Geography.

The seven islands are; from north to south:  The six northern islands are off the west coast of Greece, in the Ionian Sea. The seventh island, Kythira, is off the southern tip of the Peloponnese, the southern part of the Greek mainland. Kythira is not part of the region of the Ionian Islands, as it is included in the region of Attica.

Etymology.

In Ancient Greek the adjective "Ionios" () was used as an epithet for the sea between Epirus and Italy in which the Ionian Islands are found because Io swam across it. Although they have the same Latin transliteration and Modern Greek pronunciation, the Ionian Sea and Islands are not related to Ionia, an Anatolian region; in Greek, the Ionian Sea and Ionian Islands are spelled with an omicron (Ιόνια), whereas Ionia has an omega (Ιωνία), reflecting a classical difference in pronunciation. The two words are still distinguished by stress: the western "Ionia" is accented on the antepenult (), and the eastern on the penult (). In English, the adjective relating to Ionia is "", not "Ionian".  The islands themselves are known by a variety of names. During the centuries of rule by Venice, they acquired Venetian names, by which some of them are still known in English (and in Italian). Kerkyra was known as Corfù, Ithaki as Val di Compare, Kythera as Cerigo, Lefkada as Santa Maura and Zakynthos as Zante.  A variety of spellings are used for the Greek names of the islands, particularly in historical writing. Kefallonia is often spelled as Cephallenia or Cephalonia, Ithaki as Ithaca, Kerkyra as Corcyra, Kythera as Cythera, Lefkada as Leucas or Leucada and Zakynthos as Zacynthus or Zante. Older or variant Greek forms are sometimes also used: Kefallinia for Kefallonia and Paxos or Paxoi for Paxi.

History.

The islands were settled by Greeks at an early date, possibly as early as 1200 BC, and certainly by the 9th century BC. The early Eretrian settlement at Kerkyra was displaced by colonists from Corinth in 734 BC. The islands were mostly a backwater during Ancient Greek times and played little part in Greek politics. The one exception was the conflict between Kerkyra and its mother-City Corinth in 434 BC, which brought intervention from Athens and triggered the Peloponnesian War.  Ithaca was the name of the island home of Odysseus in the epic Ancient Greek poem the "Odyssey" by Homer. Attempts have been made to identify Ithaki with ancient Ithaca, but the geography of the real island cannot be made to fit Homer's description. Archeological investigations have revealed findings in both Kefalonia and Ithaca.

Roman and Byzantine rule.

By the 4th century BC, most of the islands were absorbed into the empire of Macedon. Some remained under the control of the Macedonian Kingdom until 146 BC, when the Greek peninsula was gradually annexed by Rome. After 400 years of peaceful Roman rule, the islands passed to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire.  Under Byzantine rule, from the mid-8th century, they formed the theme of Cephallenia. The islands were a frequent target of Saracen raids and from the late 11th century, saw a number of Norman and Italian attacks. Most of the islands fell to William II of Sicily in 1185. Corfu and Lefkas remained under Byzantine control.  Kefallonia and Zakynthos became the County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos until 1357, when this entity was merged with Lefkada and Ithaki to become the Duchy of Leucadia under French and Italian dukes. Corfu, Paxi and Kythera were taken by the Venetians in 1204, after the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade. These became important overseas colonies of the Republic and were used as way-stations for their maritime trade with the Levant.

Venetian rule.

From 1204, the Republic of Venice controlled Corfu and slowly all the Ionian islands fell under Venetian rule. In the 15th century, the Ottomans conquered most of Greece, but their attempts to conquer the islands were largely unsuccessful. Zakynthos passed permanently to Venice in 1482, Kefallonia and Ithaki in 1483, Lefkada in 1502. Kythera had been in Venetian hands since 1238.  The islands thus became the only part of the Greek-speaking world to escape Ottoman rule. Corfu was the only Greek island never conquered by the Turks.  Under Venetian rule, many of the upper classes spoke Italian (or Venetian in some cases) and converted to Roman Catholicism, but the majority remained Greek ethnically, linguistically, and religiously.  In the 18th century, a Greek national independence movement began to emerge, and the free status of the Ionian islands made them the natural base for exiled Greek intellectuals, freedom fighters and foreign sympathisers. The islands became more self-consciously Greek as the 19th century, the century of romantic nationalism, neared.

Napoleonic era.

In 1797 Napoléon Bonaparte conquered Venice. By the Treaty of Campo Formio the islanders found themselves under French rule, the islands being organised as the départments "Mer-Égée", "Ithaque" and "Corcyre". In 1798, the Russian Admiral Ushakov evicted the French, and established the Septinsular Republic under joint Russo-Ottoman protection—the first time Greeks had had even limited self-government since the fall of Constantinople in 1453. In 1807, the Ionian Islands were ceded again to the French in the Treaty of Tilsit and occupied by the French Empire.

British rule.

In 1809, the British defeated the French fleet in Zakynthos (October 2, 1809) captured Kefallonia, Kythera and Zakynthos, and took Lefkada in 1810. The French held out in Corfu until 1814. The Treaty of Paris in 1815 turned the islands into the "United States of the Ionian Islands" under British protection (November 5, 1815). In January 1817, the British granted the islands a new constitution. The islanders elected an Assembly of 40 members, who advised the British High Commissioner. The British greatly improved the islands' communications, and introduced modern education and justice systems. The islanders welcomed most of these reforms, and took up afternoon tea, cricket and other English pastimes.  Once Greek independence was established after 1830, however, the islanders began to resent foreign colonial rule by the British, and to press for "Enosis" - union with Greece. The British statesman William Ewart Gladstone toured the islands and recommended that having already Malta, giving the islands to Greece would not hurt the interest of the British Empire. The British government resisted, since like the Venetians they found the islands made useful naval bases. They also regarded the Bavarian-born king of Greece, King Otto, as unfriendly to Britain. However, in 1862, Otto was deposed and a pro-British king, George I from Denmark, was installed.

Union with Greece.

In 1862, Britain decided to transfer the islands to Greece, as a gesture of support intended to bolster the new King's popularity (probably and as a counterbalance to the newly established Italian state).  On May 2, 1864, the British departed and the islands became three provinces of the Kingdom of Greece, though Britain retained the use of the port of Corfu. On 21 May 1864 the Ionian Islands officially reunited with Greece. Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark was born in Corfu in 1921 and grew up to become Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1923, following orders by Mussolini, the Italians temporarly occupied Corfu.

World War II.

In 1941, when Axis forces occupied Greece, the Ionian Islands (except Kythera) were handed over to the Italians. Long a target of Italian expansionism, the Greek civil authorities were replaced by Italians in preparation for a post-war annexation.  In 1943, the Germans replaced the Italians, and deported the centuries-old Jewish community of Corfu to their deaths. By 1944, most of the islands were under the control of the EAM/ELAS resistance movement, and they have remained in general a stronghold of left-wing sentiment ever since.

1953 earthquake.

The 1953 Ionian islands earthquake occurred with a surface wave magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X ("Extreme") on August 12, 1953. Building damage was extensive and the southern islands of Kefalonia and Zakynthos were practically levelled. The islands were reconstructed from the ground up over the following years under a strict building code. The code has proven extremely effective, as many earthquakes since that time have caused no damage to new buildings.

Today.

Today, all the islands are part of the Greek region of the Ionian Islands ("Ionioi Nisoi"), except Kythera, which is part of the region of Attica. Kerkyra has a population of 103,300 (including Paxoi), Zakynthos 40,650, Kefallonia 39,579 (including Ithaca), Lefkada 22,536, Ithaki 3,052, Kythera 3,000 and Paxi 2,438.  In recent decades, the islands have lost much of their population through emigration and the decline of their traditional industries, fishing and marginal agriculture. Today, their major industry is tourism. Specifically Kerkyra, with its harbour, scenery and wealth of ruins and castles, is a favourite stopping place for cruise liners. British tourists in particular are attracted through having read Gerald Durrell's evocative book "My Family and Other Animals" (1956), which describes his childhood on Kerkyra in the 1930s. The novel and movie "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" are set in Kefallonia, in which Captain Corelli is part of the Italian occupation force during the Second World War.

Demographics.

The Ionian Islands' official population, excluding Kythera, in 2011 was 207,855, decreased by 1.50% compared to the population in 2001. Nevertheless, the region remains the third by population density with 90.1/km2 nationwide, well above the national of 81.96/km2. The most populous of the major islands is Corfu with a population of 104,371, followed by Zante (40,759), Kefalonia (35,801), Leucas (23,693) and Ithaca (3,231). The foreign-born population was in 2001 19,360 or 9.3%, the majority of which was concentrated in Corfu and Zante. Most of them originate from Albania (13,536). The fertility rate for 2011 according to Eurostat was 1.35 live births per woman during her lifetime.

Economy.

The regional Gross Domestic Product for 2010 was 4,029 million euros. The GDP per capita for the same year was 18,440 euros per capita which was lower than the national median of 20,481. However, the GDP per capita of KeFalonia and Zante, 23,275 and 24,616 respectively, was much higher than the national figure. Additionally, unemployment for 2012 was 14.7, the lowest among all Greek regions, and much lower compared to the national unemployment of 24.2.

Tourism.

The region is a popular tourist destination. The airports of Corfu, Zante and Kefalonia were in the top ten in Greece by number of international arrivals, with 1,386,289 international arrivals for 2012, with Corfu being the sixth airport by number of arrivals nationwide, with Zante and Cephalonia also being in the top ten. While Kefalonia Airport had the biggest increase nationwide by 13.11% compared to 2011, while Corfu had an increase of 6.31%.""

The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek:, ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa:, ) are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands";, "Heptanēsa" or, "Heptanēsos"; ), but the group includes many smaller islands as well as the seven principal ones.

Jónské ostrovy (řecky "Ιόνια νησιά", italsky "Isole Ionie") je uskupení řeckých ostrovů. Severní část náleží ke stejnojmennému řeckému kraji, jižní část náleží k řeckému kraji Attika. Celkem zde žije okolo 220 000 obyvatel (2005). Skládá se ze sedmi velkých ostrovů, nachází se zde však více mnohem menších, často neobydlených, ostrovů.


Plot summary.

"Xena: Warrior Princess" is set primarily in a fantasy version of ancient Greece (sometimes alluding to Roman Greece) and was filmed in New Zealand. Some filming locations are confidential, but many scenes were recorded in places such as the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park, part of the Auckland Regional parks often credited at the end of the episodes.  The Ancient Greece depicted in the show is largely derived from historical locations and customs, modifying known places and events – battles, trading routes, towns, and so on – to generate an attractive fictional world. The settlements are presented as a mixture of walled villages and rural hamlets set in a lush green, mountainous landscape. They are often seen under attack from warlords, and travelling between them involves frequent encounters with small bands of outlaws. All of the main towns are named after historic towns of Ancient Greece, and exhibit some of their essential characteristics – Amphipolis (birthplace of Xena), Potidaea (birthplace of ), Athens (birthplace of Joxer), Corinth, Delphi, and Cirra (birthplace of Callisto) which was burnt to the ground by Xena's army.  As the show progressed, however, events took place throughout more modern times and places, from Cleopatra's Alexandria to Julius Caesar's Rome. The mythology of the show transitioned from that of the Olympian Gods to include Judeo-Christian elements. Eastern religions were touched on as well, with little regard to accurate time-and-place concerns. One episode, "The Way", which loosely interpreted elements of Hinduism as major plot points, generated controversy, requiring the producers to add a disclaimer at the head of the episode and a tag explaining the episode's intentions at its end.  Mythological and supernatural locations are presented as equally real, physical places, often accessed through physical portals hidden in the landscape such as lakes and caves. They include the Elysian Fields, Tartarus, the River Styx, Valhalla, Heaven and Hell. The inhabitants of such places – gods, mythological beings and forces – are for the most part manifested as human characters who can move at will between their domains and the real world., the Greek God of War, for instance, is an egotistical man who wears studded black leather, and, Goddess of Love, is a California valley girl who uses typical valley girl slang and dresses in flowing, translucent pink gowns.

Production.

Series format.

"Xena" is a historical fantasy set primarily in ancient Greece, although the setting is flexible in both time and location and occasionally features Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Central Asian, and Medieval European elements. The flexible fantasy framework of the show accommodates a considerable range of theatrical styles, from high melodrama to slapstick comedy, from whimsical and musical to all-out action and adventure. While the show is typically set in ancient times, its themes are essentially modern and it investigates the ideas of taking responsibility for past misdeeds, the value of human life, personal liberty and sacrifice, and friendship. The show often addresses ethical dilemmas, such as the morality of pacifism; however, the storylines rarely seek to provide unequivocal solutions.  "Xena" freely borrows names and themes from various mythologies around the world, primarily the Greek, anachronistically adapting them to suit the demands of the storyline. Historical figures and events from a number of different historical eras and myths make numerous appearances, and the main characters are often credited with resolving important historical situations. These include an encounter with Homer before he was famous, in which Gabrielle encourages his storytelling aspirations; the fall of Troy; and the capture of Caesar by pirates, with Xena cast as the pirate leader.  Competing religions are treated as compatible and co-existent in a henotheistic world, allowing the Greek Pantheon to live side by side with the Norse Gods, Indian Deities, the "God of Love" and others. Each god, or set of gods, controls a different part of the world, and (in the show) survives only while people believe in it. In seasons four and five, the Greek people gradually transfer their faith from the Greek Gods to the "God of Love" over a period of about 25 years, and as their power fades, the Greek Gods are almost all killed off in a climactic battle.  This quirky mix of timelines and the amalgamation of historical and mythological elements fueled the rise of the show to cult status during the 1990s and early 2000s (decade). It was one of the first shows to tap into its Internet following, allowing fans from all over the world to discuss and suggest things related to the show. The "Xena" fandom is still an active community today.

Casting.

"Xena: Warrior Princess" starred Lucy Lawless as Xena and Renee O'Connor as. The first choice for Xena was the British actress Vanessa Angel, but an illness prevented her from travelling, and the role was offered to four other actresses before the relatively unknown Lawless. Sunny Doench was cast as Gabrielle, but she did not want to leave her boyfriend in the United States, so O'Connor, who had appeared in "Hercules" in another role, was chosen.  The show features a wide assortment of recurring characters, many of them portrayed by New Zealand actors. Ted Raimi became a core member of the cast from the second season as Joxer. Actor Kevin Tod Smith played popular character Ares, God of War, and Alexandra Tydings played his counterpart Aphrodite, Goddess of Love. Marton Csokas portrayed both Borias and Krafstar. Other notables included Karl Urban in a variety of roles such as Cupid and Caesar, Hudson Leick as Xena's nemesis Callisto (Leick also played a body-switched Xena in the episode "Intimate Stranger"), Claire Stansfield as the evil shamaness Alti; and a number of trusted friends – Jennifer Sky as feisty sidekick Amarice, Danielle Cormack as Amazon regent Ephiny, Bruce Campbell as Autolycus King of Thieves, Robert Trebor as dodgy entrepreneur Salmoneus, William Gregory Lee as the warrior-poet Virgil and Tim Omundson as the spiritual healer Eli.

Theme music.

Composer Joseph LoDuca wrote the theme music and incidental music, and co-wrote the lyrics for the songs in "The Bitter Suite." The theme music was developed from the traditional Bulgarian folk song ""Kaval sviri,"" sung by the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir. The original "Kaval sviri" can be heard where Xena races into battle in the "" episode "Unchained Heart."  The musical score of "Xena: Warrior Princess" was critically well received and garnered seven Emmy nominations for LoDuca, who won the Emmy award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) for the Season 5 episode "" in 2000. Most of the series' music was made available on six soundtrack albums. Two of these albums contain the soundtracks from the musical episodes "The Bitter Suite" (Season 3) and "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire" (Season 5).

Characters.

Main.

The series follows Xena and her traveling companion Gabrielle. Xena is on a quest to redeem herself for her dark past by using her formidable fighting skills to help people. In "Hercules", during her two first episodes, Xena was a villain and a powerful warlord, but in her third appearance she joins Hercules to defeat the warlord Darphus, who had taken her army. During her own series, Xena spends almost every episode on a different mission, always trying to do the right thing, fighting for what she refers to as the "greater good". Xena's trademark weapon is a Chakram, and she also uses a sword. Xena also has to fight her own past; she has never forgiven herself for her crimes, and often has to resist the temptation to return to her evil ways, but she always resists with the help of Gabrielle. Gabrielle is Xena's best friend, soulmate and also her greatest ally. She is introduced in the first episode, first as a big fan of Xena and her history, but soon becomes a notable character in her own right. As the show progresses she undergoes significant changes in costume and style, evolving from a simple farm girl to a talented bard, and eventually to a formidable warrior. She is initiated into a tribe of Amazons, learns to fight with a staff, and is trained by Xena. In the first season, Xena and Gabrielle meet Joxer, a comic man who styles himself "Joxer the Magnificent", and later "Joxer the Mighty." Joxer's goal is to fight for justice, but unfortunately with no physical know-how of his own, he remains the show's main comic relief. Eventually, he becomes a close friend to Xena and Gabrielle.

Others.

In the first season, Xena and Gabrielle meet two of their biggest enemies: Callisto (Hudson Leick), a vengeful warrior woman, and Ares (Kevin Tod Smith), the Greek God of War. Callisto is Xena's arch-enemy and a major antagonist over the course of the series. When Callisto was a child, her home village of Cirra was burned nearly to the ground by Xena, killing her family. She was left traumatized by the attack and eventually went insane, becoming obsessed with exacting revenge on Xena. She displays a bizarre brand of sadistic, gleeful, shrieking cruelty towards Xena and her associates. Hercules himself reappears alongside Iolaus - who becomes interested in Gabrielle - when Xena seeks to free Prometheus from Hera.  Ares - suave, charming, witty, yet ruthless and amoral - often represents, especially in the early seasons, the seductive power of war and the dark side. He repeatedly attempts to lure Xena away from her quest for redemption, and tries to win her over as his Warrior Queen. He offers her huge armies and historic victories, great wealth and great power, and in later seasons his love, offers which she consistently rejects despite sometimes being tempted. Much of his relationship with Xena remains, including whether he is at least partly redeemed by his love for Xena, and to what extent Xena reciprocates his feelings. He says several times that he "has a thing" for Xena, and he pursues her sexually and romantically. This seems to prevent him killing her, even when pitted against her in deadly combat. Likewise, it is suggested that Xena has strong feelings for Ares, but during the series she is never seen to act on them.  Other major antagonists of the show include Caesar and Alti, a Roman official and shamaness respectively. Caesar's first appearance was in the second-season episode "Destiny." He is introduced as a young Roman patrician brimming with arrogance - so much so, that when he is captured by Xena and her pirates he is not afraid. When threatened by Xena he tells her """I know what I'm fated to do with my life.""" He pretends to let Xena seduce him, when in reality she is the one being seduced. This ultimately leads to her capture and crucifixion at his hands, and he orders his men to break her legs - an extremely painful memory which is often revisited during the series. Caesar's betrayal fills her with rage, and is the catalyst for her transition from pirate to warlord.  Alti is an evil shamaness from the Northern Amazon tribes of Siberia, who had been driven out of her tribe because of her hunger for power. She is one of the most influential people encountered by Xena in her dark days, and possesses a wealth of spiritual powers, including travelling to the spiritual realm. Alti is probably best known for her trademark "stare," which brings up pain and suffering from the target's life and unleashes the torment once again (in the form of both pain and physical symptoms). When she "stares" at Xena, Xena often feels the pain of her legs being broken, her back being snapped, and a crippling barrage of attacks from her worst enemies. As Alti grows in power during the series, she can also conjure up pain and suffering from a person's future, and from their future lives. This power backfires early in Season 4, when she shows Xena a vision from her future, of her and Gabrielle being crucified on Mount Amarro. Xena realizes that Gabrielle must still be alive, and this gives her the strength to defeat Alti.  Over the course of the series, viewers were also introduced to family members of both Xena and Gabrielle, but most notably featured their children. Xena gave her first child, a son named Solan, to a group of centaurs after the death of his father, Borias, who was killed in combat against a warrior in Xena's employ. Solan never knew that Xena was his mother, however knowing Xena for a long time. While aiding Xena and Boudica to defend Britannia against Caesar, comes into contact with an evil cult that tricks her into killing one of its priestesses, Meridian. Using her, the dark god impregnates Gabrielle just as Xena rescues her. Over the next few days the child grows inside Gabrielle, and she eventually (and quite dramatically) gives birth to a girl, naming her Hope. Even though she is the seed of an evil deity, Gabrielle tells Xena that she is also a part of her and that there must be some good in her as well. Being the daughter of Dahak, she quickly developed supernatural powers, and kills within hours of being born, proving to Xena that there was no chance of saving her. Hope aged amazingly fast, and, mere months after being drifted down a river by her mother, she appeared to be about 9 years old. Despite Gabrielle's hopes that she would "be good", Hope killed Xena's son Solan before being poisoned by Gabrielle herself.  During the episode "", at the end of season 4, Xena and Gabrielle were crucified by the Romans, as Caesar is betrayed and killed by Brutus. They are later revived by a mystic named Eli with the spiritual aid of Callisto, who by that time had become an angel; Callisto also engineers a plan to have Xena conceive a daughter after the resurrection, and this child is prophesied to bring about the Twilight of the Olympian gods; this girl was named Eve. To escape the gods' persecution, Xena and Gabrielle fake their deaths, but their plan goes awry when Ares buries them in an ice cave where they sleep for 25 years; during that time, Eve is adopted by the Roman nobleman Octavius and grows up to become Livia, the Champion of Rome, and a ruthless persecutor of Eli's followers. After her return, Xena is able to turn Livia to repentance, and Livia takes back the name Eve and becomes the Messenger of Eli. After Eve's cleansing by baptism, Xena is granted the power to kill gods as long as her daughter lives. In a final confrontation, the Twilight comes to pass when Xena kills most of the gods on Olympus to save her daughter, and is herself saved by Ares when he gives up his immortality to heal the badly injured and dying Eve and Gabrielle.

Geography.

The vast majority of locations in the series are fictional. However, a few locations in the plot are centered on real towns of Ancient Greece, including:

Amphipolis.

Xena – the main character of the show – was born in the city of Amphipolis in northern Greece. Xena and her comrade in arms, Gabrielle, made frequent trips there over the course of the series and it was referenced often. Xena described Amphipolis as "full of life", although several times it was full of death: for instance, the city became a breeding ground for demons after Xena and Gabrielle returned from their twenty-five year sleep. Mephistopheles, the King of Hell, had captured the soul of Xena's mother Cyrene and imprisoned her in hell.  In the backstory of the show, ten years ago Xena had set out to become a warrior, to protect Amphipolis from attacks by a warlord called Cortese. This was the journey that turned her into an outstandingly fierce fighter with an evil reputation. When she was inspired to fight for good, she returned to Amphipolis, seeking a reunion with her mother. She met Gabrielle, in Potidaea, on the way.  In a fictionalized conversation between Julius Caesar and Xena in the "Destiny" episode in, Xena tells him Stageira "is the ancient enemy of my home village, Amphipolis."

Potidaea.

was born in Potidaea in Chalkidiki, Greece, which features many times as a rural village, which should have been portrayed as a rural fishing village. Many pivotal episodes are based here (including the series premiere, "Sins of The Past", and "A Family Affair").

Athens.

Joxer was brought up in the city of Athens, capital of Greece, and it is often mentioned in passing. Xena and Gabrielle rarely pass through it, but it was the main setting for the clip show "Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards", and was nearly visited in "One Against an Army" and "Blind Faith".

Cirra.

Callisto is from Cirra in Phocis, central Greece. Xena's army torched the village when Callisto was a child, causing the death of most of her family. Xena and Gabrielle only visit Cirra once, although it is mentioned rather often.

Countries.

In addition to Greece, Xena and Gabrielle visit many countries during their travels including Italy (usually referred to by its capital, Rome), China, (usually called Chin), Japan (known as Jappa, only seen in the finale, and mentioned in passing in "Who's Gurkhan"), Great Britain (known as Brittania), India, Siberia, Egypt (called 'The Land of the Pharaohs'), Sahara, Morocco (in "Who's Gurkhan" and "Legacy") and several Scandinavian countries (called 'Norseland').  To remain in keeping with the ancient world, and to avoid using modern names, the script often removed the last letter of a country's name, changing China to Chin, and Japan to Jappa.

Hercules–Xena Universe franchise media.

There have been numerous "Xena" spin-offs into various media including films, books, comics and video games.

Movies.

"", a direct-to-video animated movie, was released in January 1998. The film features the voices of a number of actors from both "" and "Xena: Warrior Princess" - including Lucy Lawless, Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst and Renee O'Connor. The movie plot involves Hercules' mother being kidnapped by Zeus and the release of the Titans. Xena and Gabrielle have supporting roles in the movie.  Since the end of the series rumors have circulated that a feature-length movie was in the works. In 2003 screenwriter Katherine Fugate was approached for the project, and was quoted saying that she expects the start of production to be three to five years away, which suggested a release sometime between 2006 and 2009. Actress Lucy Lawless has been quoted in several interviews saying she would be interested in participating in a "Xena" film as well.  In April 2009, however, Rob Tapert stated firmly there is no hope of a live-action "Xena" feature film, at least not any time soon or starring Lucy Lawless or Renée O'Connor. "It's something that just won't happen...In twenty years or ten years, in some amount of years, like "McGyver", like "Charlie's Angels", it [could] happen like that [with other actresses]."  Following the continued online popularity of the show, a global campaign to directly bombard Universal Pictures with requests for a "Xena" movie was launched in April 2013. Over the space of only a few days, hundreds of thousands of messages were sent showing support for the production of a "Xena" film starring the original cast. After receiving nods of acknowledgement from Universal Studios offices in Australia, Finland and Spain, the efforts of the campaign were rewarded in May 2013 when Lucy Lawless stated on her Twitter account that she had been contacted by a ""chap who wants to re-invigorate the #Xena brand"" while warning fans that ""there's a lot of red tape around #XWP so don't get your knickers in a twist. It may come back in a different form"". Since then, Lucy Lawless has appeared on multiple televised interviews showing her support of a potential revival of the "Xena" franchise, stating that talks are currently underway to resolve legal issues impeding the progress of a potential "Xena" movie project.

Literature.

Many books have been released as tie-ins, including "The Official Guide to the Xenaverse" by Robert Weisbrot. This includes a detailed episode guide for the first two seasons, a look behind the scenes, the story of the origin of the show, biographies of cast and crew, and trivia about the show. After the sixth and final season, "Xena Warrior Princess: Complete Illustrated Companion" was published.  In 1998, "XENA: All I Need to Know I Learned From the Warrior Princess", was published, allegedly written by Gabrielle, Bard of Potidaea and "translated" by Josepha Sherman. In it, Gabrielle writes enthusiastically about many of the lessons that she learned. For example, in a chapter entitled "Anything can be a weapon- Anything!", she instructs the reader on fighting with unconventional weapons; and in another, "Nobody Likes a Winer", she bemoans the perils of alcohol.  There have been a number of novelizations by authors like Martin H. Greenberg, and fiction such as "The Empty Throne", "The Huntress and The Sphinx", "The Thief of Hermes", and "Prophecy of Darkness." The series has also figured in many doctoral theses, including, the thesis by French/American scholar, Dr. Anne Sweet, "Girl Power Interrogated in Xena Warrior Princess and Charmed, Social and Economic Issues at Play in the Politics of Gende"r.

Comics.

There have been a number of. The earliest ones were released by Topps Comics, Dark Horse Comics (written by Ian Edginton and John Wagner). More recently the license has moved to Dynamite Entertainment.

Role-playing game.

West End Games published the "Hercules & Xena Roleplaying Game" in 1998.

Collectible card game.

Wizards of the Coast published the " in May 1998.

VHS releases.

Universal released seasons 1–6 on VHS in 1999–2001.

DVD releases.

Anchor Bay Entertainment released all 6 Seasons of "Xena: Warrior Princess" on DVD in Region 1 between 2003–2005. As of 2010, these releases have now been discontinued.  On January 12, 2010, Universal Studios Home Entertainment announced that they planned on re-releasing "Xena: Warrior Princess" on DVD. They have subsequently re-released all seasons. A complete series set was released on May 17, 2016.  In Region 2 & 4, Universal Pictures released the entire series on DVD. In addition, they released a complete series collection on DVD in Region 2 on October 8, 2007.

Reception.

Influence on the lesbian community.

"Xena" has enjoyed a particular cult status in the lesbian community. Some of the lesbian fan base see Xena and Gabrielle as a couple and have embraced them as role models and lesbian icons. A group called The Marching Xenas has participated in many gay and lesbian pride parades. Xena's popularity was successfully utilized by Subaru when trying to establish a healthy base of lesbian customers: one ad had a car with the license plate "XENA LVR" (Xena lover).  A subject of much interest and debate among viewers is the question of whether Xena and Gabrielle are lovers. The issue is left deliberately ambiguous by the writers. Jokes, innuendo, and other subtle evidence of a romantic relationship between Xena and Gabrielle is referred to as "lesbian subtext" or simply "subtext" by fans. The issue of the true nature of the Xena/Gabrielle relationship caused intense "shipping" debates in "Xena" fandom, which turned especially impassioned due to spillover from real-life debates about same-sex sexuality and gay rights.  Many fans felt that the sexual nature of Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was cemented by an interview given by Lucy Lawless to "Lesbian News" magazine in 2003. Lawless stated that after the series finale, where Gabrielle revives Xena with a mouth-to-mouth water transfer filmed to look like a full kiss, she had come to believe that Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was "definitely gay". "There was always a, 'Well, she might be or she might not be' but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that cemented it for me. Now it wasn't just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was 'Nope, they're married, man'."  The "Xena" fandom also popularized the term Altfic (from "alternative fiction") to refer to same-sex romantic fan fiction.

Costume donation.

In 2006, Lucy Lawless donated her personal Xena costume to the National Museum of American History. In an interview the same year with "Smithsonian" magazine, she was asked the question "Was the Warrior Princess outfit comfortable?" and she responded:

Uber and Uberfic.

Uberfic is a variety of fan fiction in which the characters live in an alternate universe. The characters and events are true to the original canon but usually in a different time period, often as the ancestors, descendants or reincarnations of canon characters. The term originated in "Xena" fandom. Uber was employed several times in the series, beginning with the second-season episode "The Xena Scrolls", in which the descendants of Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer meet up at an archeological dig in 1940 and unwittingly release Ares from his tomb.

Cancelled reboot.

On July 20, 2015, it was reported that NBC was developing a "Xena" reboot series, with Raimi and Tapert returning as executive producers, with the show's debut sometime in 2016. Insiders also requested that Lawless return to the series as Xena, as well as take up a role in the show's production. A day later, Lawless tweeted that the reboot is a rumor. On August 13, 2015, NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt confirmed the reboot is in development. It was announced from "Entertainment Weekly" that Javier Grillo-Marxuach will serve as writer and producer for the reboot.  In a post on Tumblr Grillo-Marxuach made the statement that they will be "fully exploring a relationship that could only be shown subtextually in first-run syndication in the 1990s," which several websites such as "The Guardian" and "Newsweek" have taken it to mean "Xena will be an out and proud lesbian." These articles have resulted in frustration from fans regarding the apparent erasure of Xena's bisexuality, but Grillo-Marxuach has answered "it feels like - from a few sentences - everyone has already made up their mind about what it is I am doing. I would prefer people be surprised by the story." In April 2017, Grillo-Marxuach announced that he had left the project because of "insurmountable creative differences."  On August 21, 2017, NBC announced that it had cancelled its plans for the reboot. NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke said, "I'd never say never on that one because it's such a beloved title but the current incarnation of it is dead."

Xena: Warrior Princess is an American fantasy television series filmed on location in New Zealand. The series aired in first-run syndication from September 4, 1995, to June 18, 2001. Critics have praised the series for its strong female protagonist, and it has acquired a strong cult following, attention in fandom,, and academia, and has influenced the direction of other television series.

Xena (v anglickém originále Xena: Warrior Princess) je americký fantastický televizní seriál, který byl premiérově vysílán v syndikaci letech 1995–2001, kdy bylo v šesti řadách natočeno celkem 134 dílů. Je spin-offem seriálu "Herkules". Seriál "Xena" se odehrává ve starověkém Řecku a sleduje příběh stejnojmenné amazonské bojovnice. Natočen byl na Novém Zélandu, produkován byl společností Renaissance Pictures.


Context.

The Citroën B2 replaced the Citroën Type A in June 1921, although the "Type A" would continue to be listed for sale till December 1921.

The car.

The new car offered more power, the size of its 4-cylinder engine now being increased to 1,452 cc. The car was sometimes known as the Citroën 10HP (or 10CV), the HP in the suffix being a reference to its fiscal horsepower, a number computed according to the cylinder diameters and used to define its taxation class. In terms of engine power, maximum output was listed as 20 bhp at 2,100 rpm, which translated into a claimed top speed of 72 km/h (45 mph). Power reached the rear wheels via a three speed manual transmission. There was no synchromesh.  Advertised fuel consumption of 8 litres per 100 km converts into a remarkable 26 MPG (using US gallons) or more than 31 MPG (British gallons). The car quickly gained a reputation for robustness and economy.

Production.

The car was manufactured, just five minutes from the Eiffel Tower, in the 15th arrondissement of central Paris at the famous factory in the Quai de Javel (subsequently renamed Quai André-Citroën), which by 1925 was producing at the rate of 200 cars per day, applying techniques then known as "Taylorism" which André Citroën had studied personally and in depth during a visit to Dearborn that he had undertaken during the war in order to master the techniques being applied by Henry Ford for the production of the Model T.

Further developments and the Citroën B10.

At the Paris Motor Show in October 1924 a Citroën 10HP was exhibited with "tout-acier" ("all-steel") body work. Initially this model was offered only with a "Conduite Intérieure" (closed saloon/sedan) body, although a "Torpedo" bodied version was added during the Spring of 1925. For the 1925 model year the "all-steel" bodied car came to be designated as the Citroën B10, while cars with bodies using the (at this stage near universal for passenger cars) coach-builders' approach of constructing car bodies by attaching panels – often steel panels – to a stout hand-crafted timber frame continued to be designated as the Citroën B2. As the year progressed, "Type B2" car bodies appeared that incorporated features of the "all-steel" "Type B10" such as the three seater cabriolet that appeared in the summer of 1925 featuring the rounded wings from the steel bodies B10 combined with the fuel filler opening of the earlier cars. This model, along with a subsequent "Coupé De Ville," "Landaulet," and taxi version which featured the same combination, were listed as "Type B2" models while a number of the less mainstream body options were simply delisted. The far from simple cut-off between the B2 and the B10 means that confusion sometimes arises over which are which.  Although the "all-steel" bodied B10 could be seen as a replacement for the B2, the chassis and mechanical elements were for the most part interchangeable, and both models were produced in parallel during 1925 and 1926. However, in October 1925 Citroën unveiled another upgrade for their 10HP model, the Citroën B12, which by the end of 1926 had replaced both the B2 and the B10.

Commercial.

The all-steel bodied Citroën Type B10 unveiled in late 1924 effectively rewrote the rule-book for auto-making in Europe, even if the extent to which it had changed the economics of the business was not immediately apparent to most competitors. Nevertheless, the importance of the Type B10 sometimes tempts commentators who view history only backwards to overlook the Citroën Type B2.  For contemporary observers there could be no doubt about the significance of the Citroën Type B2, Europe's second mass-produced car, with 89,841 cars manufactured during a five-year period. The automobile business in France still contained a massively diverse range of companies in what had, till a few years before the outbreak of war, been the world's leading country for automobile production. But in 1925 there was no other manufacturer anywhere in Europe with anything approaching comparable production techniques or the B2's sales volumes with a single model.

Half-track variants.

The Half-track cars that gained much media coverage by crossing the Sahara Desert in 1922 were based on the Citroën B2. André Citroën knew the value of publicity, and this was, unsurprisingly, the first crossing of the Sahara by this method.  Eight B2 based Half-track cars were also used for the celebrated (at the time), crossing the continent from west to east at a wide point, via Lake Victoria, instigated by André Citroën and led by two adventurers called Georges-Marie Haardt and Louis Audoin-Dubreuil. The expedition took place between 28 October 1924 and 20 June 1925, and was the subject of much talk at the 19th Paris Motor Show in October 1924.  In 1924 Poland bought 135 complete chassis of the B2 with Kégresse track (known as Citroën-Kegresse B2 10CV). Some were converted to all-terrain lorries while 90 were converted to Samochód pancerny wz. 28 armoured cars.

The Citroën B2 is the second model produced by Citroën. It is therefore the second European car to have been constructed according to modern mass production technologies. It was produced at André Citroën's factory in central Paris between May 1921 and July 1926.

Citroën Type B, také B2 je druhý model automobilu vyráběného francouzskou automobilkou Citroën. Proto je i druhým evropským automobilem, vyráběným podle moderních technologií masové výroby. Byl vyráběn továrnou André Citroëna v centrální Paříži v období od května 1921 až července 1926.


Usage.

Utility tunnels are common in very cold climates where direct burial below the frost line is not feasible (such as in Alaska, where the frost line is often more than below the surface, which is frozen year round). They are also built in places where the water table is too high to bury water and sewer mains, and where utility poles would be too unsightly or pose a danger (like in earthquake prone Tokyo). Tunnels are also built to avoid the disruption caused by recurring construction, repair and upgrading of cables and pipes in direct burial trenches.  Utility tunnels are also often common on large industrial, institutional, or commercial sites, where multiple large-scale services infrastructure (gas, water, power, heat, steam, compressed air, telecommunications cable, etc.) are distributed around the site to multiple buildings, without impeding vehicular or pedestrian traffic above ground. Due to the nature of these services, they may require regular inspection, repair, maintenance, or replacement, and therefore accessible utility tunnels are preferred instead of direct burying of the services in the ground.  Utility tunnels range in size from just large enough to accommodate the utility being carried, to very large tunnels that can also accommodate human and even vehicular traffic.

Industrial, institutional, and municipal environments.

Utility tunnels are often installed in large industrial plants, as well as large institutions, such as universities, hospitals, research labs, and other facilities managed in common. Shared facilities, such as district heating, use superheated steam pipes routed through utility tunnels. On some university campuses, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, many of the buildings are connected via large underground passages to allow easy movement of people and equipment.  Some municipalities, such as Prague in the Czech Republic, have installed extensive underground utility tunnels, to allow installation and maintenance of utility lines and equipment without disrupting the historic streets above.  Utility tunnels may attract urban explorers, who enjoy investigating hidden complex networks of spaces.

At Walt Disney World.

Some of the largest and most famous utility tunnels are at Disney theme parks. They were first built for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida. Smaller utilidor systems are built under the central section of Epcot's Future World, primarily beneath Spaceship Earth and Innoventions, and formerly at Pleasure Island. Disneyland also has a small utilidor through Tomorrowland. The utilidors are a part of Disney's "backstage" (behind-the-scenes) area. They allow Disney employees ("cast members") to perform park support operations, such as trash removal, out of the sight of guests.

Arctic towns.

Utilidors are above-ground enclosed utility conduits that are used in larger communities in the northern polar region where permafrost does not allow the normal practice of burying water and sewer pipes underground. They can in particular be found in Inuvik, Northwest Territories and Iqaluit, Nunavut. Not all older homes are connected, and these must rely on trucks to deliver water and remove sewage. Most homes in rural Alaska (off the road system) are not equipped with plumbing and require fresh water and waste to be transported by personal vehicle such as snowmobile or four-wheeler ATV. Villages with utilidors are considered more advanced.  Utilidors may also be used to carry fuel lines, such as natural gas. They are not normally used to carry wiring for electric, telephone and television service, which are usually suspended from poles.

Comparison with direct burial of utilities.

The advantages of utility tunnels are the reduction of maintenance manholes, one-time relocation, and less excavation and repair, compared to separate cable ducts for each service. When they are well mapped, they also allow rapid access to all utilities without having to dig access trenches or resort to confused and often inaccurate utility maps.  One of the greatest advantages is public safety. Underground power lines, whether in common or separate channels, prevent downed utility cables from blocking roads, thus speeding emergency access after natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis.  The following table compares the features of utility networks in single purpose buried trenches vs. the features of common ducts or tunnels:

Examples.

Many examples of utility tunnels are found in Japan, where government officials have sought ways to reduce the catastrophic effects of earthquakes in their tectonically active country. Their use, however, is not limited to that country, and there are many examples of such utility tunnels. These include:

A utility tunnel, utility corridor, or utilidor is a passage built underground or above ground to carry utility lines such as electricity, steam, water supply pipes, and sewer pipes. Communications utilities like fiber optics, cable television, and telephone cables are also sometimes carried. One may also be referred to as a services tunnel, services trench, services vault, or cable vault. Smaller cable containment is often referred to as a cable duct or underground conduit. Direct-buried cable is a major alternative to ducts or tunnels.

Kolektor je tunel vedený pod povrchem v různých hloubkách, který slouží k ukládání inženýrských sítí a nahrazuje v zemi uložené sítě. Slouží např. k uložení kabelových rozvodů, telekomunikační sítě či k potrubní poště.


History.

The celestial coordinates of Lalande 21185 were first published in 1801 by French astronomer Jérôme Lalande of the Paris Observatory in the star catalog "Histoire Céleste Française". The catalog sequence numbers for majority of the observed stars, including this one, were introduced in its 1847 edition by Francis Baily. Today this star, along with a few others, is still commonly referred to by its Lalande catalog number.  In May 1857, Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander discovered high proper motion of the star. Sometimes it was called "Argelander's second star". (The "first Argelander's star" is Groombridge 1830, whose high proper motion also was discovered by Argelander earlier—in 1842).  Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke is reported to have made the first measurement of the star's parallax of 0.511 arc seconds in 1857–58 and thus first identifying Lalande 21185 as the second-closest-known star to the Sun, after the Alpha Centauri system. Since that time better measurements have placed the star further away, but it was still the second-closest-known star system until the discovery of two dim red dwarfs, Wolf 359 and Barnard's Star, in the early 20th century using astrophotography.

Properties.

Lalande 21185 is a typical type-M main-sequence star (red dwarf) with about 46% of the mass of the Sun and is much cooler than the Sun at 3,828 K. It is intrinsically dim with an absolute magnitude of 10.48, emitting most of its energy in the infrared. Lalande 21185 is a high-proper-motion star moving at about 5 arc seconds a year in an orbit perpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way. The proportion of elements other than hydrogen and helium is estimated based on the ratio of iron to hydrogen in the star when compared to the Sun. The logarithm of this ratio is −0.20, indicating that the proportion of iron is about 10, or 63% of the Sun. The surface gravity of this relatively compact star is approximately 65 times greater than the gravity at Earth's surface (log g = 4.8 cgs), which is more than twice the surface gravity of our Sun.  Lalande 21185 is listed as a BY Draconis type variable star in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars. It is identified by the variable star designation NSV 18593. Several star catalogs, including SIMBAD, also classify it as a flare star. This conclusion is not supported by the primary reference these catalogs all use. The observations made in this reference show that it is rather quiet in comparison to other stars of its variable type.  Lalande 21185 emits X-rays.

Claims of a planetary system.

Dutch astronomer Peter van de Kamp wrote in 1945 that Lalande 21185 possessed an "unseen companion" of 0.06 Solar masses (about 6 times the mass of Jupiter). In 1951 van de Kamp and his student Sarah Lippincott claimed the astrometric detection of a planetary system using photographic plates taken with the refractor telescope at Swarthmore College's Sproul Observatory. In the summer of 1960, Sarah Lippincott repeated the 1951 claim of a planetary system, only this time having different parameters (0.01 solar mass=10x Jupiter's mass, 8-year period, e = 0.3, a = 0.083 AU). She used the original photographic plates and new plates taken with the same telescope. Photographic plates from this observatory, taken at the same time, were used by Van de Kamp for his erroneous claim of a planetary system for Barnard's Star. The photographic plates made with the Sproul 24-inch refractor and used for these and other studies were later shown to be flawed. The claims of planetary companions for both stars were refuted in 1974 with astrometric measurements made by George Gatewood of the Allegheny Observatory.  In 1996 the same George Gatewood prominently announced at an AAS meeting and to the popular press the discovery of multiple planets in this system, detected by astrometry. The initial report of a planet was based on a very delicate analysis of the star's position over the years, which suggested reflex orbital motion due to one or more companions. Gatewood claimed that such companions would usually appear more than 0.8 arc second from the red dwarf itself. Though, a paper by Gatewood published only a few years earlier and subsequent searches by others, using coronagraphs and multifilter techniques to reduce the scattered-light problems from the star, did not positively identify any such companions, and so his claim remains unconfirmed and is now in doubt. However, recently published data from the HIRES system at the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea supports the existence of a much closer in planet candidate with an orbital period of just 9.8693±0.0016 days and a minimum mass of 3.8.  Further radial velocity research with the SOPHIE échelle spectrograph and review of the original signal found that the 9.9 day period was undetectable, and instead proposed, using both datasets, that an exoplanet orbiting the star with a period of either 12.95 or 1.08 days, much more probably 12.95 as 1-day-period exoplanets seem to be rare in systems. This would give the planet a minimum mass of 2.99 Earth masses. It is too close to the star, and so therefore too hot, to be in the habitable zone, at all points within its eccentric orbit.

Refining planetary boundaries.

This star's measured radial velocity is so constant that astronomer and planet hunter Geoff Marcy uses it as a perfect example of "normal" red dwarf stability levels. The negative results of this and other surveys do not preclude the presence of a planetary system entirely, but they do set an upper boundary on the mass of any planets that might be present. The detection limit by current technology for this star system is a little less than the mass of the planet Jupiter. New Earth- and space-based instruments will certainly lower this limit further and possibly detect any small planets that may be present.  The habitable zone for this star, defined as the locations where liquid water could be present on an Earth-like planet, is at a radius of 0.11–0.24 AU, where 1 AU is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun.

Lalande 21185 is a star in the constellation of Ursa Major, relevant for being the brightest red dwarf observable in the northern hemisphere (only AX Microscopii and Lacaille 9352, in the southern hemisphere, are brighter). Despite this, and although relatively close by, it is (as all red dwarves) very dim, being only magnitude 7.5 in visible light and thus too dim to be seen with the unaided eye. The star is visible through a small telescope or binoculars.

Lalande 21185 je červený trpaslík ve vzdálenosti 2,5 pc (8,29 ly) od Slunce a čtvrtá nejbližší známá hvězda od Slunce.


Launch vehicles based on original Atlas ICBM.

The Atlas was used as the expendable launch system with both the Agena and Centaur upper stages for the Mariner space probes used to explore Mercury, Venus, and Mars (1962–1973); and to launch ten of the Mercury program missions (1962–1963).

SM-65 Atlas missile.

The first successful test launch of an SM-65 Atlas missile was on 17 December 1957. Approximately 350 Atlas missiles were built.  The Atlas boosters would collapse under their own weight if not kept pressurized with nitrogen gas in the tanks when devoid of propellants. The Atlas booster was unusual in its use of "balloon" tanks. The rockets were made from very thin stainless steel that offered minimal or no rigid support. It was pressure in the tanks that gave the rigidity required for space flight. In order to save weight they were not painted and needed a specially designed oil to prevent rust. This was the original use of WD-40 water displacement oil.  The SM-65 Atlas was used as a first stage for satellite launch vehicles for half a century. Many were eventually converted to orbital launch vehicles after they were removed from service as missiles. Missiles converted into Atlas E/F "space boosters" were used to launch the early "Block I" GPS satellites.

SM-65B Atlas SCORE launch.

Early Atlas rockets were also built specifically for non-military uses. On 18 December 1958, an Atlas was used to launch the Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment (SCORE) satellite, which was "the first prototype of a communications satellite, and the first test of any satellite for direct practical applications." The communications payload was placed into low Earth orbit on Atlas serial number 10B without an upper stage. Atlas 10B/SCORE, at was the heaviest artificial object then in orbit, the first voice relay satellite, and the first human-made object in space easily visible to the naked eye due to the large, mirror-polished stainless steel tank. This was the first flight in what would be a long career for the Atlas as a satellite launcher.

Atlas-D based launchers.

Atlas D missile-derived SLV-3s were used for orbital launches with the RM-81 Agena and Centaur upper stages. The modified Atlas LV-3B was used for the orbital element of Project Mercury, launching four crewed Mercury spacecraft into low Earth orbit. Atlas D launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11, 12, 13 and 14, and Vandenberg AFB Launch Complex 576.  Two suborbital stage and a half vehicles were used during Project FIRE as sounding rockets.  By 1979, Atlas space launcher variants had been whittled down to just the Atlas-Centaur and some refurbished ICBMs. The launch rate of Atlases decreased in the 1980s due to the advent of the space shuttle, but Atlas launches continued until 2004, when the last "classic" Atlas with balloon tanks and the jettisonable booster section launched a comsat for the Air Force.

Mercury program.

Atlas boosters were also used for the last four crewed Project Mercury missions, the first United States crewed space program. On February 20, 1962 it launched "Friendship 7", which made three Earth orbits carrying John Glenn, the first United States astronaut to orbit the Earth. Identical Atlas boosters successfully launched three more crewed Mercury orbital missions from 1962 to 1963.  Atlas saw the beginnings of its "workhorse" status during the Mercury-Atlas missions, which resulted in Lt. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. becoming the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962 (Major Yuri A. Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, was the first human in orbit in 1961.) Atlas was also used throughout the mid-1960s to launch the Agena Target Vehicles used during the Gemini program.

Atlas-Agena.

Beginning in 1960, the Agena upper-stage, powered by hypergolic propellant, was used extensively on Atlas launch vehicles. The United States Air Force, NRO and CIA used them to launch SIGINT satellites. NASA used them in the Ranger program to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon and for Mariner 2, the first spacecraft to fly by another planet. Each of the Agena target vehicles used for the later space rendezvous practice missions of Gemini was launched on an Atlas rocket.

Atlas-Centaur.

The Atlas-Centaur was an expendable launch system derived from the SM-65D Atlas missile. Launches were conducted from two pads of the Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The Atlas' engines were upgraded and the structure reinforced for the large upper stage, along with elongated propellant tanks.  An Atlas rocket is shown exploding in the penultimate shot of the 1983 art film "Koyaanisqatsi", directed by Godfrey Reggio. The vehicle shown in the movie was the first launch attempt of an Atlas-Centaur in May 1962.  Beginning in 1963, the liquid hydrogen-fueled Centaur upper stage was also used on dozens of Atlas launches. NASA launched the Surveyor program lunar lander spacecraft and most of the Mars-bound Mariner program spacecraft with Atlas-Centaur launch vehicles.

Atlas E/F.

Following retirement as an ICBM, the Atlas-E, along with the Atlas-F, was refurbished for orbital launches.  The last Atlas E/F spacecraft launch was conducted on 24 March 1995, using a rocket which had originally been built as an Atlas-E. The last Atlas E/F launch to use a rocket which had originally been built as an Atlas-F was conducted on 23 June 1981.  Atlas E/F was used to launch the Block I series of GPS satellites from 1978 to 1985. The last refurbished Atlas-F vehicle was launched from Vandenberg AFB in 1995 carrying a satellite for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

RD-180 era.

Atlas III.

The first stage of the Atlas III discontinued the use of three engines and 1.5 staging in favor of a single Russian-built Energomash RD-180 engine, while retaining the stage's balloon tank construction. The Atlas III continued to use the Centaur upper stage, available with single or dual RL10 engines.

Atlas V.

The Atlas V, currently in service, was developed by Lockheed Martin as part of the US Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The first was launched on August 21, 2002. In 2006, operation was transferred to United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint-venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Lockheed Martin continues to market the Atlas V to commercial customers. Atlas V is built in Decatur, Alabama and maintains two launch sites: Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Space Launch Complex 3-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base.  The Atlas V's first stage is called the Common Core Booster (CCB), which continues to use the Energomash RD-180 introduced in the Atlas III, but employs a rigid framework instead of balloon tanks. The rigid fuselage is heavier, but easier to handle and transport, eliminating the need for constant internal pressure. Up to five Aerojet Rocketdyne strap-on solid rocket boosters can be used to augment first stage thrust. The upper stage remains the Centaur, powered by a single or dual Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engines.

RD-180 phaseout.

In 2014, US Congress passed legislation restricting the purchase and use of the Russian-supplied RD-180 engine used on the first stage booster of the Atlas V. Formal study contracts were issued in June 2014 to a number of US rocket engine suppliers.  In September 2014, ULA announced that it had entered into a partnership with Blue Origin to develop the BE-4 LOX/methane engine to replace the RD-180 on the new Vulcan rocket. The engine has been in development for 8 years by Blue Origin, and ULA expects the new stage and engine to start flying no earlier than 2021.  In December 2014, legislation to prevent the award of further military launch contracts to vehicles that use Russian-made engines was approved by the US Congress. The bill allows ULA to continue to use the 29 RD-180 engines already on order at the time.

Formerly-proposed launch vehicles.

Prior to the April 2015 announcement of the Vulcan launch vehicle, during the first decade since ULA was formed from Lockheed Martin and Boeing, there were a number of proposals and concept studies of future launch vehicles. None were subsequently funded for full-up development. Two of those concepts were the "Atlas V Heavy" and the "Atlas Phase 2".

Atlas V Heavy.

The "Atlas V Heavy" was a ULA concept proposal that would have used three Common Core Booster (CCB) stages strapped together to provide the capability necessary to lift 25 tonne payload to low Earth orbit. ULA stated that approximately 95% of the hardware required for the Atlas HLV had already been flown on the Atlas V single-core vehicles.  A 2006 report, prepared by RAND Corporation for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, stated that Lockheed Martin had decided not to develop an Atlas V heavy-lift vehicle (HLV). The report recommended for the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office to "determine the necessity of an EELV heavy-lift variant, including development of an Atlas V Heavy", and to "resolve the RD-180 issue, including coproduction, stockpile, or U.S. development of an RD-180 replacement."  The lifting capability of the Atlas V HLV was to be roughly equivalent to the Delta IV Heavy. The latter utilizes RS-68 engines developed and produced domestically by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

Atlas V Phase 2.

After December 2006, with the merger of Boeing and Lockheed-Martin space operations into United Launch Alliance, the Atlas V program gained access to the tooling and processes for 5.4 m diameter stages used on Delta IV. A 5.4 m diameter stage could have conceivably accepted dual RD-180 engines. The resulting conceptual heavy-lift vehicle was called ""Atlas Phase 2"" or "PH2" in the 2009 Augustine Report. An Atlas V PH2-Heavy (three 5 m stages in parallel; six RD-180s) along with Shuttle-derived, Ares V and Ares V Lite, were considered as a possible heavy lifter concept for use in future space missions in the Augustine Report. The Atlas PH2 HLV concept vehicle would have notionally been able to launch a payload mass of approximately 70 metric tons into an orbit of 28.5 degree-inclination. The concept did not proceed onto full development, and was never built.

Atlas is a family of US missiles and space launch vehicles that originated with the SM-65 Atlas. The Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program was initiated in the late 1950s under the Convair Division of General Dynamics. Atlas was a liquid propellant rocket burning RP-1 fuel with liquid oxygen in three engines configured in an unusual "stage-and-a-half" or "parallel staging" design: two outboard booster engines were jettisoned along with supporting structures during ascent, while the center sustainer engine, propellant tanks and other structural elements remained connected through propellant depletion and engine shutdown.

Početná rodina raket Atlas začíná u první americké mezikontinentální balistické střely SM-65 Atlas. Jednalo se o jeden a půl stupňovou raketu spalující kapalný kyslík a RP-1. Raketa byla vybavena dvěma motory Rocketdyne LR-89 a jedním LR-105, přičemž dva LR-89 byly odhozeny během vzestupu (proto jeden a půl stupňová). Spolu s raketami Redstone a Vanguard tvořila páteř amerického vesmírného programu v jeho počátcích na přelomu 50. a 60. let. V porovnání se svými současníky byla nejsilnější a to ji předurčilo pro vynášení těžších nákladů. Mezi její prvenství patří úspěšný orbitální let s lidskou posádkou, vypuštění prvních špionážních satelitů, prvních sond k Měsíci, Venuši, Merkuru, Marsu, Jupiteru a Saturnu. Později byly přidány horní stupně Agena a poté Centaur. Rakety Atlas jsou historicky nejúspěšnější komerčně využívané nosné rakety používané převážně pro vynášení komunikačních satelitů. V dnešní době je v aktivní službě pouze Atlas V a jeho starty jsou naplánovány až do roku 2019.


History.

1824–1865.

Indigenous peoples occupied areas along the river for thousands of years. In historic times, the area of present-day Waco was occupied by the Wichita Indian tribe known as the "Waco" (Spanish: "Hueco" or "Huaco").  In 1824, Thomas M. Duke was sent to explore the area after violence erupted between the Waco people and the European settlers. His report to Stephen F. Austin, described the Waco village: After further violence, Austin halted an attempt to destroy their village in retaliation. In 1825, he made a treaty with them. The Waco were eventually pushed out of the region, settling north near present-day Fort Worth. In 1872, they were moved onto a reservation in Oklahoma with other Wichita tribes. In 1902, the Waco received allotments of land and became official US citizens. Neil McLennan settled in an area near the South Bosque River in 1838. Jacob De Cordova bought McLennan's property and hired a former Texas Ranger and surveyor named George B. Erath to inspect the area. In 1849, Erath designed the first block of the city. Property owners wanted to name the city Lamartine, but Erath convinced them to name the area Waco Village, after the Indians who had lived there. In March 1849, Shapley Ross built the first house in Waco, a double-log cabin, on a bluff overlooking the springs. His daughter Kate was the first settler child to be born in Waco.

1866–1900.

In 1866, Waco's leading citizens embarked on an ambitious project to build the first bridge to span the wide Brazos River. They formed the Waco Bridge Company to build the brick Waco Suspension Bridge, which was completed in 1870. The company commissioned a firm owned by John Augustus Roebling in Trenton, New Jersey, to supply the cables and steelwork for the bridge, and contracted with Mr. Thomas M. Griffith, a civil engineer based in New York, for the supervisory engineering work on the bridge. The economic effects of the Waco bridge were immediate and large. The cowboys and cattle-herds following the Chisholm Trail north, crossed the Brazos River at Waco. Some chose to pay the Suspension Bridge toll, while others floated their herds down the river. The population of Waco grew rapidly, as immigrants now had a safe crossing for their horse-drawn carriages and wagons. Since 1971, the bridge has been open only to pedestrian traffic and is in the National Register of Historic Places. In the late 19th century, a red-light district called the "Reservation" grew up in Waco, and prostitution was regulated by the city. The Reservation was suppressed in the early 20th century. In 1885, the soft drink Dr Pepper was invented in Waco at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store.  In 1845, Baylor University was founded in Independence, Texas. It moved to Waco in 1886 and merged with Waco University, becoming an integral part of the city. The university's Strecker Museum was also the oldest continuously operating museum in the state until it closed in 2003, and the collections were moved to the new Mayborn Museum Complex. In 1873, AddRan College was founded by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark in Fort Worth. The school moved to Waco in 1895, changing its name to Add-Ran Christian University and taking up residence in the empty buildings of Waco Female College. Add-Ran changed its name to Texas Christian University in 1902 and left Waco after the school's main building burned down in 1910. TCU was offered a campus and $200,000 by the city of Fort Worth to relocate there. In the 1890s, William Cowper Brann published the highly successful "Iconoclast" newspaper in Waco. One of his targets was Baylor University. Brann revealed that Baylor officials had been importing South American children recruited by missionaries and making house-servants out of them. Brann was shot in the back by Tom Davis, a Baylor supporter. Brann then wheeled, drew his pistol, and killed Davis. Brann was helped home by his friends, and died there of his wounds.  In 1894, the first Cotton Palace fair and exhibition center was built to reflect the dominant contribution of the agricultural cotton industry in the region. Since the end of the Civil War, cotton had been cultivated in the Brazos and Bosque valleys, and Waco had become known nationwide as a top producer. Over the next 23 years, the annual exposition would welcome over eight million attendees. The opulent building which housed the month-long exhibition was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1910. In 1931, the exposition fell prey to the Great Depression, and the building was torn down. However, the annual Cotton Palace Pageant continues, hosted in late April in conjunction with the Brazos River Festival.  On September 15, 1896, "The Crash" took place about north of Waco. "The Crash at Crush" was a publicity stunt done by the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad company (known as M-K-T or "Katy"), featuring two locomotives intentionally set to a head-on collision. Meant to be a family fun event with food, games, and entertainment, the Crash turned deadly when both boilers exploded simultaneously, sending metal flying in the air. Two people died and six were seriously injured.

20th century.

In 1916, an African American teenager named Jesse Washington was tortured, mutilated, and burned to death in the town square by a mob that seized him from the courthouse, where he had been convicted of murdering a white woman, to which he confessed. About 15,000 spectators, mostly citizens of Waco, were present. The commonly named Waco Horror drew international condemnation and became the "cause célèbre" of the nascent NAACP's anti-lynching campaign. In 2006, the Waco City Council officially condemned the lynching, which took place without opposition from local political or judicial leaders; the mayor and chief of police were spectators. On the centenary of the Lynching, May 15, 2016, the mayor apologized in a ceremony to some of Washington's descendants. A historical marker is being erected.  In the 1920s, despite the popularity of the Ku Klux Klan and high numbers of lynchings throughout Texas, Waco's authorities attempted to respond to the NAACP's campaign and institute more protections for African Americans or others threatened with mob violence and lynching. In 1923, Waco's Sheriff Leslie Stegall protected Roy Mitchell, an African American coerced into confessing to multiple murders, from mob lynching. Mitchell was the last Texan to be publicly executed in Texas, and also the last to be hanged before the introduction of the electric chair. In the same year, the Texas Legislature created the Tenth Civil Court of Appeals and placed it in Waco; it is now known as the 10th Court of Appeals.  In 1937, Grover C. Thomsen and R.H. Roark created a soft-drink called "Sun Tang Red Cream Soda". This would later become known as the soft drink Big Red.  On May 5, 1942, Waco Army Air Field opened as a basic pilot training school, and on June 10, 1949, the name was changed to Connally Air Force Base in memory of Col. James T. Connally, a local pilot killed in Japan in 1945. The name changed again in 1951 to the James Connally Air Force Base. The base closed in May 1966 and is now the location of Texas State Technical College, formerly Texas State Technical Institute, since 1965. The airfield is still in operation, now known as TSTC Waco Airport, and was used by Air Force One when former US President George W. Bush visited his Prairie Chapel Ranch, also known as the Western White House, in Crawford, Texas.  In 1951, the American Income Life Insurance Company was founded by Harold Goodman. On May 11, 1953, a tornado hit downtown Waco, killing 114. As of 2011, it remains the 11th-deadliest tornado in U.S. history and tied for the deadliest in Texas state history. It was the first tornado tracked by radar and helped spur the creation of a nationwide storm surveillance system. A granite monument featuring the names of those killed was placed downtown in 2004.  In 1964, the Texas Department of Public Safety designated Waco as the site for the state-designated official museum of the legendary Texas Rangers law enforcement agency founded in 1823. In 1976, it was further designated the official Hall of Fame for the Rangers and renamed the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. Renovations by the Waco government earned this building green status, the first Waco government-led project of its nature. The construction project has fallen under scrutiny for expanding the building over unmarked human graves.  In 1978, bones were discovered emerging from the mud at the confluence of the Brazos and Bosque Rivers. Subsequent excavations revealed that the bones were 68,000 years old and belonged to a species of mammoth. Eventually, the remains of at least 24 mammoths, one camel, and one large cat were found at the site, making it one of the largest findings of its kind. Scholars have puzzled over why such a large herd had been killed all at once. The site is currently being looked at by the National Park Service for possible inclusion into the National Park system. They are conducting a special resource study to be presented to Congress. The bones are currently on display at the Waco Mammoth National Monument, part of the National Park Service.  On February 28, 1993, a shootout occurred in which six Branch Davidians and four agents of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms died. After 51 days, on April 19, 1993, a standoff between FBI agents and the Branch Davidians ended in a fire that destroyed their compound, referred to as Mt. Carmel, thirteen miles from Waco. Seventy-four people, including leader David Koresh, died in the blaze. This event became known as the Waco siege.

21st century.

During the presidency of George W. Bush, Waco was the home to the White House Press Center. The press center provided briefing and office facilities for the press corps whenever Bush visited his "Western White House" Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, about northwest of Waco.  On May 17, 2015, a violent dispute among rival biker gangs broke out at Twin Peaks restaurant. The Waco police intervened, with nine dead and 18 injured in the incident. More than 170 were arrested. No bystanders, Twin Peak employees, or officers were killed in the process. This was the most high-profile criminal incident since the Waco siege, and the deadliest shootout in the city's history.  On May 9, 2020, the city's local meat processing plant run by Sanderson Farms reported two cases of COVID-19 during the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic.

Geography.

Waco is located at 31°33'5" North, 97°9'21" West (31.551516, -97.155930).  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of. of it is land and of it is covered by water. The total area is 11.85% water.

Cityscape.

Downtown Waco is relatively small when compared to other larger Texas cities, such as Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, or even Fort Worth, El Paso, or Austin. The 22-story ALICO Building, completed in 1910, is the tallest building in Waco.

Climate.

Waco experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification "Cfa"), characterized by hot summers and generally mild winters. Some temperatures have been observed in every month of the year. The record low temperature is, set on January 31, 1949; the record high temperature is, set on July 23, 2018.

Demographics.

As of the census of 2010, 124,805 people resided in the city, organized into 51,452 households and 27,115 families. The population density was recorded as 1,350.6 people per square mile (521.5/km), with 45,819 housing units at an average density of 544.2 per square mile (210.1/km). The 2000 racial makeup of the city was 60.8% White, 22.7% African American, 1.4% Asian, 0.5% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 12.4% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races. About 23.6% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Non-Hispanic Whites were 45.8% of the population in 2010, down from 66.6% in 1980.  In 2000, the census recorded 42,279 households, of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.4% were married couples living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were not families. Around 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone at 65 years of age or older. The average household size was calculated as 2.49 and the average family size 3.19.  In 2000, 25.4% of the population was under the age of 18, 20.3% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 16.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.  The median income for a household in the city was $26,264, and for a family was $33,919. Males had a median income of $26,902 versus $21,159 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,584. About 26.3% of the population and 19.3% of families lived below the poverty line. Of the total population, 30.9% of those under the age of 18 and 13.0% of those 65 and older lived below the poverty line.

Government.

Waco has a council-manager form of government. Citizens are represented on the City Council by six elected members; five from single-member districts and a mayor who is elected at-large. The city offers a full line of city services typical of an American city this size, including: police, fire, Waco Transit buses, electric utilities, water and wastewater, solid waste, and the Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau.  The Heart of Texas Council of Governments is headquartered in Waco on South New Road. This regional agency is a voluntary association of cities, counties, and special districts in the Central Texas area.  The Texas Tenth Court of Appeals is located in the McLennan County Courthouse in Waco.  The Waco Fire Department operates 13 fire stations throughout the city.  The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the Waco Parole Office in Waco.  The United States Postal Service operates the Waco Main Post Office along Texas State Highway 6. In addition, it operates other post offices throughout Waco.

Economy.

According to the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, the top employers in the city as of July 2015 are:

Culture.

Libraries and museums.

Waco is served by the Waco-McLennan County Library system. The Armstrong Browning Library, located on the campus of Baylor University, houses collections of English poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The Red Men Museum and Library houses the archives of the Improved Order of Red Men. The Lee Lockwood Library and Museum is home to the Waco Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. The Waco Mammoth National Monument is a paleontological site and museum managed by the National Park Service in conjunction with the City of Waco and Baylor University.  Other museums in Waco include the Dr Pepper Museum, Texas Sports Hall of Fame, Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Mayborn Museum Complex.

Parks and recreation.

A 7-mile scenic riverwalk along the east and west banks of the Brazos River stretches from the Baylor campus to Cameron Park Zoo. This multiuse walking and jogging trail passes underneath the Waco Suspension Bridge and captures the peaceful charm of the river. Lake Waco is a reservoir along the western border of the city. Cameron Park is a urban park featuring playgrounds, picnic areas, a cross-country running track, and a disc golf course. The park also contains Waco's zoo, the Cameron Park Zoo.

Attractions.

Notable attractions in Waco include the Hawaiian Falls water park and the Grand Lodge of Texas, one of the largest Grand Lodges in the world. The Waco Suspension Bridge is a single-span suspension bridge built in 1870, crossing the Brazos River. Indian Spring Park marks the location of the origin of the town of Waco, where the Huaco Indians had settled on the bank of the river, at the location of an icy cold spring. The Doris Miller Memorial is a public art installation along the banks of the Brazos River. A nine-foot bronze statue of Miller was unveiled on December 7, 2017, temporarily located at nearby Bledsoe-Miller Park.  Downtown Waco is home to Magnolia Market, a shopping complex containing specialty stores, food trucks, and event space, set in repurposed grain silos originally built in 1950 for the Brazos Valley Cotton Oil Company. The Magnolia Market, operated by Chip and Joanna Gaines of the HGTV TV series "Fixer Upper", saw 1.2 million visitors in 2016.

Education.

Waco Independent School District serves most of the city of Waco. Portions of the city also lie in the boundaries of Midway Independent School District, Bosqueville ISD, China Spring ISD, Connally ISD, and La Vega ISD. Three large public high schools are in the Waco city limits: Waco High School (Waco ISD), University High School (Waco ISD), and Midway High School (Midway ISD). The schools are all rivals in sports, academics, and pride. Former high schools in Waco ISD were A.J. Moore High School, G.W. Carver High School, Richfield High School, Jefferson-Moore High School, and a magnet school known as A.J. Moore Academy.  Charter high schools in Waco include Harmony Science Academy, Methodist Children's Home, Premier High School of Waco, Rapoport Academy Public School, and Waco Charter School (EOAC). Local private and parochial schools include Live Oak Classical School, Parkview Christian Academy, Reicher Catholic High School, Texas Christian Academy, Vanguard College Preparatory School, and Waco Montessori School.  The three institutions of higher learning in Waco are:  In the past, several other higher education institutions were located in Waco:

Local media.

The major daily newspaper is the "Waco Tribune-Herald". Other publications include "The Waco Citizen", "The Anchor News", "The Baylor Lariat", "Tiempo", "Wacoan", and "Waco Today Magazine".  The Waco television market (shared with the Killeen/Temple and Bryan/College Station areas) is the 89th-largest television market in the US and includes these stations:  The Waco radio market is the 200th-largest radio market in the US and includes:

Transportation.

Interstate 35 is the major north-south highway for Waco. It directly connects the city with Dallas (I-35E), Fort Worth (I-35W), Austin, and San Antonio. Texas State Highway 6 runs northwest-southeast and connects Waco to Bryan/College Station and Houston. US Highway 84 is the major east-west thoroughfare in the area. It is also known as Waco Drive, Bellmead Drive (as it passes through the city of Bellmead), Woodway Drive or the George W. Bush Parkway. Loop 340 bypasses the city to the east and south. State Highway 31 splits off of US 84 just east of Waco and connects the city to Tyler, Longview, and Shreveport, Louisiana.  The Waco area is home to three airports. Waco Regional Airport (ACT) serves the city with daily flights to Dallas/Fort Worth International via American Eagle. TSTC Waco Airport (CNW) is the site of the former James Connally AFB and was the primary fly-in point for former President George W. Bush when he was visiting his ranch in Crawford. It is also a hub airport for L3 and several other aviation companies. McGregor Executive Airport (PWG) is a general-aviation facility located west of Waco.  Local transportation is provided by the Waco Transit System, which offers bus service Monday-Saturday to most of the city. Nearby passenger train service is offered via Amtrak. The "Texas Eagle" route includes daily stops in McGregor, located 20 miles west of the city.

Sports.

The Baylor Bears athletics teams compete in Waco. The football team has won or tied for nine conference titles, and have played in 24 bowl games, garnering a record of 13–11. The women's basketball team won the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament in 2005, 2012 and 2019.  The Waco BlueCats, an independent minor league baseball team, plans to play in the inaugural season of the Southwest League of Professional Baseball in 2019. A new ballpark is planned for the suburb of Bellmead.  The American Basketball Association had a franchise for part of the 2006 season, the Waco Wranglers. The team played at Reicher Catholic High School and practiced at Texas State Technical College.  Previous professional sports franchises in Waco have proven unsuccessful. The Waco Marshals of the National Indoor Football League lasted less than two months amidst a midseason ownership change in 2004. (The team became the beleaguered Cincinnati Marshals the following year.) The Waco Wizards of the now-defunct Western Professional Hockey League fared better, lasting into a fourth season before folding in 2000. Both teams played at the Heart O' Texas Coliseum, one of Waco's largest entertainment and sports venues.  The Southern Indoor Football League announced that Waco was an expansion market for the 2010 season. It was rumored that they would play in the Heart O' Texas Coliseum. However, the league broke up into three separate leagues, and subsequently, a team did not come to Waco in any of the new leagues.  Professional baseball first came to Waco in 1889 with the formation of the Waco Tigers, a member of the Texas League. The Tigers were renamed the Navigators in 1905, and later the Steers. In 1920, the team was sold to Wichita Falls. In 1923, a new franchise called the Indians was formed and became a member of the Class D Texas Association. In 1925, Waco rejoined the Texas League with the formation of the Waco Cubs.  On June 20, 1930, the first night game in Texas League history was played at Katy Park in Waco. The lights were donated by Waco resident Charles Redding Turner, who owned a local farm team for recruits to the Chicago Cubs.  On the night of August 6, 1930, baseball history was made at Katy Park: in the eighth inning of a night game against Beaumont, Waco left fielder Gene Rye became the only player in the history of professional baseball to hit three home runs in one inning.  The last year Waco had a team in the Texas League was 1930, but fielded some strong semipro teams in the 1930s and early 1940s. During the World War II years of 1943–45, the powerful Waco Army Air Field team was probably the best in the state; many major leaguers played for the team, and it was managed by big-league catcher Birdie Tebbetts.  In 1947, the Class B Big State League was organized with Waco as a member called the Waco Dons.  In 1948, A.H. Kirksey, owner of Katy Park, persuaded the Pittsburgh Pirates club to take over the Waco operation, and the nickname was changed to Pirates. The Pirates vaulted into third place in 1948. They dropped a notch to fourth in 1949, but prevailed in the playoffs to win the league championship. The Pirates then tumbled into the second division, bottoming out with a dreadful 29-118, 0.197 club in 1952. This mark ranks as one of the 10 worst marks of any 20th-century full-season team. When the tornado struck in 1953, it destroyed the park. The team relocated to Longview to finish the season and finished a respectable third with a 77-68 record.  Many golf clubs and courses are located in Waco including Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.  In 2018, Bicycle World Texas IRONMAN 70.3 Waco held its inaugural event in the city on October 26.

Waco ( ) is a city in central Texas and is the county seat and largest city of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2010 population of 124,805, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the state. The 2019 US Census population estimate is 139,236. The Waco Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of McLennan and Falls Counties, which had a 2010 population of 234,906. Falls County was added to the Waco MSA in 2013. The 2019 US Census population estimate for the Waco MSA is 273,920.

Waco je město v americkém státu Texas, hlavní město okresu McLennan County. V roce 2005 mělo 120 465 obyvatel, s aglomerací 226 189 obyvatel. Rozkládá se na ploše asi 247 km2.


Infective endocarditis.

Infective endocarditis is an infection of the inner surface of the heart, usually the valves. Symptoms may include fever, small areas of bleeding into the skin, heart murmur, feeling tired, and low red blood cells. Complications may include valvular insufficiency, heart failure, stroke, and kidney failure. The cause is typically a bacterial infection and less commonly a fungal infection. Risk factors include valvular heart disease including rheumatic disease, congenital heart disease, artificial valves, hemodialysis, intravenous drug use, and electronic pacemakers. The bacterial most commonly involved are streptococci or staphylococci. Diagnosis is suspected based on symptoms and supported by blood cultures or ultrasound. The usefulness of antibiotics following dental procedures for prevention is unclear. Some recommend them in those at high risk. Treatment is generally with intravenous antibiotics. The choice of antibiotics is based on the blood cultures. Occasionally heart surgery is required. The number of people affected is about 5 per 100,000 per year. Rates, however, vary between regions of the world. Males are affected more often than females. The risk of death among those infected is about 25%. Without treatment it is almost universally fatal.

Non-infective endocarditis.

Nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) is most commonly found on previously undamaged valves. As opposed to infective endocarditis, the vegetations in NBTE are small, sterile, and tend to aggregate along the edges of the valve or the cusps. Also unlike infective endocarditis, NBTE does not cause an inflammation response from the body. NBTE usually occurs during a hypercoagulable state such as system-wide bacterial infection, or pregnancy, though it is also sometimes seen in patients with venous catheters. NBTE may also occur in patients with cancers, particularly mucinous adenocarcinoma where Trousseau syndrome can be encountered. Typically NBTE does not cause many problems on its own, but parts of the vegetations may break off and embolize to the heart or brain, or they may serve as a focus where bacteria can lodge, thus causing infective endocarditis.  Another form of sterile endocarditis is termed Libman–Sacks endocarditis; this form occurs more often in patients with lupus erythematosus and is thought to be due to the deposition of immune complexes. Like NBTE, Libman-Sacks endocarditis involves small vegetations, while infective endocarditis is composed of large vegetations. These immune complexes precipitate an inflammation reaction, which helps to differentiate it from NBTE. Also unlike NBTE, Libman-Sacks endocarditis does not seem to have a preferred location of deposition and may form on the undersurfaces of the valves or even on the endocardium.

Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the surfaces of intracardiac devices. Endocarditis is characterized by lesions, known as "vegetations", which is a mass of platelets, fibrin, microcolonies of microorganisms, and scant inflammatory cells. In the subacute form of infective endocarditis, the vegetation may also include a center of granulomatous tissue, which may fibrose or calcify.

Endokarditida je zánět vnitřní výstelky srdce – endokardu (lat. endocardium) a z endokardu tvořených srdečních chlopní. Může být infekčního původu nebo výjimečně neinfekčního.