title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: De Grasse had detached a few of his ships to blockade the York and James Rivers farther up the bay, and many of the ships at anchor were missing officers, men, and boats when the British fleet was sighted. He faced the difficult proposition of organizing a line of battle while sailing against an incoming tide, with winds and land features that would require him to do so on a tack opposite that of the British fleet. At 11:30 am, 24 ships of the French fleet cut their anchor lines and began sailing out of the bay with the noon tide, leaving behind the shore contingents and ships' boats. Some ships were so seriously undermanned, missing as many as 200 men, that not all of their guns could be manned. De Grasse had ordered the ships to form into a line as they exited the bay, in order of speed and without regard to its normal sailing order. Admiral Louis de Bougainville's "Auguste" was one of the first ships out. With a squadron of three other ships Bougainville ended up well ahead of the rest of the French line; by 3:45 pm the gap was large enough that the British could have cut his squadron off from the rest of the French fleet.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: By 1:00 pm, the two fleets were roughly facing each other, but sailing on opposite tacks. In order to engage, and to avoid some shoals (known as the Middle Ground) near the mouth of the bay, Graves around 2:00 pm ordered his whole fleet to wear, a manoeuvre that reversed his line of battle, but enabled it to line up with the French fleet as its ships exited the bay. This placed the squadron of Hood, his most aggressive commander, at the rear of the line, and that of Admiral Francis Samuel Drake in the vanguard.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: At this point, both fleets were sailing generally east, away from the bay, with winds from the north-northeast. The two lines were approaching at an angle so that the leading ships of the vans of both lines were within range of each other, while the ships at the rear were too far apart to engage. The French had a firing advantage, since the wind conditions meant they could open their lower gun ports, while the British had to leave theirs closed to avoid water washing onto the lower decks. The French fleet, which was in a better state of repair than the British fleet, outnumbered the British in the number of ships and total guns, and had heavier guns capable of throwing more weight. In the British fleet, and , two ships of the West Indies squadron that were among the most heavily engaged, were in quite poor condition. Graves at this point did not press the potential advantage of the separated French van; as the French centre and rear closed the distance with the British line, they also closed the distance with their own van. One British observer wrote, "To the astonishment of the whole fleet, the French center were permitted without molestation to bear down to support their van."


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: The need for the two lines to actually reach parallel lines so they might fully engage led Graves to give conflicting signals that were interpreted critically differently by Admiral Hood, directing the rear squadron, than Graves intended. None of the options for closing the angle between the lines presented a favourable option to the British commander: any manoeuvre to bring ships closer would limit their firing ability to their bow guns, and potentially expose their decks to raking or enfilading fire from the enemy ships. Graves hoisted two signals: one for "line ahead", under which the ships would slowly close the gap and then straighten the line when parallel to the enemy, and one for "close action", which normally indicated that ships should turn to directly approach the enemy line, turning when the appropriate distance was reached. This combination of signals resulted in the piecemeal arrival of his ships into the range of battle. Admiral Hood interpreted the instruction to maintain line of battle to take precedence over the signal for close action, and as a consequence his squadron did not close rapidly and never became significantly engaged in the action.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: It was about 4:00 pm, over 6 hours since the two fleets had first sighted each other, when the British—who had the weather gage, and therefore the initiative—opened their attack. The battle began with opening fire against the "Marseillois", its counterpart near the head of the line. The action very quickly became general, with the van and center of each line fully engaged. The French, in a practice they were known for, tended to aim at British masts and rigging, with the intent of crippling their opponent's mobility. The effects of this tactic were apparent in the engagement: and HMS "Intrepid", at the head of the British line, became virtually impossible to manage, and eventually fell out of the line. The rest of Admiral Drake's squadron also suffered heavy damage, but the casualties were not as severe as those taken on the first two ships. The angle of approach of the British line also played a role in the damage they sustained; ships in their van were exposed to raking fire when only their bow guns could be brought to bear on the French.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: The French van also took a beating, although it was less severe. Captain de Boades of the "Réfléchi" was killed in the opening broadside of Admiral Drake's "Princessa", and the four ships of the French van were, according to a French observer, "engaged with seven or eight vessels at close quarters." The "Diadème", according to a French officer "was utterly unable to keep up the battle, having only four thirty-six-pounders and nine eighteen-pounders fit for use" and was badly shot up; she was rescued by the timely intervention of the "Saint-Esprit".


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: The "Princessa" and Bougainville's "Auguste" at one point were close enough that the French admiral considered a boarding action; Drake managed to pull away, but this gave Bougainville the chance to target the "Terrible". Her foremast, already in bad shape before the battle, was struck by several French cannonballs, and her pumps, already overtaxed in an attempt to keep her afloat, were badly damaged by shots "between wind and water".


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: Around 5:00 pm the wind began to shift, to British disadvantage. De Grasse gave signals for the van to move further ahead so that more of the French fleet might engage, but Bougainville, fully engaged with the British van at musket range, did not want to risk "severe handling had the French presented the stern." When he did finally begin pulling away, British leaders interpreted it as a retreat: "the French van suffered most, because it was obliged to bear away." Rather than follow, the British hung back, continuing to fire at long range; this prompted one French officer to write that the British "only engaged from far off and simply in order to be able to say that they had fought." Sunset brought an end to the firefight, with both fleets continuing on a roughly southeast tack, away from the bay.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: The center of both lines was engaged, but the level of damage and casualties suffered was noticeably less. Ships in the rear squadrons were almost entirely uninvolved; Admiral Hood reported that three of his ships fired a few shots. The ongoing conflicting signals left by Graves, and discrepancies between his and Hood's records of what signals had been given and when, led to immediate recriminations, written debate, and an eventual formal inquiry.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: That evening, Graves did a damage assessment. He noted that "the French had not the appearance of near so much damage as we had sustained", and that five of his fleet were either leaking or virtually crippled in their mobility. De Grasse wrote that "we perceived by the sailing of the English that they had suffered greatly." Nonetheless, Graves maintained a windward position through the night, so that he would have the choice of battle in the morning. Ongoing repairs made it clear to Graves that he would be unable to attack the next day. On the night of 6 September he held council with Hood and Drake. During this meeting Hood and Graves supposedly exchanged words concerning the conflicting signals, and Hood proposed turning the fleet around to make for the Chesapeake. Graves rejected the plan, and the fleets continued to drift eastward, away from Cornwallis. On 8 and 9 September the French fleet at times gained the advantage of the wind, and briefly threatened the British with renewed action. French scouts spied Barras' fleet on 9 September, and de Grasse turned his fleet back toward the Chesapeake Bay that night. Arriving on 12 September, he found that Barras had arrived two days earlier. Graves ordered the "Terrible" to be scuttled on 11 September due to her leaky condition, and was notified on 13 September that the French fleet was back in the Chesapeake; he still did not learn that de Grasse's line had not included the fleet of Barras, because the frigate captain making the report had not counted the ships. In a council held that day, the British admirals decided against attacking the French, due to "the truly lamentable state we have brought ourself." Graves then turned his battered fleet toward New York, arriving off Sandy Hook on 20 September.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: The British fleet's arrival in New York set off a flurry of panic amongst the Loyalist population. The news of the defeat was also not received well in London. King George III wrote (well before learning of Cornwallis's surrender) that "after the knowledge of the defeat of our fleet [...] I nearly think the empire ruined."


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: The French success left them firmly in control of the Chesapeake Bay, completing the encirclement of Cornwallis. In addition to capturing a number of smaller British vessels, de Grasse and Barras assigned their smaller vessels to assist in the transport of Washington's and Rochambeau's forces from Head of Elk to Yorktown.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: It was not until 23 September that Graves and Clinton learned that the French fleet in the Chesapeake numbered 36 ships. This news came from a dispatch sneaked out by Cornwallis on 17 September, accompanied by a plea for help: "If you cannot relieve me very soon, you must be prepared to hear the worst." After effecting repairs in New York, Admiral Graves sailed from New York on 19 October with 25 ships of the line and transports carrying 7,000 troops to relieve Cornwallis. It was two days after Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. General Washington acknowledged to de Grasse the importance of his role in the victory: "You will have observed that, whatever efforts are made by the land armies, the navy must have the casting vote in the present contest." The eventual surrender of Cornwallis led to peace two years later and British recognition of a new, independent United States of America.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: Admiral de Grasse returned with his fleet to the West Indies. In a major engagement that ended Franco-Spanish plans for the capture of Jamaica in 1782, he was defeated and taken prisoner by Rodney in the Battle of the Saintes. His flagship "Ville de Paris" was lost at sea in a storm while being conducted back to England as part of a fleet commanded by Admiral Graves. Graves, despite the controversy over his conduct in this battle, continued to serve, rising to full admiral and receiving an Irish peerage.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: Many aspects of the battle have been the subject of both contemporary and historical debate, beginning right after the battle. On 6 September, Admiral Graves issued a memorandum justifying his use of the conflicting signals, indicating that "[when] the signal for the line of battle ahead is out at the same time with the signal for battle, it is not to be understood that the latter signal shall be rendered ineffectual by a too strict adherence to the former." Hood, in commentary written on the reverse of his copy, observed that this eliminated any possibility of engaging an enemy who was disordered, since it would require the British line to also be disordered. Instead, he maintained, "the British fleet should be as compact as possible, in order to take the critical moment of an advantage opening ..." Others criticise Hood because he "did not wholeheartedly aid his chief", and that a lesser officer "would have been court-martialled for not doing his "utmost" to engage the enemy."


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: One contemporary writer critical of the scuttling of the "Terrible" wrote that "she made no more water than she did before [the battle]", and, more acidly, "If an able officer had been at the head of the fleet, the "Terrible" would not have been destroyed." Admiral Rodney was critical of Graves' tactics, writing, "by contracting his own line he might have brought his nineteen against the enemy's fourteen or fifteen, [...] disabled them before they could have received succor, [... and] gained a complete victory." Defending his own behaviour in not sending his full fleet to North America, he also wrote that "[i]f the admiral in America had met Sir Samuel Hood near the Chesapeake", that Cornwallis's surrender might have been prevented.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: United States Navy historian Frank Chadwick believed that de Grasse could have thwarted the British fleet simply by staying put; his fleet's size would have been sufficient to impede any attempt by Graves to force a passage through his position. Historian Harold Larrabee points out that this would have exposed Clinton in New York to blockade by the French if Graves had successfully entered the bay; if Graves did not do so, Barras (carrying the siege equipment) would have been outnumbered by Graves if de Grasse did not sail out in support.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: According to scientist/historian Eric Jay Dolin, the dreaded hurricane season of 1780 in the Caribbean (a year earlier) may have also played a crucial role in the outcome of the 1781 naval battle. The Great Hurricane of 1780 in October was perhaps the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. An estimated 22,000 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles with the loss of countless ships from many nations. The Royal Navy's loss of 15 warships with 9 severely damaged crucially affected the balance of the American Revolutionary War, especially during Battle of Chesapeake Bay. An outnumbered British Navy losing to the French proved decisive in Washington's Siege of Yorktown, forcing Cornwallis to surrender and effectively securing independence for the United States of America.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: At the Cape Henry Memorial located at Joint Expeditionary Base Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Virginia, there is a monument commemorating the contribution of de Grasse and his sailors to the cause of American independence. The memorial and monument are part of the Colonial National Historical Park and are maintained by the National Park Service.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: Sources consulted (including de Grasse's memoir, and works either dedicated to the battle or containing otherwise detailed orders of battle, like Larrabee (1964) and Morrissey (1997)) do not list per-ship casualties for the French fleet. Larrabee reports the French to have suffered 209 casualties; Bougainville recorded 10 killed and 58 wounded aboard "Auguste" alone.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: The exact order in which the French lined up as they exited the bay is also uncertain. Larrabee notes that many observers wrote up different sequences when the line was finally formed, and that Bougainville recorded several different configurations.


title: Battle of the Chesapeake

text: The 74-gun "Glorieux" and "Vaillant", as well the other frigates, remained at the mouth of the various rivers that they were guarding.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Nikolaos Georgalis (; born July 23, 1957), commonly known as either Nikos Galis (), or Nick Galis, is a retired Greek professional basketball player. Galis, who during his playing days was nicknamed, "Nick The Greek", "The Gangster", and "The Iron Man", is widely regarded as Europe's greatest scorer to ever play the game, and as one of the all-time greatest players in FIBA international basketball history. In 1991, Galis was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players. In 2007, he became an inaugural member of the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. In 2017, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.


title: Nikos Galis

text: During his college basketball career at Seton Hall University, Galis played at the point guard position. However, his primary position during his pro career was shooting guard. He spent most of his club playing career with Aris Thessaloniki, before having a late career stint with Panathinaikos Athens. Among qualified players, he is the EuroLeague's all-time leader in points per game scoring average, when counting both the FIBA and EuroLeague Basketball eras (1958–present). He was also the league's top scorer of the season, numerous times. In Europe's premier basketball club competition, he reached the EuroLeague Final Four on four occasions, making it in three consecutive years with Aris (1988, 1989, 1990), and in another year with Panathinaikos (1994). Galis won eight Greek league championships, and he is also the Greek Championship's amateur era all-time leading scorer, in both career points scored and career scoring average, when counting all league formats prior to the league becoming fully professional, in the 1992–93 season.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis led the Greece men's national basketball team to the EuroBasket's gold medal in 1987, and he earned the tournament's MVP award in the process. Following his stunning success in winning the 1987 EuroBasket title, Galis won both the Mr. Europa and the Euroscar player of the year awards. He also led Greece to a silver medal at the 1989 EuroBasket, where he was also selected to the All-EuroBasket Team. Overall during his national team career, he was named to the All-EuroBasket Team four times (1983, 1987, 1989, 1991). Among his myriad of accomplishments, he holds the EuroBasket's record for the highest career scoring average (31.2 points per game), and he was also the leading scorer of four EuroBasket tournaments, in 1983, 1987, 1989, and 1991. Galis also owns two major records of the FIBA World Championship/Cup tournament. He holds the records for the highest career scoring average (33.5 points per game), and the most total points ever scored in a single tournament, which he set at the 1986 FIBA World Championship.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis, who was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year three times (1986, 1987, 1989), is highly revered in Greece, where he is considered by many to be one of the greatest national athletes that the country has ever had. His years with Aris Thessaloniki and the Greece national team, lifted Greek basketball from a place of relative obscurity, to both European and global power status. Galis was the sports icon that eventually inspired thousands of Greeks to take up playing the game of basketball.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis was born in Union City, New Jersey. The child of a poor immigrant family, from the Greek islands of Rhodes and Nisyros, Galis took up boxing in his early years, after his father, George Georgalis, who had also been a boxer in his youth. He was later persuaded to give up boxing by his mother, Stella Georgalis, who was terrified after each time that her son would return home from boxing training with a new facial injury. As a result, Galis started playing the sport of basketball instead of boxing. He attended Union Hill High School, in Union City, where he played high school basketball, as well as American football.


title: Nikos Galis

text: After high school, Galis enrolled at Seton Hall University, where he played college basketball as a member of the Seton Hall Pirates. In his senior 1978–79 season, Galis saw his scoring average reach 27.5 points per game, which was third in the nation, behind Idaho State's Lawrence Butler (30.1 points per game) and Indiana State's Larry Bird (28.6 points per game), including a 48-point outburst against the University of Santa Clara.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Also in his senior year of college, Galis won the Haggerty Award (the New York City metro area's best player award), and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Player of the Year award. The same year, he also played in the Pizza Hut All-American game, alongside Bird and Vinnie Johnson. During his four-year college career, Galis played in a total of 107 games and scored 1,651 points, for a career scoring average of 15.4 points per game.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis' head coach at Seton Hall, Bill Raftery, would later state that Galis was the best player that he ever coached. While at Seton Hall, Galis was a good friend and roommate of Italian-American professional basketball player Dan Callandrillo. Galis was later inducted into the Seton Hall Athletic Hall of Fame, in 1991.


title: Nikos Galis

text: After finishing his collegiate career in 1979, Galis signed with agent Bill Manon, who also managed Diana Ross. Manon did not have Galis work out with any NBA team. Galis was eventually selected by the Boston Celtics in the 4th round of the 1979 NBA Draft, 68th overall. Due to a severe ankle injury that Galis suffered during the Celtics preseason training camp of the 1979–80 season, the franchise was no longer interested in offering him a contract because Gerald Henderson had taken his place on the team, and his injury would keep him out for the foreseeable future.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis then decided to pursue a professional career in Greece's top-tier level Basket League. Later, while still playing in Greece, he would be offered NBA contracts by the Celtics and the New Jersey Nets. However, he turned the offers down, because at the time, and until 1989, FIBA did not have professional status, and consequently did not allow NBA players to compete at the national team level. Since playing with the Greek men's national basketball team meant so much to him, he stayed in Greece. Celtics then-president Red Auerbach later said that the single biggest mistake he ever made in his career was not keeping Galis.


title: Nikos Galis

text: After suffering an ankle injury in the Boston Celtics 1979–80 preseason training camp, which prevented him from receiving a contract with the Celtics, Galis made the move across the Atlantic, and signed to play with Aris Thessaloniki of Greece, in 1979. The two major Greek clubs of Panathinaikos Athens and Olympiacos Piraeus, had also shown some interest in signing him, but it was Aris Thessaloniki's interest that was the most persuasive to Galis. His move to the country would eventually help Greek club basketball to reach a level of popularity that had never been previously imagined.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis was the indisputable leader of Aris Thessaloniki, as he averaged more than 30 points per game in nearly every season and competition that he played in with the team. With Aris Thessaloniki, he played alongside other great European players like Panagiotis Giannakis and Slobodan Subotić, who was known in Greece as Lefteris Soumpotits. With Aris Thessaloniki, Galis won eight Greek League championships, in the years 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991. He won seven out of his eight Greek League championships in consecutive years, with three of those championships being won in undefeated seasons. He also won six Greek Cup titles with Aris Thessaloniki, in the years 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1992. Four of his six Greek Cup titles were won in consecutive years.


title: Nikos Galis

text: In the top-level European-wide club competition, the FIBA European Champions' Cup (EuroLeague), Galis led Aris Thessaloniki to three consecutive appearances at the competition's Final Four. Galis' team played at the 1988 Ghent Final Four, the 1989 Munich Final Four, and the 1990 Zaragoza Final Four. In the one major disappointment of an otherwise glittering club career with Aris Thessaloniki, all three of Galis' FIBA European Champions' Cup Final Four appearances ended in losses in the semifinals. Which thus deprived him of the opportunity to shine all the way onto Europe's biggest club stage, at the FIBA European Champions' Cup Finals (EuroLeague Finals). However, the team's performances and general standard of play, won over the hearts of most basketball fans in Greece. In fact, cinemas and theaters in Greece would often reduce their ticket admission prices on Thursday evenings, when Aris Thessaloniki was playing games, as large segments of the country settled down to watch them on television.


title: Nikos Galis

text: In June 1991, Galis was chosen as a member of The Balkans Selection All-Star Team that played against The European Selection All-Star Team at the 1991 FIBA Centennial Jubilee. The 1991 FIBA Jubilee event was held in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the creation of the sport of basketball in 1891, by the Canadian James Naismith. The FIBA Jubilee All-Star Game took place at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, in Piraeus, Athens, Greece, and it included numerous legends of European basketball. The Balkans' All-Star Selection won the game, by a score of 103–102. Galis was the game's top scorer, with 20 points.


title: Nikos Galis

text: On 19 December 1991, in one of his final FIBA EuroLeague games with Aris Thessaloniki, Galis rolled back the clock. At the age of 34, he scored 46 points, on 13/20 field goals overall, 8/14 2-point field goals, 5/6 3-point field goals, and 15/18 free throws, in a 111–108 loss against the Italian League club Olimpia Milano. However, Aris Thessaloniki's 1991–92 FIBA EuroLeague season was a disappointment, as the club finished group stage play with a record of 3–11.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Also in that same 1991–92 season, in a Greek League game against Panionios Athens, Galis scored 48 points, on 17/21 field goals overall, 15/18 2-point field goals, 2/3 3-point field goals, and 12/13 free throws. However, Aris Thessaloniki failed to make it to the 1992 Greek League's Finals. It was the first time that the team had not won the Greek League championship, since 1984.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Eventually, the 1991–92 season ended up being Galis' final campaign with Aris Thessaloniki. At that time, the team was under new management and was trying to bring down the club's debts. That combined with Galis' huge salary for that time, and the fact that the team was in a period of decline, were the main causes for his departure. Galis, who adored the city of Thessaloniki and Aris' fans, had originally insisted on remaining in the club and playing for the team, as he believed that he still had a lot to offer the club. Ultimately however, Galis was forced to leave the club. In his last game for the club, Galis scored 18 points (6/9, 6/9, 0/2) as Aris beat AEK 74–62 to win yet another Greek Cup title in 1992.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis moved to Athens, in the summer of 1992, to play with Panathinaikos. He was the player who then led the "Greens" to a club rebirth, after it had suffered through a long drought period, during which the historical team had remained without winning any titles. The previous season (1991–92) had been particularly disappointing for the club, with the team finishing in eighth place in the Greek league. As the team's captain, Galis inspired the young players of Panathinaikos Athens, such as Fragiskos Alvertis and Nikos Oikonomou, and he gradually brought back hope to the team's fans. So much so, as to the point that the club's then home arena, Glyfada Indoor Hall, was always overcrowded. In that season (1992–93), Panathinaikos Athens finished in second place in the Greek league, and also won the Greek Cup title, which was the seventh Greek Cup title for Galis.


title: Nikos Galis

text: In the following 1993–94 season, Galis was the FIBA European League (EuroLeague)'s Top Scorer, with an average of 23.8 points per game, in 21 games played. He also led the league in assists, with an average of 4.7 assists per game. In Panathinaikos Athens' decisive Game 3 victory of the FIBA European League's quarterfinals, against the then reigning league champions, the French League club Limoges, Galis truly led Panathinaikos Athens into a new club era. Galis led Panathinaikos Athens' qualification to the 1994 Tel Aviv FIBA European League Final Four, by scoring 30 points in the deciding playoff game, on 12–16 (75%) field goal shooting in the game. The "Greens" eventually finished in third place in the FIBA European League that season, after they lost in the semifinals to their arch-rivals Olympiacos Piraeus, by a score of 77–72.


title: Nikos Galis

text: However, it was still the furthest that the club had reached in the competition since the 1971–72 season. Galis scored 30 points in Panathinaikos Athens' win in the Final Four's third place game against the Spanish League club FC Barcelona, as he led all scorers in the game, with 30 points. Galis was named to the All-Final Four Team.


title: Nikos Galis

text: In what proved to be one of his final games for Panathinaikos, during the 3rd/4th place playoff series against Panionios in May 1994, Galis went scoreless in a game for the first time in his professional career in Greece, ending game 2 (which Panathinaikos lost 93–71) with 0/4 two-point shots from 29 minutes' play. Galis rallied to score 18 and 22 points in games 3 and 4, both of which Panathinaikos won to seal 3rd spot and a place in the FIBA European League for the following season.


title: Nikos Galis

text: In his third season with Panthinaikos Athens (1994–95), Galis teamed up with Panagiotis Giannakis and Žarko Paspalj, to make a strong effort to win the championship of the FIBA European League. Galis was the player who led Panathinaikos Athens to the competition's Top 16 group stage, as he prevented their elimination from the competition against the Ukrainian Super League club Budivelnyk Kyiv, with a game-high of 23 points in the club's decisive second-leg game victory. Galis was also the leader of the team in their Greek Cup win against Olympiacos Piraeus, at the Sporting Sports Arena.


title: Nikos Galis

text: At the age of 37, Galis played in his last game in professional basketball, as a player of Panathinaikos Athens, on October 12, 1994. It was in a game against Dafni Athens, in Week 1 of the Greek League's 1994–95 season. In that game, Galis scored a total of 8 points (2/2, 3/3), in 35 minutes of playing time. Panathinaikos Athens won the game in a blowout, by a score of 82–60.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis' playing career then ended controversially, on October 18, 1994, before Panathinaikos Athens' Week 2 game of the Greek League's 1994–95 season. Kostas Politis, who was the head coach of Panathinaikos Athens at the time, decided not to include Galis in the team's starting line-up of that Greek League game versus Ampelokipoi Athens. In protest against the head coach's decision, Galis left the arena, and ultimately, he never returned to playing action again. His retirement was officially announced in the media, on September 29, 1995.


title: Nikos Galis

text: During his pro club basketball career, Galis scored a total of 12,864 points, in 384 Greek Basket League games played, for a career scoring average of 33.5 points per game. In the 55 career Greek Cup games in which he played, he scored a total of 1,935 points, for a career scoring average of 35.2 points per game. He also averaged 42.5 points per game, in the two Greek Super Cup games that he played in. He scored a total of 864 points, in 23 FIBA Korać Cup games, for a career scoring average of 37.6 points per game. In the FIBA EuroLeague, he scored a total of 4,047 points, in 125 games played, for a career scoring average of 32.4 points per game. Overall, in all of the pro club competitions that he played in, Galis scored a total of 19,795 points, in 589 games played, for a pro club career scoring average of 33.6 points per game.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis first played with the Greece men's national basketball team at the 1980 FIBA European Olympic Qualifying Tournament. He averaged 20.5 points per game at the tournament. His tournament single-game scoring high was 30 points, which came in a game against Switzerland. However, Greece failed to qualify for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games. At the 1981 EuroBasket, Galis averaged 19.9 points per game. Greece finished the tournament in 9th place. At the 1983 EuroBasket, Galis averaged 33.6 points per game, and he was the tournament's leading scorer. Greece finished the tournament in 11th place.


title: Nikos Galis

text: On 20 November 1983, Galis played in a friendly game against the North Carolina Tar Heels, at The Demetria Tournament '83. The game took place at the Alexandreio Melathron arena. During that game, Galis, who was Greece's shooting guard, was guarded by North Carolina's shooting guard, Michael Jordan. Galis scored 24 points during the game.


title: Nikos Galis

text: At the 1984 FIBA European Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Galis averaged 31.6 points per game, and he was the tournament's leading scorer. His tournament single-game scoring high was 45 points, which came in a game against Great Britain. However, Greece failed to qualify for the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games.


title: Nikos Galis

text: With Greece, Galis won the bronze medal at the 1984 Balkan Championship. At the 1986 FIBA World Championship, Galis led the tournament in scoring, as he averaged 33.7 points per game. During the tournament, he had a 53-point outburst in a game against Panama. Greece finished the tournament in 10th place. With Greece, Galis won the gold medal at the 1986 Balkan Championship.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis next led the Greece national team to the 1987 EuroBasket gold medal. Galis led the tournament in scoring, as he averaged 37.0 points per game. He scored 40 points in the tournament's finals against the Soviet Union national team and its legendary player, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, as he led Greece to a 103–101 victory. He was named the MVP of the tournament.


title: Nikos Galis

text: At the 1988 FIBA European Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Galis averaged 28.4 points per game, and he was the tournament's leading scorer. His tournament single-game scoring high was 35 points, which came in a game against Germany. However, Greece failed to qualify for the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis also led Greece to the silver medal at the 1989 EuroBasket, which he led in scoring, with an average of 35.6 points per game. Galis is most remembered from that tournament, for a stunning effort against the Soviet team led by Marčiulionis, and its other star player, Arvydas Sabonis, in their semifinals game. Galis scored 45 out of his team's 81 total points, in a dramatic last-gasp 81–80 victory. The Greek team then settled for a second-place finish, after they lost against the dominant Yugoslav national team, in the tournament's finals.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis also represented Greece at the 1991 FIBA Centennial Jubilee, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the creation of the sport of basketball, by the Canadian James Naismith. The Jubilee tournament took place at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, in Piraeus, Athens, Greece. In three games played during the tournament, Galis averaged 21.0 points per game.


title: Nikos Galis

text: At the 1991 EuroBasket, Galis averaged 32.4 points per game, and he also led the tournament in scoring. In total, Galis was the leading scorer of the EuroBasket four times. He was also a four-time All-EuroBasket Team member.


title: Nikos Galis

text: In total, Galis played in 168 FIBA-recognized games with the Greece national team, in which he scored a total of 5,129 points, for a career scoring average of 30.5 points per game. Galis is in the second place, on the list of the all-time career scoring leaders in the history of Greece's senior national team. Panagiotis Giannakis is in first place on the list.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis was not only a legendary scorer, he was also a great play maker and passer. The majority of his points scored came inside the paint area, due to his penetrating ability. Galis' mid-range jumper was one of his biggest offensive weapons, as he was able to consistently make it against defensive pressure. Galis' great strength and leaping ability allowed him to have an excellent post game against other guards, despite his short stature, as compared to most other players. Another enormous competitive advantage that Galis possessed was his incredible stamina, which was due to his exemplary physical conditioning. At the 1987 EuroBasket, after the first game of the competition, Galis was never substituted out of any of the tournament's remaining games. His stamina and conditioning led to him being given the nickname of "The Iron Man".


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis is married to Eleni Panagiotou, and he has one daughter, named Stella. Since his official retirement from playing professional club basketball on September 29, 1995, and up until early 2006, Galis was the owner of a summer basketball camp in Chalkidiki, Greece. The basketball camp was listed at the Athens Stock Exchange. As a token of appreciation for his contribution to Greek sport, Galis was chosen to be the first torch bearer, in the final round of the Olympic Flame, for the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. Galis entered the stadium at the conclusion of the Opening Ceremony, and set off the procession of the flame to the altar.


title: Nikos Galis

text: In September 2007, Galis was inducted as a member of the first class of the FIBA Hall of Fame, which includes the best basketball players in the history of the game internationally. Galis was inducted as a player. Bill Russell, of the famous Boston Celtics dynasty, was another one of the 16 inaugural player inductees. Galis was also entered into the Eurobasket.com website's European Basketball Hall of Fame, inducted as a player.


title: Nikos Galis

text: In May 2013, his former club team Aris Thessaloniki, renamed the court of their home arena, the Alexandreio Melathron, to "Nick Galis Hall". The club also organized a celebration of Galis' life and career, and retired his number 6 Aris jersey. The event was attended by many of his former teammates and opponents, from the 1980s and 1990s. Some of the attendees included the majority of the Greece men's national basketball team's 1987 EuroBasket gold medal-winning team, as well as numerous other international basketball stars who played against Galis over the years, such as Dino Rađja, Jordi Villacampa, and Doron Jamchi, among others.


title: Nikos Galis

text: On April 1, 2017, it was announced that Galis would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as part of the 2017 Hall of Fame class. Galis was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, on September 9, 2017. He became one of the very few men's basketball players from around the world, to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, without having ever played in the NBA. On June 14, 2016, exactly 29 years after Greece's national team won the gold medal at the 1987 EuroBasket, the court of the biggest basketball arena in Greece, the OAKA Olympic Indoor Hall, was named the "Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall", in his honour.


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""I never thought that there was such a good offensive player in Europe, and especially in Greece."", Michael Jordan


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""I admire him. When he plays one on one, there's no way to stop him. I didn't think that there would ever be a player, who by himself, could cause nightmares and even beat the Soviet Union."", Sergei Belov


title: Nikos Galis

text: "I’d like to be on the same team with him, so I could pass to him, and then watch him score a basket.”", Dražen Petrović"'


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""Although Drazen (i.e. Petrović) is my brother, for the best athlete of 1987, I voted for Galis.", Aco Petrović"'


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""Galis is a great player. He is one of the best European players. He was a really tough opponent, he floated in the air, he was one of the best."", Dino Radja


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""Petrović and Galis were the most charismatic players I've ever known. "Galis is the only player who made me shudder."", Doron Jamchi


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""The man is a computer! If he had played with us in AEK in the '60s, we would have been undefeated."", Georgios Amerikanos


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""A European and Greek basketball changed. It is my honor to play with him. He is the greatest of all time ".", Sasha Volkov


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""I've seen many players in my career, but what Galis does on the floor, only 2–3 in the world can do."", Audie Norris


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""Who wouldn't want to play with Galis? I would definitely give the ball to Galis on the last play. Galis changed basketball in Greece and Europe."", Audie Norris


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""Galis wasn't affected by anything. I count him among the five best players of Europe."", Georgios Sigalas


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""I had given specific instructions on how to defend against the other 4 players. As for Nikos, we just had to sit down and pray!"", Wojciech Krajewski, Lech Poznan head coach.


title: Nikos Galis

text: ""There is only one way I can think of to stop Nikos from scoring. Lock him up in his hotel room, so that he can't come to the arena."", Ruud Harrewijn, Dutch national team head coach.


title: Nikos Galis

text: Galis won numerous titles and awards during his career and had many memorable single game performances. The following are some of them:


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: Weird Science is an American television sitcom, based on John Hughes' 1985 film of the same title, that aired on the USA Network from March 5, 1994, to April 11, 1997. Six previously unaired, "lost" episodes aired on Syfy from July 11–25, 1998.


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: The series follows the adventures of Gary Wallace (John Mallory Asher) and Wyatt Donnelly (Michael Manasseri), two socially inept high-school students in a fictional California town. Together, using Wyatt's computer, they try to create a computer simulation of a perfect woman in order to practice communicating with girls. However, a freak lightning storm brings her to life, creating Lisa (Vanessa Angel), a gorgeous genius with the powers of a "magic genie".


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: In the pilot episode, Gary claims that creating Lisa is possible because he "saw it in a John Hughes movie", referring to the original "Weird Science" film.


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: "Weird Science" was produced by St. Clare Entertainment in association with Universal Television. Premiering on March 1, 1994, the show ran for five seasons on the USA Network for a total of 88 episodes. However, new episodes ceased airing in 1997 with the final six still unaired. They would eventually air in the United States the following year on the Sci-Fi Channel; the show was also reran briefly on what was then the Fox Family Channel in 2001 and Encore Family in 2004.


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: The theme song for the series was "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo, the same as that used in the movie (though they received no on-screen credit for the series).


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: John Hughes had no involvement with the television version of his film. The creators and showrunners of the series were Tom Spezialy and Alan Cross.


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: Kari Lizer, one of the staff writers, who later went on to create "The New Adventures of Old Christine", said, ""Weird Science" turned out to be the best job because it made me realize I was more than an actress who could write monologues for herself. It turned me into a real writer because I had to write about things that weren’t close to home."


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: Seth Green was one of the finalists for the part of Gary. He later had a guest appearance in season 2 episode 1, "Lisa's Virus".


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: Six episodes that did not air during the series' original run on USA Network eventually aired on Syfy. The first two premiered July 11, 1998, with the remainder premiering as pairs of episodes July 18 and 25, 1998.


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: In France, the series was aired as "" on France 2 in 1995, later it was rebroadcast on MCM, NRJ 12 and Game One.


title: Weird Science (TV series)

text: On January 1, 2008, A&E Home Video released the complete first and second seasons of "Weird Science" on DVD in Region 1.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: The John Larroquette Show is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 2, 1993, until October 30, 1996. Created by Don Reo, the show was a star vehicle for John Larroquette following his run as Dan Fielding on "Night Court". The series takes place in a seedy bus terminal in St. Louis, Missouri, and originally focused on the somewhat broken people who worked the night shift, and in particular, the lead character's battle with alcoholism. The series was produced by Reo's Impact Zone Productions, Larroquette's Port Street Films and Witt/Thomas Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: John Hemingway, recovering alcoholic, has been appointed to the role of night shift manager of the St. Louis bus depot. He must deal not only with the intricacies of keeping the station running smoothly, but also the employees and other personalities who frequent the station, all while dealing with his own demons. This was highlighted in the first episode, with a running gag of every character offering to buy him a drink upon his meeting them.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: Most of the first season dealt with John's attempts to stay sober, with episodes representing each of the AA program's Twelve Steps. John constantly struggled to maintain control of the station, with regular conflicts with his secretary, Mahalia, the janitor, Heavy Gene, and most strongly with sandwich bar attendant Dexter, who had been turned down for the position to which John was appointed. Adding sexual tension to John's life was high class escort Carly, who was a friend of Dexter's.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: Beginning with the second season, Hemingway (and the entire cast) changed from the night shift to the daytime hours, and the alcoholism sub-plot was de-emphasized.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: The show was unusual for occasionally addressing issues of race through a multiracial cast, unlike most American sitcoms in the 1990s.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: Over the course of its run, the show also featured cameos from a number of celebrities. Bobcat Goldthwait guested for one episode, playing an assistant to John who was constantly a mess but became suddenly efficient and 'normal' as soon as he became drunk. Boyz II Men appeared in a 1994 episode that saw their tour bus break down at John's station. In one episode Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman appeared as himself in a jail cell. Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty played themselves for one episode while referencing their "Golden Girls" characters. Fellow "Night Court" actors Harry Anderson, Charles Robinson, and Marsha Warfield each appeared in an episode.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: Despite receiving early favorable critical reviews, the first season finished 96th overall, in part due to its time slot opposing "Roseanne" (which was fourth overall during the same season). By Larroquette's own admission, though, the show's first season wasn't prime-time material due to its dark nature – at least not for network television.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: The show faced cancellation, until Larroquette requested the chance to retool the series, which NBC granted. Much of the dark humor was removed, for a more "toned-down" feel. The sets were brighter, and the cast were transferred from the night shift to day. John's dingy bed-sit was traded for a nice apartment. Oscar, the old bum who lived in one of the bus station phone booths, was cleaned up and became a shoeshine, and the prostitute character Carly (Gigi Rice) went "straight" – buying the bar and becoming a model citizen. The producers also gave John a wholesome romantic interest in the form of nurse Catherine Merrick, played by Alison LaPlaca. The series continued in this more prime-time-friendly format for two more years.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: In an attempt to boost the third season opener, but without increasing the budget, it featured a faux guest appearance by Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane, whom John calls for advice (not knowing he is on Frasier's live radio program). Ratings did not improve, however. John and Carly got married in the third-season finale while Catherine was seemingly pregnant with John's child. It was revealed that Catherine was experiencing a phantom pregnancy and left the show. "The John Larroquette Show" was cancelled abruptly one month into its fourth season, the last episode airing on October 30, 1996 showing John and Officer Eggers on a date at a Halloween party. Six episodes remained unaired until being shown on the USA Network years later.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: The series was originally to be called "Crossroads"; however, NBC wished to make the most of John Larroquette's popularity from his previous role on "Night Court", and insisted on naming the show after him.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: The show was videotaped, but processed by NBC to make it look like it was recorded on film. Reruns on other networks had the show in its original videotaped format.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: The series' theme song, "The Skrewy St. Louis Blues", is a bluesy tune performed by David Cassidy on acoustic guitar with a scat vocal. A version of the performance lasting approximately one minute was used in the opening and closing sequences of the show during its first season. A much shorter edit of the song (lasting less than ten seconds) was heard only during the opening logo during the later seasons. An upbeat, jazzy instrumental tune was occasionally used for the closing theme in seasons three and four.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: Steve Cochran, a former radio host on WGN Radio in Chicago, used the Cassidy song as the theme music for his own radio program up until he was fired.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: The show was nominated and won several technical awards over its four-year run, and Larroquette was nominated in 1994 for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Guest star Betty White won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 1996 for her appearance in the Season 3 episode "Here We Go Again".


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: Liz Torres, also nominated in 1994 for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, won the NCLR/ALMA Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Comedy Series in 1996 for her role in the series. She would also win a Nosotros Golden Eagle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Series in 1997.


title: The John Larroquette Show

text: After the series made several references to reclusive novelist Thomas Pynchon's work and reputation, Pynchon (through his agent) reportedly contacted the series' producers to offer suggestions and corrections. When a local Pynchon sighting became a major plot point in a 1994 episode of the series, Pynchon was sent the script for his approval; as well as providing the title of a fictitious work to be used in one episode ("Pandemonium of the Sun"), the novelist apparently vetoed a final scene that called for an extra playing him to be filmed from behind, walking away from the shot. Pynchon also insisted that it should be specifically mentioned in the episode that Pynchon was seen wearing a T-shirt showing psychedelic-rock musician Roky Erickson. According to the Los Angeles Times, this spurred an increase in sales of Erickson's albums.


title: WBSC World Rankings

text: The WBSC World Rankings is a ranking system for national teams in baseball and softball. The teams of the member nations of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), baseball's world governing body, are ranked based on their tournament results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of WBSC-recognized international tournaments. Under the existing system, rankings are based on a team's performance over the last four years, with major international tournaments awarded a higher weighting compared to minor international and continental tournaments.


title: WBSC World Rankings

text: Four rankings are published by the WBSC, they are: Men's Baseball, Women's Baseball, Women's Softball, and Men's Softball.


title: WBSC World Rankings

text: In January 2009, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) first published a listing in rank order of its member associations to provide a basis for comparison of the relative strengths of these teams. Though primarily focused on the respective men's senior teams of member nations, the current ranks also include points awarded based on results at the IBAF 'AAA' (Under 18) Junior and 'AA' (Under 16) Youth Championships held during the tracking period. As a result from the merger with softball in 2013, the WBSC is also responsible for ranking international men's and women's softball teams. Beginning in 2015, the rankings also determine which twelve teams participate in the WBSC Premier12 tournament.


title: WBSC World Rankings

text: In the wake of the International Olympic Committee's decision to cut baseball from the 2012 Olympics program, the IBAF pushed the growth of women's baseball as to include a women's component in its bid for a reinstatement of the sport in future Olympics. The effort to unify the sports resulted in the merger of the IBAF with the International Softball Federation in 2013 to create the WBSC.


title: WBSC World Rankings

text: The initial women's baseball rankings were based upon results from past Women's Baseball World Cups. While the calculations of the women's rankings are similar to that of the men's, one main difference is that they are inclusive of the three most recent IBAF Women's Baseball World Cups whereas the men's rankings only include the last two. Points are weighted in favor of the more recent results.


title: WBSC World Rankings

text: Points are awarded in the men's baseball rankings according to finishes in the Premier12, World Baseball Classic, U-23 Baseball World Cup, U-18 Baseball World Cup, U-15 Baseball World Cup and U-12 Baseball World Cup as follows.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Alexander Giannoulias ( ; born March 16, 1976) is an American financier and politician who served as the 72nd Illinois Treasurer from 2007 to 2011. A Democrat, Giannoulias defeated Republican candidate State Senator Christine Radogno in November 2006 with 54 percent of the vote, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office in 12 years, at the age of 30. He is the Illinois Secretary of State-elect, having won the 2022 election on November 8, 2022.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias was a candidate in the 2010 elections for the seat in the United States Senate held by Roland Burris. Burris, who was appointed by Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill the seat vacated by Barack Obama following Obama's election as President of the United States, chose not to seek election. Giannoulias won the Democratic primary in February 2010, and narrowly lost the general elections in November 2010 to Republican Mark Kirk.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: After 2010, Giannoulias mostly stepped back from public life, and served as Senior Director of BNY Mellon Wealth Management. On June 26, 2018, he was confirmed to the Chicago Public Library Board, marking his first return to public service since leaving the Treasurer's office. Giannoulias was elected Illinois secretary of state in the 2022 election.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Greek immigrants. His mother, Anna, is from Chania, and his late father, Alexis, was from Kalavryta. He has two older brothers, Demetris and George. Giannoulias attended The Latin School of Chicago and then the University of Chicago before transferring to Boston University. Giannoulias graduated "cum laude" with a bachelor's degree in economics. He then moved to Greece to play basketball with Panionios B.C. for a year (1998–99).


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias had played basketball at The Latin School of Chicago, and played Division III basketball at the University of Chicago. He then played Division I basketball at Boston University.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: After returning from Greece, Giannoulias attended Tulane University Law School. Upon earning his J.D. degree, Alexi returned to Chicago to help manage Broadway Bank, a community bank in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood that was founded by his father in 1979.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias served on the board of directors of the Community Banker's Association of Illinois Legislative Committee, the South Side/Wabash YMCA, and the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce. Giannoulias also founded and chaired the AG Foundation, a not-for-profit charity that donated money to treat child-related illnesses, curb poverty and assist disaster relief organizations.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Although the state Democratic Party led by House Speaker Mike Madigan backed his opponent, Paul Mangieri, in the primary, Giannoulias was endorsed by U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky and Jesse Jackson, Jr. and by then-Senator Barack Obama.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: The Chicago Sun-Times news group also endorsed Giannoulias in the general election, arguing that he would "bring valuable private enterprise experience from banking to the job" and praising his "creative" policy proposals like a securities lending program, improving Bright Start, and promoting green energy. Running on a campaign platform that emphasized comprehensive ethics reform for the Treasurer's office, Giannoulias won the March 2006 primary and went on to defeat Republican candidate Christine Radogno in the general election.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: On his first day as State Treasurer, Giannoulias "signed an executive order to enact the most comprehensive, widest-ranging ethics package of any elected official in the state", according to his official state website. "The order prohibits [the Treasurer] from accepting contributions from banks, Treasurer's Office employees and contractors who do business with the office." He also moved to foreclose on two debt-ridden hotels built in the 1980s by politically connected insiders in Springfield and Collinsville.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: In 2009, Giannoulias worked to encourage Wells Fargo to cooperate in the sale of Chicago-based clothing manufacturer Hartmarx Corp., which was at risk of liquidation and had filed for Chapter 11 protection. The success of this sale with Giannoulias' support saved over 600 jobs at an Illinois Hartmarx factory that otherwise would have been closed.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Wells Fargo, a primary lender for Hartmarx, is also "the money custodian for the treasurer's office, holding its cash and other financial assets." Giannoulias publicly challenged Wells Fargo's obstruction of the sale, stating that "[Wells Fargo's] intention to liquidate Hartmarx rather than allow a sale to buyers intent on keeping the company running will significantly jeopardize the business relationship between Wells Fargo and the state of Illinois."


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias cited the fact Wells Fargo received over $25 billion in federal TARP bailout funds as further reason why the bank should have supported the sale of Hartmarx instead of pursuing the company's liquidation. In a public statement, Giannoulias said, ""We expect companies that get state and federal taxpayer money to invest it in American jobs and American workers, not destroy companies that still have a chance to succeed.""


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias launched the "Green Rewards" program, which gives a $1,000 rebate to Illinois residents who purchase a new hybrid or other fuel-efficient vehicle.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: In January 2009, the state of Illinois purchased $10 million worth of Israel Bonds. Giannoulias said: ""This is a good way to safely diversify our portfolio, especially during a time when some of our other investment options aren't generating as much revenue because of the market fluctuations here in the United States."" According to Giannoulias, the Israel Bonds will mature in three years with a 2.43% rate of return, compared to U.S. government bonds yielding a 1.51% return during the same period.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: In addition to revamping the Bright Start savings program, Giannoulias created several new scholarship programs for Illinois college students.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: The Fallen Heroes Scholarship Program, which Giannoulias designed in a partnership with the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, awards an initial investment of $2,500 in college savings to children who have lost a parent in military service since 2001.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: In 2008, Giannoulias announced the creation of the Bright Start Scholarship Program, which will award $3.5 million in need-based scholarships over 7 years, until 2015. More than 250 students received scholarships in 2008, the first year of the program. The scholarships were designed by Giannoulias as a public–private partnership, with the funding for the scholarships donated by a private firm at no cost to the state or taxpayers. Giannoulias also developed the Cultivate Illinois Excellence in Agriculture scholarship in 2008. This program awards ten $2,000 scholarships each year to students pursuing degrees in agriculture-related fields.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: As Illinois Treasurer, Giannoulias was responsible for overseeing the Illinois' Bright Start college saving program. Bright Start provides parents with the opportunity to invest in a tax-free account to save for their children's college education. Enrollees are eligible for several state tax benefits and can invest in various stock and bond options. Before Giannoulias took office, SavingForCollege.com ranked Bright Start 47th out of 48 in the nation. Giannoulias helped reform the program, and Bright Start went from being one of the worst programs in the country to one of the best. Morningstar called the transformation "a Cinderella story."


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: In 2008, one of the twenty-one funds in Bright Start, Core Plus, began experiencing excessive losses and eventually lost 38% of its value. In the same year, the overall Bright Start program's benchmark grew by 5.4%. Within the Illinois Bright Start program, 2.5% of investors had invested their entire portfolios in Core Plus and suffered a 38% loss; others experienced smaller losses.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: As the Associated Press reported, "It turns out the Oppenheimer team handling Core Plus — a team the company has now fired — was putting money into risky, complicated investments that tanked in 2008 amid the general financial meltdown." In 2009, Oregon, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, Maine and Illinois all investigated OppenheimerFunds' handling of their college savings programs for impermissible investments and misconduct. Oppenheimer was selected to lead the program by Giannoulias' predecessor, former Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, in December 2006, a month before Giannoulias took office.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: After the credit markets collapsed in the fall, new contributions into the fund were halted on December 4, 2008. In January 2009, the treasurer's office announced that no further contributions would be made to the Core Plus fund and that the state would be investigating the losses.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: According to the Associated Press, Illinois was the first state to take action. In January 2009, at the request of Giannoulias, the Illinois Attorney General initiated its own probe of OppenheimerFunds, issuing subpoenas on the company. At the time, the losses attributable to OppenheimerFunds' impermissible investments were estimated to be "in excess of $85 million."


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Despite the problem associated with OppenheimerFunds' handling of Core Plus, Bright Start remains a highly regarded 529 college savings program. In April 2009, Consumer Reports studied college savings programs across the country "to see how well they performed during last year's stock-market plunge." Consumer Reports "found five that are worthy of an A," and ranked Bright Start as one of the top five college savings programs in the nation. In April 2009, Money Magazine selected Bright Start as one of the "best low-risk 529 plans." In December 2009, Kiplingers selected Bright Start as one of the best state 529 plans in the country, choosing it as the best plan for "low fees." Morningstar, Inc., which had previously ranked Bright Start in its top 5 in 2008, has acknowledged the issues relating to Core Plus but, citing Illinois' swift action in dealing with the issue, reported in 2009 that "the plan still holds plenty of appeal."


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: In December 2009, the Illinois Attorney General's Office and the Office of the State Treasurer announced that Illinois had reached a settlement with OppenheimerFunds. Eligible accountholders who lost money in Core Plus would receive $77 million from OppenheimerFunds. As the scope of the settlement was expanded during negotiations with OppenheimerFunds to include more accountholders, the total loss addressed by the settlement is $150 million. The payout from this settlement brings the losses for the 2.5% of Bright Start investors who were fully invested in Core Plus down to 17%.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: The Treasurer's Office used some of the investment fees from the Bright Start program to purchase a hybrid vehicle "so Bright Start staff have a way to travel the state and sign families up for the program" and used to promote other Treasurer's Office programs. The vehicle was never used for personal use by Giannoulias.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias started a pilot program in 2007 to sell the abandoned contents of safe deposit boxes on eBay, scrapping the state's annual live auctions.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: From 2002 to 2006, Giannoulias worked as a senior loan officer and vice president at Broadway Bank, a community bank founded by his father. When he left the bank in 2006, it was one of the most profitable banks in Illinois. Four years later, on January 26, 2010, Broadway Bank entered into a consent decree with the FDIC that ordered Broadway to increase its capital. Two dozen small- to medium-sized banks in Illinois and nearly 200 banks nationwide have failed since the October 2008 economic crash.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Broadway Bank's struggling financial situation is due to delinquent real estate loans and foreclosed properties. From 2002 to 2006, Broadway's lending in construction and development loans increased sixfold, to $356 million. During Giannoulias' tenure, Broadway also increased its brokered deposits, which generally command high interest rates. When Giannoulias left the bank in 2006, brokered deposits made up 80% of all deposits at Broadway. When the housing market crashed in late 2008, commercial real estate loan performance deteriorated and Broadway Bank, which had focused its lending in real estate, suffered.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: At the end of business on Friday, , the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Banking, seized Broadway Bank and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. The FDIC in turn named MB Financial Bank as the institution receiving Broadway Bank's deposit accounts. The FDIC announced that it and MB Financial Bank would share $878.4 million in losses, for a cost of $394.3 million to the federal Deposit Insurance Fund.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Broadway Bank made real estate development loans to Tony Rezko, a political fundraiser and real estate developer who was later convicted of fraud and money laundering. Broadway Bank made these loans before Rezko was investigated, indicted, or convicted for any crimes, but not before the criminal conduct took place. Before his conviction, Rezko also received loans from other Chicago banks, including Bank of Chicago, First Bank and Trust of Illinois, GE Capital, Harris Trust and Savings, LaSalle Bank, and Manufacturers Bank.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Rezko defaulted on loans made by Broadway, and, in 2006 Broadway was the first bank to foreclose on one of Rezko's delinquent loans, forcing him to declare bankruptcy. Broadway Bank also refused to cover nine bad checks written by Rezko for a total of $450,000 in early 2008


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Broadway Bank also loaned money for real estate developments to Michael Giorango, who has been convicted for prostitution and bookmaking. Giannoulias has stated that he was not part of the loan committee that approved the loans to Giorango.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias ran against Republican nominee Mark Kirk, Green Party nominee LeAlan Jones, and Libertarian nominee Mike Labno. As a candidate, Giannoulias pledged to create a "Senate Progressive Caucus", akin to the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) in the House of Representatives.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: On March 2, 2009, Giannoulias stated on CNBC that he was forming an exploratory committee in order to assess a potential candidacy for the US Senate in 2010. On July 26, 2009, he officially announced his candidacy for the United States Senate at the Hilton Chicago, the same place then-Senator Barack Obama endorsed Giannoulias for State Treasurer in 2006. He was introduced to the crowd by Congressman Bill Foster. He lost to Republican Congressman Mark Kirk.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias was elected the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Illinois in the February 2, 2010, primary, with 39.0% of the vote. David H. Hoffman received 33.8% and Cheryle Jackson received 19.7%.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias was endorsed by Planned Parenthood, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AFSCME, the AFL–CIO, the League of Conservation Voters, the Human Rights Campaign, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Sierra Club (Planned Parenthood, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Human Rights Campaign had all supported Congressman Kirk in previous races).


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: On May 28, 2010, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) endorsed Giannoulias, calling him "a strident supporter of LGBT equality – including supporting marriage equality, repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and supporting an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act."


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Among his early endorsers were James Houlihan and Manny Flores. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the Assistant Majority Leader and second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate, endorsed Giannoulias and served as the chairman of the Giannoulias campaign. President Obama expressed his support of Giannoulias' Senate bid and joined him on the campaign trail.


title: Alexi Giannoulias

text: Giannoulias announced he would run for Illinois Secretary of State to succeed retiring incumbent Jesse White. On June 28, 2022, he won the Democratic primary On November 8, 2022, Giannoulias won the general election, defeating Republican Dan Brady.


title: Texas Rising

text: Texas Rising is a 2015 History Channel 10-hour television miniseries based on the Texas Revolution against Mexico and how the Texas Rangers were created. It is directed by Roland Joffé and premiered on May 25, 2015. The series stars Bill Paxton, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Ray Liotta, Brendan Fraser, Olivier Martinez and Cynthia Addai-Robinson.


title: Texas Rising

text: Unlike most films or television series that focus on the Texas Revolution, Texas Rising does not center around the Battle of the Alamo and starts after its fall. The series focuses on General Sam Houston and the Texan Army as Santa Anna marches eastward to face finish off the Texans. Battles shown include the Goliad Massacre and the Battle of San Jacinto. There is also special focus on a company of Texas Rangers under Deaf Smith and Henry Karnes who serve as scouts for Sam Houston.


title: Texas Rising

text: Filming began around June 2014 in Durango, Mexico. The series is from A+E Studios and ITV Studios America, produced by Thinkfactory Media with Leslie Greif as executive producer. Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan ate a can of tuna a day to lose 40 pounds for his role as Deaf Smith.


title: Texas Rising

text: The first teaser trailer was released on January 25, 2015, during "Sons of Liberty", which revealed a "Memorial Day" release date and featured the tagline, "The Alamo wasn't the end. It was the beginning."


title: Texas Rising

text: The media coverage about the series was somewhat negative, with some debate over whether or not the right blend between historical accuracy and poetic license had been reached - with some sources saying that a channel calling itself "History" invited greater scrutiny on the question. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the miniseries a rating of 13% based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's consensus states, "Tedious and forgettable, "Texas Rising" is full of offensive stereotypes and a messy multitude of unfocused characters and narratives." Metacritic gives the miniseries a score of 52 out of 100, based on 12 reviews, indicating "mixed reviews".


title: Texas Rising

text: Days before the show aired, the Associated Press' Lynn Elber wrote that, inspired by the success of the series "Hatfields & McCoys" and "The Bible", History channel lined up several impressive elements for the "Texas Rising" series. Including shooting it in wide-screen CinemaScope and hiring Oscar-nominated Roland Joffe, "armies of extras [for use] in sprawling battle scenes, and getting Kris Kristofferson, George Strait and Jose Feliciano to add their own music along with the full symphonic score. Elber reported that executive producer Leslie Greif stated that "We wanted to try to tell the story from a lot of perspectives, so there are really no villains in our piece. There are villainous deeds. ... but we didn't want to have a paintbrush and say this side is right and this side is wrong." Greif also said that "The film was vetted by experts but does take liberties for dramatic purposes". He explained "Historically, the battles that occurred were true. We didn't kill anyone who didn't die and didn't keep anyone alive who died (among the real-life figures). The rest we used as a jumping-off spot to tell a great story." With this approach to the historical material Greif's concern was that too many people would miss all the work "spent perfecting each visual and sound element" because they would watch it on a laptop or smartphone, and he felt it best viewed in a darkened room on as big a screen as possible.


title: Texas Rising

text: In a review Variety columnist Brian Lowry held that the show was "wonderfully cast and otherwise completely wooden". He maintained that it "juggles too many indifferently written, tough-talkin' characters, as if "Lonesome Dove" had experienced a sharp blow to the head." Lowry held that the series did not live up to the level of History channel's previous series "Hatfields & McCoys". Lowry did hold that the concept of trying to fill in the gap for audiences of what happened after the Alamo was a good one, but that the series was unable to do so effectively. He held a major flaw was "the wholly one-dimensional way the Mexican are depicted and that the portrayal of Santa Anna invoked memories of the cartoon Snidely Whiplash and the character The Most Interesting Man in the World from the Dos Equis advertising campaign. Lowry held that the show "pays more attention to the marketing campaign than the script".


title: Texas Rising

text: The Washington Post reported that the series seemed more concerned with portraying those fighting for Texas's independence as if they were in John Wayne's 1960 film "The Alamo" rather than addressing the complexity of the actual historical events. An approach one might not suspect from a channel that is named "History". The Post held that it was "a love letter to the Lone Star State that some critics say broadcasts conservative politics and punctures History’s educational veneer." The Post noted that "History" channel did offer other perspectives "including those of Mexicans, Native Americans and slaves" on the website created for the show but "some of these views didn't seem to make it into "Texas Rising"." The Post pointed out that Houston had been a former spokesman for Cherokee Indians and was the only Southern governor to resist secession and felt the series not exploring this aspect of his story was "a missed opportunity".


title: Texas Rising

text: Others also criticized the series appearing on History for being "lousy history", including Alamo Historian at Texas State University Jesus de la Teja, who told reporters for WOAI news radio the series was "playing fast and loose with the facts" and that "It over simplifies and it misrepresents ... trivializing and commercializing history." De la Teja pointed out that it plays up sex and has explosions "which could not have possibly happened with the military technology that was in place in the 1830s." De la Teja pointed out that the series makes use of the semi-legendary character Emily D. West about whom almost nothing is known. He regretted that because of the series on "History" people might confuse Hollywood for history.


title: Texas Rising

text: The New York Daily News held that the show rekindled the excitement of the "Hatfields and McCoys", once you can identify all the players in the drama. They held that Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Olivier Martinez, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson gave standout performances. They recognized that some inaccuracies were included but even though "There’s doubtless some dramatic license here. No matter. It’s a classic campfire story, from a land that truly was the Wild West."


title: Texas Rising

text: Brian Moylan of The Guardian was very critical of the series, complaining that the pacing was off with few battle scenes and too many shots of "dudes hanging around in grubby-looking clothing in front of tents talking about how awful Mexicans and Comanches are ... [and] a lot of dithering and boring discussion of military tactics". Despite this he did hold that it would appeal to the fans of History channel's "Hatfields and McCoys and "The Bible" because it displayed "libertarian and conservative sensibilities". He considered the other series superior to "Texas Rising" criticising this series for "atrocious dialogue, poor characterization and mechanical acting" by comparison. Moylan held that the writing was bad as it failed to develop characters: "none of the characters exude any sort of individuality at all. In fact, by the end of the first two hours, you will hardly know anyone’s name, their place in the hierarchy, or their contributions to the cause." And scenes attempting to establish character "are so heavy-handed that they will render more eye-rolls than engagement." Moylan also felt that the series suffered by lacking any "post-colonial reflection ... in the great scope of history. The line between good guys and bad guys is drawn as simply and thoughtlessly as it is in a backyard game of Cowboys and Indians." He held that his final verdict of the show was that it was "just dreadfully boring." On the positive side, Moylan viewed Adam Hicks' and Dillon Lane's performances as outstanding and also held that the "costumes, sets, and period details seem authentic and well rendered ... you don’t doubt the period setting for a second."


title: Texas Rising

text: The Inquisitr praised the series holding that due to the many dramatic representations of the fight itself the "focus on the aftermath of the 'Battle of the Alamo' was a brave one, and probably the best decision. Persons who were important to the Texas Revolution outside of that event will get their chance to shine." They also held that "the historical inaccuracies" were "a problem that’s rather unavoidable". The Inquisitr held that complaints about the series' location backgrounds were unreasonable. Pointing out that Texas as a whole and San Antonio in particular does not look today like it did in the 1800s. The "landscape forever altered" - the city has "cars, paved roads ... [and] a population of nearly 27 million people". The Inquisitr admitted that the series had inaccuracies "such as [what] Texans believed about slavery prior to the Civil War and whether or not Sam Houston would have had a one night stand with the Yellow Rose of Texas." But held that the series should be viewed as within the genre of Historical fiction. They maintained that it was unlikely "made with the intent of being 100 percent true to the times or the characters". They concluded that "it would be impossible for a well-produced and entertaining series to leave a unique mark on viewers by interpreting events exactly as history experts would want. Sometimes you have to shut up and suspend disbelief to enjoy something. "Texas Rising" is meant to be entertaining and educational ... but mostly entertaining."


title: Texas Rising

text: The New York Times criticized the pacing of the series saying "a story that seems as if it should be characterized by adventure and derring-do instead is often as flat and drab as a Western plain." They expressed surprise that director Roland Joffé was only able to create "a disjointed collection of clichés, often staged with the clumsiness of bad community theater." The Times held that the writing reduced Houston to a character which "has no magnetism" and made Santa Anna into "something of a repellent caricature". The Times held that by having no depth in the opposition that the Texan heroes were facing, the series seemed trite "The good guys — the Texans — are good, and the bad guys are reductive figures who exist to be hated. ... Native American warriors gallop and whoop; Mexican soldiers and generals enjoy cockfights, executions and all things vile." They also complained that the dialogue was "truly awful" with characters speaking "in sound bites rather than convincing conversation". The Times held that some good performances could be found if one overlooks the drawbacks, singling out Liotta, Fraser, and Jeremy Davies' work in the series. The Times also praised the music video done for the series by Kris Kristofferson, (who appears as Andrew Jackson in the series), doing a cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."


title: Comparison of integrated development environments

text: The following tables list notable software packages that are nominal IDEs; standalone tools such as source code editors and GUI builders are not included. These IDEs are listed in alphabetical order of the supported language.


text: Java has strong IDE support, due not only to its historical and economic importance, but also due to a combination of reflection and static-typing making it well-suited for IDE support.


text: Some of the leading Java IDEs (such as IntelliJ and Eclipse) are also the basis for leading IDEs in other programming languages (e.g. for Python, IntelliJ is rebranded as PyCharm, and Eclipse has the PyDev plugin.)


title: Rebecca Quick

text: Rebecca "Becky" Quick (born July 18, 1972) is an American television journalist/newscaster and co-anchorwoman of CNBC's financial news shows "Squawk Box" and "On the Money".


title: Rebecca Quick

text: Quick grew up in Indiana, Ohio, Texas, and Oklahoma as her geologist father and her family followed "booms" in oil production. The family ultimately settled in Medford, New Jersey.


title: Rebecca Quick

text: Quick graduated from Rutgers University in 1993 with a BA in Political Science, where she was editor-in-chief of "The Daily Targum." As an undergraduate, she was awarded the Times Mirror Fellowship from the Journalism Resources Institute at Rutgers. Prior to her employment at CNBC, she covered retail and e-commerce industry topics for "The Wall Street Journal" and helped launch the paper's website in April 1996. She served as the site's International News Editor, overseeing foreign affairs coverage. She was a co-moderator of the October 28, 2015, Republican presidential debate.


title: Rebecca Quick

text: Over the course of her career, Quick has interviewed some of the world's most influential investors and financial power brokers, including among others: Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Alan Greenspan, T. Boone Pickens, Jamie Dimon, and Charlie Munger. She has also interviewed three U.S. presidents, and hosted the 2007 television documentary "Warren Buffett: The Billionaire Next Door Going Global".


title: Rebecca Quick

text: Quick was previously married to Peter Shay, a computer programmer. She is currently married to an executive producer of "Squawk Box", Matt Quayle (2008–present). On August 16, 2011, CNBC reported that Quick had given birth to a son, Kyle Nathaniel Quayle. In October 2016, Quick gave birth to daughter Kaylie Noelle.


title: Rebecca Quick

text: Quick lives in New Jersey with her husband, their children, and his two daughters Natalie and Kimiko.


title: Ben Winston

text: Ben Winston is a British producer and director who established the production company Fulwell 73 with Gabe Turner, Ben Turner, and Leo Pearlman. He is co-executive producer of "The Late Late Show with James Corden" alongside Rob Crabbe and Mike Gibbons and the show's segments "Carpool Karaoke" and "Drop the Mic". Winston is the youngest show producer of a late night show in America. The American talk show broadcast on CBS was launched in 2015. He has collaborated with a number of artists, most notably One Direction, JLS, Robbie Williams, Gary Barlow, Kacey Musgraves, and James Corden. He has produced and directed a number of pop culture oriented films, documentaries, concerts and music videos. He is also renowned for producing a number of the annual Brit Awards from 2011 to 2014. More recently he was a co-producer of US Grammy Awards and Tony Awards.


title: Ben Winston

text: Winston is the son of Lord Winston and Lira Helen Feigenbaum (now The Lady Winston). He has two siblings: Joel and Tanya. He is Jewish.


title: Ben Winston

text: Winston studied at the University of Leeds, graduating in Broadcasting in 2004. He is married to Meredith Winston. Together, they have two daughters. The eldest's godfather is Harry Styles.


title: Ben Winston

text: Winston started at Fulwell 73 by co-producing in the "Hands of the Gods" (Lionsgate) in 2007. Since he has produced and directed shows including "The Michael McIntyre Chat Show" (BBC1) "Robbie Williams: One Night at The Palladium" (BBC1), "This is Justin Bieber" (ITV1), "One Direction: A Year In The Making," and the record breaking 8-hour marathon show "1D Day." He also notably produced and directed "Gary Barlow: On Her Majesty's Service". This film was the most watched single documentary of that year, while the song that came from it, "Sing" by Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band featuring Military Wives charted at number 1 for three weeks.


title: Ben Winston

text: In 2014 he was Executive Producer of "The X Factor" in the UK, the most successful entertainment show on British TV winning best programme at the National Television Awards. His work with his friend James Corden has been extensive, "James Corden's World Cup Live" (ITV1), "When Corden Met Barlow" (BBC1), "When Robbie Met James" (Sky One). He has also produced James Corden as the host of the BRIT Awards for four years (2011–2014). For Red Nose Day on BBC1, he directed and co-wrote many memorable Smithy sketches. Ben co-directed the 3D documentary movie, "JLS: Eyes Wide Open" which opened on over 400 screens across the UK. At the time it was the biggest grossing music cinema release of all time in the UK, but was beaten by the next film he produced, the One Direction hit movie "" for Columbia Pictures, which broke records around the globe.


title: Ben Winston

text: As a commercial director, his advert for "A League Of Own" won the gold award at Berlin Pro Max Awards in 2011. He also directed the 2011 Christmas Campaign for BBC One, "Consider Yourself One of Us" and the award-winning campaign for the Sport Relief mile. He has directed many music videos which led to him winning an MTV VMA for his One Direction video "Best Song Ever". He is the first ever director to win two Brit Awards in consecutive years for Best Video of the Year, which he won in 2014 and 2015.


title: Ben Winston

text: In 2014, he directed "When Corden Met Barlow" which aired on BBC One. The show included a 6-minute 45 second Carpool Karaoke segment in the documentary with singer Gary Barlow of the band Take That. James Corden explained that "Ben Winston and I always thought there was something very joyful about someone very, very famous singing their songs in an ordinary situation. We just had this idea: Los Angeles, traffic, the carpool lane — maybe this is something we could pull off." Later on "Carpool Karaoke" was included as a regular featured segment on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" and other specials. That same year, Winston also became an executive producer on The X Factor UK.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: Joaquin Castro (born September 16, 1974) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who has represented Texas's 20th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2013. The district includes just over half of his native San Antonio, as well as some of its nearby suburbs. From 2003 to 2013, Castro represented the 125th district in the Texas House of Representatives. While in the state legislature, he served as vice-chair of the Higher Education Committee and was a member of the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee. He also previously served on other committees, such as County Affairs, Border & International Affairs, and Juvenile Justice & Family Issues.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: Joaquin served as campaign chair for his identical twin brother, Julian Castro, during his 2020 presidential campaign.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: Castro was born and raised in San Antonio and attended Thomas Jefferson High School. He has said that his interest in public service developed at a young age from watching his parents' involvement in political campaigns and civic causes. His father, Jessie Guzman, is a retired mathematics teacher from the Edgewood Independent School District on San Antonio's west side, and his mother, Marie "Rosie" Castro, is a community activist. Jessie and Rosie never married. Castro's mother named him after Rodolfo Gonzales's poem "I Am Joaquin". He graduated with honors from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and communications and earned a Juris Doctor with his twin brother at Harvard Law School. After law school, the brothers both worked for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld before starting their own firm in 2005.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: Castro has worked in public education, health care, and the juvenile justice system. He is a member of the National College Advising Corps, St. Mary's University Mission and Identity Taskforce, St. Philip's College President's Advisory Board, and Texas Family Impact Seminar.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: Castro ran for Texas's 125th House district seat in 2002. In the Democratic primary, he defeated incumbent Representative Arthur Reyna, 64%-36%. In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee Nelson Balido, 60%-40%. He was 28 at the time of his election. In 2004, he was reelected unopposed. In 2006, he was reelected to a third term, defeating Balido, 58%-38%. In 2008, he was reelected to a fourth term unopposed. In 2010, he was reelected to a fifth term, defeating Libertarian Jeffrey Blunt, 78%-22%.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: In June 2011, Castro announced his candidacy for the newly drawn 's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was initially set to challenge fellow Democrat and nine-term incumbent Lloyd Doggett, whose home in Austin had been drawn into the district, in the Democratic primary, but on November 28, after Charlie Gonzalez of the neighboring 20th district announced his retirement after seven terms, Castro announced that he would run instead for the 20th district seat. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary, all but assuring him of winning the general election in this heavily Democratic, Hispanic-majority district. At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, he introduced his brother Julián as keynote speaker. In November, Castro defeated Republican nominee David Rosa 64%-34%. becoming only the fifth person to represent this district since its creation in 1935.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: In 2017, "San Antonio Express-News" columnist Bruce Davidson questioned Castro's decision not to enter the 2018 U.S. Senate race against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, a 2016 presidential candidate. Davidson predicted that Castro could have defeated the announced candidate, Beto O'Rourke, representative of Texas's 16th congressional district based in El Paso, for the Democratic nomination. "Castro is said to be ambitious, but will he ever have a better chance to move up than in the Trump-era against Ted Cruz?," Davidson wrote. He added that Texas's other senator, Republican John Cornyn, would have taken advantage of a similar opportunity to run. In 2002, Cornyn, the state's then one-term attorney general, filed to succeed retiring Republican Senator Phil Gramm, while two other Republican hopefuls, Henry Bonilla of Texas's 23rd congressional district and David Dewhurst, the land commissioner and later the lieutenant governor, vacillated and lost their chances to become a senator. Bonilla was defeated for House reelection after redistricting in 2006, and Dewhurst lost the 2012 Republican runoff Senate election to Cruz.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: Castro was sworn into office on January 3, 2013, becoming a member of the 113th United States Congress. He was chosen as the president of the freshman class of Democrats in the 113th Congress.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: In the 114th Congress, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer named Castro a Chief Deputy Whip. During the 2016 presidential election, Castro served as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton's campaign. He was selected as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for the 116th Congress.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: Castro voted against a House resolution condemning the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which called Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories a "flagrant violation" of international law and a major obstacle to peace.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: On January 12, 2019, Castro introduced and endorsed his twin brother, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, at the launch rally of Julián's 2020 presidential campaign.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: In February 2019, Castro authored House Joint Resolution 46 to overturn Trump's declaration of a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, under which Trump said he would divert funds from other sources to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The bill passed the House by a vote of 245–182 on February 15, and the Senate by a vote of 59–41 on March 15. Trump vetoed the Joint Resolution on March 15.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: In August 2019, Castro tweeted the names and employers of 44 San Antonio residents who had given the maximum allowable contribution to Trump's reelection campaign. He said it was "sad to see so many San Antonians" whose "contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as 'invaders'." The information came from publicly available lists published by the Federal Election Commission. Republicans denounced the tweet, saying that such a "target list" invites harassment and could even encourage violence.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: In July 2020, following the primary defeat of House Foreign Affairs Committee chairperson Eliot Engel, Castro declared his candidacy for chair. Gregory Meeks also announced his candidacy and Brad Sherman, who defeated former chairperson Howard Berman in a 2012 primary, is expected to run as well.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: Castro is the son of Jesse Guzman and Rosie Castro and the identical twin brother of Julián Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio and the 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Joaquin is one minute younger than Julián. In addition to his work in the Texas legislature, Castro practiced law in San Antonio. He has also been a visiting professor of law at St. Mary's University and an adjunct professor at Trinity University in San Antonio.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: Castro sits on several boards of nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education, including Achieving the Dream, the National College Advising Corps, St. Phillip's College President's Advisory Board, St. Mary's University Mission and Identity Taskforce, and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials' (NALEO) Taskforce on Education.


title: Joaquin Castro

text: In 2013, Castro became engaged to Anna Flores. Julián Castro made the announcement on his Facebook page. The couple had a daughter in 2013, a son in 2016, and a second daughter in 2022.


title: Susannah Corbett

text: Susannah Jane Corbett (born 10 August 1968) is an English actress and author. Her acting career began in 1991 and she has performed on television, film and radio. As an author, she writes children's books.