title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The temple has around 350 inscriptions from various dynasties like Chola, Pandya, Kandavarayas, Cheras, Kakatiya, Sambuvaraya, Hoysala and Vijayanagara indicating various donations to the temple and also the political situation of Kanchipuram. Varadharaja Perumal Temple was renovated by the Cholas in 1053 and it was expanded during the reigns of the great Chola kings Kulottunga Chola I and Vikrama Chola. In the 14th century another wall and a gopura was built by the later Chola kings. When a Mughul invasion was expected in 1688, the main image of the deity was sent to Udayarpalayam, now part of Tiruchirappalli district. It was brought back with greater difficulty after the involvement of local preceptor who enlisted the services of general Todarmal. Robert Clive, the British general during the colonial period visited the "Garuda seva" festival and presented a valuable necklace (now termed Clive "Maharkandi"), which is adorned during a special occasion every year. At present the administration is carried out by Hindu Religious and Endowment of the Government of Tamil Nadu.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The old inscriptions and records of the temple states that several leaders like Vyasatirtha and Satya-Vijaya Tirtha from the Dvaita school of Vedanta had evinced interest in this temple. An epigraph of the temple datable to 1511 CE records that the Dvaita saint and Kulaguru of Krishnadevaraya, Vyasatirtha presented a village and serpant vehicle to Varadharaja Temple and instituted a festival in honour of Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya. Another record dated 1726 CE mentions that another Dvaita saint and Peetadhipathi of Uttaradi Matha by the name Satyavijaya Tirtha was honoured in the temple with some privileges. As Raghava Iyengar mentions in his work "Sasana Tamil Kavi Saritham", an inscription at the temple indicates that Parimelalhagar, who wrote his commentary of the Tirukkural around 1271–1272 CE, belonged to the lineage of priests of Ulagalandha Perumal temple.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: There are inscriptions dated 1532 CE (record 544 of 1919) indicating the gift of number of villages made by Achutaraya. Vira Narasingaraya Saluva Nayaka who was directed by Achutaraya broke the royal order by giving more lands to Ekambaranathar temple than the Varadharaja Swamy temple against the instruction of an equal gift to either of the temples. Achutaraya on hearing this equally distributed the lands to both the temples. There is an inscription from the 13th century from the Hoysalas, indicating a gift of a crown to the presiding deity. During the 17th century, the temple was under the attacks from the Mughals, spearheaded by Aurangzeb. The deities of the temple were ported to Udayarpalayam in modern-day Tiruchirappalli district during 1688. It was only during 1710 that the situation was ripe for the deities to be returned. But the chieftain of Udayarpalayam opposed the move and only after the intervention of Paramahamsa Parivajakacharya Attan Jeer, the deities were returned. The event is commemorated as a festival in the temple.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The Thathacharyas are the custodians of the Kanchipuram Perarulalan Kovil popularly known as Varadharaja Perumal temple. They are the Pradhana Acharya Purushas in the protocol to receive and deliver the temple honours. In retrospection Tirumalai Nambi's son Tirukkurukai Piran Pillan was ordained by Ramanuja himself as the first and foremost among the 74 Peetadhipathis to propagate Visishtadwaita philosophy after him. Pillan was also chosen by Ramanuja as the competent person to write the commentary on Tiruvaimozhi. The annotation of Tiruvaimozhi thus brought out by Pillan under the behest of Ramanuja is called the famous 'Araiyarpadi' the first gloss in Manipravala, an elegant mixture of Tamil and Sanskrit words, on the Divya Prabhandam. After Pillan, Tirumalai Srinivasacharya Thathacharya in the fifth generation of Thathacharyas was installed by Sri Vedanta Desika as the Sri Kariyam of the Devaraja Swamy Kovil. Since then the office of Sri Kariyam is institutionalised in the diligence and devotion of the Thathacharyas to the Varadharaja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram. Lakshmi Kumara Thathachariar inherited this mantle from his ancestors and made epoch making contributions to the temple annals. He was the Sri Kariya Durandhara – a phrase connoting absolute dedication and authority – of the temple affairs. Simultaneously he was also the Raja Guru of the Vijayanagar king Venkatapathi Deva Maharaj. In Ayengarkulam, a village named after him near Kanchipuram, he built a tank and temple to Sri Rama and Hanuman.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu, having the Thathachariars as the Honorary Trustees.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The temple is present in Chinna Kanchipuram, a locality in the Eastern side of Kanchipuram, a South Indian town in the state of Tamil Nadu. The temple covers an area of , showcasing the architectural skills of ancient Vishwakarma Sthapathis in temple architecture, and is famous for its holiness and ancient history. The temple has three outer precincts ("prakarams"), namely, "Alvar Prakaram", "Madai Palli Prakaram" and "Thiru Malai Prakaram". There are 32 shrines, 19 "vimanams" (towers), 389 pillared halls (most having the lion type "yali" sculpture) and sacred tanks some of which located outside the complex. The temple tank is called Anantha Theertham. There are 96 ornate sculpted pillars depicting various legends of "Mahabharat" and "Ramayana". The most notable sculptures are of Rati, Manmatha, Lakshmi Narayana, Lakshmi Narasimha, Lakshmi Varaha, and Lakshmi Hayagreeva.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The main sanctum faces west and can be entered through a 130-feet-tall, 7-tiered "rajagopuram" (main gateway tower). The image of the presiding deity is designed in such a way that on the 15th day after Chitra Purnima, the rays of the Sun fall on the idol. The hill, called Hastagiri, is long by . The eastern "gopuram" is taller than the western "gopuram", which is contrasting to large temples where the "rajagopuram" is the tallest one. One of the most famous architectural pieces in the temple is the huge stone chain sculpted in a single stone. There is a 100 pillared hall which has sculptures depicting "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata". It is a masterpiece of Vijayanagara architecture.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: Hastagiri has murals of the late Vijayanagara empire on the ceiling. Another significant features of the temple are beautifully carved lizards and gilded with gold, over the sanctum. The "vimana" over the sanctum of Varadharaja Swami is called "Punyakoti Vimanam" and the one over Perundevi Thayar shrine is called "Kalyana Koti Vimanam".


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: Apart from the main stone idol, the temple has the wooden image of Varadharajaswamy made of Atthi or the fig tree and preserved under water in a secret chamber. It is brought out for worship once every 40 years. The festivities last 48 days after which it is immersed in the water and stored for the next 40 years. It is believed that there is a heavy downpour after the idol is immersed to fill the tank. The presiding deity is a tall idol made of granite in standing posture, while Thayar is a image in sitting posture. There is a shrine of Narasimha on the hillock. The origin of the mask of Narasimha is mysterious and believed to possess inexplicable powers.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: In the second precinct downstairs contains four shrines, of which the important one is of Malayala Nachiar (Kerala consort), presumably built during the Chera kings in the early 14th century. There are images of Alvars and Ramanuja in the second precinct.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The third precinct has the shrine of Goddess Perundevi Thayar; it is customary for devotees to visit the shrine first before visiting the main Perumal shrine. There are four small pillared halls, identical in structure, called Thulabara Mandapas built during the 1532 for a ceremony of Achyutaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The seven precincts are called Pradakshina Padha, Hastagiri Pradakshana, Madapalli Pragara, Alavandar Pragara, and Alvar Thiruveedhi. The Alavandar Pragara houses lot of shrines of the temple. The temple has two towers on the eastern and western sides, which are and tall respectively. There is a hundred pillared hall, which has ornate carvings, notable of which being a stone chain. The temple car is believed to have been donated by Krishnadevaraya in 1517 CE. There are paintings in the temple commissioned during the 16th century during the rule of Vijayanagara kings.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: There is a shrine of Chakratalvar on the eastern side of the temple tank. The image of Chakratalvar (Sudarshana) in the temple is depicted with six hands. There festival image of the temple has seven different images of Sudarshana depicted within the same chakra. There are two entrances to the shrine as the two images are considered to be separate. The shrine is believed to have been constructed during the time of Kulothunga III during 1191 CE by Ilavalagan Kalingarayan of Nettur as seen from the inscriptions in the temple. The later additions are presumably made by the Vijayanagara Empire during the 13th or early part of 14th century. The kings also added pillared columns in the leading hall sculpted with figures from Ramayana and various forms of Vishnu.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The temple is often mentioned as the divine source of Sri Vaishnava literature. Thirumangai Alvar spent all his wealth and taxes towards the building of the temple and the king punished him for not paying the taxes, and losing wealth of the kingdom. A divine voice informed the king in his dreams that he can pickup wealth from a nearby place and relieve Thirumangai Alvar. Thirukachi Nambi was an ardent devotee of Varadharaja. He used to come a long way everyday to the temple to offer his worship. During his old age, he was privileged to converse with god. Ramanuja, the preceptor of Vishishtadvaita philosophy, was tricked by his master and was plotted to be killed. But by the grace of divinity, he was masked as a hunter and escape the event. He later came back to the temple to the making of the Vaishnava philosophy.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: Vedanta Desika, the revered polymath next only to Ramanuja mentions the annual ten-day festival celebrated in May. In one of the verses, he extols the deity:


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The temple also finds mention in the Thirtha Prabandha, a travelogue with descriptions of pilgrim centers throughout India written by Sri Vadiraja Swamy.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar, the celebrated composers of the 18th century created compositions on the festival. Thirumangai Alvar wrote 4 pasurams, Bhoothathalvar wrote 2 pasurams, and Peyalvar penned one pasuram.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The temple is famous for its huge umbrella used during festive occasions. During the "bhramotsavam" (major festival) in Vaigasi (May/June), thousands of people throng the temple and that increases twofold during the "Garuda Vahanam" and the Ther Thiruvila, the chariot procession.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: Atthi Varadharaja Perumal (Atthi Varadar), the 10 feet deity image, is made of the "Atthi" or the fig tree, and is stored in an underground chamber inside the temple tank which is called the Anantha Sarovaram/ Anantha Saras. It is brought out to worship for 48 days after every 40 years. It is worshipped in the "Vasantha Mantapam," which located in the south-west corner of the temple. The Aththi Varadar is worshipped in sleeping posture ("Kidantha Thirukkolam" or "Sayana Kolam)" in the first 24 days, followed by standing position ("Nindra Thirukkolam)" in the next 24 days.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The icon, which was the presiding deity earlier, was hidden in the 16th century to protect from invaders; however replaced by the current stone central icon when the wooden icon could not be traced. In 1709, the icon was accidentally rediscovered when the temple tank was emptied; thereafter the tradition of worshipping the deity once in 40 years was established.


title: Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

text: The festival was last held from 1 July to 17 Aug in 2019. The next Atthi Varadar festival will be held in 2059.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: Simi Taitoko Fale (born 8 January 1982) is a Tongan-New Zealand professional wrestler and former rugby union player. He currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as . In NJPW, he is a three-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion, a one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and a one-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion. His name translates to "house" in Tongan, which suits his wrestling persona as an immovable force.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: Fale is one of the founding members of the infamous Bullet Club, an originally all-foreigner group that has seen great success in the company. The group and his dojo, the Fale Dojo has helped add a bridge for non-Japanese wrestlers to wrestle for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: Fale was a rugby union player prior to him training and debuting for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He attended the strong rugby school of De La Salle College, Mangere East in Auckland, New Zealand and was a member of the 1st XV from 1999 to 2000, also making age grade rugby teams along the way. He then accepted scholarship to play rugby in Japan at Tokuyama University, alongside fellow New Zealander Sila Iona and Greame Brent, where they attended from 2001 to 2005. From April 2006 to March 2008, he played for the Japanese rugby union team Fukuoka Sanix Blues. He would start training to become a professional wrestler in June 2009.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: Fale, working under the ring name "King Fale", made his in-ring debut on 4 April 2010, when he was defeated by Manabu Nakanishi. Fale's earned his first win in New Japan just over a month after his debut, defeating Kyosuke Mikami. Fale and Super Strong Machine entered the 2010 G1 Tag League, finishing last in their block and overall with zero wins and zero points. Fale also took part in the 2010 J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament alongside Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson, making it to the second round before being eliminated. Fale later faced fellow young lion Hiromu Takahashi in a three match series, winning all of them.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: In February 2011, Fale joined Yuji Nagata's Seigigun ("Blue Justice Army") stable along with Wataru Inoue and Super Strong Machine. At The New Beginning on 20 February, Nagata, Inoue, Fale and Hiroyoshi Tenzan faced Chaos (Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka, and Yujiro Takahashi) in losing effort. In the prelude to the 2011 J Sports Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament, Fale again teamed with Inoue and Tenzan, losing to Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) & Jyushin Thunder Liger. In the actual tournament, they were eliminated in the second round by Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) & Satoshi Kojima. In April 2011, Fale took part in All Together, a joint show between New Japan Pro-Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, unsuccessfully competing in The Destroyer Cup battle royal. Fale teamed with Nagata in the 2011 G1 Tag League, finishing with one win and two points. Bad Luck Fale lost his first match of 2012, when he teamed with Tama Tonga to take on Okumura and Yoshi-Hashi. At NJPW's 40th Anniversary Show, Fale teamed with Tomoaki Honma to take on Chaos (Yoshi-Hashi and Yujiro Takahashi) in a losing effort. On 10 February 2012 at "", Fale unsuccessfully faced Yuji Nagata in singles action. Afterwards, he left for a fourteen-month learning excursion to the United States. On 8 June 2012, Fale debuted for NWA Houston, losing to Mysterious Q.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: On 7 April 2013, at Invasion Attack, Fale, now performing as a heel, returned to New Japan as Prince Devitt's "bouncer" under the new ring name of "The Underboss" Bad Luck Fale. Fale wrestled his return match on 3 May at Wrestling Dontaku, teaming with Devitt to defeat Captain New Japan and Ryusuke Taguchi. Later that night, Fale and Devitt joined forces with Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga, forming a stable and dubbing themselves "Bullet Club". Later in the year, Fale began his first major feud in New Japan with IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe, who had been eliminated from the 2013 G1 Climax following interference from Fale during a match with Devitt. From 23 November to 7 December, Fale and Devitt took part in the 2013 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of three wins and three losses, with a loss against the previously winless Captain New Japan and Hiroshi Tanahashi on the final day costing them a spot in the semifinals. The rivalry between Fale and Makabe culminated in a King of Destroyer match on 4 January 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, where Makabe was victorious. Fale and Makabe again faced off on 15 March in the first round of the 2014 New Japan Cup, where Fale was victorious. Fale made it to the final of the tournament before losing to Shinsuke Nakamura on 23 March.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: On 21 June at Dominion 6.21, Fale defeated Nakamura in a rematch to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion. From 21 July to 8 August, Fale took part in his first G1 Climax, where he finished third in his block with a record of six wins and four losses with a loss against Nakamura on the final day preventing him from making it to the finals. On 21 September at Destruction in Kobe, Fale lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship back to Nakamura in his first defense. In November, Fale entered the 2014 World Tag League, alongside stablemate Tama Tonga. The team finished at the bottom of their block with a record of three wins and four losses. In early 2015, Fale started feuding with Kazuchika Okada, which led to him picking up a major win on 5 March, defeating the two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the first round of the 2015 New Japan Cup. Fale was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Tetsuya Naito. The rivalry between Fale and Okada culminated on 5 April at Invasion Attack 2015, where Fale was defeated by Okada. From 20 July to 14 August, Fale took part in the 2015 G1 Climax. Despite scoring a major win over eventual tournament winner Hiroshi Tanahashi, Fale finished fourth in his block with a record of five wins and four losses and thus failed to advance to the finals. Due to his win over Tanahashi, Fale was granted a shot at the Wrestle Kingdom 10 IWGP Heavyweight Championship match contract, but was defeated by Tanahashi on 27 September at Destruction in Kobe.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: On 4 January 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10, Fale took part in a match to crown the inaugural NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions, where he, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi were defeated by Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe and Toru Yano. Despite the mass exodus of Bullet Club members from New Japan (Leader AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows all left), Fale re-signed with New Japan for 2 years instead of the usual 1 amidst WWE interest. On 11 February at The New Beginning in Osaka, Fale, Tonga and Takahashi defeated the Briscoes and Yano in a rematch to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. After a three-day reign, they lost the title back to the Briscoes and Yano at The New Beginning in Niigata. On 3 March, Fale scored a big win over Hiroshi Tanahashi in the first round of the 2016 New Japan Cup. The following day, he was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Michael Elgin. Fale then started a new feud with Hiroshi Tanahashi, as part of which he, Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi unsuccessfully challenged Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and Yoshitatsu for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship on 23 April. From 18 July to 12 August, Fale took part in the 2016 G1 Climax, where, despite scoring big wins over Naomichi Marufuji and reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, he failed to advance from his block with a record of five wins and four losses.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: In February 2017, Fale opened his own wrestling school, the Fale Dojo, in Auckland, New Zealand. The following month, Fale made it to the finals of the 2017 New Japan Cup, before losing to Katsuyori Shibata. On April 9 at Sakura Genesis 2017, Fale attacked IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and challenged him to a title match. The title match took place on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2017 and saw Okada retain. During the summer, Fale took part in the 2017 G1 Climax, where he finished third in his block with a record of six wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals. On August 11, Fale defeated Yuji Nagata in his former mentor's final G1 Climax match and afterwards bowed to him in a show of respect. On December 17, Fale, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa defeated "Los Ingobernables de Japón" (Bushi, Evil and Sanada) to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to Chaos (Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) in a five-team gauntlet match on January 4, 2018, at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome. The following day at New Year's Dash, they would regain the title from Chaos. Fale then competed in the 2018 New Japan Cup, where he was eliminated by Hiroshi Tanahashi in the second round. On night 1 of Wrestling Dontaku 2018 on 3 May, the Bullet Club lost the 6-Man tag titles to the Super Villains (Marty Scurll and The Young Bucks). Fale next wrestled in the 2018 G1 Climax, competing in the A block. He ended with 6 points, failing to advance to the finals. During this time, the Bullet Club split into two divisions, the OG and the Elite; Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Taiji Ishimori remained in the OG group. At King of Pro-Wrestling on 8 October, the Bullet Club OG defeated the Bullet Club Elite (the Young Bucks, Chase Owens and Hangman Page).


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: On January 28, Fale debuted a new gimmick called "The Rogue General", and started a short feud with Kazuchika Okada. At The New Beginning in Osaka in February 2019, Fale lost to Okada. Fale competed in the 2019 New Japan Cup, but was eliminated by Will Ospreay in the first round. At the G1 Supercard on 6 April, Fale unsuccessfully competed in the Honor Rumble. Fale would embark on a feud (alongside Chase Owens) against the newly arrived Mikey Nicholls and fan favorite Juice Robinson. The feud would include Fale unsuccessfully challenging for Juice's IWGP United States Championship before beating Mikey with his usually ineffective signature move, the Grenade. Fale would then compete in the 2019 G1 Climax in the A block, ending with 8 points, therefore failing to advance to the finals. Later that year he would team with Chase Owens in the World Tag League. They finished the tournament with 6 wins and 9 losses, failing to advance to the finals. At Wrestle Kingdom 14, Fale wrestled on both nights. The first night, he teamed with Bullet Club (Kenta, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi) in a loss to Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi). He then participated in a 5-team gauntlet for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship on night two's pre-show, in which he, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi were eliminated by Chaos's Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi & Robbie Eagles.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: Fale was absent most of the year as he was unable to return to Japan due to border closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned in November, competing in the 2020 World Tag League with Chase Owens, however, the pair ended the tournament with 3 wins and 6 losses, failing to advance to the final. On December 22, it was announced that Toru Yano would face Fale for the Official KOPW 2020 Trophy in a Bodyslam or No Corner Pads match after Yano's stipulation won the majority of the fan vote. The following day, Fale was defeated by Yano after he was bodyslammed. On night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 15, Fale advanced from the New Japan Ranbo match to compete in a four way match for the Provisional KOPW 2021 Trophy. On night 2, Fale failed to win the four way match that also included Toru Yano, Chase Owens, and Bushi.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: In March 2021, Fale entered in the 2021 New Japan Cup, but was eliminated in the first round after he was counted out in a match against Toru Yano. From November 14 to December 12, Fale and Chase Owens again competed in the World Tag League, failing to advance to the final after finishing the tournament with 6 wins and 4 losses. On night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 16, Fale failed to advance from the New Japan Ranbo match. Fale received a bye to the second round of the 2022 New Japan Cup, but was eliminated by Hiroshi Tanahashi. At Wrestling Dontaku 2022, Fale and Chase Owens won the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a three-way tag team match. They lost the titles on June 12, at Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall. Also at the event, Fale was announced to be apart of the G1 Climax 32 tournament in July, where he would compete in the A Block. He finished with 6 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: When Fale first turned his back on Yuji Nagata and most of New Japan's fan favorites, he became known as "The Underboss" of Prince Devitt and Bullet Club, carrying Devitt to the ring. After a few years, Fale decided to embrace not being a low-key member of Bullet Club, renaming his persona "The Rogue General". Fale, being a larger wrestler has always utilized "power-based" moves in his arsenal. Being a villainous character, he uses his power to inflict more pain than necessary and to control the opponent's pace. He is also known to attack ring announcers before his match. Despite having the power (and at some times in his career, the athletic) advantage over most of his opponents, Fale's character has always tried to take the easy way out and cheat during matches.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: Fale's big moves include a jumping splash, the "Grenade,"a Thumb Lariat (succeeded after choke-lifting the opponent with his other hand), "Bad Luck Fall," a release Crucifix Powerbomb and different variations of a Schoolboy sweep.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: Fale is the cousin of Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga and Hikuleo. Fale and Tama had spent their early childhoods in Muʻa, Tonga without meeting. They were in the NJPW Dojo at the same time and realized they were related when a relative commented on a photo Fale had posted on social media. He is of Tongan ethnicity and is fluent in Tongan, English and Japanese.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: In 2017 it was reported that Fale was in a relationship with go-go dancer Pieter, also known as the "Tokyo Latina", who has made appearances for NJPW as a valet for Fale's Bullet Club stablemate Yujiro Takahashi.


title: Bad Luck Fale

text: Fale also runs his own professional wrestling school Fale Dojo in Auckland, New Zealand that has seen a few of its alumni in NJPW (Toa Henare, Jay White and Michael Richards).


title: Ickey Woods

text: Elbert L. "Ickey" Woods (born February 28, 1966) is a former American football running back who played for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League from 1988 through 1991. He played college football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is best remembered for his "Ickey Shuffle" end zone dance, performed each time he scored a touchdown. After a rookie season in which he set numerous rookie franchise records, a series of injuries shortened his NFL career and he retired after four years.


title: Ickey Woods

text: Elbert Woods was given the nickname "Ickey" based on his little brother's pronunciation of his given first name, which sounded like "E-E." He attended Edison High School in Fresno, California, where he played sports. He received one college football scholarship, from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he was a four-year letterwinner for the UNLV Rebels. As a freshman in 1984, the Rebels, led by future NFL star quarterback Randall Cunningham, went 11-2 and won the California Bowl 30-13 against the Toledo Rockets, a game in which Woods rushed nine times for 53 yards and one touchdown.


title: Ickey Woods

text: In his senior year of 1987, he broke out and led the nation in rushing with 1,658 yards, with 6.4 yards per attempt. That total remains the second-most in UNLV history, and he still holds the school record in single-game rushing attempts with 37 in two different games. In one of those games, he ran for a personal-best 265 yards against the University of the Pacific. He rushed for more than 100 yards in nine games, and more than 200 yards three times, in 1987, and was named first-team All Big West. He was inducted into the UNLV Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.


title: Ickey Woods

text: The Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL) in the second round, drafted Woods with the 31st overall selection, of the 1988 NFL Draft. He was a breakout star as a rookie, setting franchise rookie records for rushing with 1,066 yards (since broken by Corey Dillon), 15 touchdowns, and an NFL-leading 5.3 yards per carry, along with 228 yards and three touchdowns in the playoffs as the Bengals advanced to Super Bowl XXIII. His team lost the game 20-16 to the San Francisco 49ers, but he finished as the game's leading rusher with 79 yards.


title: Ickey Woods

text: In 1989, Woods tore his left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the second game of the season, a 41-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He missed 13 months. By the time he returned, his starting role was filled by Harold Green.


title: Ickey Woods

text: In 1991, Woods injured his right knee in the preseason. He returned at midseason but he ran for just 97 yards on 36 carries. He was out of football by age 26. His career statistics include 332 carries for 1,525 yards and 27 touchdowns, along with 47 receptions for 397 yards. Woods was later named #7 on NFL Top 10's "Top Ten One-Shot Wonders".


title: Ickey Woods

text: Woods is the longtime owner/coach of the Cincinnati Sizzle of the full-contact Women's Football Alliance; one of the players was his ex-wife, Chandra Baldwin-Woods. He runs the Ickey Woods Youth Foundation as well as the Jovante Woods Foundation, named for their son who died at age 16. Jovante was an honor student and a member of the Princeton High School football team who suffered a fatal asthma attack at home. The foundation provides funding and education for asthma research and organ donor education.


title: Ickey Woods

text: Woods has six children. Since retiring from the NFL, he has been a sales representative for a meat company, sold security systems, and has owned a flooring store in Cincinnati. In 2006, he was an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Marshals of the National Indoor Football League.


title: Ickey Woods

text: Ickey Woods appeared in Bootsy Collins' video "Who-Dey Invasion." He appeared in a Cincinnati Bell commercial, doing the "Ickey Shuffle" with the company's president and was in a national Oldsmobile commercial doing the "Ickey Shuffle" with his mother. In 2014, he was featured in a national GEICO Insurance commercial in which he reprised his "Ickey Shuffle" while gleefully buying cold cuts at a deli counter. On May 1, 2015, Woods announced at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois that the Cincinnati Bengals had selected offensive tackle Jake Fisher of the University of Oregon as the 21st pick in the second round (53rd overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. After replicating his signature move, the "Ickey Shuffle" and making the pick announcement, Woods said, "gonna get me some cold cuts," a line from the aforementioned GEICO television commercial. He also appeared in a couple of commercials before Super Bowl XLIX. The dance move is occasionally duplicated by other NFL players.


title: Armando Bacot

text: Armando Linwood Bacot Jr. (born March 6, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the North Carolina Tar Heels of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and actor.


title: Armando Bacot

text: Bacot attended Trinity Episcopal School for three years before transferring to IMG Academy for his senior year.


title: Armando Bacot

text: Bacot was considered a five-star recruit by ESPN and Rivals, and a four-star recruit by 247Sports. On August 16, 2018, Bacot committed to playing college basketball for North Carolina over offers from Duke, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Villanova, and VCU.


title: Armando Bacot

text: On November 20, 2019, Bacot had 22 points and 14 rebounds in a 75–61 win over Elon. He had 23 points, 12 rebounds and a season-high six blocks in a 78–74 win over Oregon on November 29. In a 74–49 loss to Ohio State on December 4, Bacot suffered a left ankle injury and was expected to miss some time. However, he returned for the following game, a 56–47 loss to Virginia, and scored 11 points. He sat out North Carolina's home victory against Wake Forest on March 3, 2020. As a freshman, Bacot averaged 9.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, shooting 46.9 percent from the floor. Armando also had 11 double-doubles, the second most by a Tar Heel freshman.


title: Armando Bacot

text: As a sophomore, he averaged 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, shooting 62.8 percent from the floor. He was named to the Third Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). On April 6, 2021, he declared for the 2021 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility. He withdrew his name from the draft pool in order to return to Chapel Hill for his junior season.


title: Armando Bacot

text: On November 5, 2021, new UNC head coach Hubert Davis named Bacot as team captain alongside sophomores R. J. Davis and Caleb Love. On January 8, 2022, Bacot posted career-highs of 29 points and 21 rebounds in a 78–54 win against Virginia. Bacot picked up 23 double-doubles in the regular season, tying the UNC single-season record previously held by Brice Johnson. Bacot was a key performer in the Tar Heels' 94–81 upset over Duke in Mike Krzyzewski's final game in Cameron Indoor Stadium, scoring 23 points along with 7 rebounds. Four out of the five Tar Heel starters scored twenty-plus points in the game. Following the conclusion of the regular season, he was named First Team All-ACC, and finished runner-up the voting for ACC Player of the Year, behind Wake Forest's Alondes Williams. On March 10, 2022, Bacot recorded his 24th double-double of the season, breaking the school record of 23 that had been set by Brice Johnson in 2016. On March 27, 2022, Bacot tied Tim Duncan's ACC single-season record with his 29th double-double and also passed Duncan (457) for the most rebounds in a single season in ACC history (since 1985–86). Entering the 2022 Final Four, Bacot has 475 rebounds in the 2021–22 season, which is 4th in NCAA history for a single-season (since 1985–86). North Carolina lost in the national championship game to Kansas. Bacot recorded 15 points and 15 rebounds, becoming the first to have a double-double in all six tournament games.


title: Armando Bacot

text: Following the Final Four run for the Tar Heels in 2022, speculation grew as to whether Bacot would once again enter the NBA draft process, or stay at Carolina for his senior year. On April 13, 2022, he put the speculation to rest, announcing his intent to return for his senior year in a social media post. Sitting at 1001 rebounds and 49 career double-doubles as a Tar Heel, Bacot needs 219 rebounds and only 11 more double doubles in his senior season to eclipse the Tar Heel career records of Tyler Hansbrough and Billy Cunningham respectively.


title: Armando Bacot

text: Bacot played for the United States under-18 basketball team at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship. He averaged 7.8 points and five rebounds, helping his team win the gold medal.


title: Breccia

text: Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix.


title: Breccia

text: The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of different origins, as indicated by the named types including sedimentary breccia, tectonic breccia, igneous breccia, impact breccia, and hydrothermal breccia.


title: Breccia

text: A megabreccia is a breccia composed of very large rock fragments, sometimes kilometers across, which can be formed by landslides, impact events, or caldera collapse.


title: Breccia

text: Breccia is composed of coarse rock fragments held together by cement or a fine-grained matrix. Like conglomerate, breccia contains at least 30 percent of gravel-sized particles (particles over 2mm in size), but it is distinguished from conglomerate because the rock fragments have sharp edges that have not been worn down. These indicate that the gravel was deposited very close to its source area, since otherwise the edges would have been rounded during transport. Most of the rounding of rock fragments takes place within the first few kilometers of transport, though complete rounding of pebbles of very hard rock may take up to of river transport.


title: Breccia

text: A "megabreccia" is a breccia containing very large rock fragments, from at least a meter in size to greater than 400 meters. In some cases, the clasts are so large that the brecciated nature of the rock is not obvious. Megabreccias can be formed by landslides, impact events, or caldera collapse.


title: Breccia

text: Sedimentary breccia is breccia formed by sedimentary processes. For example, scree deposited at the base of a cliff may become cemented to form a talus breccia without ever experiencing transport that might round the rock fragments.


title: Breccia

text: Thick sequences of sedimentary (colluvial) breccia are generally formed next to fault scarps in grabens.


title: Breccia

text: Sedimentary breccia may be formed by submarine debris flows. Turbidites occur as fine-grained peripheral deposits to sedimentary breccia flows.


title: Breccia

text: In a karst terrain, a collapse breccia may form due to collapse of rock into a sinkhole or in cave development. Collapse breccias also form by dissolution of underlying evaporite beds.


title: Breccia

text: Fault breccia results from the grinding action of two fault blocks as they slide past each other. Subsequent cementation of these broken fragments may occur by means of the introduction of mineral matter in groundwater.


title: Breccia

text: Volcanic pyroclastic rocks are formed by explosive eruption of lava and any rocks which are entrained within the eruptive column. This may include rocks plucked off the wall of the magma conduit, or physically picked up by the ensuing pyroclastic surge. Lavas, especially rhyolite and dacite flows, tend to form clastic volcanic rocks by a process known as "autobrecciation". This occurs when the thick, nearly solid lava breaks up into blocks and these blocks are then reincorporated into the lava flow again and mixed in with the remaining liquid magma. The resulting breccia is uniform in rock type and chemical composition.


title: Breccia

text: Caldera collapse leads to the formation of megabreccias, which are sometimes mistaken for outcrops of the caldera floor. These are instead blocks of precaldera rock, often coming from the unstable oversteepened rim of the caldera. They are distinguished from "mesobreccias" whose clasts are less than a meter in size and which form layers in the caldera floor. Some clasts of caldera megabreccias can be over a kilometer in length.


title: Breccia

text: Within the volcanic conduits of explosive volcanoes the volcanic breccia environment merges into the intrusive breccia environment. There the upwelling lava tends to solidify during quiescent intervals only to be shattered by ensuing eruptions. This produces an "alloclastic" volcanic breccia.


title: Breccia

text: Clastic rocks are also commonly found in shallow subvolcanic intrusions such as porphyry stocks, granites and kimberlite pipes, where they are transitional with volcanic breccias. Intrusive rocks can become brecciated in appearance by multiple stages of intrusion, especially if fresh magma is intruded into partly consolidated or solidified magma. This may be seen in many granite intrusions where later aplite veins form a late-stage stockwork through earlier phases of the granite mass. When particularly intense, the rock may appear as a chaotic breccia.


title: Breccia

text: Impact breccias are thought to be diagnostic of an impact event such as an asteroid or comet striking the Earth and are normally found at impact craters. Impact breccia, a type of impactite, forms during the process of impact cratering when large meteorites or comets impact with the Earth or other rocky planets or asteroids. Breccia of this type may be present on or beneath the floor of the crater, in the rim, or in the ejecta expelled beyond the crater.


title: Breccia

text: Impact breccia may be identified by its occurrence in or around a known impact crater, and/or an association with other products of impact cratering such as shatter cones, impact glass, shocked minerals, and chemical and isotopic evidence of contamination with extraterrestrial material (e.g., iridium and osmium anomalies). An example of an impact breccia is the Neugrund breccia, which was formed in the Neugrund impact.


title: Breccia

text: Hydrothermal breccias usually form at shallow crustal levels (<1 km) between 150 and 350 °C, when seismic or volcanic activity causes a void to open along a fault deep underground. The void draws in hot water, and as pressure in the cavity drops, the water violently boils. In addition, the sudden opening of a cavity causes rock at the sides of the fault to destabilise and implode inwards, and the broken rock gets caught up in a churning mixture of rock, steam and boiling water. Rock fragments collide with each other and the sides of the void, and the angular fragments become more rounded. Volatile gases are lost to the steam phase as boiling continues, in particular carbon dioxide. As a result, the chemistry of the fluids changes and ore minerals rapidly precipitate. Breccia-hosted ore deposits are quite common.


title: Breccia

text: The morphology of breccias associated with ore deposits varies from tabular sheeted veins and clastic dikes associated with overpressured sedimentary strata, to large-scale intrusive diatreme breccias (breccia pipes), or even some synsedimentary diatremes formed solely by the overpressure of pore fluid within sedimentary basins. Hydrothermal breccias are usually formed by hydrofracturing of rocks by highly pressured hydrothermal fluids. They are typical of the epithermal ore environment and are intimately associated with intrusive-related ore deposits such as skarns, greisens and porphyry-related mineralisation. Epithermal deposits are mined for copper, silver and gold.


title: Breccia

text: In the mesothermal regime, at much greater depths, fluids under lithostatic pressure can be released during seismic activity associated with mountain building. The pressurised fluids ascend towards shallower crustal levels that are under lower hydrostatic pressure. On their journey, high-pressure fluids crack rock by hydrofracturing, forming an angular "in situ" breccia. Rounding of rock fragments is less common in the mesothermal regime, as the formational event is brief. If boiling occurs, methane and hydrogen sulfide may be lost to the steam phase, and ore may precipitate. Mesothermal deposits are often mined for gold.


title: Breccia

text: For thousands of years, the striking visual appearance of breccias has made them a popular sculptural and architectural material. Breccia was used for column bases in the Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete in about 1800 BC. Breccia was used on a limited scale by the ancient Egyptians; one of the best-known examples is the statue of the goddess Tawaret in the British Museum. Breccia was regarded by the Romans as an especially precious stone and was often used in high-profile public buildings. Many types of marble are brecciated, such as Breccia Oniciata.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in French history to receive the distinction of Marshal General of France. The Duke also served three times as President of the Council of Ministers, or Prime Minister of France.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Soult played a key role as a corps commander in many of Napoleon's campaigns, most notably at Austerlitz, where his corps delivered the decisive attack that won the battle. Later, Soult's intrigues in the Peninsular War while occupying Portugal earned him the nickname, "King Nicolas", and while he was Napoleon's military governor of Andalusia, Soult looted 1.5 million francs worth of art. One historian called him "a plunderer in the world class." He was defeated in his last offensives in Spain in the Battle of the Pyrenees (Sorauren) and by Freire's Spaniards at San Marcial. Soult was eventually pursued out of Spain and onto French soil, where he was maneuvered out of several positions at Nivelle, Nive, and Orthez, before the Battle of Toulouse.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Soult was born in Saint-Amans-la-Bastide (now called Saint-Amans-Soult in his honor, near Castres, in the Tarn department) and named after John of God. He was the son of a country notary named Jean Soult (1726–1779) by his marriage to Brigitte, daughter of Pierre François de Grenier de Lapierre. He was a catholic.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Jean-de-Dieu Soult was expected to have a promising career as a lawyer. However, on April 16, 1785, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted as a private in the "Royal-Infanterie" regiment, to help his mother financially after the death of his father. His younger brother, Pierre-Benoît Soult, followed his example three years later, and would also become a French general.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Jean Soult fought in the wars of Revolutionary France. Soult's superior education ensured his promotion to the rank of sergeant after six years of service, and in July 1791 he became instructor to the first battalion of volunteers of the Bas-Rhin. On January 17, 1792, his colonel appointed him instructor in the 1st battalion of Haut-Rhin volunteers, with the rank of second lieutenant ("sous-lieutenant"). The war period, which began in April 1792, offered him many opportunities to stand out and he rose through the ranks with regularity. Adjutant-major on July 16, 1792, captain on August 20, 1793, provisional adjutant to the staff of General Lazare Hoche to the Army of the Moselle on November 19, 1793. He took part in the Battle of Kaiserslautern from November 28 to 30, which allowed the recapture of Wissembourg and the relief of Landau. Hoche gives Soult the command of a detached body to take Marsthal's camp, a task which was brilliantly executed.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: From December 26 to 29, he was present at the Second Battle of Wissembourg. He was appointed chief of staff of the avant-garde on January 27, 1794, provisional battalion commander on February 7, 1794, titular battalion commander on April 3, and adjutant-general brigade chief ("adjudant-général chef de brigade") on May 14. On March 19, 1794, the Army of the Moselle was replaced by the Army of the Rhine under the command of General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. This army immediately returns to the campaign. Two battles were fought in Arlon on April 17, 18 and 29, then on May 21, in which Soult took an active part.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: After the Battle of Fleurus of 1794, in which he distinguished himself for coolness, he joined the Army of Sambre and Meuse on June 28. Soult was promoted to brigadier general by the representatives on mission. For the next five years, Soult was employed in Germany under Generals Jean-Baptiste Jourdan (a veteran of the American War of Independence and a future Marshal), Jean Victor Marie Moreau, Jean-Baptiste Kléber and François Lefebvre (also a future Marshal). He took part in the Battle of Aldenhoven on October 2, 1794. He moved to Jacques Hatry's division and took part in the Siege of Luxembourg from November 22 to June 7, 1795. He took a brilliant part in the battles of Altenkirchen on June 4, 1796, of Friedberg on July 10, 1796, and in the Battle of Stockach against the army of Charles of Austria on March 25, 1799. The rank of division general is attributed to him on April 4, 1799, on a provisional basis, and it is confirmed on the following April 21.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Soult passed to the Army of Helvetia under the orders of General André Masséna (another future Marshal). It was at this time that he built the bases of his military reputation, in particular during the First Battle of Zurich of June 2–5, 1799; then he subdued the insurgent cantons, drove the rebels on the Reuss and drove them back to in the valley of Urseren - relieving Frauenfeld, Altikon, Audelfinden. He obtains a citation on the order of the day of June 2, 1799. On the 10 of the same month, he hunts down, at the head of the "110th Demi-Brigade", the Austrians, occupying Mount Albis. Cross the Linth River on September 22, Soult leads the enemy to suffer a loss of 4,000 men, then he comes to meet the Russians who advance on Kaltbrunn, forcing the surrender of a body of 2,000 men, seized Weesen and pushed the enemy back to Lake Constance.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: When in 1800 the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte entrusted Masséna to reorganize the Army of Italy, he insisted that Soult be his deputy; giving him the command of the right wing.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Soult distinguished himself for his active part in the defense of the country of Genoa. On April 6, in an initial sortie, at the head of several battalions, he crossed the Austrian army and relieved General Gardanne. The enemy was repulsed beyond Piotta, and Soult pursued General Suvorov into the Alps, seizing Sassello and returning to Genoa with numerous prisoners, cannons, and flags. During another sortie, the general pushed in against the Austrian army, trapping a division at Monte-Facio. But, during a fight in Montecreto on 13 April 1800, a gunshot shattered his leg; laying on the battlefield wounded, he was robbed and taken prisoner, spending days in agony in a filthy hospital. This experience traumatized Soult, and he would never again place himself so forward in the battleline.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: He was rescued after the victory at Marengo on June 14, 1800. Appointed military commander of Piedmont, then in the midst of a rebellion, Soult managed to put down the so-called Barbets insurrection. He even managed to discipline the rowdy hordes and use them for his service. Soult then received command of the southern part of the Kingdom of Naples.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Shortly before the Treaty of Amiens, General Soult returned to Paris, where the First Consul welcomed him with the highest distinction. On March 5, 1802, he was one of the four generals called to command the Consular Guard with the post of colonel general. He thereafter pledged allegiance to the new regime. In August 1803, Soult was entrusted with the command-in-chief of the Camp of Boulogne. Soult, a former drill instructor, imposed a rigorous discipline there, which ensured the effectiveness of French troops during future campaigns, and also earned him the nickname ""Bras de Fer"" ("Iron Arm"). Even Napoleon wondered if he was being too severe, to which assertions Soult replied:"Those who can't handle what I myself endure will be left behind in the depots. Those that can will be fit to conquer the world."


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: In May 1804, Soult was made one of the first eighteen Marshals of the Empire. He commanded a corps in the advance on Ulm, and at Austerlitz he led the decisive attack on the Allied centre.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Soult played a great part in many of the famous battles of the "Grande Armée", including the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 and the Battle of Jena in 1806. However, he was not present at the Battle of Friedland because on that same day he was capturing Königsberg. After the conclusion of the Treaties of Tilsit, he returned to France and in 1808 was anointed by Napoleon as 1st Duke of Dalmatia (French: "Duc de Dalmatie"). The awarding of this honour greatly displeased him, for he felt that his title should have been Duke of Austerlitz, a title which Napoleon had reserved for himself. In the following year, Soult was appointed as commander of the II Corps with which Napoleon intended to conquer Spain. After winning the Battle of Gamonal, Soult was detailed by the emperor to pursue Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore's British army. At the Battle of Coruña, in which Moore was killed, Soult failed to prevent British forces escaping by sea.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: For the next four years, Soult remained in Spain engaged in the Peninsular War. In 1809, he invaded Portugal and took Porto, but was isolated by General Francisco da Silveira's strategy of contention. Busying himself with the political settlement of his conquests in French interests and, as he hoped, for his own ultimate benefit as a possible candidate for the Portuguese throne, he attracted the hatred of Republican officers in his army. Unable to move, he was eventually driven from Portugal in the Second Battle of Porto by Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley (later made Duke of Wellington), making a painful and almost disastrous retreat over the mountains, pursued by General William Beresford and Silveira. After the Battle of Talavera, Soult was made chief of staff of French forces in Spain with extended powers, and on 19 November 1809, won a great victory at the Battle of Ocana.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: In 1810, he invaded Andalusia, which he quickly overran. However, because he then turned to seize Seville, the capture of Cádiz eluded him, saying, ""Give me Seville and I will answer for Cádiz."" This led to the prolonged and futile Siege of Cadiz, a strategic disaster for the French. In 1811, Soult marched north into Extremadura and took Badajoz. When the Anglo-Portuguese army laid siege to the city, he marched to its rescue and fought and nearly won the famous and bloody Battle of Albuera on 16 May.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: In 1812, after Wellington's great victory at Salamanca, Soult was obliged to evacuate Andalusia. In the subsequent Siege of Burgos, he was able to drive Wellington's Anglo-allied Army back to Salamanca. There, the Duke of Dalmatia, as Soult was now known, failed to attack Wellington despite superiority in numbers, and the British Army retired to the Portuguese frontier. Soon after, he was recalled from Spain at the request of Joseph Bonaparte (who had been installed by his brother as King of Spain) with whom, as with the other marshals, he had always disagreed.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: In March 1813, Soult assumed command of the IV Corps of the "Grande Armée" and commanded the centre at Lützen and Bautzen, but he was soon sent, with unlimited powers, to the South of France to repair the damage done by the defeat at Vitoria. It is to Soult's credit that he was able to reorganise the demoralised French forces.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: His last offensives into Spain were turned back by Wellington in the Battle of the Pyrenees (Sorauren) and by General Manuel Freire's Spaniards at San Marcial. Pursued onto French soil, Soult was maneuvered out of several positions at Nivelle, Nive, and Orthez, before suffering what was technically a defeat at Wellington's hands at the Battle of Toulouse. He nevertheless inflicted severe casualties on Wellington and was able to stop him from trapping the French forces.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: After Napoleon's first abdication in 1814, Soult declared himself a royalist, received the Order of Saint Louis, and acted as Minister of War from 26 November 1814 to 11 March 1815. When Napoleon returned from Elba, Soult at once declared himself a Bonapartist, was made a peer of France, and acted as chief of staff to the emperor during the Waterloo campaign, in which role he distinguished himself far less than he had done as commander of an over-matched army.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: In his book, "", Bernard Cornwell summarizes the opinions of several historians that Soult's presence in the Army of the North was one of several factors contributing to Napoleon's defeat, because of the animosity between him and Marshal Michel Ney, the other senior commander, and because, in spite of his experience as a soldier, Soult lacked his predecessor Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier's administrative skills. The most glaring instance of this was his written order, according to Napoleon's instructions, to Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy to position his force on the British Army's left flank in order to prevent reinforcement by the Prussians. Cornwell decries the wording of Soult's order as ""almost impenetrable nonsense"", and Grouchy misinterpreted the order, instead marching against the Prussian rearguard at Wavre.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Following the Second Bourbon Restoration in 1815, Soult went into exile in Germany, but in 1819 he was recalled and in 1820 again made a Marshal of France. He once more tried to show himself as a fervent royalist and was made a peer in 1827. After the revolution of 1830 he declared himself a partisan of Louis Philippe, who welcomed his support and revived for him the title of Marshal General of France, previously held only by Turenne, Claude Louis Hector de Villars, and Maurice de Saxe.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: As Minister of War (1830 to 1834), Soult organized and oversaw the rearmament of the French military. The strength of the Army of the Restoration numbered only a little over 200,000 men and Soult sought to double its size, carrying the necessary reforms from 1831 to 1832. The first law of this important military reform was that creating the Foreign Legion, on 9 March 1831; a force of foreign volunteers which could only be used outside the territory of metropolitan France, especially aimed at garrisoning the recently conquered Algiers. The Legion, when created, was loathed by the army and considered a lower posting; the force being colloquially called as the "Bastard of Soult".


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Louis-Philippe, worried about having to rely solely on the National Guard to maintain public order, instructed Marshal Soult to reorganize the line army without delay. Soult wrote a report to the king, presented to the Chamber of Deputies on February 20, 1831, in which he criticized the recruitment Gouvion-Saint-Cyr law of 1818: the voluntary system combined with the drawing of ballots and the possibility of being replaced had not made it possible to increase the number of manpower sufficiently, and that the promotion procedures helped to maintain over-staffing. Soult proposed the main lines of a military policy aimed at increasing the army's strength, reducing said over-staffing and ensuring the supply of arms and ammunition.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Following the creation of the Legion on 9 March, Soult passed the laws of April 11, 1831 on military pensions, of March 21 and April 14, 1832, on army recruitment and promotion, and of May 19, 1834 on the status of officers. Soult also oversaw the construction of the fortifications of Paris. In 1831, he was sent by Louis-Philippe to Lyon with 20,000 men to crush the first insurrection of the city's silk workers, the canuts. Order is restored, but Soult becomes very unpopular within the Republican camp. In his play "Napoléon Bonaparte ou Trente ans de l'histoire de France" (Napoleon Bonaparte or Thirty Years of the History of France), Dumas Père represents him in a dreadful appearance during the Hundred Days.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: In 1834, when a new insurrection broke out in April in Lyon, Marshal Soult received from Lieutenant-General Aymar, commander of the troops in the city, a desperate telegraphic dispatch about evacuating the city. The Duke of Dalmatia's firm response was not long in coming, chastising the general and ordering him to hold all his positions and to man the walls and be buried beneath them.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: While he was Minister of War, he held the presidency of the Council of Ministers (or Prime Minister) for the first time in 1832–1834. France being the guarantor of the Treaty of the XXIV articles, he had the Antwerp expedition carried out by Marshal Gérard, who seized the city after heroic resistance from the Dutch (December 1832) and returned it to Belgium, its country of attribution.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: In April 1838, Louis-Philippe chose Soult to represent him at the coronation of Queen Victoria. He received a triumphant welcome in London – where his former enemy, the Duke of Wellington, reputedly caught him by the arm and exclaimed ""I have you at last!""


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Once again at the head of the government (1839-1840), he was at the same time the holder of the Foreign Affairs portfolio. He participated in the ceremonies for returning the ashes of Napoleon in December 1840.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: President of the Council for almost seven years, from 1840 to 1847, he left the effective management of the Cabinet to his Minister of Foreign Affairs, François Guizot, who logically succeeded him when he left the government, for health reasons. For five years (1840-1845), he combined his function with that of Minister of War. On September 26, 1847, Louis-Philippe restored for him the honorary dignity of Marshal General of the king's camps and armies, however modifying this title into the unique Marshal General of France.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: In 1848, Soult declared himself a republican. He died three years later in his castle in Soult-Berg, near Saint-Amans-la-Bastide where he was born, a few days before the coup of 1851. In his honor, the town was renamed Saint-Amans-Soult in December 1851. He is one of the eighteen Marshals of the Empire (out of twenty-six) who belonged to Freemasonry.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Soult published a memoir justifying his adherence to Napoleon during the Hundred Days, and his notes and journals were arranged by his son Napoleon Hector, who published the first part "Mémoires du maréchal-général Soult" (Memories of Marshal-General Soult) in 1854. Le Noble's "Mémoires sur les operations des Français en Galicie" (Memories of the Operations of the French in Galicia) are supposed to have been written from Soult's papers.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Although often found wanting tactically – even some of his own aides questioned his inability to amend a plan to take into account altered circumstances on the battlefield – Soult's performance in the closing months of the Peninsular War is often regarded as proof of his fine talents as a general. Repeatedly defeated in these campaigns by the Allies under Wellington, it was the case that many of his soldiers were raw conscripts while the Allies could count greater numbers of veterans among their ranks. Soult was a skillful military strategist. An example was his drive to cut off Wellington's British army from Portugal after Talavera, which nearly succeeded. Though repeatedly defeated by Wellington in 1813–1814, he conducted a clever defence against him.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Soult's armies were usually well readied before going into battle. After Vitoria, he reorganized the demoralized French forces of Joseph Bonaparte into a formidable army in a remarkably short time. An exception to this good logistical record was launching the Battle of the Pyrenees offensive when his soldiers only had four days' rations.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: Tactically, Soult planned his battles well, but often left too much to his subordinates. Wellington said that ""Soult never seemed to know how to handle troops after a battle had begun"". An example of this was at the Battle of Albuera, where he brilliantly turned Beresford's flank to open the battle, yet when he found himself facing unexpected opposition from British and Spanish troops, he allowed his generals to adopt a clumsy attack formation and was beaten. Another example of his strengths and weaknesses can be seen at the Battle of the Nive. Soult recognized Wellington's strategic dilemma and took advantage by launching surprise attacks on both wings of the Anglo-Allied Army. But French tactical execution was poor and the British general managed to fend off Soult's blows. Sloppy staff work marred his tenure as Napoleon's chief of staff in the Waterloo campaign.


title: Jean-de-Dieu Soult

text: On 26 April 1796, Soult married Johanna Louise Elisabeth Berg (1771–1852), the daughter of Johann Abraham Berg (1730–1786) by his marriage to Wilhelmine Mumm in Solingen. She died at the Château de Soult-Berg on 22 March 1852. The couple had three children:


title: Thom Filicia

text: Thom Filicia is an American interior designer, known for his role as an interior design expert on the American television program "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." He is also a co-author of a book based on the show.


title: Thom Filicia

text: Filicia graduated from Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in interior design.


title: Thom Filicia

text: Filicia began his career at renowned design firms Parish-Hadley, Robert Metzger, and Bilhuber & Associates. He is the founder and chief creative officer of New York City-based design firm, Thom Filicia, Inc., founded in 1998. Filicia's design portfolio includes various projects such as the VIP Suite for the USA Pavilion at the World's Fair in Aichi, Japan, an eco-friendly apartment for Riverhouse, Manhattan's first premium (LEED certified) "green" luxury condominium tower, and designing the holiday decoration installation with American Christmas for the Radio City Music Hall.


title: Thom Filicia

text: Filicia got cast as the interior design expert in the Emmy-Award-winning show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". Filicia has also hosted several shows for the Style Network, including "Dress My Nest" and "Tacky House".


title: Thom Filicia

text: In 2022, he was a contestant on the second season of RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race as Drag Queen "Jackie Would" and made it through 3 weeks before being eliminated in a lip sync to Donna Bellissima.


title: Thom Filicia

text: Filicia is the author of "Thom Filicia Style" published in 2008 by Atria/Simon & Schuster, and is a contributing author of "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy: The Fab 5 Guide To Living Better". His "American Beauty: Renovating and Decorating a Beloved Retreat" was published in 2012 by Clarkson Potter Publishers.


title: Rita (TV series)

text: Rita is a Danish comedy-drama television series created by Christian Torpe for TV 2. It premiered in Denmark on 9 February 2012, and concluded on 20 July 2020, with 40 episodes broadcast over five seasons. Produced by SF Studios, the series was filmed in Rødovre, Zealand, and executive-produced by Keld Reinicke, Karoline Leth, Lars Bjørn Hansen, Birdie Bjerregaard, Christian Rank, Jennifer Green, and Torpe, who also served as head writer. All episodes are available internationally on streaming service Netflix , who partnered with TV 2 to produce the later three seasons, becoming a Netflix Original.


title: Rita (TV series)

text: Mille Dinesen portrays the lead role of Rita Madsen, a headstrong and unconventional teacher and single mother who protects and helps her students but struggles to manage her own personal life. One of Rita's closest friends is portrayed by Lise Baastrup, the only other actor who appeared in all the episodes besides Dinesen; a spin-off centered on the character, "Hjørdis", was broadcast between 18 May and 8 June 2015, consisting of four episodes. In the story, Hjørdis tries to put together a school play about bullying, one of the many social themes discussed throughout "Rita".


title: Rita (TV series)

text: Rita Madsen, a compulsive smoker, is an unconventional secondary education teacher who, according to her, chose this profession "to protect students from their parents". While she goes out of her way to advise and help her pupils, Rita's personal and family life seems to need the same kind of assistance. Her youngest son, Jeppe, is discovering his sexuality, while the older ones, Ricco and Molly, are experiencing the mishaps of adulthood. Other main characters include Hjørdis, a naive teacher who becomes Rita's best friend; Rasmus, the school headmaster with whom Rita has an on-again, off-again relationship; Helle, school counselor and former Rita's rival, Uffe, Hjørdis' husband and Jonas, a former school headmaster who is now a rather self-assured teacher at Rita's school.


title: Rita (TV series)

text: Henrik Palle wrote for "Politiken" that the series "works really well with some characters who actually look like people".


title: Rita (TV series)

text: "Hjørdis" follows the eponymous teacher as she tries to put together a school play about bullying. It was broadcast between 18 May and 8 June 2015, consisting of four episodes.


title: Rita (TV series)

text: A US remake was planned with a pilot episode filmed in 2013, starring Anna Gunn, but it was not picked up as a series. In 2019, American premium cable network Showtime commissioned a pilot order for a remake starring Lena Headey. The series was to be a joint production between Showtime Networks and Platform One Media, with Torpe serving as showrunner and writing the pilot episode and Headey also acting as executive producer. This pilot was not picked up for a full series either.


title: Rita (TV series)

text: A Dutch remake called "Tessa" was made, airing in November 2015 on NPO 1, lasting only one season. The lead role was played by Thekla Reuten, following the storyline of Rita Season one, with only a few changes. The series has also been remade in France by TF1 as "Sam", starring Mathilde Seigner in the title role for the first season. The second season of "Sam" entered production in 2017 with Natacha Lindinger replacing Seigner in the title role. The show has aired three seasons to date.


title: Crop milk

text: Crop milk is a secretion from the lining of the crop of parent birds that is regurgitated to young birds. It is found among all pigeons and doves where it is referred to as pigeon milk. An analog to crop milk is also secreted from the esophagus of flamingos and the male emperor penguin.


title: Crop milk

text: Crop milk bears little physical resemblance to mammalian milk. Crop milk is a semi-solid substance somewhat like pale yellow cottage cheese. It is extremely high in protein and fat, containing higher levels than cow or human milk. A 1939 study of pigeon crop milk showed, however, that the substance did not contain carbohydrates. It has also been shown to contain anti-oxidants and immune-enhancing factors which contribute to milk immunity. Like mammalian milk, crop milk contains IgA antibodies. It also contains some bacteria. Unlike mammalian milk, which is an emulsion, pigeon crop milk consists of a suspension of protein-rich and fat-rich cells that proliferate and detach from the lining of the crop. Lactation in birds is controlled by prolactin, which is the same hormone that causes lactation in mammals.


title: Crop milk

text: Pigeon's milk begins to be produced a couple of days before the eggs are due to hatch. The parents may cease to eat at this point in order to be able to provide the squabs (baby pigeons and doves) with milk uncontaminated by seeds, which the very young squabs would be unable to digest. The baby squabs are fed on pure crop milk for the first week or so of life. After this the parents begin to introduce a proportion of adult food, softened by spending time in the moist conditions of the adult crop, into the mix fed to the squabs, until by the end of the second week they are being fed entirely on softened adult food.


title: Crop milk

text: Pigeons normally lay two eggs. If one egg fails to hatch, the surviving squab gets the advantage of a supply of crop milk sufficient for two squabs and grows at a significantly faster rate. Research suggests that a pair of breeding pigeons cannot produce enough crop milk to feed three squabs adequately, which explains why clutches are limited to two.


title: 2018–19 Bundesliga

text: The 2018–19 Bundesliga was the 56th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 24 August 2018 and concluded on 18 May 2019. It also marked the first season without Hamburger SV, previously the only team to have played in the top tier of German football in every season since the end of World War I.


title: 2018–19 Bundesliga

text: Following a trial phase in the previous season, the video assistant referee system was officially approved for use in the Bundesliga after being added to the Laws of the Game by IFAB.


title: 2018–19 Bundesliga

text: Bayern Munich were the defending champions, and won their 28th Bundesliga title (and 29th German title) and seventh consecutive Bundesliga on the final matchday.


title: 2018–19 Bundesliga

text: "2–2 on aggregate. Union Berlin won on away goals and are promoted to the Bundesliga, while VfB Stuttgart are relegated to the 2. Bundesliga."


title: Prime Minister of South Africa

text: The prime minister of South Africa ( was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984.


title: Prime Minister of South Africa

text: The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed. He was appointed by the head of state—the governor-general until 1961 and the state president after South Africa became a republic in 1961. In practice, he was the leader of the majority party or coalition in the House of Assembly. With few exceptions, the governor-general/state president was bound by convention to act on the prime minister's advice. Thus, the prime minister was the country's leading political figure and "de facto" chief executive, with powers similar to those of his British counterpart.


title: Prime Minister of South Africa

text: The first prime minister was Louis Botha, a former Boer general and war hero during the Second Boer War.


title: Prime Minister of South Africa

text: The position of Prime Minister was abolished in 1984, when the State President was given executive powers after a new constitution was adopted — effectively merging the role of Prime Minister and State President. The last Prime Minister of South Africa, P. W. Botha, became the first executive State President after the constitutional reform in 1984 after Marais Viljoen's retirement.


title: Prime Minister of South Africa

text: In post-apartheid South Africa, the Inkatha Freedom Party has called for a return to a Westminster-style split executive with a Prime Minister as head of government, which is part of its overarching goal of avoiding a single party South African state.


title: The Hold Steady

text: The Hold Steady is an American rock band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, now based in Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), Franz Nicolay (keyboards) and Steve Selvidge (guitar). Noted for their "lyrically dense storytelling," and classic rock influences, the band's narrative-based songs frequently address themes such as drug addiction, religion and redemption, and often feature recurring characters based within the city of Minneapolis.


title: The Hold Steady

text: Formed four years following the break-up of Finn and Kubler's former band, Lifter Puller, The Hold Steady released the debut album "Almost Killed Me" in 2004. They came to prominence with the release of their third studio album, "Boys and Girls in America", in 2006. In 2010, keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Franz Nicolay left the band prior to the recording of their fifth studio album, "Heaven Is Whenever" (2010). During the band's subsequent tour, the band became a five piece, once more, with the addition of guitarist Steve Selvidge. The band released their sixth LP, "Teeth Dreams", on March 25, 2014.


title: The Hold Steady

text: Nicolay re-joined the band on May 4, 2016, and the band has since embarked on several concert residencies in the US and the UK. To coincide with each event, The Hold Steady released stand-alone singles, marking the first recorded material of the six-piece line-up. Working with producer Josh Kaufman, the band released their seventh album, "Thrashing Thru the Passion", in 2019, followed by "Open Door Policy" in 2021.


title: The Hold Steady

text: In 2003, Minnesota-raised singer, writer, and guitarist Craig Finn and New York City bartender and bassist Galen Polivka began talking about starting a band. Finn and lead guitarist Tad Kubler (both formerly of Lifter Puller) developed the idea of The Hold Steady when, while watching The Band concert film "The Last Waltz", Finn asked Kubler, "Dude, why aren't there any bands like this anymore?" The Hold Steady's 2004 debut album "Almost Killed Me", released on Frenchkiss Records, was a sleeper hit among music critics, reaching No. 31 in the "Pazz & Jop" critics poll that year, an achievement which Finn described as "like being nominated for an Oscar or something." In May 2005, they were the first rock band to grace the front page of "The Village Voice" in 15 years. They were "Blender"'s 2006 "Band of the Year".


title: The Hold Steady

text: The band released its second album, "Separation Sunday", on May 3, 2005. The album was a loose concept album following the exploits of a character named "Holly" (short for "Hallelujah") and her quest to find a balance between Catholicism and rock and roll through drugs and a metaphorical resurrection. The album was critically lauded, and its religious overtones were picked up by many critics, such as Joe Gross of the "Village Voice", who dubbed it "the most egregiously American Catholic album since X's "Under the Big Black Sun", Springsteen's "Tunnel of Love", or that Jewish new waver Billy Joel's "The Stranger"."


title: The Hold Steady

text: After "Separation Sunday", the band moved from the Frenchkiss Records imprint to Vagrant Records. Released October 3, 2006, "Boys and Girls in America" was ranked No. 8 on the "Rolling Stone" Best Albums of 2006 list, and first by The A.V. Club. Pitchfork Media's Scott Plagenhoff wrote of the album, "<nowiki>[</nowiki>Craig Finn<nowiki>]</nowiki> not only has a commanding, rousing voice but he also says something worth hearing, displaying gifts for both scope and depth that are all too rare in contemporary rock — indie or mainstream." In 2006, they released a music video for "Chips Ahoy", directed by Moh Azima and starring Avital Ash. In 2007, the band recorded a modified version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" to be played during the seventh-inning stretch at Minnesota Twins home games. They also contributed a cover of the Bob Dylan and The Hawks/The Band song "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" to the motion picture "I'm Not There".


title: The Hold Steady

text: The band's fourth album, "Stay Positive", was released in the UK on July 14, 2008, and in the U.S. on July 15. The album was recorded in Hoboken, New Jersey and Wild Arctic studio in Queens, New York with producer John Agnello during January and February that year. Guests on the sessions included Ben Nichols from Lucero, J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., Emilyn Brodsky, and Doug Gillard, who played guitar in Guided By Voices. Finn has said that he believes the album "captures a band hitting their creative peak, as well as enjoying each other's creativity and company." The album is more expansive than previous releases, including talk-box solos, harpsichord, and tuneful vocals (the notoriously gruff-voiced Finn started taking voice lessons). "There are some bands that do five records that all sound similar," says guitarist Tad Kubler. "We've tried to avoid that." Many familiar elements – sing-along choruses, extended piano and guitar solos and lyrics that deal with faith, crime, rumor, loss and love – remain.


title: The Hold Steady

text: In April 2009, the band released a two-disc documentary and live album set entitled "A Positive Rage".


title: The Hold Steady

text: On January 20, 2010, Franz Nicolay confirmed on his official website that he had left the band. Regarding his departure, vocalist and guitarist Craig Finn stated: "Franz is a real ambitious guy, and I think he wanted to do a lot of different things, and we want to really follow this one Hold Steady thing to its logical end. And it takes up a lot of time. It was an amicable departure, and I think we all wish him the best. He’ll do a lot of interesting, cool things."


title: The Hold Steady

text: Nicolay had said that he considered his work with the Hold Steady to be completed, saying "I’m proud of the work we did together. In the end, I felt I completed the work I needed to do with them. I’d prefer to think of it as a closed book."


title: The Hold Steady

text: The Hold Steady announced the release of "Heaven Is Whenever" on February 23, 2010. The album was released May 4 on Vagrant Records in the U.S. and May 3 on Rough Trade in Europe.


title: The Hold Steady

text: The band's subsequent tour featured additional musicians Steve Selvidge, formerly of Big Ass Truck and Lucero, on guitar and Dan Neustadt, of In Cadeo and The World/Inferno Friendship Society. Neustadt had previously played keyboards on "Heaven is Whenever", but eventually left the touring band by 2011.


title: The Hold Steady

text: In 2011, Selvidge was added to the band's official line-up, with Craig Finn stating, "We added [Steve Selvidge], we are a five piece. We are rolling without keys right now. We did some shows without keys and we really liked it. It sort of opened things up for us. We have two pretty amazing guitar players in our band, and it's really fun to have that space and spread out. They can sort of work against each other/with each other. Steve's been a great addition to the band. We came across Steve many years ago and we always kind of said, 'Man, if things open up and we can get him in the band, we want him.' [...] Steve, lives in Memphis. So wherever we record this time, someone's not going to be at home."


title: The Hold Steady

text: In July 2011, during a five-month break from the band, Craig Finn recorded a solo album, entitled "Clear Heart Full Eyes", which was subsequently released in January 2012.


title: The Hold Steady

text: The band recorded a track for the "Game of Thrones" episode "Walk of Punishment", entitled "The Bear and the Maiden Fair", and released it, alongside a new track, "Criminal Fingers", for Record Store Day 2013. Regarding the release, guitarist Tad Kubler stated, "Steve [Selvidge] – our guitar player wasn’t in the band when we did the last record so we haven’t formally released anything that he’s played on – other than an iTunes session or something like that. Having been away for a few years, we thought this would be a great opportunity to reintroduce the newest version of the band."


title: The Hold Steady

text: On January 8, 2014, The Hold Steady announced the release of their sixth LP entitled "Teeth Dreams". The album was released on March 25 via Washington Square, a new imprint of record label Razor & Tie. In addition, the band announced the release of a covers EP entitled "RAGS", whose proceeds go towards the K + L Guardian Foundation to benefit the children of deceased super fan Mike "Jersey Mike" Van Jura.


title: The Hold Steady

text: In 2016, Nicolay rejoined the band, expanding its lineup to a six-piece. The band soon began performing three-night residencies in specific cities, as opposed to embarking on full tours. In 2016, they performed residencies in Chicago and Brooklyn, and returned to both the following year for the named events, "Chicago Seemed Wired Last Night" and "Massive Nights", before performing over three nights in London for "Boys & Girls in London" in 2018.


title: The Hold Steady

text: In late 2017, to coincide with the band's 2017 "Massive Nights" residency, the band released two new songs, "Entitlement Crew" and "Snake in the Shower", with two further tracks, "Eureka" and "Esther", from the same recording sessions accompanying "Boys & Girls in London". The recordings were the first to feature the full six-person Hold Steady line-up and were produced by Josh Kaufman, who had worked with Craig Finn on his solo material. The band continued to record and release Kaufman-produced singles with throughout 2018 and 2019, with each release coinciding with a concert residency.


title: The Hold Steady

text: On June 18, 2019, the band announced their seventh album, "Thrashing Thru the Passion", which would collect several of the previously released singles alongside new Kaufman-produced recordings. The album was released on August 16, 2019, via Frenchkiss Records.


title: The Hold Steady

text: On December 21, 2020, the band announced their eighth studio album, "Open Door Policy", which was released on February 19, 2021. Released to critical acclaim, it was their first Billboard top-ten record, receiving end-of-year accolades from AllMusic, "Uncut", Double J and God is in the TV by appearing on their top albums of 2021 lists.


title: The Hold Steady

text: The Hold Steady have received almost universal praise by the press for their performances and early records. Their more recent releases have seen a slight decline in their reception.


title: The Hold Steady

text: The Hold Steady appeared in the Season 3 finale episode of Showtime's "Billions" series as themselves performing at a party for Axe Capital.


title: The Hold Steady

text: The Hold Steady has been honored with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue, recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue. Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis," according to journalist Steve Marsh. Kubler and Finn's previous group Lifter Puller also has a star.


title: Pazzi

text: The Pazzi were a noble Florentine family. Their main trade during the fifteenth century was banking. In the aftermath of the Pazzi conspiracy in 1478, members of the family were banished from Florence and their property was confiscated; the family name and coat-of-arms were permanently suppressed by order of the Signoria.


title: Pazzi

text: The traditional story is that the family was founded by Pazzo di Ranieri, first man over the walls during the Siege of Jerusalem of 1099, during the First Crusade, who returned to Florence with flints supposedly from the Holy Sepulchre, which were kept at Santi Apostoli and used on Holy Saturday to re-kindle fire in the city. The historical basis of this legend has been in question since the work of in the mid-nineteenth century.


title: Pazzi

text: The first apparently historical figure in the family is the who was a captain of the Florentine (Guelph) cavalry at the battle of Montaperti on 4 September 1260, and whose hand was treacherously severed by , causing the standard to fall. His son was a Black Guelph and a follower of Charles de Valois.


title: Pazzi

text: Andrea di Guglielmo de' Pazzi (1372–1445) was a banker and merchant. In 1429 he commissioned construction of the Pazzi Chapel in the Franciscan church of Santa Croce in Florence. His son Jacopo de' Pazzi became head of the family in 1464.


title: Pazzi

text: Guglielmo di Antonio de' Pazzi married Bianca de' Medici, sister of Lorenzo de' Medici, in 1460; , the sixth of their sixteen children, became archbishop of Florence in 1508.


title: Pazzi

text: Francesco de' Pazzi was one of the instigators of the Pazzi Conspiracy in 1477–78. He, Jacopo de' Pazzi and Jacopo's brother Renato de' Pazzi were executed after the plot failed.


title: Pazzi

text: Early in 1477, Francesco de' Pazzi, manager in Rome of the Pazzi bank, plotted with Girolamo Riario, nephew and "protégé" of the pope, Sixtus IV, and with Francesco Salviati, whom Sixtus had made archbishop of Pisa, to assassinate Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother Giuliano to oust the Medici family as rulers of Florence. Sixtus gave tacit support to the conspirators. The assassination attempt was made during mass in the Florence Cathedral on 26 April 1478. Giuliano was killed; Lorenzo was wounded but escaped. Salviati, with mercenaries from Perugia, tried but failed to take over the Palazzo della Signoria. Most of the conspirators were soon caught and summarily executed; five, including Francesco de' Pazzi, were hanged from the windows of the Palazzo della Signoria. Jacopo de' Pazzi, head of the family, escaped from Florence but was caught and brought back. He was tortured, then hanged from the Palazzo della Signoria next to the decomposing corpse of Salviati. He was buried at Santa Croce, but the body was dug up and thrown into a ditch. It was then dragged through the streets and propped up at the door of Palazzo Pazzi, where the rotting head was mockingly used as a door-knocker. From there it was thrown into the Arno; children fished it out and hung it from a willow tree, flogged it, and then threw it back into the river.


title: Pazzi

text: The Pazzi were banished from Florence, and their lands and property confiscated. Guglielmo de' Pazzi, husband of Lorenzo's sister Bianca, was placed under house arrest, and later forbidden to enter the city; he went to live at Torre a Decima, near Pontassieve. The family name and coat-of-arms were perpetually suppressed by decree of the Signoria. The name was erased from public registers, and all buildings and streets carrying it were renamed. Their shield with its dolphins was obliterated. Anyone named Pazzi had to take a new name; any man married to a Pazzi was barred from public office. Customs and traditions of the family were suppressed, among them the Easter Saturday ritual involving the flint from Jerusalem.


title: Pazzi

text: After the overthrow of Piero de' Medici in 1494, members of the Pazzi family were able to return to Florence.


title: Pazzi

text: The Pazzi Chapel in the Franciscan church of Santa Croce in Florence was commissioned by Andrea di Guglielmo de' Pazzi in 1429. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. Construction began in 1442 in a cloister of the church, and continued after the death of the patron in 1445 and the architect in 1446; work was interrupted by the Pazzi plot and the chapel was never completed.


title: Pazzi

text: Palazzo Pazzi or Palazzo Pazzi-Quaratesi was the main seat of the family in the "Canto dei Pazzi", at the intersection of and . It was commissioned by Jacopo de' Pazzi, and built circa 1462–1472 to designs by Giuliano da Maiano. Above its traditionally rusticated ground floor of yellow-ochre sandstone, it had a then-novel stuccoed first and second floor, with delicate designs in the windows influenced by Brunelleschi. The central court is surrounded on three sides by round-headed arcading, with circular bosses in the spandrels.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: Headbangers Ball is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obscure artists. The show offered (and became famous because of) a stark contrast to Top 40 music videos shown during the day.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: However, with the mainstream rise of alternative rock, grunge, pop punk and rap music in the 1990s, the relevance of "Headbangers Ball" came into question, and the show was ultimately canceled in 1995. Over eight years later, as new genres of heavy metal were gaining a commercial foothold and fan interest became unavoidable, the program was reintroduced on MTV2. It had remained in varying degrees on the network's website, but by the early 2020s, it was no longer shown on television. A similar show, titled "The Ball" and hosted by former "Headbangers Ball" host Riki Rachtman, debuted in March 2021.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: Many of the videos that aired on the first incarnation of the series would find a home on the similarly themed "Metal Mayhem" on sister channel MTV Classic.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: "The Ball", as it is commonly called, replaced "Heavy Metal Mania" (which began airing monthly in June 1985), helmed by Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame. In doing so, MTV expanded the format and added more live interviews with bands. At its premiere it was hosted briefly by Kevin Seal, then by VJ Adam Curry, before ultimately settling on Riki Rachtman, who to many viewers became the most identifiable host of the show.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: The name "Headbangers Ball" was originally invented and used by DJ John Brent of Bury, Lancashire and was used on his rock and metal roadshows from 1980 onwards and toured throughout the UK with great success. John's Headbangers Ball Rock charts were also regularly featured in the pages of Rock publications "Kerrang!" and "Sounds" along with many features on the show in local periodicals.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: "Headbangers Ball" was one of the most popular music shows ever to air on MTV, on the air for nearly 8 years, and for a time, it was one of the network's flagship shows. For some time in 1988 and 1989, the show was increased to 3 hours. One hour added, plus "Hard 60", a daily version of the ball that aired for an hour every weekday afternoon.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: Its influence was made widespread with the rise of heavy metal in the 1980s and early 1990s. While the program primarily showed videos from the mainstream friendly "hair metal" during the 1980s, it gave an equal amount of time to the often more aggressive-sounding heavy metal music scene active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This level of popularity also resulted in North American tours presented by Headbangers Ball; one took place in 1987 and featured Helloween, Armored Saint and Grim Reaper, while the lineup of the 1989 tour consisted of Anthrax, Exodus and Helloween, and the 1992 version had Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies. These events were likely the inspiration for the European MTV Headbangers Ball tours, which have taken place since the late 2010s. Heavier alternative acts, spearheaded by the likes of The Cult, Faith No More, Primus and Jane's Addiction, were finding increased residence on "Headbangers Ball" at the turn of the decade, but it was early into the 1990s that grunge and alternative rock bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains began to uproot the "hair metal" scene and led to its final decline. Bands such as Stone Temple Pilots, White Zombie, Tool and Blind Melon would follow suit, resulting in a major shift in identity for the show, where metal mainstays such as Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Testament, Suicidal Tendencies and Dream Theater shared airspace with the new crop of alternative hard rock acts. Several punk rock bands, including the Ramones, The Offspring, Rancid, Bad Religion and Sick of It All, also received airplay on the show, which, by 1995, would continue to focus on less mainstream forms of heavy metal.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: Other notable TV programs have emulated "Headbanger's Ball", such as Fuse TV's "Uranium" and VH1's "Rock Show". The popularity and effectiveness of "Uranium" in the early 2000s may have been cited as a strong influence to the revival of "The Ball" in 2003.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: Bands would visit the set for interviews, and in some instances, the show would follow bands on trips to assorted locations across the world. Memorable road trip episodes include the Moscow Music Peace Festival with Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Cinderella and Gorky Park, Monsters of Rock in Donington, Alice in Chains' trip to Action Water Park, bowling with Soundgarden, skydiving with Megadeth, Oktoberfest in Munich with Danzig, and Van Halen's adventure at Cabo Wabo.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: The show remained on the air until January 1995, when MTV abruptly canceled the show without any prior warning to viewers, host Riki Rachtman, or the production staff. The European version, hosted by Vanessa Warwick, was on the air until 1997, but limited to an hour and a half (as opposed to the three hours given in past years).


title: Headbangers Ball

text: Rachtman was informed of the cancellation days afterward when, after filming what would end up being the final episode, he was simply informed via phone call that he would not have to show up to work the following week. No official reason was given for the show's cancellation, but it is suspected to be because MTV was then playing grunge and alternative more often during its main programming, although they did not play a lot of metal or interview the bands.


title: Headbangers Ball

text: Many MTV fans were outraged at the show's abrupt cancellation, as well as denying Rachtman and the production staff the chance to inform viewers that the show was going off the air, or to allow them to put together a "farewell show" for the loyal viewers of "Headbangers Ball". Some regular-citizen critics of MTV even cite the cancellation of "Headbangers Ball" as one of the key decisions which caused the network to "jump the shark". The demise of "The Ball" also came in at #4 on VH1's "40 Least Metal Moments" in 2005. In mid-February The Ball would be replaced by the short-lived "Superock", a show featuring videos and interviews with metal, alternative and rap artists.