title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: In 1638, Masconomet entered into a contract with John Winthrop the Younger for the purchase of Ipswich for "wampampeage, & other things: and ... also for the sume [sic] of twenty pounds." There is no record of any Native resistance to the colonization either at Charlestown or at Agawam, though there is documentation of devastating virgin soil epidemics among indigenous people in the area around 1617 and again in 1633, and contemporary reports attest to ghost towns encountered by early English settlers.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: Pioneers became farmers, fishermen, shipbuilders or traders. The tidal Ipswich River provided water power for mills, and salt marshes supplied hay for livestock. A cottage industry in lace-making developed. Ipswich Lace is a unique style, and the only known hand-made bobbin lace produced commercially in the U.S. But in 1687, Ipswich residents, led by the Reverend John Wise, protested a tax imposed by the governor, Sir Edmund Andros. As Englishmen, they argued, taxation without representation was unacceptable. Citizens were jailed, but then Andros was recalled to England in 1689, and the new British sovereigns, William III and Mary II, issued colonists another charter. The rebellion is the reason the town calls itself the "Birthplace of American Independence".


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: Great clipper ships of the 19th century bypassed Ipswich in favor of the deep-water seaports at Salem, Newburyport, Quincy, and Boston. The town remained primarily a fishing and farming community, its residents living in older homes they could not afford to replace—leaving Ipswich with a considerable inventory of early architecture. In 1822, a stocking manufacturing machine that had been smuggled out of England arrived at Ipswich, violating a British ban on exporting such technology, and the community developed as a mill town. In 1828, the Ipswich Female Seminary was founded. In 1868, Amos A. Lawrence established the Ipswich Hosiery Mills beside the river. It became the nation's largest stocking mill by the turn of the 20th century. What may be the last witchcraft trial in North America was held in Ipswich in 1878. In the Ipswich witchcraft trial, a member of the Christian Science religion was accused of using his mental powers to harm others, including a spinster living in the town.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: In 1910, Richard T. Crane Jr. of Chicago, the business magnate owner of Crane Plumbing, bought Castle Hill, a drumlin on Ipswich Bay. He hired Olmsted Brothers, successors to Frederick Law Olmsted, to landscape his estate, and engaged the Boston architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge to design an Italian Renaissance-Revival style villa on the summit. A grande allée, wide and lined with statuary, would run the half mile from house to sea. But his wife, Florence, loathed the building. Crane promised that if she still disliked it in 10 years, he would replace it. In 1928, a new 59-room mansion designed by Chicago architect David Adler in the English Stuart style stood in its place, called the Great House. At Mrs. Crane's death in 1949, the entire property was bequeathed to The Trustees of Reservations, which uses it as a venue for concerts and weddings.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: The town government was reformed in 1950 with the acceptance of the Town Manager Charter. This charter was rescinded by the voters, regained, and lost again. Voters adopted the present Town Manager-Selectmen Charter in 1967. In 2012 Ipswich hired its first female Town Manager, Robin Crosbie, who served until her retirement in 2018.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: Ipswich is drained by the Ipswich River and Plum Island Sound, which join at their mouths and empty through a narrow but navigable channel at the foot of Castle Hill around Sandy Point into Ipswich Bay adjoining the Atlantic Ocean. The crane estate has a long lawn that overlooks the bay and often has castle hill concerts. The southern part of Plum Island falls within the area allotted to the town, making up the town's ocean shore along with Castle Neck, south of the Sound. The northeastern part of town is marshy, where the Rowley River, Roger Island River, and Eagle Hill River drain into Plum Island Sound. South of Castle Neck, the Castle Neck River separates the town from neighboring Essex. Much of the western end of town is dominated by Willowdale State Forest, and other parts of the town are also protected land, including Crane Wildlife Refuge on Castle Neck, the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and Sandy Point State Reservation on Plum Island, as well as Hamlin Reservation, Heartbreak Hill Reservation, Bull Brook Reservoir, Greenwood Farm and a portion of Appleton Farms Sanctuary, which extends into Hamilton.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: Ipswich is in central Essex County and is south of Newburyport, northwest of Gloucester, north of Salem, east of Lawrence, and northeast of Boston. It is bordered by Rowley to the north, Boxford to the west, and Topsfield, Hamilton, Essex and Gloucester to the south. (The border with Gloucester lies across Essex Bay, and as such there is no land connection between the two.)


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: There is no interstate highway through Ipswich; Interstate 95 passes through neighboring Boxford and Topsfield. U.S. Route 1, known as the Newburyport Turnpike, passes through the western end of town. Massachusetts Route 1A and Route 133 pass through the town, entering concurrently from Rowley and passing through the center of town before splitting south of the town center; Route 1A heads towards Hamilton and Beverly, while Route 133 leads to Essex and Gloucester.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: Ipswich has a station along the Newburyport/Rockport Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail, providing service between Newburyport and Boston's North Station. There is no air service in town; the nearest small airports are in Newbury and Beverly, and the nearest national service is Boston's Logan International Airport. The Ipswich Essex Explorer provides summertime weekend shuttle service connecting Ipswich MBTA train station with Crane Beach, Essex and Appleton Farms.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 12,987 people, 5,290 households, and 3,459 families residing in the town. The population density was 398.6 people per square mile (153.9/km). There were 5,601 housing units at an average density of 66.4 persons/km (171.9 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the town was 97.60% White, 0.39% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.33% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. 1.04% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: There were 5,290 households, out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 8.4% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 34.6% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.00.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.0% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: The median income for a household in the town was $57,284, and the median income for a family was $74,931. Males had a median income of $51,408 versus $38,476 for females. The per capita income for the town was $32,516. 7.1% of the population and 4.1% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 7.8% are under the age of 18 and 13.0% are 65 or older.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: Paul F. Doyon Memorial and Winthrop are the town's two elementary schools. Paul F. Doyon is on Linebrook Road and was originally named the Linebrook School until it was renamed in 1967 after its namesake died in the Vietnam War. Grade levels end in 5th grade, after which students move to Ipswich Middle School.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: The middle school and high school are in the same building and share the library, the cafeteria, performing arts facilities and athletic resources (tennis courts, a baseball diamond, a football field, and a running track).


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: Ipswich Middle School (IMS) covers grades 6–8, with each grade assigned to a "pod", a common area with a projector with lockers and classrooms for the grade branching off of the pod.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: Ipswich High School (IHS) has been considered one of the best public high schools in the Boston area. The Ipswich Public Schools also have what is considered one of the best performing arts programs. In 2005, the high school was named a "Blue Ribbon" school. The Blue Ribbon is an award for national excellence in education under the No Child Left Behind legislation. The school also received a Vanguard award for similar academic prowess. IHS offers college-prep, honors, and AP-level classes. It has one of Massachusetts's highest graduation rates.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: Ipswich Middle/High School is considered to have one of the state's best music programs. It offers dance, choruses, bands (including jazz, pep and concert bands), orchestra and symphony orchestra.


title: Ipswich, Massachusetts

text: The high school mascot is the Tiger, and the school colors are orange and black. Ipswich competes in the Cape Ann League. The high school football team won the Division 3A Super Bowl Championship in 2006. It was the school's first title since 1992, and the fifth in school history. (Previous titles were achieved in 1974, 1977, 1991, and 1992.) Ipswich's traditional rival is Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School.


title: Salman Taseer

text: Salman Taseer (Punjabi and ); ( 4 January 2011) was a Pakistani businessman and politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in 2011.


title: Salman Taseer

text: A member of the Pakistan Peoples Party since the 1980s, he was elected to the Punjab Assembly from Lahore in the 1988 election, however lost in 1990, 1993 and then in 1997. Taseer served as a minister in the caretaker cabinet of Prime Minister Mian Soomro under Pervez Musharraf during the 2008 elections. He was appointed as the governor of Punjab on 15 May 2008, by then-President Musharraf at the request of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani. During his governorship, he emerged as an outspoken critic of the Pakistan's blasphemy laws and consequently called for the pardon for Asia Bibi.


title: Salman Taseer

text: Born in Shimla in British India, Taseer studied at the St. Anthony's School and the Government College in Lahore before moving to London where he studied accountancy at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. In 1994, Taseer established a brokerage house backed by the Smith Barney and in 1996 he founded the Worldcall Group. He later in 2000s ventured into media, launching "Business Plus" and "Daily Times".


title: Salman Taseer

text: On 4 January 2011, he was assassinated at the Kohsar Market in Islamabad by his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri, who disagreed with Taseer's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law. "The Guardian" described Taseer's murder as "one of the most traumatic events in recent Pakistani history." A nationwide three-day state of mourning was held in Pakistan, Taseer's funeral prayers were held at the Governors House in Lahore. Taseer's son, Shahbaz, was kidnapped by the Pakistani Taliban in 2011, before being released in 2016, a few months after Taseer's murderer was hanged. Taseer's other son, Shaan, is a leading critic of the country's blasphemy law.


title: Salman Taseer

text: He was born on 31 May 1944, in Shimla, British India, to a mixed-race family. being of Kashmiri descent on his father's side and of English descent on his mother's side.


title: Salman Taseer

text: His father was Muhammad Din Taseer (M. D. Taseer), who hailed from Ajnala near Amritsar, and was a professor at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Amritsar, having obtained his PhD in the United Kingdom. Taseer's mother was Christobel George, a British woman who, upon her wedding, converted to Islam and took the name Bilqis.


title: Salman Taseer

text: Taseer's father died in 1950 at the age of 47, when Taseer was only six years old. Taseer and his two sisters were brought up by their mother in relative poverty, in an environment with strong Christian influences. He had little immersion in Pakistani culture, because his mother didn't stay in contact with her late husband's family.


title: Salman Taseer

text: Taseer attended St. Anthony's School, a school run by Christian missionaries in Lahore, where he was a classmate of Nawaz Sharif. He then obtained a degree in Chartered Accountancy from London.


title: Salman Taseer

text: Taseer was married twice, and also had two confirmed extra-marital relationships. With his first wife Yasmeen Sehgal, he had one son, Shaan, and two daughters, Sara and Sanam. His second wife, Aamna Taseer, is chairperson of an investment management company. They have two sons, Shahbaz and Shehryar and a daughter, Shehrbano.


title: Salman Taseer

text: Taseer had a brief extramarital relationship with the Indian journalist Tavleen Singh. Taseer met Singh during a book promotion trip to India in March 1980. Their son, Aatish (born 27 November 1980), is a writer and journalist. According to Aatish, the relationship between his parents was an "affair (which) lasted little more than a week." Aatish is a freelance journalist in the UK and has written a book – "Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands" – about his estranged relationship with his biological father.


title: Salman Taseer

text: Taseer started his political career in his student era as a member of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the late 1960s. He was a part of the movement for Bhutto's freedom and opposed his arrest and death sentence. He also wrote a political biography on Bhutto titled "Bhutto: A political biography" (1980). Taseer was also known to be one of the trusted aides of Bhutto's daughter and political heir, Benazir Bhutto.


title: Salman Taseer

text: In the 1988 general elections, Taseer became a member of the Punjab Assembly from Lahore. In the 1990, 1993 and 1997 general elections, he stood for election to be an MNA but lost. In 2007, he was appointed the interim Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives. On 15 May 2008, Taseer was designated for the office of Governor of Punjab by the PPP-led coalition government.


title: Salman Taseer

text: In December 2010, Taseer was alleged to have left the country for several days without handing over charge to the Punjab Assembly Speaker. This meant that the province was without a constitutional head, and it also rendered the assembly speaker ineligible to preside over sessions. Leaving the province without informing his successor was in violation of the constitution and this led to Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal sending a letter to Prime Minister Gilani calling for the removal of Salmaan Taseer by the President. Evidence provided by ICAO on the governor's travel abroad led to a case being filed in court for breach of the constitution.


title: Salman Taseer

text: Taseer set up several chartered accountancy and management consultancy firms early in his career. In 1995 he established the First Capital Securities Corporation (FCSC), a full-service brokerage house with equity participation by Smith Barney, Inc., USA, and HG Asia Hong Kong.


title: Salman Taseer

text: Taseer founded the Worldcall group with a payphone network in 1996. The group has grown over the years to become a major private-sector telecom operator with a national and regional footprint. A majority stake in Worldcall was acquired in 2008 by Omantel, the Sultanate of Oman's incumbent operator. Taseer also owned an English news channel in Pakistan, Business Plus; and the first children's channel, Wikkid Plus; and was the publisher of the English language "Daily Times".


title: Salman Taseer

text: In an interview with Meher Bukhari on Samaa TV, Taseer commented on his view about the country's blasphemy law and on filing a mercy petition for Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death by a court under the law.


title: Salman Taseer

text: On 4 January 2011, one of Taseer's bodyguards, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, shot him 27 times with an AK-47 assault rifle at Kohsar Market, near his home in Sector F6, Islamabad, as he was returning to his car after meeting a friend for lunch. Kohsar Market is a popular shopping and cafe spot for the city's elite and expatriates. Eight hours before his assassination, he tweeted an Urdu couplet by Shakeel Badayuni: "My resolve is so strong that I do not fear the flames from without, I fear only the radiance of the flowers, that it might burn my garden down."


title: Salman Taseer

text: The next day, just hundreds of people turned up for his funeral in Lahore in spite of denunciations by some Sunni clerics and religious scholars against mourning Taseer. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and many supporters of the ruling PPP were seen attending the funeral prayer. The funeral prayers were finally led by Allama Afzal Chisti of the Ulema wing of the PPP after the chief cleric of the Badshahi Mosque, who had initially agreed to offer prayers, backed off at the last moment, saying he was going out of town. Taseer was buried at a military cantonment in Lahore.


title: Salman Taseer

text: The assassin Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri was from Punjab, and was part of the security detail provided to Taseer by the Elite Police. After the shooting, Qadri threw his weapon down. He reportedly pleaded to be arrested. After the murder, more than 500 clerics voiced support for the murder and urged a general boycott of Taseer's funeral as he supported a blasphemer. Supporters of Mumtaz Qadri blocked police attempting to bring him to the Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi, and some supporters showered him with rose petals.


title: Salman Taseer

text: On 1 October 2011, Qadri was sentenced to death by a Pakistani Anti Terrorist court at Islamabad for murdering Taseer. Qadri was executed on 29 February 2016.


title: Damien Williams

text: Damien Williams (born April 3, 1992) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He has also played for the Kansas City Chiefs and won Super Bowl LIV with the team. In that Super Bowl, he scored the Chiefs' game-clinching touchdown on a 38-yard run with less than two minutes left in the game.


title: Damien Williams

text: Williams attended his freshman year and played varsity at El Cajon Valley High School. Over the next three years, he played high school football at Mira Mesa Senior High School.


title: Damien Williams

text: Williams was originally expected to play college football at Arizona State but did not meet the ACT test score requirement. So he played at Arizona Western College before transferring to the University of Oklahoma in 2012. In November 2013, he was dismissed from Oklahoma after violating team rules. In two seasons with the Sooners, he rushed for 1,499 yards with 18 touchdowns, including a 95-yard touchdown run against Texas in 2012.


title: Damien Williams

text: Williams made his NFL debut in the 2014 season opener against the New England Patriots. He had one kick return for 19 yards in the 33–20 victory. In the next game, a 29–10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, he had five carries for 19 yards. In Week 16, against the Minnesota Vikings, he had six receptions for 50 yards and his first professional touchdown. Overall, he finished the 2014 season with 36 carries for 122 yards and 21 receptions for 187 yards and a touchdown.


title: Damien Williams

text: During Week 2, in a 23–20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Williams had a receiving touchdown. He finished the 2015 season with 21 receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown.


title: Damien Williams

text: In 2016, Williams played in 15 games, rushing for 115 yards and three touchdowns while recording 23 receptions for 249 yards and three touchdowns. The Dolphins made the playoffs and faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the . In the 30–12 defeat, he had a four-yard receiving touchdown.


title: Damien Williams

text: Set to be a restricted free agent in 2017, the Dolphins tendered Williams at the lowest level. After reportedly wanting a larger contract than the $1.797 million tender for 2017, he officially signed the tender on May 11, 2017.


title: Damien Williams

text: Williams entered the 2017 season second on the Dolphins running back depth chart behind Jay Ajayi. After Ajayi was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, he was named the starting running back ahead of Kenyan Drake. Williams started four games before suffering a shoulder injury in Week 12. He was diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder and was expected to be out for two to three weeks. He ended up missing the remainder of the season.


title: Damien Williams

text: Williams finished the season with 46 carries for 181 rushing yards along with 20 receptions for 155 yards and a receiving touchdown.


title: Damien Williams

text: Williams's role increased after the release of former starter, Kareem Hunt. On December 27, 2018, the Chiefs signed Williams to a two-year, $8.1 million contract extension.


title: Damien Williams

text: Williams finished the 2018 season with 256 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, 23 receptions, 160 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. He was called upon in the playoffs as the Chiefs' feature back. In the victory over the Indianapolis Colts, he had 129 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with five receptions for 25 receiving yards. In the against the New England Patriots, he had 30 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, five receptions, 66 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns in the 37–31 overtime loss.


title: Damien Williams

text: During Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings, Williams rushed 12 times for 125 yards and a 91-yard touchdown in the 26–23 win. This was his first game with at least 100 rushing yards of the season. The 91-yard run tied Jamaal Charles for the longest touchdown run in franchise history. In the regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers, Williams rushed 12 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns, including an 84-yard touchdown, and caught four passes for 30 yards during the 31–21 win.


title: Damien Williams

text: Williams finished the 2019 season with 498 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to go along with 30 receptions for 213 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. In the of the playoffs against the Houston Texans, he rushed 12 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 21 yards and a touchdown during the 51–31 win. In the against the Tennessee Titans, Williams rushed 17 times for 45 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 44 yards during the 35–24 win. In Super Bowl LIV against the San Francisco 49ers, Williams rushed 17 times for 104 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown, and caught four passes for 29 yards and a touchdown during the 31–20 win. He scored a receiving touchdown with 2:44 left in the game that gave the Chiefs the lead. He then scored the game clinching rushing touchdown that gave the Chiefs a 10 point lead with 1:12 left in the game. He is the first player in Super Bowl history with at least 100 rushing yards while recording a rushing and receiving touchdown.


title: Damien Williams

text: On July 29, 2020, the Chiefs announced that Williams would opt-out of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following day, he announced on Sirius XM NFL radio that the reason he opted-out was because his mother had recently been diagnosed with stage IV cancer. Without him, the Chiefs reached Super Bowl LV, but lost 9–31 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was released after the season on March 16, 2021.


title: Damien Williams

text: On March 26, 2021, Williams signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears. In the 2021 season, Williams had 40 carries for 164 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to go along with 16 receptions for 103 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown in 12 games.


title: Damien Williams

text: On March 17, 2022, Williams signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons. He suffered a rib injury in Week 1 and was placed on injured reserve on September 17, 2022. He was released on December 12, 2022.


title: Seinfeld (season 8)

text: The eighth season of "Seinfeld", an American comedy television series began airing on September 19, 1996, and concluded on May 15, 1997, on NBC.


title: Seinfeld (season 8)

text: The eighth season marked a turning point in the series. It is the first season where Seinfeld himself took creative control of the show after co-creator Larry David left. It is also the first season where the episodes no longer start with Jerry's stand-up routines. Seinfeld states that this is because he was too busy writing episodes to create additional stand-up material. As a result, the show began to remove itself from the 'show about nothing' format it had begun life as, and took a far more absurdist, surreal stylistic turn.


title: Seinfeld (season 8)

text: "Seinfeld" was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment and distributed by Columbia Pictures Television and Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television) and aired on NBC in the US. The executive producers were Jerry Seinfeld, George Shapiro, and Howard West with Tom Gammill and Max Pross as supervising producers. Bruce Kirschbaum was the executive consultant. This season was directed by Andy Ackerman.


title: Seinfeld (season 8)

text: The series was set predominantly in an apartment block on New York City's Upper West Side; however, the eighth season was shot and mostly filmed in CBS Studio Center in Studio City, California. The show features Jerry Seinfeld as himself, and a host of Jerry's friends and acquaintances, which include George Costanza, Elaine Benes, and Cosmo Kramer, portrayed by Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards, respectively.


title: Seinfeld (season 8)

text: Due to Julia Louis-Dreyfus's off-screen pregnancy, her character had to spend the latter half of this season hiding her belly behind furniture and laundry baskets.


title: Seinfeld (season 8)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 86% approval rating with an average rating of 9/10, based on 7 critic reviews.


title: Once (Nightwish album)

text: Once is the fifth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on 7 June 2004 by Spinefarm Records in Finland and Nuclear Blast in the rest of Europe. It is the fifth and last album to feature Tarja Turunen on lead vocals. The album cost nearly €250,000 to make, (1,000,000 including the videos) which made it Finland's most expensive recording ever until the release of Nightwish's next album, "Dark Passion Play", which cost over €500,000 to produce. As of 2013, "Once" had sold 2.3 million copies worldwide, becoming Nightwish's most successful album to date. The remastering of the album was released on 6 August 2021.


title: Once (Nightwish album)

text: In a 2008 "Kerrang!" interview, Tuomas Holopainen remembered: "Doing this kind of really orchestral, symphonic stuff for four albums, you have to be prepared to take the next step and go 10 steps beyond, and that's how we ended up with the London Session Orchestra. At that time we also had the financial resources to do it. This was like our second breakthrough in a way; "Oceanborn" (1998) broke us, took us to the big league. Musically it was pretty laid-back from our side because everyone involved in the orchestra really knew their stuff, so we basically spent two days lying on the couch hearing all these people playing our songs, enjoying every moment. It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. The first song they started to play was "Ghost Love Score", we had no idea what to expect, and I just thought: This can't be happening!"


title: Once (Nightwish album)

text: The album continues the more streamlined musical approach first heard on "Century Child", moving further away from the power metal-influenced sound of their previous albums into symphonic metal with a slightly more mainstream, approachable feel. "Once" utilizes a full orchestra in nine of the eleven songs on the album; unlike "Century Child", Nightwish chose an orchestra outside of Finland, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which has been featured on every album released since.


title: Once (Nightwish album)

text: "Once" is their second album to feature a full-length song in Finnish, "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan". The band added new elements to their music for this album, such as the chorus riff and synthesized drum-beat of "Wish I Had an Angel", and a long prayer chant on "Creek Mary's Blood". The song "Ghost Love Score" was described by Hietala as follows: "I'm a big fan of old prog rock and this is a song that has a lot of different parts going on, and different atmospheres in different places in order to support the story. [...] My biggest influence from the prog world would be Jethro Tull, but I also love listening to Yes and Genesis and all those bands, and there's a correlation between the structures and the length of a lot of their songs and this one."


title: Once (Nightwish album)

text: The angel on the album cover is a view of the Angel of Grief, a sculpture by William Wetmore Story. The original is in the Protestant Cemetery of Rome, Italy.


title: Once (Nightwish album)

text: The success of the album allowed them to perform the Once Upon a Tour, which enabled them to play in many countries the band had never visited before. Nightwish performed at the opening ceremony of the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, held in Helsinki.


title: Once (Nightwish album)

text: During the first week of its release, "Once" entered the Finnish, German and Norwegian charts at number one, later topping the European Top 100 Albums chart. It was also the first Nightwish album to chart in the United States, reaching No. 42 on the "Billboard" Top Heatseekers chart, and the band's first album to chart in UK, reaching 10 on the Rock Chart. In 2005, "Once" was ranked number 383 in "Rock Hard" magazine's book "The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time". In 2017, it was ranked 89th at "Rolling Stone"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".


title: Once (Nightwish album)

text: "Once" has been certified double platinum in Finland, platinum in Germany, gold in Sweden The single "Nemo" topped the charts in Finland and Hungary, and reached the top ten in four additional countries. It remained on the UK Rock Chart for more than a year. "Nemo" therefore remains their most successful single ever, and "Once" reached number 47 in the list of best-selling albums of all time in Finland. As of June 2013, the album had sold 2.3 million copies worldwide, Nightwish's best-selling album to date.


title: Liquid metal

text: The only stable liquid elemental metal at room temperature is mercury (Hg), which is molten above −38.8 °C (234.3 K, −37.9 °F). Three more stable elemental metals melt just above room temperature: caesium (Cs), which has a melting point of 28.5 °C (83.3 °F); gallium (Ga) (30 °C [86 °F]); and rubidium (Rb) (39 °C [102 °F]). The radioactive metal francium (Fr) is probably liquid close to room temperature as well. Calculations predict that the radioactive metals copernicium (Cn) and flerovium (Fl) should also be liquid at room temperature.


title: Liquid metal

text: Alloys can be liquid if they form a eutectic, meaning that the alloy's melting point is lower than any of the alloy's constituent metals. The standard metal for creating liquid alloys used to be mercury, but gallium-based alloys, which are lower both in their vapor pressure at room temperature and toxicity, are being used as a replacement in various applications.


title: Liquid metal

text: Alloy systems that are liquid at room temperature have thermal conductivity far superior to ordinary non-metallic liquids, allowing liquid metal to efficiently transfer energy from the heat source to the liquid. They also have a higher electrical conductivity that allows the liquid to be pumped more efficiently, by electromagnetic pumps. This results in the use of these materials for specific heat conducting and/or dissipation applications.


title: Liquid metal

text: The viscosity of liquid metals can vary greatly depending on the atomic composition of the liquid, especially in the case of alloys. In particular, the temperature dependence of the viscosity of liquid metals may range from the standard Arrhenius law dependence, to a much steeper (non-Arrhenius) dependence such as that given empirically by the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation.


title: Liquid metal

text: A physical model for the viscosity of liquid metals, which captures this great variability in terms of the underlying interatomic interactions, was also developed.


title: Liquid metal

text: The electrical resistance of a liquid metal can be estimated by means of the Ziman formula, which gives the resistance in terms of the static structure factor of the liquid as can be determined by neutron or X-ray scattering measurements.


title: Liquid metal

text: Once oxides have been removed from the substrate surface, most liquid metals will wet most metallic surfaces. At room temperature, liquid metals are often reactive and soluble to metallic surfaces, though some solid metals are resistant to attack by the common liquid metals. For example gallium is corrosive to all metals except tungsten and tantalum, which have a high resistance to corrosion, more so than niobium, titanium and molybdenum.


title: Liquid metal

text: Similar to indium, gallium and gallium-containing alloys have the ability to wet to many non-metallic surfaces such as glass and quartz. Gently rubbing the alloy into the surface may help induce wetting. However, this observation of "wetting by rubbing into glass surface" has created a widely spread misconception that the gallium-based liquid metals wet glass surfaces, as if the liquid breaks free of the oxide skin and wets the surface. The reality is the opposite: the oxide makes the liquid wet the glass. In more details: as the liquid is rubbed into and spread onto the glass surface, the liquid oxidizes and coats the glass with a thin layer of oxide (solid) residues, on which the liquid metal wets. In other words, what is seen is a gallium-based liquid metal wetting its solid oxide, not glass. Apparently, the above misconception was caused by the super-fast oxidation of the liquid gallium in even a trace amount of oxygen, i.e., nobody observed the true behavior of a liquid gallium on glass, until research at the UCLA debunked the above myth by testing Galinstan, a gallium-based alloy that is liquid at room temperature, in an oxygen-free environment. Note: These alloys form a thin dull looking oxide skin that is easily dispersed with mild agitation. The oxide-free surfaces are bright and lustrous.


title: Liquid metal

text: Because of their excellent characteristics and manufacturing methods, liquid metals are often used in wearable devices, medical devices, interconnected devices and so on.


title: Liquid metal

text: Typical uses of liquid metals include thermostats, switches, barometers, heat transfer systems, and thermal cooling and heating designs. Uniquely, they can be used to conduct heat and/or electricity between non-metallic and metallic surfaces.


title: Liquid metal

text: Liquid metal is sometimes used as a thermal interface material between coolers and processors because of its high thermal conductivity. The PlayStation 5 video game console uses liquid metal to help cool high temperatures inside the console.


title: Liquid metal

text: Liquid metal can be used for wearable devices and for spare parts. Emerging IoT applications require reliable and effective wireless connectivity.


title: Orpington chicken

text: The Orpington is a British breed of chicken. It was bred in the late nineteenth century by William Cook of Orpington, Kent, in south-east England. It was intended to be a dual-purpose breed, to be reared both for eggs and for meat, but soon became exclusively a show bird.


title: Orpington chicken

text: The original Black Orpington was bred by William Cook in 1886 by crossing Minorcas, Langshans and Plymouth Rocks to create a new hybrid bird. Cook selected a black bird that would exhibit well by hiding the dirt and soot of London. When the breed was shown in Madison Square Gardens in 1895, its popularity soared. Cook also bred the Orpington Duck.


title: Orpington chicken

text: The original colours are black, white, buff, blue and splash. Although there are many additional varieties recognised throughout the world, only the original colours are recognised by the "American Standard", the Buff being the most common colour. In the beginning of the twentieth century, Herman Kuhn of Germany developed a Bantam variety. The Bantam retains the appearance of the full-size bird, but in a smaller size. There is a large variety of colours in the Bantam version, including black, blue laced, white, buff, red, buff black laced, barred, buff Columbian, and birchen. The Bantam retains the friendly personality of the Standard breed, and seldom or never flies.


title: Orpington chicken

text: In the UK, the club dedicated to the breed is the Orpington Club, which merged with the Orpington Bantam Club in 1975. The United Orpington Club is the American breeder's club, and the Orpington Club of Australia is the Australian club for the breed.


title: Orpington chicken

text: There are two similar but different standards for Orpingtons. The first is published by the Poultry Club of Great Britain and asks for a weight from for cocks and for hens. They also ask for a heavy, broad body with a low stance, with fluffed-out feathers which make it look large; the down from the body covers most of the legs. Other characteristics of their Orpingtons are a curvy shape with a short back and U-shaped underline, and a small head with a medium single comb.


title: Orpington chicken

text: It was said that at one time Orpingtons were capable of laying as many as 340 eggs per year. The decline in production was due to breeders selecting for looks over utility.


title: Sir Duke

text: "Sir Duke" is a song composed and performed by Stevie Wonder from his 1976 album "Songs in the Key of Life". Released as a single in 1977, the track topped the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 and Black Singles charts, and reached number two in the UK Singles Chart, his joint biggest hit there at the time. "Billboard" ranked it as the No. 18 song of 1977.


title: Sir Duke

text: The song was written in tribute to Duke Ellington, the influential jazz legend who had died in 1974. The lyrics also refer to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.


title: Sir Duke

text: Wonder wrote the song as a tribute to Duke Ellington, the jazz composer, bandleader, and pianist who had influenced him as a musician. Wonder had already experienced the death of two of his idols (Dinah Washington and Wes Montgomery) after attempting to collaborate with them.


title: Sir Duke

text: After Ellington died in 1974, Wonder wanted to write a song acknowledging musicians he felt were important. He later said, "I knew the title from the beginning but wanted it to be about the musicians who did something for me. So soon they are forgotten. I wanted to show my appreciation."


title: Sir Duke

text: Wonder pays tribute to "some of music's pioneers" in the song: "There's Basie, Miller, Satchmo, and the king of all, Sir Duke / And with a voice like Ella's ringing out / There's no way the band can lose".


title: Sir Duke

text: Wonder recorded other tributes to people he admired, including the 1980 songs "Master Blaster", dedicated to Bob Marley, and "Happy Birthday", which pleaded for what would eventually become the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in the United States.


title: Sir Duke

text: "Cash Box" said that "it's a tribute to jazz and roots, with a beat that lies somewhere between jazz and funk, and a horn section that dances on winged feet." "New York Times" critic John Rockwell said that it's "not Wonder's most compelling song, but nice that it should be so popular."


title: Broken Age

text: Broken Age is a point-and-click adventure video game developed and published by Double Fine. "Broken Age" was game director Tim Schafer's first return to the genre since 1998's "Grim Fandango", and was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One platforms. The game was developed in two acts; the first was released on January 28, 2014 (two weeks earlier for Kickstarter backers), and the second was released on April 28, 2015. A retail version of the complete game for Windows, macOS, and Linux, published by Nordic Games, was released on April 28, 2015. A Nintendo Switch version was released on September 13, 2018.


title: Broken Age

text: "Broken Age" began under the working title "Double Fine Adventure" as a Kickstarter crowd-funded project promoted by Double Fine and 2 Player Productions in February 2012. Though originally a goal of only $400,000 was set to cover the costs of development and documentary filming, "Broken Age" became the largest crowd-funded video game project at the time, raising over $3.45 million from more than 87,000 backers within the month. It remains one of the highest-backed crowd-funded projects of any type, and its success helped to establish Kickstarter and other crowd-funding mechanisms as a viable alternative to traditional venture capital and publisher funding for niche video game titles. The game's development was chronicled by an episodic series of documentaries produced by 2 Player Productions.


title: Broken Age

text: "Broken Age" is a point-and-click adventure game, where the player-controlled character can be directed to move about the screen, examine objects, and talk to non-player characters to learn more about the game world. The game features two playable characters, each located in seemingly separate worlds; the player can switch from one character to the other via the game's interface at any time, but otherwise these characters do not interact in any direct way. The game employs context-sensitive actions instead of using verb lists as early adventure games would use, as Schafer stated that in essence, "there really was always one verb, which was 'interact with'" and opted for the more modern approach. Each character has separate item inventories as they collect objects; items can then be used by dragging them onto context-sensitive areas on the screen or combined with other inventory items.


title: Broken Age

text: "Broken Age" tells the story of two teenagers with no immediately apparent connection, each "seeking to break the tradition in their lives".


title: Broken Age

text: Vella Tartine (voiced by Masasa Moyo) is a young woman living in the Badlands, a land ravaged by the Mogs, giant creatures that come from beyond a wall called the Plague Dam. Appearing every fourteen years, they are appeased by the sacrifice of young girls at a number of Maiden's Feasts held at various villages. Vella is chosen to be sacrificed to Mog Chothra at the feast in her hometown of Sugar Bunting (formerly a town made up of warriors named Steel Bunting) but concludes that if the monster could be killed, the rituals could be ended. She finds a way to escape the beast and ends up in Meriloft, a small colony which rests on a cluster of semisolid clouds. They are dealing with the aftermath of their own Feast, affirming her belief the rites are disastrous to their people and should be ended. She then finds her way to a nearby port town, Shellmound, where they are preparing for their own Feast. There she discovers the Dead Eye God's temple, which turns out to be an ancient spaceship, the Maloruna, half-buried by the sand. She is able to wake its pilot, Alex, from his three hundred year stasis, and he helps her to rig the ship's scanning system to fire a laser at Mog Chothra when he shows up for the Feast. Vella's plan works, and she is able to bring down the creature.


title: Broken Age

text: Shay Volta (voiced by Elijah Wood) is a young man and seemingly the only passenger on the spaceship Bossa Nostra (Bassinostra), an "incubator vessel". The ship's computer has two artificial intelligences (A.I.s). The computer's diurnal A.I., named "MOM", acts as a mother figure to Shay, occupying him with infantile "missions" and boring routines, while preventing him from learning about or exploring anything farther than the outside of the ship. The computer's nocturnal A.I. acts as a father figure to Shay and is more understanding of Shay's desire for independence, but appears to be too busy to spend time with Shay. The computer tells Shay that he is part of "Operation Dandelion", a last-ditch effort by his home planet, Loruna, to protect him following the planet's destruction and to try to find a home for him. After a brief encounter with an unknown stowaway, Shay sneaks into the bowels of the ship, finding the stowaway to be a wolf costume-wearing being named Marek. Marek claims that, unbeknownst to him, a war is raging in the galaxy, and he needs Shay's help to save some innocent creatures who have been imprisoned in different areas of the galaxy as a result. Marek guides Shay through various missions against the computer's knowledge and control, trying to rescue a number of the creatures at each location, before they are discovered by an enemy force. During one of these rescues, Shay refuses to leave the last creature behind, causing the ship to be attacked, and trapping Marek underneath a pile of debris. In the ensuing chaos, Shay is knocked unconscious.


title: Broken Age

text: Act 1 ends when Vella, going up to the downed Mog Chothra, discovers the monster is mechanical. Shay emerges confused from inside, revealing that in fact he was not in outer space, and he was unwittingly controlling Mog Chothra. Vella attempts to punch Shay but misses and falls into Mog Chothra's mouth. The mouth closes behind her, leaving them both trapped in each other's worlds, uncertain of what to do in their new surroundings.


title: Broken Age

text: Shay, trapped outside Mog Chothra, realizes that the ship's "AIs" are actually his real parents; his father, Ray Volta, stuck outside with Shay, warns that his mother is still trapped within. As Ray tries to find a way back inside, Shay, recovered from his shock of the outside world, starts taking a look around when the ship takes off, stranding them there. Shay meets Alex, learning that he was a previous subject of "Operation Dandelion". Alex was born on his ship, the Maloruna, a Diamond Age Dandelion Cruiser. His parents never showed him any pictures of Loruna. They lived for about 20 years after the crash (280 years ago), and then died three months apart from each other; their passing was one of the reasons why he went into "crysolation". Before his ship's crash, Alex had a talking cello named Marek who told him to hack the controls and rescue innocent creatures, just like Shay, who realizes that they were really capturing girls.


title: Broken Age

text: Shay offers to help repair Alex's ship to return to Loruna, where Alex believes Shay's ship is heading. Meanwhile, Vella (having accidentally reactivated the computer's autopilot) works her way into the ship and encounters Marek, who is still pinned under debris. Marek directs Vella to get into the control room as to stop Shay's mother, Hope Volta. Vella pretends that she is Shay to trick his mother into opening the door, but they are both quickly locked inside by Marek, who reveals himself to be Marekai, a member of a race called the Thrush. Marekai told Hope their world was dying so she went forth and found salvation, like many before her: their ships were the Mogs. It turns out Loruna is not a planet but an empire beyond the Plague Dam, as he directs the ship to deliver Vella there. Meanwhile, Shay makes his way through Shellmound and Meriloft to find parts to repair Alex's ship and go back to Loruna. He retraces Vella's journey and talks to the people with whom she interacted in Act 1 and her family, as they search for her.


title: Broken Age

text: Back on Vella's side, Vella frees herself and Hope, and the true nature of "Operation Dandelion" is revealed: the Thrush, believing the rest of the beings on the planet to be filled with disease, barricaded themselves with the humans whom they govern beyond the Plague Dam, and over the generations, modified their normal human DNA to become "superior", but also lost certain traits necessary for survival. Project Dandelion has been used to send out uniquely attuned human children from their normal human population who could locate a special maiden via the Maiden's Feasts to "true" their bloodline. Vella was the one Shay selected amongst the other Maidens (who are alive but held captive), and the Thrush is planning on killing her to incorporate her genetics into theirs.


title: Broken Age

text: Knowing her potential fate, Vella creates a bomb from the ship's power core to destroy the hangar where all the Mog ships are kept. After planting the bomb, Hope and Vella set their ship to escape. Meanwhile, with the repairs complete, Shay helps Alex reactivate his ship and they set a course directly for the Plague Dam, accompanied by Shay's father and Vella's family. Right outside the gate, the two ships collide and the Thrush starts attacking the ships, which are both stuck on autopilot. Shay and Vella work together to cause Alex's ship reactor to overheat, melting both ships together. Everyone but Shay escapes, and Vella and Hope encourage him to jump to safety; Shay jumps, just missing a ledge, but is saved by the noble sacrifice of one of his robots, Grabbin' Gary. The fused ships soon solidify, forming a bridge between the mainland and the Plague Dam. Shay and Vella finally meet. After a moment's hesitation, they smile at one another.


title: Broken Age

text: Within the credit sequence, it is shown that the Thrush is deposed from power, the Plague Dam is demolished, and the humans of Loruna and the Badlands form a peaceful alliance. Many images in the credits include the notable people, animals, and machines shown throughout the game living much better lives.


title: Broken Age

text: "Double Fine Adventure" was announced by way of a Kickstarter project initiated on February 8, 2012. The idea came after Double Fine's Tim Schafer was interviewed for 2 Player Productions' upcoming Kickstarter-funded documentary on the game "Minecraft". After the interview, Schafer and 2 Player discussed the idea of the production company filming a documentary about Double Fine as a future project. Double Fine had already had experience as a studio being filmed during development of "Psychonauts" for an episode of G4 TV's "Icons" series. When 2 Player completed the "Minecraft" project, around November 2011, they wanted to create a more in-depth documentary, recognizing that Double Fine had the right type of environment where such a documentary would be possible. The two studios began to work out the specifics of the project, but Schafer realized that publisher interference would make an honest portrayal of game development impossible. Double Fine lacked the resources to self-fund a game, and 2 Player lacked the ability to fund the film, so the two companies elected to crowd-fund the project on Kickstarter, a method Schafer had seen successfully used to raise much smaller amounts for independent game developers. The creation of a new game was initially considered "kind of as a sidenote" by Schafer to accommodate the documentary filming.


title: Broken Age

text: The adventure game genre was selected to offer the public a product that would not have existed without their support, and help to distinguish the project from the developer's publisher-financed work. Schafer, a veteran of LucasArts, has long been associated with adventure games, a genre that has long been stigmatized as commercially niche, particularly since the release of Schafer's own "Grim Fandango". In his pitch to the public, Schafer argued that funding for such a project would be very difficult to come by, stating "If I were to go to a publisher right now and pitch an adventure game, they'd laugh in my face." Ron Gilbert, another ex-LucasArts adventure game designer at Double Fine, has long expressed this sentiment, writing in his personal blog, "From first-hand experience, I can tell you that if you even utter the words "adventure game" in a meeting with a publisher you can just pack up your spiffy concept art and leave. You'd get a better reaction by announcing that you have the plague." Schafer explained that the game will not be "museum" or "nostalgia" work, but instead "It's going to be fresh and feel modern and feel like what the next game would have been if I'd made one straight after "Grim Fandango"".


title: Broken Age

text: The Kickstarter drive was launched in early February 2012 so that, regardless of its success, Schafer would be able to talk about it during the 2012 Game Developers' Conference in early March. Double Fine set the goal for the project at $400,000, with $100,000 allocated to the film production and $300,000 for the game. Although this was the largest goal of any gaming project yet on Kickstarter, it was the lowest budget the company had worked with, and a small fraction of the budget of the company's previous downloadable games, which cost around $2 million. Schafer admitted that a game made for this budget would be "hobbled," and that the budget was chosen because it was the absolute minimum he thought he could make an adventure game for. The two had originally envisioned a total $200,000 budget, a typical cost for an iOS game, but Schafer had doubts about whether Double Fine could deliver a game for such a low cost.


title: Broken Age

text: Various incentives were given to those that pledged $15 or more, including the game itself, early beta access to the game, access to private community areas to discuss the game, prints, and invitations to meet with the Double Fine staff. Further rewards were added through a second update two weeks into the effort, including digital soundtracks, physical copies of the game and documentary, and an art book. In launching the Kickstarter project, Double Fine claimed it was the first major studio to use the model for the funding of a game.


title: Broken Age

text: Within nine hours, the Kickstarter project had exceeded the $400,000 goal. Within 24 hours, it had surpassed $1 million. As the funds raised approached $1.35 million, Schafer noted that the total had already exceeded the budget for "Day of the Tentacle" ($600,000) and was nearing the budget for "Full Throttle" ($1.5 million). Kickstarter stated on the day after its start that the Double Fine effort is the most successful to date, having attracted more backers than any prior effort in the site's history while others have noted it is the second project – the Elevation Dock project being the first – to achieve more than $1 million in funding through Kickstarter. The Double Fine project passed the $2 million mark on February 20, 2012, twelve days after fund raising began. The Kickstarter closed on March 13 with more than $3.3 million from over 87,000 backers, and with another $110,000 promised by premium backers such as Days of Wonder and Alex Rigopulos. Schafer stated that the total funding was nearly the same as the budget for their previous downloadable titles, "Costume Quest" and "Stacking", as well as his earlier LucasArts game, "Grim Fandango".


title: Broken Age

text: The Kickstarter page was updated with the promise that additional funds would go to increased production values for the game and film, and deployment on additional platforms. A later update by Schafer affirmed that the additional funding will support development for the macOS and Linux platforms and select iOS and Android devices. Additionally, the game will have voice acting for the English version, and include text localization for French, German, Italian, and Spanish languages. Schafer also stated that a digital rights management-free version of the game will be available after release. With the added funding for better production values, Schafer estimated it would likely take about a year to complete the game, missing their original anticipated October 2012 release. A release in the second quarter of 2013 has been estimated by Double Fine, later delayed to September 2013. At the 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit, Double Fine and Ouya announced a partnership, assuring that the Ouya console would be the only gaming console for which "Double Fine Adventure" would be released on at its launch, in addition to versions for the personal computers.


title: Broken Age

text: After the Kickstarter, Double Fine launched a "slacker backer" program, which would allow players to pre-order the game through their site at a fixed cost, giving them access to the documentary and beta versions of the game once they were released. The slacker backer option was also offered as part of the Double Fine Humble Bundle in May 2013 for those that purchased the bundle at a fixed price tier.


title: Broken Age

text: "Broken Age" began development under the codename "Reds", after Red's Place, following a Double Fine tradition of basing codenames on local Chinatown bars. As Schafer had not written anything by the time development started, early efforts focused on creating a game engine, art style, and answering technical questions. The open-source Moai game platform was chosen as the foundation for the game's engine. Nathan Martz, the technical director for Double Fine, stated that the open source nature of Moai allowed them to easily alter any aspect of the code base, while also supporting all of the targeted platforms.


title: Broken Age

text: Programmers created a test game involving a red robot, while the artists created a mock-up test scenario to establish an art and animation style inspired by the fine art illustrations of lead artist Nathan Stapley, as well as to work out answers to basic interface questions. A sequence involving an unnamed lumberjack character and a cabin in the woods was created and the team decided to use a system of skeletal animation using segmented 2D characters. Once Schafer had established the basic storyline, involving the intersecting stories of a boy in a sci-fi world and a girl in a fantasy world, concept artists were gathered for an "art jam" to brainstorm and produce concept art for the game's creatures and locations. Schafer also asked the community for ideas, several of which were then illustrated by the concept artists.


title: Broken Age

text: Schafer re-evaluated the state of the project in July 2013 and recognized that at their current rate, they would not be able to complete the game until 2015. For the first time in the company's history Double Fine decided to enlist the help of an outside studio, hiring SuperGenius to assist with art and animation. Double Fine also realized that they would run out of the Kickstarter funds before 2015, either requiring them to drastically cut back on the project or alter their release plans. Schafer opted to adjust the schedule and split the game into two acts, allowing them to fund the second act with money made from sales of the first. They had noticed that breaking the game into halves would fit naturally with events already occurring at the midpoint of the story, making the split relatively simple from a production perspective.


title: Broken Age

text: The first playable version of the game was released on Steam's Early Access platform in January 2014, allowing Double Fine to obtain revenue from sales to fund the remaining development while gaining additional testing input before releasing a final version of the first act. Initial backlash to this announcement led Schafer to clarify that they were not asking for more money to develop the title, and that "we are using our own money to deliver a bigger game than we Kickstarted". In the end, the first act was deemed complete and polished enough to graduate from Early Access on January 28, with the second half to be released as a free update later in the year. By February 2014, Schafer confirmed that they had obtained enough from sales of Act 1 to complete the development and release of Act 2.


title: Broken Age

text: In October 2014, producer Greg Rice announced that Schafer had finished writing the second act and the game's finale. Though the second act was anticipated to be released in 2014, Schafer announced in November 2014 that they needed additional time to ensure the quality of Act 2 met expectations and pushed the release back to early 2015. Double Fine was able to use feedback from the first act's release to improve and alter some aspects of the second. One complaint of the first act was the simple nature of its puzzles, whose difficulty Double Fine increased for Act 2. The team also included a nod to a fan theory that had grown regarding the relation between Shay and Alex as a running joke in the second act. The game's finale was planned out from the start, before the game was split into Acts; Schafer said he had taken influence of the end credits of "My Neighbor Totoro", which provides epilogue in the form of simple drawings alongside the running credits, to tell the fate of all the characters. He preferred this so that the narrative end of the game before the credits could be focused solely on Vella and Shay, instead of having each character appears to speak a line or so as to explain their fate.


title: Broken Age

text: A retail version of the game, containing both acts, for Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms will be published through partnership with Nordic Games, who had helped to bring retail releases of Double Fine's earlier games in 2014. The retail version will be released near the release of Act 2 for other platforms. Limited Run Games will publish retail editions for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in June 2017.


title: Broken Age

text: Several voice actors who worked on previous Double Fine games voiced characters within "Broken Age", including Jennifer Hale, Richard Horvitz, Nick Jameson, Nicki Rapp, Ginny Westcott, and Jack Black. Other voice actors include Elijah Wood, Pendleton Ward, Wil Wheaton, and Masasa Moyo. Alex Rigopulos, the largest backer of the Kickstarter campaign, voiced a character that was designed in his likeness; Schafer decided to make the character effectively the same person Rigopulos was in both manner and appearance to minimize the amount of voice acting Rigopulos would need to do. Days of Wonder was the second-largest backer, and through them, Double Fine included the character of the conductor from Days of Wonder's "Ticket to Ride" games as part of one of Shay's mission rooms.


title: Broken Age

text: Peter McConnell, who had worked with Schafer on many of his previous games, composed the music for "Broken Age". Initially McConnell planned to use only a small ensemble for the musical score but, as the game development progressed, he realized some parts needed a bigger orchestral sound. The score was ultimately recorded by wind and string ensembles in San Francisco and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, with McConnell overseeing the latter recording session with mixer Jory Prum remotely from Fairfax, California. The score for the first act was released as a soundtrack album on the same day the first half of the game became publicly available. The soundtrack was released on vinyl in September 2016.


title: Broken Age

text: During the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018, Schafer announced that "Broken Age" will be available on the Switch later that year, alongside the remastered version of "Grim Fandango".


title: Broken Age

text: The development process of "Broken Age" was recorded by 2 Player Productions as part of the Kickstarter project. In 2011, Paul Owens of 2 Player Productions wrote an e-mail to Greg Rice and Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions with a proposition of making a documentary series charting the development of a game from beginning to end. A part of the Kickstarter money was set aside for the documentary. The documentary was originally only available to backers, but as of March 2015, the company has started providing the episodes free of charge to YouTube. The documentary has received praise for being an honest, open look into the game's development process.


title: Broken Age

text: The game's first act was well received by critics, scoring 82/100 on review aggregation website Metacritic. Adam Sessler of Rev3Games gave "Broken Age" Act 1 a 4/5 calling it a beautiful game with wonderful and funny writing. Justin McElroy, writing at Polygon highlighted the game's characters as "grounded while approaching absurdity and adversity with brave, heartfelt sincerity" giving the game a "kind of depth that's so often lacking in other 'funny' games". Within a month of the first act's release, Schafer confirmed that its sales would be sufficient to cover the remaining development costs for Act 2.


title: Broken Age

text: Act 2, released more than a year later, received a similar response overall, with a Metacritic score of 73/100. Despite this, many critics saw the second act as a letdown following the success of the first: John Walker of Rock Paper Shotgun praised the art and voice acting, but criticised Act 2 for its re-use of locations from Act 1 and lackluster ending, following up his review with a lengthy article expanding on his criticism of the story. Other critics had similar complaints, including Justin McElroy, who in an update to his initial Act 1 review, was disappointed by too much puzzling in the second half. He also echoed a common criticism of the frustrating difficulty of the puzzles, which many reviewers felt were much harder than in Act 1, especially if players tried to pick it up without replaying the first half.


title: Broken Age

text: The success of the fund-raising campaign established crowd-sourcing as a challenge to publisher funding (and control) for multimillion-dollar projects. John Walker from Rock, Paper, Shotgun was quick to point out that this doesn't pose a major threat to publishers on a large scale, but added that it would force publishers to ask themselves questions such as "Are we really in touch with our audience’s desires?". Johnny Cullen of VG247 compared the Double Fine Kickstarter to the release of Radiohead's album "In Rainbows", which the band had sold through their website in a pay-what-you-want model prior to a physical printing, without the interference of a music publisher. Cullen noted the model of crowd-sourcing has previously not worked for some game developers, and does not expect it to be a guaranteed success for future efforts, as he believes Double Fine is a unique studio with a dedicated fan base, aspects that are not shared by all developers.


title: Broken Age

text: Initial commentary largely framed Double Fine as exceptional, citing Double Fine's reputation, experience with the under-serviced genre, and history of difficulty with publisher funding as reasons why Double Fine's case was unique. Initially, many remained skeptical that such a level of success could be replicated. Schafer further agreed that the success of the Double Fine Kickstarter would be somewhat difficult to replicate for other games, even for Double Fine, as it would require the project to be "a good story for people to get behind".


title: Broken Age

text: Initial fears that this success would be isolated were allayed as new projects emerged. As the "Double Fine Adventure" campaign closed, Brian Fargo of inXile Entertainment launched a Kickstarter to fund development of the sequel "Wasteland 2", which met its target of $900,000 in funding within two days, and eventually raised more than $2.9 million. "Double Fine Adventure" brought in 61,692 new users to Kickstarter, and greatly increased the platform's visibility and viability for funding of games projects. Within the six weeks following the launch of the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter, the site raised more than $2.9 million in pledges (outside of the Double Fine project) for video game related projects, compared with $1.7 million total for the category in the prior two years, as well as increasing the amount of funding coming into projects of all categories. In October, "Project Eternity" surpassed Double Fine's funding record, further suggesting the crowd-funding model will continue to be a part of the gaming landscape.


title: Broken Age

text: The success of "Double Fine Adventure" has had a particularly visible impact on the adventure genre, inspiring several other established adventure game developers to use Kickstarter as a means to return to the genre. In the months following its release, the creators of "Broken Sword", "Gabriel Knight", "Leisure Suit Larry", "Space Quest" and "Tex Murphy" have all managed to raise amounts in excess of Schafer's original goal of $400,000.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Vega, also known as Claw (for international tournaments), is a fictional character from the "Street Fighter" fighting game series by Capcom. Vega is a mask-wearing, claw-wielding fighter from Spain who uses a personal fighting style combining Japanese ninjutsu and Spanish bullfighting, earning him the nickname of "Spanish Ninja".


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Vega first appears in the original "Street Fighter II" in 1991 as the second of four boss opponents the player faces at the end of the single-player mode, a group known as the Four Devas, Grand Masters, or the Four Heavenly Kings. From "" (the second version of the game) onwards, Vega and the other three boss characters became playable. He reappears as a playable character in "Street Fighter Alpha 3", "Street Fighter EX2" and "EX3", the "Capcom vs. SNK" series, , "Street Fighter IV", "Super Street Fighter IV", "Street Fighter X Tekken", "Ultra Street Fighter IV" and "Street Fighter V".


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Vega was designed by Akira Yasuda with the premise of the original "Street Fighter"'s Geki character in mind, and was initially conceived as a brief sketch of a masked man in a ripped shirt with long, frizzy hair. As development progressed the design evolved into a large, unarmed man, retaining the mask and dressed as a matador. The design was changed again, revolving around the concept of a foreign soldier with a cross on his vest and armed with a broadsword, while still retaining the mask. This design was eventually replaced in turn with another concept, a masked ninja in a bodysuit armed with a long metal claw on his right hand. Ultimately the character's finalized appearance was a culmination of all of these, incorporating various aspects of each into the finished design.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: When the original "Street Fighter II" was being localized for the English language market, Capcom's North American marketing staff felt that the name of the game's final boss, Vega, did not sound threatening enough to North American audiences, and was hence better suited for the bullfighter, as Vega is by itself a Spanish surname. Plus, afraid of a lawsuit from American boxer Mike Tyson (whose name and appearance was very similar to the game's first boss), they felt inclined to change the name of this character as well. For international tournaments he is named Claw. As a result, Claw's name was changed from Balrog to Vega for English-language appearances, while original Vega (Dictator) became M.Bison and original M.Bison (the boxer) became Balrog.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Vega is one of the few "Street Fighter" characters to constantly carry a weapon, a "tekkō kagi", and the only character to do so in "Street Fighter II". This claw is useful for slashing attacks, yet curved in the end to prevent him from lethally stabbing his opponents. This claw gives him a very long range compared to most characters. It is the same type of weapon worn by Geki in the original "Street Fighter", though longer.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Obsessively narcissistic and vain, Vega considers himself the epitome of beauty and perfection. As such, he wears his expressionless mask not to conceal his identity, but to protect his face from scarring or bruising during battle; in fact, Vega removes it after winning fights, as well as in certain character-select images.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Vega wears murrey and yellow ceremonial trousers, a red sash, loafers, and white leggings of a matador, suggesting his involvement with bullfighting. This decorative garb also offers matadors ease of movement, and is ideal for Vega's acrobatic maneuvers.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Depending on the games' color palettes, Vega has brown or blonde hair. In the various games in the "Street Fighter II" series, Vega's game sprite and character select profile shot depict him with brown hair, while his ending in "Street Fighter II': Champion Edition" and "Super Street Fighter II" depict him with blonde hair. In "Street Fighter EX2" and "Street Fighter Alpha 3", Vega is depicted with blonde hair in all iterations. His tattoos consist of a purple snake on his chest and two purple bands which circle his arm. In "Capcom vs. SNK 2", in a victory pose, Vega will hold his arm out towards the opponent, with the tattoo coming to life and hissing at it. In the mobile puzzle game "Street Fighter: Puzzle Spirits", he appears as a super-deformed character.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Vega's backstory reveals that he was born to a noble family in Spain. As he matured, Vega studied bullfighting, a Spanish cultural tradition. He later traveled to Japan to learn ninjutsu, a style that he believed would mesh well with his natural grace and agility. Returning home, Vega combined bullfighting with ninjutsu and entered an underground cage fighting circuit, where he quickly became one of the best.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: For undisclosed reasons, his family's status dwindled, causing his mother to remarry for financial security. Vega's new stepfather, incensed that his wife only valued him for his money, murdered her right in front of Vega, who killed him in return. The incident warped his mind and caused him to develop a dual personality: suave nobleman by day, sadistic masked murderer by night. Brandishing a three-pronged, razor sharp claw gauntlet, Vega embarked on many murderous rampages, taking great pleasure in mutilating his victims, especially those he perceived as "ugly". The murder of his mother caused him to view "beauty" as a trait of heroism and strength, whereas "ugliness" represented cowardice and evil. Eventually, Vega's insatiable bloodlust and brutal fighting skills caught the attention of criminal leader M. Bison, who accepted the young nobleman into Shadaloo as his personal assassin and one of his three Grand Master bodyguards. Vega accepted Bison's offer purely to improve his own aesthetic senses. His official tag partner in the crossover fighting game "Street Fighter X Tekken" is Balrog, although they are shown to loathe each other due to their clashing personalities.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Vega is one of the fastest characters in the "Street Fighter" series, and also one of the most fragile. His strength is in long-range attacks, with the reach advantage provided by his claw, his speed and jumps. During fights, Vega is capable of losing his claw. This reduces his attack range significantly, and prevents him from performing certain moves. Since "Super Street Fighter II Turbo", Vega can pick up the claw again if lost. Other games allow Vega to lose his mask, lowering his health but increasing his attack power as a result. In "Street Fighter EX2, Street Fighter EX3", and "Street Fighter IV" Vega can take his claw and mask off manually. Vega becomes able to switch freely between clawed and bare-handed in his most recent rendition, "Street Fighter V".


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: In the 1994 live-action film version of "Street Fighter", Vega was played by American actor Jay Tavare in his film debut. He is depicted as a member of the Shadaloo Tong working for Sagat. Along with his trademark mask and claw, he has very few lines during the whole film and utters them while his face is obscured or when he is off-camera. He forms a rivalry with Ryu, and in the film's final battle, he is defeated by Ryu and abandoned by Sagat to presumably die when Bison's base explodes. He also appears in the arcade game based on the film titled "", as well as in the also based on the film. In the arcade version of the game, Vega has the ability to take his mask off and throw it to his opponent. In the home version, this ability was removed and Vega fights unmasked.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: In the 2009 live-action film "", Vega is played by rapper Taboo of the group The Black Eyed Peas as an assassin for Bison's Shadaloo corporation. This version of Vega retains his claw and mask, but the mask is made of metal and he appears dressed in black from head to toe. The film changed the reason Vega wears the mask, from protecting his face to concealing his identity.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: In the 1994 anime film "", Vega was voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa in Japanese and Richard Cansino in the English dub. In the film, he works for Shadowlaw under Bison, and is sent to New York to kill Chun-Li. He almost succeeds through a vicious and bloody duel that takes its toll on both fighters, but after baiting Vega into a rage by attacking his face, Chun-Li eventually defeats him by Hundred-Burst-Kicking him through her apartment wall into the streets far below where he presumably dies.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: In the 1995 anime "Street Fighter II V", Vega appears as a young amorous bullfighter who tries to seduce Chun-Li. Envious over Ryu and Ken's friendship with Chun-Li, Vega invites the three to a party in his castle, which is actually a trap to lure Ryu and Ken to a caged death match with him. Since Ryu does not attend the party, he subsequently fights only Ken, and is finally defeated after a brutal match. He is given the surname of Fabio La Cerda in the series. Kaneto Shiozawa provided his voice for the Japanese version, while Vic Mignogna provided his voice for the English dub from ADV Films and Richard Cansino provided his voice for the Animaze English dub. In the Spanish dub, his full name is listed as Fabio Antonio de la Vega.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Vega appears in two episodes of the 1995 American "Street Fighter" animated series, "Eye of the Beholder" and "Face of Fury," where he is a former henchman of Bison promised eternal youth who develops a rivalry against Blanka. He was voiced by Mark Hildreth in the series.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: Vega makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in 1999 anime miniseries "", where he ends up pulverizing, though not outright killing, his opponent Dan Hibiki during an underground fight. Vega reappears in the Shadaloo helicopter near the end of "".


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: In 1992, he was ranked 16th on Japanese magazine "Gamest"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s list of the best video game characters introduced in 1991. Vega was voted fifth in Capcom's own poll of 85 characters for the 15th anniversary of "Street Fighter", making him the most popular male character. IGN ranked Vega at number ten in their "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters" article, stating "he deserves all the credit in the world for originality. There's never been a Street Fighter character quite like him since." GameDaily ranked him at number twelve on their "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" article, noting the strength of his aerial attacks, and also put Vega on their "Tattooed Video Game Characters" list. Vega is placed at 28th in a worldwide "Street Fighter" character poll held between 2017 and 2018.


title: Vega (Street Fighter)

text: He ranked 46th in "GamePro"s "47 Most Diabolical Video-Game Villains of All Time" article. News.com.au named Vega one of the sexiest characters in video games, placing him tenth in their "Top 10" article and stating "part ninja, part bullfighter, Vega's fighting style is definitely one of the most unusual we've seen." NowGamer listed a fight between Vega and Yoshimitsu under their "Street Fighter X Tekken Character Wishlist" and commented "Any bout between these two would be a mind-boggling display of fast attacks across the screen.". GamesRadar noted that while his attire and obsession with beauty was a departure from traditional depictions of ninjas, the features made him "one of the more iconic scrappers in the Street Fighter games". They additionally listed him as one of the most outrageous camp villains, stating that a "camp bad guy list" without Vega was like a "cheese sandwich without the cheese or bread," while describing him as "more narcissistic than two clones of Narcissus having sex in a room full of mirrors." In 2013, GamesRadar included him in a list of "The 30 Best Capcom Characters of the Last 30 Years."


title: FC BATE Borisov

text: FC BATE Borisov (, "FK BATE Borisov" ; , "BATE Barysaw," ) is a professional Belarusian football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusian Premier League, of which they are the league's most successful club with 15 titles, including 13 won consecutively. The club has also won four Belarusian Cups and four Belarusian Super Cups.


title: FC BATE Borisov

text: BATE is the only Belarusian team to have qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League (2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15 and 2015–16) and one of two to qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League (2009–10, 2010–11, 2017–18 and 2018–19), along with Dinamo Minsk.


title: FC BATE Borisov

text: BATE is an acronym of Borisov Automobile and Tractor Electronics. The team was founded in 1973 and managed to win Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic league three times (1974, 1976 and 1979) before being disbanded in 1984. The club was re-established in 1996. Since then, BATE have won the Belarusian Premier League 15 times and competed in UEFA competitions.


title: FC BATE Borisov

text: In 2001, BATE reached the first round of the UEFA Cup, their first appearance in the competition beyond the qualifying rounds. 2008 saw BATE becoming the first Belarusian team to qualify for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. As of 2015, BATE have played five times in the Champions League group stage, as well as twice in UEFA Europa League group stage, also reaching the knockout phase of the latter competition in 2010–11 and 2012–13.


title: FC BATE Borisov

text: Notable former players of BATE include Alexander Hleb (VfB Stuttgart, Arsenal, Barcelona and Birmingham City); Vitali Kutuzov (Milan, Sporting CP, Avellino, Sampdoria, Parma, Pisa and Bari) and Yuri Zhevnov (FC Moscow, and Zenit Saint Petersburg). Having started their professional careers with BATE, all are also former or present members of the Belarus national team.


title: FC BATE Borisov

text: BATE won their tenth consecutive league title in 2015, with four matches to spare. In the 2017 season, BATE drew an average home league attendance of 5,633, the second-highest in the league.


title: FC BATE Borisov

text: BATE Borisov is one of the most popular football teams in Belarus. BATE fans have developed a rivalry with the fans of Dinamo Minsk and a friendship with fans of Polish club Piast Gliwice since 2011.


title: Tim Storms

text: Tim Storms (born August 28, 1972) is an American singer and composer. He holds the Guinness World Record for both the "lowest note produced by a human" and the "widest vocal range".


title: Tim Storms

text: Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Storms was raised in Waterloo, Indiana. His musical affinity appeared at a young age. Four days after graduating from high school, he returned to Oklahoma to begin his career in Christian music. Since then, Storms has appeared with a number of singing groups, including Freedom, Vocal Union, AVB, Acappella, and Rescue. He also performed with the cast of Branson’s "50s at the Hop," was voted Branson’s Bass Singer of the Year for three years in a row, and is in the Branson’s Entertainers Hall of Fame. Storms joined Pierce Arrow Theater in Branson at the beginning of the 2006 season.


title: Tim Storms

text: As well as his performances across the US, Storms has also performed in Brazil, France, Switzerland, Jamaica, and Fiji. In 2012, after auditioning to record with the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir in Saint Petersburg, Storms was selected by composer Paul Mealor, producer Anna Barry and Decca Records to record four songs with the choir. Two of the four songs, "De Profundis" and "The Twelve Brigands," ended up on the Universal/Decca Records release, "Tranquility Voices of Deep Calm".


title: Tim Storms

text: Storms' Guinness World Record for the lowest note produced by a human was first certified in January 2002. Storms also holds the Guinness World Record for the widest vocal range for any human. His records have been published in the Guinness World Records 2006. He broke both of these records in August 2008. As of 2008, the new record for lowest note was 0.7973 Hz, and the new record for Widest Vocal Range For Any Human was ten octaves.


title: Tim Storms

text: In 2012, Storms reclaimed the record for the Lowest Note Produced by a Human. The new record is G−7, or 0.189 Hz, eight octaves below the lowest G on the piano, or just over seven octaves below the piano. The most recent published record is in the 2020 Guinness Book of World Records.


title: Tim Storms

text: Storms' record-setting sounds are so low as to be infrasonic, incapable of being perceived by the human ear. The 2012 record requires more than five seconds for the vocal cords to oscillate once.


title: Tim Storms

text: Storms is a deep bass (basso profondo). He possesses a vocal range of 10 octaves (G/G#−5 to G/G#5). He has extended his lower range to G−7 (0.189 Hz) while breaking his own record for the widest vocal range for a male singer. His lowest frequencies can only be heard by elephants and various animals that use low frequencies for communication, as well as dedicated scientific measurement devices.


title: London Fletcher

text: London Levi Fletcher-Baker (born May 19, 1975) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills, and Washington Redskins. He played college football at John Carroll and signed with Rams as an undrafted free agent in 1998. After four seasons with the Rams, he was a member of the Bills for five seasons and spent his last seven seasons with the Redskins. He made four Pro Bowls during his Redskins tenure and won a Super Bowl title with the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.


title: London Fletcher

text: Fletcher was recognized for never missing a game in his career, being one of only five players in NFL history to play in over 250 consecutive games and holding the record for consecutive starts at the linebacker position. He finished his career with 215 consecutive games started, which ties him for seventh all-time along with Alan Page and Ronde Barber. He was named to the Washington Ring of Fame in 2019 and joined their radio broadcast crew in 2022.


title: London Fletcher

text: Fletcher attended Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and won varsity letters in football and basketball. He played on two state championship basketball teams.


title: London Fletcher

text: While attending John Carroll University, Fletcher played both basketball and football for the John Carroll Blue Streaks. As a senior, he had 202 tackles (a school-record) and was named the Division III National Linebacker of the Year. Fletcher also attended Saint Francis University of Pennsylvania before transferring to John Carroll University. He was on the men's basketball team while at Saint Francis.


title: London Fletcher

text: Fletcher attended the NFL Scouting Combine and ran a 4.38 in the 40-yard dash. He worked out for several NFL teams and was expected to be a day 2 selection, but was not one of the 30 linebackers drafted during the 1998 NFL Draft.


title: London Fletcher

text: On April 28, 1998, the St. Louis Rams signed Fletcher to a one-year, $158,000 contract as an undrafted free agent.


title: London Fletcher

text: He made his professional regular season debut in the St. Louis Rams’ season-opening 24–17 loss against the New Orleans Saints. On December 27, 1998, Fletcher earned his first career start after Eric Hill sustained an injury. He made eight solo tackles on defense and seven special teams tackles as the Rams lost 38–19 at the San Francisco 49ers in a Week 17. Fletcher earned the Rams Rookie of the Year Award. He finished the season with 14 combined tackles (11 solo) in 16 games and one start.


title: London Fletcher

text: Throughout training camp, Fletcher competed against Charlie Clemons and Lorenzo Styles to be the starting middle linebacker after the Rams chose not to re-sign Eric Hill. Head coach Dick Vermeil named Fletcher the starting middle linebacker to begin the regular season, alongside outside linebacker Todd Collins and Mike Jones.


title: London Fletcher

text: On October 3, 1999, Fletcher collected a season-high 11 combined tackles (nine solo) and made his first career sack during a 38–10 win at the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3. Fletcher sacked Bengals’ quarterback Jeff Blake for a ten-yard loss during the third quarter. In Week 9, Fletcher recorded five combined tackles and earned his first career safety during a 31–27 loss at the Detroit Lions. Fletcher earned his safety after tackling running back Greg Hill in the endzone for a one-yard loss during the first quarter. Fletcher started in all 16 games in 1999 and recorded a total of 138 tackles on defense and special teams combined. His 138 tackles were the most by a Ram since Roman Phifer collected 149 tackles in the 1995. Fletcher recorded 90 combined tackles (66 solo), with three sacks, and one safety on defense.


title: London Fletcher

text: The St. Louis Rams finished first in the NFC West with a 13–3 record and earned a first round bye. On January 16, 2000, Fletcher started in his first career playoff game and recorded 11 combined tackles (eight solo) and made one sack during a 49–37 victory against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Divisional Round. The following week, he made nine combined tackles as the Rams defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11–6 in the NFC Championship Game. On January 30, 2000, Fletcher started in Super Bowl XXXIV and recorded 11 combined tackles (nine solo) as the Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans 23–16. He also was named to the All-Madden team and as a second alternate to the Pro Bowl for the first time.


title: London Fletcher

text: On February 2, 2000, St. Louis Rams’ head coach Dick Vermeil announced his decision to retire. The St. Louis Rams promoted offensive coordinator Mike Martz to head coach. Martz retained Fletcher, Collins, and Jones as the starting linebackers. He started in the St. Louis Rams’ against the Denver Broncos and collected a season-high 14 combined tackles (nine solo) and made two sacks during their 41–36 victory. On November 12, 2000, Fletcher made six solo tackles, forced a fumble, and made his first career interception during a 38–24 at the New York Giants in Week 11. Fletcher intercepted a pass by Giants’ Kerry Collins, that was intended for wide receiver Ike Hilliard, and returned it for a 12-yard gain during the third quarter. In Week 13, Fletcher recorded seven combined tackles, was credited with half a sack, and made a season-high two interceptions during a 31–24 loss against the New Orleans Saints. He made both interceptions off pass attempts by Saints’ quarterback Aaron Brooks. In Week 15, he recorded ten combined tackles (nine solo) and two sacks during a 40–29 victory against the Minnesota Vikings. His performance earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. He led the team with 193 tackles on defense and special teams, eclipsing the old franchise mark of 185 set by LB Jim Collins in 1984. Fletcher recorded 132 combined tackles (105 solo) solely on defense and made four interceptions and 5.5 sacks in 16 games and 15 starts.


title: London Fletcher

text: In 2001, Fletcher earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice and was an alternate to the pro bowl for the third straight season. In a game against the San Francisco 49ers on September 23, he led the team with a career-high 21 tackles, 15 solo. The second time was after his big performance against the New England Patriots on November 18 as he led the team with 17 tackles with one pass deflection. He forced a fumble on the Rams’ three-yard line that led to a 97-yard scoring drive to end the first half and intercepted a Tom Brady pass with 5:18 left in the third quarter for an 18-yard return. This season, the Rams made the Super Bowl XXXVI but were defeated by the Patriots 20–17, after kicker Adam Vinatieri made a game-winning 48-yard field goal as time expired.


title: London Fletcher

text: On March 6, 2002, the Buffalo Bills signed Fletcher to a five-year, $17.12 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $4 million.


title: London Fletcher

text: Starting in 2002, Fletcher started all 16 regular season games for the Bills until his last season in 2006, when he recorded a team-high 157 tackles, including nine for loss, set a career-high with 14 deflections and tied a career-high with four interceptions. On September 10, in the first regular season game, Fletcher scored his first career touchdown after recovering a fumble by the Patriots' Tom Brady and returning it five yards for a touchdown only 12 seconds into the game. Fletcher was named a 2007 Pro Bowl alternate in his last season as a member of the Bills.


title: London Fletcher

text: On March 2, 2007, Fletcher signed with the Washington Redskins to a five-year, $25 million contract. He immediately became the team's starting middle linebacker. With his first season on the team, he was named co-winner of the B.J. Blanchard Award, an honor given annually to a Redskins player who best helps the local media do their jobs, along with quarterback Jason Campbell. Fletcher continued his Pro Bowl-caliber run with the Redskins in 2008.


title: London Fletcher

text: He was the Redskins' defensive co-captain for the team from 2008 season until he retired. Also in 2008, the Redskins nominated Fletcher as their Walter Payton Man of the Year Award representative.


title: London Fletcher

text: Fletcher was named to the NFC squad in the 2010 Pro Bowl after Jonathan Vilma's New Orleans Saints qualified for Super Bowl XLIV, the first Pro Bowl selection in his career. Fletcher was also one of three candidates for the 2009 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which was ultimately won by the Kansas City Chiefs's Brian Waters.


title: London Fletcher

text: After the Redskins' switch to a 3–4 defensive scheme, Fletcher moved from the middle linebacker position to the left inside linebacker for the 2010 season. He made the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive time in 2010, where he had an interception which set up a touchdown for the NFC.


title: London Fletcher

text: Despite not making the 2012 Pro Bowl starting roster, Fletcher led the entire league in tackles with 166 tackles by the end of the 2011 season. He started all 16 games of the 2011 season and recorded 166 combined tackles, 1.5 sacks, two interceptions, and eight pass breakups. Fletcher, however, did make it as alternate for the 2012 Pro Bowl along with teammates, Brian Orakpo and Lorenzo Alexander. On January 9, 2012, Fletcher was added to the NFC 2012 Pro Bowl roster after Brian Urlacher confirmed that he would not be participating.


title: London Fletcher

text: On January 11, 2012, it was announced that Fletcher won the Bart Starr Award. He was also named the Redskins' 2011 Defensive Player of the Year.


title: London Fletcher

text: On April 13, 2012, Fletcher was re-signed by the Redskins to a two-year contract worth $10.75 million with $5.25 million guaranteed. He was given the 87th ranking in the NFL Network's Top 100 Players of 2012 list. Despite the Redskins' 31–28 loss to the St. Louis Rams in Week 2 of the 2012 season, Fletcher had a stellar performance. In the game, he intercepted quarterback Sam Bradford in the endzone and forced running back Daryl Richardson to fumble in the fourth quarter and the ball was recovered by DeAngelo Hall, which gave the Redskins one last attempt to tie or win the game. In the Week 12 win against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, he recorded his second interception for the season making him one of three active NFL players, at that time, to have recorded 20 interceptions and 30 sacks, the other two being Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis.


title: London Fletcher

text: Fletcher intercepted Joe Flacco in Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens. He had another interception, against Brandon Weeden, in the Redskins' win over the Cleveland Browns. He finished the season with 139 tackles, three sacks, and a career-high five interceptions.


title: London Fletcher

text: There was doubt over whether Fletcher would return for the 2013 season until it was announced that he had surgery on his left ankle and was scheduled for elbow surgery to prepare for another season with the Redskins on March 6, 2013. On November 7, Fletcher started his 208th consecutive game, tying the league's all-time record of most starts by a linebacker last held by retired linebacker Derrick Brooks.


title: London Fletcher

text: On December 18, 2013, Fletcher announced his retirement. Fletcher finished his career having played in 256 consecutive games and starting 215 consecutive games, which is the NFL all-time record of consecutive starts at the linebacker position. He joined Washington's radio broadcast crew in 2022. On September 1, 2022, Fletcher was inducted into Washington's Greatest Players list in honor of the franchise's 90th anniversary.


title: London Fletcher

text: Fletcher and his wife Charne have three children, two daughters, Paige and Brooke, and a son, Steele.