks of 1941 exit permits and Japanese transit visas were readily granted, the problem was how to find money for transportation costs for those people whose very existences were jeopardized if they remained in Lithuania. The JDC, in collaboration with a number of other American Jewish groups, contributed toward the funds required for the Trans-Siberian trip to Japan of 1,700 persons.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In July 1940, Jewish refugees from Germany and other countries began arriving in Japan at Tsuruga, Shimonoseki and Kobe. Japanese embassies and consulates except Kaunas issued 3,448 Japanese transit visas from January 1940 to March 1941. Most of the recipients held valid end-visas and immediately departed Japan. Starting in October 1940, Polish refugees from Lithuania began to land on Tsuruga. Their number increased sharply from January 1941 onwards. "By the end of March there were close to 2,000 in the country, mostly in Kobe. More than half of these refugees did not hold valid end-visas and were unable to proceed further than Japan." They were forced to stay for a long time to find immigration countries.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: The number of Jewish refugees who came to Japan, as seen in Table 1, has been documented as 4,500, 5,000 or 6,000. The 552 persons noted in the second row of the table do not match the number of departing persons edited by Jewcom. The Siberian railway had been closed and no evidence supporting this figure is found in JDC annual reports or MOFA documents. For the 200 persons described in Note 1 of Table 1, there is a document in the Archives of MOFA that the Japanese consulate of Vladivostok transferred about 50 Jewish refugees who had been stranded in Vladivostok to Shanghai with Soviet Union cargo on April 26, 1941.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: At the time, the Japanese government required that visas be issued only to those who had gone through appropriate immigration procedures and had enough funds. Most of the refugees did not fulfill these criteria. Sugihara dutifully contacted the Japanese Foreign Ministry three times for instructions. Each time, the Ministry responded that anybody granted a visa should have a visa to a third destination to exit Japan, with no exceptions.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Being aware that applicants were in danger if they stayed behind, Sugihara decided to ignore his orders and, from 18 July to 28 August 1940, issued ten-day visas to Jews for transit through Japan. Given his inferior post and the culture of the Japanese Foreign Service bureaucracy, this was an unusual act of disobedience. He spoke to Soviet officials who agreed to let the Jews travel through the country via the Trans-Siberian Railway at five times the standard ticket price.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Sugihara continued to hand-write visas, reportedly spending 18 to 20 hours a day on them, producing a normal month's worth of visas each day, until 4 September, when he had to leave his post before the consulate was closed. By that time, he had granted thousands of visas to Jews, many of whom were heads of households and thus permitted to take their families with them. It is claimed that before he left, he handed the official consulate stamp to a refugee so that more visas could be forged. His son, Nobuki Sugihara, adamantly insisted in an interview with Ann Curry that his father never gave the stamp to anyone. According to witnesses, he was still writing visas while in transit from his hotel and after boarding the train at the Kaunas Railway Station, throwing visas into the crowd of desperate refugees out of the train's window even as the train pulled out.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In final desperation, blank sheets of paper with only the consulate seal and his signature (that could be later written over into a visa) were hurriedly prepared and flung out from the train. As he prepared to depart, he said, "Please forgive me. I cannot write anymore. I wish you the best." When he bowed deeply to the people before him, someone exclaimed, "Sugihara. We'll never forget you. I'll surely see you again!"


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Sugihara himself wondered about official reaction to the thousands of visas he issued. Many years later, he recalled, "No one ever said anything about it. I remember thinking that they probably didn't realize how many I actually issued."


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: On the number of refugees passing through Japan who held Japanese transit visas for Curaçao issued by Sugihara, the so-called "Sugihara visa", there are two documents stating numbers of 2,200 and 6,000. The 6,000 persons as stated in "Visas for Life" is likely hearsay.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: K. Watanabe argued that there could be 6,000, arguing that use by three family members per visa is reasonable, that there were newspaper articles reporting the 6,000 figure, and that most of the refugees landing on Tsuruga were now admitted with a Sugihara visa. On September 29, 1983, Fuji Television aired a documentary "One visa that decided their fate - the Japanese who saved 4,500 Jews."


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 1985, when Chiune Sugihara received the Righteous among the Nations award, some Japanese newspapers reported that he saved 6,000 people and others 4,500. "The Japan Times", dated January 19, 1985, had the headline "Japanese Man honored for saving 6,000 Jews", and reported "Sugihara defied orders from Tokyo and issued transit visas to nearly 6,000 Jews". US newspapers referred to Sugihara as 'a diplomat who defied his government's orders and issued transit visas for 6,000 Jews.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Table 2 shows the number of refugees who had stayed at Kobe in 1941 based on Archives of MOFA. Refugees classified as "No visa" in the table are presumed to have held fakes of Japanese transit visas issued by Sugihara. The Soviets wanted to purge Polish refugees who had been stranded in Soviet territory with Japanese transit visas as soon as possible, and so permitted them to get on the train to Vladivostok with or without a destination visa. The Japanese government was forced to admit them. On April 8, 1941, of the 1,400 Polish Jews staying at Kobe, about 1,300 were "for Curaçao" or "No visa".


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: The Polish ambassador in Tokyo, Tadeusz Romer, remembered, "They (Polish refugees) only had fictitious Dutch visas for the island of Curaçao and Japanese transit visas." According to the refugee name list surveyed by Fukui Prefecture, of the 306 persons who landed at Tsuruga Port in October 1940, there were 203 Poles. Their destinations were US 89, Palestine 46, Curaçao 24, and others. It is estimated that about 80% of them were on the Sugihara visa list. The documents of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and "Refugee and Survivor" do not mention the number of people saved by a "Sugihara visa".


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: More than half of the refugees who entered with invalid visas, including a "Sugihara visa", obtained valid visas with the help of JDC, HIAS, the Embassy of Poland, and the Japanese government, and embarked for host countries. In August–September 1941, Japanese authorities transferred about 850 refugees stranded in Japan to Shanghai before Japan and the United States began war. According to Emigration Table by Jewcom, the number of Polish refugees leaving Japan for various destinations was Shanghai 860, US 532, Canada 186, Palestine 186, Australia 81, South Africa 59, and others 207, in total 2,111.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: The total number of Jews saved by Sugihara is in dispute, with estimates around 6,000; family visas—which allowed several people to travel on one visa—were also issued, which would account for the much higher figure. The Simon Wiesenthal Center has estimated that Chiune Sugihara issued transit visas for about 6,000 Jews and that around 40,000 descendants of the Jewish refugees are alive today because of his actions. Polish intelligence produced some false visas. Sugihara's widow and eldest son estimate that he saved 10,000 Jews from certain death, whereas Boston University professor and author Hillel Levine also estimates that he helped "as many as 10,000 people", but that far fewer people ultimately survived. Indeed, some Jews who received Sugihara's visas failed to leave Lithuania in time, were later captured by the Germans who invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, and perished in the Holocaust.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: The Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened to the public two documents concerning Sugihara's file: the first aforementioned document is a 5 February 1941 diplomatic note from Chiune Sugihara to Japan's then Foreign Minister Yōsuke Matsuoka in which Sugihara stated he issued 1,500 out of 2,139 transit visas to Jews and Poles; however, since most of the 2,139 people were not Jewish, this would imply that most of the visas were given to Polish Jews instead. Levine then notes that another document from the same foreign office file "indicates an additional 3,448 visas were issued in Kaunas for a total of 5,580 visas" which were likely given to Jews desperate to flee Lithuania for safety in Japan or Japanese occupied-China.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Many refugees used their visas to travel across the Soviet Union to Vladivostok and then by boat to Kobe, Japan, where there was a Jewish community. Romer, the Polish ambassador in Tokyo, organized help for them. From August 1940 to November 1941, he had managed to get transit visas in Japan, asylum visas to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Burma, immigration certificates to British Mandatory Palestine, and immigrant visas to the United States and some Latin American countries for more than two thousand Polish-Lithuanian Jewish refugees, who arrived in Kobe, Japan, and the Shanghai Ghetto, China.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: The remaining number of Sugihara survivors stayed in Japan until they were deported to Japanese-held Shanghai, where there was already a large Jewish community that had existed as early as the mid-1930s. Some took the route through Korea directly to Shanghai without passing through Japan. A group of thirty people, all possessing a visa of "Jakub Goldberg", were shuttled back and forth on the open sea for several weeks before finally being allowed to pass through Tsuruga. Most of the around 20,000 Jews survived the Holocaust in the Shanghai ghetto until the Japanese surrender in 1945, three to four months following the collapse of the Third Reich itself.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Sugihara was reassigned to Königsberg, East Prussia before serving as a Consul General in Prague, in the German-occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, from March 1941 to late 1942 and in the legation in Bucharest, Romania from 1942 to 1944. He was promoted to the rank of third secretary in 1943, and was decorated with the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 5th Class, in 1944. When Soviet troops entered Romania, they imprisoned Sugihara and his family in a POW camp for eighteen months. They were released in 1946 and returned to Japan through the Soviet Union via the Trans-Siberian railroad and Nakhodka port. In 1947, the Japanese foreign office asked him to resign, nominally due to downsizing. Some sources, including his wife Yukiko Sugihara, have said that the Foreign Ministry told Sugihara he was dismissed because of "that incident" in Lithuania.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Sugihara settled in Fujisawa in Kanagawa prefecture with his wife and three sons. To support his family he took a series of menial jobs, at one point selling light bulbs door to door. He suffered a personal tragedy in 1947 when his youngest son, Haruki, died at the age of seven, shortly after their return to Japan. In 1949 they had one more son, Nobuki, who is the last son alive representing the Chiune Sugihara Family, residing in Belgium.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Chiune Sugihara later began to work for an export company as general manager of a U.S. Military Post Exchange. Utilizing his command of the Russian language, Sugihara went on to work and live a low-key existence in the Soviet Union for sixteen years, while his family stayed in Japan.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 1968, Yehoshua Nishri, an economic attaché to the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo and one of the Sugihara beneficiaries, finally located and contacted him. Nishri had been a Polish teen in the 1940s. The next year Sugihara visited Israel and was greeted by the Israeli government. Sugihara beneficiaries began to lobby for his recognition by Yad Vashem. In 1984, Yad Vashem recognised him as Righteous Among the Nations (, translit. "Khasidei Umot ha-Olam"). Sugihara was too ill to travel to Israel, so his wife and youngest son Nobuki accepted the honor on his behalf.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 1985, 45 years after the Soviet invasion of Lithuania, he was asked his reasons for issuing visas to the Jews. Sugihara explained that the refugees were human beings, and that they simply needed help.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: When asked by Moshe Zupnik why he risked his career to save other people, he said simply: "I do it just because I have pity on the people. They want to get out so I let them have the visas."


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Chiune Sugihara died at a hospital in Kamakura, on 31 July 1986. Despite the publicity given him in Israel and other nations, he had remained virtually unknown in his home country. Only when a large Jewish delegation from around the world, including the Israeli ambassador to Japan, attended his funeral, did his neighbours find out what he had done. His subsequent considerable posthumous acclaim contrasts with the obscurity in which he lived following the loss of his diplomatic career.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: His death spotlighted his humanitarian acts during WW2 and created the opportunity to revise his reputation as a diplomat in his own country. In 1991 Muneo Suzuki, Parliamentary Vice-President of Foreign Affairs, apologized to Chiune's family for the long-time unfair treatments of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Official honor restoration by Japanese Government was made on October 10, 2000, when Foreign Minister Yohei Kono set the award plaque and gave a commendation speech at the ceremony for Sugihara at Diplomatic Archives.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Sugihara Street in Vilnius, Lithuania, Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara Street in Jaffa, Israel, and the asteroid 25893 Sugihara are named after him.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 1992, the town of Yaotsu opened the Park of Humanity, on a hill over looking the town. In 2000, the Sugihara Chiune Memorial Hall was opened to the public. Since its establishment, more than 600,000 visitors, Japanese and foreign, visited and studied about Sugihara and his virtue.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: A corner for Sugihara Chiune is set up in the Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum near Tsuruga Port, the place where many Jewish refugees arrived in Japan, in the city of Tsuruga, Fukui, Japan.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: The Sugihara House Museum is in Kaunas, Lithuania. The Conservative synagogue Temple Emeth, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, US, built a "Sugihara Memorial Garden" and holds an Annual Sugihara Memorial Concert.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: When Sugihara's widow Yukiko traveled to Jerusalem in 1998, she was met by tearful survivors who showed her the yellowing visas that her husband had signed. A park in Jerusalem is named after him. Sugihara appeared on a 1998 Israeli postage stamp. The Japanese government honored him on the centennial of his birth in 2000.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 2001, a sakura park with 200 trees was planted in Vilnius, Lithuania, to mark the 100th anniversary of Sugihara.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 2002, a memorial statue of Chiune Sugihara by Ramon G. Velazco titled "Chiune Sugihara Memorial, Hero of the Holocaust" was installed in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, US. The life-size bronze statue depicts Sugihara seated on a bench and holding a hand-written visa. Adjacent to the statue is a granite boulder with dedication plaques and a quotation from the Talmud: "He who saves one life, saves the entire world." Its dedication was attended by consuls from Japan, Israel and Lithuania, Los Angeles city officials and Sugihara's son, Chiaki Sugihara. In 2015 the statue sustained vandalism damage to its surface.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In 2007 he was posthumously awarded the Commander's Cross with the Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta, and the Commander's Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland by the President of Poland in 1996. Also, in 1993, he was awarded the Life Saving Cross of Lithuania.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: He was posthumously awarded the Sakura Award by the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) in Toronto in November 2014.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: In June 2016, a street in Netanya, Israel, was named for Sugihara in the presence of his son Nobuki, as a number of Netanya's current residents are descendants of the Lithuanian Jews who had been given a means of escaping the Third Reich.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: The Lithuanian government declared 2020 "The Year of Chiune Sugihara", promising to erect a monument to him and issue postage stamps in his honor. A monument to Sugihara, featuring origami cranes, was unveiled in Kaunas in October 2020.


title: Chiune Sugihara

text: Since October 2021, there is a Chiune Sugihara Square in Jerusalem as well as a Garden named for him in the Kiryat Hayovel neighborhood of the city.


title: Manivannan

text: S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a career spanning three decades, he went from being a story and dialogue writer for director Bharathiraja from 1980–82 to a successful director who thrived in experimenting with different genres, before becoming an actor. With over 400 films to his name, Manivannan was one of the most experienced actors in the field and directed exactly 50 films. Manivannan was mainly a supporting actor in films and often played the comedian, supporting character and villainous roles.


title: Manivannan

text: He supported various political parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He later became affiliated with the Naam Tamilar Katchi and had long supported its ideology of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism.


title: Manivannan

text: Manivannan hailed from a small town called Sulur in Coimbatore District. He was born on 31 July 1953 to R S Maniam, a rice merchant, textile trader, and a well-known politician in Coimbatore and Maragatham who has contested in the elections and won a seat in the panchayat. Manivannan married Sengamalam, has a daughter and a son Raghu, who is acting in the films and is popularly known as Raghuvannan.


title: Manivannan

text: Manivannan attended the Sulur Government Boy's High School and later enrolled at Government Arts College. While completing his pre-university course in Kovai, he became acquainted with Sathyaraj and became friends. According to Sathyaraj, he provided poor guidance to Manivannan and made him pursue a degree in history in advanced English, which made him struggle with topics such as Shakespeare, forcing him to drop out later. While still at college, Manivannan was bitten by the stage-bug and consequently he staged a few performances. Inspired by the impact the film "Kizhake Pogum Rail" (1978) made on him, he wrote a fan mail to the film-maker Bharathiraja and the letter ran to more than a hundred pages. Bharathiraja took him under his fold as an apprentice. Manivannan joined Bharathiraja's camp around 1979, when the director was acting in and was directing by P S Nivas, "Kallukkul Eeram".


title: Manivannan

text: He penned the story and dialogues for some of his mentor's films between 1980 and 1982 like "Nizhalgal", "Tick Tick Tick", "Alaigal Oivathillai" and "Kaadhal Oviyam". Manivannan assisted Bharathiraja in a handful of films like "Koththa Jeevithaalu" (Telugu), "Red Rose" (Hindi) starring Rajesh Khanna and "Lovers" (Hindi).He learned trade hard and fast within two years under Bharatiraja and by 1982 made his directorial début. He had also penned the story and dialogues for a bunch of other films like "Lottery Ticket" acted by Mohan and Prabhu, "Agaya Gangai" acted by Karthik, "Nesam" acted by Ajith Kumar. In "Kodi Parakuthu", directed by Bharathiraja, Manivannan did the villain's role.


title: Manivannan

text: Although Manivannan directed 50 films in Tamil and had around 34 films as box-office hits, he was most known for his acting skills among public. He was considered unique in the industry for his wisdom and his character roles. He had acted alongside many stars including Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Sathyaraj, Karthik, Mohan, Madhavan, Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Surya and among others. He has starred in over 400 films. "Amaidhi Padai", directed by Manivannan, is believed to have given him headway as an actor. He started getting plush offers and was seen acting in as many as thirty films a year from 1990 to 2011.


title: Manivannan

text: Manivannan directed 50 films including a few ventures in Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. As a director, he made films in different genres – from romance to thriller to drama. He made his directorial début with "Gopurangal Saivathillai" in 1982. The Hindu wrote that his film "Amaidhi Padai" (1994) "has set the standards for political satire in Tamil cinema".


title: Manivannan

text: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Manivannan prioritised his acting career. At the height of his acting career, six of his film released on the same day in January 1998. Certain directorial ventures which he had started including "Aaruvathu Sinam" featuring Sathyaraj and Prabhu, were delayed and then dropped. In 2013 he directed his 50th and last film "Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA", a sequel to "Amaidhi Padai". Manivannan directed his best friend Sathyaraj in a good 25 films and gave 12 successive hits as the director of Tamil films with Sathyaraj as the lead hero – "Jallikattu", "Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi", "Ganam Kortaar Avargale", "Manidhan Marivittan", "Ullathil Nalla Ullam", "Vazhkkaichakkaram", "Pudhu Manithan", "Therku Theru Machan", "Government Mapillai", "Amaidhipadai".


title: Manivannan

text: His protégés include directors Vikraman, R K Selvamani, Sundar C, Seeman, K Selva Bharathy, Radha Bharathi, C V Sasikumar, E Ramadoss, Jeeva Balan and Rasu Madhuravan.


title: Manivannan

text: Manivannan was first a staunch supporter of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) as his father R S Maniam was the DMK town secretary of Sulur, which made Manivannan develop an interest in the ideology of the Dravidian movement. However, later he became a Marxist and an activist in the naxalite movement. He had political differences even with his father.


title: Manivannan

text: Manivannan was a Tamil patriot and joined the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) political party and campaigned for them during the 2006 Assembly elections. He later joined Naam Tamilar Katchi and has been as supporter of Tamil Eelam. Manivannan once said: "If I were born in Tamil Eelam, I would have certainly joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a warrior and sacrificed my life for the Eelam, since I am born in Tamil Nadu, there is Eelam feeling in me".


title: Manivannan

text: Manivannan died shortly after the release of his 50th directorial venture "Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA" due to a cardiac arrest (heart attack) on 15 June 2013 at the age of 59 in his Nesapakkam residence at Chennai. His body was wrapped in the flag of Tamil Eelam as he wished. Two months after his death, his wife died on 15 August 2013.


title: Manivannan

text: In 2021, Manivannan's bust and images were featured in the film "Maanaadu" as a tribute to the actor.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: Jesús Vallejo Lázaro (born 5 January 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: Born in Zaragoza, Aragon, Vallejo joined Real Zaragoza's youth setup in 2008, aged 11. On 26 July 2013, after impressing in the "Juvenil" squad, he signed a new deal with the club.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: On 23 August 2014, before even having appeared for the reserves, Vallejo made his professional debut, starting in a 0–0 draw at Recreativo de Huelva in the Segunda División. On 26 December, he further extended his contract until 2019.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: Vallejo scored his first professional goal on 5 April 2015, the last in the 1–1 away draw against CD Tenerife. He was appointed team captain by manager Ranko Popović for that match, and remained in the role afterwards.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: On 31 July 2015, Vallejo signed a six-year contract with Real Madrid for a rumoured €6 million fee, being immediately loaned back to Zaragoza for one year. The following summer he moved abroad, after agreeing to a one-year loan deal with German club Eintracht Frankfurt.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: Vallejo's maiden appearance in the Bundesliga took place on 27 August 2016, as he came as a late substitute in a 1–0 home win over FC Schalke 04. He scored his first goal also from the bench, contributing to a 2–2 draw to RB Leipzig also at the Commerzbank-Arena in the last match of the season.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: On 7 July 2017, Vallejo was unveiled as a Real Madrid player and member of the first team squad for the upcoming campaign. He was handed the number 3 shirt, previously worn by Pepe. His official debut took place on 26 October, when he started and was sent off in the last minute of a 2–0 away win against CF Fuenlabrada in the Copa del Rey. His maiden appearance in La Liga occurred ten days later, when he partnered Sergio Ramos in the 3–0 home defeat of UD Las Palmas.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: Profiting from injury to Nacho and suspension to Ramos, Vallejo made his debut in the UEFA Champions League on 11 April 2018, playing the entire 1–3 home loss to Juventus F.C. in the second leg of the quarter-finals, which still qualified to the last-four 4–3 on aggregate. It was his only appearance, as Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall title in the tournament.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: On 27 July 2019, Vallejo moved to English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan. He made his competitive debut on 15 August, in a 4–0 home win against FC Pyunik in the third qualifying round in the UEFA Europa League. He played his first Premier League match on 14 September, featuring the full 90 minutes in the 5–2 loss to Chelsea also at Molineux. He made one further league appearance, but was not used again except for an EFL Cup tie in a side consisting largely of reserve players.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: At the start of the January transfer window, Wolves' head coach Nuno Espírito Santo confirmed that Vallejo was likely to leave and added that the defender "had moments that he played, moments that he performed well, and some moments he didn't perform well ... Clearly it didn't work out". On 24 January 2020, he was loaned to Granada CF of the Spanish top tier until June; on 18 August, the move was extended for another year, and he featured 12 times in the Andalusians' quarter-final run in the Europa League for a total of 37 over the campaign.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: Due to suspensions and injuries, Vallejo started in the 4–0 home victory over RCD Espanyol on 30 April 2022 as Real Madrid clinched their 35th league title, partnering Casemiro in central defence. He played only eight competitive matches during the season, however.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: On 7 March 2013, Vallejo appeared with the Spain under-16 team in a friendly with Hungary. He earned his first cap for the under-21s on 26 March 2015 at the age of 18, starting in the 2–0 win against Norway in Cartagena in another exhibition game.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: Selected for the 2017 Under-21 European Championship finals by manager Albert Celades, Vallejo played four times for the eventual runners-up. Even though he was not part of the squad of 23 for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals, he was picked by full side head coach Julen Lopetegui for a friendly with Switzerland to be held on 3 June.


title: Jesús Vallejo

text: Vallejo was one of 22 players selected by the under-23 team for the 2020 Summer Olympics, delayed until the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Otto Graham

text: Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Graham is regarded by critics as one of the most dominant players of his era, having taken the Browns to league championship games every year between 1946 and 1955, making ten championship appearances, and winning seven of them. With Graham at quarterback, the Browns posted a record of 57 wins, 13 losses, and one tie, including a 9–3 win–loss record in the playoffs. He holds the NFL record for career average yards gained per pass attempt, with 8.63. He also holds the record for the highest career winning percentage for an NFL starting quarterback, at 81.0%. Long-time New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, a friend of Graham's, once called him "as great of a quarterback as there ever was."


title: Otto Graham

text: Graham grew up in Waukegan, Illinois, the son of music teachers. He entered Northwestern University in 1940 on a basketball scholarship, but football soon became his main sport. After a brief stint in the military at the end of World War II, Graham played for the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League (NBL), winning the 1945–46 championship. Paul Brown, Cleveland's coach, signed Graham to play for the Browns, where he thrived. Graham's 1946 NBL and AAFC titles made him the first of only two people to have won championships in two of the four major North American sports (the second was Gene Conley). After he retired from playing football in 1955, Graham coached college teams in the College All-Star Game and became head football coach for the Coast Guard Bears at the United States Coast Guard Academy. After seven years there, he was hired as head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1966. Following three unsuccessful years with them, he resigned and returned to the Coast Guard Academy, where he served as athletic director until his retirement in 1984. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.


title: Otto Graham

text: Born into a family of four boys in Waukegan, Illinois, Graham set a first state record at birth weighing 14 lbs 12 oz. Graham's first interest growing up was music; both parents were music teachers. Encouraged by his parents—his father having taught famous comedian Jack Benny— he took up several instruments: the piano, violin, cornet and French horn. Graham also excelled in athletics, and attended Northwestern University on a basketball scholarship in 1940. There he played on the varsity basketball team as a freshman and continued to study music. Graham did not take up football until his sophomore year, when Northwestern coach Pappy Waldorf saw him throwing in an intramural game and invited him to practice with the team. Northwestern's coaches were impressed with his running and passing, and Waldorf convinced him to sign up. Although football became Graham's primary sport, he also played baseball and continued on the basketball team. As a senior, he was named a first-team basketball All-American.


title: Otto Graham

text: Graham's first game for the Northwestern Wildcats football team was on October 4, 1941, when he caught a Kansas State punt and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown. He ran and passed for two more touchdowns in the 51–3 victory. After scoring another pair of touchdowns in a win against Wisconsin, Graham passed to his wide receivers for two touchdowns in a victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes, coached by Paul Brown, the Buckeyes' only loss of the 1941 season. Northwestern ended the year with an 11th-place showing in the Associated Press Poll.


title: Otto Graham

text: As America's involvement in World War II intensified after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Graham signed up for service alongside many fellow student-athletes, entering the U.S. Coast Guard. He was able to stay at Northwestern as he waited to be called for active duty. The Wildcats struggled in 1942 as their players joined the war effort, winning only one game. Graham still had 89 completions, setting a single-season passing record in the Big Ten Conference, a division of major college teams from the Midwestern United States.


title: Otto Graham

text: The following year, Military Enlistees from other schools enrolled at Northwestern, where the U.S. Navy had a training station. The 1943 season was a strong one for Northwestern. The team beat Ohio State, the defending national champions, and a good military team at Great Lakes Naval Station. The Wildcats lost to Notre Dame and Michigan, however, and finished the season with an 8–2 record and a ninth-place ranking in the AP Poll. Graham set another Big Ten passing record, was named the conference's Most Valuable Player, received All-American honors and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting. By the end of his college career, he held a Big Ten Conference record for passing yards with 2,132.


title: Otto Graham

text: Graham's career at Northwestern officially ended in February 1944, when he moved to Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, in the Navy's V-5 cadet program, a pilot training course. He played basketball for Colgate before moving to North Carolina Pre-Flight later in 1944, where he played on the Cloudbusters football team under coaches Glenn Killinger and Bear Bryant.


title: Otto Graham

text: Impressed by Graham's performances in Northwestern's wins over Ohio State in 1941 and 1943, Paul Brown came and offered him a contract worth $7,500 per year ($ in dollars) in 1945 to play for a professional team he would be coaching in Cleveland in the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Graham would not receive his salary until he started playing, however, and Brown added a monthly stipend of $250 ($ in ) until the end of the war. It was a large amount of money at the time. "All I asked was, where do I sign?" Graham said later. "Some of the other navy men said I was rooting for the war to last forever." Graham was also drafted by the National Football League's Detroit Lions, but he did not sign a contract or play a game with the team as the war wore on.


title: Otto Graham

text: Large numbers of athletes came home as the conflict wound down in Europe following Germany's surrender in mid-1945. The AAFC's first season was not set to start until the fall of 1946, and Graham occupied the intervening months by joining the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League (NBL), a forerunner of the National Basketball Association. In March 1946, the Royals swept a best-of-five series against the Sheboygan Red Skins to win the NBL title.


title: Otto Graham

text: By the time Graham was discharged from the Navy late in the summer of 1946, training camp for Brown's new team, the Cleveland Browns, had already begun. Concerned that Graham was not ready to start, Brown put in Cliff Lewis at quarterback in the first game of the season. Graham, however, soon replaced Lewis in Brown's T formation offense. Handing the ball to fullback Marion Motley and throwing to ends Dante Lavelli and Mac Speedie, Graham led the team to a 12–2 regular-season record and a spot in the championship game against the AAFC's New York Yankees. The Browns won that game, touching off a period of dominance. The team won each of the AAFC's four championships between 1946 and 1949, and had professional football's second perfect season in 1948 by finishing undefeated and untied. By doing this the Browns became pro football's first undefeated championship team. Between 1947 and 1949 the Browns played 29 consecutive games without a defeat.


title: Otto Graham

text: Graham's play was crucial to Cleveland's success. He averaged 10.5 yards per pass and had a quarterback rating of 112.1 in 1946, a professional football record until Joe Montana surpassed it in 1989. Graham was named the AAFC's Most Valuable Player in 1947 and shared the Most Valuable Player award with Frankie Albert of the San Francisco 49ers in 1948. He led the league in passing yards between 1947 and 1949. The AAFC dissolved after the 1949 season, and three of its teams, including the Browns, merged into the more established National Football League. Graham was the AAFC's all-time leading passer, throwing for 10,085 yards and 86 touchdowns.


title: Otto Graham

text: Graham became the Browns' uncontested leader, but he was also "just one of the guys", tackle Mike McCormack said in 1999. "He was not aloof, which you see a lot of times today." He was good at spinning and moving in the pocket, skills he learned playing basketball. In his autobiography, Paul Brown praised Graham's ability to anticipate his receivers' route-running by watching their shoulders. "I remember his tremendous peripheral vision and his great athletic skill, as well as his ability to throw a football far and accurately with just a flick of his arm", Brown said. His short passes were hard and accurate, teammates later said, and his long balls were soft. "I used to catch a lot of them one-handed", Lavelli said. "He had great touch in his hands." He was nicknamed "Automatic Otto" for his consistency and toughness.


title: Otto Graham

text: With Graham at the helm, the Browns continued to succeed when they joined the NFL in 1950. Graham was voted the United Press NFL Player of the Year and led the Browns to a 10–2 record, which set up a playoff against the New York Giants for a spot in the championship game. The Browns' only two losses of the season had come against the Giants, but in a frozen Cleveland Stadium on Cleveland beat New York. With the game tied 3–3 in the fourth quarter, Graham gained 45 yards by running with the ball on a long drive to set up a 28-yard Lou Groza field goal that put the Browns ahead 6–3. A safety after the ensuing kickoff made the final score 8–3.


title: Otto Graham

text: The win put Cleveland in the NFL championship game against the Los Angeles Rams. Graham's rushing and passing were again key to the Browns' 30–28 victory. He drove the offense downfield as time expired to set up a last-minute Groza field goal that sealed the win. Graham had 99 yards rushing in the game, adding 298 yards of passing and four touchdowns.


title: Otto Graham

text: Cleveland posted an 11–1 record in 1951, losing their only game to the San Francisco 49ers in the season opener. That gave the Browns another spot in the championship game, again against the Rams. This time, however, the Rams won 24–17. Graham fumbled the ball in the third quarter, setting up a touchdown that put the Rams ahead 14–10. Three of his throws were intercepted, but he put up 280 yards of passing and a touchdown. After the season, Graham was named the league's Most Valuable Player.


title: Otto Graham

text: With Graham at quarterback, Cleveland finished the 1952 season with a 9–3 record and faced the Detroit Lions in the NFL championship game. Despite gaining 384 total yards to Detroit's 258, Graham, who was the NFL Player of the Year, and the Browns lost their second straight championship, 17–7. Cleveland had several long drives that ended with missed field goals, and a fourth-quarter touchdown was negated because Graham's throw to Pete Brewster was first tipped by receiver Ray Renfro; under rules in place at the time, balls deflected by offensive teammates were automatic incompletions. After the season, as Graham was practicing for the Pro Bowl in Los Angeles on his six-week-old son Stephen died from a severe cold.


title: Otto Graham

text: The 1953 season began with a 27–0 win over the Green Bay Packers in which Graham passed for 292 yards and ran for two touchdowns. It was the first of 11 straight victories for the Browns, whose only loss came in the final game of the season to the Philadelphia Eagles. Near the end of the season in a game against the 49ers, Graham took a forearm to the face from Art Michalik that opened a gash on his chin requiring 15 stitches. Graham's helmet was fitted with a clear plastic face mask, and he came back into the game; the injury helped inspire the development of the modern face mask. Despite an 11–1 record, Cleveland lost in the championship game for the third year in a row, falling to the Detroit Lions 17–16. Two of Graham's passes were intercepted. He said after the game that he wanted to "jump off a building" for letting his teammates down. "I was the main factor in losing", he said. "If I had played my usual game, we would have won." Still, Graham finished the season as the NFL's leading passer and again won the Most Valuable Player award.


title: Otto Graham

text: Before the start of the Browns' 1954 training camp, Graham was questioned as part of the Sam Sheppard murder case. Sheppard, an osteopath, was accused of bludgeoning his pregnant wife to death, and Graham and his wife, Beverly, were friends with the couple. Graham told police that while he and Beverly liked the Sheppards, they did not know much about their relationship.


title: Otto Graham

text: The 1954 season was a transitional one for the Browns. Many of the players who joined the 1946 team had retired or were nearing the end of their careers. Graham, meanwhile, told Brown that he would retire after the season. After losing the first three games, Cleveland won eight in a row and earned another shot at the championship, again against the Lions. This time, the Browns won 56–10 as Graham ran for three touchdowns and passed for three more. He announced his retirement after the game.


title: Otto Graham

text: After Graham's potential replacements struggled during the 1955 training camp and preseason, Brown convinced Graham to come back and play one more year. He was offered a salary of $25,000 ($ today), making him the highest-paid player in the NFL. The Browns lost the opener against the Washington Redskins, but went on to a 9–2–1 regular-season record and another chance at a championship. Graham threw two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Browns beat the Rams 38–14. When Brown took Graham out of the game in the fourth quarter, the crowd in the Los Angeles Coliseum gave him a standing ovation. It was the final performance of a 10-year career in which Graham's team reached the championship each year and won seven. "Nothing would induce me to come back", he said later. He was the NFL's passing leader and Most Valuable Player in 1955. He also won the Hickok Belt, awarded to the best professional athlete of the year. Without Graham, the Browns floundered the following year and posted a 5–7 record, their first-ever losing season.


title: Otto Graham

text: Graham and head coach Paul Brown created the modern T-formation quarterback position and the modern pro offense. Graham led his league in every major passing category each in multiple seasons and finished his career with a career all-time pro record Yds/Att of 9.0. Until a few years ago he held the record for career rushing touchdowns by a pro quarterback with 44. The Browns' record with Graham as starting quarterback was 57–13–1, including a 9–3 record in the playoffs. He still holds the NFL career record for yards per pass attempt, averaging 8.63. He also holds the record for the highest career winning percentage for an NFL starting quarterback, with 0.810. Graham was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. Having won seven championships in 10 seasons and reached the championship game in every year he played, Graham is regarded by sportswriters as one of the greatest winners of all time and one of the best professional quarterbacks ever to play the game. He never missed a game in his career.


title: Otto Graham

text: Graham wore number 60 for much of his career, but he was forced to change it to 14 in 1952 after the NFL passed a rule requiring offensive linemen to wear jersey numbers 50–79 so referees could more easily identify ineligible receivers. The Browns retired his number 14, while 60 remains in circulation. While at Northwestern, Graham wore number 48.


title: Otto Graham

text: When Graham retired from football, he planned to focus on managing the insurance and appliance businesses he owned. However, in 1957 Graham signed on as an assistant coach for the college squad in the annual College All-Star Game, a now-defunct exhibition contest between the NFL champion and a selection of the best collegiate players from around the country. The next year, he was named head coach of the team. With Graham coaching the all-stars in 1958, the team beat the Detroit Lions 35–19.


title: Otto Graham

text: Following his convincing win in the all-star game, Graham's friend George Steinbrenner helped get him a job as the head football coach for the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Graham, by then 37 years old, was also named athletic director and given a salary "in five figures". School officials said the hiring did not mean Coast Guard would "go big time"; the Division III school played a relatively short schedule at the time against smaller schools in New England. The Coast Guard team had a 3–5 record in Graham's first year as coach in 1959, but improved steadily over the ensuing three years. The team went undefeated in 1963, earning the academy its first-ever post-season bowl appearance. Coast Guard lost to Western Kentucky 27–0 in the Tangerine Bowl. Graham continued to coach in the College All-Star Game while at Coast Guard, and his college team beat Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers in a 20–17 upset in 1963. Graham was offered coaching jobs in the NFL numerous times during his tenure at Coast Guard, but he said in 1964 that he was content to stay at the small school on a $9,000 salary. He said he deplored the "win at all costs philosophy" that was necessary to be successful in the professional ranks.


title: Otto Graham

text: Despite his reservations about the professional game, Graham, who moonlighted as a television and radio commentator for the American Football League's New York Jets in 1964 and 1965, left the Coast Guard Academy after seven years in 1966 to become head coach and general manager of the NFL's Washington Redskins, Graham's three seasons (1966–1968) were similarly unsuccessful, with an overall record of 17–22–3. In 1968, calls for his firing had intensified as the team's performance worsened from 7–7 in 1967 to 5–9; "The Washington Daily News" called for his firing in a front-page editorial in November. Vince Lombardi took over as the Redskins' head coach in 1969.


title: Otto Graham

text: After being dismissed as the Redskins' coach, Graham returned to the Coast Guard Academy as athletic director and said he planned to stay there until he retired. He coached the college team in the College All-Star Game in 1970 for his tenth and final time. The college stars lost for the seventh time in a row that year, falling 24–3 to the Kansas City Chiefs. He was replaced in 1971 by Blanton Collier, who had retired after succeeding Brown as Cleveland's head coach.


title: Otto Graham

text: In 1974, Graham was named Coast Guard's football coach once again, although he resigned two years later to focus on his duties as athletic director. In nine years of coaching, Graham's Coast Guard teams had a combined record of 44–32–1. After eight more years as the school's athletic director, Graham retired in 1984.


title: Otto Graham

text: An avid golfer and tennis player, Graham partnered with New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio in numerous golf tournaments later in life. He retired to a house on a golf course in Florida. Graham overcame colon cancer in 1977, but was later plagued by heart ailments and other health problems. He was diagnosed as being in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease in 2001, and died of a heart aneurysm in Sarasota, Florida, on December 17, 2003. He had two sons and a daughter with his wife Beverly. In 2013, Northwestern's fundraising department created the Otto Graham Society to honor his achievements at the school and support its athletics programs. In 2014, a new gymnasium at Waterford Country School was dedicated to Otto Graham's memory.