title: Hückel's rule

text: Planar ring molecules with 4"n" π electrons do not obey Hückel's rule, and theory predicts that they are less stable and have triplet ground states with two unpaired electrons. In practice such molecules distort from planar regular polygons. Cyclobutadiene (CH) with four π electrons is stable only at temperatures below 35 K and is rectangular rather than square. Cyclooctatetraene (CH) with eight π electrons has a nonplanar "tub" structure. However the dianion (cyclooctatetraenide anion), with ten π electrons obeys the 4"n" + 2 rule for "n" = 2 and is planar, while the 1,4-dimethyl derivative of the dication, with six π electrons, is also believed to be planar and aromatic. The Cyclononatetraenide anion () is the largest all-"cis" monocyclic annulene/annulenyl system that is planar and aromatic. These bond angles (140°) differ significantly from the ideal angles of 120°. Larger rings possess "trans" bonds to avoid the increased angle strain. However, 10 to 14-membered systems all experience considerable transannular strain. Thus, these systems are either nonaromatic or experience modest aromaticity. This changes when we get to [18]annulene, with (4×4) + 2 = 18 π electrons, which is large enough to accommodate six interior hydrogen atoms in a planar configuration (3 "cis" double bonds and 6 "trans" double bonds). Thermodynamic stabilization, NMR chemical shifts, and nearly equal bond lengths all point to considerable aromaticity for [18]annulene.


title: Hückel's rule

text: The (4n+2) rule is a consequence of the degeneracy of the π orbitals in cyclic conjugated hydrocarbon molecules. As predicted by Hückel molecular orbital theory, the lowest π orbital in such molecules is non-degenerate and the higher orbitals form degenerate pairs. For benzene the lowest π orbital is non-degenerate and can hold 2 electrons, and the next 2 π orbitals form a degenerate pair which can hold 4 electrons. The 6 π electrons in benzene therefore form a stable closed shell in a regular hexagonal molecule.


title: Hückel's rule

text: However for cyclobutadiene or cyclooctatrene with regular geometries, the highest molecular orbital pair is occupied by only 2 π electrons forming a less stable open shell. The molecules therefore stabilize by geometrical distortions which separate the degenerate orbital energies so that the last two electrons occupy the same orbital, but the molecule as a whole is less stable in the presence of such a distortion.


title: Hückel's rule

text: Hückel's rule can also be applied to molecules containing other atoms such as nitrogen or oxygen. For example pyridine (CHN) has a ring structure similar to benzene, except that one -CH- group is replaced by a nitrogen atom with no hydrogen. There are still six π electrons and the pyridine molecule is also aromatic and known for its stability.


title: Hückel's rule

text: Hückel's rule is not valid for many compounds containing more than one ring. For example, pyrene and trans-bicalicene contain 16 conjugated electrons (8 bonds), and coronene contains 24 conjugated electrons (12 bonds). Both of these polycyclic molecules are aromatic, even though they fail the 4"n" + 2 rule. Indeed, Hückel's rule can only be theoretically justified for monocyclic systems.


title: Hückel's rule

text: In 2000, Andreas Hirsch and coworkers in Erlangen, Germany, formulated a rule to determine when a fullerene would be aromatic. They found that if there were 2("n" + 1) π-electrons, then the fullerene would display aromatic properties. This follows from the fact that an aromatic fullerene must have full icosahedral (or other appropriate) symmetry, so the molecular orbitals must be entirely filled. This is possible only if there are exactly 2("n" + 1) electrons, where "n" is a nonnegative integer. In particular, for example, buckminsterfullerene, with 60 π-electrons, is non-aromatic, since 60 ÷ 2 = 30, which is not a perfect square.


title: Hückel's rule

text: In 2011, Jordi Poater and Miquel Solà expanded the rule to determine when a fullerene species would be aromatic. They found that if there were 2"n" + 2"n" + 1 π-electrons, then the fullerene would display aromatic properties. This follows from the fact that a spherical species having a same-spin half-filled last energy level with the whole inner levels being fully filled is also aromatic.


title: Dark Skies

text: Dark Skies is an American UFO conspiracy theory-based sci-fi television series that debuted on NBC on September 21, 1996, and ended on May 31, 1997, and was later rerun by the Sci-Fi Channel; 18 episodes and a two-hour pilot episode were broadcast as a part of NBC's short-lived Thrillogy block. The success of "The X-Files" on Fox proved an audience existed for science-fiction shows, resulting in NBC commissioning this proposed competitor following a pitch from producers Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman. Its tagline was "History as we know it is a lie."


title: Dark Skies

text: The series presents the idea that 20th-century history as people know it is a lie. It depicts aliens having been among humans since the late 1940s, with a government cover-up concealing their existence from the public. As the series progresses, viewers follow John Loengard and Kim Sayers through the 1960s as they attempt to foil the plots of the alien "Hive". The Hive is an alien race that planned to invade Earth through a manipulation of historical events and famous figures, including most notably the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In addition, the pair must stay one step ahead of Majestic 12, a covert government agency that has mixed motives. The show depicted a number of real-life 1960s personalities in the plot, such as The Beatles, Robert F. Kennedy, Jim Morrison, and J. Edgar Hoover.


title: Dark Skies

text: The series was cancelled before the end of the first season, due to low ratings. Although the last episode produced provides some form of closure for the series, with John Loengard meeting his son and the head of Majestic 12 being apparently assassinated, the show's creators had originally hoped to create five seasons, as indicated by the show's Bible or major planning document. According to Zabel and Friedman's original plan, the pilot and first season (given the overall title "Official Denial") would cover the period from 1961 to 1969, the second season ("Progenitor") 1970 to 1976, the third season ("Cloak of Fear") 1977 to 1986, the fourth season ("New World Order") would cover 1987 to 1999, and the fifth and final season ("Stroke of Midnight") would break from the decade-spanning format to encompass the apocalyptic final conflict against the invaders, taking place from 2000 to 2001.


title: Dark Skies

text: The series depicts the Hive as an alien species who are covertly invading Earth. They are a parasitic race of small multilegged, spider-like beings that can take control of host bodies, by attaching themselves to the brain. They do this by entering through orifices on the head, commonly the mouth, though they are also shown to enter by squeezing through the nose and ears, with great discomfort to the host. Due to the way they attach themselves to the brain's ganglion regions, the series' protagonists dub the creatures "Ganglions".


title: Dark Skies

text: Various stages from Alpha to Delta occur that show varying degrees of the infection. Initial symptoms of take-over include drastic mood swings, behavioral abnormalities, and nervous breakdowns, as the parasite adjusts to taking control of the person's mind. Past medical records of a nervous breakdown are a tell-tale sign that someone may have been taken over. The Gamma and Delta stages are where the Hive organism takes total control over the host, which becomes nothing more than a shell for the invading organism.


title: Dark Skies

text: Not all humans make acceptable hosts for the Ganglions. Due to certain genetic factors, a few humans are incompatible with the Ganglions' biology; these have been dubbed "Throwbacks". Several cases occur where a group of people were abducted and taken over by Ganglion parasites, but a Throwback in the group was not infected and simply returned, often because killing them would be too conspicuous. Captured Ganglion parasites have been injected with the blood of Throwbacks, causing them to die in agony. The Hive is running various experiments to try to either eliminate Throwbacks or develop more humans who are easier to control, such as growing cloned human babies in cows.


title: Dark Skies

text: Some time ago, the Ganglions invaded an advanced alien race, dubbed the "Greys"—the typical depiction of a Roswell Grey alien. The Greys were a race not unlike humans, though they possessed technology making them capable of interstellar travel. The Ganglion parasites invaded them in much the same way that they are trying to invade Earth now, and by the time they realized what was happening, it was too late. Thus, the "Grey aliens" seen abducting humans are really just as much a slave race or "shells" for the Ganglions as the infected humans are.


title: Dark Skies

text: The Hive's language, Thhtmaa, was developed by University of California, Los Angeles, graduate student Matt Pearson. Pearson went on to become a professor of linguistics at Reed College.


title: Dark Skies

text: When the Ganglions were evolving, apparently before they took over other animals as hosts, they had a natural predator — slug-like creatures called "buzz worms". They have actually brought samples of the buzz worms along with them with their ships, using them as a particularly gruesome means of executing their own kind.


title: Dark Skies

text: Note: The episode "Inhuman Nature" was shown out of chronological order and should come after "Ancient Future". The episode "White Rabbit" opens up with the Gulf of Tonkin incident on August 2, 1964 but it is a few weeks later after John visits his family and testifies to the Warren Commission when the rest of the episode takes place.


title: Dark Skies

text: Following fan campaigns for many years, an announcement was made that "Dark Skies" would receive a complete series DVD box set release in October 2007 (presumably for Region 1). However, Sony Entertainment subsequently canceled the release, citing prohibitive music licensing costs.


title: Dark Skies

text: Executive producers Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman received permission from Sony to find a DVD releasing partner to put the series on the market. However, three independent DVD firms, while initially extremely enthusiastic about doing so, also backed away after discovering the potential costs involved in licensing the period music. Zabel told fans on his blog:


title: Dark Skies

text: It doesn't mean the idea is dead but it does mean it's not going to be easy. I'm as committed as I've ever been to seeing the series released on DVD so that old fans and new fans can have an excellent quality viewing experience, the way we always intended. Or maybe the conspiracy we wrote about is real and they just don't want the truth to get out...


title: Dark Skies

text: On January 11, 2009, Zabel reported that "Brent and I aren't ready to say that's the end of it, but it's the end of the beginning. We're probably more disappointed than any fan out there."


title: Dark Skies

text: Region 2 distribution rights were acquired by Mediumrare, with the full series being released on DVD in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2010.


title: Dark Skies

text: On the August 9, 2010, episode of "Coast to Coast AM", Zabel announced that the series would be released on Region 1 DVD by Shout! Factory on January 20, 2011. The series was successfully released in the US on six DVDs, including a number of special features (an hour-long "making of" documentary, and the never-before-seen pitch for the second season, among others) on the last disc.


title: Dark Skies

text: To celebrate the show's tenth anniversary, a limited edition CD soundtrack was released on Perseverance Records in September 2006, featuring selections from the original television score composed by Michael Hoenig and a previously unreleased "Pilot Suite" arranged by "The X-Files" composer Mark Snow.


title: The King and the Clown

text: The King and the Clown (, lit. "The King's Man") is a 2005 South Korean historical drama film, starring Kam Woo-sung, Lee Joon-gi, and Jung Jin-young. It was adapted from the 2000 stage play, "Yi" ("You") about Yeonsangun of Joseon, a Joseon dynasty king and a court clown who mocks him. It was released on 29 December 2005, runs for 119 minutes; and distributed domestically by Cinema Service and internationally by CJ Entertainment.


title: The King and the Clown

text: The movie is referred to by various titles. It is sometimes known as "The King's Man" (the literal English translation of the Korean title). In Chinese, the title is "王的男人" or "王和小丑", and in Japanese, it is known as "王の男". It is also known as "The Royal Jester" in English, as the movie's English translator found it more fitting than the original title.


title: The King and the Clown

text: The film was chosen as South Korea's official submission for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. With over 12.3 million tickets sold, it was the most watched movie of South Korea of the year, as well the tenth highest-grossing film in South Korea.


title: The King and the Clown

text: Set in the late 15th century during the reign of King Yeonsan, two male street clowns and tightrope walkers, Jangsaeng (Kam Woo-sung) and Gong-gil (Lee Joon-gi), are part of an entertainer troupe. The effeminate and beautiful Gong-gil specializes in female roles ; their manager prostitutes him to rich customers, and Jangsaeng is sickened by this practice. After Gong-gil kills the manager in defense of Jangsaeng, the pair flee to Seoul, where they form a new group with three other street performers.


title: The King and the Clown

text: Together the group comes up with a skit mocking some members of the royal court, including the king and his new concubine Jang Nok-su. Though they make a lot of money from the performance, they are eventually arrested for treason and flogged severely. Jangsaeng makes a deal with Choseon, one of the king's consultants, either to make the king laugh at their skit or to be executed. They perform their skit for the king, but the three minor performers are too terrified to perform well. Gong-gil and Jangsaeng barely save themselves with one last joke at the king, who laughs and then makes them all a part of his court.


title: The King and the Clown

text: When the king wants to see more performances, the clowns decide to make flyers asking for other minstrels to audition to join the group. The other clowns notice that Jangsaeng and Gong-gil have identical handwriting, as Jangsaeng learned to write by watching Gong-gil. The corruption within the court is revealed when the clowns put on a performance ridiculing the council members by implying that they receive expensive gifts for favours. The king is delighted by the skit, but upon seeing that the council members are not amused, turns on them and asks them one by one if they are guilty of what the clowns are mocking them for. He banishes a corrupt minister and orders that his fingers be cut off and displayed to all the other council members as a warning.


title: The King and the Clown

text: Over time, the king falls for Gong-gil, whom he calls to his private chambers often to perform finger puppet shows. Jangsaeng becomes jealous of this relationship and suggests that they leave, but Gong-gil does not immediately agree. Meanwhile, the king becomes more and more unstable. He makes the clowns perform a skit depicting how his mother (played by Gong-gil), the favorite concubine of the former king, was forced to take poison after being betrayed by other jealous concubines. The king then slaughters these concubines at the end of the play, and the Queen Mother dies from shock. Jangsaeng then asks Gong-gil to leave with him and the gang once more before the king kills them too during one of his homicidal fits. Gong-gil, who initially sympathized with the king, begs the tyrant to give him his freedom but the king refuses.


title: The King and the Clown

text: The king's main concubine, Jang Noksu, becomes increasingly enraged by the attention the king has been lavishing on Gong-gil. The council members try to have him killed during a hunting trip, resulting in the death of one of the members of the street performing team. Days after the hunting trip, the king forcibly kisses Gong-gil and his violence against the members of his own court escalates, especially at the mention of his father who he feels still rules over the kingdom even after his death. This leads the performing troupe to finally decide to leave the palace, because the king has become too unpredictable, but Gong-gil begs Jangsaeng not to leave him alone as he is not allowed to leave the palace. Then, Jang Noksu tries to have Gong-gil jailed by having flyers run in Gong-gil's handwriting insulting the king severely. Jangsaeng takes the blame for the crime for which Gong-gil has been falsely accused, as their handwriting is the same, and is set to be beheaded the next morning.


title: The King and the Clown

text: Choseon secretly releases Jangsaeng, however, telling him that he should forget Gong-gil and leave the palace. But Jangsaeng ignores the advice and returns to walk on his tightrope across palace rooftops, this time openly and loudly mocking the king. The king shoots arrows at him while Gong-gil tries in vain to stop him. Jangsaeng falls and is caught, and has his eyes seared with burning iron as punishment before being thrown into prison again. Gong-gil attempts suicide, but his life is saved by the palace doctors : the king then loses interest in him and goes back to his consort.


title: The King and the Clown

text: The king has Jangsaeng walk his tightrope blind. As Jangsaeng tells the story of his and Gong-gil's trials and tribulations while balancing on the rope, Gong-gil runs out to join him. Gong-gil asks Jangsaeng what he would like to return as in his next life and Jangsaeng replies that he would still choose to be a clown. Gong-gil answers that he too would return as nothing else but a clown. At the very end there is a popular uprising resulting in an attack on the palace, and as people storm the court, Jangsaeng and Gong-gil jump up from the rope together, and Jangsaeng tosses away his fan. The last scene is a happy one where Jangsaeng and Gong-gil appear to be reunited with their clowning troupe, including the friend who died earlier during the hunting incident. The whole company jokes, sings and dances, as they all walk away cheerfully into the distance.


title: The King and the Clown

text: The film was adapted from the Korean stage play "Yi", written by Kim Tae-woong, centered around Gong-gil, the feminine actor. It was based on a small passage from the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty that briefly mentions the king's favorite clown, Gong-gil, whereas Jang-saeng is a fictional character. In the Joseon Dynasty, "Yi" was what the king called his beloved subjects. Since first staged in 2000, the play has won numerous awards, including the best stage play of the year, best new actor (for Oh Man-seok) and top 3 best plays of the year by the National Theater Association of Korea, and best stage play for 2001 by the Dong-A Art Foundation.


title: The King and the Clown

text: In South Korea, the film sold a total of 12.3 million tickets, including 3,659,525 in Seoul, in its four months of screening, which ended on 18 April 2006. It ranked first and grossed in its first week of release and grossed a total of after 12 weeks of screening. Its worldwide grossed is .


title: The King and the Clown

text: For a low-budget film costing only , it surpassed the 10 million viewer mark on 2 February, received good reviews from both critics and audiences. This led to its commercial success, which is remarkable, considering its focus on traditional arts with homosexual themes. The success was also surprising given the lack of a big budget and high-profile top-billing actors and director compared to other films such as "Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War" and "Silmido", who have both surpassed 10 million viewers. The film also notably propelled the then unknown Lee Joon-gi into Asia-wide stardom.


title: The King and the Clown

text: This film was chosen by the Korea Film Council-appointed committee as South Korea's submission for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was selected over two other films: "The Host" and "Time" for its overall aesthetic and commercial quality.


title: The King and the Clown

text: Nafees Ahmed of High On Films called the film 'a Shakespearean tragedy' and wrote, "It's a well written and directed historical drama that weaves the emotional nuances of the king and two clowns into the layered drama about love, jealousy, madness and compassion."


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: The Flying Wallendas is a circus act and group of daredevil stunt performers who perform highwire acts without a safety net. They were first known as "The Great Wallendas", but the current name was coined by the press in the 1940s and has stayed since.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: Karl Wallenda was born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1905 to an old circus family, and began performing at the age of six. While still in his teens he answered an ad for a "hand balancer with courage." His employer, Louis Weitzman, taught him the trade. In 1922, Karl put together his own act with his brother Herman, Joseph Geiger, and a teenage girl, Helen Kreis, who eventually became his wife.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: The act toured Europe for several years, and when John Ringling saw them perform in Cuba, he quickly hired them to perform at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 1928, they debuted at Madison Square Garden. The act performed without a net (it had been lost in transit) and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: In 1944, while the Wallendas were performing in Hartford, Connecticut, a circus fire broke out, killing over 168 people. None of the Wallendas were hurt.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: In the following years, Karl developed some of their most impressive acts, such as the seven-person chair pyramid. They continued performing those acts until January 30, 1962, when, while performing at the Shrine Circus at Detroit's State Fair Coliseum, the front man on the wire, Dieter Schepp, faltered, and the pyramid collapsed. Three men fell to the ground, killing Richard Faughnan, Wallenda's son-in-law; and nephew Dieter Schepp. Karl injured his pelvis, and his adopted son, Mario, was paralyzed from the waist down. Dieter's sister, Jana Schepp, let go of the wire to fall into the quickly-raised safety net, but bounced off and suffered a head injury.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: Other tragedies include when Wallenda's sister-in-law, Yetta, fell to her death in 1963, and his son-in-law, Richard ("Chico") Guzman, was killed in 1972 after touching a live electric wire while holding part of the metal rigging. Nonetheless, Karl decided to go on. He repeated the pyramid act in 1963 and 1977. Karl continued performing with a smaller group, and doing solo acts.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: On March 22, 1978, during a promotional walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Karl fell from the wire and died. It was between the towers of Condado Plaza Hotel, one hundred feet high. He was 73. Nik Wallenda completed the walk on June 4, 2011, with his mother, Delilah.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: On March 5, 1993, Karl's grandson, Mario B. Wallenda (not to be confused with Karl's adopted son), died from AIDS complications at the age of 36. He had tested positive for HIV in July 1990.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: On October 15, 2008, Nik broke the world record for the highest and longest bike ride on a high wire live on NBC's "Today".


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: Nik Wallenda became the first aerialist to walk directly over Niagara Falls on June 15, 2012, from the United States into Canada. Wearing a safety harness as required by ABC television, he crossed at the river's widest point.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: Nik Wallenda is the first aerialist to walk over the Little Colorado River Gorge at the Grand Canyon. The event was broadcast live on the Discovery Channel. He used a 2-inch wire and made the journey without a harness or safety net. The canyon is wide and deep.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: There are several branches of the Wallendas performing today, comprising most of Karl's grandchildren. They still perform regularly and have achieved recognition in "Guinness World Records". On November 2, 2014, Nik successfully crossed between two Chicago skyscrapers: the west tower of Marina City and the Leo Burnett Building. After accomplishing this feat, he successfully crossed the two towers of Marina City while wearing a blindfold in cold conditions with strong winds. He set two world records, one for the highest incline—19 degrees between the west tower and the Leo Burnett building—and one for the highest blindfolded wire walk, between the two towers of Marina City. Both crossings were broadcast live on Discovery Channel.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: In February 2017, a rehearsal of the troupe's eight-person pyramid high wire act for Circus Sarasota (an attempt at a new Guinness World Record for height) turned awry when the pyramid collapsed, plummeting five of the performers to the ground while three others, including Nik Wallenda, managed to cling to the wire. Miraculously no one was killed, but all five who fell were severely injured: Nik's sister Lijana Wallenda suffered the worst injuries, breaking nearly every bone in her face.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: On June 23, 2019, Nik and Lijana became the first individuals to successfully cross New York's Times Square on a tightrope, 25 stories above street level. The duo crossed from opposite ends of the wire, which measured 1300 feet (396 meters) long and was suspended between 1 Times Square and 2 Times Square. The stunt was broadcast live on ABC and marked Lijana's return to her first live performance since her accident. For the stunt, both Wallendas used safety harnesses, despite the family's long-standing objection to the use of safety devices. Although, unlike in Nik Wallenda's earlier Niagara Falls walk, they were not required, he admitted he felt the use of a harness was important for Lijana's first high-wire walk since her 2017 fall.


title: The Flying Wallendas

text: Carla Wallenda, the last surviving child of the founder of the troupe, died in Sarasota, Florida, on March 6, 2021, at the age of 85.


title: Mariana and Palau Islands campaign

text: The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Operation Forager, was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean between June and November 1944 during the Pacific War. The United States offensive, under the overall command of Chester W. Nimitz, followed the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign and was intended to neutralize Japanese bases in the central Pacific, support the Allied drive to retake the Philippines, and provide bases for a strategic bombing campaign against Japan.


title: Mariana and Palau Islands campaign

text: The United States invasion force was supported by a massive combat force. The Fifth Fleet was commanded by Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. Task Force 58, commanded by Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher, consisted of 15 carriers, 7 battleships, 11 cruisers, 86 destroyers and over 900 planes. The invasion force, commanded by Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner, consisted of 56 attack transports, 84 landing craft and over 127,000 troops.


title: Mariana and Palau Islands campaign

text: Beginning the offensive, United States Marine Corps and United States Army forces, with support from the United States Navy, executed landings on Saipan in June 1944. In response, the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet sortied to attack the U.S. Navy fleet supporting the landings. In the resulting aircraft carrier Battle of the Philippine Sea (the so-called "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot") on 19–20 June, the Japanese naval forces were decisively defeated with heavy and irreplaceable losses to their carrier-borne and land-based aircraft.


title: Mariana and Palau Islands campaign

text: U.S. forces executed landings on Saipan in June 1944 and Guam and Tinian in July 1944. After heavy fighting, Saipan was secured in July and Guam and Tinian in August 1944. The U.S. then constructed airfields on Saipan and Tinian where B-29s were based to conduct strategic bombing missions against the Japanese home islands until the end of World War II, including the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.


title: Mariana and Palau Islands campaign

text: In the meantime, in order to secure the flank for U.S. forces preparing to attack Japanese forces in the Philippines, in September 1944, U.S. Marine and Army forces landed on the islands of Peleliu and Angaur in Palau. After heavy and intense combat on Peleliu and Angaur, both islands were finally secured by U.S. forces in November 1944, while the main Japanese garrison in the Palaus on Koror was passed by altogether, only to surrender in August 1945 with the Empire’s capitulation.


title: Mariana and Palau Islands campaign

text: Following their landings in the Mariana and Palau Islands, Allied forces continued their ultimately successful campaign against Japan by landing in the Philippines in October 1944 and the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands beginning in January 1945.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: Adolf Georgiyevich Tolkachev (; 6 January 1927 in Aktyubinsk (now Aktobe), Kazakh ASSR, Soviet Union – 24 September 1986) was a Soviet electronics engineer who provided key documents to the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) between 1979 and 1985. Working at the Soviet radar design bureau Phazotron as one of the chief designers, Tolkachev gave the CIA complete detailed information about such projects as the R-23, R-24, R-33, R-27, and R-60, S-300 missile systems; fighter-interceptor aircraft radars used on the MiG-29, MiG-31, and Su-27; and other avionics. He was executed as a spy in 1986.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: Tolkachev claimed his distrust of the Soviet government arose from the persecution of his wife's parents who had suffered under Joseph Stalin. He told the CIA he was inspired by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: From January 1977 to February 1978, Tolkachev attempted to approach cars with U.S. diplomatic license plates in Moscow five times, coincidentally approaching the CIA Moscow bureau chief Gardner Hathaway at a gas station, but the CIA was wary of counterintelligence operations by the KGB. On his fifth attempt the CIA assigned a Russian-speaking officer named John I. Guilsher to make contact with him. Eventually Tolkachev established his bona fides with intelligence data that proved to be of "incalculable" value to US experts. The U.S. Air Force completely reversed direction on a $70 million electronics package for the F-15 Eagle as a result of Tolkachev's intelligence, although historian Benjamin B. Fischer says that this was "the projected overall cost, not a cost savings".


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: Tolkachev resisted the use of traditional CIA methods including dead drops and radios. He preferred personal meetings, as he enjoyed meeting with agents. He was also given medicine and medical checkups during visits. A KGB-linked newspaper later wrote that the CIA showed a great deal of care for Tolkachev and that the way they treated him was "touching".


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: Tolkachev found that many of the procedures provided by the CIA were ineffective and risked giving him away. Tolkachev developed many different ways to bypass Soviet security, despite routine changes which interfered with his activities. He repeatedly found holes in security, finding ways to check out documents without leaving a record, as well as finding ways to take documents home or to areas of the facility where he had access to better light and more privacy. When the CIA-provided cameras failed to work as expected, Tolkachev devised a way to use a civilian camera instead. He developed his own procedures that greatly increased the output and quality of his work. In one meeting alone he provided almost 200 rolls of film, and over 150 rolls in another meeting. He also included detailed notes and explanations of the information within the photos to assist understanding of the documents.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: Tolkachev initially refused any payments for his service, knowing they would draw suspicion. He requested art supplies, music, and other items for his son. Because he would not take payments himself, token payments were deposited in an overseas account as a sign of gratitude. Tolkachev refused to leave the Soviet Union because his wife believed she would become homesick. He did eventually request that the interest from his accounts be paid to him in rubles, so that he could attempt to bribe any coworkers who might discover his activity. In case he could not bribe his way out of a situation, Tolkachev requested poison pills in order to commit suicide in case he was captured, and to limit the information the KGB could acquire from interrogating him. The payments were made despite Tolkachev knowing that he would never be able to access the remaining funds. He went beyond anything required by his payment agreement and provided information any time it became available to him, not only when he was scheduled to receive compensation or care.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: At some point in 1985, Tolkachev was compromised. While attempting to meet with Tolkachev, a CIA officer was arrested and questioned at the Lubyanka KGB headquarters and prison, and incriminating materials, including spy equipment such as cameras, were seized from him. The source of the exposure is believed to have been Edward Lee Howard, an ex-CIA officer who fled to Moscow to avoid treason charges. Aldrich Ames apparently also passed his name to the Soviets.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: Tolkachev was arrested by the KGB while returning to Moscow from the countryside and was later put on trial and executed. With much planning over the years, Tolkachev had carefully compartmentalized his spy work from his family, helping his family avoid punishment as well. His son Oleg Tolkachev is now an architect.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: The arrest of Tolkachev, commanded by KGB Lt. Colonel Vladimir Zaitsev, was carried out by the KGB's Alpha "spetsnaz" group. Zaitsev also says that the KGB kept Tolkachev's arrest secret in order to feed the CIA misinformation over the course of 10 months.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: A painting of Tolkachev by Kathy Krantz Fieramosca hangs in the CIA's Langley headquarters. Writer David E. Hoffman published The Billion Dollar Spy, about Tolkachev's life, in 2015.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: Fischer, the former chief historian of the CIA, has presented a contrary view of the Tolkachev case. He argues that:


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: Fischer also questions the value of the intelligence furnished by Tolkachev, asserting that since CIA HUMINT only constituted "one small ingredient" of the Pentagon's decision-making process, Tolkachev cannot be credited with saving taxpayers billions of dollars. He concludes that Tolkachev was a "dangle" agent run by the KGB to obtain CIA technical equipment such as spy cameras, project a false image of Soviet military and economic vitality, and absorb the CIA in a resource- and time-consuming operation.


title: Adolf Tolkachev

text: However, contradicting Fischer's assertions, the Soviet Politburo discussed Tolkachev on September 25, 1986, and top Soviet officials stated that he "was caught with two million rubles" and "handed over very important military-technical secrets to the enemy". The conversation transcript states that Tolkachev had been executed the previous day for his espionage on behalf of the U.S. Historian Nicholas Dujmovic criticized Fischer's article as "speculative," saying that he makes "few factual statements". Hoffman rebutted Fischer's theory, reasserting that Tolkachev furnished genuine technical information. Fischer responded that the CIA has not released the intelligence provided by Tolkachev; that the Politburo transcript is "suspicious" and possibly falsified; and that the KGB, which ran other "dangles" providing intelligence on Soviet weapons technologies, was also in control of Tolkachev.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the Biograph Company of New York City, and later opened Keystone Studios in Edendale, California in 1912. Keystone possessed the first fully enclosed film stage, and Sennett became famous as the originator of slapstick routines such as pie-throwing and car-chases, as seen in the Keystone Cops films. He also produced short features that displayed his Bathing Beauties, many of whom went on to develop successful acting careers.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Sennett's work in sound movies was less successful, and he was bankrupted in 1933. In 1938 he was presented with an honorary Academy Award for his contribution to film comedy.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Born Michael Sinnott in Danville, Quebec, he was the son of Irish Catholic John Sinnott and Catherine Foy. His parents married in 1879 in Tingwick, Quebec and moved the same year to Richmond, Quebec where Sinnott was hired as a laborer. By 1883, when Sennett's brother George was born, Sinnott was working as an innkeeper, a position he held for many years. Sennett's parents had all their children and raised their family in Richmond, then a small Eastern Townships village. At that time, Sennett's grandparents were living in Danville, Quebec. Sennett moved to Connecticut when he was 17 years old.


title: Mack Sennett

text: He lived for a while in Northampton, Massachusetts, where, according to his autobiography, he first got the idea to become an opera singer after seeing a vaudeville show. He said that the most respected lawyer in town, Northampton mayor (and future President of the United States) Calvin Coolidge, as well as Sennett's mother, tried to talk him out of his musical ambitions.


title: Mack Sennett

text: In New York City, he took on the stage name Mack Sennett and became an actor, singer, dancer, clown, set designer, and director for the Biograph Company. A distinction in his acting career, often overlooked, is that he played Sherlock Holmes 11 times, albeit as a parody, between 1911 and 1913.


title: Mack Sennett

text: With financial backing from Adam Kessel and Charles O. Bauman of the New York Motion Picture Company, Sennett founded Keystone Studios in Edendale, California – now a part of Echo Park – in 1912. The original main building which was the first totally enclosed film stage and studio ever constructed, is still standing. Many successful actors began their film careers with Sennett, including Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, Charles Chaplin, Harry Langdon, Roscoe Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, Raymond Griffith, Gloria Swanson, Ford Sterling, Andy Clyde, Chester Conklin, Polly Moran, Louise Fazenda, The Keystone Cops, Bing Crosby, and W. C. Fields.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Dubbed the King of Hollywood's "Fun Factory", Sennett's studios produced slapstick comedies that were noted for their hair-raising car chases and custard pie warfare, especially in the "Keystone Cops "series. The comic formulas, however well executed, were based on humorous situations rather than the personal traits of the comedian. The various social types, often grotesquely portrayed by members of Sennett's troupe, were adequate to render the largely “interchangeable routines: “Having a funny mustache, or crossed-eyes, or an extra two-hundred pounds was as much individualization as was required.”


title: Mack Sennett

text: Sennett's first female comedian was Mabel Normand, who became a major star under his direction and with whom he embarked on a tumultuous romantic relationship. Sennett also developed the "Kid Comedies", a forerunner of the "Our Gang" films, and in a short time, his name became synonymous with screen comedy which were called "flickers" at the time. In 1915, Keystone Studios became an autonomous production unit of the ambitious Triangle Film Corporation, as Sennett joined forces with D. W. Griffith and Thomas Ince, both powerful figures in the film industry.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Also beginning in 1915, Sennett assembled a bevy of women known as the Sennett Bathing Beauties to appear in provocative bathing costumes in comedy short subjects, in promotional material, and in promotional events such as Venice Beach beauty contests. The Sennett Bathing Beauties continued to appear through 1928.


title: Mack Sennett

text: In 1917, Sennett gave up the Keystone trademark and organized his own company, Mack Sennett Comedies Corporation. Sennett's bosses retained the Keystone trademark and produced a cheap series of comedy shorts that were "Keystones" in name only: they were unsuccessful, and Sennett had no connection with them. Sennett went on to produce more ambitious comedy short films and a few feature-length films. During the 1920s his short subjects were in much demand; they featured stars such as Louise Fazenda, Billy Bevan, Andy Clyde, Harry Gribbon, Vernon Dent, Alice Day, Ralph Graves, Charlie Murray, and Harry Langdon. He produced several features with his brightest stars such as Ben Turpin and Mabel Normand.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Many of Sennett's films of the early 1920s were inherited by Warner Bros. Studio. Warner Bros. merged with the original distributor, First National, and added music and commentary to several of these short subjects. Unfortunately, many of the films of this period physically deteriorated to the point of destruction, due to inadequate storage. As a result, many of Sennett's films from his most productive and creative period no longer exist.


title: Mack Sennett

text: In the mid-1920s, Sennett moved to Pathé Exchange distribution. Pathé had a huge market share, but made bad corporate decisions, such as attempting to sell too many comedies at once, including those of Sennett's main competitor, Hal Roach. In 1927, Hollywood's two most successful studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures, took note of the profits being made by smaller companies such as Pathé Exchange and Educational Pictures. MGM and Paramount resumed the production and distribution of short subjects. Hal Roach signed with MGM, but Mack Sennett remained with Pathé Exchange even during hard times, which were brought on by the competition. Hundreds of other independent exhibitors and movie houses of this period had switched from Pathé to the new MGM or Paramount films and short subjects.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Sennett made a reasonably smooth transition to sound films, releasing them through Earle Hammons's Educational Pictures. Sennett occasionally experimented with color. He was also the first to get a talkie short subject on the market in 1928. In 1932, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film in the comedy division for producing "The Loud Mouth" (with Matt McHugh, in the sports-heckler role later taken in Columbia Pictures remakes by Charley Chase and Shemp Howard). Sennett also won an Academy Award in the novelty division for his film "Wrestling Swordfish", also in 1932. On March 25, 1932, he became a United States citizen.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Sennett often clung to outmoded techniques, making his early-1930s films seem dated and quaint. This doomed his attempt to re-enter the feature-film market with "Hypnotized" (starring blackface comedians Moran and Mack, "The Two Black Crows"). However, Sennett enjoyed great success with short comedies starring Bing Crosby, which were more than likely instrumental in Sennett's product being picked up by a major studio, Paramount Pictures. W. C. Fields conceived and starred in four famous Sennett-Paramount comedies. Fields himself recalled that he "made seven comedies for the Irishman"; his original deal called for one film and an option for six more, but ultimately only four were made with Fields as star. Two other Sennett shorts were made with Fields scripts: "The Singing Boxer" (1933) with Donald Novis and "Too Many Highballs" (1933) with Lloyd Hamilton.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Sennett's studio did not survive the Great Depression. His partnership with Paramount lasted only one year and he was forced into bankruptcy in November 1933.


title: Mack Sennett

text: On January 12, 1934, Sennett was injured in an automobile accident that killed blackface performer Charles Mack in Mesa, Arizona.


title: Mack Sennett

text: His last work, in 1935, was as a producer-director for Educational Pictures, in which he directed Buster Keaton in "The Timid Young Man" and Joan Davis in "Way Up Thar". (The 1935 Vitaphone short subject "Keystone Hotel" is not a Sennett production, although it featured several alumni from the Mack Sennett Studios. Actually, Sennett was not involved in the making of this film.)


title: Mack Sennett

text: Mack Sennett went into semiretirement at the age of 55, having produced more than 1,000 silent films and several dozen talkies during a 25-year career. His studio property was purchased by Mascot Pictures (later part of Republic Pictures), and many of his former staffers found work at Columbia Pictures.


title: Mack Sennett

text: In March 1938, Sennett was presented with an honorary Academy Award: "for his lasting contribution to the comedy technique of the screen, the basic principles of which are as important today as when they were first put into practice, the Academy presents a Special Award to that master of fun, discoverer of stars, sympathetic, kindly, understanding comedy genius – Mack Sennett."


title: Mack Sennett

text: Rumors abounded that Sennett would be returning to film production (a 1938 publicity release indicated that he would be working with Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy), but apart from Sennett reissuing a couple of his Bing Crosby two-reelers to theaters, nothing happened. Sennett did appear in front of the camera, however, in "Hollywood Cavalcade" (1939), itself a thinly disguised version of the Mack Sennett-Mabel Normand romance. In 1949, he provided film footage for and also appeared in the first full-length comedy compilation called "Down Memory Lane" (1949), which was written and narrated by Steve Allen. Sennett was profiled in the television series "This Is Your Life" in 1954, and made a cameo appearance (for $1,000) in "Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops" (1955). His last contribution worth noting was to the NBC radio program "Biography in Sound" relating memories of working with W.C. Fields, which was broadcast February 28, 1956.


title: Mack Sennett

text: Sennett died on November 5, 1960, in Woodland Hills, California, aged 80. He was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.


title: Mack Sennett

text: For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Sennett was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard. He was also inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2014.


title: Wes Craven filmography

text: Wes Craven (1939–2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and actor. He contributed to many projects as either the director, writer, producer, editor, actor, or a combination of the five.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale is the fourth-largest city in Arkansas, United States. It is located in both Washington and Benton counties in Northwest Arkansas. Located on the Springfield Plateau deep in the Ozark Mountains, Springdale has long been an important industrial city for the region. In addition to several trucking companies, the city is home to the world headquarters of Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producing company. Originally named Shiloh, the city changed its name to Springdale when applying for a post office in 1872. The four-county Northwest Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area is ranked 109th in terms of population in the United States with 463,204 in 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau. The city had a population of 69,797 at the 2010 Census.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale has been experiencing a population boom in recent years, as indicated by a 133% growth in population between the 1990 and 2010 censuses. During this period of rapid growth, the city has seen a new Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, the establishment of a Springdale campus of Northwest Arkansas Community College and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals minor league baseball team move into Arvest Ballpark. Tyson remains the city's top employer, and is visible throughout the city. Many public features bear the Tyson name, including the Randal Tyson Recreational Complex, Don Tyson Parkway, Helen Tyson Middle School, John Tyson Elementary and Don Tyson School of Innovation. Governor Mike Beebe signed an act into law recognizing Springdale as "The Poultry Capital Of The World" in 2013.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale was formerly called "Shiloh", after the local Shiloh church, and was platted under that original name in 1866. In 1878, the town was incorporated with the name of Springdale.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: An intense EF3 tornado struck the town on March 30, 2022, heavily damaging or destroying several structures and injuring seven people.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it, or 0.62%, is water. The city limits extend north into southern Benton County. Springdale is bordered by the cities of Cave Springs, Lowell, and Bethel Heights to the north, by Elm Springs and Tontitown to the west, and by Johnson and Fayetteville to the south.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The city is located in both Benton and Washington counties along Interstate 49/US Highway 62/US Highway 71 (I-49/US 62/US 71). This is the only fully controlled access route through the area, which replaced the winding US 71 (now US 71B) in the 1990s. An interstate connection with Fort Smith to the south and Kansas City, Missouri, to the north has greatly helped to grow Springdale. Within Washington County, Springdale is bordered along the south by Fayetteville and Johnson. In some locations, this transition is seamless. The city extends west and east along Highway 412 toward Tontitown and Beaver Lake, respectively.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale is located on the Springfield Plateau, a subset of The Ozarks which run through northwest Arkansas, southern Missouri, and Northeastern Oklahoma. In the Springdale area, sandstone and shale were deposited on top of the Springfield Plateau during the Pennsylvanian Period. These were eroded after the Ouachita orogeny and uplift, exposing Mississippian limestone formations of the Springfield Plateau visible today.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The Northwest Arkansas region consists of three Arkansas counties: Benton, Madison, and Washington. The area had a population of 347,045 at the 2000 census which had increased to 463,204 by the 2010 Census (an increase of 33.47 per cent). The Metropolitan Statistical Area does not consist of the usual principal-city-with-suburbs morphology; instead Springdale is bordered to the north by Rogers, the south by Fayetteville, and the northwest by Bentonville, with smaller cities like Lowell and Johnson in between.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale lies in the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen "Cfa") with influence from the humid continental climate type. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. The climate is similar to that of nearby Fayetteville.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: July is the hottest month of the year, with an average high of and an average low of . Temperatures above are uncommon but not rare, occurring on average twice a year, with 57 days over annually. January is the coldest month with an average high of and an average low of . The city's highest temperature was , recorded in 1954. The lowest temperature recorded was , in 1899. Precipitation is weakly seasonal, with a bimodal pattern: wet seasons in the spring and fall, and relatively drier summers and winters, but some rain in all months.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 69,797 people, 22,805 households, and 16,640 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 64.7% White, 1.8% Black, 1.8% Native American, 2.0% Asian, 5.7% Pacific Islander, 22% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. 35.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: There were 22,678 households, out of which 41.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02 and the average family size was 3.54.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The median income for a household in the city was $26,523, and the median income for a family was $46,407. Males had a median income of $31,495 versus $26,492 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,645. 21.3% of the population and 17.4% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 33.6% of those under the age of 18 and 6.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: 56.8% of Springdale's population describes themselves as religious, slightly above the national average of 48.8%. 25.6% of people in Springdale who describe themselves as having a religion are Baptist (14.5% of the city's total population). 12.5% of people holding a religion are Catholic (7.1% of the city's total population).


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The city is home to the largest community of Marshall Islanders in the United States, which dates to the 1980s, when one Marshall Islander arrived in the city to work for Tyson Foods and subsequently spread word of plentiful jobs to others in the islands. The Marshall Islands opened a consulate in the city in 2008. The Marshallese could easily settle in the U.S. as their country is in a free association with the United States. Photographer Lawrence Sumulong stated that this is the largest concentration of ethnic Marshallese in the United States.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: There were 22,805 households, out of which 46.0% had individuals under 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02, and the average family size was 3.54.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: In the city, the population had a median age was 29.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: According to the 2010 US Census, the total population was 69,797. Of this, 45,185 (64.74%) were White, 15,332 (21.97%) were some other race, 3,976 (5.70%) were Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders, 2,011 (2.88%) were two or more races, 1,363 (1.95%) were Asian, 1,251 (1.79%) were Black or African American, 679 (0.97%) were American Indian or Alaska Native. 24,592 (35.38%) were Hispanic or Latino (of any race)


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 84,161 people, 26,443 households, and 19,475 families residing in the city.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The economy of Northwest Arkansas was historically based upon agriculture and poultry. In recent decades, Northwest Arkansas has seen rapid growth and diversification of its economy based upon the three Fortune 500 companies based there—Walmart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt—while also seeing a growing University of Arkansas and cultural amenities sector. Although impacted by the Great Recession, Northwest Arkansas' economy fared better than most peer metropolitan areas, the state of Arkansas and the United States overall. Between 2007 and 2013, the region saw unemployment rates significantly below those of peer regions and the national average, while also seeing a 1% net growth of jobs. The region's gross domestic product grew 7.0% over the aforementioned time period and bankruptcies, building permits, and per capita incomes are returning to pre-Recession rates.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The professional, education, and health care sectors of Northwest Arkansas' economy have been growing steadily since 2007. Between 2007 and 2013, the region has seen a growth of 8,300 jobs in the region, with 6,100 added in education and health professions and 4,300 jobs added in the leisure and hospitality jobs related to the region's cultural amenities. The government and transportation sectors have remained relatively constant between 2007 and 2013, however the manufacturing sector has seen steady decline, mirroring national averages. The construction and real estate sectors saw large declines attributable to the poor housing market during the economic downturn.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale has a robust poultry processing industry, including large hatcheries and/or processing plants owned and operated by Tyson Foods, Cargill, and George's throughout the city. Since Tyson Foods and George's are based in the city, a host of administrative/executive/support staff is also employed in Springdale to support these large operations. Springdale also has a variety of industrial/manufacturing employers present in the city, including Apex Tool Group, Ball Corporation, Brunner & Lay, Dayco Products, and Pratt & Whitney. This strong industrial sector differentiates the city among the four large principal cities of Northwest Arkansas.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale Public Schools is the largest school district in Arkansas, providing educational services to over 23,000 students on 29 campuses in the city. Pre-kindergarten, seventeen elementary schools, four middle schools, Springdale High School, Har-Ber High School, and the Don Tyson School of Innovation constitute the district. The district offers a variety of programs, including International Baccalaurate Programme and the (Environmental and Spatial Technology) EAST Initiative. College prep programs (academies) for Engineering and Architecture, IT, Law and Public Safety, and Medical Profession Education allow students to begin specialized instruction.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Most of Springdale, including all portions of Springdale in Washington County, is in Springdale Public Schools. Within Benton County, other districts that include sections of Springdale include Bentonville Public Schools and Rogers Public Schools.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Shiloh Christian School is a private school founded in 1976 by Cross Church. It is fully accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International and Arkansas Nonpublic School Accrediting Association. The PreK-12 student body is approximately 900 students.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: A Catholic school, St. Raphael School, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, operated in Springdale until its 2013 closure. The nearest Catholic high school is Ozark Catholic Academy in Tontitown.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The Northwest Technical Institute (NWTI) provides occupational training for residents of Springdale and Northwest Arkansas. NWTI also has an Adult Education Center where students earn GEDs, study English as a foreign language, and study to apply for US citizenship.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale has a campus of the Northwest Arkansas Community College (NWACC). This two-year public community college provides associate degrees and non-credit courses. Ecclesia College is a small religious work college accredited through the Association for Biblical Higher Education located in western Springdale.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: South of Springdale in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is the University of Arkansas. The flagship institution of the University of Arkansas System, it is the largest degree-granting institution in Arkansas, with over 200 degree programs. John Brown University, a private interdenominational Christian liberal arts college, is west of Springdale in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The Springdale Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency in the city. As of 2017, Springdale had 208 police department employees, including civilian and support staff. The Springdale Fire Department is a career fire service providing emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and rescue services. Springdale has been listed as an ISO Class 1 city since 2017.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Parsons Stadium in eastern Springdale is host to many events throughout the year, most notably the Rodeo of the Ozarks. This four-day event began in Springdale in 1944 and brings professional cowboys and cowgirls to the city for one of the nation's top outdoor rodeos. Always hosted on Independence Day weekend, the event brings a parade, the Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks Pageant, and the Grand Entrance to the stadium. It also hosts Buckin' in the Ozarks (a Professional Bull Riders [PBR] event), Arenacross (a motocross competition with professional and amateur exhibitions) during Bikes Blues and BBQ weekend and other motorized exhibitions.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale is home to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, the minor league baseball team of the Texas League. The team, formerly known as the Wichita Wranglers, relocated in 2008 upon completion of Arvest Ballpark. The stadium has 6,500 seats and additional grass berm seating as well as suites and event space for private events. Approximately 70 Naturals home games are played in the stadium every year. In 2013, Arvest Ballpark hosted the 77th annual Texas League All-Star Game.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale operates within the mayor-city council form of government. The mayor is elected by a citywide election to serve as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the city by presiding over all city functions, policies, rules and laws. Once elected, the mayor also allocates duties to city employees. Mayors serve four-year terms and can serve unlimited terms. The city council consists of eight members who together form the legislative body for the city. Also included in the council's duties is balancing the city's budget and passing ordinances. The body also controls the representatives of specialized city commissions underneath their jurisdiction. Two members are elected from each of the city's four wards. The Council meets every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at the City Administration Building.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Citizen input is welcomed through the use of various specialized groups. Positions are appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Council. Commissions include:


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The Springdale Housing Authority and Springdale Public Facilities Board also help direct the City of Springdale on matters within their purview.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: Springdale is represented by Republican Steve Womack Representative for Arkansas's 3rd congressional district.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The Springdale Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport located near downtown Springdale. Commercial air service in Northwest Arkansas is available from Northwest Arkansas National Airport in Highfill.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The major through route in Springdale is Interstate 49/US 71/US 62 (the concurrent routes are unsigned and thus the route is simply known as I-49 in Springdale). This fully controlled access, four-lane expressway is a discontinuous piece of a route ultimately planned to connect Kansas City, Missouri to New Orleans, Louisiana. Formerly designated as Interstate 540 with the re-designation as Interstate 49 being granted by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration in 2014, the highway became the first freeway in the area when it was completed in the 1990s to relieve the former US 71 (now US 71B) of a much-increased demand of through travelers following the unanticipated and rapid growth of Northwest Arkansas. Future plans for the I-49 corridor include completion of a freeway segment through the Ouachita Mountains to Texarkana and completion of a Bella Vista Bypass to the north.


title: Springdale, Arkansas

text: The City of Springdale's major provider of public transportation is Ozark Regional Transit. The bus-based regional transit system runs throughout Washington and Benton Counties and is administrated by the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD).


title: SOM (missile)

text: The SOM () is a next-generation autonomous, stealth, high precision cruise missile developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE, Defence Research and Development Institute of Turkey. It was first revealed during the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Turkish Air Force at the Çiğli Air Base in İzmir, on 4 June 2011. Developed since 2006, the SOM is Turkey's first domestic guided missile for striking both stationary and moving targets at a stand-off distance of over 180 kilometers. Although being developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE which still holds authority over the design of the missile, ROKETSAN has been given the role of manufacturing and marketing the missile for export.


title: SOM (missile)

text: The SOM stand-off cruise missile is a family of launch and leave precision strike weapons against both land or sea targets. It uses GPS as its primary mode of guidance complemented by an advanced Inertial Navigation System and a radar-based Terrain Referenced Navigation system, allowing the missile to skim the terrain during its flight in order to evade local defence systems. According to the developer, it features advanced geometry and aerodynamics over similar missile systems, as well as lightweight composite components that minimize the radar cross-section of the missile. A terminal stage infrared imager detects the individual target by matching its signature with a pre-loaded database of similar targets allowing for precision strike. It can also be used to provide image-based midcourse navigation by taking snapshots of waypoints and comparing them against predicted position to update the navigation system. Thus, if GPS capability is denied or degraded, the missile can follow its waypoints using infrared based terrain updates. The missile includes a two-way datalink that makes possible to change the task in flight. The basic design of the missile includes a fuselage designed specifically to fit in the internal weapons bays of the Joint Strike Fighter. It is intended to achieve high accuracy in striking military targets like command and control facilities, SAM sites, parked aircraft and surface ships.


title: SOM (missile)

text: According to the TUBITAK-SAGE officials, the initial demonstration flights of the prototypes were completed successfully. The missile made its first guided flight on 9 August 2011 over the Black Sea. Covering more than 100 nautical miles using GPS/INS guidance, the missile successfully hit its target with high accuracy. It was planned to assess the design aspects of the missile by conducting about 30 test flights. The delivery of a first batch of missiles to the Turkish Air Force would take place by the end of 2011, following more complicated live firing tests planned for the rest of the year.


title: SOM (missile)

text: While initially the range of the missile was announced to be 100 nmi, debates arose in local press around the missile's real range after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly set objectives for the development of a missile with a range of at the plenary session of the High Science and Technology Council on 28 December 2011. Shortly after, head of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) Yücel Altınbaşak informed that they set a task to develop the missile to within 2 years. "The SOM missile is currently tested for range and successfully achieved precision goal, demonstrating around accuracy in live fires. We are planning to start range tests this year. Later the range will be extended to and finally to in 2014", he said.


title: SOM (missile)

text: On 26 October 2018, Turkey's defence industry authority announced that the missile entered serial production phase with Roketsan.


title: SOM (missile)

text: TUBITAK-SAGE developed the missile in several configurations, with different warheads and guidance/communication packages:


title: SOM (missile)

text: SOM-C1, C2 and J variants will feature a data-link for man-in-the-loop update of a waypoint and terminal stage of the missile.


title: SOM (missile)

text: On 24 October 2014 Roketsan and Lockheed Martin entered into a teaming agreement whereby the parties would modify, produce and market jointly a new variant of the SOM missile, dubbed SOM-J, for use in the internal carriages of the F-35. The SOM was one of two cruise missiles to be integrated with the F-35, the other being the Joint Strike Missile developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace of Norway.


title: SOM (missile)

text: As of 2019, the status of further integration has been put in doubt following Turkey's expulsion from the F-35 program as a result of its purchase of the Russian S-400 air-defense system.


title: Religious affiliation in the United States Senate

text: While the religious preference of elected officials is by no means an indication of their allegiance nor necessarily reflective of their voting record, the religious affiliation of prominent members of all three branches of government is a source of commentary and discussion among the media and public. The topic is also of interest to religious groups and the general public who may appeal to senators of their denomination on religious or moral issues facing the United States Senate.


text: The following list reports the religious affiliation of the members of the United States Senate in the 117th Congress. In most cases, besides specific sources, the current senators' religious affiliations are those mentioned in regular researches by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life at the Pew Research Center.


text: In conjunction with figures derived from the Pew Research Center's 2014 Religious Landscape Study, the most basic breakdown of the above data indicates that 86% of the Senate identify as Christian (compared with 70.6% of the population), 9% of the Senate identify as Jewish (compared with 1.9% of the population), 1% of the Senate identifies with other religions (compared with 5.9% of the population), 3% of the Senate have unknown religions or refused to specify them (compared with 0.6% of the population), and 1% of the Senate remains unaffiliated (compared with 22.8% of the population).


text: The following table compares reported religious affiliations of U.S. senators to religious statistics of the demographics of the United States:


Double-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission (DSB-SC) is transmission in which frequencies produced by amplitude modulation (AM) are symmetrically spaced above and below the carrier frequency and the carrier level is reduced to the lowest practical level, ideally being completely suppressed.


title: Double-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission

text: In the DSB-SC modulation, unlike in AM, the wave carrier is not transmitted; thus, much of the power is distributed between the side bands, which implies an increase of the cover in DSB-SC, compared to AM, for the same power use.


text: DSB-SC transmission is a special case of double-sideband reduced carrier transmission. It is used for radio data systems. This mode is frequently used in Amateur radio voice communications, especially on High-Frequency bands.


text: DSB-SC is basically an amplitude modulation wave without the carrier, therefore reducing power waste, giving it a 50% efficiency. This is an increase compared to normal AM transmission (DSB) that has a maximum efficiency of 33.333%, since 2/3 of the power is in the carrier which conveys no useful information and both sidebands containing identical copies of the same information. Single Side Band Suppressed Carrier (SSB-SC) is 100% efficient.


text: DSB-SC is generated by a mixer. This consists of a message signal multiplied by a carrier signal. The mathematical representation of this process is shown below, where the product-to-sum trigonometric identity is used.


text: For DSBSC, Coherent Demodulation is done by multiplying the DSB-SC signal with the carrier signal (with the same phase as in the modulation process) just like the modulation process. This resultant signal is then passed through a low pass filter to produce a scaled version of the original message signal.


text: The equation above shows that by multiplying the modulated signal by the carrier signal, the result is a scaled version of the original message signal plus a second term. Since formula_4, this second term is much higher in frequency than the original message. Once this signal passes through a low pass filter, the higher frequency component is removed, leaving just the original message.


text: For demodulation, the demodulation oscillator's frequency and phase must be exactly the same as the modulation oscillator's, otherwise, distortion and/or attenuation will occur.


text: The formula_11 terms results in distortion and attenuation of the original message signal. In particular, if the frequencies are correct, but the phase is wrong, contribution from formula_12 is a constant attenuation factor, also formula_13 represents a cyclic inversion of the recovered signal, which is a serious form of distortion.


text: This is best shown graphically. Below is a message signal that one may wish to modulate onto a carrier, consisting of a couple of sinusoidal components with frequencies respectively 800 Hz and 1200 Hz.


text: The modulation is performed by multiplication in the time domain, which yields a 5 kHz carrier signal, whose amplitude varies in the same manner as the message signal.


text: The name "suppressed carrier" comes about because the carrier signal component is suppressed—it does not appear in the output signal. This is apparent when the spectrum of the output signal is viewed. In the picture shown below we see four peaks, the two peaks below 5000 Hz are the lower sideband (LSB) and the two peaks above 5000 Hz are the upper sideband (USB), but there is no peak at the 5000 Hz mark, which is the frequency of the suppressed carrier.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Payson is a town in northern Gila County, Arizona, United States. Due to Payson's location being very near to the geographic center of Arizona, it has been called "The Heart of Arizona". The town is surrounded by the Tonto National Forest, the largest of the six national forests in Arizona and is the ninth largest national forest in the United States.[1][2]


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Payson boasts a lively festival calendar, including the World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo, established in 1884 and the Old Time Fiddlers Contest which celebrates the area’s rmusical heritage.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Payson considers its founding year 1882, at which time the town was known as "Green Valley". On March 3, 1884, a post office was established with the help of Illinois Representative Levi Joseph Payson. In honor of the representative's help, the town's name was changed to "Payson".


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Payson had its first rodeo in 1884. It considers its rodeo the "world's oldest continuous", as it has been held every year since.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: In 1918 author Zane Grey made his first trip to the area surrounding Payson. He would come back with regularity through 1929, and would purchase two plots of land near Tonto Creek, including from Sampson Elam Boles under Myrtle Point. Grey wrote numerous books about the area and also filmed some movies, such as "To the Last Man", in the Payson area in the 1920s.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: During Prohibition the manufacture, sale, and distribution of liquor was plentiful. The transactions took place on historic Bootleg Alley.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: During the 1930s an effort began to try to get Payson a better road to connect it to the outside world. At that time the town was very isolated, with a trip from Phoenix to Payson taking eight to twelve hours. Throughout the 1950s work on a paved road from Phoenix to Payson progressed, and the road was completed in 1958. The highway, State Route 87 (also known as the "Beeline Highway"), was later expanded to four lanes.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: On July 15, 2017, heavy rains that pour upstream caused the river to swell. This caused the river downstream to flood at the popular Water Wheel swimming hole that caused 10 people to be killed and injured 4 others.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Located in northern Gila County at (34.239462, -111.327456), at an elevation of , the town has a total area of . The Mogollon Rim, the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau, lies to the north of Payson, with elevations exceeding ; there are many cold water lakes on top of the rim. They are stocked with fish by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Payson is bordered to the east by the town of Star Valley. Other nearby communities are Pine, Strawberry, Gisela and Rye, all within Gila County. Globe, the Gila County seat, is to the south via State Routes 87 and 188. State Route 87, the Beeline Highway, leads southwest to Phoenix and northeast to Winslow. State Route 260 leads east from Payson to Show Low.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: "Zane Grey Country" is a term for the area around Payson. This term was most often used in the 1970s and 1980s, and appeared in the header of the local newspaper, the "Payson Roundup". In recent times it has fallen somewhat out of favor, as the term "Rim Country" has become more popular among locals.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Owing to its elevation of , Payson has what is classified as a Mediterranean climate (Köppen "Csa"), though atypical for this climate with its early-summer drought and late-summer rainfall. While average temperatures do reach the high 80s to mid 90s in summer, the town's altitude usually keeps it protected from the + temperatures usually found at Arizona's lower elevations. Monsoon storms often develop in the later afternoon, bring heavy rainfall to the area and also lower the temperature. Summer nights cool down into the 50s.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Winter is also mild, with cold nights. January's average nighttime low is with some nights in the teens, but by mid-afternoon, the temperature has usually risen into the 50s. There are only a few days of real winter, with of annual snowfall, but very little snow cover.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: The weather in Payson is as varied as the landscape, and a snowstorm is often followed by weather so warm that any accumulation melts away within a day or two. In spring the desert blooms with a fiery array of Indian paintbrush, primrose, and the golds and fuchsias of cactus blossoms and other brightly colored wildflowers.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: On Monday, November 5, 2001, between about 8 pm and 10:30 pm, Payson was treated to a rare display of the Northern Lights. It is extremely rare and only happens during solar flares because Payson is so far south. The lights appeared in a red color.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: As of the census of 2019, there were 15,297 people living in Payson, AZ and is the 2,788th largest city in the United States. 5,832 households, and 4,070 families residing in the town. The population density was 791 people per square mile, which is 1275% higher than the Arizona average and 773% higher than the national average. There were 7,033 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 92.5% White, 0.2% Black or African American, 2.6% Native American, 0.5% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.0% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. 9.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: There were 5,832 households, out of which 21.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.2% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.71.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: In the town, the population was spread out, with 18.1% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 15.3% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 36.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 57.1 years. This is approximately 54% higher than the Arizona average of 37. The male/female ratio was 0.9:1. English was spoken by 93% of people and Spanish was spoken by 5% of people.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: The median income for a household in the town was $33,638, and the median income for a family was $38,713. Males had a median income of $30,900 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,513. About 6.5% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: 97% of the land around Payson is under the jurisdiction of the United States Forest Service (Payson is surrounded by the Tonto National Forest) or by tribal governments. Much of the land is available for recreational activities. Payson also has many hiking trails available to use. The Tonto Natural Bridge, the largest known natural bridge in the world, is located just northwest of Payson in Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, a unit of the Arizona State Park system. The area incorporates three golf courses, two of which belong to private country clubs. Mazatzal Casino, a tribal casino, is operated by the Tonto Apache Indian Reservation near the south end of the city.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: The Payson area is a popular destination for rock hounds. In various areas surrounding the community quartz crystals can be found, some rivaling Herkimer diamonds in quality, as well as geodes, agate and onyx. Fossils are commonly found in the Paleozoic strata that is exposed along the Mogollon Rim to the north and west of Payson along State Route 87 and State Route 260.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Payson has two parks, Green Valley Park and Rumsey Park. It also has two lakes, which are part of the Urban Fish Program. A community swimming pool is located near Rumsey Park, and the town hosts free outdoor concerts in the summer. Other activities include intramural sports like baseball and football. Payson also has a small skate park.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: Payson is the site of the annual Arizona State Championship Old Time Fiddlers Contest, held in September. The fiddle contest features both local and nationally known players and awards cash prizes. Payson is also home of two rodeos. In May the Multi-Purpose Event Center across from the Tonto Apache Indian Reservation hosts the Gary Hardt Memorial Rodeo. In August, the historic August Doin's Rodeo (1884) takes place making Payson, Arizona the "Home of the World's Oldest Continuous Rodeo." Prescott is known as hosting the "World's Oldest Rodeo" (1888), but took a hiatus during World War II.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: The Payson Police Department serves both the Town of Payson and Town of Star Valley. The department is currently authorized to staff 32 sworn officers which includes the chief, lieutenant, five sergeants, four detectives, two school resource officers, two speciality positions (GIITEM and Traffic), and patrol. In 2021, officers responded to more than 16,000 calls for service.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: The police department also staffs a 24/7 dispatch center that is the primary public safety answering point (PSAP) for northern Gila County. In addition to dispatching for Payson PD, they also dispatch for the Tonto Apache Police Department, Town of Payson Fire Department, Hellsgate Fire District, Pine/Strawberry Fire District, Christopher Kohls Fire District, Waterwheel Fire District, and Gisela Valley Fire District.


title: Payson, Arizona

text: The Payson Senior Center operates the Beeline Bus, which provides local bus service to Payson, Star Valley, and Mesa del Caballo. Mountain Valley Shuttle stops in Payson on its Phoenix–Show Low route.


Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) was a militant organization active between 1975 and the 1990s whose stated goal was "to compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the Armenian genocide in 1915, pay reparations, and cede territory for an Armenian homeland." ASALA itself and other sources described it as a guerilla and armed organization. Some sources, including United States Department of State, as well as the Turkish Department of Culture and Azerbaijani Foreign ministry listed it as a terrorist organization.


title: Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia

text: The principal goal of ASALA was to establish a United Armenia that would include the formerly Armenian-inhabited six vilayets of the Ottoman Empire (Western Armenia) and Soviet Armenia. The group sought to claim the area (called "Wilsonian Armenia") that was promised to the Armenians by American President Woodrow Wilson in the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, following the Armenian genocide, during which Ottoman Turks murdered 1.5 million Armenians, which Turkey openly denies.


text: ASALA attacks and assassinations resulted in the deaths of 46 people and 299 injured, mostly individuals serving the Turkish government. The organization has also claimed responsibility for more than 50 bomb attacks. Suffering from internal schisms, the group was relatively inactive in the 1990s, although in 1991 it claimed an unsuccessful attack on the Turkish ambassador to Hungary. ASALA's last and most recent attack took place in Brussels in 1997, where a group of militants claiming to be ASALA bombed the Turkish Embassy in the city. The organization has not engaged in militant activity since then. The group's mottos were "The armed struggle and right political line are the way to Armenia" and ""Viva" the revolutionary solidarity of oppressed people!"


text: The presence of Armenians in eastern Anatolia, often called Western Armenia, is documented since the sixth century BCE, almost a millennium prior to the Turkish presence in the area. In 1915 and 1916, the ruling Committee of Union and Progress of the Ottoman Empire systematically deported and exterminated its Armenian population, killing around 1 million Armenians. The survivors of the death marches found refuge in other countries in Western Asia, as well as in Western Europe and North America; forces of the Turkish nationalist movement killed or expelled surviving Armenians that tried to return home. The Republic of Turkey denied that any crime had been committed against the Armenian people, actively campaigning against any and all attempts to publicise the events and bring about recognition in the West. It blamed Armenians for instigating the violence and falsely claimed that Armenians had massacred thousands of Turks, prompting the commencement of their deportations.


text: In 1965, Armenians around the world publicly marked the 50th anniversary and began to campaign for world recognition. As peaceful marches and demonstrations failed to move an intransigent Turkey, the younger generation of Armenians, resentful at the denial by Turkey and the failure by their parents' generation to effect change, sought new approaches to bringing about recognition and reparations.


text: In 1973, two Turkish diplomats were assassinated in Los Angeles by Kourken Yanigian, an elderly man who survived the Armenian genocide. This event might have been forgotten had it not initiated a chain of events which turned it, and its perpetrator, into a symbol representing the end of the conspiracy of silence which since 1915 had surrounded the Armenian Genocide. ASALA was founded in 1975 (thought to correspond to the 60th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide) in Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War by Hagop Hagopian (Harutiun Tagushian), pastor Reverend James Karnusian and Kevork Ajemian, a prominent contemporary writer, with the help of sympathetic Palestinians. Another major figure in the establishment of ASALA was Hagop Darakjian, who was a driving force in the earlier operations of the group. Darakjian headed the group for a period of time between 1976 and 1977 when Hagopian was unable to lead due to injuries sustained from his involvement with the Palestinians. At the beginning, ASALA bore the name of "The Prisoner Kurken Yanikian Group". Consisting primarily of Lebanese-born Armenians of the Diaspora (whose parents and/or grandparents were survivors of the genocide), the organization followed a theoretical model based on leftist ideology. ASALA was critical of its political predecessors and Diasporan parties, accusing them of failing to deal with the problems of the Armenian people. The apex of the group's structure was the General Command of the People of Armenia ("VAN").


text: The group's activities were primarily assassinations of Turkish diplomats and politicians in Western Europe, the United States and Western Asia. Their first acknowledged killing was the assassination of the Turkish diplomat, Daniş Tunalıgil, in Vienna on October 22, 1975. A failed attack in Geneva on October 3, 1980, in which two Armenian militants were injured resulted in a new nickname for the group, the 3 October Organization. ASALA's eight-point manifesto was published in 1981.


text: ASALA, trained in the Beirut camps of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is the best known of the guerrilla groups responsible for assassinations of at least 36 Turkish diplomats. Since 1975, a couple of dozen Turkish diplomats or members of their families had been targeted in a couple of dozens of attacks, with the outcome that the Armenian vengeance, as well as the background to the Armenian struggle, have made it to the world press. These notable acts, while carried out by a small group, were successful in conveying the Armenian Genocide to the forefront of international awareness.


text: The main two political goals of ASALA were to get Turkey to recognize its culpability for the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and to establish a United Armenia, which would unite nearby regions formerly under Armenian control or with large Armenian populations. Additionally, ASALA stated in a Cypriot newspaper in 1983 that it supported the Soviet Union and aimed to garner support from other Soviet republics toward the cause of eliminating Turkish colonialism. These goals helped shape the following political objectives:


text: Historian Fatma Müge Göçek describes the stated aims of ASALA as "righteous" but the means sought for these aims, i.e. the "wilful murder [of] innocent people" as not righteous, and thus argues that it was a terrorist organisation.


text: The U.S. Department of State, under President Ronald Reagan — as well as the militants themselves — attributed ASALA's deeds to Turkey's open denial of the Armenian genocide.


text: According to the MIPT website, there had been 84 incidents involving ASALA leaving 46 dead and 299 injured, including the following:


text: On October 22, 1975, Turkish Ambassador in Austria, Danis Tunaligil was assassinated by three members of ASALA. Two days later, the Turkish Ambassador in France, Ismail Erez and his chauffeur were killed. Both ASALA and JCAG claimed responsibility.


text: The first two ASALA militants, arrested on October 3, 1980, were Alex Yenikomshian and Suzy Mahserejian, who were wounded after the accidental explosion of a bomb in a hotel in Geneva.


text: During the 1981 Turkish consulate attack in Paris ("Van operation") ASALA militants held 56 hostages for fifteen hours; it became the first operation of its kind. Militants demanded release of political prisoners in Turkey including two Armenian clergymen, 5 Turks and 5 Kurds. Coverage of the takeover received one of the highest television ratings in France in 1981. Among those who supported the militants during the trial were Henri Verneuil, Mélinée Manouchian, the widow of the French resistance hero, Missak Manouchian, and singer Liz Sarian.


text: One of the most known attacks of ASALA was Esenboga airport attack on August 7, 1982, in Ankara, when its members targeted non-diplomat civilians for the first time. Two militants opened fire in a crowded passenger waiting room. One of the shooters took more than 20 hostages while the second was apprehended by police. Altogether, nine people died and 82 were injured. The arrested militant Levon Ekmekjian condemned the attack in its aftermath and appealed to other members of ASALA to stop the violence.


text: On August 10, 1982, Artin Penik a Turk of Armenian descent, set himself on fire in protest of this attack.


text: On July 15, 1983, ASALA carried out an attack at the Orly Airport near Paris, in which 8 people were killed and 55 were injured, most of them not being Turks. The attack resulted in a split in ASALA, between those individuals who carried it out, and those who believed the attack to be counterproductive.


text: The split resulted in emergence of two groups, the "ASALA-Militant" led by Hagopian and the 'Revolutionary Movement' ("ASALA-Mouvement Révolutionnaire") led by Monte Melkonian. While Melkonian's faction insisted on attacks strictly against Turkish officials and the Turkish government, Hagopian's group disregarded the losses of unintended victims and regularly executed dissenting members.


text: Afterwards, French forces promptly arrested those involved. Moreover, this attack eliminated the suspected secret agreement that the French government made with ASALA, in which the government would allow ASALA to use France as a base of operations in exchange for refraining from launching attacks on French soil. Belief in this suspected agreement was further bolstered after "Interior Minister Gaston Defferre called ASALA's cause "just", and four Armenians arrested for taking hostages at the Turkish Embassy in September 1981 were given light sentences." France was free of ASALA attacks after this concession until the government arrested suspected bomber Vicken Tcharkutian. ASALA only agreed to temporarily halt its attacks once more when France did not extradite Tcharkutian to the United States.


text: ASALA interacted and negotiated with a number of other European governments during its peak in order to make political or organizational gains. ASALA stopped its attacks in Switzerland on two occasions in order to expedite the release of certain Armenian prisoners, as well as after a Swiss judge disagreed with the Turkish government's refusal to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and other abuses of the Armenian people. Additionally, ASALA negotiated with the Italian government in 1979 in exchange for a halt in attacks provided that Italy close its Armenian emigration offices. When Italy agreed to ASALA's request, it saw no further attacks from the group.


text: Continuous attacks by ASALA prompted Turkey to accuse Cyprus, Greece, Syria, Lebanon, and the Soviet Union of provoking or possibly funding ASALA. Although they publicly distanced themselves from ASALA, Turkey's Armenian community came under attack by Turkish nationalists in reaction to the group's actions. This became apparent after the assassination of Ahmet Benler on October 12, 1979, by Armenian militants in the Hague. The reaction to the attack led to the bombing of the church of the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate in Istanbul on October 19 in retaliation. In 1980, the Turkish government arrested Armenian priest Fr. Manuel Yergatian at the Istanbul airport for the alleged possession of maps that indicated Armenian territory within modern-day Turkey and was sentenced to 14 years in prison for possible ties with ASALA. Amnesty International adopted him as a prisoner of conscience, concluding that the evidence against him was baseless. According to Tessa Hofmann, Turkish officials frequently used the accusation of collaboration with ASALA and foreign Armenian circles to incriminate extreme left-wing Turkish opposition groups.


text: In April 2000 the opening ceremony of "In Memory of killed ASALA commandos" monument took place at Armenian military pantheon Yerablur with participation of Greek anti-fascist resistance leader Manolis Glezos and other special guests.


text: After the ASALA attack against the Esenboğa International Airport in August 1982 the then President of Turkey Kenan Evren issued a decree for the elimination of ASALA. The task was given to the National Intelligence Organization's Foreign Operations Department. Evren's own daughter, a member of the MİT, ran the operation together with Foreign Intelligence Department chief Metin (Mete) Günyol, and Istanbul region director Nuri Gündeş.


text: Levon Ekmekjian was captured and placed in Ankara's Mamak Prison. He was told that he had to choose between confessing and being executed. After being promised that his comrades would not be harmed, he revealed how ASALA worked to a team led by MİT's Presidential Liaison and Evren's son-in-law, Erkan Gürvit. He was tried by Ankara martial law command military court, and sentenced to death. His appeal of the sentence was declined, and he was hanged on 29 January 1983.