title: Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh

text: Others of Castlereagh's political opponents were more gracious in their epigrams. Henry Brougham, a Whig politician and later the Lord Chancellor, who had battled frequently with Castlereagh, once almost to the point of calling him out, and had denigrated his skills as Leader, wrote in the week following Castlereagh's death:


title: Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh

text: Modern historians stress the success of Castlereagh's career in spite of the hatred and ignominy he suffered. Trevelyan contrasts his positive achievements and his pitiful failures. His diplomacy was applauded by historians. For example, in 1919 diplomatic historians recommended his wise policies of 1814–1815 to the British delegation to the Paris peace conferences that ended the First World War. Historian R. J. White underscores the paradox:


title: Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh

text: Robert Stewart acquired the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh in 1796 when his father was created Earl of Londonderry in the Irish peerage. Upon his father's death in 1821, he succeeded as 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, a title to which his father had been raised in 1816. His younger half-brother, the soldier, politician and diplomat Charles Stewart (later Vane) succeeded him as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: Volvo Trucks was a separate company within Volvo. The Volvo Group was reorganised on 1 January 2012 and as a part of the process, Volvo Trucks ceased to be a separate company and was instead incorporated into Volvo Group Trucks along Volvo's other truck operations, as Renault Trucks and Mack Trucks.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: The first Volvo truck rolled off the production lines in 1928, and in 2016 Volvo Trucks employed more than 52,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, Volvo manufactures and assembles its trucks in eight wholly owned assembly plants and nine factories owned by local interests. Volvo Trucks produces and sells over 190,000 units annually.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: When Volvo manufactured its first automobiles in 1927, the first truck was already on the drawing table. In early 1928, the "LV series 1" was presented to the public. Though by modern standards it was merely a truck, it was an immediate success and 500 units were sold before the summer. It had a 2.0 L 4-cylinder engine rated at 28 hp (21 kW).


title: Volvo Trucks

text: Volvo cabs are manufactured in the north of Sweden in Umeå and in Ghent, Belgium, while the engines are made in the central town of Skövde. Among some smaller facilities, Volvo has assembly plants in Sweden (Gothenburg – also the Head Office), Belgium, USA, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, China, India and Russia. Some of the smaller factories are jointly owned. Its main parts distribution centre is located in Ghent, Belgium. The sales side, with their corresponding offices and dealers, is split into seven sales areas – Latin America, North America, Europe North, Europe South, Africa/Middle East, and Asia/Oceania.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: In 1981, AB Volvo acquired the assets of White Trucks, forming Volvo White Truck Corporation in Greensboro, North Carolina. As part of the acquisition, Volvo acquired the White, Autocar, and the dormant Sterling brands; the Canadian Western Star truck brand was spun off into an independent company. Alongside the truck assets of White, Volvo acquired a nationwide distribution network (as White had served as the distributor of Freightliner until 1977). Prior to the acquisition, White's products included the White Road Boss conventional, the White Road Commander 2 (COE), the Road Xpeditor 2 (low-COE), the Autocar A-series (tractors with extensive use of aluminium), Autocar DC-series (heavy-duty/severe service), the Autocar Construcktor 2 (heavy-duty/severe-service with a White cab), and Western Star conventional/COE trucks. White also operated plants in Utah, Ohio, and Virginia.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: Following the 1981 acquisition, Volvo upgraded the designs of White and Autocar product lines. In 1982, the White Integral Sleeper was introduced, joining the sleeper and passenger cab seamlessly. In 1983, the Road Boss was replaced by the White Conventional; while retaining the same cab, the hoodline was lowered with a redesigned grille. In 1985, the Integral Tall Sleeper was developed (the "Globetrotter" sleeper of America) as a raised-roof variant of the Integral Sleeper. In 1987, the White 'Aero' truck was introduced, adopting a lowered hoodline, composite headlamps (shared with the Volvo 240), and a flush-mounted grille. In 1988, the WG was introduced, marking the return of a short-hood conventional. The Autocar DK severe-duty line was launched in 1983 and supplemented by the widely admired Autocar AT64F long-haul tractor. In 1988, the DK was replaced by the Autocar ACL and ACM models. While the AC-series trucks were tough and reliable, they incorporated a number of Volvo components and, for some Autocar loyalists, marked a dilution of the Autocar brand.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: In 1986, Volvo commenced sales of trucks under its own brand in North America, introducing the FE-series low-cab COEs. While Western Star was spun off in 1981, its cabover model line continued to be produced by White and rebadged as a Western Star.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: On 16 August 1986, General Motors announced the formation of a joint venture with AB Volvo, with the latter holding an 85% stake. Named Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corporation, Volvo would take responsibility for development, design, and production of heavy trucks of the joint venture, named WhiteGMC. All General Motors heavy product lines were discontinued (with the exception of the GMC Brigadier, ending production as a WhiteGMC in 1988); the joint venture rebadged the White product line as WhiteGMCs while Autocars remained in production. In 1995, Volvo GM ended the use of the WhiteGMC name, with all non-Autocar models adopting the Volvo name. In 1997, Volvo AB purchased the rest of its stake in Volvo GM, renaming it Volvo Trucks North America.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: In 1996, Volvo released the Volvo VN-series, the first Volvo truck developed outside of White or General Motors. Designed specifically for North America, the VN was more aerodynamic than its WIA predecessor. The previous-generation WG remained in production, with Autocar dropped as a separate brand name, becoming a sub-model of Volvo severe-service trucks.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: On 25 April 2000, AB Volvo acquired Renault Véhicules Industriels through a merger, making it the owner of Mack Trucks. Following the merger, Volvo became the largest European truck manufacturer and the second-largest truck manufacturer in the world. To secure approval of the merger (by avoiding potential antitrust issues), Volvo agreed to divest its low-cabover range (known as the Xpeditor); alongside the Mack MR/LE, the two vehicles held a predominant share of the refuse market. In 2007, Volvo re-entered the segment through its purchase of UD Nissan Diesel. Alongside the Xpeditor product range, the Autocar trademark was sold in 2001 to Grand Vehicle Works LLC, a Chicago-based private holding company that owned body manufacturer Union City Body Company (founded in 1898) and Workhorse Custom Chassis. Shortly before Autocar was acquired by GVW Group, Autocar conventionals were retired.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: In 2000, Volvo introduced the VHD severe-service conventional, largely as a replacement for Autocar conventional vehicles. While using the cab of the VN, the VHD used a heavier-duty chassis and suspension, along with sealed-beam headlamps. In 2002, the second-generation VN, the VNL, was introduced.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: In 2009, Volvo began to relocate the operations of its Mack Trucks subsidiary to Greensboro, where the North American operations of Volvo Trucks have been headquartered. Today, Volvo produces Class 8 Volvo trucks at its Dublin, Virginia plant and Class 8 Mack truck models in Macungie, Pennsylvania. Affiliate Volvo Powertrain produces engines and transmissions at its Hagerstown, Maryland, facility, for use exclusively in the North American market.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: The Volvo Trucks North America Dublin plant began manufacturing a battery-powered VNR Electric truck model starting in early 2021. It was the largest Volvo truck plant in the world, employing close to 3,000 people building multiple models of heavy-duty trucks. On 20 June 2022, Volvo announced that "in the second part of this decade" it would begin making trucks using hydrogen fuel cells with a range of 600 miles, compared to 275 miles for the existing VNR trucks.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: AB Volvo struck a deal in August 2021 to buy a heavy duty truck subsidiary of Jiangling Motors Corp (JMC) for about $125.7 million to make trucks in the world's biggest vehicle market. The acquired business includes a manufacturing site in China's northern city of Taiyuan. Volvo aims to start production of its new heavy duty Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX trucks there at the end of 2022.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: Volvo trucks set foot in Indian HCV market as a wholly owned subsidiary of Volvo Group with its FH12 tractor truck also the first ever volvo truck produced in India at Hoskote plant in Karnataka state of India. Later on the company induced FM7 tippers for construction and mining segment which were well received. In 2002 company introduced FH and FM lineup for the region in various configurations and specifications. Later in 2008 Volvo Group and Eicher motors an Indian automotive group known for producing commercial vehicles and motorcycles came together to form a new company VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) with 50% share in the newly formed company. All future offering of volvo trucks came under the wing of VECV since then. Today's volvo trucks lineup consist of FM available in tipper, tractor truck, ballast tractor variants and FMX available in tipper variant only.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: Volvo tried to settle in Argentina on two different occasions: the first, in 1959 would be carried out in partnership with the local company Conarg. The truck production was a failure, but some models of motor graders with Volvo engine was made by Conarg (under licence of Bolinder Munktell). The second, in 1972, Volvo Sudamericana SACI elevated to the consideration of the highest authority of the Ministry of Industry and Mining its project of installation of an industrial complex, consisting of an automotive terminal plant for chassis of heavy trucks with cab and chassis for long-distance buses; a plant for trailers and a third plant for coaches. Eventually, Volvo lost the tender, which was in the hands of Scania.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: As a part of adapting to the new European Union Euro 6 engine environment requirements, Volvo Trucks renewed their truck range in 2012 and 2013. The biggest launch was the new Volvo FH in September 2012 The rest of the range were renewed in the spring of 2013.


title: Volvo Trucks

text: In Formula One, Volvo Trucks sponsored the British team McLaren from the 2016 to the 2021 seasons. As part of their agreement, McLaren was supplied with Volvo FH trucks.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Ultrawide formats refers to photos, videos and displays with aspect ratio greater than 2. There were multiple moves in history towards wider formats, including one by Disney, with some of them being more successful than others.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Cameras usually capture ultra-wide photos and videos using an anamorphic format lens, which shrinks the extended horizontal field-of-view (FOV) while saving on film or disk.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Before computer monitors became a separate product line, televisions were used as displays for computers such as Timex Sinclair 1000.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: 4:3 was the aspect ratio used by 35 mm silent films. By having televisions match this aspect ratio, movies originally filmed in 4:3 could be satisfactorily viewed on standard-definition television (SDTV).


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Monitors around the turn of the century would often use resolutions like 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 or 1200x900 in an 4:3 aspect ratio.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: National Television System Committee (NTSC) broadcasts were analogue and intended for analogue NTSC displays. The standard was developed and implemented by the NTSC in the United States in 1954. It also saw widespread international adoption by trade partners of the US. When converted to the Digital Video format, DV NTSC has a 3:2 aspect ratio, a resolution of 720x480i, and a refresh rate of 60 Hz.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Phase Alternating Line (PAL) broadcasts were analogue broadcasts meant for PAL analogue displays. The standard was developed in 1967 by the United Kingdom and Germany, and implemented in most countries. When converted to Digital Video format, DV PAL has a 5:4 resolution of 720×576i running at 50 Hz.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: 32:27 was originally developed for compressed video storage in cameras, meant to be displayed in anamorphic x1.5 as 16:9. 640×540i was such a 32:27 resolution running at 50 Hz and 100 Hz, meant for cameras.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Panasonic's DVCPRO HD with a resolution of 1280×1080i was latest in the line of 32:27 video formats for cameras. Hitachi's 42" and 50" 1280×1080i televisions, like the P50T501, were the last line of 32:27 consumer displays.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Historically ultrawide movie formats have varied between ~2.35 (1678:715), ~2.39 (1024:429) and 2.4. To complicate matters further, films were also produced in following ratios: 2.55, 2.76 and 4.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Developed by Rowe E. Carney Jr. and Tom F. Smith, the Smith-Carney System used a 3 camera system, with 4.6 (1737:370) ratio, to project movies in 180°. Disney even created a 6.85 ratio, using 5 projectors to display 200°. The only movie filmed in Disney's 6.85 ratio is Impressions de France.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: European widescreen format was a 5:3 (15:9) resolution of 800x480 and 1280x768 with progressive scan. Developed in 1969 by Rune Ericson, Super 16 mm was widely used in Europe, before the move to 16:9.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Suggested by Dr. Kerns H. Powers of SMPTE in USA, the 16:9 aspect ratio was developed to unify all other aspect ratios. 16:9 was first adopted in the USA.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Around 2007, cameras and screens began to switch from 15:9 and 16:10 to 16:9 resolutions. Aspect ratio of 16:9 is currently the worldwide standard for 'widescreen' and High-definition television.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Univisium is an aspect ratio of 2, created by Vittorio Storaro of ASC in the USA, to unify all other aspect ratios. It is popular on Smartphones and cheap VR displays. VR displays halve the screen into two, one for each eye. So a 2:1 VR screen would be halved into two 1:1 screens. Smartphones began moving to this aspect ratio since late 2010s with the release of Samsung Galaxy S8, advertised as 18:9.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: 21:9 is a consumer electronics (CE) marketing term to describe the ultra-widescreen aspect ratio of 64:27 (2.) = 1024:432 for multiples of 1080 lines. It is used for multiple anamorphic formats and DCI 1024:429 (21.:9), but also for ultrawide computer monitors, including 43:18 (21:9) for resolutions based on 720 lines and 12:5 (21:9) for ultrawide variants of resolutions based either on 960 pixels width or 900 lines height.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: The 64:27 aspect ratio is the logical extension of the existing video aspect ratios 4:3 and 16:9. It is the third power of 4:3, whereas 16:9 of widescreen HDTV is 4:3 squared. This allows electronic scalers and optical anamorphic lenses to use an easily implementable 4:3 (1.3) scaling factor.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: 21:9 movies usually refers to 1024:429 ≈ 2.387, the aspect ratio of digital ultrawide cinema formats, which is often rounded up to 2.39 or 2.4.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Ultrawide resolution can also be described by its height, such as "UW 1080" and "1080p ultrawide" both stands for the same 2560×1080 resolution.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: In 2016, IMAX announced the release of films in 'Ultra-WideScreen 3.6' format, with an aspect ratio of 18:5 (36:10). A year later, Samsung and Phillips announced 'super ultra-wide displays', with aspect ratio of 32:9, for "iMax-style cinematic viewing". Panacast developed a 32:9 webcam with three integrated cameras giving 180° view, and resolution matching upcoming 5K 32:9 monitors, 5120x1440. In 2018 Q4, Dell released the U4919DW, a 5K 32:9 monitor with a resolution of 5120x1440, and Phillips announced the 499P9H with the same resolution. 32:9 Ultrawide monitors are often sold as an alternative to dual 16:9 monitor setups and for more inmersive experiences while playing videogames, and many are capable of displaying 2 16:9 inputs at the same time.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Ultra-WideScreen 3.6 video never spread, as cinemas in an even wider ScreenX 270° format were released.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Abel Gance experimented with ultrawide formats including making a film in 4:1. He made a rare use of Polyvision, three 35 mm 1. images projected side by side in "Napoléon (1927 film)".


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Recently, Sony introduced a 64-foot-wide by 18-foot-tall commercial 16K display at NAB 2019 that is set to be released in Japan. It is made up of 576 modules(360x360p), in a formation of 48 by 12 modules, forming a 17280x4320p screen, with 4:1 aspect ratio.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Developed by CJ CGV in 2012, ScreenX uses three(or more) projectors to display 270° content, with an unknown aspect ratio above 4. Walls on both sides of a ScreenX theatre are used as projector screens.


title: Ultrawide formats

text: Developed by Barco N.V. in 2015, Barco Escape used three projectors of 2.39 ratio to display 270° content, with an aspect ratio of 7.17. The two side screens were angled at 45 degree in order to cover peripheral vision. Barco Escape has shut down now.


title: Horlivka

text: In 2001, the city's population was 292,000, and it was estimated as Economic activity is predominantly coal mining and the chemical industry. The Horlivka State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages has a two building campus in the city centre.


title: Horlivka

text: The city was severely damaged during the War in Donbas and has since been mainly under control of pro-Russian forces. As of 2016, suburbs of Horlivka remained under Ukrainian army control.


title: Horlivka

text: In 1779, the city was founded as Gosudarev Posad and in 1869 it was renamed after Pyotr Gorlov as Gorlovka (locally Horlivka). The workers' town provided basic services to and organization of a series of mining camps. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, it was the scene of an armed uprising.


title: Horlivka

text: In April 1918, troops loyal to the Ukrainian People's Republic took control of Horlivka. Subsequently, under Soviet control, by the 1930s it had expanded considerably and become a major center for mining operations in the Ukrainian SSR.


title: Horlivka

text: The city was occupied by German troops from 1941 to 1943. During World War II retreating Nazis burned buildings and perpetrated mass shootings. Nonetheless, the city's population had risen to over 400,000 by the end of the war. In recent years many mines have closed. The population fell by more than ten percent during the 1990s.


title: Horlivka

text: In the middle of April 2014, and shortly thereafter, pro-Russian separatists captured several towns in Donetsk Oblast. A group of separatists seized the police station in Horlivka on April 14; the city hall was seized on April 30. The mayor of the city, Yevhen Klep, was detained by the separatists on June 11, and not released until July 18. Local chief of police Andriy Kryschenko was captured and badly beaten by the insurgents. A Horlivka city council deputy, Volodymyr Rybak, was kidnapped by the pro-Russian militants on April 17. His body was later found in a river on April 22. The city administration building was seized on April 30, solidifying separatist control over Horlivka. Self-proclaimed mayor of Horlivka Volodymyr Kolosniuk was arrested by the SBU on suspicion of participation in "terrorist activities" on July 2.


title: Horlivka

text: On July 21 and 22, 2014, the city saw heavy fighting. The Ukrainian army reportedly retook parts of Horlivka on July 21. After the Ukrainian army had retaken Lysychansk on July 25, 2014, the recapture of Horlivka became a priority, for the city was seen as "a direct path to the regional center – Donetsk". As of July 28, the city was reported to be fully surrounded by Ukrainian troops, with rebels holding their positions inside. However, Horlivka continued to be controlled by separatist forces. As of June 2015 it was situated ten kilometers from the war front. Suburbs of Horlivka stayed under Ukrainian army control. In November 2017 they regained control of the villages of Travneve and Hladosove north of Horlivka.


title: Horlivka

text: As reported by the city administration, from the beginning of the conflict until late January 2015, 274 local civilians were wounded and 92 killed, including nine children. Because of the conflict the city's population shrank to 180,000.


title: Horlivka

text: In late March 2019, according to Ukrainian media reports, Ukrainian army mine clearance specialist Andriy Shor, who participated in both battles for the Donetsk Airport and the Battle of Pisky, announced on Facebook that the Ukrainian army had recently taken control of Horlivka city. Unian reported that Ukrainian forces had secured the outskirts of the city and are slowly advancing further towards the center of Horlivka, citing Ukrainian volunteer Yuriy Mysiahin. In May the separatists tried to push the Ukrainian forces back, but failed.


title: Horlivka

text: As of 2020, the majority of the town remains under separatist control. In June 2020, the former head of DPR propaganda in Horlivka handed himself to SBU.


title: Horlivka

text: On 14 November 2022, the Russian Armed Forces claimed to have forced the remaining units of the Ukrainian Army out of the northern Mayors'k district. The claim was repudiated by the spokesperson of Ukraine's Operational Command East Serhii Cherevatyi, who claimed that the area remains contested.


title: Horlivka

text: The Museum of the City History, the Art Museum (the largest collection of paintings by N. Roerich in Ukraine), the Miniature Book Museum by V.A. Razumov (the only state in the world). 62 out of 84 comprehensive schools (29,700 students, 7,000 teachers), 55 kindergartens (5,700 children), 19 out of 25 houses of culture and clubs, 7 parks, 29 libraries, 7 cinemas.


title: Horlivka

text: Despite the fall of communism a statue of Lenin still stands in a central square bearing his name. Horlivka is well served by CNG-buses (see Natural gas vehicle), but much of the city's Soviet-era infrastructure shows signs of deterioration. By contrast, a number of modern shops and a new cathedral (completed 2014) in the town center indicate some rejuvenation.


title: Horlivka

text: On the eastern side of Horlivka there is an abandoned chemical plant which used to produce toxic explosives and has been reported to be in a dangerous condition. Mining activity has resulted in large spoil tips being visible around the city, but a tree planting project and ongoing forestry maintenance has revitalised an area to the north.


title: Horlivka

text: The city municipality also includes several towns and villages. Most of populated places belongs to the City Center district, while Hladosove, Holmivsky and Zaitseve is part of Mykytivka district.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed (formerly Airborne Laser) weapons system was a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) mounted inside a modified military Boeing 747-400F. It was primarily designed as a missile defense system to destroy tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs) while in boost phase. The aircraft was designated YAL-1A in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Defense.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The YAL-1 with a low-power laser was test-fired in flight at an airborne target in 2007. A high-energy laser was used to intercept a test target in January 2010, and the following month, successfully destroyed two test missiles. Funding for the program was cut in 2010 and the program was canceled in December 2011. It made its final flight on February 14, 2012, to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, to be kept in storage at the "Boneyard" by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. It was ultimately scrapped in September 2014 after all usable parts were removed.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The Airborne Laser Laboratory was a less-powerful prototype installed in a Boeing NKC-135A. It shot down several missiles in tests conducted in the 1980s.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The Airborne Laser program was initiated by the US Air Force in 1996 with the awarding of a product definition risk reduction contract to Boeing's ABL team. In 2001, the program was transferred to the MDA and converted to an acquisition program.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The development of the system was being accomplished by a team of contractors. Boeing Defense, Space & Security provides the aircraft, the management team, and the systems integration processes. Northrop Grumman was supplying the COIL, and Lockheed Martin was supplying the nose turret and the fire control system.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: In 2001, a retired Air India 747-200 was acquired by the Air Force and trucked without its wings from the Mojave Airport to Edwards Air Force Base where the airframe was incorporated into the System Integration Laboratory (SIL) building at Edwards' Birk Flight Test Center, to be used to fit check and test the various components. The SIL was built primarily to test the COIL at a simulated operational altitude, and during that phase of the program, the laser was operated over 50 times, achieving lasing durations representative of actual operational engagements. These tests fully qualified the system so that it could be integrated into the actual aircraft. Following the completion of the tests, the laboratory was dismantled, and the 747-200 fuselage was removed.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: Boeing completed initial modifications to a new 747-400F off the production line in 2002, culminating in its first flight on July 18, 2002, from Boeing's Wichita, Kansas, facility. Ground testing of the COIL resulted in its successful firing in 2004. The YAL-1 was assigned to the 417th Flight Test Squadron Airborne Laser Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: Besides the COIL, the system also included two kilowatt-class Target Illuminator Lasers for target tracking. On March 15, 2007, the YAL-1 successfully fired this laser in flight, hitting its target. The target was an NC-135E "Big Crow" test aircraft that has been specially modified with a "signboard" target on its fuselage. The test validated the system's ability to track an airborne target and measure and compensate for atmospheric distortion.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The next phase in the test program involved the "surrogate high-energy laser" (SHEL), a stand-in for the COIL, and demonstrated the transition from target illumination to simulated weapons firing. The COIL system was installed in the aircraft and was undergoing ground testing by July 2008.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: In an April 6, 2009 press conference, the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recommended the cancellation of the planned second ABL aircraft and said that the program should return to a Research and Development effort. "The ABL program has significant affordability and technology problems and the program's proposed operational role is highly questionable," Gates said in making the recommendation.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: There was a test launch off the California coast on June 6, 2009. At that time it was anticipated that the new Airborne Laser Aircraft could be ready for operation by 2013 after a successful test. On August 13, 2009, the first in-flight test of the YAL-1 culminated with a successful firing of the SHEL at an instrumented test missile.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on August 18, 2009 successfully fired the high-energy laser aboard the aircraft in flight for the first time. The YAL-1 took off from Edwards Air Force Base and fired its high-energy laser while flying over the California High Desert. The laser was fired into an onboard calorimeter, which captured the beam and measured its power.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: In January 2010, the high-energy laser was used in-flight to intercept, although not destroy, a test "Missile Alternative Range Target Instrument" (MARTI) in the boost phase of flight. On February 11, 2010, in a test at Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off the central California coast, the system successfully destroyed a liquid-fuel boosting ballistic missile. Less than an hour after that first missile had been destroyed, a second missile—a solid-fuel design—had, as announced by the MDA, been "successfully engaged", but not destroyed, and that all test criteria had been met. The MDA announcement also noted that ABL had destroyed an identical solid-fuel missile in flight eight days earlier. This test was the first time that a directed-energy system destroyed a ballistic missile in any phase of flight. It was later reported that the first February 11 engagement required 50% less dwell time than expected to destroy the missile, the second engagement on the solid-fuel missile, less than an hour later, had to be cut short before it could be destroyed because of a "beam misalignment" problem.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: Secretary of Defense Gates summarized fundamental concerns with the practicality of the program concept: "I don't know anybody at the Department of Defense, Mr. Tiahrt, who thinks that this program should, or would, ever be operationally deployed. The reality is that you would need a laser something like 20 to 30 times more powerful than the chemical laser in the plane right now to be able to get any distance from the launch site to fire ... So, right now the ABL would have to orbit inside the borders of Iran in order to be able to try and use its laser to shoot down that missile in the boost phase. And if you were to operationalize this you would be looking at 10 to 20 747s, at a billion and a half dollars apiece, and $100 million a year to operate. And there's nobody in uniform that I know who believes that this is a workable concept."


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The Air Force did not request further funds for the Airborne Laser for 2010; Air Force Chief of Staff Schwartz has said that the system "does not reflect something that is operationally viable".


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: In December 2011, it was reported that the project was to be ended after 16 years of development and a cost of over US$5 billion. While in its current form, a relatively low power laser mounted on an unprotected airliner may not be a practical or defensible weapon, the YAL-1 testbed is considered to have proven that air mounted energy weapons with increased range and power could be another viable way of destroying otherwise very difficult to intercept sub-orbital ballistic missiles and rockets. On 12 February 2012, the YAL-1 flew its final flight and landed at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, where it was placed in storage at the AMARG until it was ultimately scrapped in September 2014 after all usable parts were removed.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: As of 2013, studies were underway to apply the lessons of the YAL-1 by mounting laser anti-missile defenses on unmanned combat aerial vehicles that could fly above the altitude limits of the converted jetliner.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: By 2015, the Missile Defense Agency had started efforts to deploy a laser on a high-altitude UAV. Rather than a manned jetliner containing chemical fuels flying at , firing a megawatt laser from a range of "tens of kilometers" at a boost-phase missile, the new concept envisioned an unmanned aircraft carrying an electric laser flying at , firing the same power level at targets potentially up to "hundreds of kilometers" away for survivability against air defenses. While the ABL's laser required to generate one kW, the MDA wanted to reduce that to per kW, totaling for a megawatt. Unlike the ABL, which required its crew to rest and chemical fuel to be reloaded, an electric laser would need only power generating from fuel to fire, so a UAV with in-flight refueling could have near-inexhaustible endurance and armament. A "low-power demonstrator" has been planned to fly sometime in or around 2021.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The heart of the system was the COIL, comprising six interconnected modules, each as large as an SUV. Each module weighed about 6,500 pounds (3,000 kg). When fired, the laser used enough energy in a five-second burst to power a typical American household for more than an hour.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The ABL was designed for use against tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs). These have a shorter range and fly more slowly than ICBMs. The MDA had suggested the ABL might be used against ICBMs during their boost phase. This could require much longer flights to get in position, and might not be possible without flying over hostile territory. Liquid-fueled ICBMs, which have thinner skins, and remain in boost phase longer than TBMs, might be easier to destroy.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: If the ABL had achieved its design goals, it could have destroyed liquid-fueled ICBMs up to 600 km away. Tougher solid-fueled ICBM destruction range would likely have been limited to 300 km, too short to be useful in many scenarios, according to a 2003 report by the American Physical Society on National Missile Defense.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The ABL system used infrared sensors for initial missile detection. After initial detection, three low-power tracking lasers calculated missile course, speed, aimpoint, and air turbulence. Air turbulence deflects and distorts lasers. The ABL adaptive optics use the turbulence measurement to compensate for atmospheric errors. The main laser, located in a turret on the aircraft nose, could be fired for 3 to 5 seconds, causing the missile to break up in flight near the launch area. The ABL was not designed to intercept TBMs in the terminal or descending, flight phase. Thus, the ABL would have had to be within a few hundred kilometers of the missile launch point. All of this would have occurred in approximately 8 to 12 seconds.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: The ABL did not burn through or disintegrate its target. It heated the missile skin, weakening it, causing failure from high-speed flight stress. The laser used chemical fuel similar to rocket propellant to generate the high laser power. Plans called for each 747 to carry enough laser fuel for about 20 shots, or perhaps as many as 40 low-power shots against fragile TBMs. To refuel the laser, YAL-1 would have to land. The aircraft itself could have been refueled in flight, which would have enabled it to stay aloft for long periods. Preliminary operational plans called for the ABL to be escorted by fighters and possibly electronic warfare aircraft. The ABL aircraft would likely have had to orbit near potential launch sites (located in hostile countries) for long periods, flying a figure-eight pattern that allows the aircraft to keep the laser aimed toward the missiles.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: In theory, an airborne laser could be used against hostile fighter aircraft, cruise missiles, or even low-Earth-orbit satellites (see anti-satellite weapon). However, the YAL-1 infrared target acquisition system was designed to detect the hot exhaust of TBMs in boost phase. Satellites and other aircraft have a much lower heat signature, making them more difficult to detect. Aside from the difficulty of acquiring and tracking a different kind of target, ground targets such as armored vehicles and possibly even aircraft are not fragile enough to be damaged by a megawatt-class laser.


title: Boeing YAL-1

text: An analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists discusses potential airborne laser use against low Earth orbit satellites. Another program, the Advanced Tactical Laser, envisions air-to-ground use of a megawatt-class laser mounted on an aircraft better suited for low altitude flight.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: Bebe's Kids (also marketed as Robin Harris' Bébé's Kids) is a 1992 American adult animated comedy film produced by Hyperion Studio for Paramount Pictures. Directed by Bruce W. Smith, in his directorial debut, it is based upon comedian Robin Harris' stand-up comedy act of the same name. Harris died two years before the film was released; in the film, he is voiced by Faizon Love, in his film debut. The film co-stars Vanessa Bell Calloway, Marques Houston, Nell Carter and Tone Lōc.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: Originally released theatrically on July 31, 1992 by Paramount Pictures, it received mostly negative reviews from critics and grossed $8.4 million at the box office.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: The original stand-up routine by Robin Harris is shown in a brief live-action segment before an animated version of Harris woefully recounts his troubles to a blind bartender. He traces his problems all the way back to Jamika, an attractive woman he met at a funeral.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: Outside the premises, Robin approaches Jamika and asks her out. Jamika picks up her mild-mannered son, Leon, from the babysitter and invites Robin to come along with her to the amusement park Fun World, to which Robin agrees. The next day, Jamika introduces Robin to LaShawn, Kahlil and Pee-Wee, a trio of neglected, truant, violent children and the offspring of her absentee hedonistic friend, Bébé, for whom Jamika serves as an obvious enabler. All six travel to Fun World, but are confronted by security at the entrance, and warned they are being watched. Upon entering the park, the kids are set loose and promptly wreak havoc. Robin's disastrous outing is further disrupted by a chance encounter with his ex-wife, Dorothea, and her best friend Vivian.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: After going on a couple of rides with the kids, Robin and Jamika let them go off on their own again as they attempt to enjoy a ride through the Tunnel of Love, where Jamika commends Robin for his endurance. While Robin and Jamika spend time together on their own, Leon tries to fit in with Bébé's kids but is at first unsuccessful, although they allow him to tag along. The kids then resume their mischief until they are caught by security. However, they escape and convince a group of other free-range children to spread the chaos. Meanwhile, Dorothea and Vivian attempt to sabotage the growing relationship between Robin and Jamika but are thwarted by Robin.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: Elsewhere, in an abandoned building, Leon and Bébé's kids are captured by animatronic robot versions of the Terminator, Abraham Lincoln and Richard Nixon, and are put on trial. The robot "Terminator" acts as judge who decides whether their antics are worth sending to the electric chair, while "Lincoln" acts as the kids' defense attorney with "Nixon" as the prosecutor. Leon proves his courage through a rap that not only wins their freedom but also gains him Bébé's kids' respect. They celebrate their victory by stealing a pirate ship and crashing it into a recreation of the RMS "Titanic", taking hostage the crew and passengers, including Dorothea and Vivian.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: Robin and Jamika finally leave Fun World, with the park ultimately crumbling in destruction through Robin's rearview mirror. When a cop passes, Robin tries to get his attention, but Bébé's kids scare the officer away. Robin drops the kids off at their apartment, where he sees how they really live. Bébé, as usual, is nowhere to be seen, and has left a note on the empty refrigerator, expecting Jamika to feed the kids. Sad to see Robin go, the kids bid him an emotional goodbye, but not before he gives them what money he has left so they can order themselves a pizza. At the bar, Robin has a change of heart and returns to hang out with the kids a little while longer, despite all the mayhem they've caused. The kids force him to take them all to Las Vegas, where everybody flees in terror when they recognize the kids. Pee-Wee finds and pulls a plug out of a socket, causing a citywide blackout.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: In the original act, Robin's prospective girlfriend, Jamika, asks him to take her and her son to a Disneyland-type amusement park, but when he agrees she shows up with four kids, three of whom are the neglected children of her friend, Bébé, whom Jamika refuses to judge.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: Bébé's kids are misbehaved truants and violent troublemakers, over whom Jamika does not attempt to exercise any control. They terrorize park staff, cut off Donald Duck's feet to use for swimming, try to steal Robin's 8-track/radio while he's listening to it, and make a general menace of themselves, literally destroying the park. Their reputation is so bad that even the police refuse to mess with them. In the second act, Robin is picked up from a bar by Jamika and the kids. The kids force him to take them to Las Vegas. Pee-Wee pulls out a power cord and the city's power goes out.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: The film received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has "rotten" score based on reviews, with an average rating of .


title: Bébé's Kids

text: In its opening weekend, the film ranked seventh with $3,010,987, behind "Death Becomes Her", "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid", "Mo' Money", "A League of Their Own", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Sister Act". Its final domestic total is $8,442,162.


title: Bébé's Kids

text: "Bébé's Kids" was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature at the 20th Annie Awards, losing to "Beauty and the Beast".


title: Bébé's Kids

text: The film was released on VHS by Paramount Home Video on March 10, 1993, as well as on Laserdisc on March 17. It was then released on DVD on October 5, 2004. It had its re-release on DVD by Warner Home Video on November 24, 2015, under the Warner Archive Collection. On July 12, 2022, the film was released on Blu-ray for the first time.


title: Vice News

text: Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was created in December 2013 and is based in New York City, though it has bureaus worldwide.


title: Vice News

text: Before Vice News was founded, "Vice" published news documentaries and news reports from around the world through its YouTube channel alongside other programs. "Vice" had reported on events such as crime in Venezuela, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, protests in Turkey, the North Korean and Iranian regimes, the Uyghur genocide, and the Syrian Civil War through their own YouTube channel and website. After the creation of Vice News as a separate division, its reporting greatly increased with worldwide coverage starting immediately with videos published on YouTube and articles on its website daily.


title: Vice News

text: In December 2013, Vice Media expanded its international news division into an independent division dedicated exclusively to news and created Vice News. Vice Media put $50 million into its news division, setting up 34 bureaus worldwide and drawing praise for its in-depth coverage of international news. Vice News has primarily targeted a younger audience comprised predominantly of millennials, the same audience to which its parent company appeals.


title: Vice News

text: In October 2015 Vice hired Josh Tyrangiel to run a daily Vice News show for HBO. Tyrangiel had recently left "Bloomberg Businessweek", where he was reported to be "a divisive figure who was both admired and despised during his six years there." Tyrangiel named Ryan McCarthy, formerly an assistant editor of "The New York Times", as editor-in-chief of Vice News.


title: Vice News

text: In May 2016, it was announced that Tyrangiel had also been given control of the weekly Vice on HBO show as well as Vice News. As the announcement was made, Tyrangiel promptly laid off much of the news staff. In an interview given the previous week, Vice Media founder Shane Smith called Tyrangiel "a murderer," foretelling a "bloodbath" in digital media.


title: Vice News

text: On May 24, 2016, a change in leadership at Vice News resulted in the laying off of some 20 editorial and production staff members. That June, Tyrangiel touted various new hires he had brought aboard as part of his team.


title: Vice News

text: In December 2016, it was announced that Vice News had entered into a partnership with "The Guardian" newspaper that will include "Guardian" journalists working at Vice's offices in East London and contributing to the two HBO television programs currently on the air. It will also include allowing "The Guardian" access to Vice's video production skills with content distributed to its millennial-skewed global audience.


title: Vice News

text: Vice News had more than 100 members of its reporting and editorial staff in 35 bureaus around the world including New York City, Toronto, London, Berlin, Mexico City, São Paulo, Los Angeles, Istanbul, Moscow, Beijing, and Kabul. On April 21, 2014, while covering the Russo-Ukrainian War, Simon Ostrovsky, a Vice News reporter was kidnapped by pro-Russian separatist forces and held for three days until being released in Sloviansk.


title: Vice News

text: Since its creation, Vice News has covered emerging events and widespread issues around the world. Every day it publishes a daily news capsule called "News Beyond the Headlines" where it briefly covers four daily stories which did not receive much coverage by other mainstream news outlets but it still considers important. It also publishes daily articles on its website on a variety of world current events, along with maintaining a Vice News Wire where it displays wire reports from around the world.


title: Vice News

text: It has several prominent past and ongoing documentary series including: Russian military intervention in Ukraine; civil war in Iraq; the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; the Western Sahara conflict; the struggles of Afghan interpreters working for the US military in acquiring visas; the prison crisis in the US at Salinas Valley State Prison; protests against the FIFA World Cup in Brazil; Venezuelan anti-government protests; expansion of the Islamic State; protests in Ferguson, Missouri; the Syrian Civil War; the militarization of America's police forces and Central American refugees fleeing street gangs borne in American prisons to cross the American border; global warming and the evidence of the melting of Antarctica's glaciers; and the build-up of military forces of Russia with Scandinavians assisted by the American military.


title: Vice News

text: The Vice News YouTube page has 7.55 million subscribers as well as more than 1.8 billion views in total. and in August 2014, was described by "The Guardian" as one of the fastest growing channels on YouTube.


title: Vice News

text: Lara Pendergast, deputy online editor at the UK magazine "The Spectator" argues that Vice News gets its strength and popularity by getting younger audiences to become more and more interested about international news in a way that traditional media has not. "Its videos may fail every rule in the BBC impartiality book, but they are brilliantly edited and, often, utterly compelling. Vice News has found young, fearless foreign correspondents to serve a youthful audience who are bored stiff by traditional outlets but are quite prepared to watch videos on their mobile phones."


title: Vice News

text: "Vice's brand image marketing as an edgy, hip outlet have helped drive its popularity with young people", says media critic Charles Johnson. "Mainstream media is not trusted by a lot of people, and rightly so, so they [Vice] step in and fill in", he says. "People see a sense of fun behind it. Jon Stewart is very popular, but he's an entertainer. Vice is something similar."


title: Vice News

text: Rick Edmonds, media and business analyst at the Poynter Institute, critiques Vice News' reporting as "raw and tasteless sometimes" and more akin to personal essays than balanced journalism. Other critiques mention that its work is more affiliated with entertainment than hard-hitting news.


title: Vice News

text: In a 2013 opinion piece for "U.S. News & World Report", editor of the New York-based Foreign Policy Association Robert Nolan, stated that Vice's North Korea reporting was "more "Jackass" TV series than journalism".


title: Vice News

text: Vice News has won four Peabody Awards for its documentary programs, "The Islamic State" and "Last Chance High" in 2015, "Charlottesville: Race and Terror" in 2017, and "Losing Ground" in 2020. In 2020, Emily Green of Vice News jointly won the first Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting with "This American Life" and Molly O'Toole of the "Los Angeles Times" for their collaboration on "The Out Crowd", an investigative podcast episode on the effects of the Remain in Mexico policy.


title: Vice News

text: In 2021, Vice News won the Rory Peck Award for "Uyghurs Who Fled China Now Face Repression in Pakistan", the Lorenzo Natali Media Prize for "Rohingya Brides Thought They Were Fleeing Violence. Then They Met Their Grooms.", the Online Journalism Award for "The Story of...", and two Edward R. Murrow Awards for "Say Her Name: Investigating the Death of Breonna Taylor" and "Life Under Bombs: On the Frontlines of Fighting in Azerbaijan". In 2022, Vice News won the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for "The Shockwave".


title: Vice News

text: From 2018 to 2021, Vice News received more News & Documentary Emmy Award nominations each year than any other organization. Vice News was nominated for 23 News & Documentary Emmy Awards in 2021, winning four.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black River).


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The city spans the Ottawa/Allegan county line, with in Ottawa and the remaining in Allegan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 33,051, with an urbanized area population of 113,164, .


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland is the largest city in both Ottawa and Allegan counties. The Ottawa County portion is part of the Grand Rapids-Kentwood Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Allegan County is part of the Holland Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is coextensive with Allegan County. As of 2013, both areas are part of the Grand Rapids–Kentwood–Muskegon Combined Statistical Area. Holland was founded by Dutch Americans, and is in an area that has a large percentage of citizens of Dutch American heritage. It is home to Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, institutions of the Reformed Church in America.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: In February 1996, the Holland City Council approved a sister city relationship between Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico, and the City of Holland.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Ottawa County was originally populated by Ottawa Indians. In 1846, Reverend George Smith established the Old Wing Mission as an outreach to the native population. The Ottawa living here were primarily practicing Catholics, but Smith tried converting them to Protestantism. While generally unsuccessful in converting the Native population, the two groups worked together relatively closely for a short time. This attempt to work and live together was not valued by the next group who arrived.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland was settled in 1847 by Dutch Calvinist separatists, under the leadership of Dr. Albertus van Raalte. Dire economic conditions in the Netherlands compelled them to emigrate, while their desire for religious freedom led them to unite and settle together as a group.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Van Raalte and his colony settled on land in the midst of the Ottawa (Odawa) people's Old Wing Mission Colony near the Black River where it streamed to Black Lake (now Lake Macatawa) which, in turn, led to Lake Michigan. The Dutch settlers and the Ottawa people never got along. Dutch settlers began stealing sugar and venison from the Ottawa. The Dutch were unwilling to accept the Ottawa people's mix of Catholic and Native culture. Soon, Dutch leaders tried to force the natives into wooded land in Allegan County. Eventually, the natives moved north to preserve their way of life and culture. Chief Peter Waukazoo and Reverend George Smith decided to move the community and the Ottawa Mission from Holland up to Northport (on the Leelanau Peninsula), voyaging on boats and canoes.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: In Holland's early history, Van Raalte was a spiritual leader, as well as overseeing political, educational and financial matters. In 1847, Van Raalte established a congregation of the Reformed Church in America, which would later be called the First Reformed Church of Holland. On March 25, 1867, Holland was incorporated as a city with Isaac Cappon being the city's first mayor. The city suffered a major fire on October 8-9, 1871, at the same time as the Great Chicago Fire in Illinois and the very deadly Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin. Due to the Great Michigan Fire (which included the Port Huron Fire of 1871), Manistee and Port Huron, Michigan, also burned at the same time.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: In 1987, a 23-year-old City Council member, Phil Tanis, was elected mayor of Holland while he was still a Hope College student, becoming its youngest mayor.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The city is perhaps best known for its Dutch heritage, which serves not only as a part of the city's cultural identity, but the local economy as well: the Tulip Time Festival in May and various Dutch-themed attractions augment the nearby Lake Michigan shoreline in attracting thousands of tourists annually. Over 28% of the population identified as being of Dutch descent.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The Holland Museum contains exhibits about the city's history. Another, the Cappon House Museum, was built in 1874 and is a historic museum that once housed the first mayor of Holland, Dutch immigrant Isaac Cappon. The Settlers House Museum, a building that survived the great fire, contains furnishings and relics from the 19th century.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland's downtown is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The "Snowmelt Project" established pipes transporting warm water from the nearby power plant to travel underneath downtown with the purpose of clearing the streets and sidewalks in the downtown area of any snow.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: De Zwaan, an original 250-year-old Dutch windmill, is situated on Windmill Island, a municipal park. Its height is with sails.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland boasts an annual Fiesta, organized by Latin Americans United for Progress, usually on the Saturday closest to May 5 (Cinco de Mayo). Holland is also host to the annual Tulipanes Latino Art & Film Festival, which is held to celebrate the Latino contribution to the culture.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: In 2013, Farmer's Insurance named the Holland/Grand Haven Area the most secure mid-sized city in the United States. In 2010, Holland was ranked the second healthiest/happiest town in the United States by the Well-being Index.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland is known as the "City of Churches." There are 170 churches in the greater Holland area, many of which are with the Reformed Church in America and Christian Reformed Church in North America denominations. The city is the home to the church that started the trend of the "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelets in 1989.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Each May, Holland hosts an annual Tulip Time Festival. Tulip planting and the festival began in 1930 when 250,000 tulips were planted for the event. Currently six million tulips are used throughout the city. Tulips are planted along many city streets, in city parks and outside municipal buildings as well as at tourist attractions like Dutch Village, the city-owned Windmill Island Gardens, and at a large tulip farm named Veldheer Tulip Gardens. It is normally held the second week of May, during the tulip blooming season. Cruise ships such as the Yorktown from the Great Lakes Cruising Company make Holland a port of call.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: About one million tourists visit Tulip Time each year, for which the community finds innovative ways to enhance self-funded projects. It has been ranked as America's third largest town festival and was named "Reader's Digest"'s best small town festival. The Tulip Time Festival has attracted big-name acts in recent years such as: Christina Aguilera in 2000, O-Town in 2001, The Verve Pipe in 2004, and Jars of Clay in 2006. Ed McMahon visited Tulip Time in 2007 along with Bobby Vinton. Comedian Bill Cosby headlined the 2014 Tulip Time Festival.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland is located on Lake Macatawa, near the shores of Lake Michigan. Scattered along the shoreline are many public beach accesses including Tunnel Park and the widely popular Holland State Park. Across the channel from the State Park is the Holland Harbor Light, known as "Big Red." Smaller beaches along Lake Michigan are present but not well marked. Public accesses are frequent along dead-end streets bordering the shoreline.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The 8th Street business district features a thermal snow-melting system which uses cooling water from the local electric plant. In 1988, the city rebuilt the entire street and sidewalk system, installing the thermal pipes underneath. The system will melt up to an inch an hour down to 15°.


title: Holland, Michigan

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


title: Holland, Michigan

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 33,051 people, 12,021 households, and 7,593 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 13,212 housing units at an average density of .


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin: The racial makeup of the city was 85.2% White alone, 4.0% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 3.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 5.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.7% of the population, and White not Hispanic or Latino were 70.0%.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: There were 12,021 households, of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.8% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.13.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The median age in the city was 31.7 years. 24% of residents were under the age of 18; 16.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.7% were from 25 to 44; 21% were from 45 to 64; and 13.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.5% male and 52.5% female.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The City of Holland uses a council/manager form of government. The day-to-day operations of the city are under the supervision of the city manager and their staff. The city manager is responsible for selecting all department heads, preparation of the budget and supervision of all employees through their appointments.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The city manager serves at the direction of the mayor and city council which are elected positions. The current city manager is Keith Van Beek, former Ottawa County deputy county administrator, who was appointed in February 2018 by the city council. Soren Wolff served as the city manager from 1988 until his retirement in the Fall 2011. Soren previously served the city as assistant city manager in the mid-1970s and had a street named after him near Fairbanks Avenue and 13th Street, which is the main entrance to Smallenburg Park and many of Hope College's athletic facilities. The current assistant city manager is Matt VanDyken, the former IT director for the city.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland's city charter requires a mayor and eight city council members. The mayor serves a two-year term, and two at-large council members and six ward council members each serve four-year terms.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The Holland Board of Public Works was created in 1883. It provides electricity, water and sewer services.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland is home to the world's largest pickle factory. The H.J. Heinz Company opened the factory at the same location in 1897, and currently processes over 1 million lbs. of pickles per day during the green season.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The city is serviced by West Michigan Regional Airport , the Park Township Airport having closed on August 15, 2020. The airport is not served by regularly scheduled commercial carriers; the nearest airport with airline service is Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, about northeast.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The city also is served by regularly scheduled Amtrak service (the "Pere Marquette") east to Grand Rapids and west to Chicago with connections to all points east and west.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The city and surrounding area is served by the MAX (Macatawa Area Express) transportation system, which offers both on-demand and high-speed bus service, linking different parts of the city as well as commercial, medical and government locations outside the city. This service evolved from the former "Dial-A-Ride Transportation" (DART) system.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: The channel between Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan allows pleasure craft and commercial boats, even bulk freighters, to access Holland's docks to unload coal, salt and iron scrap.


title: Holland, Michigan

text: Holland is the hometown of four Medal of Honor recipients (only tying with Pueblo, CO also with four, both more than any other municipality in the United States) - John Essebagger Jr., Paul Ronald Lambers, Matt Urban, and Gordon Douglas Yntema.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: Byzantium is a 2012 vampire film directed by Neil Jordan. The film stars Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, and Sam Riley.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: "Byzantium" had its world premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2012, and was released in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2013. The film received generally positive reviews.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: In 2010, an old man, Robert Fowlds, picks up a discarded note dropped by teenage vampire Eleanor Webb, who has taken to writing her life story and then throwing the individual pages to the wind. Realising what she is, the old man invites Eleanor to his house and tells her that he is ready for death. Eleanor proceeds to kill him and consume his blood. Elsewhere, Eleanor's mother, Clara, is chased from the lap-dancing club where she has been working. Werner, a member of the vampiric Brethren, demands to know where Eleanor is and captures her after an extended chase. Clara decapitates Werner, burns his body and leaves town with her daughter.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: Eleanor and Clara seek sanctuary in a dilapidated coastal resort. There, Clara sets her sights on a lonely soul named Noel, who has just inherited the Byzantium Hotel, a once-thriving business that has fallen into disrepair. Eleanor plays the piano in a restaurant and is approached by a young waiter named Frank, who takes a shine to her. Having seduced Noel, Clara turns the Byzantium into a makeshift brothel and Eleanor joins the local college which Frank also attends. Interested in her past, Frank questions Eleanor, who writes her story for him to read. Not entirely believing it, he shows it to their teacher, Kevin.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: The story, revealed in a series of flashbacks over the course of the film, begins during the Napoleonic Wars, when a young Clara encounters two Royal Navy officers, Captain Ruthven and Midshipman Darvell. Much to the dismay of Darvell, Clara leaves with Ruthven, who forces her into prostitution after raping her. When Eleanor is born in 1804, Clara leaves her at a private orphanage. Years later, Clara is dying of what appears to be tuberculosis when the brothel is visited by Darvell, who has become a vampire. He gives Ruthven a map to an island where people can become vampires if they are willing to die. Clara shoots Ruthven in the leg, steals the map and makes her way to the island to become a vampire. Darvell finds Clara and takes her to the Brethren, a secret society of vampires that protects the secret of vampirism.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: As their members have traditionally been male nobles, they are appalled that a low-born prostitute has joined their ranks but decide to spare her life, warning her that she must abide by their code but that she may play no part in their Brotherhood. Clara, alone and desperate after her banishment, secretly visits Eleanor at night. Shortly afterwards, Clara's decision to spare Ruthven comes back to haunt her, when the vengeful, syphilis-ridden Captain turns up at Eleanor's orphanage and drags her down to the basement to rape her. Clara brutally murders him but she is too late; Eleanor is condemned to a slow, painful death. Desperate to save her daughter's life, Clara takes Eleanor to the island and has her transformed into a vampire, violating the Brethren's code. The Brethren begin hunting Clara and Eleanor.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: In the 21st century, Eleanor falls in love with Frank and decides to help him turn into a vampire so they can be together, since he is dying from leukaemia. Before killing him, Clara finds out from Kevin that Eleanor has told Frank of their past. Noel is accidentally killed, falling down the lift shaft, when Clara tries to prevent Eleanor from leaving the hotel and succeeds in trapping her in the lift. While Clara is out dealing with Frank, Darvell and Savella, the Brethren's leader, posing as police, find out from Kevin's colleague Morag where Clara is and go to kill her. Clara leaves without killing Frank when she realises that Eleanor is in mortal danger.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: The Brethren kidnap Eleanor and drive her to an abandoned fairground to destroy her, only to be stopped by Clara. After killing Morag, Savella battles Clara and ultimately subdues her. Savella hands Darvell his sword, which he took from Byzantium during the Crusades, so he can kill Clara. Darvell, who has always harboured feelings for Clara, kills Savella instead. On the run again, Clara leaves with Darvell while Eleanor takes a weakened Frank to the island so he can become a vampire.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: The film premiered at the Irish Film Institute on 28 April 2013 with director Neil Jordan in attendance. It also received a red carpet screening in Hastings on 5 June 2013.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: The film was shown at the Glasgow Film Festival in February 2013 with Neil Jordan, Saoirse Ronan, and Gemma Arterton in attendance.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: The film was released in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2013, and received a limited release in North America on 28 June 2013.


title: Byzantium (film)

text: "Byzantium" received generally positive reviews from film critics. , the film holds a 66% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 120 reviews with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10. The site's consensus reads: "Director Neil Jordan remains as expert as ever when it comes to setting a chilling mood, but "Byzantium" struggles to match its creepily alluring atmosphere with a suitably compelling story." Metacritic gave the film a "generally favorable" score of 66 based on reviews from 22 sampled reviewers.


title: Orange Julius

text: Orange Julius is an American chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s and is noted for a particular drink, also called an Orange Julius. The beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, powdered egg whites and vanilla flavoring.


title: Orange Julius

text: The drink grew out of an orange juice stand opened in Los Angeles, California, in 1926 by Julius Freed. Sales were initially modest, about $20 a day (equivalent to approximately $ in dollars). In 1929, Bill Hamlin, Freed's real estate broker, developed a mixture that made the acidic orange juice less bothersome to his stomach. Freed's stand began serving the drink, which had a frothier, creamier texture. The sales at the stand increased substantially after the introduction of the new drink, going up to $100 a day.


title: Orange Julius

text: During the 1950s and 1960s, Orange Julius was sold at a variety of outlets, including state and county fairs and freestanding Orange Julius stands. The original stand also provided medicinal tonics and Bible tracts.


title: Orange Julius

text: In 1967, Hamlin sold Orange Julius to Al Lapin Jr's International Industries corporation, who also owns International House of Pancakes; The Original House of Pies, and others; until IHOP sold it in the 1970s.


title: Orange Julius

text: It now has hundreds of stores in malls across the United States (including Puerto Rico) and Canada, as well as in Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines and Japan.


title: Orange Julius

text: In 1987, the Orange Julius chain was bought by International Dairy Queen. IDQ, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, owns the rights to all Orange Julius stores and has expanded the chain so its drinks are offered at many of its Dairy Queen stores, called "Treat Centers".


title: Orange Julius

text: In the 1970s and early 1980s, Orange Julius beverage stands used the image of a devil with a pitchfork around an orange, with the slogan, "A Devilish Good Drink". The devil image resembled Sparky, the mascot of Arizona State University, and the company later dropped the logo and slogan after threats of a lawsuit from the ASU alumni association.


title: Orange Julius

text: For a short period in the early 1970s, Orange Julius expanded into the UK and Dutch markets, with a fairly large restaurant in Golders Green, selling Julius Burgers as well as the classic orange drink, and a small outlet in the city center of Amsterdam. There were plans to increase the number to 20-25 outlets in the Netherlands, and at least one was realized, in the city of Utrecht. The brand was introduced and largely financed in the Netherlands by Eurobee NV, a subsidiary of Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer (KBB), one of the major retailers in The Netherlands at that time. Orange Julius left the Dutch market by the mid-70s.


title: Byun Yo-han

text: Byun Yo-han (born April 29, 1986) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television dramas "" (2014), "Six Flying Dragons" (2015–2016), and "Mr. Sunshine" (2018). He has also appeared in several independent films including "Socialphobia" (2015) and "The Book of Fish" (2021).


title: Byun Yo-han

text: He made his acting debut in 2011, and appeared in over 30 short films as a student of Korea National University of Arts. The then-unknown actor rose to fame in 2014 with a supporting role in the popular workplace cable series "".


title: Byun Yo-han

text: In 2015, he starred in leading roles in indie hit "Socialphobia" and the romantic comedy "Ex-Girlfriends' Club". In the same year, he also appeared as one of the six main leads in SBS's 50-episode historical drama "Six Flying Dragons" playing a master swordsman. Byun then starred alongside Kim Yoon-seok in the fantasy drama film "Will You Be There?".


title: Byun Yo-han

text: In 2018, he starred in the hit drama "Mr. Sunshine," which became one of the highest-rated dramas in Korean cable television history.


title: Byun Yo-han

text: In 2021, Byun starred in Lee Joon-ik's black-and-white historical film "The Book of Fish", for which he was nominated for the Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actor – Film.


title: Knuckleball

text: A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This change adds a deflecting force to the baseball, making it difficult for batters to hit but also difficult for pitchers to control and catchers to catch; umpires are challenged as well, as the ball's irregular motion through the air makes it harder to call balls and strikes. A pitcher who throws knuckleballs is known as a knuckleballer.


title: Knuckleball

text: The origins of the knuckleball are unclear. Toad Ramsey of the Louisville Colonels in the old American Association—his pitch likely resembled the knuckle curve—and Eddie Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox, who in 1908 was nicknamed "Knuckles", are two possible creators of the pitch. Other accounts attribute the pitch's creation to Charles H. Druery, a pitcher in the Blue Ridge League. In 1917, Druery taught the pitch to Eddie Rommel who became successful with it for the Philadelphia Athletics.


title: Knuckleball

text: As used by Cicotte, the knuckleball was originally thrown by holding the ball with the knuckles, hence the name of the pitch. Ed Summers, an Indianapolis teammate of Cicotte who adopted the pitch and helped develop it, modified it by holding the ball with his fingertips and using the thumb for balance. This grip can also include digging the fingernails into the surface of the ball. The fingertip grip is more commonly used today by knuckleball pitchers, like retired Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, who had a knuckleball with a lot of movement. There are other prominent knuckleball pitchers like Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, who had a very effective knuckler and knuckle curve, and Cy Young Award winning pitcher R. A. Dickey. However, young pitchers with smaller hands tend to throw the knuckleball with their knuckles. Sometimes young players will throw the knuckleball with their knuckles flat against the ball, giving it less spin but also making it difficult to throw any significant distance.


title: Knuckleball

text: Regardless of how the ball is gripped, the purpose of the knuckleball is to have the least possible amount of rotational spin. Created by the act of throwing a ball, the ball's trajectory is significantly affected by variations in airflow caused by differences between the smooth surface of the ball and the stitching of its seams. The asymmetric drag that results tends to deflect the trajectory toward the side with the stitches.


title: Knuckleball

text: Over the distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate, the effect of these forces is that the knuckleball can flutter, dance, jiggle, or curve in two different directions during its flight. A pitch thrown completely without spin is less desirable, however, than one with a very slight spin. The ball completes between one-quarter and one-half a rotation on its way from the pitcher to the batter; the position of the stitches changes as the ball travels, affecting the drag that gives the ball its motion, thus making its flight erratic. Even a ball thrown without rotation will "flutter", due to the "apparent wind" it feels as its trajectory changes throughout its flight path.


title: Knuckleball

text: Hitting a knuckleball is different enough from other aspects of baseball that players specifically prepare for the pitch during batting practice before games they expect it in. According to physicist Robert Adair, due to the physiological limitation of human reaction time, a breaking knuckleball may be impossible to hit except by luck. If a knuckleball does not change direction in mid-flight, however, then it is easy to hit due to its lack of speed. (A common phrase for hitting a knuckleball is "if it's low, let it go; if it's high, let it fly"; meaning that a batter should attempt to hit a knuckleball only if it crosses the plate high in the strike zone due to lack of break.) Since it typically only travels , far slower than the average major league fastball , it can be hit very hard if there is no movement. One 2007 study offered evidence for this conclusion. To reduce the chances of having the knuckleball get hit for a home run, some pitchers will impart a slight topspin so that if no force causes the ball to dance, it will move downward in flight. Another drawback is that runners on base can usually advance more easily than if a conventional pitcher is on the mound. This is due to both the knuckleball's low average speed and its erratic movement, which force the catcher to keep focusing on the ball even after the runners start stealing their next bases. However, since a typical major league starting rotation exceeds the length of a series against any one opponent, one way a manager can mitigate this disadvantage is to adjust his team's pitching rotation so as to eliminate (or at least minimize) games in which a knuckleballer would pitch against teams with a preponderance of fast baserunners.


title: Knuckleball

text: A paper presented at the 2012 Conference of the International Sports Engineering Association argues, based on PITCHf/x data, that knuckleballs do not make large and abrupt changes in their trajectories on the way to home plate—or at least, no more abrupt than a normal pitch. It speculates that the appearance of abrupt shifting may be due to the "unpredictability" of the changes in direction.


title: Knuckleball

text: Since it developed during a period when the spitball was legal and commonly used, and was similarly surprising in its motion, the knuckleball was sometimes called the "dry spitter". Cicotte was widely reported to throw both the knuckleball and a variant on the spitball known as a "shine ball" (because he would "shine" one side of a dirty ball by rubbing it on his uniform). However, Cicotte called the shine ball "a pure freak of the imagination", claiming that he did this to disconcert hitters and that the pitch was still a knuckleball.


title: Knuckleball

text: Other names for the knuckleball have generally alluded to its motion and slower speed. These include the flutterball, the floater, the dancer, the butterfly ball (the name for the pitch used by French language game commentators employed by the Montreal Expos), the ghostball, and the bug.


title: Knuckleball

text: The knuckle curve has a somewhat similar name because of the grip used to throw it (also with the knuckles or fingernails), but it is generally thrown harder and with spin. The resulting motion of the pitch more closely resembles a curveball, which explains the combination name. Toad Ramsey, a pitcher from 1885 to 1890, is credited in some later sources with being the first knuckleballer, apparently based primarily on accounts of how he gripped the ball; however, based on more contemporary descriptions of his pitch as an "immense drop ball", it may be that his pitch was a form of knuckle curve. Two later pitchers, Jesse Haines and Freddie Fitzsimmons, were sometimes characterized as knuckleball pitchers even by their contemporaries, but in their cases it again refers to a harder-thrown, curving pitch that would probably not be called a knuckleball today. Historically, the term "knuckle curve" had a usage that was different from what it has in the game today. Many current pitchers throw a curveball using a grip with the index finger touching the ball with the knuckle or fingertip (also called a spike curve). This modern pitch is unrelated to the knuckleball.


title: Knuckleball

text: , only about 70 Major League Baseball pitchers have regularly used the knuckleball during their careers, and its use has become rarer over time. This can be attributed to a variety of factors. The first is selection bias in scouting. Because the speed of any prospect's pitch is one of the quickest and easiest metrics in judging the skill of the prospect, the knuckleball, which is thrown slower than any other pitch, gets overlooked. Tim Wakefield argues that "The problem is that [baseball] is so radar gun-oriented." Former knuckleballer and pitching coach Charlie Hough says that the increased rarity of the knuckleball is due to scouts increasingly looking only for the best arm. This effect is increasing over time as the modern game continues to emphasize power in pitching and average pitch speed increases.


title: Knuckleball

text: Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro, and Jesse Haines, three pitchers who primarily relied on the knuckleball, have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Additionally, Ted Lyons, another member of the Hall of Fame, relied heavily on the knuckleball after injuring his arm in 1931. Niekro was given the nickname "Knucksie" during his career. Other prominent knuckleball pitchers have included Joe Niekro (Phil's brother), Charlie Hough, Dave Jolly, Ben Flowers, Wilbur Wood, Barney Schultz, Tom Candiotti, Bob Purkey, Steve Sparks, Eddie Rommel, Tim Wakefield, Steven Wright, and Dickey. During the 1945 season, with talent depleted by call-ups to fight in World War II, the Washington Senators had a pitching rotation which included four knuckleball pitchers (Dutch Leonard, Johnny Niggeling, Mickey "Itsy Bitsy" Haefner, and Roger Wolff) who combined for 60 complete games and 60 wins, carrying the Senators to second place.


title: Knuckleball

text: In November 2008, it was announced that 16-year-old knuckleballer Eri Yoshida was drafted as the first woman ever to play in Japanese professional baseball for the Kobe 9 Cruise of the Kansai Independent Baseball League. On March 2, 2010, she trained with Tim Wakefield at the Boston Red Sox minor-league training facility. And on April 8, 2010, she signed with the Chico Outlaws, debuting on May 29, 2010.


title: Knuckleball

text: Another factor contributing to the rarity of the knuckleball is the difficulty of throwing the pitch. R. A. Dickey estimates that it takes at least a year to grasp its fundamentals. The knuckleball is radically different from any other pitch in a pitcher's arsenal, being less predictable and difficult to control. It is for this reason that the knuckleball is widely regarded as unreliable, and knuckleball pitchers are prone to extended slumps, such as when Tim Wakefield was released from the Pirates in a mid-career slump during spring training in 1995. Another reason for the difficulty of the knuckleball is due to the network effect. Because there are so few knuckleball pitchers, the resources for learning and improving the knuckleball are few compared to more common pitches. Pitching coaches often struggle with knuckleball pitchers due to a lack of experience with the pitch. "I think the hardest thing for me is just the alone-ness that you feel sometimes because nobody else really does it," said Wakefield.


title: Knuckleball

text: Coaches have also been seen as a barrier to succeeding with the knuckleball. Jim Bouton said, "coaches don't respect it. You can pitch seven good innings with a knuckleball, and as soon as you walk a guy they go, 'See, there's that damn knuckleball.'" R. A. Dickey argues that, "for most managers, it takes a special manager to be able to really trust it – the bad and the good of it. Coaches are quick to banish the pitch after one bad outing. This was common due to the amount of practice one must put into the pitch. And traditionally, if you look at Tim Wakefield, Joe and Phil Niekro, Tom Candiotti, Wilbur Wood, Hoyt Wilhelm and all the guys that threw it, through their success they had guys who really believed in what it could do long-term and committed to giving them the ball every fifth day to do it."


title: Knuckleball

text: In 1991, Hall of Fame catcher Rick Ferrell was quoted as saying, "I think the knuckleball is fading out." Ferrell knew knuckleballs: he had the task of being the Washington Senators catcher in 1944–45, when the Senators had four knuckleball pitchers in their starting rotation. Furthermore, other factors, such as a dearth of knuckleball teachers and the dramatic increase in the running game — base stealing is often easier against knuckleball pitchers — may be contributing to its demise.


title: Knuckleball

text: Perhaps as a result, knuckleball pitchers often view themselves as members of an exclusive club, with its own uniform number (49, first worn by Wilhelm) and leader (Phil Niekro, whom "The New Yorker" in 2004 called "the undisputed Grand Poobah" of the group after Wilhelm's death). Because they cannot discuss pitching with non knuckleball-using teammates, they often share tips and insights even if on competing teams, and believe that they have a responsibility to help younger players develop the pitch. When, in 2012, R. A. Dickey became the first Cy Young Award-winning knuckleball pitcher, he called the award "a victory for … the knuckleball fraternity", and of the dozens of phone calls he received after the announcement, Niekro's was the only one he answered.


title: Knuckleball

text: When originally developed, the knuckleball was used by a number of pitchers as simply one pitch in their repertoire, usually as part of changing speeds from their fastball. It is almost never used in a mixed repertoire today, however, and some believe that to throw the knuckleball effectively with some semblance of control over the pitch, one must throw it more or less exclusively. At the same time, pitchers rarely focus on the knuckleball if they have reasonable skill with more standard pitches. Unlike conventional pitches, which perform fast results without much exertion, a knuckleball pitcher must train his body and muscle memory to be able to execute a 65 mph pitch with less than one rotation.


title: Knuckleball

text: , Steven Wright of the Boston Red Sox was considered to be the last active knuckleballer in the MLB; he has since been released from the team. Mickey Jannis of the Baltimore Orioles organization also throws the knuckleball, and made his major league debut on June 23, 2021.


title: Knuckleball

text: On September 18, 2020, the first knuckleball thrown in 2020 was by the New York Mets' Todd Frazier, normally a third baseman, in a 15-2 blowout loss to Atlanta Braves.


title: Knuckleball

text: Among position players making pitching appearances, those who have utilized the knuckleball include Wade Boggs,Danny Worth, Alex Blandino, and Ernie Clement.


title: Knuckleball

text: The knuckleball does provide some advantages to its practitioners. It does not need to be thrown hard (in fact, throwing too hard may diminish its effectiveness), and is therefore less taxing on the arm. Knuckleball pitchers can throw more innings than other pitchers, and, requiring less time to recover after pitching, can pitch more frequently. The lower physical strain also fosters longer careers. Some knuckleballers have continued to pitch professionally well into their forties: Tim Wakefield, Hoyt Wilhelm, R. A. Dickey, Charlie Hough, Tom Candiotti, and the brothers Phil Niekro and Joe Niekro.


title: Knuckleball

text: Pitchers like Bouton have found success as knuckleballers after their ability to throw hard declined. Indeed, Bouton's famous best-selling book "Ball Four" (1970), while scandalous at the time for its unvarnished and often uncomplimentary portrayal of player behavior and coaching small-mindedness, is primarily a tale of the ups and downs of trying to hang on in the major leagues as a knuckleball pitcher.


title: Knuckleball

text: As with hitters, the unpredictable motion of the knuckleball makes it one of the most difficult pitches for catchers to handle, and they tend to be charged with a significantly higher number of passed balls. Former catcher Bob Uecker, who caught for Phil Niekro, said, "The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and pick it up." Bouton said, "Catchers hate it. Nobody likes to warm up with you." According to Adair, the 150 ms minimum human reaction time may be too slow to adjust to a knuckleball's changing direction.


title: Knuckleball

text: A team will sometimes employ a catcher solely for games started by a knuckleballer. The "knuckleball catcher" is equipped with an oversized knuckleball catcher's mitt, similar to a first baseman's glove; Doug Mirabelli, formerly of the Red Sox, used a softball catcher's mitt. The Boston Red Sox, in their 2004 world championship season, had Mirabelli regularly catching in place of Jason Varitek when Tim Wakefield was pitching. This use of a "specialist" catcher continued into the 2008 season following the signing of Kevin Cash, and 2009 saw George Kottaras fulfill this role. On August 26, the first time Victor Martinez caught Wakefield, he used a first baseman's glove, instead of a regular catcher's mitt. For a catcher, a key disadvantage to using a first baseman's glove mitt is that they are not designed for easy extraction of the ball from the glove, making it harder to prevent baserunners from stealing.


title: Knuckleball

text: On occasion, teams have traded knuckleball pitchers and their catchers in the same transaction. In baseball terminology the pitcher and catcher together are known as a "battery", and having a catcher experienced in catching a knuckleball pitcher is preferable, so the trade of pitcher and catcher together is sometimes referred to as a "batteries included" trade. For example, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas went with Dickey when the pitcher was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in late 2012, and the team later signed Henry Blanco, who also caught for Dickey.


title: Knuckleball

text: The record for passed balls in an inning (4) was first set by Ray Katt of the New York Giants in 1954, catching Hoyt Wilhelm. It was tied by


title: Knuckleball

text: Geno Petralli of the Texas Rangers in 1987 while trying to catch knuckleball pitcher Charlie Hough, and tied again in 2013 when Ryan Lavarnway of the Boston Red Sox had four in the first inning, catching knuckleballer Steven Wright in Wright's first major league start.


title: Knuckleball

text: Varitek holds the postseason record with three passed balls in the 13th inning of Game 5 of the 2004 American League Championship Series while catching Wakefield.


title: Knuckleball

text: In 2013, J. P. Arencibia set a Toronto Blue Jays franchise record by allowing four passed balls in the season opener (a 4–2 loss) while catching for knuckleballer R. A. Dickey. He never caught for Dickey again.


title: Knuckleball

text: The knuckleball is also employed by cricket fast bowlers Zaheer Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Andrew Tye as their slower delivery. The physics of the operation are largely the same. However, the seam on a cricket ball is equatorial, and thus the extent of erratic movement is reduced due to the symmetry (at least in the conventional release position where the planes of the ball's trajectory and the seam are nearly co-planar). In addition, the lack of backspin does shorten the length of the delivery, and also tends to make the ball skid off the pitch—faster than it would come off a normal delivery.


title: Knuckleball

text: In volleyball, the float serve involves hitting the volleyball in such a way to minimize the rotation of the ball, causing unpredictability in the ball's movement. When done correctly, the float serve is hard for opponents to predict where the ball will end up, thus rendering it hard to pass.


title: Knuckleball

text: In association football (soccer), the method of striking the ball so that it produces almost no spinning motion during its flight has been colloquially described as "knuckleballing" by commentators, due to the ball's motion that resembles a baseball thrown with a knuckleball pitch. This shooting technique is frequently used by players for long-range shots and free kicks. A successful knuckleball shot will move, dip, or wobble in the air unpredictably, making it difficult for the goalkeeper to save. This technique has also been described as the "dry leaf" or "dead leaf" ("folha seca" in Portuguese), the "tomahawk", or even "the accursed" ("maledetta" in Italian).


title: Knuckleball

text: One of the main proponents of this shooting technique was Brazilian playmaker Juninho Pernambucano, who popularised it in particular during his time with Lyon in the mid 2000s; however, it is commonly thought to have been invented by compatriot Didi, although Italian forward Giuseppe Meazza before him is also credited with using the technique. This technique has also been used and even adapted by several other players, such as Andrea Pirlo, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Marcus Rashford, Gareth Bale, and Barbara Bonansea.


title: Straight leg raise

text: The straight leg raise is a test that can be performed during a physical examination, with the leg being lifted actively by the patient or passively by the clinician. If the straight leg raise is done actively by the patient it is a test of functional leg strength, particularly the rectus femoris element of the quadriceps (checking both hip flexion and knee extension strength simultaneously). If carried out passively (also called Lasègue's sign, Lasègue test or Lazarević's sign), it is used to determine whether a patient with low back pain has an underlying nerve root sensitivity, often located at L5 (fifth lumbar spinal nerve). The rest of this article relates to the passive version of the test.


title: Straight leg raise

text: With the patient lying down on their back on an examination table or exam floor, the examiner lifts the patient's leg while the knee is straight.


title: Straight leg raise

text: A variation is to lift the leg while the patient is sitting. However, this reduces the sensitivity of the test.


title: Straight leg raise

text: In order to make this test more specific, the ankle can be dorsiflexed and the cervical spine flexed. This increases the stretching of the nerve root and dura.


title: Straight leg raise

text: If the patient experiences sciatic pain, and more specifically pain radiating down the leg (radiculopathy), when the straight leg is at an angle of between 30 and 70 degrees, then the test is positive and a herniated disk is a possible cause of the pain. A negative test suggests a likely different cause for back pain.


title: Straight leg raise

text: A positive straight leg test reproduces radiating leg pain. If it only causes back pain, then the test is negative. Because this is often misunderstood, it is prudent to add a statement of clarification. For example, "Straight leg test is positive on the left, reproducing the patient's radiating leg symptoms."


title: Straight leg raise

text: Lasègue's sign was named after Charles Lasègue (1816–1883). In 1864 Lasègue described the signs of developing low back pain while straightening the knee when the leg has already been lifted. In 1880 Serbian doctor Laza Lazarević described the straight leg raise test as it is used today, so the sign is often named Lazarević's sign in Serbia and some other countries.


title: Nuwaubian Nation

text: The Nuwaubian Nation, Nuwaubian movement, or United Nuwaubian Nation () is an American new religious movement founded and led by Malachi Z.K. York. falsely misnomered as Dwight York York began founding several black Muslim groups in New York in 1967. He changed his teachings and the names of his groups many times, incorporating concepts from Judaism, Christianity, UFO religions, New Age, and many esoteric beliefs.


title: Nuwaubian Nation

text: In the late 1980s, he abandoned the black Muslim theology of his movement in favor of Kemetism and UFO religion. In 1991, he took his community to settle in Upstate New York, then they moved near to Eatonton, the county seat of Putnam County in Georgia. His followers built an ancient Egypt-themed compound called "Tama-Re" and changed their name to the "United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors."


title: Nuwaubian Nation

text: By 2000, the "United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors" had some 500 adherents. They drew thousands of visitors for "Savior's Day" (York's birthday, June 26). Adherence declined steeply after York was convicted of numerous counts of child molestation, as well as racketeering and financial reporting violations, and sentenced to 135 years in federal prison in April 2004. The Tama-Re compound was sold under government forfeiture and demolished. The Southern Poverty Law Center described York as a "black supremacist cult leader", and has designated the Nuwaubian Nation as a hate group.


title: Nuwaubian Nation

text: The group has taken numerous names throughout its history, including "Ansaru Allah Community", "Holy Tabernacle Ministries", "United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors" (after the move to Georgia), "Yamassee Native American Moors of the Creek Nation" (also used in Georgia when York claimed indigenous ancestry via Egyptian migration and intermarriage with the ancient Olmec), and "Nuwaubian Nation of Moors".


title: Nuwaubian Nation

text: The Nuwaubian Nation was centered exclusively on the person of its founder, Malachi Kobina York, who legally changed his name from Issa Al Haadi, and has used many different titles.


title: Nuwaubian Nation

text: Malachi York was born on June 26, 1945. He began his ministry in the late 1960s, from 1967 preaching to a group he called the Pan-African "Nubians" (viz. African Americans) in Brooklyn, New York City, New York.


title: Nuwaubian Nation

text: York founded numerous esoteric or quasi-religious fraternal orders under various names during the 1970s and 1980s, at first along pseudo-Islamic lines, later moving to a loose Afrocentric ancient Egypt theme, eclectically mixing ideas taken from black nationalism, cryptozoology, and UFO religions and popular conspiracy theories. During the 1980s, he was also active as a musician as Dr. York, recording for Passion Records.


title: Nuwaubian Nation

text: York published some 450 booklets (dubbed "scrolls") under numerous pseudonyms. During the late 1990s, he styled himself a messianic founder-prophet of his movement, sometimes claiming divine status or extraterrestrial origin, appearing on his Savior's Day celebrations at Tama-Re.