title: Anthony Franciosa

text: He supported Gina Lollobrigida in MGM's "Go Naked in the World" (1961), which lost money. He was top-billed in the Italian "Careless" (1962) with Claudia Cardinale and MGM's "Period of Adjustment" (1962) with Jane Fonda, Franciosa's first film for that studio which made a profit. In August 1963, he addressed a race rally in Alabama alongside Marlon Brando and Paul Newman.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: Franciosa guest starred on "The DuPont Show of the Week", "Arrest and Trial", "Breaking Point", "The Greatest Show on Earth", and "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre". He had support parts in two films for Fox: "Rio Conchos" (1964) with Stuart Whitman and Richard Boone, and "The Pleasure Seekers" (1964) with Ann-Margret and Carol Lynley.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: He starred in a TV series "Valentine's Day" (1964–65). When that ended he had support parts in "A Man Could Get Killed" (1966) with James Garner and "Assault on a Queen" (1966) with Frank Sinatra. He was leading man to Ann-Margret in "The Swinger" (1966) at Paramount and Raquel Welch in "Fathom" (1967) at Fox.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: In a 1966 interview he confessed that Hollywood stardom had come a little too early: "It was an incredible amount of attention, and I wasn't quite mature enough psychologically or emotionally for it."


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: He starred in a phenomenally highly rated TV movie, billed on countless lead-up commercials as the first movie made for television, Universal's "Fame Is the Name of the Game" (1966), then a spaghetti Western at Universal, "A Man Called Gannon" (1968), a drama with Jacqueline Bisset at Fox, "The Sweet Ride" (1968), and a war film at Universal, "In Enemy Country" (1968).


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: Producer David Dortort was on the verge of casting him as Cameron Mitchell's best friend and brother-in-law, Manolito Montoya, on the western, "The High Chaparral", if Henry Darrow did not make it to the set in time. Darrow did.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: Tony Franciosa returned to regular series with "The Name of the Game" (1968–71) (based on "Fame Is the Name of the Game"), as lead role of charismatic but doggedly determined star reporter Jeff Dillon, alternating the regular lead spot with Gene Barry and Robert Stack. The three leading actors were never onscreen at the same time at any point in the series. He was fired from the show in 1970 because of his temper.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: He was in "Web of the Spider" (1971), an Italian horror film, then a series of TV movies: "The Deadly Hunt" (1971), "Earth II" (1971), and "The Catcher" (1972). He had a support part in the action film "Across 110th Street" (1972).


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: Franciosa had a further alternating lead role in a TV series, this time alongside Hugh O'Brian and Doug McClure, as agent Nick Bianco in "Search" (1972). When that ended he supported Peter Sellers in "Ghost in the Noonday Sun" (1973), then had support roles in "This Is the West That Was" (1974) for TV and "The Drowning Pool" (1975) with Paul Newman.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: He had his own series with "Matt Helm" (1975), a television version of the spy-spoof theatrical films that starred Dean Martin, but it only lasted 14 episodes.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: He was in "Curse of the Black Widow" (1977), a television miniseries "Aspen" (1977) with Sam Elliott, "Wheels" (1978), "Firepower" (1979), "The World Is Full of Married Men" (1979), "The Cricket" (1980), "Help Me to Dream" (1981), an episode of "Tales of the Unexpected", "Side Show" (1981), "Death Wish II" (1982), "Kiss My Grits" (1982), "Tenebrae" (1982) from Dario Argento, "Julie Darling" (1983), and an episode of "Masquerade". In his memoir, "From I Love Lucy to Shōgun and Beyond: Tales from the Other Side of the Camera", Jerry London stated that Franciosa could not remember his lines during the shooting of the television movie "Wheels", so co-star Rock Hudson had to hold up cue cards for him during one scene in a car.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: Franciosa starred in the Aaron Spelling-produced series "Finder of Lost Loves" (1984–85). He could be seen in "Stagecoach" (1986) and episodes of "Hotel", "The Love Boat", and "Jake and the Fatman".


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: In the 1985 revival of "The Twilight Zone", he appeared in the third-season episode "Crazy as a Soup Sandwich," playing a gangster who is revealed to be the ultimate demon.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: Later performances included "" (1987), "Death House" (1988), Fashion Crime (1989), "Ghost Writer" (1989), "Backstreet Dreams" (1990), and Double Threat (1992). In 1990–91, he portrayed Colonel Doctor Otternschlag in the U.S. national tour of the musical "Grand Hotel" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and other national tour locations.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: Franciosa's final film was "City Hall", a 1996 drama starring Al Pacino and John Cusack, in which he portrayed a crime boss.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: In his autobiography "The Garner Files", actor James Garner stated that Franciosa, on the set of "A Man Could Get Killed", constantly abused the stunt crew by not pulling punches in fight scenes, resulting in a physical confrontation with Garner.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: Franciosa was married four times, and had three children. His first marriage to writer Beatrice Bakalyar in 1952 ended in divorce in 1957. That May 4, he married actress Shelley Winters; the couple divorced in 1960.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: He next wed the former Judith Balaban, daughter of Barney Balaban, and author of the book "The Bridesmaids" about her friend Princess Grace of Monaco, in whose wedding she served as a bridesmaid. This union produced Franciosa's only daughter, Nina.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: His fourth and final marriage was to Rita Theil on November 27, 1970 -- coincidentally, the day his final episode of "The Name Of The Game" aired. The marriage lasted until his death in 2006. The pair had two sons, organic farmer Marco and actor Christopher.


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: When asked about Franciosa's hair-trigger temper, Theil said "He was never taught how to control his temper ... I changed him a lot ... We still have good fights once in a while, but I can scream back at him."


title: Anthony Franciosa

text: During his later years, Franciosa lived in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He died on January 19, 2006, at age 77 at nearby UCLA Medical Center after suffering a massive stroke.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: Baba is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language supernatural action film written and produced by Rajinikanth under his banner Lotus International, directed by Suresh Krissna, with cinematography by Chota K. Naidu. With Rajinikanth in the lead role, in lead role with an ensemble supporting cast. The original songs and background score were composed by A.R. Rahman.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The film's story is about a carefree young non-believer of supreme power, Baba, who is a reincarnation of a great saint from the Himalayas. After several twists and problems caused by corrupt local politicians, Baba is taken to Mahavatar Babaji, whom Baba was a follower of in his last life. Baba gets tested by the deity to overcome several illusions of the materialistic world and is given seven chances of wishes. How he uses the wishes while developing spirituality and falling into loggerheads with the villains at the same time forms the rest of the story.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: First released in 2002, the film met with mixed critical reviews and was a box-office failure, resulting in Rajinikanth reimbursing distributors for their losses. Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss condemned Rajinikanth for smoking and posing with beedis in the film. He was criticised for spoiling Tamil youth by glorifying smoking and drinking. PMK volunteers attacked theatres which screened the film Baba and usurped film rolls, and burnt it.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The film was digitally remastered, re-edited with a shorter duration and an alternate ending, and re-released by Lyca Productions on 10 December 2022, twenty years after its original release, coinciding with Rajinikanth's birthday weekend.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The film opens with the birth of Baba (Rajinikanth), who is the reincarnation of a saint that was a devotee of Mahavatar Babaji. Baba grows up as a atheist and hot-blooded man, but becomes a good samaritan with his thoughts and actions. His lifestyle includes consuming alcohol, smoking beedi, and chewing tobacco. His mother (Sujatha) and maternal uncle (M. N. Nambiar), for whom Baba has great respect and love, are ardent devotees of Mahavatar Babaji. Chamundeswari (Manisha Koirala) stays in the neighbourhood of Baba's residence which often quarrels with Baba but eventually falls in love with his style and attitude.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: Baba involves in a physical feud with the son (Riyaz Khan) of the state Deputy chief minister Ippo Ramaswamy (Ashish Vidyarthi) for the former had interfered with the sale of land by his neighbour. Ramasamy is the current leader of a party in the ruling coalition. Ramaswamy demolishes Baba's colony in retaliation for hurting his son. When Baba is about to confront Ramaswamy, Baba's mother urges him to maintain calm and not meet Ramaswamy. Baba decides to work hard to rebuild the colony and joins as a labourer in his neighbour's shop and earns money. Chamundeswari's mother, upon seeing this, threatens Chamundeswari with homicide if she does not heed to her words of marrying someone else. Chamundeswari is left with no choice and tells Baba that she is not willing to marry a daily labourer. Then Baba realizes that so far, he has been only answerable for his mother. And if he gets married, then he has to live for his wife and kids and would become answerable to them. He feels that Prema (love) is Maya (illusion) and immediately breaks up with her.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: Later, a dishevelled sadhu, Divyananda Bharathi, approaches him and tell him that it is time for enlightenment. Baba is taken to the Himalayas, where he meets Mahavatar Babaji, who tests him by granting seven mantras (wishes; five in the remastered version) to Baba. He can use these mantras anytime he likes; but unbeknownst to him, if he happened to use the mantras for his own personal gains, the karma of rebirth is bound to follow him forever. Baba is sent back to Chennai but baffled, he decides to test one of the mantras by wishing a kite to come and fall in his hand. He waits for a few seconds and decides that it was all his illusion, but the kite follows him to his house and falls on his hand. He feels that it is coincidental and tries the second mantra on a different kite to fall on his lap. He goes into his house and closes all the possible entries into the house. But the kite makes its way and falls on his lap. In the meantime, Chamundeeswari learns of Baba's origins from his mother that he is a reincarnation of a saint who had disobeyed Babaji and that he himself does not know so and tries to patch up with him. Baba retorts by saying that he no longer loves her, leaving her heartbroken.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: Despite the mantras coming true, Baba remains skeptical and tests the other two mantras for trivial things. His uncle scolds him for his pointless skepticism in spite of the truth and develops chest pain then. While on his death-bed, his uncle tells Baba to use a mantra to renovate his surroundings that will finally instill his belief in Babaji, and he dies. As predicted, the use of the fifth mantra causes the government officials to renovate Baba's area. Baba learns the truth and ends his tryst with alcohol, and reforms himself spiritually. He reserves the remaining two mantras for his mother. However, he uses the penultimate mantra to revive a newlywed Japanese neighbour fighting for his life due to food poisoning. Meanwhile, Ramaswamy learns about the mantras from Baba's two-timing companion.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: Purushottaman, the current chief minister of Tamil Nadu, wants to become the permanent CM of the state using Baba's boons, which Baba refuses. He threatens Baba's mother and also tries to kill him, but fails. Baba's friends Annamalai, Perusu, Samundi, Kathirika urge him to use the final wish to become the permanent CM himself as the state would be great under him. But Baba uses the last wish on Kanthan, an old honest party member of Ramasamy, to become the next CM with a single greater majority. Then, by the wish, Ramasamy's paralysed father (the first leader of the party) wants to prove that the older generation is better as his son is reckless. The elections come, and Kanthan becomes CM. Ramaswamy calls a tantric Guruji, to foil Baba's magical powers. Guruji asks Ramaswamy and Purushottaman to bring the chain in Baba's neck and his backbone to nullify the effects of the mantras. A fight ensues, with Baba's mother getting mortally wounded by Ramaswamy and Baba himself knocked unconscious by the henchmen. They try to kill him by burning him in a pyre. Their attempts fail when a temple elephant puts out the fire, with Baba regaining consciousness and battering the villains badly. When Baba is about to kill Ramaswamy and Purushottaman, Divyananda Bharathi stops him. Baba's dying mother advises Baba to leave the world and ascend to the Himalayas and dies in his arms. Baba decides to live under Babaji's tutelage since he now disdains living in the materialistic world without his mother.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: As Baba is just about to ascend to the Himalayas, the new chief minister Kandhan is assassinated by Ippo Ramasamy's son. In a change of mind, Baba turns back to remain in Tamil Nadu, to the cheer of the crowds that were hopeful that he leads the state.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: In the re-edited 2022 re-release, Baba ascends to the Himalayas and meets Mahavatar Babaji, who tells him he had not served his mother, a virtue even more important than helping others. Baba is told than he would be reincarnated once again to the same mother, after which he will be allowed to return to the Himalayas.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The film was initially announced with Rajinikanth and Jyothika as the lead pair, for the first time. However the makers decided to replace her with Malayalam heroine Samyuktha Varma, who declined the offer due to other prior commitments and her marriage. Later, Manisha Koirala was roped in.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: This high-budget production was sold at a record price of 17 crore to distributors, but the film yielded a share of 13 crore worldwide. So, Rajinikanth volunteered to return almost 25% of the investment. In Coimbatore distribution territory, "Baba" was sold for 1.5 crore. This record remained unbroken until "Chandramukhi", another Rajnikanth film.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The film was praised for its technical and production values, as well as the performances of the cast, while there was criticism towards the lack of narrative focus in the first half, leading to the film's excessive length and uneven pace. It also left some Rajinikanth fans polarized, with many speculating that the film could be a political campaign of sorts for himself. In contrast, others confused about the message this film was intending to convey.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The film was received with comments such as "the bloom was off the rose" and that "the gold does not glitter any more".


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: Ramadoss, a politician from Pattali Makkal Katchi condemned Rajinikanth for posing with beedis in the film and playing the role of a chain smoker in the film, which glorified smoking and drinking and encouraged Tamil youth to pick up those habits. PMK volunteers attacked theatres which screened the film "Baba" and usurped film rolls, and burnt it. Amidst such controversies and negative criticism, Rajinikanth kept himself away from acting. Despite this, a few novice directors approached him with scripts, all of which he rejected.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: A. R. Rahman was approached to compose the original songs and background score of the film. He initially declined the offer because of his busy schedule in London, with "Bombay Dreams". He eventually accepted the film while in Ajmer. The songs were recorded in June 2002. Rahman had to supervise the recordings online.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The soundtrack album was released in July 2002 in Chennai. According to Rahman, he tried innovations with "Baba", giving more than the jingoistic music that is a characteristic part of a Rajini film. Some of the songs were filmed in Europe.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: A controversy regarding the soundtrack originated when lyricist Vairamuthu expressed dissatisfaction over the online recording. Rahman defended this, saying, "Busy as I was with Bombay Dreams, it was simply impossible for me to be in Chennai. Sometimes it is inevitable, in a situation like this, where the reputation and money of somebody else is at stake." Rahman also faced criticisms from the film fraternity for not recording the songs in time.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The Dravidar Kazhagam objected to the lyrics of a song that had to be partially deleted from the film later. They objected to what they called unfair commentary on Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and his ideology.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: Rahman introduced Reena Bhardwaj through the song "Kichchu Tha". This song was reused with different instrumentation and vocals in "Swades" (2004).


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The film was noted for its dialogue spoken by Rajinikanth in the film "Katham Katham" (Finish, Finish) gained popularity and also inspired a film of the same name starring Natty and Nandha.


title: Baba (2002 film)

text: The film was digitally remastered and re-released on December 10 2022, two days before Rajinikanth's birthday, with an alternate ending.


title: Mamitha Baiju

text: Mamitha Baiju is an Indian actress works primarily in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 2017 through "Sarvopari Palakkaran". She rose into fame playing the roles of Alphonsa in "Operation Java" (2021), Anju in "Kho Kho" (2021) and Sona in "Super Sharanya" (2022).


title: Mamitha Baiju

text: Mamita Baiju hails from Kidangoor in Kottayam district of Kerala. Her parents are Dr. K. Baiju and Mini Baiju. She has an elder brother, Midhun.


title: Mamitha Baiju

text: Mamitha did her schooling at Mary Mount Public School, Kattachira, and at N.S.S. Higher Secondary School, Kidangoor. She is currently pursuing B. Sc in Psychology from Sacred Heart College in Kochi.


title: Leather subculture

text: Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures. Many participants associate leather culture with BDSM (Bondage/Discipline, Dominance/Submission, Sado/Masochism, also called "SM" or "S&M") practices and its many subcultures. For some, black leather clothing is an erotic fashion that expresses heightened masculinity or the appropriation of sexual power; love of motorcycles, motorcycle clubs and independence; and/or engagement in sexual kink or leather fetishism.


title: Leather subculture

text: Male leather culture has existed since the late 1940s, when it likely grew out of post-WWII biker culture. Pioneering motorcycle clubs included the Satyrs Motorcycle Club, established in Los Angeles in 1954; Oedipus Motorcycle Club, also established in Los Angeles in 1958, and the New York Motorbike Club. Early San Francisco clubs included the Warlocks and the California Motor Club, while early clubs in Sydney included the South Pacific Motor Club (SPMC).


title: Leather subculture

text: These clubs reflected a disaffection with the mainstream culture of post-World War II America, a disaffection whose notoriety — and therefore appeal — expanded after the sensationalized news coverage of the Hollister "riot" of 1947. The 1953 film "The Wild One", starring Marlon Brando wearing jeans, a T-shirt, a leather jacket, and Muir cap, played on pop-cultural fascination with the Hollister "riot" and promoted an image of masculine independence that resonated with some men who were dissatisfied with mainstream culture. Some butch gays began to imitate Brando by wearing black leather jackets, a black leather cap, black leather boots and jeans and, if they could afford it, by also riding motorcycles. Motorcycle culture also reflected some men's disaffection with the cultures more organized around high culture, popular culture (especially musical theater), and/or camp style. As well, the leather community that emerged from the motorcycle clubs also became the practical and symbolic location for men's open exploration of kink and S&M.


title: Leather subculture

text: The first gay leather bar in the United States, the Gold Coast, opened in Chicago in 1958, having been founded by Dom Orejudos and Chuck Renslow. South of Market in San Francisco became the hub of the leather subculture in the gay community in 1961 when the Tool Box opened its doors as the first leather bar in the neighborhood. It opened in 1961 at 339 4th St and closed in 1971. It was a gay bar frequented by gay motorcycle clubs. It was made famous by the June 1964 Paul Welch "Life" article entitled "Homosexuality In America," the first time a national publication reported on gay issues. "Life"s photographer was referred to the Tool Box by Hal Call, who had long worked to dispel the myth that all homosexual men were effeminate. The article opened with a two-page spread of the mural of life size leathermen in the bar, which had been painted by Chuck Arnett in 1962. The article described San Francisco as "The Gay Capital of America" and inspired many gay leathermen to move there. When the Stud, along with Febe's, opened up on Folsom Street in San Francisco in 1966, other gay leather bars and establishments catering to the leather subculture followed creating a foundation for the growing gay leather community. The Stud was also originally a Hells Angels hangout; by 1969 it had become a dance bar for hippies on the margins of the leather scene and had a psychedelic black light mural by Chuck Arnett.


title: Leather subculture

text: Some bands have used leather culture as part of their image beginning in the 1970s; see § Representations below.


title: Leather subculture

text: Aspects of leather culture beyond the sartorial can be seen in the 1970 murder mystery novel "Cruising", by Jay Green. The novel was the basis for the 1980 movie "Cruising, " which depicted aspects of the men's leather subculture for a wider audience.


title: Leather subculture

text: "Drummer" is an American magazine targeted at gay men, originally published from 1975 to 1999; during the late 20th century, it was the most successful of the American leather magazines, and sold overseas. The publication had a major impact of spreading gay leather as a lifestyle and masculinity as a gay ideal. The magazine was originally focused on quality writings about leather but gradually changed into more of a photo magazine.


title: Leather subculture

text: In the 1970s Berlin had a huge leather scene with several leather clubs in the area around Nollendorfplatz. The pornographic films of one of Tom of Finland's models Peter Berlin from Berlin, such as his 1973 film "Nights in Black Leather," also reflected and promoted the leather subcultural aesthetic. In 1975 (some say since 1973) Europe's biggest fetish event started, "Easter in Berlin Leather Festival," organized annually by Berlin Leder und Fetisch e.V. Also in Europe younger men combined the aesthetic and exploration of sexual power with the gay skinhead movement and social-fraternal organizations like BLUF, from the late 1970s.


title: Leather subculture

text: Cynthia Slater's activism for women to be accepted within the gay leather scene in San Francisco during the late 1970s brought her to mainstream attention. Slater persuaded the management of San Francisco's S/M leather club the Catacombs, the most famous fisting club in the world, to open up to lesbians; it was originally a gay men's club. It operated from 1975 to 1981, and reopened at another location from 1982 to 1984. Slater was also an early proponent of S/M safety, and one of the major AIDS activists and educators during the late 1970s. Slater hosted Society of Janus safety demonstrations during the late 1970s, cultivating a space for women within the 'plurality of gay men' already present within the leather/kink/fetish Venn-diagramatic culture.


title: Leather subculture

text: Pat Califia, who identified as a lesbian at the time, was an activist in the San Francisco leather subculture, and is credited for defining the emergence of lesbian leather subculture. On June 13, 1978, Pat Califia, Gayle Rubin, and sixteen others co-founded Samois, a lesbian-feminist BDSM organization in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983 and was the first lesbian BDSM group in the United States. (More under "Lesbian" below). In recent decades the leather community has been considered a subset of BDSM culture rather than the BDSM community being considered a subset of leather culture. Even so, the most visibly organized SM community related to leather has been a subculture of leather, as evidenced by the American competition known as International Mr. Leather (established 1979), and SM in the UK (established 1981). International Ms. Leather was first held in 1987.


title: Leather subculture

text: In 1979 the newly formed San Francisco lesbian motorcycle club, Dykes on Bikes, led what was then called the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade for the first time and has done so ever since (since 1994, the event has been called the San Francisco Pride Parade).


title: Leather subculture

text: Leather and Lace, a woman's leather/BDSM support and social group, was founded in Los Angeles in 1980. The women of Leather and Lace learned the "old guard" traditions from the men of Avatar. Leather and Lace had a code of conduct and a uniform that could only be worn once a member earned the right.


title: Leather subculture

text: In a review of 48 cases of clinical fetishism in 1983, fetishes included clothing (58.3%), rubber and rubber items (22.9%), footwear (14.6%), body parts (14.6%), leather (10.4%), and soft materials or fabrics (6.3%).


title: Leather subculture

text: By the mid-1980s, lesbian motorcycle enthusiasts in other cities besides San Francisco began to form motorcycle clubs.


title: Leather subculture

text: In 1984, the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco was held for the first time; it is and was the world's largest leather event and showcase for BDSM products and culture.


title: Leather subculture

text: Jack Fritscher’s short-story collection "Corporal in Charge of Taking Care of Captain O'Malley" (Gay Sunshine Press, 1984) was the first collection of leather fiction, and the first collection of fiction from "Drummer". The title entry "Corporal in Charge" was the only play published by editor Winston Leyland in the Lambda Literary Award winner "Gay Roots: Twenty Years of Gay Sunshine - An Anthology of Gay History, Sex, Politics & Culture" (1991).


title: Leather subculture

text: Competing in the 1986 International Mr. Leather contest inspired Steve Maidhof to organize a conference for members of the growing leather, SM, and fetish community, which would focus on education and political activism. To host this conference, named Living in Leather, Maidhof recruited several friends and leading members of Seattle's leather community including: Cookie Andrews-Hunt, Wayne Gloege, Billy Jefferson, Jan Lyon, George Nelson, and Vik Stump. Together, they formed the National Leather Association (NLA), which officially incorporated in the summer of 1986. In October, they hosted the first Living in Leather (LIL) conference. Adding "International" to its name in 1991, the National Leather Association-International staged "Living in Leather" gatherings until 2002. After a period of decline around the turn of the millennium, NLA-I has become more active again and runs a series of awards for fiction and non-fiction writing.


title: Leather subculture

text: The leather pride flag was designed by Tony DeBlase. He first presented the design at the International Mister Leather event in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. on 28 May 1989. Initial reaction to the flag was mixed. According to DeBlase's article "A Leather Pride Flag",


title: Leather subculture

text: "Some, particularly on the east coast, reacted positively to the concept, but were quite concerned, some even offended, that I had not involved the community in helping to create the design."


title: Leather subculture

text: In June 1989 the flag was used by the leather contingent in a Portland, Oregon pride parade, which was its first appearance at a pride parade.


title: Leather subculture

text: In the 1980s and early 1990s, lesbian leatherwomen were often involved in helping to care for gay leathermen who had been stricken with AIDS.


title: Leather subculture

text: The Leather Archives and Museum in Chicago was founded in 1991 by Chuck Renslow and Tony DeBlase as a “community archives, library, and museum of Leather, kink, fetish, and BDSM history and culture.”


title: Leather subculture

text: In 1997 the (American) National Coalition for Sexual Freedom was founded; the NCSF's mission as described on its web page is:


title: Leather subculture

text: In 2002, an article in "The Washington Post" publicly highlighted Jack McGeorge’s leadership in the Washington, D.C., leather and BDSM community. McGeorge had made no attempt to conceal his involvement in the BDSM and leather lifestyles; his full name appeared prominently on websites, and he said as much to the "Post" and other media. He did, however, offer his resignation to Hans Blix, hoping to preserve the credibility of his organization (the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, called UNMOVIC) before the weapons inspections in Iraq. Blix refused to accept McGeorge's resignation. Later, Hua Jiang, spokeswoman for U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, said that being into BDSM was no more likely to be a cross-cultural problem in the Middle East than any number of other issues.


title: Leather subculture

text: Mark Leno was the first out leatherman to be a state legislator in the United States; he served in the California State Assembly from 2002 to 2008.


title: Leather subculture

text: In 2005 Viola Johnson started The Carter/Johnson Library & Collection, a “collection of thousands of books, magazines, posters, art, club and event pins, newspapers, event programs and ephemera showing leather, fetish, S/M erotic history."


title: Leather subculture

text: Leather & Grace, a (now defunct) organization of Unitarian Universalist kinksters, was founded in 2011, and combined a red flaming chalice with the stripes of the leather pride flag for their logo.


title: Leather subculture

text: The LGBTQ and Leather Cultural District was created in South of Market, San Francisco in 2018. It includes the San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley, with four works of art, which opened in 2017.


title: Leather subculture

text: Throughout the history of the leather subculture, a variety of traditions have been observed, often diligently. While most or all are based on military protocols and ritual, these traditions varied widely between regions, causing much debate today over which traditions are the original or true traditions, or whether the "romanticized versions of leather history" ever existed at all.


title: Leather subculture

text: As time has progressed and BDSM has become more mainstream (see below), the traditions of leather have adapted. The first major evolution has become known as "New Leather" or "New Guard". However, even this is the subject of some disagreement, as many noted authors and historians assert that there are little or no substantive differences.


title: Leather subculture

text: Today, the leather subculture is one of many facets to semi-organized alternative sexuality. Many individuals describe long periods of introspection leading to their choice to identify as "leather". Others do not necessarily associate their leather lifestyle with BDSM, and simply enjoy the sensory experience of leather.


title: Leather subculture

text: The more specific aesthetics of men's leather culture drew on sources including military and police uniforms. This influence is particularly evident in the graphical illustrations of leathermen found in the work of Tom of Finland. The pornographic films of one of his models Peter Berlin from Berlin, such as his 1973 film "Nights in Black Leather," also reflected and promoted the leather subcultural aesthetic.


title: Leather subculture

text: Aspects of leather culture beyond the sartorial can be seen in the 1970 murder mystery novel "Cruising" by Jay Green. The novel was the basis for the 1980 movie "Cruising, " which depicted aspects of the men's leather subculture for a wider audience.


title: Leather subculture

text: A band associated with leather culture is Village People, which began in 1977. According to Jack Fritscher, Jacques Morali drew his inspiration for the four characters of Village People from the gay BDSM leather bar and sex club the Mineshaft's dress code. Glenn Hughes, the original leather biker of the group, frequently attended there. He sported an extravagant horseshoe moustache and wore his trademark leather outfit on and off stage. As he was the band's "biker" and a real-life fanatic, he kept his motorcycle parked inside his home. Eric Anzalone was the Leatherman/Biker of Village People from 1995 to 2017, replacing original member Glenn. However, Glenn continued with management of the band. During his later years, he was known for storming the streets of New York City with his custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Glenn, who was also referred to by the masses as "Leatherman", was named on People Magazine's 1979 list of most beautiful people.


title: Leather subculture

text: Distinct aspects of heavy metal fashion can be credited to various bands, but the band that takes the most credit for revolutionizing the look is Judas Priest, primarily with its singer, Rob Halford, who openly identifies as gay and wears black leather. Halford wore a leather costume on stage as early as 1978 to coincide with the promotion for the "Killing Machine" ("Hell Bent for Leather" in the United States) album. In a 1998 interview, Halford described the leather subculture as the inspiration for this look. Shortly after appropriating the leather look, Halford started appearing onstage on a roaring motor bike. Soon, the rest of the band followed.


title: Leather subculture

text: In the late 1970s many fans of Judas Priest, AC/DC and Meat Loaf began imitating the clothing of leathermen due to the association of such fashions with toughness. Typical heavy metal fashions in the UK, US and Australia included leather battle jackets, combat boots, studded belts, and black leather jackets like the Schott Perfecto.


title: Leather subculture

text: Freddie Mercury of Queen began incorporating leather into his stage costumes during the band's 1978 News of the World Tour. By their 1979 Jazz Tour, Mercury was wearing a full leather outfit, which he explained was inspired by clubs he frequented. Leather jackets, trousers, and accessories would feature prominently in his wardrobe for the rest of his touring career.


title: Leather subculture

text: Today, while some may still use the term strictly in the old-fashioned sense (i.e., the romanticized Old Guard), more than ever the leather subculture in the 21st century represents the activities of several major sub-communities. These include BDSM practitioners, and people who have a preference for aggressive or masculine sexual styles; people who love motorcycles; people involved in kink or leather fetishism; and people who participate in large-scale cultural and marketing events such as Folsom Street Fair or leather-themed circuit parties.


title: Leather subculture

text: Although gay men are the most visible demographic of the leather community, there are numerous women who identify as leatherwomen – and women have the International Ms. Leather (IMsL) event as their corollary to International Mr. Leather (IML). An example of a leatherwoman is Joan Jett, who has a leather pride sticker prominently displayed on her guitar.


title: Leather subculture

text: Relatively few lesbian women were visible during the early emergence of the leather subculture. Pat Califia, who identified as a lesbian at the time, was an activist in the San Francisco leather subculture, and is credited for defining the emergence of lesbian leather subculture. On June 13, 1978, Pat Califia, Gayle Rubin, and sixteen others co-founded Samois, a lesbian-feminist BDSM organization in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983 and was the first lesbian BDSM group in the United States. (More under "Lesbian" below) In recent decades the leather community has been considered a subset of BDSM culture rather than a descendant of that culture. Even so, the most visibly organized SM community related to leather has been a subculture of leather, as evidenced by the American competition known as International Mr. Leather (established 1979), and SM in the UK (established 1981). International Ms. Leather was first held in 1987.


title: Leather subculture

text: In 1979 the newly formed San Francisco lesbian motorcycle club, Dykes on Bikes, led what was then called the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade for the first time and has done so ever since (since 1994, the event has been called the San Francisco Pride Parade).


title: Leather subculture

text: Leather and Lace, a woman's leather/BDSM support and social group, was founded in Los Angeles in 1980. The women of Leather and Lace learned the "old guard" traditions from the men of Avatar. Leather and Lace had a code of conduct and a uniform that could only be worn once a member earned the right. In New York, there was LSM. Only members of the club were allowed to know that LSM stood for Lesbian Sex Mafia.


title: Leather subculture

text: By the mid-1980s, lesbian motorcycle enthusiasts in other cities besides San Francisco began to form motorcycle clubs.


title: Leather subculture

text: In the 1980s and early 1990s, lesbian leatherwomen were often involved in helping to care for gay leathermen who had been stricken with AIDS.


title: Leather subculture

text: In the United States, men's leather culture has been associated with men above the age of 40, but recent years have seen growing numbers of younger leather men. Also, in much of the rest of the world, including Europe and Australia, there is a merging of the established older leather community with young leathermen and leatherwomen and kink/fetish/gear communities. In Europe, younger men have combined the aesthetic and exploration of sexual power with the gay skinhead movement and social-fraternal organizations like BLUF, from the late 1970s.


title: Leather subculture

text: In 1986, Baltimore Leather Association of the Deaf (BLADeaf), the first deaf leather club in America, was founded. Its original name was Maryland Lambda Alliance of the Deaf and it had three name changes before its name was changed to BLADeaf. It was founded by Elwood C. Bennett, Scott Wilson, and Harry "Abbe" Woosley, Jr. According to BLADeaf, the fact of the Baltimore Eagle being BLADeaf's home bar means the Baltimore Eagle is the world's first bar to home a deaf leather organization.


title: Leather subculture

text: In 1989, a deaf chapter of the National Leather Association called “NLA: Deaf Chapter”, which eventually became International Deaf Leather, was founded by Michael Felts, Philip Rubin, Bob Donaldson, Rolf Hagton, Jim Dunne, Bobby Andrascik and Charles Wilkinson. International Deaf Leather held contests for the titles International Ms. Deaf Leather, International Mr. Deaf Leather, and International Deaf Leather Boy. International Deaf Leather also bestowed the Michael Felts Lifetime Achievement Award, which in 1997 was given to Baltimore Leather Association of the Deaf (BLADeaf) cofounder Harry “Abbé” Woosley, Jr., and the International Deaf Leather Recognition Award, which in 1998 was given to Baltimore Leather Association of the Deaf (BLADeaf). International Deaf Leather ended in 2021.


title: Leather subculture

text: The Folsom Street Fair, begun in 1984, is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair held in September, that caps San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes simply referred to as "Folsom", takes place on Folsom Street between 8th and 13th Streets, in San Francisco's South of Market district. The event is California's third-largest single-day, outdoor spectator event and the world's largest leather event and showcase for BDSM products and culture. Folsom Street Events now organizes many events each year including Folsom Europe.


title: Leather subculture

text: Other large events include Easter in Berlin (the largest leather event in Europe), International Mr. Leather and Mister Leather Europe, and Amsterdam Leather Pride (see ).


title: Leather subculture

text: Many LGBT museums, archives and libraries collect material relating to leather communities, with many holding substantial collections, including the Australian Queer Archives, and the Leather Archives and Museum, the latter being based in Chicago. In 1991 Chuck Renslow and Tony DeBlase founded the Leather Archives and Museum “as a community archives, library, and museum of Leather, kink, fetish, and BDSM history and culture.” In 2005 Viola Johnson started The Carter-Johnson Leather Library, "a non-profit [501(c)(3) pending] organization that consists of a traveling collection of thousands of books, magazines, posters, art, club and event pins, newspapers, event programs and ephemera showing leather, fetish, S/M erotic history."


title: Leather subculture

text: The LGBTQ and Leather Cultural District was created in the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood of San Francisco in 2018. It includes the San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley, with four works of art, which opened in 2017:


title: Leather subculture

text: the four works of art are: A black granite stone etched with a narrative by Gayle Rubin, an image of the "Leather David" statue by Mike Caffee, a reproduction of Chuck Arnett’s 1962 mural that was in the Tool Box (a gay leather bar), engraved standing stones that honor community leather institutions (one being the Folsom Street Fair), leather pride flag pavement markings through which the stones emerge, and bronze bootprints along the curb which honor 28 people who were an important part of the leather communities of San Francisco.


title: Leather subculture

text: Many major cities around the world had or have legendary leather bars and clubs, and in some cases a concentration of these associated a particular district with the leather scene:


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Frank Pentangeli is a fictional character from the 1974 film "The Godfather Part II", portrayed by Michael V. Gazzo. Gazzo was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance, which he lost to Robert De Niro, his co-star from the same film (as young Vito Corleone). He is nicknamed "Frankie Five Angels" from his last name, which is formed from the Greek-derived prefix (meaning "five") and the Italian word ("angels").


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Born Francesco Pentangeli in Partinico, Sicily, Pentangeli has an older brother named Vincenzo who remained in Sicily when he immigrated to the United States. Frank is a "caporegime" in the Corleone family, running the family's operations in New York City while Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), his brother and underboss, Fredo (John Cazale), consigliere Tom Hagen and the other two "capos", Rocco Lampone (Tom Rosqui) and Al Neri (Richard Bright), are based in Nevada. He was a top soldier in the "regime" of Peter Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano), and took over the regime after Clemenza's death. He also moved into Vito's former estate in Long Beach, Long Island. His bodyguard is longtime soldier Willi Cicci.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: In "The Godfather Part II", Frank Pentangeli is portrayed as having been one of godfather Vito Corleone's (Marlon Brando) most trusted associates. A rift grows between Pentangeli and Michael, however, that eventually results in Pentangeli betraying the family.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Pentangeli's character was created in "The Godfather Part II" by Coppola and Puzo due to actor Richard Castellano not reprising his role as Clemenza in the sequel. The Pentangeli character took the part in the plot which was originally intended for Clemenza, whose death was to be set anti-parallel to the extended sequence in which the young Vito becomes Clemenza's partner.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Coppola, in his director's commentary on "The Godfather Part II", mentioned that the scenes depicting the Senate committee interrogation of Michael Corleone and Pentangeli are based on the Joseph Valachi federal hearings and that Pentangeli is like a Valachi figure.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Near the beginning of the story, Pentangeli approaches Michael to ask for his help in eliminating the Rosato brothers, rivals in New York, who claimed to have been promised territories by Clemenza prior to his death. Michael refuses, however, and orders Pentangeli to do nothing, as he does not want a war to interfere with an upcoming deal with Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), who supports the Rosatos. Pentangeli takes this as an insult and leaves in anger. Later that night, Michael narrowly escapes an assassination attempt at his home.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Michael concludes on his own that Roth was behind the assassination attempt. After visiting Florida to seal the deal with Roth, Michael pays an unannounced visit to Pentangeli on Long Island and asks him to help take his revenge. As part of his plan, he insists that Pentangeli capitulate to the Rosato brothers so that Roth will not suspect that Michael is on to him. Pentangeli prefers open warfare against Roth and the Rosatos, but reluctantly obeys Michael's order.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Pentangeli arranges a meeting with the Rosato brothers. Arriving at the meeting place, Pentangeli leaves his bodyguard outside and enters the bar alone. Once inside, Tony Rosato (Danny Aiello) ambushes Pentangeli with a garotte, telling him, "Michael Corleone says hello." A policeman steps inside, and the attack degenerates into a shootout in the street. Pentangeli disappears and is believed to be dead.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Later, at a Senate hearing investigating organized crime and allegations of Michael's criminal activities, Michael learns that the committee intends to call Pentangeli as a surprise witness to contradict Michael's adamant denial that he is a crime boss. Both Pentangeli and Cicci have been in the protective custody of the FBI since the attempt upon his life. Believing that Michael ordered him murdered, Pentangeli provides a sworn statement to investigators that Michael is the head of the most powerful Mafia family in the nation, controls virtually all gambling activity in North America, and has ordered countless murders.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Most damningly, Pentangeli tells investigators that Michael personally killed Captain McCluskey and Virgil Sollozzo (portrayed by Sterling Hayden and Al Lettieri respectively in "The Godfather"), and also began planning a mass slaughter of New York's other Mafia bosses as early as 1950. Cicci has also disclosed this to the FBI. However, he is unable to directly implicate Michael in any criminal activities; due to "buffers" in the Corleone organization he never received orders directly from Michael. In contrast, since Pentangeli was a "capo," there is no insulation between Michael and himself. The Senate subcommittee and the FBI thus consider Pentangeli very credible, and are certain that he can corroborate Cicci's testimony and charge Michael with perjury.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: While the committee is in recess, Michael and others look for a way to avoid the perjury charges. Fredo, who had unknowingly conspired with Michael's enemies, informs Michael that the hearing was engineered by Roth as part of his plan to eliminate him from the scene; plus, the committee's lawyer is on Roth's payroll.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Michael knows that Pentangeli's protective custody is too secure to make an attempt on his life before he testifies. Instead, Michael flies Pentangeli's brother, Vincenzo, in from Sicily, and Vincenzo accompanies Michael to the hearing at which Frank is scheduled to testify. Vincenzo and Frank exchange a silent glance before the hearing. Frightened, Frank recants his earlier statements, saying he "told the FBI guys what they wanted to hear," and now claims that the Corleone family is innocent of any wrongdoing, thus perjuring himself before the Senate committee. This testimony catches the committee completely off-guard and effectively derails the government's case against Michael.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: After the hearing, Corleone family "consigliere" Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) visits Pentangeli in custody. Hagen tells Pentangeli, a history buff, a story about how traitors in ancient Rome could spare their families if they committed suicide; the implication being that Michael will take care of Pentangeli's family if he kills himself. Pentangeli thanks Hagen, returns to his assigned quarters, and slits his wrists while taking a bath.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: The finished film leaves unclear exactly what about his brother's presence motivated Pentangeli to change his story. The final film only states that Vincenzo is a powerful and ruthless Mafia chieftain in Sicily.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: An early draft of the film's script explains that Vincenzo, shocked that his brother is about to betray the Corleones, attends the hearing to remind Frank that he must not break the Mafia's code of silence, . This is also spelled out in a cut scene in "The Godfather II" video game. His brother's presence, as well as the stare they exchange, serves as a threat that if Frank follows through with his planned testimony, retribution will be taken against his children, who are living in Sicily under Vincenzo's guardianship.


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: This character made the national news on January 25, 2019, because he was referenced in the federal indictment of Roger Stone. Stone was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and charged with seven counts through an indictment in the Mueller investigation; one count of obstructing an official proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering. "The indictment contains a reference to a character from 'The Godfather: Part II' who is intimidated into not testifying against a mafia boss. According to the indictment, Stone in late 2017 told an associate — identified as "Person 2" — that they should "do a 'Frank Pentangeli' before [the House Intelligence Committee] in order to avoid contradicting Stone's testimony.' The filing goes on to say, "Frank Pentangeli is a character in the film The Godfather: Part II, which both Stone and Person 2 had discussed, who testifies before a congressional committee and in that testimony claims not to know critical information that he does in fact know."


title: Frank Pentangeli

text: Stone's trial began on November 6, 2019. Randy Credico, a comedian and associate of Stone's testified that he refused to testify to Congress, "taking the Fifth", partly due to pressure from Stone. Stone's abusive texts to Credico were read out in court in which Stone called Credico a "maggot", a "rat", a "stoolie" and a "disloyal fuck", encouraging Credico to tell Mueller to "go fuck himself" and threatening to take the comedian's dog away (Credico relies on a medical support dog). On November 15, Stone was found guilty on all seven counts, obstruction of proceedings, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering. Stone was ultimately pardoned by President Donald Trump.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The Fontainebleau Las Vegas (formerly The Drew Las Vegas) is a hotel and casino currently under construction on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is on the site previously occupied by the El Rancho Hotel and Casino and the Algiers Hotel. The project was announced as Fontainebleau Las Vegas in May 2005, with initial plans to begin construction by March 2006, and to have the resort opened by 2008. It was intended to be a sister property to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel. It would be developed by Fontainebleau Resorts, which was owned by Jeff Soffer.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Construction began in February 2007, and the hotel tower was topped off on November 14, 2008. A group of banks had agreed to provide financing, but the group was sued by Fontainebleau in April 2009, after it refused to continue funding the project. Construction was slowed down considerably, and was eventually put on hold in June 2009, when the project went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The project was 70-percent completed, and the opening had been scheduled for October 2009. The project, upon completion, was to include a casino, 2,871 hotel rooms, and 1,018 condo hotel units, among other features. The hotel tower rises 68 stories, standing 737 feet high. It is the tallest building in Las Vegas and in the state, excluding the nearby Strat observation tower. The Fontainebleau was designed by Carlos Zapata Studio with Bergman Walls and Associates as the executive architect.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Carl Icahn purchased the project out of bankruptcy in 2010, but he never restarted construction. In August 2017, the unfinished resort was sold to investment firms Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC for $600 million. In February 2018, Witkoff and Marriott International announced a partnership to open the resort as The Drew Las Vegas. Upon completion, the project would include a casino as well as three hotels with 3,780 rooms; plans for condominiums were scrapped. Witkoff Group founder Steve Witkoff named The Drew after his deceased 22-year-old son, Andrew Witkoff, who died of an OxyContin overdose in 2011. The Drew was intended to open in 2022. However, construction stopped in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In February 2021, Soffer bought back the project through his company Fontainebleau Development, with Koch Real Estate Investments as a partner. Soffer named it back to Fontainebleau Las Vegas and intends to open it in late 2023.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The property was initially occupied by the Thunderbird hotel and casino, opened in 1948. It was later renamed as the Silverbird, and then as the El Rancho, before closing in 1992. Turnberry Associates purchased the property in 2000, for $45 million. The company imploded the El Rancho later that year, to make room for a London-themed resort. The project was ultimately cancelled because of an economic downturn caused by the September 11 attacks.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: A privately held company known as Fontainebleau Resorts was later co-founded by Jeff Soffer, who was the chairman and majority owner of Turnberry Associates. In March 2005, Turnberry Associates paid $97 million to purchase of adjacent property – south of the former El Rancho – that had previously been occupied by the Algiers Hotel. The Algiers was to be replaced by the Krystle Sands, a high-rise condominium project that was cancelled earlier that month. The purchase gave Fontainebleau Resorts and Turnberry a total of .


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Fontainebleau Resorts and Turnberry announced the Fontainebleau Las Vegas on May 12, 2005, as a casino and hotel resort. The project would be a sister property to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel, purchased by Fontainebleau Resorts earlier that year. The Fontainebleau would be built on the former property of the El Rancho and Algiers, located immediately west of the Turnberry Place high-rise condominium complex. Groundbreaking was initially expected to occur by March 2006, with the project planned to be opened by 2008. At the time, the company was considering the addition of condominiums to the project, but was still working on the final design plans. Glenn Schaeffer, the former president of Mandalay Resort Group, was hired to oversee the new project as the president and chief executive officer of Fontainebleau Resorts.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The Fontainebleau was designed by Carlos Zapata Studio, with Bergman Walls and Associates serving as the executive architect. The resort would have a total of 3.4 million square feet, including a casino, and of convention space. The hotel tower would have 3,889 rooms, including 2,871 hotel rooms and 1,018 condo hotel units. Condominiums were to range between to ; 17 units would be built on each floor, in the center of the tower. In addition, the resort would have more than two dozen restaurants, a performing arts theater, a spa inspired by the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, and a retail mall known as The Runway. Schaeffer predicted that less than one-third of the resort's revenues would come from its casino.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The Fontainebleau would be LEED-certified, and would have technologically advanced features. The resort would include a large antenna to provide wireless coverage for cell service and Internet access throughout the property. Connectivity issues were common in large resorts because of steel columns and concrete, which interfere with wireless signals. iMac computers would be present in each hotel room, replacing information binders found in most hotels. The computers would be used to request room service and wake-up calls, and to communicate with a concierge or other group members in the hotel. Touch-screen displays would be present throughout the resort, providing information and directions.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Turnberry West Construction began construction of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas in February 2007. The company did not do any of its own work, instead relying on a network of subcontractors. A 26-acre site north of the project was used as a staging area for construction equipment and workers. The property, owned by Archon Corporation, was leased to the Fontainebleau project for $350,000 a month.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Preparation work on the property was underway in April 2007, although an official groundbreaking ceremony was not held. At that time, the project was expected to cost $2.8 billion. Publishing and Broadcasting Limited purchased 19.6 percent of Fontainebleau Resorts for $250 million to help fund the project. In June 2007, Fontainebleau Resorts secured approximately $4 billion from a group of banks to pay off debts and to finish its projects, including the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which was expected to open in fall 2009. The company Ullico would also provide financing to the project.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In July 2007, a 70-person team of ironworkers stopped working in areas of the resort that they said were unsafe. They resumed work after three days, following the implementation of several safety measures. The following month, a construction worker died after a 30-foot fall on the property. Several days later, a large concrete slab in the parking garage fell and caused slabs on two lower floors to collapse. No workers were injured or killed by the three large slabs.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The resort's parking garage was to stand seven stories, with the first two floors to be located underground. In mid-2007, plans were approved to increase the garage to 23 stories. Later that year, residents of Turnberry Place alleged that they were deceived by Turnberry, saying they were never notified of the garage's size increase, which would hamper their views. Other residents were concerned about the impact of noise and pollutants from the new project.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Soffer said Turnberry did a "respectful job" of building the Fontainebleau hotel tower away from Turnberry Place residents. Soffer also stated that the property was zoned for a hotel and casino, and said that residents knew such a project would ultimately be built on the property: "We're not going to buy a 20-acre property and leave it as a vacant lot. It's a property with proper zoning and nothing was ever promised. It's as simple as that. […] The bottom line is you can't please everyone." Turnberry Place residents planned to have a district judge rule on whether the Clark County Commission should have approved the garage re-design, which was alleged to be in violation of a county ordinance. The judge ruled in favor of the project, stating that the re-design was legally approved. Aside from the garage, residents had also been concerned about potential traffic increases that would be caused by the new resort.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In April 2008, Fontainebleau Resorts stated that the project was fully financed and that progress was continuing, despite other local projects that had suffered financial problems amid the Great Recession. At the time, the project had $2.4 billion in debt. The company had planned to put the Fontainebleau's condo units on sale in September 2008. Between $700 million and $900 million in presales was expected to come from the units. A total of 6,000 people were expected to be employed at Fontainebleau upon its opening.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The hotel tower rises 68 stories, standing at 737 feet. It is the tallest building in Las Vegas and in the state. The tower was topped off on November 14, 2008. It is a concrete structure that includes 48 elevator shafts.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, during the Great Recession, left a financing shortage in the Fontainebleau's retail component. Two months later, Moody's Investors Service warned that failure to fund the retail loan could result in a default for the Fontainebleau. The agency also downgraded the project's debt funding, noting the decline of gaming revenue and the weak demand for condo hotels in Las Vegas. A preview office for the condo units opened in December 2008, with little fanfare. Sales of the units had yet to begin. In early 2009, Standard & Poor's warned that the Fontainebleau would likely face difficulty in making its interest payments upon its opening in October 2009. Fontainebleau Resorts was believed to have enough financing to complete the project, although the sale of its condo units were pivotal to paying off its debt. Moody's warned that the project would not be able to sell enough units to reduce its construction debt by the time of opening. The agency also warned of the worsening economy, noting a drop in Las Vegas tourism and gaming demand.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In April 2009, the project filed a $3 billion lawsuit against the group of banking lenders, alleging that they reneged on their agreement to provide $800 million in funding. The banks stated that the loan was terminated because of an unspecified default, a claim that the lawsuit denied. A "material adverse change" clause was present in the banks' agreement with Fontainebleau, giving the group wide-ranging options for terminating the loan. The possible stop of construction would affect 3,300 workers who were building the resort. Another 1,700 workers were expected to be hired later on to finish the project. The condo units had yet to go on sale, due to weak demand, and Fontainebleau was reassessing the number of units that the project was to include, given the poor state of the economy.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The resort would have a positive impact on the Las Vegas economy and employment, and the banks' decision to rescind financing was met with criticism. The banks largely declined to comment on the case; they denied wrongdoing but did not specify how the project wound up in default. It was later confirmed that the project had gone substantially over its construction budget, and the banks determined that the project was in default under their credit agreement. The banks also alleged that Fontainebleau officials made inaccurate statements to hide the project's financial problems. According to the banks, Fontainebleau wanted $1.3 billion in debt to be forgiven.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The bank group was led by Bank of America, which began negotiating with Fontainebleau shortly after the lawsuit was filed. Through a separate lending group, the project had $130 million to continue construction while the lawsuit proceeded. However, the second group partially pulled its financing in late April 2009, after the first group rescinded its loan on the project. The latest pulling of funds was substantial enough to affect construction; work was reduced to skeleton crews, and construction proceeded at a slower pace. The worker layoffs had the potential to delay the project, depending on whether the same crews would be retained once full construction resumed. In addition, much of the construction equipment on-site – including two tower cranes – was rented and would have to be returned, only to be reassembled again later on. In May 2009, Fontainebleau filed an amendment to its lawsuit, stating that Deutsche Bank, part of the main banking group, had a conflict of interest. The bank had an ownership stake in the upcoming Cosmopolitan resort, also under construction on the Las Vegas Strip. Deutsche Bank was accused of "seeking to destroy the Fontainebleau in order to minimize competition" for the Cosmopolitan. The bank was to provide $80 million to the Fontainebleau. The allegations against Deutsche Bank were eventually dropped.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: During May 2009, construction consulting firm CCCS International filed a lawsuit against the Fontainebleau, alleging wrongful termination from the project. CCCS was hired as construction manager in 2008. According to the company, Fontainebleau officials said that the project was "severely over budget" and needed a construction manager to provide cost management and auditing services, in order to recover "prior unnecessary overpayments." During its time on the project, CCCS concluded that Fontainebleau was inadequate in its designing, supervising, and scheduling of the project, leading to significant construction delays. In its lawsuit, CCCS alleged the discovery of "fraudulent billing practices and inappropriate payment methods" used by the Fontainebleau, stating that this discovery led to its termination. CCCS also alleged that Fontainebleau did not have financing to fund its consulting services, and that the project failed to disclose this. CCCS stated that it was owed more than $1 million. A Fontainebleau spokesman said that CCCS was fired because it failed to perform its duties. The Fontainebleau had gone an estimated $375 million over its most recent revised budget, and financial analysts expected the resort to cost at least $3.5 billion upon completion, up substantially from its original cost.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Corporate layoffs began in May 2009, a result of the bank group withholding its loan. Schaeffer was among those who left the project, without explanation. Schaeffer had been primarily responsible for securing more than $1 billion in loans for the Fontainebleau, and he was to operate the resort's casino. His departure was considered a poor sign for the project's future, with the October 2009 opening unlikely to happen. The project had approximately 250 construction workers remaining.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Facing numerous liens and financing problems, the Fontainebleau filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 9, 2009. The project had 1,000 to 5,000 creditors, including various subcontractors who were owed more than $250 million. Subcontractors wanted a committee formed to represent them in the bankruptcy proceedings, rather than Turnberry West Construction. The $3 billion lawsuit against the bank group was withdrawn and instead refiled in U.S. bankruptcy court. Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC sought court approval for an immediate $656 million loan from the bank group. However, the banks did not believe that this would be nearly enough to finish construction. Meanwhile, Crown Limited (previously Publishing and Broadcasting Limited) ended any further investment in the Fontainebleau project. On June 11, 2009, it was announced that construction had been halted while the project proceeded through bankruptcy. The resort was 70 percent completed, and the site was secured to prevent theft of construction equipment and vandalism of lower floors, which were fully furnished.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Construction on Fontainebleau had begun before the final designs were finished, a common practice that was done for Las Vegas resorts to get them opened sooner. However, this would often result in costly do-over work having to be done. When construction on Fontainebleau was halted, there were still areas of the project that had yet to be finalized. Other areas of the resort, such as the casino and hotel rooms, had undergone numerous redesigns. Restaurants were among the uncompleted portions of the resort, although many hotel rooms had been finished. The project owed more than $2 billion to various creditors. Because of the worsening economy, it was unlikely that the Fontainebleau could pay off such debts even if it opened within the next year. In July 2009, Fontainebleau and its affiliated companies stated that design changes were being considered to contain the project's high construction cost. In addition, Soffer considered providing additional financing himself to get the resort finished. The resort subsequently sought permission in bankruptcy court to cancel events that were scheduled for the first half of 2010, as well as permission to cancel a lease for office space which was to be used for Fontainebleau's employee recruitment center.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: A month after the bankruptcy filing, the case was complicated further by term lenders who sued the bank group. In addition, Turnberry West filed a lawsuit against its sister company, Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC, which owned the project. Turnberry West alleged that its liens against the project took priority over those filed by lenders. Both companies were owned by Soffer. This move, in which Soffer essentially sued himself, was viewed as an attempt to force creditors to supply funding. Mediation attempts, between Fontainebleau and the banks, were unsuccessful, and a judge determined that the case would go to trial. Financial lawsuits involving the Fontainebleau would go on for years. In one case, a group of term lenders sued Soffer, Crown Limited, and Ullico, alleging that they presented false architectural drawings to conceal the project's true construction cost, and that they later conspired to hide the Fontainebleau's financial problems. In Fontainebleau's lawsuit, a judge would eventually rule in Bank of America's favor; the bank later reached a $300 million settlement with lenders.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In June 2009, executives from Apollo Management and Wynn Resorts toured the Fontainebleau facility with an interest in purchasing the project. Ullico was also in discussions with Fontainebleau to help finance the resort's completion, after already contributing $447.6 million to the project. In September 2009, Penn National Gaming emerged as a prospective buyer. Penn had toured the project several times, and it sought a partner to help finish the resort. Penn planned to convert the condo units into hotel rooms, and there was also the possibility of renaming the project. The company expected to have the resort opened in late 2011.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In October 2009, a judge overseeing the bankruptcy case ruled that the Fontainebleau project be sold as soon as possible, appointing an examiner to handle the sale. However, the term lenders had wanted the Chapter 11 case converted into a Chapter 7 liquidation. Penn offered $50 million for the project. In November 2009, corporate raider and financier Carl Icahn – who previously controlled American Casino & Entertainment Properties – offered $156 million. A bidding war ensued, and Penn dropped out of the auction in January 2010, after Icahn raised his bid to $156 million. Meanwhile, real estate developer Luke Brugnara announced that he would place a $170 million bid for the Fontainebleau. Brugnara planned to finish and open the retail portion, using the eventual revenue to complete the hotel tower.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Icahn ultimately won control of the Fontainebleau with a $106 million bid, taking over ownership on February 18, 2010. He also paid $45 million in financing fees during bankruptcy proceedings. Icahn was the only qualified person to bid on the project; two other bids were disqualified because they failed to include a deposit. Before deciding on what to do with the Fontainebleau project, Icahn planned to wait for a rebound of the Las Vegas economy. The project would require up to $1.5 billion to complete construction, and some analysts believed that demolishing the resort would be more cost-effective than trying to complete it. While the project sat vacant, it was sometimes used by local firefighters as a training ground for fire drills.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In October 2010, Icahn auctioned off the furnishings previously intended for the resort, an indication that he had no intention of finishing the project. As part of a renovation, the Plaza Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas purchased various furnishings, wallpaper, and tiles that were meant for the Fontainebleau. The Buffalo Bill's hotel-casino in Primm, Nevada also purchased $500,000 worth of furnishings for a renovation of its own.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: A large crane, used for constructing the hotel tower, was eventually dismantled in May 2014. The crane, like the unfinished resort, was considered an eyesore and a reminder of the Great Recession. Rusted, lower-floor portions of the unfinished resort were located along the sidewalk on Las Vegas Boulevard, presenting a poor appearance for the area. In 2015, Icahn agreed to county requests for an exterior upgrade, which would help improve the project's appearance. A cosmetic wrap, consisting of fabric and paint, would cover the unfinished portions, similar to the stalled St. Regis tower, also on the Las Vegas Strip. The blue-and-white wrap was eventually added in 2017.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In November 2015, Icahn listed the Fontainebleau for sale at an asking price of $650 million. The project was listed through the CBRE Group. The Fontainebleau required another $1.5 billion to finish, and the tower would take up to two years to complete. According to CBRE Group, "Combined with a purchase price of $650 million, it would take less than $2 billion for a buyer to enter or expand on the Strip market. That's about $500,000 per room, just half of the $1 million or more per room to build new." Various rumors persisted over the next few years about a possible sale. Richard Bosworth and Juniper Capital Partners wanted to purchase the Fontainebleau, and in early 2017, they approached Brookfield Asset Management as a possible equity partner. Bosworth planned to sell portions of the Fontainebleau to a timeshare operator, while the top floors were to be branded as a Waldorf Astoria hotel. These plans did not work out, and Bosworth and Juniper Capital ultimately bought the nearby Hard Rock Hotel instead.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In August 2017, investment firms Witkoff Group and New Valley LLC purchased the resort for $600 million, with plans to rename it. Additional plans were not disclosed for the project at that time. The purchase and planned improvements were financed through Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. In subsequent months, the Las Vegas-based Grand Canyon Development Partners became involved with the project, which also had new hotel operators. The company planned to water-proof the building immediately and eventually complete it, with a substantial interior and exterior redesign. The Fontainebleau was referred to as Project Blue in county records at the time. Penta Building Group was hired to finish the resort, with construction expected to resume in 2018. Plans to finish the project's design and to obtain a construction loan were expedited in December 2017, after the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The project would create 5,000 construction jobs, and 6,000 jobs upon opening.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: On February 12, 2018, Witkoff and Marriott International announced a partnership to open the renamed project as The Drew Las Vegas in late 2020. In addition to the Drew hotel, the resort would also house hotels from two Marriott brands, EDITION and JW Marriott Hotels, making it the first JW Marriott hotel to open on the Las Vegas Strip. Marriott would manage the three hotels, and would also invest $50 million in the project. The resort would feature a casino and 3,780 hotel rooms; condominiums were no longer planned for the tower. The Drew would also include more than of convention and meeting space.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The project's new name received puzzled reactions because of its unclear meaning. A representative for Steve Witkoff's company stated that The Drew "feels familiar and approachable, but also fresh and modern – it reflects what people are craving in Las Vegas and signals the experiences Witkoff and Marriott will deliver." The new name is also a tribute to Witkoff's deceased 22-year-old son, Andrew Witkoff, who died of an OxyContin overdose in 2011. Before his purchase, Steve Witkoff said he had heard "nasty rumors" about the building being in poor condition. He said that such rumors turned out to be false and that the building was in exceptional condition. Witkoff had plans for a bridge to connect The Drew to the expanded Las Vegas Convention Center, which was scheduled to complete its expansion in 2020. A man trespassed onto the Drew property in March 2018, and sparked a number of fires out of boredom. The fires caused $10 million in damage to several areas, including a ballroom and the 11th floor of the parking garage. The man was later apprehended and charged with arson.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In April 2019, Witkoff announced that the opening would be delayed until the second quarter of 2022. The delay was attributed to the amount of time spent working on the project's design. The total cost would be $3.1 billion, including the $600 million purchase price, approximately $1.2 billion in construction, and hundreds of millions of dollars for pre-opening costs. The building interior was cavernous and included unfinished escalators, walls, and ceilings, as well as exposed beams and columns. The interior also contained a partially built theater. Witkoff stated the delay would give him better certainty regarding the construction budget. He also announced that a substantial amount of the eventual resort's profits would go to a family foundation that fights drug addiction, in honor of his son. The resort was designed by the architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Bobby Baldwin was announced as the chief executive officer of The Drew Las Vegas in November 2019.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Witkoff expected to finalize a construction loan of approximately $2 billion during early 2020. At the time, Witkoff said the interior of the building was active with hundreds of workers, and that a much larger construction presence would be noticeable later in the year with potentially 2,000 workers. The resort was expected to be opened by November 2022. However, construction was suspended in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada. Several months later, contractors filed liens totaling millions of dollars, for allegedly unpaid work. In addition, executives who had recently joined the project were laid off amid the pandemic, and they sued for lack of salary, alleging that their employee contract was broken.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: In February 2021, sixteen years after he first announced it, Jeffrey Soffer bought back the project through his Florida-based company, Fontainebleau Development. The company partnered with Koch Real Estate Investments on the purchase, and various options were under consideration for the property, which was 75-percent complete. Soffer had given little thought to returning to the project, until the pandemic resulted in the opportunity to buy it back. The project was purchased for $350 million, and the property was valued at $615.5 million. Marriott exited the project later in 2021, citing an amicable agreement with Fontainebleau Development, which instead would manage and operate the hotel itself.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: On November 9, 2021, Fontainebleau Development held a construction commencement ceremony for the project, announcing that it would be renamed Fontainebleau Las Vegas once again, with the opening scheduled for late 2023. Richardson Construction was hired as general contractor. Soffer intends to stick largely to the project's original 2006 plans, though with some modern updates. The Fontainebleau's retail mall will be greatly reduced from the initial plans, and condominiums will not be part of the project.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: Fontainebleau's proposed features include a casino, and 3,780 hotel rooms. The retail area will cover two floors and include approximately 35 high-end retailers. The resort will have a focus on conferences, taking advantage of its location near the Las Vegas Convention Center. The property will have more than of meeting space. The property is also expected to feature entertainment options, including a performing theater, a nightclub, and a dayclub on the ninth-floor pool deck.


title: Fontainebleau Las Vegas

text: The Fontainebleau is depicted in the 2014-15 television series "Dominion", in which it has become a hydroponic farm known as the Agri-Tower.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket (also known as the Pattern 1853 Enfield, P53 Enfield, and Enfield rifle-musket) was a .577 calibre Minié-type muzzle-loading rifled musket, used by the British Empire from 1853 to 1867; after which many were replaced in service by the cartridge-loaded Snider–Enfield rifle.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The term "rifle-musket" originally referred to muskets with the smooth-bored barrels replaced with rifled barrels. The length of the barrels were unchanged, allowing the weapons to be fired in ranks, since a long rifle was necessary to enable the muzzles of the second rank of soldiers to project beyond the faces of the men in front. The weapon would also be sufficiently long when fitted with a bayonet to be effective against cavalry. Such weapons manufactured with rifled barrels, muzzle loading, single shot, and utilizing the same firing mechanism, also came to be called rifle-muskets.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: Royal Small Arms Factory developed the Pattern 1853 Enfield in the 1850s. The barrel had three grooves, with a 1:78 rifling twist, and was fastened to the stock with three metal bands, so that the rifle was often called a "three band" model. The rifle's cartridges contained drams, or of gunpowder, and the ball was typically a Boxer modification of the Pritchett & Metford or a Burton-Minié, which would be driven out at approximately per second.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The original Pritchett design was modified by Col. Boxer, who reduced the diameter to 0.55 after troops found the original 0.568 too hard to load during the Indian Mutiny, changing the mixed beeswax-tallow lubrication to pure beeswax for the same reason, and added a clay plug to the base to facilitate expansion, as the original Pritchett design, which relied only on the explosion of the charge, was found to cause excessive fouling from too slow an expansion, allowing unburnt powder to escape around the bullet. The Enfield's adjustable ladder rear sight had steps for the first position , , and . For distances beyond that, an adjustable flip-up blade sight was graduated (depending on the model and date of manufacture) from to . British soldiers were trained to hit a target by with a diameter bull's eye, counting 2 pointsout to . The target used from to had a bull's eye, with any man scoring 7 points with 20 rounds at that range being designated a marksman.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: With war breaking out between the Turks and the Russians, Britain realized that it was only a matter of time before they would be drawn into the conflict. The British Army was in the midst of a significant weapons transformation from smoothbore muskets to rifled muskets. While three of the four divisions of the field army in the Crimea had been supplied with the pattern 1851 Minie rifle-musket, the other regiments of the army around the Empire still carried the 1842 pattern smoothbore musket. By the end of 1853, the Enfield rifle-musket was approved by the War Department for the army and was put into production. The Enfield saw extensive action in the Crimean War, 1854–1856, with the first Enfield rifles being issued to troops from February 1855.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The instability in Central America after the collapse of the Federal Republic of Central America forced Costa Rica to reform and modernize its army, especially after a threat of invasion from Nicaragua in 1848. With the arrival of Juan Rafael Mora Porras as president in 1849, Costa Rica acquired between 500-2000 1853 Enfield rifles in 1855. Later that year, the adventurer and mercenary William Walker imposed a military dictatorship in Nicaragua, reimposing slavery and threatening to conquer all of Central America. The 1853 Enfield rifle was used in the Filibuster War exclusively by the Costa Rican army, beginning with the Battle of Santa Rosa and the Second Battle of Rivas in March and April 1856.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The Enfield P53 was introduced to Indian troops under British rule in 1856. The Enfield rifle-musket was a contributing cause of the Indian rebellion of 1857. Sepoys in the British East India Company's armies in India were issued with the new rifle in 1857, and rumours were spread that the cartridges (referring here to paper-wrapped powder and projectile, not to metallic cartridges) were greased with beef tallow, pig fat, or a combination of the two – a situation abhorrent to Hindu and Muslim soldiers based on religious beliefs.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: British military drills of the time required soldiers to tear open by biting open the prepared cartridge, pour the gunpowder contained within down the barrel, snap off the greased end of the cartridge containing the bullet at the muzzle, ram it home, bring up the rifle to the hip, replace the percussion cap, ready the rifle by setting the sights and moving it to full cock, then to present the rifle, marking the target and squeezing the trigger. The musketry books also recommended that, "Whenever the grease around the bullet appears to be melted away, or otherwise removed from the cartridge, the sides of the bullet should be made wet in the mouth before putting it into the barrel; the saliva will serve the purpose of grease for the time being".


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The idea of having anything which might be tainted with pig or beef fat in their mouths was unacceptable to the Indian soldiers, and when they objected it was suggested that they were more than welcome to make up their own batches of cartridges, using a religiously acceptable greasing agent such as ghee or vegetable oil. This seemed to prove that the issued cartridges were, in fact, greased with pig and/or beef fat. A further suggestion that the Sepoys tear the cartridges open with their hands (instead of biting them open) was rejected as impractical – many of the Sepoys had been undertaking musket drill daily for years, and the practice of biting the cartridge open was second nature to them. Incidentally, after the Mutiny, manuals amended the method of opening the cartridge to, "Bring the cartridge to the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, and with the arm close to the body, carefully tear off the end without spilling the powder."


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: As a consequence of British fears, the Indian infantry's long arms were modified to be less accurate by reaming out the rifling of the Pattern 1853 making it a smooth bore and the spherical / ball shot does not require greasing, just a patch. This greatly reduced the gun's potency and effectiveness, as did replacing the variable distance rear sight to a fixed sight. This became the Pattern 1858. However, due to the now thinner walls, the barrel would bulge, and bursting was not an unknown problem. Furthermore, with the bayonet fitted excessive flexing became an issue. To remedy this, an urgent order was placed in England for around 12,000 new barrels made specifying with a thicker barrel wall. This became the very scarce Enfield Pattern 1859 which in good to very good condition attracts a premium.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The Enfield 1853 rifle-musket was issued to the British Army regiments, colonial Militia and Volunteer units and later to the New Zealand Armed Constabulary, and saw extensive use in the mid and later stages of the New Zealand Wars. The first Enfield rifles were issued to the 58th and 65th Regiments, stationed in the country, in 1858. The Enfield was not the ideal weapon for use in the dense bush covered hills of New Zealand because of its length and weight. Special units called Forest Rangers were formed to fight rebels in the bush but after their first expedition into the bush covered hills of the Hunua ranges, south of Auckland, most Enfields were returned and replaced with a mixture of much shorter and lighter, Calisher and Terry breech loading carbines, and Colt Navy .36 and Beaumont–Adams .44 revolvers. The special units kept a handful of 1853 Enfields for long range sniping. The Enfields continued to be used by the many British line regiments in the more open fern and tussock covered country of the Waikato interior.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: Numbers of Enfield muskets were also acquired by the Maori later on in the proceedings, either from the British themselves (who traded them to friendly tribes) or from European traders who were less discriminating about which customers they supplied with firearms, powder, and shot.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: After the introduction of the Snider-Enfield, many of the Enfield Muskets in the Armed Constabulary's armouries were sold off to members of the public, and they remained a popular sporting and hunting arm in New Zealand well into the late 19th century, long after the introduction of metallic cartridge-loading firearms.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The Enfield 1853 rifle-musket was also used by both the North and the South in the American Civil War, and was the second most widely used infantry weapon in the war, surpassed only by the Springfield Model 1861 Rifled Musket. The Confederates imported more Enfields during the course of the war than any other small arm, buying from private contractors and gun runners. It has been estimated that over 900,000 P53 Enfields were imported into America and saw service in every major engagement from the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862) and the Siege of Vicksburg (May 1863), to the final battles of 1865. The gun was highly sought after in the Confederate ranks. According to a survey taken by British officials during the early stages of war on the arms of the Western Confederate Forces, nearly 70% were armed with smoothbore arms, such as the Model 1842 Springfield. Later in the war the same survey was taken, they found that more than 75% had acquired a rifle, mainly the Pattern 1853 Enfield.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The P53 Enfields capabilities were largely lost by the lack of marksmanship training by both the Union and Confederacy. Most soldiers were not trained to estimate ranges or to properly adjust their sights to account for the "rainbow-like" trajectory of the large calibre conical projectile. Unlike their British counterparts who attended extensive musketry training, new Civil War soldiers seldom fired a single cartridge until their first engagement. After the end of the war, hundreds of formerly Confederate Enfield 1853 muskets were sold from the American arms market to the Tokugawa shogunate, as well as some prominent Japanese domains including Aizu and Satsuma. These units were later used in the Boshin War, and some remaining in Satsuma were also used by rebelling former samurai in the Satsuma Rebellion about a decade later.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The Enfield 1853 rifle-musket is highly sought after by US Civil War re-enactors, British Military firearms enthusiasts and black powder shooters and hunters for its quality, accuracy, and reliability. The Italian firms of Davide Pedersoli & C. and Armi Chiappa (Armi Sport) manufacture a modern reproduction of the Enfield 1853 rifle-musket, which is readily available on the civilian market. Davide Pedersoli's reproductions are imported into the United States by the Italian Firearms Group located in Amarillo, Texas.


title: Pattern 1853 Enfield

text: The British company Parker Hale also made reproductions of the Enfield 1853 rifle-musket and of the Pattern 1861 Enfield musketoon in the 1970s. Those pieces were made to original patterns but are not particularly suitable for use by American Civil War reenactors because they were made to 4th model specs, including having the Baddeley barrel bands. This model (the 4th) was originally made too late to have been fielded in the American War. Appropriate models for that use would be 2nd or 3rd model three band rifle muskets.


title: One Man Gang

text: George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, (The) One Man Gang. For two years in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The African Dream". Prior to this, he was the top heel for Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and UWF Heavyweight Champion for six months in 1986 and 1987.


title: One Man Gang

text: Grey trained with longtime local independent wrestler and promoter Chief Jay Eagle (Jerry Bragg) and Darren "Rattlesnake" Westbrooks. He started his career at the age of 17 on the Carolina independent circuit wrestling both under his real name and as "Crusher Gray." He then moved on to wrestle in the Kentucky/Tennessee area, including for International Championship Wrestling (ICW), under the ring name Crusher Broomfield. Gray went in as part of a package along with Bragg, Westbrooks, and Ric Starr. One of Broomfield's major angles was that his contract was owned by ICW Champion Randy Savage and Savage's nemesis Ron Garvin defeated Savage in a match to set Broomfield free. He later worked for several National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated promotions, Mid-South Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as One Man Gang, billed as being from Chicago's Halsted Street on the South Side. He was managed by Kevin Sullivan, Skandor Akbar, Theodore Long, Gentleman Jim Holiday, and Sir Oliver Humperdink in various territories.


title: One Man Gang

text: Gang worked for many territories during this time for three years. His biggest success was in Florida where he had a feud with Dusty Rhodes from 1983 to 1984. Also, he feuded with Blackjack Mulligan and Mike Rotunda. He teamed up with Ron Bass and won the tag team titles defeating Rhodes and Mike Davis. Two months after they dropped the titles to Rotunda and Davis. In November 1984 as Panama Gang, he became the last NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Florida version) defeating Mulligan. Later the title was abandoned when Gang left the territory in 1985.


title: One Man Gang

text: Then Gang worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling from 1983 to 1984 and 1986 feuding with Giant Baba, Genichiro Tenryu and Jumbo Tsuruta. He teamed with Bruiser Brody, Killer Tim Brooks and Stan Hansen. In 1984 he teamed with Goro Tsurumi. Then in 1986 he teamed with Jerry Blackwell, Harley Race and Tiger Jeet Singh.


title: One Man Gang

text: In the regional territories, he was a member of Skandor Akbar's "Devastation Inc." as well as working with Gary Hart in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). He would feud with The Von Erichs teaming with Rick Rude. Also, he feuded in singles competition against Kerry Von Erich, King Parsons, Chris Adams, and Bruiser Brody.


title: One Man Gang

text: On May 5, 1985 he lost to Kerry Von Erich in a hair vs hair match at the 2nd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions where he started sporting a mohawk. He lost to Bruiser Brody in a chain match at Christmas Star Wars 1985. Also lost to Brody again on two occasions a in a steel cage match on January 26 and 27, 1986.