title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Eric and Reynolds stay at a motel in an almost-abandoned town. While Eric is away from the room, Rey loads a revolver, then sees an Army vehicle driving down the street. He takes cover behind a bed and hears someone attempting to enter the room from outside. He shoots through the door and is shocked to find he has killed the daughter of the motel's owner before being shot at by a soldier. Eric comes to the rescue, killing the soldier and driving Reynolds and himself away.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: While camping near an abandoned mine, Eric is arrested by a soldier. At a small Army base nearby, he learns he is being transported to Sydney. Eric tells the soldier that after finding his wife with another man, he killed them both; he is angry that the authorities seemed not to notice or care. The soldier ignores him. Reynolds breaks into the area, kills the two soldiers outside, then the soldier who was processing Eric. Eric and Reynolds escape.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: They arrive at the town where Henry and the gang are hiding. They find Eric's car outside a house and break in. Eric holds Archie and Caleb at gunpoint, while Reynolds goes to confront Henry. Eventually both hold each other at gunpoint, with Henry not understanding why his brother wants to kill him and at the same time Reynolds accusing his brother of letting him die. Reynolds becomes emotionally overloaded and shoots the wall by accident, which causes Henry to instinctively shoot him in the neck. Eric hears the gunshot and kills Archie and Caleb, before walking into Henry's room and finding Reynolds' corpse. He shoots a devastated Henry in the chest and then burns the bodies. Later, Eric pulls to the side of the road in his car. It is revealed that he was obsessed with finding the car because his dog's corpse was in the trunk. Eric prepares to bury the dog in the desert.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: David Michôd wrote the screenplay for the film, based on a story he conceived with Joel Edgerton, about the near-future, in Australia a decade after the collapse of the western economy where people from all over the world come to work in the mines. The setting and plot of the film drew comparisons with "Mad Max". Clarifying those comparisons, Michôd said that, "You put cars in the desert in Australia and people are going to think of "Mad Max", and with all due respect to that film—and I stress that—I think "The Rover" is going to be way more chillingly authentic and menacing."


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Talking about the characters in the film, Michôd said, "There is a strong sort of Asian flavour in the film, but I wanted it to feel like people have come from everywhere, from all corners of the world. Rey is a southern American who has travelled with his older brother Henry to work in the Australian mines. Robert Pattinson and Scoot McNairy are the only American accented characters in the film, but a lot of other accents join them, including Mandarin, Cambodian, and of course, Australian."


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: It is the second collaboration between David Michôd and Guy Pearce after "Animal Kingdom"; Michôd wrote the character of Eric for Pearce. In May 2012, it was announced that Pearce would appear as Eric in the film. Initially Joel Edgerton, who co-wrote the story of the film with Michôd tried for the role of Eric but it did not work out, according to Edgerton "David [Michôd] and I even at one point were like, because I said to David, “Should I be in this movie? I don’t know that I’m right for it.” And he’s like, “I don’t know if you’re right for it either.” Because it wasn’t just some complicated character, Guy [Pearce]’s character. We even decided to go out one day to shoot a scene together just to work it out for ourselves. It was pretty clear after doing it I’m not the right guy for this movie."


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Pattinson won the role of Reynolds after audition, over other actors. Michôd commented on the casting of Pattinson that, "(he is) really smart, and not the sort of pretty boy I was expecting. As soon as it was time to start testing… he was my first choice, by a long way." Pattinson in an interview described the film that, "It's very existential. It's really interesting. I couldn't really explain to you what it's about but it's sort of about how much pain can the world take and how much disgust and cruelty before love dies. I think that's kind of what it's about." Michôd used amateur actors from the Australian outback in the film. Talking about that he said, "You can't meet these people and not think, Oh, there's got be a way of getting you in this movie.'"


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Principal photography commenced on 28 January 2013 in Southern Flinders Ranges, Australia. Filming continued over seven weeks in Hammond, Quorn, Copley, and Leigh Creek, ending on 16 March 2013 in Marree, north of Adelaide, Australia.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Producers Watts and Linde commended the enthusiasm of the cast; they said of the shoot, "The South Australian desert environment can be a tough one to work in, particularly for those coming from a Northern Hemisphere winter but both the cast and crew have thrown themselves into the shoot. We are shooting in some of the most haunting and stunning landscapes in the world, and are fortunate to have such an exceptional cast and a truly talented crew."


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Antony Partos composed the score for the film. He previously collaborated with Michôd on his 2010 film "Animal Kingdom". Musician Sam Petty, who previously worked with Michôd on "Animal Kingdom" and "Hesher" selected the soundtracks and music pieces for the film. The soundtrack album was released by Lakeshore Records in a digital format on 7 October 2014 and would be released in physical format on 11 November 2014.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Talking about the score Partos said that "My task was to build the trust and love between the two main characters despite their circumstances. I think there is a subtle yet tangible shift that develops two thirds of the way through the story and the score does change in this regard to become more harmonically based compared to the textures that are present in the first half of the film."


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Michôd wanted to use saxophonist Colin Stetson pieces in the film. Originally he also selected "Don't Cha" by The Pussycat Dolls to use in a crucial scene in the film involving Rey (played by Pattinson) but later changed it to "Pretty Girl Rock" by Keri Hilson.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: The first images of Pearce and Pattinson in the film were released on 13 March 2013. On 10 April 2014, a still of Pattinson from the film was released. On 29 January 2014, the first teaser trailer was released, along with the poster of the film. The full teaser, along with a "sneak peek" from the film, premiered on TV on 30 January 2014 during the 3rd AACTA Awards broadcast on Network Ten.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: With the announcement of the film's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, a full-length official trailer, along with two film posters featuring Pearce and Pattinson, were released on 17 April 2014.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: "The Rover" was released in Australia on 12 June 2014. In United States, it had a limited release in Los Angeles and New York City on 13 June 2014, and expanded into wider release on 20 June 2014. It screened at "2014 New Zealand International Film Festival" in "Thrill" section on 20 July 2014. It also served as the opening night film at "Fantasy Film Fest, Germany" on 27 August 2014. It had a theatrical released in UK on 15 August 2014.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: The film released on DVD and Blu-ray in USA on 16 September 2014, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Bonus features include deleted scenes and a "making-of" segment title "Something Elemental: Making The Rover". It became available for online streaming and digital download through iTunes and amazon on 23 August 2014 in United States. It was released on DVD in UK on 5 January 2015.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: The film received a limited release first, similarly like A24's previous releases "Spring Breakers" and "The Bling Ring"; it grossed over $69,302 at an average of $13,860 per theatre in its opening weekend, which took place at 5 theatres in Los Angeles and New York City. It had a wide release at 608 theatres and earned $481,214 at an average of $791 per theatre in its opening weekend. It surpassed "The Railway Man" for the lowest opening weekend of a film in 600 or more theaters during 2014.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Upon its Cannes premiere, the film received generally positive reviews, and Pearce and Pattinson's performances were highly appreciated. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 66% of 169 film critics have given the film a positive review, and it has a rating average of 6.4 out of 10. The site's summary states: "Fueled by engaging performances from Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson, the tension-filled "The Rover" overcomes its narrative faults through sheer watchability." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film holds an average score of 64, based on 38 reviews, indicating a 'generally favorable' response.


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" stated that ""The Rover" is a most impressive piece of filmmaking, tense and unrelenting, that chills the blood as well as the soul" and about performances said that "Pearce's barely controlled ferocity as Eric is exceptional, but it is not as much of a revelation as Pattinson's unrecognizable work as Rey, a damaged, unfocused individual who is the older man's half-unwilling accomplice". Todd McCarthy, writing for "The Hollywood Reporter", wrote that "Pattinson delivers a performance that, despite the character’s own limitations, becomes more interesting as the film moves along, suggesting that the young actor might indeed be capable of offbeat character work. But always commanding attention at the film’s center is Pearce, who, under a taciturn demeanor, gives Eric all the cold-hearted remorselessness of a classic Western or film noir anti-hero who refuses to die before exacting vengeance for an unpardonable crime" and concluded that it is "An intense look into the near future, and it’s not good." Jessica Kiang in her review for The Playlist, grade the film B+ by saying that "Bleak, brutal and unrelentingly nihilist, and with only sporadic flashes of the blackest, most mordant humour to lighten the load, it feels parched, like the story has simply boiled away in the desert heat and all that’s left are its desiccated bones. In a good way."


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: However, Scott Foundas of "Variety" said, "Michod’s sophomore feature isn’t exactly something we’ve never seen before, but it has a desolate beauty all its own." Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" wrote, "After a terrific start, the film begins to meander, to lose its way, and its grip." Drew McWeeny of HitFix called the film "glacially paced and intentionally minimalistic."


title: The Rover (2014 film)

text: Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino stated that the film is "A mesmerizing, visionary achievement. The best post-apocalyptic movie since the original "Mad Max". With the one-two punch of "The Rover" & "Animal Kingdom", David Michôd proves himself to be the most uncompromising director of his generation."


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concurrent dynastic states were established elsewhere, mainly in South China. It was a prolonged period of multiple political divisions in Chinese imperial history.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Traditionally, the era is seen as beginning with the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907 and reaching its climax with the founding of the Song dynasty in 960. In the following 19 years, Song gradually subdued the remaining states in South China, but the Liao dynasty still remained in China's north (eventually succeeded by the Jin dynasty), and the Western Xia was eventually established in China's northwest.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Many states had been "de facto" independent long before 907 as the Tang dynasty's control over its officials waned, but the key event was their recognition as sovereign by foreign powers. After the Tang collapsed, several warlords of the Central Plain crowned themselves emperor. During the 70-year period, there was near constant warfare between the emerging kingdoms and alliances they formed. All had the ultimate goal of controlling the Central Plain and establishing themselves as the Tang's successor.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The last of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms regimes was Northern Han, which held out until Song conquered it in 979. For the next several centuries, although the Song controlled much of South China, they coexisted alongside the Liao dynasty, Jin dynasty, and various other regimes in China's north, until finally all of them were unified under the Yuan dynasty.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Towards the end of the Tang dynasty, the imperial government granted increased powers to the "jiedushi", the regional military governors. The An Lushan (755–763) and Huang Chao rebellions weakened the imperial government, and by the early 10th century the "jiedushi" commanded "de facto" independence from its authority. In the last decades of the Tang dynasty, they were not even appointed by the central court any more, but developed hereditary systems, from father to son or from patron to protégé. They had their own armies rivaling the "palace armies" and amassed huge wealth, as testified by their sumptuous tombs. Due to the decline of Tang central authority after the An Lushan Rebellion, there was growing tendency to superimpose large regional administrations over the old districts and prefectures that had been used since the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). These administrations, known as circuit commissions, would become the boundaries of the later Southern regimes; many circuit commissioners became the emperors or kings of these states.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The historian Hugh Clark proposed a three-stage model of broad political trends during this time period. The first stage (880–910) consists of the period between the Huang Chao Rebellion and the formal end of the Tang dynasty, which saw chaotic fighting between warlords who controlled approximately one or two prefectures each. The second stage (910–950) saw the various warlords stabilise and gain enough legitimacy to proclaim new dynasties. The third stage (950–979) saw the forceful reunification of China by the Later Zhou dynasty and its successor the Song dynasty, and the demilitarisation of the provinces. Southern China, divided into several independent dynastic kingdoms, was more stable than the North which saw constant regime change. Consequently, the Southern kingdoms were able to embark on trade, land reclamation and infrastructure projects, laying the groundwork for the Song dynasty economic boom. This economic shift to the south also led to a vast southward migration.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: According to Nicholas Tackett, the three provinces of Hebei: Chengde, Youzhou, Weibo, were able to maintain much greater autonomy from the central government in the aftermath of the An Lushan rebellion. With their administration under local military control, these provinces never submitted tax revenues and governorships lapsed into hereditary succession. They engaged in occasional war with the central government, or against each other, and Youzhou seemed to conduct its own foreign policy. This meant that the culture of these northeastern provinces started diverging from the capital. Many of the elites in post-Tang China, including the future emperors of the Song dynasty, came from this region.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The administrations of the Five Dynasties and the early Song dynasty shared a pattern of being disproportionately drawn from the families of military governors in northern and northwestern China (Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi), their personal staff, and the bureaucrats who served in the capitals of the Five dynasties. These families had risen to prominence due to the unraveling of central authority after the An Lushan Rebellion, despite lacking esteemed ancestry. The historian Deng Xiaonan argued that many of these military families, including the Song imperial family, were of mixed Han Chinese-Turkic-Kumo Xi ancestry.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The term "Five Dynasties" was coined by Song dynasty historians and reflects the view that the successive regimes based in Kaifeng, controlled the Central Plain and possessed the Mandate of Heaven. The first of the Five Dynasties was founded by Zhu Wen, the rebel defector turned warlord who ultimately ended the Tang dynasty. The rest of the Five Dynasties as well as the Song dynasty all emerged from a military organization originally led by Shatuo Turks whose commanders replaced each other in frequent coup d'état. The Later Tang was founded by Li Cunxu, the son of Shatuo leader Li Keyong, who was the main military rival to Zhu Wen in the late Tang. The Later Jin founder Shi Jingtang was the son of a Shatuo commander in Li Keyong's army and became the son-in-law of the Later Tang general and emperor Li Siyuan, who was himself an adopted son of Li Keyong. The Later Han founder Liu Zhiyuan was a Shatuo officer under Li Siyuan and Shi Jintang. The father of the Later Zhou founder Guo Wei fought in Li Keyong's army and Guo served under Liu Zhiyuan. The father of Song founder Zhao Kuangyin served in the armies of Later Tang, Later Han and Later Zhou. Zhao, also a professional soldier, rose through the ranks of the Later Zhou before seizing the throne in a coup at Chenqiao in 960, which ended the era of the Five Dynasties.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Southern regimes generally had more stable and effective government during this period. The Qing historian Wang Fuzhi (1619–1692) wrote that this period can be compared to the earlier Warring States period of ancient China, remarking that none of the rulers could be described as "Son of Heaven". These rulers, despite claiming the status of emperor, sometimes dealt with each other on terms of diplomatic equality out of pragmatic concern. This concept of "sharing the Mandate of Heaven" as "sibling states" was the result of the brief balance of power. After the reunification of China by the Song dynasty, the Song embarked on a special effort to denounce such arrangements.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Even the rulers of the Southern states were almost all military leaders from the north with their key officers and elite forces also hailing from the north, since the bulk of the Tang army was based in the north. The founders of Wu and Former Shu were 'rogues' from Huainan and Xuchang respectively, the founder of Min was a minor government staffer from Huainan, the founder of Wuyue was a 'rogue' from Hangzhou, the founder of Chu was (according to one source) a carpenter from Xuchang, the founder of Jingnan was a slave from Shanzhou and the founder of Southern Han was a southern tribal chief. The Southern kingdoms were founded by men of low social status who rose up through superior military ability, who were later scorned as "bandits" by future scholars. However, once established, these rulers took great pains to portray themselves as promoters of culture and economic development so as to legitimise their rule; many wooed former Tang courtiers to help administer their states.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The economies of each of the southern regions had prospered in the late Tang. Guangdong and Fujian were the sites of important port cities trading exotic goods, the middle Yangtze and Sichuan were centres of tea and porcelain production, and the Yangtze delta was a center of extremely high agricultural production and an entrepot for the other regions. The regions were economically interdependent. Sui and Tang policies, while paying little attention to developing the south, gave the south room to innovate free of tight administrative controls. The dominant northern officials had been unwilling to serve in the south during the Tang, and so southerners were recruited by the Tang to serve in a local capacity under the "Southern Selection" supplemental system. These southern officials became the administrative core of the Ten Kingdoms and later dominated the bureaucracy by the mid-Song.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: During the Tang dynasty, the warlord Zhu Wen was originally a member of Huang Chao's rebel army, he took on a crucial role in suppressing the Huang Chao Rebellion. For this function, he was awarded the Xuanwu Jiedushi title. Within a few years, he had consolidated his power by destroying neighbours and forcing the move of the imperial capital to Luoyang, which was within his region of influence. In 904, he executed Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and made Zhaozong's 13-year-old son, Ai Di (Emperor Ai of Tang), a subordinate ruler. Three years later, he induced the boy emperor to abdicate in his favour. He then proclaimed himself emperor, thus beginning the Later Liang.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: In the final years of the Tang dynasty, rival warlords declared independence in the provinces they governed—not all of which recognized the emperor's authority. Li Keyong was the jiedushi for the Hedong circuit in present Shanxi, forming a polity called Jin (晉). His son Li Cunxu and Liu Shouguang fiercely fought the regime forces to conquer northern China; Li Cunxu succeeded. He defeated Liu Shouguang (who had proclaimed a Yan Empire in 911) in 915, and declared himself emperor in 923; within a few months, he brought down the Later Liang regime. Thus began the Shatuo Later Tang—the first in a long line of conquest dynasties. After reuniting much of northern China, in 924 Cunxu received the submission of Shaanxi's Qi kingdom, and in 925 Cunxu conquered the Former Shu, a regime that had been set up in Sichuan.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Later Tang had a few years of relative calm, followed by unrest. In 934, Sichuan again asserted independence. In 936, Shi Jingtang rebelled against Li Congke, the fourth emperor of the Later Tang. Shi Jingtang, a Shatuo jiedushi from Taiyuan, was aided by the Khitan-led Liao dynasty in his rebellion. In return for their aid, Shi Jingtang promised annual tribute and the Sixteen Prefectures (modern northern Hebei and Beijing) to the Khitans. The rebellion succeeded, and Shi Jingtang became emperor in this same year.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Not long after the founding of Later Jin, the Liao came to regard the emperor as a proxy ruler for China. In 943, the Khitans declared war and within three years seized the capital, Kaifeng, marking the end of Later Jin. But while they had conquered vast regions of China, the Khitans were unable or unwilling to control those regions and retreated from them early in the next year.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: To fill the power vacuum, the jiedushi Liu Zhiyuan entered the imperial capital in 947 and proclaimed the advent of the Later Han, establishing a third successive Shatuo reign. This was the shortest of the five dynasties. Following a coup in 951, General Guo Wei, a Han Chinese, was enthroned, thus beginning the Later Zhou. However, Liu Chong, a member of the Later Han imperial family, established a rival Northern Han regime in Taiyuan and requested Khitan aid to defeat the Later Zhou.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: After the death of Guo Wei in 954, his adopted son Chai Rong succeeded the throne and began a policy of expansion and reunification. One month after Chai Rong took the throne, Liu Chong, Emperor of Northern Han, allied with Liao dynasty to launch an assault on Later Zhou. Against the advice of Minister Feng Dao, Chai Rong decided to lead his army against the incursion. When Chai Rong engaged Liu Chong at Gao Ping (in modern Jincheng), two of Chai's generals, Fan Aineng and He Hui, fled from the battlefield along with their troops. At this critical moment, Chai Rong risked his life to break through the defense and crushed Liu's forces. After this campaign, Chai Rong consolidated his power. Between 956 and 958, forces of Later Zhou conquered much of Southern Tang, the most powerful regime in southern China, which ceded all the territory north of the Yangtze in defeat. In 959, Chai Rong attacked the Liao in an attempt to recover territories ceded during the Later Jin. After many victories, he succumbed to illness.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: In 960, the general Zhao Kuangyin staged a coup and took the throne for himself, founding the Northern Song dynasty. This is the official end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. During the next two decades, Zhao Kuangyin and his successor Zhao Kuangyi defeated the other remaining regimes in South China, conquering Northern Han in 979, starting the Song dynasty era in 982.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: For the next several centuries, the Song dynasty, Liao dynasty, and Jin dynasty would battle with each other for control over China, until they were eventually all unified under the Mongol Yuan dynasty.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Unlike the dynasties of northern China, which succeeded one another in rapid succession, the regimes of South China were generally concurrent, each controlling a specific geographical area. These were known as "The Ten Kingdoms" (in fact, some claimed the title of Emperor, such as Former Shu and Later Shu). Each court was a center of artistic excellence. The period is noted for the vitality of its poetry and for its economic prosperity. Commerce grew so quickly that there was a shortage of metallic currency. This was partly addressed by the creation of bank drafts, or "flying money" ("feiqian"), as well as by certificates of deposit. Wood block printing became common during this period, 500 years before Johannes Gutenberg's press.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Only ten are traditionally listed, hence the era's name. Some historians, such as Bo Yang, count eleven, including Yan and Qi but not the Northern Han, viewing it as simply a continuation of Later Han. This era also coincided with the founding of the Liao dynasty in the north, and the Dali Kingdom in the southwest.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Other regimes during this period include Zhao, Yiwu Jiedushi, Dingnan Jiedushi, Wuping Jiedushi, Qingyuan Jiedushi, Yin, Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom, Guiyi Circuit, and Xiliangfu.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Yang Wu (902–937) was established in modern-day Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi. It was founded by Yang Xingmi, who became a Tang dynasty military governor in 892. The capital was initially at Guangling (present-day Yangzhou) and later moved to Jinling (present-day Nanjing). The kingdom fell in 937 when it was taken from within by the founder of the Southern Tang.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Wuyue was the longest-lived (907–978) and among the most powerful of the southern states. Wuyue was known for its learning and culture. It was founded by Qian Liu, who set up his capital at Xifu (modern-day Hangzhou). It was based mostly in modern Zhejiang province but also held parts of southern Jiangsu. Qian Liu was named the Prince of Yue by the Tang emperor in 902; the Prince of Wu was added in 904. After the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907, he declared himself king of Wuyue. Wuyue survived until the eighteenth year of the Song dynasty, when Qian Shu surrendered to the expanding dynasty.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Min (909–945) was founded by Wang Shenzhi, who named himself the Prince of Min with its capital at Changle (present-day Fuzhou). One of Shenzhi's sons proclaimed the independent state of Yin in the northeast of Min territory. The Southern Tang took that territory after the Min asked for help. Despite declaring loyalty to the neighboring Wuyue, the Southern Tang finished its conquest of Min in 945.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Southern Han (917–971) was founded in Guangzhou by Liu Yan. His brother, Liu Yin, was named regional governor by the Tang court. The kingdom included Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. It was finally conquered by Song dynasty.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Ma Chu (927–951) was founded by Ma Yin with the capital at Changsha. The kingdom held Hunan and northeastern Guangxi. Ma was named regional military governor by the Tang court in 896, and named himself the Prince of Chu with the fall of the Tang in 907. This status as the Prince of Chu was confirmed by the Southern Tang in 927. The Southern Tang absorbed the state in 951 and moved the royal family to its capital in Nanjing, although Southern Tang rule of the region was temporary, as the next year former Chu military officers under the leadership of Liu Yan seized the territory. In the waning years of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the region was ruled by Zhou Xingfeng. In 963, the region was annexed by Song dynasty.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Though considered one of the ten kingdoms, the Northern Han was based in the traditional Shatuo stronghold of Shanxi. It was founded by Liu Min (), formerly known as Liu Chong (), after the Later Han fell to the Han Chinese-led Later Zhou in 951. With the protection of the powerful Liao dynasty, the Northern Han maintained nominal independence until the Song dynasty wrested it from the Khitans in 979.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The smallest of the southern states, Jingnan (924–963), was founded by Gao Jichang, a former general of Liang. It was based in Jiangling and held two other districts southwest of present-day Wuhan in Hubei. Gao was in the service of the Later Liang (the successor of the Tang in North China). Gao's successors claimed the title of King of Nanping after the fall of the Later Liang in 924. It was a small and weak kingdom, and thus tried to maintain good relations with each of the Five Dynasties. The kingdom fell to advancing armies of the Song in 963.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Former Shu (907–925) was founded after the fall of the Tang dynasty by Wang Jian, who held his court in Chengdu. The kingdom held most of present-day Sichuan, western Hubei, and parts of southern Gansu and Shaanxi. Wang was named military governor of western Sichuan by the Tang court in 891. The kingdom fell when his son surrendered in the face of an advance by the Later Tang in 925.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Later Shu (935–965) is essentially a resurrection of the previous Shu state that had fallen a decade earlier to the Later Tang. Because the Later Tang was in decline and Li Cunxu was killed in a revolt, Meng Zhixiang found the opportunity to reassert Shu's independence. Like the Former Shu, the capital was at Chengdu and it basically controlled the same territory as its predecessor. The kingdom was ruled well until forced to succumb to Song armies in 965.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Southern Tang (937–975) was the successor state of Wu as Li Bian (Emperor Liezu) took the state over from within in 937. Expanding from the original domains of Wu, it eventually took over Yin, Min, and Chu, holding present-day southern Anhui, southern Jiangsu, much of Jiangxi, Hunan, and eastern Hubei at its height. The kingdom became nominally subordinate to the expanding Song in 961 and was invaded outright in 975, when it was formally absorbed into Song China.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Although more stable than northern China as a whole, southern China was also torn apart by warfare. Wu quarreled with its neighbours, a trend that continued as Wu was replaced with Southern Tang. In the 940s Min and Chu underwent internal crises which Southern Tang handily took advantage of, destroying Min in 945 and Chu in 951. Remnants of Min and Chu, however, survived in the form of Qingyuan Jiedushi and Wuping Jiedushi for many years after. With this, Southern Tang became the undisputedly most powerful regime in southern China. However, it was unable to defeat incursions by the Later Zhou between 956 and 958, and ceded all of its land north of the Yangtze River.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Song dynasty, established in 960, was determined to reunify China. Jingnan and Wuping Jiedushi were swept away in 963, Later Shu in 965, Southern Han in 971, and Southern Tang in 975. Finally, Wuyue and Qingyuan Jiedushi gave up their land to Northern Song in 978, bringing all of southern China under the control of the central government.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: In common with other periods of fragmentation, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period resulted in a division between northern and southern China. The greater stability of the Ten Kingdoms, especially the longevity of Wuyue and Southern Han, would contribute to the development of distinct regional identities within China. The distinction was reinforced by the "Old History" and the "New History". Written from the northern viewpoint, these chronicles organized the history around the Five Dynasties (the north), presenting the Ten Kingdoms (the south) as illegitimate, self-absorbed and indulgent.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period turned away from the international cultural mood of the Tang dynasty and appears as a transition towards the solidified national culture of the Song dynasty. Throughout the period, there was marked cultural and economic growth, rather than decline.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Several Northern dynasties originated in the northeast, and centralisation of the north led to a migration of provincial elites into the capital, particularly northeasterners, creating a new metropolitan culture. After the unification of China by the Song dynasty, the culture, arts and literature of the Southern states were incorporated into the new regime. The Song dynasty adopted a distinctively Southern Chinese cultural outlook. The preserved cultural traditions of Southern Tang, Wu Yue and Later Shu were used to rebuild the cultural landscape of the north. Southern libraries were transported north, Southeastern architecture was promoted in the new capital, and Southeastern Buddhist icons, clergy and relics were concentrated in the new capital so as to reintegrate these traditions into the imperial culture. This was distinct from the five Northern dynasties, who never supported extended monastic lineage networks but instead typically sought to restrict them and draw on their economic and military resources.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Although short, the period saw cultural innovations in different areas. Pottery saw the appearance of "white ceramics"/ In painting, the "varied landscape" of China was inspired by Taoism. It emphasized the sacredness of mountains as places between heaven and earth and depicted the natural world as a source of harmony.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: In later tradition, the Five Dynasties is viewed as a period of judicial abuse and excessive punishment. This view reflects both actual problems with the administration of justice and the bias of Confucian historians, who disapproved of the decentralization and militarization that characterized this period. While Tang procedure called for delaying executions until appeals were exhausted, this was not generally the case in the Five Dynasties.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: Other abuses included the use of severe torture. The Later Han was the most notorious dynasty in this regard. Suspects could be tortured to death with long knives and nails. The military officer in charge of security of the capital is said to have executed suspects without inquiry.


title: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period

text: The Tang code of 737 was the basic statutory law for this period, together supplemental edicts and collections. The Later Liang promulgated a code in 909. This code was blamed for delays in the administration of justice and said to be excessively harsh with respect to economic crimes. The Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Zhou also produced recompilations. The Later Han was in power too briefly to make a mark on the legal system.


title: Max Hardcore

text: Paul F. Little (born August 10, 1956) is an American pornographic actor, producer and director better known by his stage name Max Hardcore. He rose to prominence in 1992 with the film series "The Anal Adventures of Max Hardcore", which in 1994 was awarded the X-Rated Critics Organization's award for Best Amateur or Pro-Am series. Former AVN writer, Gerrie Lim, has classified Hardcore's works as gonzo pornography and "testing the limits of acceptability". He is a member of the X-Rated Critics Organization's Hall of Fame. He spent two and a half years in prison (2009–2011), convicted in a trial for obscenity.


title: Max Hardcore

text: Max Hardcore's films generally consist of sexual acts executed by himself, with women, often porn industry newcomers who act like girls or their upset mothers.


title: Max Hardcore

text: The sexual situations depicted in Max Hardcore's films frequently include acts such as urinating on his female co-stars, fisting them, or inserting specula into their anuses or vaginas and widening them to extreme degree. There are also scenes wherein the actresses, at his direction, vomit or blow mucus into their mouths or on themselves, or drink urine from their anuses using a tube. Films by Max Hardcore often depict their director and star inflicting apparent pain and humiliation on his co-stars.


title: Max Hardcore

text: The treatment by Hardcore of his female co-stars has been described by several critics as occasionally abusive and the tone of Hardcore's work has been considered misogynistic. His films and alleged work methods have reportedly made him relatively unpopular in the porn industry.


title: Max Hardcore

text: Based on "Max Extreme 4", the city of Los Angeles in 1998 charged him with child pornography and distribution of obscenity. That the actress was over the age of 18 was not disputed; charges were brought because the actress was portraying a character who was underage. Just before the case was brought to trial in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (in "Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition") that the statute prohibiting adults from portraying children in films and books was unconstitutional. Based on this ruling, the child pornography charges against Little were dismissed. The misdemeanor charge of distribution of obscenity was retained, but the jury failed to reach a verdict. An additional obscenity charge was subsequently levied against him by L.A., again resulting in a hung jury. Little commented after the trial that it "was a frivolous waste of public resources."


title: Max Hardcore

text: On October 5, 2005, while Little was in Barcelona to attend an international FICEB Erotic Expo, the offices of Max World Entertainment were raided by the FBI. Five video titles and the office's computer servers were seized, ostensibly for research toward a federal obscenity indictment or a charge related to the record-keeping law (18 U.S.C. 2257).


title: Max Hardcore

text: In 2007, Little and his company, Max World Entertainment, Inc., were indicted in Florida by the United States Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section with five counts of transporting obscene matter by use of an interactive computer service and five counts of mailing obscene matter, relating to five movies showing fisting, urination and vomiting. Little was subsequently found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 46 months in prison. On appeal, the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta, Georgia upheld the conviction, ruling that materials published online can be judged by local community standards in Florida even though Hardcore did not live there or produce the materials there. Little began serving his sentence on January 29, 2009.


title: Max Hardcore

text: The jury ordered the internet domain www.MaxHardcore.com to be forfeited but declined to forfeit Little's house in Altadena, California.


title: Max Hardcore

text: Little was originally assigned to the Federal Metropolitan Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles, and then transferred to Federal Correctional Institution, La Tuna in Anthony, Texas, a low-security correctional facility for men. He served the final five months of his sentence under house arrest.


title: Max Hardcore

text: Little is a subject of the 1998 David Foster Wallace essay "Big Red Son", which analyzes the American pornographic industry of the 1990s.


title: AGA cooker

text: The AGA cooker oven is a Swedish oven and cooker. Invented and initially produced in Sweden, since 1957 all production has been located in the UK.


title: AGA cooker

text: Originally developed to burn coal or anthracite, the Aga cooker was invented in 1922 by the Nobel Prize-winning Swedish physicist Gustaf Dalén (1869–1937), who was employed as the chief engineer of the Swedish AGA company (Swedish "Svenska Aktiebolaget Gasaccumulator", English "Swedish Gas Accumulator, Limited").


title: AGA cooker

text: Dalén lost his sight in an explosion while developing his earlier invention, a porous substrate for storing gases, Agamassan. Forced to stay at home, Dalén discovered that his wife was exhausted by cooking. Although blind, he set out to develop a new stove that was capable of a range of culinary techniques and easy to use.


title: AGA cooker

text: Adopting the principle of heat storage, he combined a heat source, two large hotplates and two ovens into one unit: the AGA Cooker. The cooker was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1929, and was manufactured there under licence in the early 1930s. Its popularity in certain parts of British society (owners of medium to large country houses) led to the coining of the term 'AGA saga' in the 1990s, referring to a genre of fiction set amongst stereotypical upper-middle-class society.


title: AGA cooker

text: David Ogilvy was initially hired as an Aga cooker salesperson, before writing the 1935 sales manual for the product.


title: AGA cooker

text: The cast-iron parts were cast at the Coalbrookdale foundry in the 1940s, where they were still made by the Aga Rangemaster Group until November 2017 when Middleby closed the site with the loss of 35 jobs.


title: AGA cooker

text: A small, traditional two-oven AGA running on gas will use approximately (perhaps half that if switched off during the summer months). The average standard gas oven and hob uses , only 2.6% of the AGA's consumption.


title: AGA cooker

text: AGA's own figures for expected energy consumption for their two-oven AGA support this criticism, suggesting average consumption of 40 litres of kerosene or diesel fuel per week, 60 litres of propane gas per week, 425 kW⋅h of natural gas per week, or 220 kW⋅h/week for the electric models. This would indicate that the smallest traditional two-oven gas AGA providing simple cooking functions (i.e. no water heating or central heating) consumes thirty-eight times as much as a standard gas oven and hob, almost as much gas in a week as a standard gas oven and hob in nine months.


title: AGA cooker

text: AGA has provided an analysis of their own, which includes the steps taken to reduce energy consumption.


title: AGA cooker

text: One owner, Kerstin Rodgers, has talked about how the AGA has reduced her electricity bills while making her gas bills "slightly higher", as the AGA reduces her usage of such things as electric heaters, the tumble dryer, electric kettle and toaster, and is not simply a cooker.


title: AGA cooker

text: The vast majority of AGAs sold today are programmable and AGA announced an upgrade initiative in 2009, meaning that owners of older AGA cookers can have them modified so they are programmable. The latest model, the AGA Total Control, uses the same radiant heat to cook, but is designed to be switched off like a regular cooker when not in use, using far less energy as a result. Oil burning AGAs can be fitted with a modern pressure jet oil burner in place of the standard wick burner which burns the fuel more efficiently and so reduces oil consumption.


title: AGA cooker

text: AGA cookers are available in 2, 3, 4 and 5 oven models with the 4 and 5 oven versions wider than the others. AGA cookers have a boiling and simmering plate, or in models with one hotplate this can be set to either boiling or simmering mode.


title: AGA cooker

text: While the classic AGA models are on all the time, the ovens and hotplates of the newer AGA cookers (AGA 60, Total Control, 3 Series) can be switched on and off as required and the hotplates on the Dual Control cookers can be switched on and off, meaning there is heat in to the room but energy is not used unnecessarily. The AGA 60 is the smallest in the range and is just 60 cm wide.


title: AGA cooker

text: The AGA is known for its longevity, with many cookers still operating after more than 50 years. In 2009, in conjunction with "The Daily Telegraph" and to celebrate the 80th anniversary of its founding, AGA set up a competition to find the oldest AGA still in use. There were thousands of entries, but the winning cooker was installed in 1932 and belonged to the Hett family of Sussex.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is named. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 37,930.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The center of Hot Springs is the oldest federal reserve in the United States, today preserved as Hot Springs National Park. The hot spring water has been popularly believed for centuries to possess healing properties, and was a subject of legend among several Native American tribes. Following federal protection in 1832, the city developed into a successful spa town. Incorporated January 10, 1851, the city has been home to Major League Baseball spring training, illegal gambling, speakeasies and gangsters such as Al Capone, horse racing at Oaklawn Park, the Army and Navy Hospital, and 42nd President Bill Clinton. One of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the United States, the Assemblies of God, traces its beginnings to Hot Springs.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Today, much of Hot Springs' history is preserved by various government entities. Hot Springs National Park is maintained by the National Park Service, including Bathhouse Row, which preserves the eight historic bathhouse buildings and gardens along Central Avenue. Downtown Hot Springs is preserved as the Central Avenue Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city also contains dozens of historic hotels and motor courts, built during the Great Depression in the Art Deco style. Due to the popularity of the thermal waters, Hot Springs benefited from rapid growth during a period when many cities saw a sharp decline in building; much like Miami's art deco districts. As a result, Hot Springs's architecture is a key part of the city's blend of cultures, including a reputation as a tourist town and a Southern city. Also a destination for the arts, Hot Springs features the Hot Springs Music Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, and the Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival annually.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Members of many Native American tribes had been gathering in the valley for untold numbers of years to enjoy the healing properties of the thermal springs.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: In 1673, Father Marquette and Jolliet explored the area and claimed it for France. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ceded the land to Spain; however, in 1800 control was returned to France until the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: In December 1804, Dr. George Hunter and William Dunbar made an expedition to the springs, finding a lone log cabin and a few rudimentary shelters used by people visiting the springs for their healing properties. In 1807, a man named Prudhomme became the first settler of modern Hot Springs, and he was soon joined by John Perciful and Isaac Cates.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: On August 24, 1818, the Quapaw Native Americans ceded the land around the hot springs to the United States in a treaty. After Arkansas became its own territory in 1819, the Arkansas Territorial Legislature requested in 1820 that the springs and adjoining mountains be set aside as a federal reservation. Twelve years later, in 1832, the Hot Springs Reservation was created by the United States Congress, granting federal protection of the thermal waters. The reservation was renamed Hot Springs National Park in 1921.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The outbreak of the American Civil War left Hot Springs with a declining bathing population. After the Confederate forces suffered defeat in the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862, the Union troops advanced toward the Confederate city of Little Rock. Confederate Governor Henry M. Rector moved his staff and state records to Hot Springs. Union forces did not attack Little Rock, and the government returned to the capital city on July 14, 1862.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Many residents of Hot Springs fled to Texas or Louisiana and remained there until the end of the war. In September 1863, Union forces occupied Little Rock. During this period, Hot Springs became the prey of guerrilla bands loosely associated with either Union or Confederate forces. They pillaged and burned the near-deserted town, leaving only a few buildings standing at the end of the Civil War.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: After the Civil War, extensive rebuilding of bathhouses and hotels took place at Hot Springs. The year-round population soared to 1,200 inhabitants by 1870. By 1873 six bathhouses and 24 hotels and boardinghouses stood near the springs.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: In 1873, Hot Springs became the county seat of the newly formed Garland County. Prior to 1873, the city had been a part of Hot Spring County.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: In 1874, Joseph Reynolds announced his decision to construct a narrow-gauge railroad from Malvern to Hot Springs; completion in 1875 resulted in the growth of visitation to the springs. Samuel W. Fordyce and two other entrepreneurs financed the construction of the first luxury hotel in the area, the first Arlington Hotel, which opened in 1875.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: During the Reconstruction Era, several conflicting land claims reached the U.S. Congress and resulted on April 24, 1876, Supreme Court ruling that the land title of Hot Springs belonged to the federal government. Protests ensued. To deal with the situation, Congress formed the Hot Springs Commission to lay out streets in the town of Hot Springs, deal with land claims, define property lines, condemn buildings illegally on the permanent reservation (now the national park), and define a process for claimants to purchase land. The commission surveyed and set aside encompassing the hot springs and Hot Springs Mountain to be a permanent government reservation. Another became the Hot Springs townsite, with awarded to claimants. The townsite consisted of 196 blocks and of streets and alleys. The remaining portion of the original four sections of government land consisted of hills and mountains which were mostly unoccupied, and Congress acted on the commission's recommendation in June 1880 by adding those lands to the permanent reservation.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs has a rich baseball history. During the early 20th century, Hot Springs was known for baseball training camps. Often called the "birthplace" of Spring training baseball, Hot Springs first welcomed Major League Baseball in 1886, when the (now the Chicago Cubs), brought their coaches and players to the city in preparation for the upcoming season. Chicago White Stockings' President Albert Spalding, the founder of A.G Spalding, and player/manager Cap Anson introduced the concept of players having training and fitness before the start of the regular season, This move gave credit to Hot Springs being called the "birthplace of spring training baseball". Both Spalding and Anson liked the city and the natural springs for their players. They first played in an area behind what is now the Garland County Courthouse on Ouachita Avenue at was called the Hot Springs Baseball Grounds. Many other teams followed Chicago and began training and playing games in Hot Springs.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The Cleveland Spiders, Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox were among the major league teams that made Hot Springs their home for Spring training. Needing additional venues for teams to play, Whittington Park was built in 1894, followed by Majestic Park in 1908 and Fogel Field in 1912. 134 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame are documented to have trained or played in Hot Springs.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Negro league baseball teams also utilized Hot Springs for spring training. The Pittsburgh Crawfords utilized Fogel Field for spring training from 1932 to 1935. Their roster contained Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Judy Johnson. The Homestead Grays, held spring training at Fogel Field in 1930 and 1931. On their roster were numerous Hall of Fame players: Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Jud Wilson, Bill Foster, Judy Johnson, Smokey Joe Williams, Willie Wells and Cum Posey.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: St. Patrick's Day, 1918, is nicknamed the "Day that changed Baseball Forever." Boston Red Sox' pitcher Babe Ruth hit a long Home Run into the Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo that altered the course of baseball history. In the opening exhibition game against Brooklyn at Whittington Park, Ruth (coming off a 24–13 season) was a last minute replacement at first base, his first time at a position other than pitcher. Ruth hit two long home runs that day while playing the field for the first time. His first home run was a long blast that landed in a wood pile. However, his second Home run is legendary in its record setting length and eventual effect on Ruth. It was a shot that traveled an astonishing estimated 573 feet.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: After that day Ruth became a hitter, switching from being just a pitcher. In Hot Springs, Ruth could be seen walking the streets, visiting the bath spas, and gambling at the nearby horse track. There is a Ruth plaque both inside and outside the Alligator Farm, as well as a home plate marker at the former Whittington Park across the street.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The Pittsburgh Pirates trained for over a decade at Whittington Park. Hall of Fame shortstop Honus Wagner became a fixture in the city. As evidence of this, Wagner purchased and donated basketball uniforms and equipment to Hot Springs High School in 1912. The uniforms were in the Pittsburgh Pirates colors of black and gold and subsequently the high school switched permanently to those colors. Wagner also refereed a basketball game for the school that season, something he would later repeat.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: In 1952, an 18-year old Hank Aaron played in the Negro American League championship for the Indianapolis Clowns against the Birmingham Black Barons at Majestic Park.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: On October 22, 1953, Jackie Robinson played in an exhibition game at Majestic Park. Having broken Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947, Robinson's squad played the Negro American League All-Stars that day, losing 14–9.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: "The First Boys of Spring" is a 2015 documentary covering the history of Hot Springs Baseball spring training. The film features many Hot Springs historical items and references. Produced by Arkansas filmmaker Larry Foley, it is narrated by Hot Springs area native, actor Billy Bob Thornton. The Foley documentary is aired nationally on the MLB Network, first airing in February, 2016.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Today, as part of the Hot Springs Baseball Historic Trail, there are 26 green plaques/markers posted throughout Hot Springs that identify the key people and locations, with an app available to provide live information.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: On September 5, 1913, a fire broke out on Church Street a few blocks southeast of Bathhouse Row, near the Army and Navy Hospital. The fire burned southeast, away from the hospital, until the wind reversed an hour later. Racing toward the business section, it destroyed the Ozark Sanitarium and Hot Springs High School on its way across Malvern Avenue. Along the way it consumed the Public Utilities plant, which destroyed the firefighters' water supply. A wide front then was blown toward Ouachita Avenue which destroyed the Garland County Court House. The Hot Springs Fire Department fought alongside the Little Rock Fire Department, which had rushed over on a special train. Despite their efforts, numerous homes, at least a hundred businesses, four hotels, the Iron Mountain Railroad facilities, and the Crystal Theater were destroyed. A rainstorm finally quenched the blaze at Hazel Street. Although Central Avenue was ultimately protected (primarily by desperate use of dynamite), much of the southern part of the city was destroyed. Damage was estimated at $10,000,000 across 60 blocks.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: From April 2–12, 1914, several Pentecostal Christian leaders gathered in Hot Springs to form what became known as the Assemblies of God. It has since grown to become one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the United States, with 3,146,741 adherents, 12,849 churches, and 36,884 ministers ().


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Illegal gambling became firmly established in Hot Springs during the decades following the Civil War, with two factions, the Flynns and the Dorans, fighting one another throughout the 1880s for control of the town. Frank Flynn, leader of the Flynn Faction, had effectively begun paying local law enforcement officers employed by both the Hot Springs Police Department and the Garland County Sheriff's Office to collect unpaid debts, as well as to intimidate gambling rivals. This contributed to the March 16, 1899, Hot Springs Gunfight. Of the seven Hot Springs police officers who have been killed while in service of the department, three died during that gunfight, killed by deputies of the Garland County Sheriff's Office. One part-time deputy sheriff was killed also, by the Hot Springs officers.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Along with Bathhouse Row, one of downtown Hot Springs' most noted landmarks is the Arlington Hotel, a favored retreat for Al Capone.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs eventually became a national gambling mecca, led by Owney Madden and his Hotel Arkansas casino. The period 1927–1947 was its wagering pinnacle, with no fewer than ten major casinos and numerous smaller houses running wide open, the largest such operation in the United States at the time. Hotels advertised the availability of prostitutes, and off-track booking was available for virtually any horse race in North America.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Local law enforcement was controlled by a political machine run by long-serving mayor Leo McLaughlin. The McLaughlin organization purchased hundreds of poll tax receipts, many in the names of deceased or fictitious persons, which would sometimes be voted in different precincts. A former sheriff, who attempted to have the state's anti-gambling laws enforced and to secure honest elections, was murdered in 1937. No one was ever charged with his killing. Machine domination of city and county government was abruptly ended in 1946 with the election of a "Government Improvement" slate of returning World War II veterans led by Marine Lt. Col. Sid McMath, who was elected prosecuting attorney. A 1947 grand jury indicted several owners and promoters, as well as McLaughlin, for public servant bribery. Although the former mayor and most of the others were acquitted, the machine's power was broken and gambling came to a halt, as McMath led a statewide "GI Revolt" into the governor's office in 1948. Illegal casino gambling resumed, however, with the election of Orval Faubus as governor in 1954. Buoyed into 12 years in office by his popular defiance of federal court desegregation orders, Faubus turned a blind eye to gambling in Hot Springs. "Variety" explained the status of the casinos in 1959 as follows: "How do these places operate when gambling and mixed drinks are supposedly against the law? Simple. Every week the management appears in local court, pays its fine according to the amount of biz [business] done and goes back to open up."


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Gambling was finally closed down in 1967 by two Republican officeholders, Governor Winthrop Rockefeller and Circuit Judge Henry M. Britt. Rockefeller sent in a company of state troopers to shutter the casinos and burn their gaming equipment. Until other forms of gambling became legal in Arkansas four decades later, Oaklawn Park, a thoroughbred horse racing track south of downtown, was the only legal gambling establishment in Hot Springs and one of only two in the state of Arkansas; the other was the Southland Greyhound Park dog track in West Memphis. Both Oaklawn and Southland remain in operation.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: After the Civil War, the idea of establishing an Army-Navy hospital in Hot Springs was advocated by A.S. Garnett, a former Navy surgeon with a local practice, and John A. Logan, a retired Union general turned politician who was a former patient of Garnett's. In 1884, Logan persuaded Congress to allocate $100,000 for the purpose. Erected under the supervision of Captain J.W. Jacobs, the 100-bed hospital was built of wood and brick in the "pavilion style" that required patients and clinicians to traverse long distances.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: After World War I, Congress granted $1.5 million to build a new facility. Built under Captain Edward George, it could hold 500 patients and contained such cutting-edge technology as an X-ray wing and temperature-controlled morgue. The operating rooms and equipment was thought to be the finest in the country.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Yet after the United States entered World War II, the hospital was once again overwhelmed. The Army and Navy arranged to send some overflow to the nearby Arlington and Majestic hotels. The hospital also trained dentists, surgeons, and pharmacists, and housed the first enlisted medical technician school for the Women's Army Corps.The grounds contained a kitchen, living quarters for nurses and physicians. Among the famous people treated at the hospital were Helen Keller and Joe DiMaggio. The hospital was closed on April 1, 1960, likely because local demand dropped. The grounds were sold to the state of Arkansas for one dollar.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The military took over the enormous Eastman Hotel across the street from the Army and Navy Hospital in 1942 because the hospital was not nearly large enough to hold the sick and wounded coming in. In 1944, the Army began redeploying returning overseas soldiers; officials inspected hotels in 20 cities before selecting Hot Springs as a redistribution center for returning soldiers. In August 1944, the Army took over most of the hotels in Hot Springs. The soldiers from the west-central states received a 21-day furlough before reporting to the redistribution station. They spent 14 days updating their military records and obtaining physical and dental treatment. The soldiers had time to enjoy the baths at a reduced rate and other recreational activities. The redistribution center closed down in December 1945 after processing more than 32,000 members of the military. In 1946, after the war, the Eastman was demolished when the federal government no longer needed it.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: In 2013, the metro was ranked by "Forbes" as one of the top "small places for business and careers", citing a low cost of doing business, high job growth and an educated workforce. The first cannabis dispensary in the state opened in May 2019 in the city.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs is located in southeastern Garland County at . It sits at the southeastern edge of the Ouachita Mountains and is southwest of Little Rock.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Hot Springs has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.35%, is water.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The city takes its name from the natural thermal water that flows from 47 springs on the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain in the historic downtown district of the city. About of water flow from the springs each day. The flow rate is not affected by fluctuations in the rainfall in the area. Studies by National Park Service scientists have determined through radiocarbon dating that the water that reaches the surface in Hot Springs fell as rainfall 4,400 years earlier. The water percolates very slowly down through the earth's surface until it reaches superheated areas deep in the crust and then rushes rapidly to the surface to emerge from the 47 hot springs.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs Creek flows from Whittington Avenue, then is underground in a tunnel beneath Bathhouse Row (Central Ave). It emerges from the tunnel south of Bathhouse Row then flows through the southern part of the city before emptying into Lake Hamilton, a reservoir on the Ouachita River.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs lies in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen "Cfa"). The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. July is the hottest month of the year, with an average high of and an average low of . The city's highest temperature was , recorded in 1936 and 1986. The lowest temperature recorded was in 1930.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Precipitation is weakly seasonal, with a bimodal pattern: wet seasons in the spring and fall, and relatively drier summers and winters, but plentiful rain in all months. The spring wet season is more pronounced than fall, with the highest rainfall in May. Hot Springs' precipitation is affected by the orographic effect of the Ouachita Mountains.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs is the principal city of the Hot Springs metropolitan area, which includes all of Garland County, registering a population of 100,180 in 2020 according to the United States Census Bureau.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 37,930 people, 16,163 households, and 8,363 families residing in the city.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 35,750 people, 16,096 households, and 9,062 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 18,813 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 78.86% White, 16.87% Black or African American, 0.55% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.02% from other races, and 1.86% from two or more races. 3.80% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: There were 16,096 households, out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.7% are classified as non-families by the United States Census Bureau.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Of 16,096 households, 690 are unmarried partner households: 580 heterosexual, 78 same-sex male, and 32 same-sex female. 38.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.80.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.2% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 23.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The median income for a household in the city was $26,040, and the median income for a family was $32,819. Males had a median income of $25,861 versus $20,155 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,961. About 13.7% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.7% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The city has been a tourist mecca for generations due to the thermal waters and attractions such as Oaklawn Park, a thoroughbred racing facility; Magic Springs theme park; a fine arts community that has earned the city the No. 4 position among "America's Top 100 Small Arts Towns"; the Hot Springs Music Festival; and the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, held each October at the historic Malco Theater, attracting numerous Academy Award-winning films and producers.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Other annual events in town include the Valley of the Vapors Music Festival, the free Hot Springs Jazz Festival in September, the free Hot Springs Blues Festival in September, the downtown Bathtub Races in the spring, the Big Barbecue Cookoff in spring and fall, the World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade every March 17, and the outdoor skating rink November through January. Venues for live music are Low Key Arts, Maxine's, The Ohio Club, The Big Chill, and the Arlington Hotel among many others.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Superlift Offroad Vehicle Park hosts the annual Ouachita Jeep Jamboree, an off-road adventure weekend that draws people and their 4x4's from a dozen states.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Educational institutes and conventions are important events in the spa city. Perhaps the most popular of these events is the Hot Springs Technology Institute (HSTI), drawing over 1,300 participants each June. Hot Springs is also home to the annual alternate reality game "Midnight Madness", based on the movie from which it gets its name. Teams race throughout the city at night, solving clues based on difficult puzzle and physical challenges. Games last 12 hours or more, with the winning team designing the following year's game.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Founded on Whittington Avenue in 1902, the Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo features approximately 200 alligators. The zoo also contains cougars, turkeys, chickens, wild boars, turtles, bobcats, and ring-tailed lemurs. A petting zoo with goats, emus, llamas, white-tailed deer, pigs, baby alligators, and other animals allows visitors to touch and feed the animals. An alligator feeding show includes educational material about the animals.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Bathhouse Row, consisting of eight turn-of-the century historic buildings, lies within Hot Springs National Park and is managed by the National Park Service. Fordyce Bathhouse was restored in 1989 as the park's visitor center and the beginning of restoring all properties on Bathhouse Row. The series of renovations and leasing public spaces to commercial owners became a model for similar projects across the nation.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Buckstaff Bathhouse has been in continuous operation since 1912 and is one of the best-preserved structures on Bathhouse Row. The Buckstaff Bathhouse Company has completed the majority of maintenance and renovation that has occurred without outside funding. The Quapaw was restored by the NPS in 2004, and the renovated structure was leased to Quapaw Baths, LLC, which now operates a modern spa with pools and hot tubs. The Lamar was renovated into offices for park staff and Bathhouse Row Emporium, the park's official store. The Superior Bathhouse Brewery and Distillery has occupied Superior Bathhouse since 2012, using hot spring water in its beers and spirits. As of February 2014, the Maurice, Ozark, and Hale bathhouses are all available for rent from the NPS.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Atop Hot Springs Mountain in the park is the Hot Springs Mountain Tower, a observation tower built in 1982.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Along Bathhouse Row is Central Avenue, Highway 7, lined with historic buildings, businesses and tourist attractions. Today preserved by NRHP as Hot Springs Central Avenue Historic District, the district includes 77 contributing properties to the district between Prospect Street and Park Avenue. Included within this district are the 1924 Arlington Hotel, the Medical Arts Building, a 1929 Art Deco high-rise, and the Wade Building, built in 1927 in the neoclassical style.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Founded by the daughter of a lumber and brick magnate in 1985, the botanical garden on Arkridge Road features native Ouachita Mountains flora among rocky streams and waterfalls. Garvan also has a Japanese-themed section with several species native to Japan throughout. The garden is situated on a peninsula jutting into Lake Hamilton and began as Verna Garvan's personal garden for decades before being donated to the University of Arkansas landscape architecture department.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Thirteen of Hot Springs's hotels are individually listed by the NRHP within the city, with more being listed as contributing properties within other districts. Four of Hot Springs' neighborhoods are preserved as historic districts by the National Register of Historic Places, and the city also contains five historically important commercial districts in addition to the aforementioned Bathhouse Row and Central Avenue Historic District.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The city contains several historic hotels, including the Arlington Hotel, Jack Tar Hotel and Bathhouse, Mountainaire Hotel Historic District, Park Hotel, and the Riviera Hotel. During Hot Springs' heyday, several tourists visiting the city stayed at motor courts, the precursor to today's hotels. The NRHP recognizes seven of these motels as culturally and historically significant: Bellaire Court Historic District, Cottage Courts Historic District, Cove Tourist Court, George Klein Tourist Court Historic District, Lynwood Tourist Court Historic District, Parkway Courts Historic District, Perry Plaza Court Historic District, and the Taylor Rosamond Motel Historic District.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The Fordyce-Ricks House Historic District at 1501 Park Avenue includes three buildings on formerly owned by Samuel W. Fordyce, a prominent businessman and railroad executive who moved to Hot Springs in 1876. The house and outbuildings are built as log cabins in the Adirondack style. The Pleasant Street Historic District along Malvern Avenue (colloquially "Black Broadway") contains 93 contiguous buildings associated with the city's African American community. Included within the district are the Visitors Chapel AME church and the Woodmen of Union Building, along with 69 other contributing structures. A variety of architectural styles are used, with many of the structures using brick facades. The Quapaw-Prospect Historic District contains 233 structures near downtown Hot Springs, with 139 residential houses contributing to the character of the district built between 1890 and 1950 in several architectural styles. The Whittington Park Historic District is a residential district lining Whittington Park, a long, narrow park between two one-way streets created by the National Park Service in 1897. The 1896–1960 district contains 60 single-family houses and ten other structures. Predominantly Craftsman, ranch and Queen Anne-style buildings, the district is northwest of downtown Hot Springs.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Seven districts in Hot Springs have special historical significance to the city's past economy. In addition to the aforementioned Bathhouse Row and Central Avenue Historic District, the Army and Navy General Hospital Historic District includes 31 buildings surrounding and supporting the former Army-Navy Hospital. Built in 1933, the six-story brick building built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with Art Deco detailing is the centerpiece of the district, and remains the most imposing figure on the Hot Springs skyline. The Forest Service Headquarters Historic District encompasses six structures on Winona and Indiana Streets built by the Civilian Conservation Corps as the headquarters of the Jessieville Ranger District of the Ouachita National Forest. The Hot Springs Railroad Warehouse Historic District preserves three brick buildings between the Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks and Broadway. Almost entirely unaltered, the 1920s structures are associated with the railroad industry, which was extremely important to Hot Springs in the early 20th century. As the city grew during the early 20th century, commercial activity developed along Ouachita Avenue south of Bathhouse Row, today preserved as the Ouachita Avenue Historic District. Mostly consisting of brick commercial and multifamily buildings, the district maintains the character of an historic commercial area. The 1905 Peter Joplin Commercial Block building was the only building to survive the 1913 "Black Friday" fire, making it a remnant of early commercial activity on Ouachita Avenue when all contemporary structures have been destroyed.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine are two reservoirs of the Ouachita River south of Hot Springs created for hydroelectric power generation and recreational uses. Both created by Arkansas Power & Light (AP&L), Lake Catherine formed following the construction of Remmel Dam in the 1920s. Following a donation of over , the state created Lake Catherine State Park in 1935. Today, the park features fishing and water recreation as well as camping to visitors. Lake Hamilton was created following the construction of Carpenter Dam in the 1930s. Built during the Great Depression, the power produced by the dam is credited with allowing AP&L to survive the difficult economic times. Following construction, resorts, businesses, and homes have been built along the lake, in contrast to Lake Catherine. Due to the economic importance of the dam to Hot Springs, Carpenter Dam was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Fishing is popular on Lake Hamilton, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission operates a fish hatchery to stock the lake with bass and other species.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Oaklawn Park has been operating since 1904. (A second horse racing park was once within the city limits, but was eventually closed.) Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, his half-brother Roger, and Billy Bob Thornton, all Hot Springs natives, have frequented Oaklawn Park. The meet, held from January through mid-April each year, is sometimes called the "Fifth Season". In mid-April, its final week sees the "Racing Festival of the South", concluding with the Arkansas Derby, which has drawn many Triple Crown contenders. In 2015, American Pharoah won the Derby and another race at Oaklawn before going on to win the first Triple Crown in three decades. In 2018, the track commemorated the horse's victories by installing a life-sized bronze sculpture by James Peniston.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs operates under the council-manager form of city government, one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States, and common in smaller municipalities. The city is divided into six districts, which elect a city director to the seven-member board of directors. As a body, the board is the prime executive branch of Hot Springs government whose duties include making policy, creating a budget, and passing resolutions and ordinances. The seventh member is a mayor elected at-large by Hot Springs. The mayor presides over city functions in an official capacity and manages the municipal government, without legislative authority. City director elections are held every four years, but are staggered such that elections for three districts coincide with the election of the President of the United States and four occur in November of "off years".


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs public primary and secondary education includes five school districts, ultimately leading to graduation from five different high schools. The vast majority of Hot Springs is included in the Hot Springs School District, which leads to graduation from Hot Springs High School. Sections of southeastern Hot Springs are within the Lakeside School District, leading to graduation from Lakeside High School, located southeast of town Some eastern sections of Hot Springs are in the Cutter–Morning Star School District, leading to graduation from Cutter–Morning Star High School. The a few pieces to the north are within the Fountain Lake School District, leading to graduation from Fountain Lake High School. In small pieces in the west, students are to be enrolled in Lake Hamilton School District, which leads to graduation from Lake Hamilton High School.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts (ASMSA), an advanced statewide program within the University of Arkansas System and National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology, is also located in Hot Springs. A two-year residential program, ASMSA was established in 1993 and is available to students from across the state following acceptance. Hot Springs Christian School is the only private provider of K–12 education in Hot Springs. The only accredited post-secondary educational opportunity in Hot Springs is at National Park College. Created from a merger between Garland County Community College and Quapaw Technical Institute, the college enrolls approximately 3,000 students annually in credit programs. Champion Baptist College, an unaccredited four-year Christian vocational college associated with Gospel Light Baptist Church, is also located in Hot Springs. Champion Baptist College was issued a Letter of Exemption from Certification by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to offer church-related courses and grant church-related degrees.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs previously had a Catholic grade school for black children, St. Gabriel School; it closed in 1968.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: The Hot Springs newspaper is the "Sentinel-Record", originally part of the Clyde E. Palmer chain, since renamed WEHCO Media. It is published daily.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: "The Thrifty Nickel", a classified advertising publication, is published from offices at 670 Ouachita Avenue. The Little Rock edition is also published from this office. Thrifty Nickel ceased publication in March 2020.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: U.S. Route 70 and U.S. Route 270 bypass the downtown to the south on the four-lane Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway. U.S. Route 70 Business passes through the center of Hot Springs as Grand Avenue, Summer Street, Albert Pike Road, and Airport Road, while U.S. Route 270 Business enters from the east as Malvern Avenue, joins US 70 Business along Grand Avenue and Summer Street, and exits to the west as Albert Pike Road. US-70 leads east to Benton and west-southwest to Glenwood, while US-270 leads southeast to Malvern and west-northwest to Mount Ida.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Arkansas Highway 7 passes through the center of Hot Springs as Central Avenue and Park Avenue. It leads north across the Ouachita Mountains to Russellville on the Arkansas River, and south to Arkadelphia.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Arkansas Highway 128 (Carpenter Dam Road) branches off US-270 Business in southeastern Hot Springs, leading south to Red Oak.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Interstate 30 passes to the southeast of Hot Springs, with the closest access to the southeast via US-270. I-30 can also be reached to the east via US-70.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Hot Springs is served by Memorial Field Airport. Major air transport is available through Little Rock National Airport, approximately from Hot Springs.


title: Hot Springs, Arkansas

text: Within Hot Springs, three fixed-route buses are operated by the city's Intracity Transit. Primary service includes the Central Avenue corridor (Route 1- blue line), Albert Pike corridor (Route 2 - red line), and Hot Springs National Park and the northeast part of the city (Route 3 - green line). All routes are based at the city's Transportation Depot in downtown Hot Springs, and operate six days a week; Sundays and six annual holidays are excluded.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: Alessandro Bastoni (born 13 April 1999) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Inter Milan and the Italy national team.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: Bastoni was born in Casalmaggiore, Lombardy, and began his career in the local Rivarolo Mantovano youth side, where his father was coach. At the age of 7, he joined the youth side of Serie A club Atalanta.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: Bastoni progressed through various age groups at Bergamo, including making nearly 30 appearances for the under-17 side, before eventually progressing to the Primavera side, where he established himself as a regular starter at the centre of defence. He was named on the first-team bench for the first time on 30 October 2016, for the game against Genoa, and made his full debut a month later in the Coppa Italia game against Pescara, playing the full game in a 3–0 victory. In Serie A, Bastoni remained as an unused substitute for the six games after Genoa until making his debut in a 1–0 win over Sampdoria on 22 January 2017, playing full 90 minutes.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: On 31 August 2017, Inter Milan announced the signing of Bastoni for €31 million, and on the same day, his loan at Atalanta for the next two seasons. Inter officially recalled defender Alessandro Bastoni early from his loan with Atalanta and renewed his contract until 2023 on 14 July 2018.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: On 7 August 2018, Bastoni joined to Parma on loan until 30 June 2019. He made his debut on 7 October 2018, in the league match won 3–1 away against Genoa.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: Bastoni has been capped by Italy at every level from U15 to U19. His first international goal came in a 4–0 win over Norway whilst playing for the under-16 team. He was first called up to the under-18 side by coach Paolo Nicolato in August 2016, and was made captain in his second game; a 2–2 draw with the Netherlands. He was called up to the Italy under-19 side by coach Paolo Nicolato on 9 August 2017 at the age of 18.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: He made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 11 October 2018, in a friendly match lost 1–0 against Belgium. He became immediately a starter and he took part in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship on home soil.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: Bastoni received his first call up to the senior Italy squad from manager Roberto Mancini, for the UEFA Nations League matches against Bosnia Herzegovina and Netherlands in September 2020. He made his senior debut for Italy on 11 November, starting in a 4–0 friendly win against Estonia in Florence.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: In June 2021, Bastoni was included in Italy's squad for UEFA Euro 2020. He made his first and only appearance of the tournament in Italy's final group match, starting in a 1–0 victory against Wales in Rome on 20 June; the result allowed them to top their group. On 11 July, Bastoni won the European Championship with Italy following a 3–2 penalty shoot-out victory over England at Wembley Stadium in the final, after a 1–1 draw in extra-time.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: On 14 June 2022, in Italy's fourth group match of the UEFA Nations League, Bastoni scored his first international goal in a 5–2 away loss to Germany.


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: A left–footed defender, Bastoni started his career as a full-back, but is also capable of playing as a centre-back, a role in which he became increasingly deployed as his career progressed. He is mainly known for his passing ability and ball control, while his height and ability to exploit spaces allows him to be effective in the air, which makes him a goal threat from indirect set–pieces. Regarded as a promising young player in the media, in 2020, he was included in the list of "Fifty for the future: UEFA.com's ones to watch."


title: Alessandro Bastoni

text: Bastoni's father, Nicola, was also a footballer, who played as a left–back for Cremonese. On 6 October 2020, it was announced that Bastoni tested positive for COVID-19, while being asymptomatic, amid its pandemic in Italy. On January 21, 2022, his long-time partner gave birth to a daughter, who was named Azzurra.


title: NIFL Premiership

text: The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football League – the national league in Northern Ireland. The Premiership was established as the "IFA Premiership" in 2008 under the auspices of the Irish Football Association, before the Northern Ireland Football League was created for the start of the 2013–14 season. At the end of the season, the champion club is presented with the Gibson Cup.


title: NIFL Premiership

text: Linfield are the current champions, having won their fourth consecutive title and 56th Irish League championship overall, after a 2–0 victory over Coleraine on 30 April 2022. This meant Linfield set a new world record for the most top division league titles won by any club, one ahead of Scottish club Rangers on 55 titles.


title: NIFL Premiership

text: The current Irish Premiership format was introduced for the 2008–09 season after the League system for Northern Ireland was re-organised. The top flight was reduced in size from 16 to 12 clubs, included on the basis not only of their performance in the 2007–08 season, but in the previous two seasons, and other off-the-field criteria. Each applicant club was assessed by an independent panel and awarded points against the following criteria:


title: NIFL Premiership

text: Portadown were the highest-profile casualty of the new system, suffering relegation to the newly formed IFA Championship as a result of submitting their application for inclusion in the Premiership 29 minutes past the deadline for consideration. The Northern Ireland Football League assumed responsibility for the top three divisions of Irish League national football from the IFA in 2014, putting forward plans to improve the scene of football in Northern Ireland. The plans include improving stadiums, status in European competitions, league structure, commercial image of the competitions, as well as spreading out match kick-off times to be more variable and reintroducing previously abandoned competitions for clubs to compete in, such as the Charity Shield, Floodlit Cup, Ulster Cup and Gold Cup.


title: NIFL Premiership

text: Each team plays a total of 38 fixtures during the season. Each team initially plays every other team three times (either twice at home and once away, or once at home and twice away) for a total of 33 fixtures per team. The league then splits into "Section A" and "Section B", the top six teams in Section A playing each other for a fourth and final time to settle championship and European qualification issues, and the bottom six teams in Section B playing each other to settle relegation issues. The post-split fixtures are usually arranged in such a way as to result in the teams in each half playing each other twice at home and twice away. After the split, teams in the top six cannot finish lower than 6th place, and teams in the bottom six cannot finish higher than 7th place, regardless of the results in the final 5 games. The League campaign begins in August and continues until late April or early May. Most fixtures are played on Saturday afternoons, with occasional fixtures on Friday evenings, and some mid-week games, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. Traditionally, there are Bank Holiday afternoon fixtures on Boxing Day, New Year's Day, and Easter Tuesday.


title: NIFL Premiership

text: Three points are awarded for a win, and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Points can be deducted for breaches of rules e.g. fielding an ineligible player. The teams are first and foremost ranked by number of points. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the championship. If two or more teams finish level on points, four tiebreakers are used to separate them: highest overall goal difference, most goals scored, most points gained in the head-to-head meetings, and finally, highest goal difference in the head-to-head meetings. In the highly unlikely event that teams are still tied in a key position after these tiebreakers e.g. determining the league champions, European qualification, relegation, or even second stage group allocation, lots will be drawn by the Management Committee.


title: NIFL Premiership

text: There is no promotion from the Premiership, as it is the highest division of the Irish League system. At the end of the season, the 12th-placed club is relegated to the NIFL Championship and the 11th-placed club must take part in an aggregate two-legged play-off against the winners of the pre-play-off match between the runners-up and third-placed Championship teams. The away goals rule is applied after 90 minutes of the second leg, with extra time and penalties also used to determine the winner in the second leg if necessary. The Premiership club gets home advantage in the second leg, and is relegated to the Championship if it loses the tie. In the event that the Championship winners do not possess the Promotion licence required to be eligible for the top flight, there is no automatic relegation. Instead, the play-off is passed down to the 12th-placed Premiership club and the 11th-placed club is safe from relegation. In the event that there are no Championship clubs eligible for promotion, there is no relegation.


title: NIFL Premiership

text: Northern Ireland is currently ranked in 42nd place out of 55 in the 2021 UEFA association coefficient rankings, which will be used to determine qualification places for the 2022–23 UEFA competitions. The Irish League’s relatively low ranking over the years has meant that the clubs have entered in the preliminary round or early qualifying rounds of UEFA competitions. No Premiership club has ever reached the group stage of a UEFA competition in their current respective formats. In fact, none have ventured beyond the second qualifying round of the Champions League. The closest any club has come to reaching the group stage was during the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, when Linfield became the first club from Northern Ireland to reach the play-off round, narrowly missing out on a place in the group stage after a 4–4 draw on aggregate against Qarabağ FK from Azerbaijan resulted in elimination on the away goals rule.


title: NIFL Premiership

text: For the 2021–22 season, the Irish League will earn four berths in the 2022–23 UEFA competitions - three for the Premiership, with the fourth reserved for the Irish Cup winners. The Irish League champions will enter the qualifying rounds for the following season's UEFA Champions League, with the league runners-up and European play-off winners (along with the Irish Cup winners) entering the UEFA Europa Conference League. If, however, the Irish Cup winners have already qualified for Europe as league champions or runners-up, the Irish Cup's Europa Conference League berth is redistributed to the league's third-placed team. In order to compete in UEFA competitions, however, clubs must possess a UEFA licence. In the event that a team qualifies without such a licence, lower-placed teams may take their place. Unlike the English League Cup, the Northern Ireland Football League Cup winners are not awarded a European berth.