title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The French were relative newcomers to India. The French East India Company was formed in 1664 and in 1666 the French representatives obtained Aurangzeb's permission to trade in India. The French soon set up trading posts at Pondicherry on the Coromandel coast. They occupied Karaikal in 1739 and Joseph François Dupleix was appointed Governor of Pondichéry. In Europe the War of the Austrian Succession began in 1740 and eventually the British and the French forces in India were caught up in the conflict. There were numerous naval battles between the two navies along the Coromandel coast. The French led by La Bourdonnais attacked the poorly defended Fort St. George in Madras in 1746 and occupied it. Robert Clive was one of the prisoners of war from this battle. The war in Europe ended in 1748 and with the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle Madras was restored to the British.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The conflict between the British and the French continued, this time in political rather than military terms. Both the Nawab of the Carnatic and Nizam of Hyderabad positions were taken by rulers who were strongly sympathetic to the French. Chanda Sahib had been made Nawab of the Carnatic with Dupleix's assistance, while the British had taken up the cause of the previous incumbent, Mohammed Ali Khan Walajah. In the resultant battle between the rivals, Clive assisted Mohammed Ali by attacking Chanda Sahib's fort in Arcot and took possession of it in 1751. The French assisted Chanda Sahib in his attempts to drive Clive out of Arcot. However, the large Arcot army assisted by the French was defeated by the British. The Treaty of Paris (1763) formally confirmed Mahommed Ali as the Nawab of the Carnatic. It was a result of this action and the increased British influence that in 1765 the Emperor of Delhi issued a "firman" (decree) recognising the British possessions in southern India.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: Although the Company was becoming increasingly bold and ambitious in putting down resisting states, it was getting clearer day by day that the Company was incapable of governing the vast expanse of the captured territories. Opinion amongst the members of the British Parliament urged the government to control the activities of the Company. The Company's financial position was also bad and it had to apply for a loan from Parliament. Seizing this opportunity, the Parliament passed the Regulating Act (also known as East India Company Act) in 1773. The act set down regulations to control the Company Board and created the position of the Governor General. Warren Hastings was appointed the first Governor-General. In 1784 Pitt's India Act made the Company subordinate to the British Government.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The next few decades were of rapid growth and expansion in the territories controlled by the British. The Anglo-Mysore Wars of 1766 to 1799 and the Anglo-Maratha Wars of 1772 to 1818 put the Company in control of most of India. In a sign of the early resistance against the English control, the Palayakkarar chieftains of the old Madurai Kingdom, who had independent authority over their territories, ran into a conflict with the Company officials over tax collection. Kattabomman, a local Palayakkarar chieftain in the Tirunelveli district, rebelled against the taxes imposed by the Company administration in the 1790s. After the First Polygar War (1799–1802), he was captured and hanged in 1799. A year later, the Second Polygar War was fought by Oomaithurai was involved in the Polygar Wars against the East India Company. In the first Poligar war, he was captured and imprisoned in Palayamkottai Central Prison


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: . In February 1801, he escaped from Palayamkottai Central Prison and rebuilt the Panchalankurichi fort which had been razed in the first war. In the second Poligar war that followed, Oomaithurai allied himself with Maruthu brothers (who ruled Sivagangai) and was part of a grand alliance against the Company which included Dheeran Chinnamalai and Kerala Verma. The Company forces led by Lt. Colonel Agnew laid siege to the Panchalankurichi fort and captured it in May 1801 after a prolonged siege and artillery bombardment. Oomaithurai escaped the fall of the fort and joined Marudu brothers at their jungle fort at Kalayar Kovil. The Company forces pursued him there and eventually captured Kalayar Kovil in October 1801. Oomaithurai along with the Marudu brothers was hanged on 16 November 1801.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: In 1798 Lord Wellesley became the Governor-General. In the course of the next six years, Wellesley made vast conquests and doubled the Company's territory. He shut out the French from further acquisitions in India, destroyed several ruling powers in the Deccan and the Carnatic, took the Mughal Emperor under the company's protection and compelled Serfoji, the king of Thanjavur to cede control of his kingdom. The Madras Presidency was established so that the territory under direct Company control could be administered effectively. The direct administration began to cause resentment among the people. In 1806 the soldiers of the Vellore cantonment rebelled when William Bentinck, the Governor of Madras decreed that the native soldiers should abandon all caste marks. Fearing this act to be an attempt of forceful conversion to Christianity, the soldiers mutinied. The rebellion was suppressed but 114 British officers were killed and several hundred mutineers executed. Bentinck was recalled in disgrace.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The simmering discontent in the various districts of the company territories exploded in 1857 into the Sepoy war. Although the rebellion had a huge impact on the state of the colonial power in India, Tamil Nadu was mostly unaffected by it. In consequence of the war, the British Government enacted the Act of 1858 to abolish the powers of the Company and transfer the government to the Crown.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: In 1858 the British Crown assumed direct rule in India. During the early years, the government was autocratic in many ways. The opinion of Indians in their own affairs was not considered by Britain as important. However, in due course, the British Raj began to allow Indians participation in local government. Viceroy Ripon passed a resolution in 1882, which gave a greater and more real share in local government to the people. Further legislation such as the 1892 Indian councils Act and the 1909 "Minto–Morley Reforms" eventually led to the establishment of the Madras Legislative Council. The non-cooperation movement started under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership led the British government to pass the Government of India Act (also known as Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms) of 1919. First elections were held for the local assemblies in 1921.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: Failure of the summer monsoons and administrative shortcomings of the Ryotwari system resulted in a severe famine in the Madras Presidency during 1876–1877. The government and several charitable institutions organised relief work in the city and the suburbs. Funds were also raised from Europeans in India and overseas for the famine relief. Humanitarians such as William Digby wrote angrily about the woeful failure of the British administration to act promptly and adequately in response to the wholesale suffering caused by the famine. When the famine finally ended with the return of the monsoon in 1878, between three and five million people had perished. In response to the devastating effects of the famine, the government organised a Famine Commission in 1880 to define the principles of disaster relief. The government also instituted a famine insurance grant, setting aside 1.5 million Rupees. Other civic works such as canal building and improvements in roads and railway were also undertaken to minimise effects of any future famines.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The growing desire for independence began to gradually gather pace in the country and its influence in Tamil Nadu generated a number of volunteers to the fight against the British colonial power in the struggle for Independence. Notable amongst these are Tiruppur Kumaran, who was born in 1904 in a small village near Erode. Kumaran lost his life during a protest march against the British. The location of the French colony of Pondichéry, offered a place of refuge for the fugitives freedom fighters trying to flee the British Police. Aurobindo was one such living in Pondicherry in 1910. The poet Subramania Bharati was a contemporary of Aurobindo. Bharathi wrote numerous poems in Tamil extolling the revolutionary cause. He also published the journal "India" from Pondicherry. Both Aurobindo and Bharathi were associated with other Tamil revolutionaries like V. O. Chidambaram Pillai. Tamils formed a significant percentage of the members of the Indian National Army (INA), founded by Subhas Chandra Bose to fight the British occupation in India. Lakshmi Sahgal from Tamil Nadu was a prominent leader in the INA's Rani of Jhansi Regiment.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: In 1916 Dr. T. M. Nair and Rao Bahadur Thygaraya Chetty released the "Non-Brahmin Manifesto" sowing the seeds for the Dravidian movements. During the 1920s, two movements focused mainly on regional politics began in Tamil Nadu. One was the Justice Party, which won the local legislative elections held in 1921. The Justice Party was not focused on the Indian independence movement, rather on the local issues such as affirmative action for socially backward groups. The other main movement was the anti-religious, anti-Brahmin, Self-Respect Movement led by E. V. Ramasami. Further steps towards eventual self-rule were taken in 1935 when the British Government passed the All-India Federation Act of 1935. Fresh local elections were held and in Tamil Nadu the Congress party captured power defeating the Justice party. In 1938, Ramasami with C. N. Annadurai launched an agitation against the Congress ministry's decision to introduce the teaching of Hindi in schools.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The trauma of the partition did not impact Tamil Nadu when India was granted Independence in 1947. There was no sectarian violence against various religions. There had always been an atmosphere of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence between all religions in Tamil Nadu. Congress formed the first ministry in the Madras Presidency. C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) was the first Chief Minister. Madras Presidency was eventually reconstituted as Madras State. Following agitations for a separate Andhra state comprising the Telugu speaking regions of the Madras state by Potti Sriramalu, the Indian Government decided to partition the Madras state. In 1953 Rayalaseema and the coastal Andhra regions became the new state of Andhra Pradesh and the Bellary district became part of the Mysore state. In 1956 south Kanara district was transferred to Mysore, the Malabar coastal districts became part of the new state of Kerala, and the Madras state assumed its present shape. The Madras state was named Tamil Nadu (literally The Land of Tamils or Tamil Country) in 1969.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The Sri Lankan Civil War during the 1970s and the 80s saw large numbers of Sri Lankan Tamils fleeing to Tamil Nadu. The plight of Tamil refugees caused a surge of support from most of the Tamil political parties. They exerted pressure on the Indian government to intercede with the Sri Lankan government on behalf of the Sri Lankan Tamilians. However, LTTE lost much of its support from Tamil Nadu following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi on 21 May 1991 by an operative from Sri Lanka for the former prime minister's role in sending Indian peacekeepers to Sri Lanka to disarm the LTTE.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The east coast of Tamil Nadu was one of the areas affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, during which almost 8000 people died in the disaster. The sixth most populous state in the Indian Union, Tamil Nadu was the seventh-largest economy in 2005 among the states of India. The growing demands for skilled labour has caused increased number of educational institutions in Tamil Nadu. The widespread application of caste based affirmative action caused the state to have 69% of all educational and employment vacancies to be reserved to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Such caste-based reservations have huge public support in Tamil Nadu, with no popular protests organised against its implementation.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: Since the 1990s, Tamil Nadu has experienced significant economic growth, especially in the service sector, and has had significant increases in development indicators. Kalaiyarasan (2014) attributes this to the strong welfare measures implemented by successive state governments and a two-track focus on economic growth and grassroots development.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The politics of Tamil Nadu have gone through three distinct phases since independence. The domination of the Congress Party after 1947 gave way to the Dravidian populist mobilisation in the 1960s. This phase lasted until towards the end of the 1990s. The most recent phase saw the fragmentation of the Dravidian political parties and led to the advent of political alliances and coalition governments. Annadurai formed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1949 after splitting from Dravidar Kazhagam. DMK also decided to oppose the 'expansion of the Hindi culture' in Tamil Nadu and started the demand for a separate homeland for the Dravidians in the South. The demand was for an Independent state called "Dravida Nadu" (country of Dravidians) comprising Tamil Nadu and parts of Andhra, Karnataka and Kerala. The increased involvement of the Indian National Congress party in Madras during the late 1950s and the strong pan-Indian emotions whipped up by the Sino-Indian War in 1962 led to the demand for "Dravida Nadu" losing some of its immediacy. Consequently, in 1963, when the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution of India, precluded secessionist parties from contesting elections, the DMK chose to formally drop its demand for an independent Dravida Nadu, focusing instead on securing greater functional autonomy within the framework of the Indian Constitution.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: The Congress party, riding on the wave of public support stemming from the independence struggle, formed the first post-independence government in Tamil Nadu and continued to govern until 1967. In 1965 and 1968, DMK led widespread anti-Hindi agitations in the state against the plans of the Union Government to introduce Hindi in the state schools. Affirmative action in employment and educational institutions were pioneered in Tamil Nadu based on the demands of the Dravidian movement. The leadership of the Dravidian movement had very capable authors and literati in Annadurai and Karunanidhi, who assiduously utilised the popular media of stage plays and movies to spread its political messages. MG Ramachandran (MGR) who later became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, was one such stage and movie actor.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: In 1967 DMK won the state election. DMK split into two in 1971, with MGR forming the splinter All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). Since then these two parties have dominated the politics of Tamil Nadu. AIADMK, under MGR, retained control of the State Government over three consecutive assembly elections in 1977, 1980 and 1984. After MGR's death, AIADMK was split over the succession between various contenders. Eventually J. Jayalalithaa took over the leadership of AIADMK.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: Several changes to the political balance in Tamil Nadu took place during the later half of the 1990s, eventually leading to the end of the duopoly of DMK and AIADMK in the politics of Tamil Nadu. In 1996, a split in the Congress party in Tamil Nadu eventuated in the formation of Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC). TMC aligned with the DMK, while another party Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), which split from DMK aligned with the AIADMK. These and several smaller political parties began to gain popular support. The first instance of a 'grand alliance' was during the 1996 elections for the National parliament, during which the AIADMK formed a large coalition of a number smaller parties to counter the electoral threat posed by the alliance between the DMK and TMC. Since then the formation of alliances of a large number of political parties has become an electoral practice in Tamil Nadu. The electoral decline of Congress party at the national level, which started during early 1990, forced the Congress to seek coalition partners from various states including Tamil Nadu. This paved the way for the Dravidian parties to be part of the Central Government.


title: History of Tamil Nadu

text: In the 2001 elections, Jaylalithaa became Chief Minister again, but due to legal cases against her, the Chief Ministership was taken up by loyalist O. Paneerselvam until she returned 6 months later. In the 2006 assembly elections however, the DMK won a majority and Karunanidhi became chief minister. During the 2011 election however, the DMK was beset by anti-incumbency and anger over the 2G scam, and Jaylalithaa became Chief Minister again. Unlike the rest of India, the 2014 Lok Sabha elections resulted in no significant increase in support for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tamil Nadu and the AIADMK swept the state. In 2016, Jaylalithaa won another term, but soon after taking office died of a heart attack. After her death, Paneerselvam served again as caretaker Chief Minister until he was expelled from the party by general secretary V. K. Sasikala. Then Edappadi Palaniswami, the newly-elected leader of the AIADMK legislature party, reached an agreement on chief ministership, and Palaniswami became chief minister in February 2017 with Paneerselvam as his deputy. In 2018, Karunanidhi died and was succeeded by his son M.K. Stalin as DMK leader and leader of the opposition. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK-led alliance swept the state winning 37 out of 38 seats. The alliance also won the 2021 Legislative Assembly election, with 159 out of 234 seats. As a result, M.K. Stalin became the Chief Minister for the first time.


title: Humbug (album)

text: Humbug is the third studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys, first released on 19 August 2009 through the Domino Recording Company. The band started to write new material for the album towards the end of summer 2008, and finished it entirely in spring 2009. Like their previous release, "Favourite Worst Nightmare" (2007), "Humbug" was released first in Japan, followed by Australia, Brazil, Ireland and Germany, on 21 August 2009. It was then released in the UK on 24 August 2009, in the US the following day and in Greece on 31 August.


title: Humbug (album)

text: Wholly recorded in the United States, Arctic Monkeys' worked with American musician Josh Homme, who produced tracks recorded in Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert alongside New York City recordings produced by James Ford. Musically, the album is a departure from the punk-influenced sound of the band with it having a desert/surf and ambient tone. Homme has been credited by writers for introducing the album's darker sound. Percussion instruments were used on the album, including xylophones, glockenspiels and shakers. Lead singer Alex Turner's vocals on the album is noted as a drastic change from the upbeat approach on Arctic Monkeys' previous albums to a slower and hushed approach. Turner's songwriting also is a departure from his kitchen-sink realism poetry, instead being replaced by analogies.


title: Humbug (album)

text: The release preceded the band's headline performances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals at the end of that week. It topped the UK Albums Chart and has been certified platinum in the UK. Though "Humbug" did not receive the extent of acclaim that both "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" (2006) and "Favourite Worst Nightmare" received by critics, it received generally positive reviews, with critics noting that the band expanded their sound and themes, while the album's tone was recognised as darker than the band's upbeat previous records. Retrospectively, "Humbug" is considered one of the band's most important records, with many noting it as containing various musical styles and lyrical themes the band would explore on later releases.


title: Humbug (album)

text: The band started writing songs for the album towards the end of summer 2008, with lead singer Alex Turner suggesting that the inspiration for the first few guitar riffs came while the band were attending the Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Tracks were written through the end of 2008, with recording taking place around the band's touring schedule towards late 2008 and early 2009. Alex Turner wrote all the album. Co-produced by Josh Homme, the album was wholly recorded in the United States. Homme-produced tracks recorded in Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert alongside New York City recordings produced – as per the second album – by James Ford, who also produced the album "The Age of the Understatement" by Turner's side-project The Last Shadow Puppets.


title: Humbug (album)

text: While recording the album, the band incorporated a wide variety of instruments that they had not used previously. Baritone and slide guitars can be heard throughout the album, as well as new guitar effects. The guitar playing on the album has a desert/surf tone. The presence of a variety of keyboards on almost every track was something new for the band, with lead singer Alex Turner recording all of them himself with the exception of the album's singles, which were handled by session and touring keyboardist John Ashton. The presence of new percussion instruments was also evident, as the band used xylophones, glockenspiels and shakers. While being interviewed for the BBC's "The Culture Show", Turner and Matt Helders cited Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Jake Thackray, John Cale, Nick Cave, Roky Erickson and the Beatles as influences on the recording of the album.


title: Humbug (album)

text: The album's tone is more relaxed than the band's "aggressive" previous records. Robin Murray of "Clash" notes that a "spooky carnivalesque atmosphere permeates the album; there’s the recurring waltzer organ, the circus-like marching drums, and of course the bellowing ringmaster, luring us all into the dark and devilish delights of what’s in store. Homme has been credited by writers for introducing the album's darker sound. Murray further notes Turner's voice as transitioning from "breakneck reality bites" into a dark, deep and hushed singing voice. According to Mike Driver in his BBC Music review, ""Humbug" embraces the true nature of album-craft by sequencing ten tracks in such a way that coherence and consistency bind constituent pieces into a single, enjoyably sombre whole." Driver also notes that "Kitchen-sink realism poetry’s replaced by rampant analogies, characters of the everyday transformed into otherworldly denizens with wicked intentions. Turner still spills syllables rather too swiftly at times [...] but largely a slow-and-steady approach prevails, mirrored by the music’s assured shuffle." Murray highlights that the two most distinct features that dominate "Humbug" are "the smoky trembling guitar" and Turner’s matured croon.


title: Humbug (album)

text: Early soundbites of tracks from the album appeared in the band's periodical video diary on YouTube. The first single of the album was "Crying Lightning". It was released on 6 July, when it was played on BBC Radio 1 and was available for download from iTunes after midnight that day. On 4 October 2009 the band's official website announced the second single from the album would be "Cornerstone".


title: Humbug (album)

text: On 1 February 2010, the third single from the album was announced to be "My Propeller", which was released on 22 March. Similar to other singles from the album, was released on 7" and as an exclusive 10" vinyl available only in Oxfam shops. The B-sides on the 10" vinyl were "Joining the Dots", "The Afternoon's Hat" and "Don't Forget Whose Legs You're On", with just "Joining the Dots" available as a B-side on the 7" version.


title: Humbug (album)

text: Like their previous release, "Favourite Worst Nightmare" (2007), "Humbug" was released first in Japan on 19 August 2009, followed by Australia, Brazil, Ireland and Germany, on 21 August 2009. It was then released in the UK on 24 August 2009, in the US the following day and in Greece on 31 August. "I Haven't Got My Strange" was included as an iTunes bonus track, while a cover of "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was included as a bonus track on the Japanese release. Upon release, the album sold over 96,000 copies in its first week in the UK, topping the UK Albums Chart. By September 2013, the album had sold 320,921 copies in the UK.


title: Humbug (album)

text: Arctic Monkeys embarked on the first leg of the worldwide Humbug Tour in January 2009 and went on to headline 2009's Reading and Leeds Festivals. During this performance, they played a number of songs from "Humbug", plus older tracks and a cover of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "Red Right Hand". They were also the headline act on the first night of 2009's Exit festival in Serbia. In North America, where they had less of a following, they played abridged sets at Montreal's Osheaga Festival, as well as New Jersey's All Points West Music and Arts Festival. The tour finished in early 2010 in Mexico.


title: Humbug (album)

text: "Humbug" received generally positive reviews from critics, albeit less positive than its two predecessors. It received a rating of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 26 critic reviews.


title: Humbug (album)

text: Jason Lipshutz of "Billboard" stated that the band "justif[ies] the hype by shifting its best qualities into different, equally dazzling shapes." John Mulvey of "Uncut" felt that "Homme's role as producer, perhaps, has been to nurture the soundscaping that was attempted on "Humbug"s predecessor, and, critically, to encourage a sense of space and stealth." In his positive review of the album, Joe Tangari of "Pitchfork" noted that ""Humbug" isn't better than either of its predecessors, but it expands the group's range and makes me curious where it might go next. It also demonstrates a great deal of staying power for a band that could have imploded before it ever got this far." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave "Humbug" a positive review. Although he found it overall wasn't as accessible as its two predecessors, he noted that the band were beginning to push their limits in regards to creativity, and composing music carefree of whether or not they were successful in America. He further noted that opinion towards the album might change retrospectively: "the record may mean more in the long-term that it does on its own."


title: Humbug (album)

text: While overall response was positive, the album was criticised by some for not containing the same hooks that the band had become known for, with "Spin"s Sean Fennessey calling the album "accomplished, but not particularly infectious."


title: Humbug (album)

text: In retrospect, "Humbug" has been considered a very important piece in Arctic Monkeys' catalogue, having introduced a variety of new styles and themes, both lyrically and musically, to the band, that they have expanded on since its release. It marked the first time they recorded material under Queens of the Stone Age frontman, Josh Homme's, influence. In an "NME" article, Mike Williams writes, "If Arctic Monkeys had never walked into the desert with Josh Homme to record 'Humbug' in 2009, they could never have made 'AM'. 'Humbug' was as much about subverting people's impressions of who the band were as it was an album in its own right." Nevertheless, "Humbug" remains the band's most polarising album. Both "NME" and "Consequence of Sound" ranked "Humbug" the band's weakest release thus far in 2015 and 2018, respectively. While both acknowledged the album's position in the band's discography, "NME" nevertheless stated: "in retrospect, it feels more like an important bridge between the youthful vim of old and the meatier material that would come than a destination." Meanwhile, "Consequence of Sound" wrote that "Humbug" paved the way for songwriting evolution seen in the band's follow-up efforts "Suck It and See" (2011) and "AM". Conversely, both the "Evening Standard" and "The Independent", in 2018 and 2019, respectively, argue that "Humbug" is Arctic Monkeys' greatest album, with the former stating that the record was the band's "most accomplished collection of tracks yet, which captured the sound of a band at the peak of their creative powers."


title: Josie Bissett

text: Jolyn Christine Heutmaker (born October 5, 1970), known professionally as Josie Bissett, is an American actress. She is known for her role as Jane Mancini on the television series "Melrose Place" (1992–1999), and for her television film appearances over the past three decades.


title: Josie Bissett

text: A native of Seattle, Washington, Bissett began her career in front of the camera at the age of 12 as a model in print advertisements and television commercials.


title: Josie Bissett

text: Bissett's acting debut was in the 1989 Italian-American produced horror film "Hitcher in the Dark." By that time, she had adopted her mother's maiden name as her stage name, after her original surname Heutmaker was found too difficult for agents to pronounce. In early 1990, Bissett played a recurring role on the sitcom "The Hogan Family" for two seasons. In 1992, she was cast as fashion designer Jane Andrews-Mancini on the prime time soap opera "Melrose Place". Bissett remained with the series for five-and-a-half seasons until halfway through the 1996–97 season when she suffered a real-life miscarriage. She then took some time off from the series, but returned to the show in 1998 for its final season. In 2009–10, Bissett made guest appearances in two episodes of The CW's updated version of "Melrose Place", reprising her role as Jane Andrews-Mancini.


title: Josie Bissett

text: She has made appearances in such projects as the telefilms "The Fire Above" and "Dare to Love" on ABC, "Deadly Vows" on FOX, "Baby Monitor: Sound of Fear" on USA, and "I Do, They Don't" on ABC Family. She has also made numerous guest-starring appearances, such as a 2003 appearance on NBC's "". In 2008, she began a recurring role on the ABC Family TV series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager". She starred in the Lifetime Television original film "The Other Woman", based on the novel by Joy Fielding and directed by Jason Priestley. It debuted on June 28, 2008.


title: Josie Bissett

text: Bissett's feature film debut was in 1991, in Oliver Stone's "The Doors", as the girlfriend of Doors' guitarist Robby Krieger. Her subsequent films include the coming-of-age comedy "Book of Love" and the psychological thriller "Mikey".


title: Josie Bissett

text: Bissett has hosted television series on the topic of parenting, including "Parenting & Beyond", which offered parents creative solutions to everyday problems. She also hosted the PBS educational special "Teach More, Love More" which follows four families, each with a child in a stage of early childhood development.


title: Josie Bissett

text: She has appeared on several magazine covers, including "TV Guide", "Rolling Stone", "Entertainment Weekly", "Shape's Fit Pregnancy" and "New Woman".


title: Josie Bissett

text: Bissett has been the face of several national commercial campaigns, including Neutrogena's skin care line, Dr. Scholl's Pedicure Essentials, and Murad Skin Care.


title: Josie Bissett

text: She has also been the spokesperson of the 1997 Lee National Denim Day with the Lee Company. This was to help raise money for the fight against breast cancer and for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.


title: Josie Bissett

text: She has co-edited two books, "Little Bits Of Wisdom" and "Making Memories," which compile parenting stories and advice from parents around the world. She also authored a children's book, "Tickle Monster", released in April 2008.


title: Josie Bissett

text: In 1992, Bissett married actor Rob Estes, who also starred on "Melrose Place". The couple have two children together. They announced their plans to divorce in January 2006.


title: Check valve

text: A check valve, non-return valve, reflux valve, retention valve, foot valve, or one-way valve is a valve that normally allows fluid (liquid or gas) to flow through it in only one direction.


title: Check valve

text: Check valves are two-port valves, meaning they have two openings in the body, one for fluid to enter and the other for fluid to leave. There are various types of check valves used in a wide variety of applications. Check valves are often part of common household items. Although they are available in a wide range of sizes and costs, check valves generally are very small, simple, and inexpensive. Check valves work automatically and most are not controlled by a person or any external control; accordingly, most do not have any valve handle or stem. The bodies (external shells) of most check valves are made of plastic or metal.


title: Check valve

text: An important concept in check valves is the cracking pressure which is the minimum differential upstream pressure between inlet and outlet at which the valve will operate. Typically the check valve is designed for and can therefore be specified for a specific cracking pressure.


title: Check valve

text: Cracking pressure – Refers to the minimum pressure differential needed between the inlet and outlet of the valve at which the first indication of flow occurs (steady stream of bubbles). Cracking pressure is also known as unseating head (pressure) or opening pressure.


title: Check valve

text: Reseal pressure – Refers to the pressure differential between the inlet and outlet of the valve during the closing process of the check valve, at which there is no visible leak rate. Reseal pressure is also known as sealing pressure, seating head (pressure) or closing pressure.


title: Check valve

text: Back pressure – a pressure higher at the outlet of a fitting than that at the inlet or a point upstream


title: Check valve

text: A ball check valve is a check valve in which the closing member, the movable part to block the flow, is a ball. In some ball check valves, the ball is spring-loaded to help keep it shut. For those designs without a spring, reverse flow is required to move the ball toward the seat and create a seal. The interior surface of the main seats of ball check valves are more or less conically-tapered to guide the ball into the seat and form a positive seal when stopping reverse flow.


title: Check valve

text: Ball check valves are often very small, simple, and cheap. They are commonly used in liquid or gel minipump dispenser spigots, spray devices, some rubber bulbs for pumping air, etc., manual air pumps and some other pumps, and refillable dispensing syringes. Although the balls are most often made of metal, they can be made of other materials; in some specialized cases out of highly durable or inert materials, such as sapphire. High pressure HPLC pumps and similar applications commonly use small inlet and outlet ball check valves with balls of (artificial) ruby and seats made of sapphire or both ball and seat of ruby, for both hardness and chemical resistance. After prolonged use, such check valves can eventually wear out or the seat can develop a crack, requiring replacement. Therefore, such valves are made to be replaceable, sometimes placed in a small plastic body tightly-fitted inside a metal fitting which can withstand high pressure and which is screwed into the pump head.


title: Check valve

text: There are similar check valves where the disc is not a ball, but some other shape, such as a poppet energized by a spring. Ball check valves should not be confused with ball valves, which is a different type of valve in which a ball acts as a controllable rotor to stop or direct flow.


title: Check valve

text: A diaphragm check valve uses a flexing rubber diaphragm positioned to create a normally-closed valve. Pressure on the upstream side must be greater than the pressure on the downstream side by a certain amount, known as the pressure differential, for the check valve to open allowing flow. Once positive pressure stops, the diaphragm automatically flexes back to its original closed position. This type is used in respirators (face masks) with an exhalation valve.


title: Check valve

text: A swing check valve or tilting disc check valve is a check valve in which the disc, the movable part to block the flow, swings on a hinge or trunnion, either onto the seat to block reverse flow or off the seat to allow forward flow. The seat opening cross-section may be perpendicular to the centerline between the two ports or at an angle. Although swing check valves can come in various sizes, large check valves are often swing check valves. A common issue caused by swing check valves is known as water hammer. This can occur when the swing check closes and the flow abruptly stops, causing a surge of pressure resulting in high velocity shock waves that act against the piping and valves, placing large stress on the metals and vibrations in the system. Undetected, water hammer can rupture pumps, valves, and pipes within the system.


title: Check valve

text: The flapper valve in a flush-toilet mechanism is an example of this type of valve. Tank pressure holding it closed is overcome by manual lift of the flapper. It then remains open until the tank drains and the flapper falls due to gravity. Another variation of this mechanism is the clapper valve, used in applications such firefighting and fire life safety systems. A hinged gate only remains open in the inflowing direction. The clapper valve often also has a spring that keeps the gate shut when there is no forward pressure. Another example is the backwater valve (for sanitary drainage system) that protects against flooding caused by return flow of sewage waters. Such risk occurs most often in sanitary drainage systems connected to combined sewerage systems and in rainwater drainage systems. It may be caused by intense rainfall, thaw or flood.


title: Check valve

text: A stop-check valve is a check valve with override control to stop flow regardless of flow direction or pressure. In addition to closing in response to backflow or insufficient forward pressure (normal check-valve behavior), it can also be deliberately shut by an external mechanism, thereby preventing any flow regardless of forward pressure.


title: Check valve

text: A lift-check valve is a check valve in which the disc, sometimes called a "lift", can be lifted up off its seat by higher pressure of inlet or upstream fluid to allow flow to the outlet or downstream side. A guide keeps motion of the disc on a vertical line, so the valve can later reseat properly. When the pressure is no longer higher, gravity or higher downstream pressure will cause the disc to lower onto its seat, shutting the valve to stop reverse flow.


title: Check valve

text: An in-line check valve is a check valve similar to the lift check valve. However, this valve generally has a spring that will 'lift' when there is pressure on the upstream side of the valve. The pressure needed on the upstream side of the valve to overcome the spring tension is called the 'cracking pressure'. When the pressure going through the valve goes below the cracking pressure, the spring will close the valve to prevent back-flow in the process.


title: Check valve

text: A duckbill valve is a check valve in which flow proceeds through a soft tube that protrudes into the downstream side. Back-pressure collapses this tube, cutting off flow.


title: Check valve

text: A reed valve is a check valve formed by a flexible flat sheet that seals an orifice plate. The cracking pressure is very low, the moving part has low mass allowing rapid operation, the flow resistance is moderate, and the seal improves with back pressure. These are commonly found in two stroke internal combustion engines as the air intake valve for the crankcase volume and in air compressors as both intake and exhaust valves for the cylinder(s). Although reed valves are typically used for gasses rather than liquids, the Autotrol brand of water treatment control valves are designed as a set of reed valves taking advantage of the sealing characteristic, selectively forcing open some of the reeds to establish a flow path.


title: Check valve

text: A flow check is a check valve used in hydronic heating and cooling systems to prevent unwanted passive gravity flow. A flow check is a simple flow lifted gravity closed heavy metal stopper designed for low flow resistance, many decades of continuous service, and to self-clean the fine particulates commonly found in hydroninc systems from the sealing surfaces. To accomplish self cleaning, the stopper is typically not conical. A circular recess in a weight that fits over a matching narrow ridge at the rim of an orifice is a common design. The application inherently tolerates a modest reverse leakage rate, a perfect seal is not required. A flow check has an operating screw to allow the valve to be held open, the opposite of the control on a stop-check valve, as an aide for filling the system and for purging air from the system.


title: Check valve

text: Multiple check valves can be connected in series. For example, a double check valve is often used as a backflow prevention device to keep potentially contaminated water from siphoning back into municipal water supply lines. There are also "double ball check valves" in which there are two ball/seat combinations sequentially in the same body to ensure positive leak-tight shutoff when blocking reverse flow; and piston check valves, wafer check valves, and ball-and-cone check valves.


title: Check valve

text: Check valves are often used with some types of pumps. Piston-driven and diaphragm pumps such as metering pumps and pumps for chromatography commonly use inlet and outlet ball check valves. These valves often look like small cylinders attached to the pump head on the inlet and outlet lines. Many similar pump-like mechanisms for moving volumes of fluids around use check valves such as ball check valves. The feed pumps or injectors which supply water to steam boilers are fitted with check valves to prevent back-flow.


title: Check valve

text: Check valves are also used in the pumps that supply water to water slides. The water to the slide flows through a pipe which doubles as the tower holding the steps to the slide. When the facility with the slide closes for the night, the check valve stops the flow of water through the pipe; when the facility reopens for the next day, the valve is opened and the flow restarts, making the slide ready for use again.


title: Check valve

text: Check valves are used in many fluid systems such as those in chemical and power plants, and in many other industrial processes.


title: Check valve

text: Typical applications in the nuclear industry are feed water control systems, dump lines, make-up water, miscellaneous process systems, N2 systems, and monitoring and sampling systems. In aircraft and aerospace, check valves are used where high vibration, large temperature extremes and corrosive fluids are present. For example, spacecraft and launch vehicle propulsion propellant control for reaction control systems (RCS) and Attitude Control Systems (ACS) and aircraft hydraulic systems.


title: Check valve

text: Check valves are also often used when multiple gases are mixed into one gas stream. A check valve is installed on each of the individual gas streams to prevent mixing of the gases in the original source. For example, if a fuel and an oxidizer are to be mixed, then check valves will normally be used on both the fuel and oxidizer sources to ensure that the original gas cylinders remain pure and therefore nonflammable.


title: Check valve

text: In 2010, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory slightly modified a simple check valve design with the intention to store liquid samples indicative to life on Mars in separate reservoirs of the device without fear of cross contamination.


title: Check valve

text: When a sanitary potable water supply is plumbed to an unsanitary system, for example lawn sprinklers, a dish washer or a washing machine, a check valve called a backflow preventer is used to prevent contaminated water from re-entering the domestic water supply.


title: Check valve

text: Some types of irrigation sprinklers and drip irrigation emitters have small check valves built into them to keep the lines from draining when the system is shut off.


title: Check valve

text: Check valves used in domestic heating systems to prevent vertical convection, especially in combination with solar thermal installations, also are called gravity brakes.


title: Check valve

text: Rainwater harvesting systems that are plumbed into the main water supply of a utility provider may be required to have one or more check valves fitted to prevent contamination of the primary supply by rainwater.


title: Check valve

text: Check valves are commonly used in inflatables, such as toys, mattresses and boats. This allows the object to be inflated without continuous or uninterrupted air pressure.


title: Check valve

text: Frank P. Cotter developed a "simple self sealing check valve, adapted to be connected in the pipe connections without requiring special fittings and which may be readily opened for inspection or repair" 1907 (U.S. patent 865,631).


title: Check valve

text: Nikola Tesla invented a deceptively simple one-way valve for fluids in 1916, called a Tesla valve. It was patented in 1920 (U.S. patent 1,329,559).


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu (, –202 BC), born Xiang Ji (), was the Hegemon-King (Chinese: 霸王, "Bà Wáng") of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period (206–202 BC) of China. A noble of the Chu state, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dynasty and became a prominent warlord. He was granted the title of "Duke of Lu" () by King Huai II of the restoring Chu state in 208 BC. The following year, he led the Chu forces to victory at the Battle of Julu against the Qin armies led by Zhang Han. After the fall of Qin, Xiang Yu was enthroned as the "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" () and ruled a vast area covering modern-day central and eastern China, with Pengcheng as his capital. He engaged Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, in a long struggle for power, known as the Chu–Han Contention, which concluded with his eventual defeat at the Battle of Gaixia and his suicide. Xiang Yu is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu's family name was Xiang () while his given name was Ji () and his courtesy name was Yu (). He is best known as Xiang Yu.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu is popularly known as "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" (), which has been translated as "Overlord of Western Chu", "Hegemon-King of Western Chu", "Conqueror of Western Chu", "King of Kings of Western Chu", and other renditions. This title is sometimes simplified to "Ba Wang" (), without the link to "Western Chu". Since Xiang Yu's death, the term "Ba Wang" has come to be used specifically to refer to him. Xiang Yu's subjects would sometimes have addressed him as "Xiang Wang" (), which literally means "King Xiang".


title: Xiang Yu

text: There are two accounts of Xiang Yu's family background. The first claimed that Xiang Yu was from the house of Mi (), the royal family of the Chu state in the Zhou dynasty. His ancestors were granted the land of Xiang () by the king of Chu and had since adopted "Xiang" as their family name. The other account claimed that Xiang Yu was a descendant of a noble clan from the Lu state and his family had served in the Chu military for generations. Xiang Yu's grandfather was a well known general who led the Chu army in resisting the Qin invaders led by Wang Jian, and was killed in action when Qin conquered Chu in 223 BC.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu was born in 232 BC in the late Warring States period when the Qin state started unifying the other six major states. According to the descendants of the Xiang family in Suqian, Xiang Yu's father was Xiang Chao (), Xiang Yan's eldest son. Xiang Yu was raised by his elder uncle Xiang Liang because his father died early. In 221 BC, when Xiang Yu was about 11 years old, the Qin state unified China and established the Qin dynasty.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu had a double pupil in one of his eyes just like the mythical Emperor Shun and Duke Wen of Jin. He was thus seen as an extraordinary person because his unique double pupil was a mark of a king or sage in Chinese tradition. Xiang Yu was slightly taller than eight "chi" (approximately 1.86~1.88 metres, about 6' 1") and possessed unusual physical strength as he could lift a "ding" (an ancient Chinese vessel resembling a giant cauldron on tripods).


title: Xiang Yu

text: In his younger days, Xiang Yu was instructed in scholarly arts and swordsmanship but he did not manage to master what he was taught, and his uncle Xiang Liang was not very satisfied with him. Xiang Yu said, "Books are only useful in helping me remember my name. Mastering swordsmanship allows me to face only one opponent, so it's not worth learning. I want to learn how to defeat thousands of enemies." Hence, his uncle tried to educate him in military strategy and the art of war instead, but Xiang Yu stopped learning after he had grasped the main ideas; Xiang Liang was disappointed with his nephew, who showed no sign of motivation or apparent talent apart from his great strength, so he gave up and let Xiang Yu decide his own future.


title: Xiang Yu

text: When Xiang Yu grew older, Xiang Liang killed someone so they fled to Wu to evade the authorities. At the time, Qin Shi Huang was on an inspection tour in that area and Xiang Yu and his uncle watched the emperor's procession pass by. Xiang Yu said, "I can replace him." Xiang Liang was shocked and immediately covered his nephew's mouth with his hand. Afterwards, Xiang Liang began to see his nephew in a different light.


title: Xiang Yu

text: In 209 BC, during the reign of Qin Er Shi, peasant rebellions erupted throughout China to overthrow the Qin dynasty, plunging China into a state of anarchy. , the Administrator of Kuaiji, wanted to start a rebellion as well, so he invited Xiang Liang to meet him and discuss their plans. However, the Xiangs lured Yin Tong into a trap and killed him instead, with Xiang Yu personally striking down hundreds of Yin's men. Xiang Liang initiated the rebellion himself and rallied about 8,000 men to support him. Xiang Liang proclaimed himself Administrator of Kuaiji while appointing Xiang Yu as a general. Xiang Liang's revolution force grew in size until it was between 60,000 and 70,000. In 208 BC, Xiang Liang installed Mi Xin as King Huai II of Chu to rally support from those eager to help him overthrow the Qin Dynasty and restore the former Chu state. Xiang Yu distinguished himself as a competent marshal and mighty warrior on the battlefield while participating in the battles against Qin forces.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Later that year, Xiang Liang was killed at the Battle of Dingtao against the Qin army led by Zhang Han and the military power of Chu fell into the hands of the king and some other generals. In the winter of 208 BC, another rebel force claiming to restore the Zhao state, led by Zhao Xie, was besieged in Handan by Zhang Han. Zhao Xie requested for reinforcements from Chu. King Huai II granted Xiang Yu the title of "Duke of Lu" (), and appointed him as a second-in-command to Song Yi, who was ordered to lead an army to reinforce Zhao Xie. At the same time, the king placed Liu Bang in command of another army to attack Guanzhong, the heartland (capital territory) of Qin. The king promised that whoever managed to enter Guanzhong first will be granted the title "King of Guanzhong".


title: Xiang Yu

text: The Chu army led by Song Yi and Xiang Yu reached Anyang, some distance away from Julu (; in present-day Xingtai, Hebei), where Zhao Xie's forces had retreated to. Song Yi ordered the troops to lay camp there for 46 days and he refused to accept Xiang Yu's suggestion to proceed further. Xiang Yu took Song Yi by surprise in a meeting and killed him on a charge of treason. Song Yi's other subordinates were afraid of Xiang Yu so they let him become the acting commander-in-chief. Xiang Yu sent a messenger to inform King Huai II and the king approved Xiang's command.


title: Xiang Yu

text: In 207 BC, Xiang Yu's army advanced towards Julu and he sent Ying Bu and Zhongli Mo to lead the 20,000 strong vanguard army to cross the river and attack the Qin forces led by Zhang Han, while he followed behind with the remaining majority of the troops. After crossing the river, Xiang Yu ordered his men to sink their boats and destroy all but three days worth of rations, in order to force his men to choose between prevailing against overwhelming odds within three days or die trapped before the walls of the city with no supplies or any hope of escape. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Chu forces scored a great victory after nine engagements, defeating the 300,000 strong Qin army. After the battle, other rebel forces, including those not from Chu, came to join Xiang Yu out of admiration for his martial valour. When Xiang Yu received them at the gate, the rebel chiefs were so fearful of him that they sank to their knees and did not even dare to look up at him.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Zhang Han sent his deputy Sima Xin to Xianyang to request for reinforcements and supplies from the Qin imperial court. However, the eunuch Zhao Gao deceived the emperor and the emperor dismissed Zhang Han's request. Zhao Gao even sent assassins to kill Sima Xin when the latter was returning to Zhang Han's camp, but Sima managed to escape alive. In dire straits, Zhang Han and his 200,000 troops eventually surrendered to Xiang Yu in the summer of 207 BC. Xiang Yu perceived the surrendered Qin troops as disloyal and a liability, and had them executed by burying them alive at Xin'an (; in present-day Yima, Henan). Zhang Han, along with Sima Xin and Dong Yi, were spared from death. Xiang Yu appointed Zhang Han as "King of Yong", while Sima Xin and Dong Yi were respectively conferred the titles of "King of Sai" and "King of Di".


title: Xiang Yu

text: After his victory at the Battle of Julu, Xiang Yu prepared for an invasion on Guanzhong, the heartland of the Qin dynasty. In the winter of 207 BC, the last Qin ruler Ziying surrendered to Liu Bang in Xianyang (Qin's capital), bringing an end to the Qin Dynasty. When Xiang Yu arrived at Hangu Pass, the eastern gateway to Guanzhong, he saw that the pass was occupied by Liu Bang's troops, a sign that Guanzhong was already under Liu's control. Cao Wushang (), a subordinate of Liu Bang, sent a messenger to see Xiang Yu, saying that Liu would become King of Guanzhong in accordance with King Huai II's earlier promise, while Ziying would be appointed as Liu's chancellor. Xiang Yu was furious after hearing that. At that time, he had about 400,000 troops under his command while Liu Bang only had a quarter of that number.


title: Xiang Yu

text: As strongly encouraged by his advisor Fan Zeng, Xiang Yu invited Liu Bang to attend a feast at Hong Gate and plotted to kill Liu during the banquet. However, Xiang Yu later listened to his uncle Xiang Bo and decided to spare Liu Bang. Liu Bang escaped during the banquet under the pretext of going to the latrine.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu paid no attention to Liu Bang's presumptive title and led his troops into Xianyang in 206 BC. He ordered the execution of Ziying and his family, as well as the destruction of the Epang Palace by fire. It was said that Xiang Yu would leave behind a trail of destruction in the places he passed by, and the people of Guanzhong were greatly disappointed with him.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Despite advice from his subjects to remain in Guanzhong and continue with his conquests, Xiang Yu was insistent on returning to his homeland in Chu. He said, "To not return home when one has made his fortune is equivalent to walking on the streets at night in glamorous outfits. Who would notice that?" One of his followers said, "It is indeed true when people say that the men of Chu are apes dressed in human clothing." Xiang Yu had that man boiled alive when he heard that insult.


title: Xiang Yu

text: After the downfall of the Qin dynasty, Xiang Yu offered King Huai II the more honourable title of "Emperor Yi of Chu" and announced his decision to divide the former Qin Empire. Xiang Yu declared himself "Hegemon-King of Western Chu" () and ruled nine commanderies in the former Liang and Chu territories, with his capital at Pengcheng. In the spring of 206 BC, Xiang Yu divided the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms, to be granted to his subordinates and some leaders of the former rebel forces. He moved some of the rulers of other states to more remote areas and granted the land of Guanzhong to the three surrendered Qin generals, ignoring Emperor Yi's earlier promise to appoint Liu Bang as king of that region. Liu Bang was relocated to the remote Hanzhong area and given the title of "King of Han" ().


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu appointed several generals from the rebel coalition as vassal kings, even though these generals were subordinates of other lords, who should rightfully be the kings in place of their followers. Xiang Yu also left out some other important rebel leaders who did not support him earlier, but did contribute to the overthrow of Qin. In winter, Xiang Yu moved Emperor Yi to the remote region of Chen, effectively sending the puppet emperor into exile. At the same time, he issued a secret order to the vassal kings in that area and had the emperor assassinated during his journey in 205 BC. The emperor's death was later used by Liu Bang as political propaganda to justify his war against Xiang Yu.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Shortly after the death of Emperor Yi, Xiang Yu had Han Cheng (King of Hán) put to death and seized Han's lands for himself. Several months later, Tian Rong (chancellor of Qi) took control over the Three Qis (Jiaodong, Qi and Jibei) from their respective kings and reinstated Tian Fu as the King of Qi, but he took over the throne himself afterwards. Similarly, Chen Yu, a former vice chancellor of Zhao, led an uprising against the King of Changshan, Zhang Er, and seized Zhang's domain and reinstalled Zhao Xie as the King of Zhao.


title: Xiang Yu

text: In 206 BC, Liu Bang led his forces to attack Guanzhong. At that time, Xiang Yu was at war with Qi and did not focus on resisting the Han forces. The following year, Liu Bang formed an alliance with another five kingdoms and attacked Western Chu with a 560,000 strong army, capturing Xiang Yu's capital of Pengcheng. Upon hearing this, Xiang Yu led 30,000 men to attack Liu Bang and defeated the latter at the Battle of Pengcheng, with the Han army suffering heavy casualties.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Liu Bang managed to escape after his defeat with Xiang Yu's troops on pursuit. Han troops retreated to Xingyang and defended the city firmly, preventing Chu forces from advancing west any further, but only managed to hold on until 204 BC. Liu Bang's subordinate Ji Xin disguised himself as his lord and surrendered to Xiang Yu, buying time for Liu Bang to escape. When Xiang Yu learned that he had been fooled, he became furious and had Ji Xin burned to death. After the fall of Xingyang, Chu and Han forces were divided on two fronts along present-day Henan. However, Xiang Yu's forces were not faring well on the battlefront north of the Yellow River, as the Han army led by Han Xin defeated his troops in every single battle. At the same time, Liu Bang's ally Peng Yue led his men to harass Xiang Yu's rear.


title: Xiang Yu

text: By 203 BC, the tide had turned in favour of Han. Xiang Yu managed to capture Liu Bang's father after a year-long siege and he threatened to boil Liu's father alive if Liu refused to surrender. Liu Bang remarked that he and Xiang Yu were oath brothers, so if Xiang killed Liu's father, he would be guilty of patricide. Xiang Yu requested for an armistice, known as the Treaty of Hong Canal, and returned the hostages he had captured to Liu Bang as part of their agreement. The treaty divided China into east and west under the Chu and Han domains respectively.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Shortly after, as Xiang Yu was retreating eastwards, Liu Bang renounced the treaty and led his forces to attack Western Chu. Liu Bang sent messengers to Han Xin and Peng Yue, requesting for their assistance in forming a three-pronged attack on Xiang Yu, but Han Xin and Peng Yue did not mobilise their troops and Liu Bang was defeated by Xiang Yu at the Battle of Guling. Liu Bang retreated and reinforced his defences, while sending emissaries to Han Xin and Peng Yue, promising to grant them fiefs and titles of vassal kings if they would join him in attacking Western Chu.


title: Xiang Yu

text: In 202 BC, Han armies led by Liu Bang, Han Xin and Peng Yue attacked Western Chu from three sides and trapped Xiang Yu's army, which was low on supplies, at Gaixia. Liu Bang ordered his troops to sing folk songs from the Chu region to create a false impression that Xiang Yu's native land had been conquered by Han forces. The morale of the Chu army plummeted and many of Xiang Yu's troops deserted in despair. Xiang Yu sank into a state of depression and he composed the "Song of Gaixia". His wife Consort Yu committed suicide. The next morning, Xiang Yu led about 800 of his remaining elite cavalry on a desperate attempt to break out of the encirclement, with 5,000 enemy troops pursuing them.


title: Xiang Yu

text: After crossing the Huai River, Xiang Yu was only left with a few hundred soldiers. They were lost in Yinling () and Xiang Yu asked for directions from a farmer, who directed him wrongly to a swamp. When Xiang Yu reached Dongcheng (), only 28 men were left, with the Han troops still following him. Xiang Yu made a speech to his men, saying that his downfall was due to Heaven's will and not his personal failure. After that, he led a charge out of the encirclement, killing one Han general in the battle. Xiang Yu then split his men into three groups to confuse the enemy and induce them to split up as well to attack the three groups. Xiang Yu took the Han troops by surprise again and slew another enemy commander, inflicting about 100 casualties on the enemy, while he only lost two men.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu retreated to the bank of the Wu River (near present-day He County, Maanshan, Anhui) and the ferryman at the ford prepared a boat for him to cross the river, strongly encouraging him to do so because Xiang Yu still had the support of the people from his homeland in the south. Xiang Yu said that he was too ashamed to return home and face his people because none of the first 8,000 men from Jiangdong who followed him on his conquests survived. He refused to cross and ordered his remaining men to dismount, asking the ferryman to take his warhorse, Zhui (), back home.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu and his men made a last stand against wave after wave of Han forces until only Xiang himself was left alive. Xiang Yu continued to fight on and slew over 100 enemy soldiers, but he had also sustained several wounds all over his body. Just then, Xiang Yu saw an old friend Lü Matong among the Han soldiers, and he said to Lü, "I heard that the King of Han (Liu Bang) has placed a price of 1,000 gold and the title of "Wanhu Marquis" (; lit. "marquis of 10,000 households") on my head. Take it then, on account of our friendship." Xiang Yu then committed suicide by slitting his throat with his sword, and a brawl broke out among the Han soldiers at the scene due to the reward offered by Liu Bang, and Xiang Yu's body was said to be dismembered and mutilated in the fight. The reward was eventually claimed by Lü Matong and four others.


title: Xiang Yu

text: After Xiang Yu's death, Western Chu surrendered and China was united under Liu Bang's rule, marking the victory of the Han dynasty. Liu Bang held a grand state funeral for Xiang Yu in Gucheng (; in Dongping County, Taian, Shandong), with the ceremony befitting Xiang's title "Duke of Lu". Xiang Yu's relatives were spared from death, including Xiang Bo, who saved Liu Bang's life at the Feast at Hong Gate, and they were granted marquis titles.


title: Xiang Yu

text: The historian Sima Qian, who wrote Xiang Yu's biography in the "Records of the Grand Historian", described Xiang as someone who boasted about his achievements and thought highly of himself. Xiang Yu preferred to depend on his personal abilities as opposed to learning with humility from others before him. Sima Qian thought that Xiang Yu had failed to see his own shortcomings and to make attempts to correct his mistakes, even until his death. Sima Qian thought that it was ridiculous when Xiang Yu claimed that his downfall was due to Heaven's will and not his personal failure. Xiang Yu depicted as a ruthless leader, ordering the massacres of entire cities even after they surrendered peacefully. This often led to cities putting up strong resistance, as they knew they would be killed even if they surrendered. The most notorious example of his cruelty was when he ordered the 200,000 surrendered Qin troops to be buried alive after the Battle of Julu, and the gruesome methods of execution he employed against his enemies and critics. In contrast, Liu Bang is portrayed as a shrewd and cunning ruler who could be brutal at times, but forbade his troops from looting the cities they captured and spared the lives of the citizens, earning their support and trust in return. Xiang Yu's story became an example for Confucianists to advocate the idea that leaders should rule with benevolence and not govern by instilling fear in the people. His ambitions ended with the collapse of Western Chu, his defeat by Liu Bang, and his death at the early age of around 30.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Liu Bang's general Han Xin, who was one of Xiang Yu's opponents on the battlefield, made a statement criticising Xiang, "A man who turns into a fierce warrior when he encounters a rival stronger than he is, but also one who is sympathetic and soft hearted when he sees someone weaker than he is. Neither was he able to make good use of capable generals nor was he able to support Emperor Yi of Chu, as he killed the emperor. Even though he had the name of a Conqueror, he had already lost the favour of the people."


title: Xiang Yu

text: The Tang dynasty poet Du Mu mentioned Xiang Yu in one of his poems "Ti Wujiang Ting" (): "Victory or defeat is common in battle. One who can endure humiliation is a true man. There are several talents in Jiangdong, who knows if he (Xiang Yu) can make a comeback?" However, the Song dynasty poet Wang Anshi had a different opinion, as he wrote, "The warrior is already tired after so many battles. His defeat in the Central Plains is hard to reverse. Although there are talents in Jiangdong, are they willing to help him?" The Song Dynasty female poet Li Qingzhao wrote: "A hero in life, a king of ghosts after death. Until now we still remember Xiang Yu, who refused to return to Jiangdong."


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu is popularly viewed as a leader who possessed great courage but lacked wisdom, and his character is aptly summarised using the Chinese idiom "you yong wu mou" (), meaning "has courage but lacks tactics", "foolhardy". Xiang Yu's battle tactics were studied by later military leaders while his political blunders served as cautionary tales for later rulers. Another Chinese idiom, "si mian chu ge" (), was also derived from the Battle of Gaixia, and used to describe someone in a desperate situation without help. Another saying by Liu Bang, "Having a Fan Zeng but unable to use him" (), was also used to describe Xiang Yu's reliance on his advisor Fan Zeng and failure to actually listen to Fan's advice.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Modern history study has draw the comparative similarities of Xiang Yu military brilliance with Hannibal, general from Carthage who are famous for his genius in military strategy, and Shaka Zulu. Like those famous military leaders, researchers emphasized Xiang Yu strategic thinking, while also exploiting any opportunities to launch a surprise attack in the morning under the cover of darkness night,as Xiang Yu was outstanding in this regard and his tactical early morning raids on the enemy fully demonstrated his superb strategy of mobilization and artistic prowess, despite faced unprecedented crisis.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Mao Zedong also once mentioned Xiang Yu, "We should use our remaining strength to defeat the enemy, instead of thinking about achieving fame like the Conqueror." In 1964, Mao also pointed out three reasons for Xiang Yu's downfall: not following Fan Zeng's advice to kill Liu Bang at the Feast at Hong Gate and letting Liu leave; adhering firmly to the terms of the peace treaty (without considering that Liu Bang might betray his trust); building his capital at Pengcheng.


title: Xiang Yu

text: The "Song of Gaixia" (), translated as "The Hegemon's Lament" by Burton Watson, was a song composed by Xiang Yu while he was trapped by Liu Bang's forces at Gaixia.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu's might and prowess in battle has been glorified in Chinese folk tales, poetry, and novels, and he has been the subject of films, television, plays, Chinese operas, video games and comics. His classic image is that of a heroic and brave, but arrogant and bloodthirsty warrior-king. His romance with his wife Consort Yu and his suicide have also added a touch of a tragic hero to his character.


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu's might and prowess in battle appears in Chinese folk tales and poetry, e.g., in his final battle. The "Meng Ch'iu", an 8th-century Chinese primer, contains the four-character rhyming couplet: "Ji Xin impersonates the Emperor". It referred to the episode in the Battle of Xingyang when Ji Xin and 2,000 women disguised themselves as Liu Bang and his army, to distract Xiang Yu in order to buy time for Liu Bang to escape from the city of Xingyang.


title: Xiang Yu

text: In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Sun Ce is nicknamed "Little Conqueror" () and is often compared favourably to Xiang Yu by his contemporaries. Sun Ce is best known for his conquests in the Jiangdong region that laid the foundation of the state of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms era. In "Water Margin", another of the Four Great Classical Novels, Zhou Tong, one of the 108 outlaws, is nicknamed "Little Conqueror" for his resemblance to Xiang Yu in appearance.


title: Xiang Yu

text: In "Jin Ping Mei", (Ci Hua edition) Xiang Yu is mentioned as an example of a tragic character in the song at the opening of the first chapter.


title: Xiang Yu

text: A famous Beijing opera, "The Hegemon-King Bids His Lady Farewell", depicts the events of Xiang Yu's defeat at the Battle of Gaixia. The title of the play was borrowed as the Chinese title for Chen Kaige's award-winning motion picture "Farewell My Concubine".


title: Xiang Yu

text: Xiang Yu is one of the historical figures depicted in Koei's games, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI" and "". He is also featured as a non-playable character (NPC) in the action role-playing game "Prince of Qin". Xiang Yu is one of the main two characters in the 1990s Super Nintendo historical simulation game "Rise of the Phoenix" by the Koei corporation, the other being Liu Bang. Xiang Yu is a playable character in the online mobile role-playing game "Fate/Grand Order".


title: Joshua Primo

text: Joshua Lincoln Alexander Primo (born December 24, 2002) is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Alabama Crimson Tide.


title: Joshua Primo

text: Primo played basketball for Huntington Prep School in Huntington, West Virginia, where he was teammates with JT Thor. He transferred to Royal Crown Academic School in Scarborough, Toronto. Primo reclassified to the 2020 class and graduated early. Considered a five-star recruit by 247Sports, he committed to playing college basketball for Alabama, choosing the Crimson Tide over Creighton.


title: Joshua Primo

text: In his freshman season, Primo was the youngest player in college basketball. He averaged 8.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game and was named to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Freshman Team. Primo missed three games with a left medial collateral ligament sprain. On April 21, 2021, he declared for the 2021 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility. However on June 30, Primo announced he would remain in the draft due to a strong performance at the NBA combine.


title: Joshua Primo

text: Primo was selected with the 12th pick in the 2021 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs. Primo was later included in the 2021 NBA Summer League roster of the Spurs. On August 11, 2021, the San Antonio Spurs announced that they had signed Primo. On October 20, 2021, Primo made his debut in the NBA, coming-off from bench in final five minutes with three points in a 123–97 win over the Orlando Magic, while Primo had been regarded as the youngest player who attended college to play in the NBA. On October 27, 2021, Primo received his first assignment to Austin Spurs.


title: Joshua Primo

text: Primo was waived by the Spurs on October 28, 2022. In a statement released by ESPN through Adrian Wojnarowski, he is seeking mental health treatment due to a "previous trauma". The next day, it was revealed that Primo allegedly exposed himself to several women. In November, the team's sports psychologist filed a lawsuit against Primo and the team, alleging multiple incidents of indecent exposure. Primo's lawyer then released a statement which denied any wrongdoing, asserting that any exposure was unwitting, and that the accuser was not acting in good faith.


title: Joshua Primo

text: Primo represented Canada at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Greece. At age 16, he was the youngest player on the team and averaged 4.2 points per game.


title: Joshua Primo

text: Primo's older sister, Keshia, played college basketball at the University at Buffalo, Coffeyville Community College, and Southern Connecticut State University.


title: Low-background steel

text: Low-background steel, also known as pre-war steel, is any steel produced prior to the detonation of the first nuclear bombs in the 1940s and 1950s. Typically sourced from shipwrecks and other steel artifacts of this era, it is often used for modern particle detectors because more modern steel is contaminated with traces of nuclear fallout.


title: Low-background steel

text: Since the cessation of atmospheric nuclear testing, background radiation has decreased to very near natural levels, making special low-background steel no longer necessary for most radiation-sensitive applications, as brand-new steel now has a low enough radioactive signature that it can generally be used in such applications. However, some demand remains for the most radiation-sensitive applications, such as Geiger counters and sensing equipment aboard spacecraft, and World War II-era shipwrecks near in the Java Sea and western South China Sea are often illegally scavenged for low-background steel.


title: Low-background steel

text: From 1856 until the mid 20th century, steel was produced in the Bessemer process, where air was forced into Bessemer converters converting the pig iron into steel. By the mid-20th century, many steelworks had switched to the BOS process, which uses pure oxygen instead of air. However, as both processes use atmospheric gas, they are susceptible to contamination from airborne particulates. Present-day air carries radionuclides, such as cobalt-60, which are deposited into the steel, giving it a weak radioactive signature.


title: Low-background steel

text: World anthropogenic background radiation levels peaked at 0.11 mSv/yr above natural levels in 1963, the year that the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was enacted. Since then, anthropogenic background radiation has decreased to 0.005 mSv/yr above natural levels.


title: Wen Junhui

text: Wen Junhui (; ; born June 10, 1996), professionally known by his stage name Jun (), is a Chinese singer, dancer, and actor based in South Korea. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Seventeen and its subunit Performance Team. Before debuting as a member of Seventeen, Jun was a child actor who starred in multiple films including "The Pye Dog" (2006), for which he won the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild's Best New Actor Silver Award, and "" (2010).


title: Wen Junhui

text: Wen Junhui was born on June 10, 1996, in Shenzhen. He has a younger brother named Fengjun who is ten years younger than him. As a child, Jun began starring in commercials at the age of two and worked as a child actor on TV shows and movies in Hong Kong and Mainland China.


title: Wen Junhui

text: In October 2012, Jun moved to South Korea to undergo training under Pledis Entertainment. From 2013 to 2015, he appeared on "Seventeen TV" and "Seventeen Project: Big Debut Plan" as a trainee alongside the future members of his band. He debuted as a member of Seventeen on 26 May 2015 under the stage name Jun. The group's first EP "17 Carat" was released three days later, on May 29, 2015.


title: Wen Junhui

text: In 2018, Jun and group member The8 participated in the Chinese music reality show "Chao Yin Zhan Ji" (). Jun won the first solo stage competition on the show with his performance of "Wo Ming Bai" (), a Chinese cover of Seventeen's "Thanks". He wrote the Chinese lyrics for the cover. From October to December 2018, he co-hosted the Chinese music ranking show called "YO! BANG" ().


title: Wen Junhui

text: Jun released his first solo song, and the special single album "Can You Sit By My Side" (), which he co-wrote, on December 14, 2018. In 2020, he participated in the soundtrack of "" with the song "Dream".


title: Wen Junhui

text: On 5 February 2021, Jun released his single "Crow" (乌鸦), which debuted on and later repackaged it into his second single "Silent Boarding Gate" (寂寞号登机口) released on February, 14.


title: Wen Junhui

text: His single "Crow" made its mark on the Billboard World Digital Songs Sales chart after less than one week of its release, marking Jun's debut as a solo artist on the Billboard charts.


title: Wen Junhui

text: On 23 September 2022, Jun released his digital single "Limbo" with 2 versions in Korean and Chinese. In China, he sold 29,000 copies of the digital album containing both tracks on Tencent/QQ Music within the first week of release. The Korean version peaked at 26 on the Bugs Real-Time chart and became his first song to chart on the platform. On Melon, the track entered the daily chart for September 23 at 723, an improvement from Crow which had ranked at 948. On the Melon latest 24h (1 week) chart, Limbo Korean Ver peaked at 14.


title: Wen Junhui

text: Jun's acting career started at the age of two when he was cast in a commercial. He has appeared in numerous television series, including "Flying Dragon – the Special Unit" () at the age of five. He made his film debut in 2006 in "", for which he won the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild's Best New Performer Silver Award and was nominated for the Best New Performer Award of the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards. In 2010, he played the young Ip Man in "".


title: Wen Junhui

text: In 2014, he was cast in the Chinese web drama "Intouchable". He filmed a music video for the NetEase mobile game "A Dream of Jianghu" in July 2019. In October 2021, in Wuxi, China, he began filming for the Chinese web drama "Exclusive Fairytale." He plays the male lead role of Ling Chao.


title: Wen Junhui

text: Jun learned wushu as a child and participated in competitions. Jun suffered an injury at a young age that caused him to have spinal tuberculosis. He also plays the piano and has performed arrangements of Seventeen's songs.


title: Wen Junhui

text: His looks have garnered him the nicknames of in Japan and "Big Beautiful" () in China. He is also known to fans as the "Little Prince of Shenzhen Subway" () because a promotional ad he filmed for the Shenzhen Metro in middle school is still being aired on certain trains.


title: Wen Junhui

text: Released on the Chinese digital music platforms QQ Music, KuGou Music and Kuwo Music unless otherwise specified.


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: Dance of Death is the thirteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released first in Japan on 2 September and then 8 September 2003 in the rest of the world excluding North America (where it was released a day later). The album was an analogue recording.


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: Their second studio release since the return of vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith in 1999, the album features the band's first-ever fully acoustic track, "Journeyman", as well as "New Frontier", their only song co-written by drummer Nicko McBrain. As with "Brave New World", its predecessor in 2000, the record was produced by Kevin Shirley, who has worked with Iron Maiden on all subsequent releases.


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: The band first confirmed that they would be working on a follow-up to 2000's "Brave New World" with producer Kevin Shirley on 27 November 2002, announced alongside a small set of European tour dates for the following year. On 6 January 2003, Shirley confirmed via his website that the band would begin recording that month, followed by the announcement that the basic tracks had been completed on 5 February and that the release was to be mixed in April. On 31 May, the band announced that the album, recorded at Sarm West Studios, would be entitled "Dance of Death", after which the release date was issued on 17 June.


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: The band undertook the Dance of Death World Tour in support of the album, which included many theatrical elements inspired by the record's songs. During "Dance of Death", Bruce Dickinson would wear theatrical masks and a cape while moving around the stage; at the end he would dress as the Grim Reaper for the final chorus. During "Paschendale", Dickinson would wear a traditional British Infantryman trench coat and helmet (although he revealed in the "Death on the Road" documentary that it was actually Hungarian), as worn during World War I, and the set would be decorated with barbed wire. The tour led to a live album and DVD, entitled "Death on the Road", released in 2005 and 2006.


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: "Dance of Death" is the only Iron Maiden album to date in which drummer Nicko McBrain has a songwriting credit, having co-written "New Frontier". This also makes it the only Iron Maiden album to date in which every member of the band receives a songwriting credit. The song expresses McBrain's views on human cloning. McBrain, a born-again Christian, explained that "I personally believe that God created man and it's only God's right to create a human being because only He can give you a soul. When man attempts to make man then it's a monster in a test tube."


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: "Montségur" was based on the fall of the Cathar stronghold of the same name, which fell in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade in 1244. Dickinson, who wrote the song's lyrics, states, "There is so much great stuff and so many great stories throughout history that you can make parallels with the modern day – particularly when history repeats itself as often as it does – that it makes for some very colourful subject matter."


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: "Paschendale" is about the Battle of Passchendaele which took place during the First World War. It was written by Adrian Smith, who usually contributes to the band's shorter, more commercial-sounding songs, but decided to write what he describes as "a traditional Maiden epic". It features strong progressive rock elements, including its length, detailed structure, and multiple tempo changes throughout the song. Dickinson comments, "the beauty of 'Paschendale' isn't in the epic-ness of the song – although you have to admit it is a powerful and stirring body of music – but the detail." In live performances, Dickinson introduces the song with a passage from Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth".


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: According to guitarist Janick Gers, the album's title track was inspired by the final scene of Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal", at the end of which "these figures on the horizon start doing a little jig, which is the dance of death". Gers wrote most of the music and explained the concept to Steve Harris, who wrote the lyrics and most of the melodies.


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: "Face in the Sand" is based on the media coverage surrounding the Iraq War, taking place as the album was being recorded. Dickinson explains, "I remember thinking about the desert sands as an image and how it moves and shifts with time. Specifically what I was thinking was that whatever empires you tend to build – whether they are British, American, Iraqi or whatever, they'll all crumble and fade away into something else. So, to my mind at least, the best thing you can hope for, if you were to leave anything behind, is just an imprint in the sand." The song is notable for being the first and only Iron Maiden track in which McBrain uses a double bass pedal.


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: The final track, "Journeyman", is Iron Maiden's first and to date only fully acoustic song. According to Dickinson on the "Death on the Road" live album, it is about "the whole process of writing and being a musician", although Mick Wall describes it as "a wistful tale of "carpe diem"". The song was originally recorded with electric instruments, however, as Dickinson states, "after all the battering that we've given the listener over the last hour of music it just seemed right to play out with something totally unexpected and left field." The original version appears on the "No More Lies" EP.


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: The computer-generated cover art was provided by David Patchett, who asked for his name to be removed from the album's credits after the band decided to use an unfinished version. The album cover was received negatively by both fans and critics, being cited on several "worst of" lists. Dickinson later called the cover "embarrassing".


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: The original cover art supposedly featured only Eddie and a few monks behind him but the band manager Rod Smallwood felt it looked empty, so he hired someone from IronMaiden.com to design characters surrounding Eddie using the program Poser. They then gave the roughs back to Patchett and asked him to work on the skin and mask textures. Patchett did so but was unimpressed with the result.


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: Reviews for the album were generally positive with "Kerrang!" describing it as "stupendous stuff and concrete proof that Maiden are as electrifying and important as they have been in a long time". Sputnikmusic were also positive about the album, giving special mention to "Paschendale", described as "quite easily the ultimate Maiden masterpiece". Although deeming the first three songs "refreshing yet unremarkable", AllMusic describes "Dance of Death" as "a triumphant return to form for these heavy metal legends."


title: Dance of Death (album)

text: Although criticising the album for its length and for not "matching the quality" of its predecessor, "Brave New World", PopMatters praised the band for being able to "still easily outclass most of the younger nu-metal bands today".


title: Jill Schoelen

text: Jill Marie Schoelen (born March 21, 1963) is a former American actress. She is best known for "Chiller" (1985), "The Stepfather" (1987), "Cutting Class" (1989), "The Phantom of the Opera" (1989), "Popcorn" (1991), "Rich Girl" (1991), and "When a Stranger Calls Back" (1993). For her numerous horror film appearances, she is widely regarded as a scream queen.


title: Jill Schoelen

text: Schoelen’s theatrical debut was in the 1981 TV pilot "The Best of Times", which starred Crispin Glover and Nicolas Cage. Schoelen went on to star in such movies as "D.C. Cab" (1983), "Chiller" (1985), "That Was Then... This Is Now" (1985), "Babes in Toyland" (1986), "The Stepfather" (1987), "Billionaire Boys Club" (1987 TV miniseries), "Cutting Class" (1989), "The Phantom of the Opera" (1989), "Popcorn" (1991), "When a Stranger Calls Back" (1993), and "There Goes My Baby" (1994).


title: Jill Schoelen

text: She guest starred on episodes of "T. J. Hooker", "Little House on the Prairie", "Murder, She Wrote", "", "Sara", "Hell Town", and Aaron Spelling’s "The Heights" (1992). In 1988, Sean Penn cast her in a dramatic play he wrote and directed, "The Kindness of Women". Schoelen and Penn worked together again on stage, starring opposite each other in David Rabe’s "Hurlyburly" (1988/1989), in a production that David Rabe also directed.


title: Jill Schoelen

text: In 2009, she released her debut album, "Kelly’s Smile", a jazz album that is composed of songs related to her childhood friend, Kelly Troup, who grew up across the street from Schoelen.


title: Jill Schoelen

text: Schoelen was born in Burbank, California. She dated Keanu Reeves during the time they starred in "Babes in Toyland" (1986). She was engaged to Brad Pitt for three months in 1989. In 1993, Schoelen married film composer Anthony Marinelli, and soon after retired from her acting career to be a stay-at-home mother. Schoelen and Marinelli have two sons.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Mespilus germanica, known as the medlar or common medlar, is a large shrub or small tree in the rose family Rosaceae. The fruit of this tree, also called medlar, has been cultivated since Roman times, is usually available in winter and eaten when bletted. It may be eaten raw and in a range of cooked dishes. When the genus "Mespilus" is included in the genus "Crataegus", the correct name for this species is Crataegus germanica (Kuntze). In the southwest of England it historically had a number of vulgar nicknames, such as open-arse and monkey's bottom, due to the appearance of its large calyx.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Under ideal circumstances, the deciduous plant grows up to tall. Generally, it is shorter and more shrub-like than tree-like. With a lifespan of 30–60 years, the tree is rather short-lived. Its bark is grayish brown with deep vertical cracks forming rectangular plates that tend to lift off.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: The wild form of "M. germanica" is mostly a thorny, more shrub-like than tree-like plant, which is between high. In the cultivated forms, the thorns are usually reduced or even completely absent. In general, the medlar is a small, deciduous tree with an overhanging, almost round crown. The trunk is irregularly shaped. The tree has a height between , but can become significantly larger in culture. The diameter at breast height is usually between , but in exceptional cases it can be up to . The roots are heavily branched and far-ranging, with a somewhat fibrous root system.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: The wood has a fine texture, but is very hard. It has a white, slightly pink-tinted sapwood. The core is brownish. The annual rings are clearly visible.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: The winter buds are pointed, ovoid and up to long. The leaves are dark green and elliptic, long and wide. The leaves are densely hairy (pubescent) below, and turn red in autumn before falling.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Medlar flowers are in diameter, have a short stalk and are terminal and single on short side shoots. They have five elongated, narrow sepals and five free, white or pale pink petals. Compared to other fruit trees in the European latitudes, the medlar flowers very late (May or June). The flowers are hermaphrodite and pollinated by bees. Normally, self-pollination occurs in this plant. The flower then develops flattened, reddish-brown, hairy fruits with juicy flesh. The reddish-brown fruit is a pome, diameter, with wide-spreading persistent sepals around a central pit, giving a 'hollow' appearance to the fruit. In cultivated forms the diameter is even between .


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Sexual reproduction is the norm in wild forms of the medlar. The resulting seeds have a germination capacity lasting from 18 to 20 months. The seeds are distributed by various animals such as birds, squirrels and deer. Some varieties are sterile and can therefore only be propagated vegetatively.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Until recently, "M. germanica" was the only known species of medlar. However, in 1990, a new species was discovered in North America, now named "M. canescens". The loquat, "Eriobotrya japonica", is more distantly related to the medlar than genera such as "Crataegus", "Amelanchier", "Peraphyllum", and "Malacomeles", but was once thought to be closely related, and is still sometimes called the 'Chinese medlar' or 'Japanese medlar'.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Within the species "M. germanica" 23 taxa are distinguished, also compromising wild or semi-wild forms, ornamental and of different origin. Among them there are the following varieties:


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Cultivars of "M. germanica" that are grown for their fruit include 'Hollandia', 'Nottingham', and 'Russian', the large-fruited variety 'Dutch' (also known as 'Giant' or 'Monstrous'), 'Breda giant', 'Large Russian', 'Royal' with very high yield, 'Early medlar' with early ripening and high quality fruits, 'Seedless' with seedless fruits of low quality.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: For a time it was assumed that it was a species with narrow genetic resources and therefore subject to high risks of genetic erosion, whereby the limited evolution of "M. germanica" diversity was ascribed to the lack of economic interest for this fruit species in the last centuries. However, current findings show that natural populations of medlar are diverse with a high genetic potential, which could be used to improve production by using specific genotypes.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: From an extensive study of literature and plant specimens, Kazimierz Browicz concluded that the true homeland of "M. germanica" is only in the southeastern part of the Balkan peninsula, in Asia Minor, on the Caucasus, Crimea, northern Iran, and possibly also in Turkmenia. It is also found in southeastern Europe, especially the Black Sea coasts of Bulgaria and Turkey.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: The species requires temperate and sub-mediterranean climate conditions with warm summers and mild winters. Air temperatures of are mentioned as favourable for growth, cold of as low as is tolerated and late frosts hardly cause any damage. The wild form was observed in dry areas with annual precipitation of and at altitudes from . The species grows in a wide range of soil types and prefers fresh, well-drained loamy soils with a pH that is between 6 and 8. It is found across southern Europe where it is generally rare. It is reported to be naturalized in some woods in southeast England, but is found in few gardens.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: In plantations, the larvae of the leaf-mining butterfly species "Lithocolletis blancardella" can cause damage. Furthermore, especially in years with high precipitation, the fungus "Monilia fructigena" can be a problem. It causes brown blemishes on the fruit and continues to spread until the fruit becomes entirely rotten.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: "M. germanica" can also be infected by "Podosphaera clandestina", the pathogen of powdery mildew, which can lead to the wilting of leaves and buds as well as by "Entomosporium mespili" that causes leaf spots.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: The medlar is, like other species of the rosacea family which are used for propagation, susceptible to "Erwinia amylovora", the parasitic causative agent of fire blight.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: The species may have been cultivated for as long as 3,000 years. The ancient Greek geographer Strabo refers to a () in "Geographica", Book 16, Chapter 4. The medlar was introduced to Greece around 700 BC and to Rome about 200 BC. It was an important fruit plant during Roman and medieval times. By the 17th and 18th centuries, however, it had been superseded by other fruits, and is little cultivated today.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: "M. germanica" pomes are one of the few fruits that become edible in winter, making it an important tree for gardeners who wish to have fruit available all year round.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Cultivated forms are propagated by inoculation and by grafting on various substrates such as "Crataegus" (hawthorn) species, mountain ash, pear or quince to improve the performance in different soils. Cultivars reach full fruit set 6 to 7 years after grafting and they keep it for 20 to 25 years. The fruit production varies between per tree and year, depending on the variety and age.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Grafting on medlar seedlings is not recommended because of the slow growth of the grafts. Irrigation and fertilization can stimulate growth in plantations. If the fruit-bearing shoots are cut back after the harvest, the formation of new fertile short shoots is encouraged.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: The fruits are hard and acidic even when ripe, but become edible after being softened, "bletted", by frost, or naturally in storage if given sufficient time by reducing tannin content and fruit acids, increasing sugar content, and changes in the content of minerals.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Once softening begins, the skin rapidly takes on a wrinkled texture and turns dark brown, and the inside reduces to the consistency and flavour reminiscent of apple sauce. This process can confuse those new to medlars, as its softened fruit looks as if it has spoiled.


title: Mespilus germanica

text: Once bletted, the fruit can be eaten raw, sometimes with sugar and cream—it has been described as being an "acquired taste"—or used to make medlar jelly. It is used in "medlar cheese", which is similar to lemon curd, made with the fruit pulp, eggs, and butter.