title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: In his first dogfight over England on 24 August 1940, Marseille engaged in a four-minute battle with a skilled opponent while flying Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-3 "Werknummer" 3579. He defeated his opponent by pulling up into a tight chandelle to gain an altitude advantage before diving and firing. The British fighter was struck in the engine, pitched over and dived into the English Channel; this was Marseille's first victory.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille was then engaged from above by more Allied fighters. By pushing his aircraft into a steep dive, then pulling up metres above the water, Marseille escaped from the machine gun fire of his opponents: "skipping away over the waves, I made a clean break. No one followed me and I returned to Leeuwarden [sic—Marseille was based near Calais, not Leeuwarden]."


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: The act was not praised by his unit. Marseille was reprimanded when it emerged he had abandoned his wingman, and "Staffel" to engage the opponent alone. In so doing, Marseille had violated a basic rule of air combat. Reportedly, Marseille did not take any pleasure in this victory and found it difficult to accept the realities of aerial combat.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: While returning from a bomber-escort mission on 23 September 1940 flying ("Werknummer" 5094—factory number), his engine failed off Cap Gris Nez after combat damage sustained over Dover. Pilot Officer George Bennions from 41 Squadron may have shot Marseille down. According to another source, "Werknummer" 5094 was destroyed in this engagement by Robert Stanford Tuck, who had pursued a Bf 109 to that location and whose pilot was rescued by a Heinkel He 59 naval aircraft. Marseille is the only German airman known to have been rescued by a He 59 on that day and in that location. Tuck's official claim was for a Bf 109 destroyed off Cap Gris Nez at 09:45—the only pilot to submit a claim in that location.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Although Marseille tried to radio his position, he bailed out over the sea. He paddled around in the water for three hours before being rescued by the float plane based at Schellingwoude. Exhausted and suffering from exposure, he was sent to a field hospital.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: When he returned to duty, he received a stern rebuke from his commander, Herbert Ihlefeld. In engaging Bennions, or Tuck, Marseille had abandoned his leader "Staffelkapitän" Adolf Buhl, who was shot down and killed. During his rebuke, his commander tore up Marseille's flight evaluations. Other pilots also voiced their dissatisfaction concerning Marseille. Because of his alienation of other pilots and his arrogant and unapologetic nature, Ihlefeld eventually dismissed Marseille from LG 2.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: A different account recalled how Marseille once ignored an order to turn back from a fight when outnumbered by two to one, but seeing an Allied aircraft closing on his wing leader, Marseille broke formation and shot the attacking aircraft down. Expecting congratulations when he landed, his commander was critical of his actions, and Marseille received three days of confinement for failing to carry out an order. Days later, Marseille was passed over for promotion and was now the sole "Fähnrich" in the "Geschwader". This was a humiliation for him, suspecting that his abilities were being suppressed so the squadron leaders could take all the glory in the air.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Shortly afterwards, in early October 1940, after having claimed seven aerial victories all of them while flying with I.(Jagd)/LG 2 Marseille was transferred to 4. "Staffel" of "Jagdgeschwader" 52, flying alongside the likes of Johannes Steinhoff and Gerhard Barkhorn. He wrote off four aircraft as a result of operations during this period.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: On 9 December, "Oberleutnant" Rudolf Resch confined Marseille to his room for five days for calling a fellow pilot a "goofy pig" (). As punishment for "insubordination"—rumoured to be his penchant for American jazz music, womanising and an overt "playboy" lifestyle—and inability to fly as a wingman, Steinhoff transferred Marseille to "Jagdgeschwader 27" on 24 December 1940. Steinhoff later recalled:


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: His new "Gruppenkommandeur", Eduard Neumann, later recalled, "His hair was too long and he brought with him a list of disciplinary punishments as long as your arm. He was tempestuous, temperamental and unruly. Thirty years later, he would have been called a playboy." Nevertheless, Neumann quickly recognised Marseille's potential as a pilot. He stated in an interview: "Marseille could only be one of two, either a disciplinary problem or a great fighter pilot." "Jagdgeschwader" 27 was soon relocated to North Africa.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille's unit briefly saw action during the invasion of Yugoslavia, deployed to Zagreb on 10 April 1941, before transferring to Africa. On 20 April on his flight from Tripoli to his front airstrip, Marseille's Bf 109 E-7 ("Werknummer" 1259) developed engine trouble and he had to make a forced landing in the desert short of his destination. His squadron departed the scene after they had ensured that he had got down safely. Marseille continued his journey, first hitchhiking on an Italian truck, then, finding this too slow, he tried his luck at an airstrip, but in vain. Finally he made his way to the General in charge of a supply depot on the main route to the front and convinced him that he should be available for operations next day. Marseille's character appealed to the General and he put at his disposal his own Opel Admiral, complete with chauffeur. "You can pay me back by getting fifty victories, Marseille!" were his parting words. He caught up with his squadron on 21 April.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille scored two more victories on 23 and 28 April, his first in the North African Campaign. However, on 23 April, Marseille himself was shot down during his third sortie of that day by "Sous-Lieutenant" James Denis, a Free French pilot with No. 73 Squadron RAF (8.5 victories), flying a Hawker Hurricane. Marseille's Bf 109 E-7 ("Werknummer" 5160) received almost 30 hits in the cockpit area, and three or four shattered the canopy. Since Marseille was leaning forward, the rounds missed him by inches. Marseille managed to crash-land his fighter near Tobruk.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Records show that James Denis shot down Marseille again just a month later, on 21 May 1941. Marseille engaged Denis, but overshot his target. A dogfight ensued, in which Denis once again bested Marseille. His Bf 109 E-7 ("Werknummer" 1567) came down in the vicinity of Tobruk behind German lines.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: In a postwar account, Denis wrote that he waited for Marseille to close on him while he feigned ignorance, then skidded [side slipped], forcing the faster German to overshoot. Marseille was lucky, as bullets passed both in front of his face and behind his head. 30 hits were counted after Marseille crash landed.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: In between the battles with Denis, Marseille downed a Bristol Blenheim on 28 April. Blenheim "T2429", from No. 45 Squadron RAF, piloted by Pilot Officer B. C. de G. Allan, crashed killing all five men aboard. Jan Yindrich, a Polish Army soldier, witnessed the attack: "when a Blenheim came roaring down over our heads at about 50 feet, there was a terrific rattle of machine gun fire and at first I thought the Blenheim had made a mistake and was firing at us or choosing an awkward spot to clear his guns. Bullets whistled around, so we dived into the slit trench. A Messerschmitt, hot on the tail of the Blenheim, was responsible for the bullets. The Blenheim roared down the wadi, out to sea, trying to escape from the Messerschmitt, but the Messerschmitt was too close. The Blenheim fell out of the sky and crashed into the sea. The plane disappeared completely not leaving a trace. The Messerschmitt banked and flew inland again."


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Neumann ("Geschwaderkommodore" as of 10 June 1942) encouraged Marseille to self-train to improve his abilities. By this time, he had crashed or damaged another four Bf 109 E aircraft, including an aircraft he was ferrying on 23 April 1941. Marseille's kill rate was low, and he went from June to August without a victory. He was further frustrated after damage forced him to land on two occasions: once on 14 June 1941 and again after he was hit by ground fire over Tobruk and was forced to land blind.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: His tactic of diving into opposing formations often found him under fire from all directions, resulting in his aircraft frequently being damaged beyond repair; consequently, Neumann grew impatient with him. Marseille persisted, and created a unique self-training programme for himself, both physical and tactical, which resulted not only in outstanding situational awareness, marksmanship and confident control of the aircraft, but also in a unique attack tactic that preferred a high angle deflection shooting attack and shooting at the target's front from the side, instead of the common method of chasing an aircraft and shooting at it directly from behind. Marseille often practiced these tactics on the way back from missions with his comrades and became known as a master of deflection shooting.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: As Marseille began to claim Allied aircraft regularly, on occasion he personally looked after the welfare of the pilot and other Allied airmen he had downed, driving out to remote crash sites to rescue them. On 13 September 1941 Marseille shot down Pat Byers of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No. 451 Squadron. Marseille flew to Byers' airfield and dropped a note informing the Australians of his condition and treatment. He returned several days later to second the first note with news of Byers' death. Marseille repeated these sorties after being warned by Neumann that Göring had forbidden any more flights of this kind.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: After the war, Marseille's JG 27 comrade Werner Schröer stated that Marseille attempted these gestures as "penance" for a group that "loved shooting down aircraft" but not killing a man; "we tried to separate the two. Marseille allowed us that escape, our penance I suppose."


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Finally on 24 September 1941, his self-training came to fruition, with his first multiple victory sortie, claiming four Hurricanes of No. 1 Squadron, South African Air Force (SAAF). By mid December, he had reached 25 victories and was awarded the German Cross in Gold. His "Staffel" was rotated to Germany in November/December 1941 to convert to the Bf 109 F-4/trop, the variant that was described as the "Experten" (experts) "mount." These victories represented his 19th through 23rd victory. Marseille became known amongst his peers for downing or damaging multiple enemy aircraft in a sortie.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille always strove to improve his abilities. He worked to strengthen his legs and abdominal muscles to help him tolerate the extreme g forces of air combat. Marseille also drank an abnormal amount of milk and shunned sunglasses, in the belief that doing so would improve his eyesight.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: To counter German fighter attacks, the Allied pilots flew "Lufbery circles", in which each aircraft's tail was covered by the friendly aircraft behind. The tactic was effective, as an enemy pilot attacking this formation could find himself constantly in the sights of opposing pilots.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille nonetheless often dived at high speed into the middle of these defensive formations from either above or below, executing a tight turn and firing a two-second deflection shot to destroy an enemy aircraft. Marseille's successes had begun to become readily apparent by early 1942. He claimed his 37th through 40th victories on 8 February 1942 and 41st through 44th victories four days later, which earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () that same month for 46 victories.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille attacked under conditions many considered unfavourable, but his marksmanship allowed him to make an approach fast enough to escape the return fire of the two aircraft flying on either flank of the target. Marseille's excellent eyesight made it possible for him to spot the opponent before he was spotted, allowing him to take the appropriate action and manoeuvre into position for an attack. He was also credited with outstanding situational awareness.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: In combat, Marseille's unorthodox methods led him to operate in a small leader/wingman unit, which he believed to be the safest and most effective way of fighting in the high-visibility conditions of the North African skies. Marseille worked alone in combat, keeping his wingman at a safe distance so he would not fire on him in error or collide with him.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: In a dogfight, particularly when attacking Allied aircraft in a Lufbery circle, Marseille would often favour dramatically reducing the throttle and even lowering the flaps to reduce speed and shorten his turn radius, rather than the standard procedure of using full throttle throughout.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Emil Clade said that none of the other pilots could do this effectively, preferring instead to dive on single opponents at speed so as to escape if anything went wrong. Clade said of Marseille's tactics:


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille developed his own special tactics, which differed significantly from the methods of most other pilots. (When attacking a Lufbery circle) he had to fly very slowly. He even took it to the point where he had to operate his landing flaps as not to fall down, because, of course he had to fly his curve (turns) more tightly than the upper defensive circle. He and his fighter were one unit, and he was in command of that aircraft like no-one else.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Friedrich Körner (36 victories) also recognised this as unique: "Shooting in a curve (deflection shooting) is the most difficult thing a pilot can do. The enemy flies in a defensive circle, that means they are already lying in a curve and the attacking fighter has to fly into this defensive circle. By pulling his aircraft right around, his curve radius must be smaller, but if he does that, his target disappears in most cases below his wings. So he cannot see it anymore and has to proceed simply by instinct." The attack was, however, carried out at close-range; Marseille dived from above, climbed underneath an opponent, fired as the enemy aircraft disappeared under his own, and then used the energy from the dive to climb and repeat the process.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: His success as a fighter pilot also led to promotions and more responsibility as an officer. 1 May 1942 saw him receive an unusually early promotion to "Oberleutnant" followed by appointment to "Staffelkapitän" of 3./JG 27 on 10 June 1942, thus succeeding "Oberleutnant" Gerhard Homuth, who took command of I./JG 27.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: In a conversation with his friend Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt, Marseille commented on his style, and his idea of air-to-air combat:


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: I often experience combat as it should be. I see myself in the middle of a British swarm, firing from every position and never getting caught. Our aircraft are basic elements, Stahlschmidt, which have got to be mastered. You've got to be able to shoot from any position. From left or right turns, out of a roll, on your back, whenever. Only this way can you develop your own particular tactics. Attack tactics, that the enemy simply cannot anticipate during the course of the battle – a series of unpredictable movements and actions, never the same, always stemming from the situation at hand. Only then can you plunge into the middle of an enemy swarm and blow it up from the inside.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille had a narrow escape on 13 May 1942, when his Bf 109 was damaged during a dogfight with 12 Curtiss Kittyhawks (Mk I) from No. 3 Squadron RAAF, southeast of Gazala and over the Gulf of Bomba ("Gazala Bay"). With a wingman, Marseille bounced the Kittyhawks. After he downed one of the Australian pilots, Flying Officer Graham Pace in "AL172", Marseille's Bf 109 took hits in the oil tank and propeller, likely from Flying Officer Geoff Chinchen, who reported damaging one of the Messerschmitts. Marseille nevertheless managed to shoot down another Kittyhawk (Sergeant Colin McDiarmid; "AK855"), before nursing his overheating aircraft back to base. The repairs to Marseille's Bf 109 took two days. The aerial victories were recorded as numbers 57 and 58.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Weeks later, on 30 May, Marseille performed another mercy mission after witnessing his 65th victory—Pilot Officer Graham George Buckland of No. 250 Squadron RAF—strike the tail plane of his fighter and fall to his death when the parachute did not open. After landing he drove out to the crash site. The P-40 had landed over Allied lines but they found the dead pilot within German territory. Marseille marked his grave, collected his papers and verified his identity, then flew to Buckland's airfield to deliver a letter of regret. Buckland died two days before his 21st birthday.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: His attack method to break up formations, which he perfected, resulted in a high proportion of victories, and in rapid, multiple victories per attack. On 3 June 1942, Marseille attacked a formation of 16 Curtiss P-40 fighters and shot down six aircraft of No. 5 Squadron SAAF, five of them in six minutes, including three aces: Robin Pare (six victories), Cecil Golding (6.5 victories) and Andre Botha (five victories); the latter crash-landed his damaged fighter. This success inflated his score further, recording his 70th through 75th victories. Marseille was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves () on 6 June 1942. His wingman Rainer Pöttgen, nicknamed "Fliegendes Zählwerk" (the "Flying Counting Machine"), said of this fight:


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: He was the most amazing and ingenious combat pilot I ever saw. He was also very lucky on many occasions. He thought nothing of jumping into a fight outnumbered ten to one, often alone, with us trying to catch up to him. He violated every cardinal rule of fighter combat. He abandoned all the rules.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: On 17 June 1942, Marseille claimed his 100th aerial victory. He was the 11th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. Marseille then returned to Germany for two months leave and the following day was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: On 6 August, he began his journey back to North Africa accompanied by his fiancée Hanne-Lies Küpper. On 13 August, he met Benito Mussolini in Rome and was presented with the highest Italian military award for bravery, the Gold Medal of Military Valor (). While in Italy Marseille disappeared for some time, prompting the German authorities to compile a missing persons report, submitted by the "Gestapo" head in Rome, Herbert Kappler. He was finally located. According to rumours he had run off with an Italian girl and was eventually persuaded to return to his unit. Unusually, nothing was ever said about the incident and no repercussions were visited upon Marseille for this indiscretion.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Leaving his fiancée in Rome, Marseille returned to combat duties on 23 August. 1 September 1942 was Marseille's most successful day, claiming to destroy 17 Allied aircraft (nos. 105–121), and September would see him claim 54 victories, his most productive month. The 17 aircraft claimed included eight in 10 minutes; as a result of this feat, he was presented with a Volkswagen Kübelwagen by a "Regia Aeronautica" squadron, on which his Italian comrades had painted "Otto" (Italian language: "Otto" = eight).


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: This was the most aircraft from Western Allied air forces shot down by a single pilot in one day. Only three pilots would ever match this score, while only one pilot would ever surpass it; Emil Lang, on 4 November 1943, scored 18 fighters of the Soviet Air Force on the Eastern Front. The post-war analysis shows that the actual results of the day were probably eight to nine destroyed by Marseille with three or four more damaged.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: On 3 September 1942 Marseille claimed six victories (nos. 127–132) but was hit by fire from the British-Canadian ace James Francis Edwards. "Der Adler", a biweekly propaganda magazine published by the Luftwaffe, also reported his actions in volume 14 of 1942. Marseille was made famous through propaganda that treated fighter pilots as superstars and continued to do so after his death. He regularly signed postcards with his image. Aside from "Der Adler", his exploits were published in "Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung" and "Die Wehrmacht".


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Three days later Edwards likely killed Günter Steinhausen, a friend of Marseille. The next day, 7 September 1942, another close friend, Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt, was posted missing in action. These personal losses weighed heavily on Marseille's mind along with his family tragedy. It was noted he barely spoke and became more morose in the last weeks of his life. The strain of combat also induced consistent sleepwalking at night and other symptoms that could be construed as posttraumatic stress disorder. Marseille never remembered these events.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille continued scoring multiple victories throughout September, including seven on 15 September (nos. 145–151). Between 16 and 25 September, Marseille failed to increase his score due to a fractured arm, sustained in a forced landing soon after the 15 September mission. As a result, he had been forbidden to fly by Eduard Neumann. But the same day, Marseille borrowed the Macchi C.202 '96–10' of the Italian ace "Tenente" Emanuele Annoni, from 96a "Squadriglia", 9° "Gruppo", 4° "Stormo", based at Fouka, for a test flight. But the one-off flight ended in a wheels-up landing, when the German ace accidentally switched the engine off, as the throttle control in Italian aircraft was opposite to that of the German aircraft. The event was photographed.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille had nearly surpassed his friend Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt's score of 59 victories in just five weeks. However, the massive material superiority of the Allies meant the strain placed on the outnumbered German pilots was now severe. At this time, the strength of German fighter units was 112 (65 serviceable) aircraft against the British muster of some 800 machines.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille was becoming physically exhausted by the frenetic pace of combat. After his last combat on 26 September, Marseille was reportedly on the verge of collapse after a 15-minute battle with a formation of Spitfires, during which he scored his seventh victory of that day.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Of particular note was Marseille's 158th claim. After landing in the afternoon of 26 September 1942, he was physically exhausted. Several accounts allude to his Squadron members being visibly shocked at Marseille's physical state. Marseille, according to his own post-battle accounts, had been engaged by a Spitfire pilot in an intense dogfight that began at high altitude and descended to low-level. Marseille recounted how both he and his opponent strove to get onto the tail of the other. Both succeeded and fired but each time the pursued managed to turn the table on his attacker. Finally, with only 15 minutes of fuel remaining, he climbed into the sun. The RAF fighter followed and was caught in the glare. Marseille executed a tight turn and roll, fired from 100 metres range. The Spitfire caught fire and shed a wing. It crashed into the ground with the pilot still inside. Marseille wrote, "That was the toughest adversary I have ever had. His turns were fabulous... I thought it would be my last fight". Unfortunately the pilot and his unit remain unidentified.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: The two missions of 26 September 1942 had been flown in Bf 109 G-2/trop, in one of which Marseille had shot down seven Allied aircraft. The first six of these machines were to replace the "Gruppe"'s Bf 109 Fs. All had been allocated to Marseille's 3. "Staffel". Marseille had previously ignored orders to use these new aircraft because of its high engine failure rate, but on the orders of "Generalfeldmarschall" Albert Kesselring, Marseille reluctantly obeyed. One of these machines, WK-Nr. 14256 (Engine: Daimler-Benz DB 605 A-1, W.Nr. 77 411), was to be the final aircraft Marseille flew.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Over the next three days Marseille's "Staffel" was rested and taken off flying duties. On 28 September Marseille received a telephone call from "Generalfeldmarschall" Erwin Rommel asking to return with him to Berlin. Hitler was to make a speech at the Berlin Sportpalast on 30 September and Rommel and Marseille were to attend. Marseille rejected this offer, stating that he was needed at the front and had already taken three months' vacation that year. Marseille also said he wanted to take leave at Christmas to marry his fiancée Hanne-Lies Küpper.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: On 30 September 1942, "Hauptmann" Marseille was leading his "Staffel" on a "Stuka" escort mission covering the withdrawal of the group and relieving the outward escort, III./"Jagdgeschwader" 53 (JG 53), which had been deployed to support JG 27 in Africa. Marseille's flight was vectored onto Allied aircraft in the vicinity but the opponent withdrew and did not take up combat. Marseille vectored the heading and height of the formation to Neumann who directed III./JG 27 to engage. Marseille heard 8./JG 27 leader Werner Schröer claim a Spitfire over the radio at 10:30. While returning to base, his new Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2/trop's cockpit began to fill with smoke; blinded, he was guided back to German lines by his wingmen, Jost Schlang and Lt Rainer Pöttgen. Upon reaching friendly lines, "Yellow 14" had lost power and was drifting lower and lower. Pöttgen called out after about 10 minutes that they had reached the White Mosque of Sidi Abdel Rahman, and were thus within friendly lines. At this point, Marseille deemed his aircraft no longer flyable and decided to bail out, his last words to his comrades being "I've got to get out now, I can't stand it any longer".


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: I was at the command post and listening to the radio communication between the pilots. I realised immediately something serious had happened; I knew they were still in flight and that they were trying to bring Marseille over the lines into our territory and that his aircraft was emitting a lot of smoke.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: His "Staffel", which had been flying a tight formation around him, peeled away to give him the necessary room to manoeuvre. Marseille rolled his aircraft onto its back, the standard procedure for bail out, but due to the smoke and slight disorientation, he failed to notice that the aircraft had entered a steep dive at an angle of 70–80 degrees and was now travelling at a considerably faster speed (about ). He worked his way out of the cockpit only to be carried backwards by the slipstream. The left side of his chest struck the vertical stabiliser of his fighter, which either killed him instantly or rendered him unconscious to the point that he could not deploy his parachute. He fell almost vertically, hitting the desert floor south of Sidi Abdel Rahman. As it transpired, a gaping 40 cm (16 in) hole had been made in his parachute and the canopy spilled out. After recovering the body, the parachute release handle was still on "safe," suggesting Marseille had not attempted to open it. Whilst the body was checked, a regimental doctor noted Marseille's wristwatch had stopped at exactly 11:42 am. The doctor had been the first to reach the crash site, having been stationed just to the rear of the forward mine defences. He had also witnessed Marseille's fatal fall. The autopsy report stated:


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: "The pilot lay on his stomach as if asleep. His arms were hidden beneath his body. As I came closer, I saw a pool of blood that had issued from the side of his crushed skull; brain matter was exposed. I then noticed the awful wound above the hip. With certainty this could not have come from the fall. The pilot must have been slammed into the airplane when bailing out. I carefully turned the dead pilot over onto his back. opened the zipper of his flight jacket, saw the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Marseille never actually received the Diamonds personally) and I knew immediately who this was. The paybook also told me. I glanced at the dead man's watch. It had stopped at 11:42."


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: "Oberleutnant" Ludwig Franzisket collected the body from the desert. Marseille lay in state in the "Staffel" sick bay, his comrades coming to pay their respects throughout the day. Marseille's funeral took place on 1 October 1942 at the Heroes Cemetery in Derna with "Generalfeldmarschall" Albert Kesselring and Eduard Neumann delivering a eulogy. Marseille was succeeded by "Oberleutnant" Jost Schlang as "Staffelkapitän" of 3. "Staffel".


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: An enquiry into the crash was hastily set up. The commission's report concluded that the crash was caused by damage to the differential gear, which caused an oil leak. Then a number of teeth broke off the spur wheel and ignited the oil. Sabotage or human error was ruled out. The aircraft, W. Nr. 14256, was ferried to the unit via Bari, Italy. The mission that ended in its destruction was its first mission.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Schland and Pöttgen's statements led Neuman to conclude there had been no fire and that a glycol leak was responsible for the engine failure. He ruled out the existence of a fire, for he did not believe Marseille could have spoken for nine minutes without fatigue in smoke caused by a fire.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: JG 27 was moved out of Africa for about a month because of the impact Marseille's death had on morale. The deaths of two other German aces, Günter Steinhausen and Marseille's friend Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt, just three weeks earlier reduced spirits to an all-time low. One biographer suggests these consequences were instigated by a failure in the command style of Marseille, although it was not entirely within his control. The more success Marseille had, the more his "staffel" relied on him to carry the greater share of aerial victories claimed by the unit. So his death, when it came, was something which JG 27 had seemingly not prepared for.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Historians Hans Ring and Christopher Shores also point to the fact that Marseille's promotions were based on personal success rates more than any other reason, and other pilots did not get to score air victories, let alone become "Experten" themselves. They flew support as the "maestro showed them how it was done", and often "held back from attacking enemy aircraft to build his score still higher". As a result there were no other "Experten" to step into Marseille's shoes if he was killed. Eduard Neumann explained:


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: "This handicap [that very few pilots scored] was partially overcome by the morale effect on the whole "Geschwader" of the success of pilots like Marseille. In fact most of the pilots in Marseille's "Staffel" acted in secondary role as escort to the 'master.'"


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille's impact on Allied fighter pilots and their morale is unclear. Andrew Thomas quoted Pilot Officer Bert Houle of No. 213 Squadron RAF; "He was an extremely skilled pilot and a deadly shot. It was a helpless feeling to be continually bounced, and to do so little about it." Robert Tate, on the other hand, is skeptical Allied pilots would have been familiar, asking, "How well was Marseille known to DAF personnel in the Desert? Apparently not so well. Although there is a little indication that some Allied pilots may have heard of Marseille, this information did not readily make its way down to Allied Squadrons. Fanciful stories abound of how pilots knew of one another and hoped to duel with each other in the skies. This was more than likely not the case."


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille appeared four times in the "Deutsche Wochenschau", the German propaganda newsreel. The first time on Wednesday 17 February 1942 when Oberst Galland, the "General der Jagdflieger", visited an airport in the desert. The second time on Wednesday 1 July 1942 when Marseille travelled to Rastenburg to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords from Adolf Hitler. The third time on Wednesday 9 September 1942 announcing Marseille's 17 aerial victories from 1 September 1942 and that he had been awarded the Diamonds to his Knight's Cross. His last appearance was on 30 September 1942 showing Marseille visiting Erwin Rommel.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: The press, from magazines to journals, featured Marseille prolifically during 1942. "Der Adler" used his image for a front cover on 7 and 14 July 1942. Marseille's death did not prohibit his inclusion in the "Die Wehrmacht" on 21 and 28 October 1942. "Signal" featured him on the cover in September 1942. "Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung" put him on their cover on 4 July 1942.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: In 1957, a German film, "Der Stern von Afrika" ("The Star of Africa") directed by Alfred Weidenmann, was made starring Joachim Hansen as Hans-Joachim Marseille. The movie was a fictionalised account of Marseille's wartime service.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: The German Military History Research Office (MGFA) published a brief evaluation of Marseille in early 2013, stating that "occasional attempts in the popular literature to suggest Marseille's unsoldierly bravado and honest character points to an ideological distance to National Socialism are misleading". MGFA concluded that, since there is no academic biography of Marseille, "it is not known that Hans-Joachim Marseille has, through his overall actions or through a single outstanding deed, earned praise in the service for freedom and justice [as defined in the current guidelines for military tradition]".


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: In 2019, and published "Die Luftwaffe und ihre Traditionen: Schriften zur Geschichte der Deutschen Luftwaffe". In the chapter "Ist das noch Tradition - oder muss das weg? Der Jagdflieger Hans-Joachim Marseille - Namensgeber der "Marseille-Kaserne" in Appen" [Is this still tradition, or must it go? The fighter pilot Hans-Joachim Marseille, namesake of the Marseille-Kaserne] the historians discuss Marseille and his character. The chapter asserts that the stories told about Marseille are rooted in wartime [Nazi] propaganda. They doubt whether Marseille's reputation is sufficient to allow him to act as a role model in the modern German military. However, they assert, like Werner Mölders, that Marseille was not a political soldier, but apolitical, despite the prevailing political situation in the Third Reich.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Several biographies of Hans-Joachim Marseille have described his disdain for authority and for the National Socialist movement in general. Some biographers, such as Colin Heaton, describe him as "openly anti-Nazi". When Marseille first met Hitler in 1942, he did not form a positive impression. After returning to Africa, Eduard Neumann recalled, "After his first visit with Hitler, Marseille returned and said that he thought 'the Führer was a rather odd sort'." On the visit, Marseille also said some unflattering things about Hitler and the Nazi Party. Several senior officers, which included Adolf Galland and Nicolaus von Below, overheard his remarks during one of the award ceremonies. Von Below asked Marseille whether he would join the Nazi Party and Marseille responded, within earshot of others, "that if he saw a party worth joining, he would consider it, but there would have to be plenty of attractive women in it." The remarks visibly upset Hitler, who was left "puzzled" by Marseille's behaviour.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: At the home of Willy Messerschmitt, industrialist and designer of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, Marseille played American Jazz on Messerschmitt's piano in front of Adolf Hitler, party chairman Martin Bormann, Hitler's deputy and Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler and Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. Hitler allegedly left the room. Magda Goebbels found the prank amusing and Artur Axmann recalled how his "blood froze" when he heard this "Ragtime" music being played in front of the "Führer".


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Later that month Marseille was invited to another party function, despite his earlier stunt. "Obergruppenführer" Karl Wolff, of Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS, confirmed that during his visit Marseille overheard a conversation which mentioned crimes against the Jews and other people. He stated:


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Globocnik and I were talking about Operation Reinhard, which was in full effect following Heydrich's murder, and also the construction of Sobibor and Treblinka. I know I asked him about Höss, who was also standing there and had been summoned by Himmler regarding logistics or something regarding the new camp (Auschwitz). Then Globocnik mentioned to me and Kaltenbrunner that Lidice had been cleared, and all the Jews and Czechs had been dealt with. I noticed that this young pilot, who I later learned was Marseille, must have overheard, and I debated whether I should go over and say something to him. I decided against it.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: When Marseille returned to his unit, he reportedly asked his friends Franzisket, Clade and Schröer whether they had heard what was happening to Jews and if perhaps something was underway that they did not know about. Franszisket recalled that he had heard Jews were being relocated to territory gained in the East but no more. Marseille recounted how he had attempted to ask questions about Jews who had vanished from his own neighbourhood, including the family doctor that had delivered him at birth. Regardless of his hero status, when he attempted to bring the subject into any conversation with people who approached him, his enquiries were either met with awkward silences, people changed the subject, or even turned away. Franzisket noticed a change in Marseille's attitude toward his nation's cause. He never spoke of this with his comrades again.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille's friendship with his adopted helper also is used to show his anti-Nazi character. In 1942, Marseille befriended a black South African Army prisoner of war, Corporal Mathew Letuku, nicknamed "Mathias". Marseille took him as a personal helper rather than allow him to be sent to a prisoner of war camp in Europe. Over time, Marseille and Mathias became inseparable. Marseille was concerned how Mathias would be treated by other units of the "Wehrmacht" and once remarked "Where I go, Mathias goes." Marseille secured promises from his senior commander, Neumann, that if anything should happen to him [Marseille] Mathias was to be kept with the unit. Mathias duly remained with JG 27 until the end of the war and attended post-war reunions until his death in 1984.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Biographer Robert Tate went further in his examination. During his research, he contacted Professor Rafael Scheck, head of History at Colby College. Scheck published "Hitler's African Victims: The German Army Massacres of Black French Soldiers in 1940" and is an acknowledged expert on racial theory and in Nazi Germany. Without being familiar with Marseille, Scheck identified his friendship with Corporal Mathew P. Letuku as being in direct contradiction to the Nazi mandate. Letuku, alias Mathias to everyone in JG 27, was a black South African soldier taken prisoner of war by German troops on the morning of 21 June 1941 at fortress Tobruk. Mathias initially worked as a volunteer driver with 3. "Staffel" then befriended Marseille and became his domestic helper in Africa. Sheck doubted that Marseille's "acquisition" of Mathias and his role as Marseille's "batman" was done out of disrespect. Sheck said, "I know of the camp commandant of the concentration camp of Mauthausen, who held a black man as his personal servant. This was done out of disrespect, however. I do not think that aspect was relevant for Marseille." When questioned on Marseille's behaviour, Sheck said, "I do not find it odd because I am accustomed to seeing many nuances among the Germans of the Third Reich. But his behaviour would probably be startling for many other researchers." Tate also noted Marseille's penchant for Cuban rumba by Ernesto Lecuona, jazz, and swing, which he believes was another way Marseille resisted Nazi ideals.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille was transferred to his first combat assignment with the I.("Jagd")/"Lehrgeschwader" 2 at the time stationed at Calais-Marck on Sunday 10 August 1940. Two days later he arrived at this unit on 12 August 1940. He was assigned to the 1. "Staffel" of this "Gruppe". "Staffelkapitän" was "Oberleutnant" Adolf Buhl. One of the "Schwarmführer" was "Oberfeldwebel" Helmut Goedert, to whom Marseille was assigned as wingman. Marseille flew his first combat mission on the next day, Wednesday 13 August 1940 and claimed his first aerial victory on 24 August 1940. In over little more than two years he amassed another 157 aerial victories. His 158 aerial victories were claimed in 382 combat missions.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Some serious discrepancies between Allied squadron records and German claims have caused some historians and Allied veterans to question the accuracy of Marseille's official victories, in addition to those of JG 27 as a whole. Attention is often focused on the 26 claims made by JG 27 on 1 September 1942, of which 17 were claimed by Marseille alone. A USAF historian, Major Robert Tate states: "[f]or years, many British historians and militarists refused to admit that they had lost any aircraft that day in North Africa. Careful review of records however do show that the British [and South Africans] did lose more than 17 aircraft that day, and in the area that Marseille operated." Tate also reveals 20 RAF single-engined fighters and one twin engined fighter were destroyed and several others severely damaged, as well as a further USAAF P-40 shot down. However, overall Tate reveals that Marseille's kill total comes close to 65–70 percent corroboration, indicating as many as 50 of his claims may not have actually been kills. Tate also compares Marseille’s rate of corroboration with the top six P-40 pilots. While only the Canadian James Francis Edwards' records shows a verification of 100 percent other aces like Clive Caldwell (50% to 60% corroboration), Billy Drake (70% to 80% corroboration), John Lloyd Waddy (70% to 80% corroboration) and Andrew Barr (60% to 70% corroboration) are at the same order of magnitude as Marseille's claims. Christopher Shores and Hans Ring also support Tate's conclusions. British historian Stephen Bungay gives a figure of 20 Allied losses that day.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: However, the claims for 15 September 1942 are in serious doubt, following the first detailed scrutiny of the records of individual Allied squadrons by Australian historian Russell Brown. Moreover, Brown lists three occasions on which Marseille could not have downed as many aircraft as claimed. Christopher Shores and his co-authors wrote that Marseille over-claimed on occasion, particularly in September 1942. They concluded Marseille had developed such a supreme confidence in his ability his mentality dictated, "If I fire at it, it must go down." They estimate two-thirds to three-quarters of his claims were aircraft that were destroyed, crash-landed or at least were heavily damaged.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Stephan Bungay has pointed out the low military value of shooting down DAF fighters, rather than the bombers that, by mid-1942, were having a highly damaging effect on Axis ground units and convoy routes. Referring to 1 September 1942, Bungay points out that even if Marseille shot down 15 of the 17 he claimed that day, "the rest of the 100 or so German fighter pilots between them only got five. The British [sic] lost no bombers at all... During this period the DAF lost only a few bombers, but all fell to anti-aircraft defences and evidence shows that Rommel was forced onto the defensive because of the losses inflicted by bombers.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Sometime in the early 1990s, one of Marseille's biographers, Robert Tate, visited the former Marseille-Kaserne base and Museum to see and photograph Marseille's medals. When he arrived, Tate was informed the Knights Cross, Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds belonging to Marseille had been stolen.


title: Hans-Joachim Marseille

text: Marseille joined the military service in Wehrmacht on 7 November 1938. His first station was Quedlinburg in the Harz region where he received his military basic training as a Luftwaffe recruit.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: The second season of the ABC American television drama series "How to Get Away with Murder" was ordered on May 7, 2015, by ABC. The second season began airing on September 24, 2015, with 15 episodes like the previous season, and concluded on March 17, 2016. The smaller episode count than most network series stems from a deal with series star Viola Davis that the show would produce only 15 or 16 episodes per season. A promotional poster was released on August 18, and the trailer was released on September 10.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: In its second season, the series has continued to receive accolades; the show has been nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the Image Awards as well as the GLAAD Awards. Viola Davis has won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance in a Drama Series and has been nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards, Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series at the Image Awards, Best Actress in a Drama Series at the Critics' Choice Awards, and Best Actress in a Television Series at the Golden Globe Awards.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: Annalise Keating, law professor and criminal defense attorney at Middleton University, selects five students to intern at her firm: Wes Gibbins, Connor Walsh, Michaela Pratt, Asher Millstone, and Laurel Castillo—along with Annalise's employees Frank Delfino and Bonnie Winterbottom, an associate lawyer.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: The first nine episodes focus on Annalise's case of Caleb and Catherine Hapstall and their alleged involvement in the death of their adoptive parents. Wes, in the meantime, teams up with Rebecca's foster brother to try and find Rebecca. Connor struggles with his relationship with Oliver, while Asher works with ADA Emily Sinclair in order to protect his secrets. In the mid-season finale, Sinclair is murdered by Asher, and Annalise helps cover it up, at the expense of her being shot in the stomach by Wes.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: The second part of the season focuses on Wes' investigation around his mother's suicide ten years prior, and it is revealed from flashbacks how involved Annalise was with Wes' mother's suicide. The season ends with Annalise finding out that Frank was responsible for her being in a car accident and losing her baby, and sending him away as a result. Michaela and Asher have sex, and Wes meets with his biological father right before the latter is shot dead by an unknown sniper.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: The series was renewed for a second season on May 7, 2015, by ABC. The show was effectively confirmed as earning a second-season renewal for the 2015–16 season via a promo succeeding the first-season finale and an earlier statement by Viola Davis also confirming the renewal at the close of shooting for the first season. It would contain 15 episodes, like the previous season. "Entertainment Weekly" reported on July 23, 2015, that the identity of Rebecca's killer would be revealed in the season premiere. A promotional poster was released over a month before the season premiere, on August 17, 2015.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: The second season began airing on September 24, 2015, and aired nine episodes in the fall, just like the rest of ABC's primetime lineup "TGIT" "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal". The remaining fall schedule for ABC was announced on November 16, 2015, where it was announced that "How to Get Away with Murder" would air nine episodes in the fall with the fall finale to air on November 19, 2015, just like the rest of ABC's primetime lineup "TGIT", which was the same last year. The remaining six episodes aired after the winter break, beginning on February 11, 2016, as a result of ABC airing the television miniseries "Madoff" over two nights on February 3–4, 2016 in the same time-slot as "Scandal" and "Grey's Anatomy". It aired its season finale on March 17, 2016, with "The Catch" succeeding it for the remainder of the 2015–16 season after its finale. On March 3, 2016, ABC announced that "How to Get Away with Murder" was renewed for a third season.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: Production began on May 21, 2015, with Shonda Rhimes announcing on Twitter that Peter Nowalk and his writers were in full swing mapping the second season. The table read for the premiere occurred on July 14, 2015, with the title of the episode being revealed at the same time.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: The second season had nine roles receiving star billing, with all of them returning from the previous season. Viola Davis played the protagonist of the series, Professor Annalise Keating, a high-profile defense attorney, teaching a class at Middleton University. Billy Brown played Detective Nate Lahey, Annalise's lover. There are five students who work at Annalise's law firm. Alfred Enoch portrayed Wes Gibbins, as he was devastated about Rebecca escaping. Jack Falahee portrayed Connor Walsh, the ruthless student who found himself in a situation where his boyfriend Oliver Hampton, played by Conrad Ricamora, had received news of having HIV. Aja Naomi King played Michaela Pratt, the ambitious student who wanted to be as successful as Annalise. Matt McGorry continued portraying Asher Millstone, a student who comes from a privileged background. Karla Souza played Laurel Castillo, an idealistic student. Charlie Weber portrayed Frank Delfino, an employee of Annalise's firm who is not a lawyer but handles special duties requiring discretion. Liza Weil played Bonnie Winterbottom, who is an associate attorney in Annalise's firm.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: It was announced on July 14, 2015, that the second season would introduce several new characters, including a family consisting of Caleb, Catherine and Helena Hapstall. Katie Findlay returned to play the character Rebecca Sutter, who was killed in the first-season finale. Tom Verica also appeared in the season as the deceased Sam Keating, and appeared in flashbacks. On July 22, 2015, it was announced that Kendrick Sampson, known from "The Vampire Diaries" would join the cast in the second season and was introduced in the season premiere. On July 31, 2015, "TVLine" reported that Famke Janssen was cast as a brilliant, revered defense attorney for a multi-episode arc and would first appear in the season premiere.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: Matt Cohen was announced on August 11, 2015, to recur in the second season as Levi, who was described as a sexy, edgy working class guy. He first appeared in the second episode and appeared in a total of three episodes. On August 31, 2015, "Variety" reported that Amy Okuda would play a recurring role, but details on Okuda's part were being kept under wraps. Sherri Saum was announced to have been cast as a guest star on September 30, 2015. On January 14, 2016, it was announced that Wilson Bethel, Adam Arkin and Roxanne Hart would be joining the show to play the Mahoney family. Bethel played Charles Mahoney, the Ivy League-educated son, with Arkin playing his father Wallace and Hart playing his mother Sylvia.


title: How to Get Away with Murder (season 2)

text: The second season received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 95%, based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5 out of 10. Lesley Brock, "Paste Magazine", praised the second season writing: "I would not put it past "How to Get Away with Murder", which has turned all other ABC show plot lines upside down on their heads and shown that nothing is impossible, to throw incest into an already haphazard mix." Brock gave the season a score of 9 out of 10. Kyle Anderson, "Entertainment weekly", wrote that with Davis at the front the show can get away with anything.


title: Knucklebones

text: Knucklebones, also known as scatter jacks, snobs, astragalus, tali, dibs, fivestones, jacks, or jackstones, among many other names, is a game of dexterity played with a number of small objects that are thrown up, caught, and manipulated in various manners. It is ancient in origin and is found in various cultures worldwide.


title: Knucklebones

text: The name "knucklebones" is derived from the Ancient Greek version of the game, which uses the astragalus (a bone in the ankle, or hock) of a sheep. However, different variants of the game from various cultures use other objects, including stones, seashells, seeds, and cubes.


title: Knucklebones

text: Modern knucklebones consist of six points, or knobs, projecting from a common base and are usually made of metal or plastic. The winner is the first player to successfully complete a prescribed series of throws, which, though similar, differ widely in detail. The simplest throw consists in either tossing up one stone, the jack, or bouncing a ball and picking up one or more stones or knucklebones from the table while it is in the air. This continues until all five stones or knucklebones have been picked up. Another throw consists of tossing up first one stone, then two, then three, and so on and catching them on the back of the hand. Different throws have received distinctive names, such as "riding the elephant", "peas in the pod", "horses in the stable", and "frogs in the well".


title: Knucklebones

text: Knucklebones is of ancient indeterminate origin and has probably been independently invented several times. It is found throughout various cultures worldwide.


title: Knucklebones

text: The talus bones of hooved animals (also known as astragali) are found in archaeological excavations related to the period starting from 5000 B.C. much more frequently than other bones. Astragalus, being almost symmetric, has only four sides on which it may rest and is an early example of the game of chance. Knucklebones are believed to be an early precursor of dice. In contrast to dice, the astragalus is not entirely symmetric, with the broad side having a chance ~0.38 and the other side having a chance ~0.12. However, variations of the game can also be played with stones, seashells, or seeds.


title: Knucklebones

text: Ancient Greek tradition and historiography ascribed the invention of knucklebones to various figures. Sophocles, in a written fragment of one of his works, ascribed the game to the mythical figure Palamedes, who supposedly taught it to his Greek countrymen during the Trojan War. According to a still more ancient tradition, Zeus, perceiving that Ganymede longed for his playmates upon Mount Ida, gave him Eros for a companion and golden jacks with which to play. On the other hand, both Herodotus and Plato ascribe a foreign origin to the game. Plato, in "Phaedrus", names the Egyptian god Thoth as its inventor, while Herodotus relates that the Lydians, during a period of famine in the days of King Atys, originated this game and indeed almost all other games, with the exception of draughts. Both the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" contain allusions to games similar in character to knucklebones.


title: Knucklebones

text: Knucklebones in Central Asian cultures use the astragalus of sheep or goat or the calcaneus of wolves. They are known as "shagai" among Mongolians; "chükö" among the Kyrgyz people; "kajik" among the Tuvan people; "asyk" among the Kazakh people; "ashyk" among Turkish people; "bujulbozi" among Tajik people; and "gacuha" among the Manchu people. They are used in games, fortune-telling, and as musical instruments. In Central Asian knucklebones, each side of the astragalus has a name (called "horse", "camel", "sheep", "goat", or "cow") and have value in divination as well as dice throwing. There are multiple kinds of games played with knucklebones, including catching thrown pieces on the back of the hand, flicking the pieces into each other on the ground like marbles, tossing another object and gathering pieces, and so on. It can be played with individual players or teams by both children and adults and are common entertainments in cultural festivals. The Mongolian "shagai" is inscribed in the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2014.


title: Knucklebones

text: A variation, played by Israeli school-age children, is known as "kugelach" or "chamesh avanim" (חמש אבנים, "five rocks"). Instead of jacks and a rubber ball, five die-sized metal cubes are used. The game cube is tossed in the air rather than bounced.


title: Knucklebones

text: In China, the game is called 抓石子 "zhuāshízi" ("pick up pebbles"). It is played with around seven pebbles or cloth bags filled with sand or rice. The player arranges the pebbles evenly first. They throw one pebble into the air and quickly grab a pebble on the table before catching the falling pebble. If the player touches more than one pebble on the table, they forfeit their turn.


title: Knucklebones

text: In Korea it is called 공기 ("gonggi"), also "jjagebatgi", "salgu", or "datjjakgeoli". It involves five or more small pebbles called 공깃돌 ("gonggitdol"). It has five levels escalating in difficulty and mechanics. The first four levels increases the number of pebbles collected per throw, while in the last level, the players catch the pebbles on the backs of their hand.


title: Knucklebones

text: In Japan, the game is called お手玉 ("otedama") and originated from China during the Nara Period. It uses small bags of azuki beans called "ojami". It is played in two ways: "nagedama" (投げ玉), which is similar to juggling; and "yosedama" (よせ玉), which is similar to modern knucklebones.


title: Knucklebones

text: In India, particularly in Tamilnadu, the game is called "anju kal" ("5 stones"). It is played with 5–7 stones. It is played between two or more players in turn. This is mostly played by girls in their leisure time from ancient times. The game is played in 5 rounds. Generally for first 4 rounds four stones are thrown on the floor. First round is to pick up 4 stones one by one. Second round is to pick 2 stones at a time. Third round is to pick 3 stones together and then pick one. Fourth round is to pick all four in one go. Last round is to toss all the stones from palm and place it on the back of the palm and then catch all four by tossing to above.


title: Knucklebones

text: In the Philippines, there are two types of traditional children's games of throwing stones. The first is known as "kuru", "sintak" ("to shake/winnow [grains]"), or "balinsay" ("to tumble end-over-end"), among other names. It is very similar to modern knucklebones but is indigenous in origin. Instead of a bouncing ball, it uses a larger stone called "ina-ina" ("mother") that the player tosses up into the air and must catch before it hits the ground. During the throw, the player gathers smaller stones (also seeds or cowries) called "anak" ("children"). These vary in number but are usually eight to ten pieces. All of these actions are done only with the one hand. The game has multiple stages known by different names, each ranking up in difficulty and mechanics. The first stage picks up the smaller stones by ones, twos, threes, and so on. Other stages include "kuhit-kuhit", "agad-silid", "hulog-bumbong", "sibara", "laglag-bunga", and "lukob". For example, in "kuhit-kuhit" the player must touch a forefinger on the ground at each throw while also collecting the stones. The last stage of the game is known as "pipi", where the losing player is flicked on the knuckles by the player. A variant of the game does not use an "ina-ina" stone, but players instead just throw the collected pebbles (more than one at a time in later stages).


title: Knucklebones

text: The other game of throwing stones in the Philippines is known as "siklot" (meaning "flick"). It uses a large number of small stones, shells, or seeds (called "sigay") which are tossed in the air and then caught on the back of the hand. The stones that remain on the hand are collected by the player and are known as "biik" ("piglets") or "baboy" ("pigs"). The player with the most "biik" plays the second stage first. The second stage involves the stones that fall on the ground. These are flicked into each other and collected if they hit each other. This is done until the player fails to hit a stone, then the next player does the same thing with the remaining stones, and so on.


title: Knucklebones

text: In Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore, the game is called "batu seremban" (literally "five stones"), "selambut", or "serembat". Like the name implies, it only uses five pieces, usually stones, seeds (usually "Adenanthera pavonina"), or small pyramidal bags of sand or rice. It also involves multiple levels of difficulty, varying in the number of stones collected and tossed. It does not have a specialized stone for throwing, though the one picked for throwing is also referred to as the "mother".


title: Knucklebones

text: In Polynesia, the game is called by various names including "kōruru", "ruru", "kai makamaka", "ti kai" and "tutukai" among the Māori; "kimokimo" among Hawaiians; "timo" or "timo timo" among Tahitians; "lafo litupa" among Samoans; and "lavo" among Fijians. It was very common among the natives of the Pacific Islands and were documented by early European explorers. It was played by people of all ages and traditionally includes a meaningless rhythmic chant sung by the players. Like in the Philippine version, the game uses only one hand for catching the thrown stones and has multiple stages ramping up in difficulty and mechanics. The names, mechanics, and number of stages varies depending on ethnic group.


title: Knucklebones

text: Among the Māori, the game uses a marked throwing stone called "hai", and around four to fifteen identical but unmarked rounded stones called "kai mahi" ("workmen"). Sets of these stones were created by hand and kept for the games. In Hawaii, each player has a throwing stone called "aliʻi" ("chieftain"). The smaller stones were called "pohaku". Among Samoans and Fijians, they used around fifty to one hundred flat circular seeds of "Entada gigas" for the game.


title: Knucklebones

text: There were two methods of playing in ancient Europe. The first, and probably the primitive method, consisted in tossing up and catching the bones on the back of the hand, very much as the game is played today. In ancient Rome, it was called "tali": a painting excavated from Pompeii, currently housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, depicts the goddesses Latona, Niobe, Phoebe, Aglaia and Hileaera, with the last two being engaged in playing a game of knucklebones. According to an epigram of Asclepiodotus, astragali were given as prizes to schoolchildren. This simple form of the game was generally only played by women and children, and was called "penta litha" or five-stones. There were several varieties of this game besides the usual toss and catch; one being called "tropa", or hole-game, the object of which was to toss the bones into a hole in the earth. Another was the simple game of odd or even.


title: Knucklebones

text: The second, probably derivative, form of the game was one of pure chance, the stones being thrown upon a table, either from the hand or from a cup, and the values of the sides upon which they fell were counted. The shape of the pastern bones used for astragaloi as well as for the tali of the Romans, with whom knucklebones was also popular, determined the manner of counting.


title: Knucklebones

text: The pastern bone of a sheep, goat, or calf has two rounded ends upon which it cannot stand and two broad and two narrow sides, one of each pair being concave and one convex. The convex narrow side, called "chios" or "the dog", was counted as 1, the convex broad side as 3, the concave broad side as 4, and the concave narrow side as 6.


title: Knucklebones

text: Four astragali were used and 35 different scores were possible in a single throw. Many of these throws received distinctive names such as: Aphrodite, Midas, Solon, and Alexander. Among the Romans, some of the names were: Venus, King, and Vulture. The highest throw in Greece counted 40, and was called the Euripides. It was probably a combination throw, since more than four sixes could not be thrown at a single time. The lowest throw, both in Greece and Rome, was the Dog.


title: Knucklebones

text: Versions of the game are popular among children of Amazigh origin across North Africa, and goes by a wide variety of names in the various Tamazight dialects.


title: Knucklebones

text: The two forms of the game are present, the throw and catch version is called "kapichua, payana, payanga, payanca, or payaya" and it's a child's game played with stone pebbles, while the throw and gamble based on position it's called "jogo do osso" or "taba" and are played with a single cow knucklebone.


title: Knucklebones

text: The modern game may use a rubber ball, and the knucklebones (jacks), typically a set of ten, are made of metal or plastic. There are variants of how the players decide who goes first: it is usually through "flipping" (the set of jacks is placed in cupped hands, flipped to the back of the hands, and then back to cupped hands again; the player who keeps the most from falling goes first), but may be via ip dip, or eeny, meeny, miny, moe, or a variant thereof. To set up the game, the jacks are scattered loosely into the play area. The players in turn bounce the ball off the ground, pick up jacks, and then catch the ball before it bounces for a second time.


title: Knucklebones

text: The number of jacks to be picked up is pre-ordained and sequential; at first one must be picked up ("onesies"), next two ("twosies"), and so on, depending on the total number of jacks included. The number may not divide evenly, and there may be jacks left over. If the player chooses to pick up the leftover jacks first, one variation is to announce this by saying "horse before carriage" or "queens before kings". The playing area should be decided between the players since there is no official game rule regarding that.


title: Knucklebones

text: The winning player is the one to pick up the largest number of jacks, and the game can be made more challenging by playing with fifteen or twenty jacks (two sets). Regardless of the total number of jacks in play, the player who gets to the highest game wins. Game one is usually single bounce (onesies through tensies); game two is chosen by whoever "graduates" from game one first, and so on. Some options for subsequent games are "double bounces", "pigs in the pen", "over the fence", "eggs in the basket" (or "cherries in the basket"), "flying Dutchman", "around the world", etc. Some games, such as "Jack be nimble", are short games which are not played in the onesies-to-tensies format.


title: Prayer flag

text: A Tibetan prayer flag is a colorful rectangular cloth, often found strung along trails and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes. Prayer flags are believed to have originated within the religious tradition of Bon. In Bon, shamanistic "Bonpo" used primary-colored plain flags in Tibet. Traditional prayer flags include woodblock-printed text and images.


title: Prayer flag

text: Nepal Sutras, originally written on cloth banners, were transmitted to other regions of the world as prayer flags. Legend ascribes the origin of the prayer flag to the Gautama Buddha, whose prayers were written on battle flags used by the "devas" against their adversaries, the "asuras". The legend may have given the Indian "Bhikṣu" a reason for carrying the heavenly banner as a way of signifying his commitment to "ahimsa". This knowledge was carried into Tibet by 800 CE, and the actual flags were introduced no later than 1040 CE, where they were further modified. The Indian monk Atisha (980–1054 CE) introduced the Indian practice of printing on cloth prayer flags to Tibet and Nepal.


title: Prayer flag

text: During the Cultural Revolution, prayer flags were discouraged but not entirely eliminated. Many traditional designs may have been lost. Currently, different styles of prayer flags can be seen all across the Tibetan region.


title: Prayer flag

text: There are two kinds of prayer flags: horizontal ones, called "Lung ta" (Wylie: "rlung-rta", meaning "Wind Horse" in Tibetan), and vertical ones, called "Darchog" (Wylie: "dar-lcog", meaning "flagstaff").


title: Prayer flag

text: "Lung ta" (horizontal) prayer flags are of square or rectangular shape, and are connected along their top edges to a long string or thread. They are commonly hung on a diagonal line from high to low between two objects (e.g., a rock and the top of a pole) in high places such as the tops of temples, monasteries, stupas, and mountain passes.


title: Prayer flag

text: "Darchog" (vertical) prayer flags are usually large single rectangles attached to poles along their vertical edge. Darchog are commonly planted in the ground, mountains, cairns, and on rooftops, and are iconographically and symbolically related to the "Dhvaja".


title: Prayer flag

text: Traditionally, prayer flags come in sets of five. The five colors represent the five elements and the Five Pure Lights. Different elements are associated with different colors for specific traditions, purposes and sadhana. Blue symbolizes the sky and space, white symbolizes the air and wind, red symbolizes fire, green symbolizes water, and yellow symbolizes earth. According to Traditional Tibetan medicine, health and harmony are produced through the balance of the five elements.


title: Prayer flag

text: The center of a prayer flag traditionally features a "Lung ta" (powerful or strong horse) bearing three flaming jewels (specifically "ratna") on its back. The "Ta" is a symbol of speed and the transformation of bad fortune to good fortune. The three flaming jewels symbolize the Buddha, the Dharma (Buddhist teachings), and the Sangha (Buddhist community): the three cornerstones of Tibetan philosophical tradition.


title: Prayer flag

text: Surrounding the "Lung ta" are various versions of approximately 400 traditional mantras, each dedicated to a particular deity. These writings include mantras from three of the great Buddhist Bodhisattvas: Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), Avalokiteśvara (Chenrezig, the bodhisattva of compassion, and the patron of the Tibetan people), and Manjusri.


title: Prayer flag

text: In addition to mantras, prayers for a long life of good fortune are often included for the person who mounts the flags.


title: Prayer flag

text: Images or the names of four powerful animals, also known as the Four Dignities, adorn each corner of a flag: the dragon, the garuda, the tiger, and the snowlion. The prayer tag "OM MANI PADME HUM" refers to which symbolizes your impure body speech and mind. meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method—the altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love. meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom. is the seed syllable of Akshobhya—the immovable, the unfluctuating, that which cannot be disturbed by anything.


title: Prayer flag

text: Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers to gods, which is a common misconception; rather, the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space. Therefore, prayer flags are thought to bring benefit to all.


title: Prayer flag

text: By hanging flags in high places the "Lung ta" will carry the blessings depicted on the flags to all beings. As wind passes over the surface of the flags, which are sensitive to the slightest movement of the wind, the air is purified and sanctified by the mantras.


title: Prayer flag

text: The prayers of a flag become a permanent part of the universe as the images fade from exposure to the elements. Just as life moves on and is replaced by new life, Tibetans renew their hopes for the world by continually mounting new flags alongside the old. This act symbolizes a welcoming of life's changes and an acknowledgment that all beings are part of a greater ongoing cycle.


title: Prayer flag

text: According to traditional belief, because the symbols and mantras on prayer flags are sacred, they should be treated with respect. They should not be placed on the ground or used on clothing. Old prayer flags should be burned.


title: Prayer flag

text: Some believe that if the flags are hung on inauspicious astrological dates, they may bring negative results for as long as they are flying. The best time to put up new prayer flags is in the morning on sunny, windy days.


title: Neighbourhood

text: A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition, but the following may serve as a starting point: "Neighbourhood is generally defined spatially as a specific geographic area and functionally as a set of social networks. Neighbourhoods, then, are the spatial units in which face-to-face social interactions occur—the personal settings and situations where residents seek to realise common values, socialise youth, and maintain effective social control."


title: Neighbourhood

text: In the words of the urban scholar Lewis Mumford, "Neighbourhoods, in some annoying, inchoate fashion exist wherever human beings congregate, in permanent family dwellings; and many of the functions of the city tend to be distributed naturally—that is, without any theoretical preoccupation or political direction—into neighbourhoods." Most of the earliest cities around the world as excavated by archaeologists have evidence for the presence of social neighbourhoods. Historical documents shed light on neighbourhood life in numerous historical preindustrial or nonwestern cities.


title: Neighbourhood

text: Neighbourhoods are typically generated by social interaction among people living near one another. In this sense they are local social units larger than households not directly under the control of city or state officials. In some preindustrial urban traditions, basic municipal functions such as protection, social regulation of births and marriages, cleaning and upkeep are handled informally by neighbourhoods and not by urban governments; this pattern is well documented for historical Islamic cities.


title: Neighbourhood

text: In addition to social neighbourhoods, most ancient and historical cities also had administrative districts used by officials for taxation, record-keeping, and social control. Administrative districts are typically larger than neighbourhoods and their boundaries may cut across neighbourhood divisions. In some cases, however, administrative districts coincided with neighbourhoods, leading to a high level of regulation of social life by officials. For example, in the T'ang period Chinese capital city Chang'an, neighbourhoods were districts and there were state officials who carefully controlled life and activity at the neighbourhood level.


title: Neighbourhood

text: Neighbourhoods in preindustrial cities often had some degree of social specialisation or differentiation. Ethnic neighbourhoods were important in many past cities and remain common in cities today. Economic specialists, including craft producers, merchants, and others, could be concentrated in neighbourhoods, and in societies with religious pluralism neighbourhoods were often specialised by religion. One factor contributing to neighbourhood distinctiveness and social cohesion in past cities was the role of rural to urban migration. This was a continual process in preindustrial cities, and migrants tended to move in with relatives and acquaintances from their rural past.


title: Neighbourhood

text: Neighbourhood sociology is a subfield of urban sociology which studies local communities Neighbourhoods are also used in research studies from postal codes and health disparities, to correlations with school drop out rates or use of drugs. Some attention has also been devoted to viewing the neighbourhood as a small-scale democracy, regulated primarily by ideas of reciprocity among neighbours.


title: Neighbourhood

text: Neighbourhoods have been the site of service delivery or "service interventions" in part as efforts to provide local, quality services, and to increase the degree of local control and ownership. Alfred Kahn, as early as the mid-1970s, described the "experience, theory and fads" of neighbourhood service delivery over the prior decade, including discussion of income transfers and poverty. Neighbourhoods, as a core aspect of community, also are the site of services for youth, including children with disabilities and coordinated approaches to low-income populations. While the term neighbourhood organisation is not as common in 2015, these organisations often are non-profit, sometimes grassroots or even core funded community development centres or branches.


title: Neighbourhood

text: Community and economic development activists have pressured for reinvestment in local communities and neighbourhoods. In the early 2000s, Community Development Corporations, Rehabilitation Networks, Neighbourhood Development Corporations, and Economic Development organisations would work together to address the housing stock and the infrastructures of communities and neighbourhoods (e.g., community centres). Community and Economic Development may be understood in different ways, and may involve "faith-based" groups and congregations in cities.


title: Neighbourhood

text: In the 1900s, Clarence Perry described the idea of a neighbourhood unit as a self-contained residential area within a city. The concept is still influential in New Urbanism. Practitioners seek to revive traditional sociability in planned suburban housing based on a set of principles. At the same time, the neighbourhood is a site of interventions to create Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (AFCC) as many older adults tend to have narrower life space. Urban design studies thus use neighbourhood as a unit of analysis.


title: Neighbourhood

text: In mainland China, the term is generally used for the urban administrative division found immediately below the district level, although an intermediate, subdistrict level exists in some cities. They are also called streets (administrative terminology may vary from city to city). Neighbourhoods encompass 2,000 to 10,000 families. Within neighbourhoods, families are grouped into smaller residential units or quarters of 100 to 600 families and supervised by a residents' committee; these are subdivided into residents' small groups of fifteen to forty families. In most urban areas of China, neighbourhood, community, residential community, residential unit, residential quarter have the same meaning: or or or , and is the direct sublevel of a subdistrict (), which is the direct sublevel of a district (), which is the direct sublevel of a city (). (See Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China)


title: Neighbourhood

text: The term has no general official or statistical purpose in the United Kingdom, but is often used by local boroughs for self-chosen sub-divisions of their area for the delivery of various services and functions, as for example in Kingston-upon-Thames or is used as an informal term to refer to a small area within a town or city. The label is commonly used to refer to organisations which relate to such a very local structure, such as neighbourhood policing or Neighbourhood watch schemes. In addition, government statistics for local areas are often referred to as neighbourhood statistics, although the data themselves are broken down usually into districts and wards for local purposes. In many parts of the UK wards are roughly equivalent to neighbourhoods or a combination of them.


title: Neighbourhood

text: In Canada and the United States, neighbourhoods are often given official or semi-official status through neighbourhood associations, neighbourhood watches or block watches. These may regulate such matters as lawn care and fence height, and they may provide such services as block parties, neighbourhood parks and community security. In some other places the equivalent organisation is the parish, though a parish may have several neighbourhoods within it depending on the area.


title: Neighbourhood

text: In localities where neighbourhoods do not have an official status, questions can arise as to where one neighbourhood begins and another ends. Many cities use "districts" and "wards" as official divisions of the city, rather than traditional neighbourhood boundaries. ZIP Code boundaries and post office names also sometimes reflect neighbourhood identities.


title: Key lime pie

text: Key lime pie is an American dessert pie. It is made of lime, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk. It may be served with no topping, topped with a meringue topping made from egg whites, or with whipped cream; it may be cooked in a pie crust, graham cracker crust, or no crust. The dish is named after the small Key limes, which are more aromatic than the common Persian limes, and which occasionally have yellow, and often green, juice. The filling in a Key lime pie is typically green.


title: Key lime pie

text: The filling is made similarly to a Magic Lemon cream pie, by simply mixing the ingredients without cooking: the proteins of the egg yolks and condensed milk and the acidic lime juice curdle, thickening the mixture without baking. Today, key lime pies are usually baked to pasteurize the eggs and thicken the filling further.


title: Key lime pie

text: Key lime pie is probably derived from the "Magic Lemon Cream Pie" published in a promotional brochure by Borden, a producer of condensed milk, in 1931. The recipe is attributed to Borden's fictional spokesperson, Jane Ellison, and includes condensed milk, lemon juice and rind, and egg yolks. It is covered with meringue, baked, and served cold. According to the pastry chef Stella Parks, users of the recipe altered it with local ingredients; she describes it as "a stunning reminder of how deeply America's traditions are shaped by advertising".


title: Key lime pie

text: A "Tropical Lime Chiffon Pie", using condensed milk and egg yolks, is documented in a 1933 Miami newspaper article. An "icebox lime pie", was mentioned as a specialty of the Florida Keys in 1935. and a recipe under the name "Key Lime Pie" was published in 1940.


title: Key lime pie

text: No earlier solid sources are known, despite appeals to the public. A 1927 Key West Women's Club cookbook does not mention the recipe. A 1926 restaurant menu includes "lime pie", but it is unclear what it was. Various accounts claim that it was known earlier, but none were recorded before 1933. A widely-reported story claims that William Curry's cook Aunt Sally invented it in the late 19th century. But there is no evidence for this, and the oldest version of this story dates to only 1995, in promotional materials for a Bed and Breakfast in Curry's former house.


title: Key lime pie

text: It was in the 1950s that Key lime pie was promoted as Florida's "most famous treat" and in 1987 as "the greatest of all regional American desserts."


title: Key lime pie

text: Key lime ("Citrus aurantifolia" 'Swingle') is naturalized throughout the Florida Keys. While their thorns make them less tractable, and their thin, yellow rinds more perishable, Key limes are more tart and more aromatic than the common Persian limes seen year-round at grocery stores in the United States. Key limes have not been grown commercially in the U.S. since the 1926 Miami hurricane; they are generally imported from Central or South America. Key lime juice, unlike regular lime juice, is a pale yellow. Bottled Key lime juice, invariably from concentrate, is widely available at retail in the United States.


title: Key lime pie

text: Florida statute 15.052, passed in July 2006, designates Key lime pie "the official Florida state pie".


title: You Are So Beautiful

text: "You Are So Beautiful" is a song written by Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher that was first released in 1974 on Preston's ninth studio album, "The Kids & Me". It was also the B-side of his single "Struttin'". Later that same year, English singer Joe Cocker released a slower version of the song on his album "I Can Stand a Little Rain". Cocker's version was produced by Jim Price, and released as a single in November 1974. It became Cocker's highest charting solo hit, peaking at number five on the United States' "Billboard" Hot 100 (Cocker's biggest hit on the pop chart was "Up Where We Belong", a duet with Jennifer Warnes from the 1982 film "An Officer And A Gentleman", which reached number 1), and at number four on Canada's Top Singles chart.


title: You Are So Beautiful

text: Some sources credit Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys with contributing to the song's genesis. Wilson performed the song live with the Beach Boys from the late 1970s onwards. Kenny Rankin, Ray Stevens, Kenny Rogers, Bonnie Tyler and Brian Kennedy are also among the artists who have covered "You Are So Beautiful". The song has also been featured in numerous movies, television shows, and ads.


title: You Are So Beautiful

text: Billy Preston wrote "You Are So Beautiful" with one of his regular collaborators, Bruce Fisher.<ref name="Tobler/BGO"></ref> Preston's inspiration was his mother, who worked as a stage actress. According to his friend Sam Moore (who had assumed it was a standard love song), Preston was appalled to learn that Moore was using the song as a means to attract young women each time he sang it in concert. In Moore's description, Preston told him: "That song's about my mother!" The composition incorporates part of Preston's 1969 song "Let Us All Get Together (Right Now)", which he wrote with soul singer Doris Troy.


title: You Are So Beautiful

text: According to Beach Boys biographer Jon Stebbins, although Dennis Wilson is not credited as a writer, he helped Preston finish writing "You Are So Beautiful". Preston and Wilson are said to have collaborated on the song while attending a party where they discussed the concept of beauty. In the opinion of Craig Hlavaty, writing for "Houston Press", while Wilson never sought to claim a share of the song's authorship, "If you check out Wilson's solo work, you can hear where Wilson's mind took over 'Beautiful.'"


title: You Are So Beautiful

text: Billy Hinsche, close friend of and sideman with the Beach Boys, stated that he was at the party and witnessed Preston and Wilson working on the song "out of the corner of my ear and the corner of my eye". He said that he was unaware of how much of the song Preston had already written prior to Wilson's involvement. "Maybe it was just his [Wilson's] interpretation of the song. Later Dennis said to me, 'Well, you know, I helped write that song.'" In a 2004 interview, when asked whether his brother Dennis was "one of the uncredited writers" of "You Are So Beautiful", Brian Wilson said: "He did not write that song."


title: You Are So Beautiful

text: Dennis sang "You Are So Beautiful" as an encore at Beach Boys shows intermittently from 1975 until his death in 1983. A live rendition, circa 1978, and an edited 1983 live rendition both appear in the film "" (1985). A live version was released on the group's album "" in 2002.


title: You Are So Beautiful

text: "You Are So Beautiful" was originally published in the key of A♭ major in common time with a tempo of 70 beats per minute. Cocker's vocals span from B♭ to E♭. The song is unusual in that the chord progression does not include the "V" chord.


title: You Are So Beautiful

text: Marc Lee of "The Daily Telegraph" noted the song's contemplative beginning, accompanied only by piano, followed by "lush strings" which "sweep in and carry [Cocker] off into passionate ecstasies". Lee commented that the song, one of Cocker's best-known works, was a good example of Cocker's ability to be both gentle and "gloriously stirring".


title: You Are So Beautiful

text: Cocker performed the song along with Ray Charles in a 1983 television tribute to Charles, "A Man and his Soul".


title: Constance Towers

text: Constance Mary Towers (born May 20, 1931) is an American film, stage, and television actress, and singer. She gained prominence for her appearances in several mainstream 1950s films before transitioning to theater, starring in numerous Broadway productions through the 1970s. Her accolades include two Emmy Award nominations.


title: Constance Towers

text: Beginning in 1965, Towers embarked on a career in theater, making her Broadway debut in the musical "Anya", opposite Lillian Gish, followed by a 1966 production of "Show Boat" at Lincoln Center. Towers starred in four other Broadway productions throughout the 1970s, most notably as Anna in "The King and I" in 1977 and 1978. Her later career largely has been based in television, with roles as matriarch Clarissa McCandless on the daytime drama "Capitol" from 1982 to 1987, and the villainous Helena Cassadine on "General Hospital", which she began portraying in 1997.


title: Constance Towers

text: Towers was born May 20, 1931 in Whitefish, Montana, one of two daughters born to Ardath L. (née Reynolds) and Harry J. Towers, a pharmacist. Her mother, originally from Nebraska, was of Irish descent, while her father was an Ireland native from Dublin, who immigrated to the United States through Philadelphia. Towers' family relocated throughout western Montana in her early childhood, living in Whitefish, Missoula, and Kalispell, as well as in Moscow, Idaho.


title: Constance Towers

text: In 1940, when Towers was in first grade, she was discovered by talent scouts visiting Montana in search of child actors for radio programs. Towers's family subsequently relocated to Seattle, Washington, and she began working as a child radio actress on Pacific Northwest programs over the following three years. According to her official website, Towers was offered a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 11, but the offer was declined by her parents. At age 12, she worked at a small local movie theater in her hometown of Whitefish.


title: Constance Towers

text: In her adolescence, her family relocated to New York City after her father took a job there as an executive vice president for a pharmaceutical company. There she attended the Juilliard School, studying music, and American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She studied singing with well known voice teacher Beverley Peck Johnson.


title: Constance Towers

text: While attending Juilliard, Towers was discovered by a film agent. "I was very lucky," Towers recalled. "An agent saw me and believed in me and we were walking down Fifth Avenue and the manager of the St. Regis Hotel asked if I could sing. My agent told him yes and he asked if I could open in three weeks. I learned a series of songs, put on a dress, sang to the critics, and got good reviews. That night a casting man from Columbia Pictures saw me and flew me to L.A. to meet with Harry Cohn, president of Columbia. They had me read with Jack Lemmon, then signed me to a contract."


title: Constance Towers

text: Towers made her film debut in a supporting part in the film "Bring Your Smile Along" (1955), followed by a supporting part in the crime thriller "Over-Exposed" (1956). Standing at , Towers initially struggled to obtain leading film roles due to her height. In 1958, she was cast in her first leading role as Hannah Hunter in John Ford's Civil War film "The Horse Soldiers" (1959) opposite John Wayne and William Holden. The following year, she appeared in Ford's follow-up film "Sergeant Rutledge" (1960), a racially themed crime Western.


title: Constance Towers

text: In 1963, Towers was cast in a supporting role in Samuel Fuller's thriller "Shock Corridor" (1963), which tells the story of a journalist who commits himself to a psychiatric hospital to solve a murder. Her role as a stripper in the film was described by "The New York Times" as "hard, driving, and realistic." In preparation for the role, Towers spent time at exotic dance clubs in Los Angeles.


title: Constance Towers

text: Fuller cast Towers again in a lead role in his following film "The Naked Kiss" (1964), another lurid and hard-edged thriller, in which she plays a crazed prostitute who attempts to assimilate in suburbia after having battered her pimp. Eugene Archer of "The New York Times" commented: "Patently absurd as the plot may be, Mr. Fuller has filmed it with flair, and he has drawn a richly amusing performance from Miss Towers. Between his stylish handling of sensational nonsense and Mr. Marton's turgid floundering around a serious theme, Mr. Fuller's wild little movie has a decided edge."


title: Constance Towers

text: The same year, Towers appeared in the thriller "Fate Is the Hunter", which chronicles the investigation of an airline crash. She also worked as a model for the Heart Fund Benefit at a fashion show held in Reno, Nevada. Between 1961 and 1965, she had five guest roles on the series "Perry Mason"; in her first two appearances, she played the murderer: Jonny Baker in "The Case of the Missing Melody" (1961) and Esther Metcalfe in "The Case of the Prankish Professor" (1963).


title: Constance Towers

text: After several film, television, and stage roles (including a West Coast tour of "Guys and Dolls"), Towers made her Broadway debut playing the title role in "Anya", a short-lived 1965 musical.


title: Constance Towers

text: Towers appeared as Julie in a 1966 production of "Show Boat" at Lincoln Center. She also starred in "Carousel" in 1966 and "The Sound of Music" in 1967, which she would reprise in 1970, 1971 and 1980 at the Jones Beach Theater in Long Island, New York.


title: Constance Towers

text: She briefly played Anna Leonowens in 1968, and later she played opposite Yul Brynner in a long-running revival of "The King and I" on tour and then on Broadway (1976–1978). Clive Barnes praised Towers in the role, and theatre writer John Kenrick calls her performance on the 1977 cast album "great."


title: Constance Towers

text: From the mid-1960s until the 1990s, Towers' career was primarily focused on theater, though she did appear in films occasionally. She starred in the 1974 television film "Once in Her Life", which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Special Program. She also appeared on television, playing Marian Hiller, the wife of Dr. Sanford Hiller in "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" (1971–72).


title: Constance Towers

text: She had a starring role as noble widow Clarissa McCandless in "Capitol" (1982–87, the show's entire run), playing rival to the scheming matriarch Myrna Clegg (Carolyn Jones, Marla Adams, Marj Dusay) in trying to see her son succeed in politics and the long-term love of powerful Senator Mark Denning (Ed Nelson). A memorable storyline had her being shot by Mark's mentally ill wife Paula (Julie Adams) and later finding out that her husband Baxter (Ron Harper) was still alive. For this part, she received a Soap Opera Digest Nomination for Best Supporting Actress.


title: Constance Towers

text: Towers had a supporting part in the film "The Next Karate Kid" (1994) and appeared on television as John Abbott's former secretary, Audrey North, on "The Young and the Restless" (1996). She later played Madame Julianna Deschanel on "Sunset Beach" (1997). In 1998, Towers had supporting parts in the horror film "The Relic" (1998), and the thriller "A Perfect Murder" (1998), playing the mother of Gwyneth Paltrow's character.


title: Constance Towers

text: Towers' best-known soap part is as villainous Helena Cassadine on "General Hospital". She began playing Helena in late 1997, until the character's death in 2015; Towers made additional onscreen guest appearances in 2016, 2017, 2019 and most recently February 2020. In October 2020, Towers briefly reprised the role of Helena in an offscreen cameo; Helena was heard via a phone call.


title: Constance Towers

text: Towers guest-starred in the "" episode "The Forsaken" in 1993. She also appeared in "Designing Women", "Frasier", "Baywatch", and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". Other television roles include "State Trooper", "Hawaii Five-O", "The Rockford Files", "L.A. Law", "The 4400", and "Cold Case".


title: Constance Towers

text: In 2008, Towers starred in the Los Angeles revival of Arthur Allan Seidelman's production of "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks"; the play premiered at the Geffen Playhouse in 2001 with Uta Hagen and David Hyde Pierce in the two roles.