History.

1945–1968: Early years and ten consecutive championship titles.

The club was founded on March 4, 1945, as a basketball section of the Crvena zvezda Sports Society. By winning the first of ten consecutive championship titles after the Second World War, the golden age of Crvena zvezda began. No domestic national selection could be imagined without seven or eight Zvezda's players and the first five featured Nebojša Popović, Tullio Rochlitzer, Aleksandar Gec, Ladislav Demšar, and Srđan Kalember. They first played in an open-air court at the Kalemegdan fortress.

1968–1972: Return to success.

That long-awaited eleventh title was won in the 1968–69 season, when Crvena zvezda won all six games against Jugoplastika, Zadar and Partizan, therefore proving to be better than all three fierce rivals. Led by Vladimir Cvetković, the title was won by Dragan Kapičić, Zoran Lazarević, Ivan Sarjanović, Ljubodrag Simonović, Srđan Skulić, Zoran Slavnić, Tihomir Pavlović, Nemanja Đurić, Miroslav Todosijević, Dragiša Vučinić and Dubravko Kapetanović. At that time, they were the youngest championship-winning team in Yugoslavian basketball. The twelfth title was won in the 1971–72 season. In the 1970s the club won the Yugoslav Cup three times, and most of the work in those years was done by Slavnić, Simonović, Kapičić, Vučinić, and Živković. This generation of players won two national championships and three national cups.

1972–1990: Continental competitions.

Crvena zvezda also had significant international success, having played in five continental cup finals so far. They lost the first European Cup Winners' Cup finals to Italian powerhouse Simmenthal Milano in 1972 by a score of 70–74. Then, in 1974, they defeated Spartak ZJŠ Brno from Czechoslovakia by a score of 86–75. This team's third finals in the European Cup Winners' Cup were lost to Spartak Leningrad by a score of 62–63 in 1975. In the club's first Korać Cup finals, in Paris in 1984, the French Orthez won by a score of 97–73. In the Korać Cup second finals in 1998, Zvezda played two matches with Rielo Mash Verona from Italy; they won the away match, 74–68, but lost at home, 64–73. With the total score being 138–141, they did not win the trophy.

1990–2002: Another comeback.

The 1990s started promisingly. Throughout the 1991–92 season, which was the last one in Yugoslavia, Crvena zvezda played some inspired basketball, reaching the play-off finals versus arch-rival Partizan that coached by Željko Obradović won the EuroLeague that season. In a twist of fate, Crvena zvezda was led that season by the legendary Partizan coach Duško Vujošević. Though they lost the finals series, the young "Crveno-beli" team showed plenty of promise. The thirteenth championship title was won after a gap of no less than 21 years, in 1993. In the fifth match of the play-off finals, Crvena zvezda beat fierce rivals and Pionir Hall co-tenants Partizan. The players who won that championship title are: Saša Obradović, Nebojša Ilić, Zoran Jovanović, Mile Marinković, Nikola Jovanović, Mileta Lisica, Dejan Tomašević, Dragoljub Vidačić, Aleksandar Trifunović, Rastko Cvetković, Slobodan Kaličanin, Predrag Stojaković and Srđan Jovanović. In the next season, Crvena zvezda won its fourteenth national championship title literally without any problems. In the play-off finals, Partizan was beaten by 4–1 overall. The Zvezda won the championship for the fifteenth time in 1998. The main star of that team was without any doubt Yugoslavian national team power forward Milenko Topić, and other influential players were Igor Rakočević, Oliver Popović, and Zlatko Bolić.

2002–2011: "European Red Star" project, struggles.

In the early part of 2002, the club got complete new management. Individuals from the political and business milieu close to ruling Democratic Party, such as Živorad Anđelković, Goran Vesić, and Igor Žeželj, took over key positions in the club.  From summer 2002 onward, the project called "Evropska Zvezda" (The European Red Star) was thought up in order to slowly and methodically return the club on the path of its former glory by achieving results that would see the club play EuroLeague again. To that end, new management hired Slovenian coach Zmago Sagadin who became the Zvezda's organizational centerpiece. In his first season, Sagadin did not actually coach the team (the formal head coach role was given to Aleksandar Trifunović), but he did make all the important personnel decisions from the role of a sporting director. Under Sagadin's guidance, Crvena zvezda entered the Adriatic League (a privately owned regional competition in which he holds ownership stake) for the 2002–03 season. In August 2003, ahead of the 2003–04 season, Sagadin took over the coaching duties formally as well. Despite all the efforts, the club did not manage to win any major trophies in this period, and in November 2004 Sagadin got fired.  In the next couple of years the club struggled to get back on a winning streak, and only managed to win the 2004 and 2006 national cup (Radivoj Korać Cup) finals. The first of them was held in Novi Sad, where Crvena zvezda beat the National Champion Partizan, then the host Vojvodina and, finally, FMP Železnik. All three matches were won in overtime, which is something to remember, especially when it is known that those matches were played without some of the best players, including the team captain Igor Rakočević who missed the final match. Besides Rakočević, the cup was won by Goran Jeretin, Vuk Radivojević, Milan Dozet, Miloš Mirković, Norman Richardson, Milko Bjelica, Aleksandar Đurić, Vladislav Dragojlović, Luka Bogdanović, Čedomir Vitkovac and Aleksej Nešović. The 2006 cup was won in Belgrade when Crvena zvezda won superiorly against Hemofarm Vršac by 80–65. The team was coached by Dragan Šakota and featured the likes of Goran Jeretin, Milan Gurović, Gerrod Henderson, Miroslav Raičević, Larry O'Bannon, Igor Milošević, Vujadin Subotić, Nenad Mišanović, Vladislav Dragojlović, Čedomir Vitkovac, Vuk Radivojević and Pero Antić.  With the failure of the project "European Red Star" in 2008, Slobodan Vučićević became the president of Crvena zvezda and brought new life into the club. Svetislav Pešić became the head coach, and a new team was assembled, including some notable players such as Nemanja Bjelica, Marko Kešelj, Vladimir Štimac, Andre Owens, Lawrence Roberts but the club failed to win a trophy that year, and at the end of the season, both Slobodan Vučićević and Svetislav Pešić left the club.  In the following two seasons, the club experienced a decline and financial problems, which culminated in the 2010–11 season when the club had a budget of only 500.000 euros. Crvena zvezda finished 13th in the Adriatic League, and 5th in the Serbian league, failing to qualify for the Adriatic League the following season.

2011–2017: New era of success and Radonjić's titles.

A huge debt of 15 million euros threatened the very existence of the club. The club was saved from bankruptcy when Nebojša Čović became president of KK Crvena Zvezda. He prepared a plan for financial reorganization. In the first year of his presidency, Svetislav Pešić became a head coach for the second time. Even though the season was without success in the Adriatic League, Pesic managed to bring his team to the finals, eventually losing to a much stronger Partizan team 3–1 in the series. Pesic left the club at the end of the season, and his assistant Milivoje Lazić became the new head coach. Crvena zvezda had big ambitions for the 2012–13 season, bringing back Igor Rakočević for the 3rd time, and signing players such as DeMarcus Nelson, Elton Brown, Boris Savović. But Lazić was fired after only 2 games in the season after losing the games against KK Zadar and KK Split, and Vlada Vukoičić was brought in to replace him. Vukoicic managed to win the Serbian cup and managed to advance to the Last 16 EuroCup stage, but he was sacked as well after a very bad start in the domestic league. Dejan Radonjić replaced him, but he was unable to win the Adriatic League and the Serbian League, losing to Partizan in both finals.  The season of 2013–14 was a historic one for the club, as Crvena zvezda was back in the EuroLeague after 15 years. The club had a very successful season in the European competitions, led by the new signings Charles Jenkins, Blake Schilb, Jaka Blažič and Boban Marjanović and had a record of 4–6 in the group stage of the EuroLeague. This wasn't enough to advance to the knockout phase, but the team did reach the semifinals of the EuroCup. Crvena zvezda was eventually eliminated in the semifinals of the Adriatic league, losing to Cibona, and failed to win the domestic title yet again, losing to Partizan in a series which will be remembered more by incidents and a brawl in game 1.  In the summer of 2014, Crvena zvezda signed Nikola Kalinić and Stefan Jović from Radnički Kragujevac, NBA prospect Nemanja Dangubić, center Maik Zirbes and finalized a huge signing of point guard Marcus Williams. In season 2014–15, the club participated in EuroLeague, winning 6 out of 10 games in regular season, reaching Top 16 and seeing its average home attendance rising to 14483. In the Adriatic league, it set a new record of 20 consecutive victories, ending league competition with score 24–2, losing only to Krka and Partizan. In the playoffs, Zvezda triumphed over Partizan 3–1 in the semifinals, and 3–1 over Cedevita Zagreb in the finals, winning its first trophy in this competition and securing a place in Euroleague in the 2015–2016 season. Zvezda also won Radivoj Korać Cup for the third time in a row. In Basketball League of Serbia, Zvezda entered playoffs with 13 wins and only one lost game. In the semifinals, it defeated Mega Leks 2–0, and in the final triumph over great rival Partizan, 3–0.  The team started preparing for the 2015–16 season by re-signing coach Radonjić and guard Branko Lazić for two years each. Team captain Luka Mitrović extended his contract until summer 2017. Williams, Marjanović, Kalinić, Jenkins, and Blažič left the club, and the roster was reinforced by Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Stefan Nastić, Ryan Thompson and Gal Mekel. From its development team FMP, Zvezda promoted MVP of 2015 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, Marko Gudurić. The first part of the season was marked by mixed results and a lot of squad changes. Due to serious injuries of Mitrović and Dangubić, the club brought back Marko Simonović, and later on, landed Quincy Miller. Out-of-form Schortsanitis and Mekel were replaced by Vladimir Štimac and returning Marcus Williams. Mid-season, the club also released Williams and Thompson, replacing them with Vasilije Micić and Tarence Kinsey. Results improved, and Crvena zvezda ended group stage of EuroLeague with a 5–5 score, reaching the third place of Group A, qualifying for Top 16 stage. Successful European season continued as Zvezda ended fourth in Top 16 Group E, with a score of 7 wins and seven losses. In the playoffs, it was stopped by CSKA Moscow, who eventually went on to lift EuroLeague trophy. In ABA league, Zvezda entered playoffs from the second position, facing another EuroLeague team – Cedevita – and, defeating them twice, advanced to final series. In the finals, Zvezda pulled a 3–0 against Mega Leks, defending the ABA league title. Zvezda ended another spectacular season by defending the Serbian league title beating Partizan 3–1 in the finals.  The 2016–17 season saw the Zvezda parting ways with its two-star players, Zirbes and Miller, as well as Kinsey, Štimac and Micić. During the pre-season, the club signed Ognjen Kuzmić, Milko Bjelica and Charles Jenkins, brought talented Petar Rakićević and promoted Ognjen Dobrić from its development team. When the season already began, the club brought on Nate Wolters who was waived by Detroit Pistons. Squad was finally completed mid-season, with the addition of Deon Thompson to the roster. Building on previous years tactics, Zvezda's trademark became its strong, aggressive defense, pressure on the ball, intercepting passes, steals and resulting fast breaks. In January 2017, coach Dejan Radonjić achieved his 200th victory leading Zvezda. He also brought another Radivoj Korać Cup to the team. Zvezda has ended the regular ABA league season with 25 wins on their record while losing only once, which was the best regular-season record made by any team in the history of the regional competition so far. Team narrowly stayed out of Top 8, ending up on 9th place, having the same number of victories as 8th placed Darussafaka, but having worse head-to-head record. However, it decisively defended ABA league trophy, defeating Budućnost (2-1) and Cedevita (3-0) on its way. In the domestic championship, Zvezda ended league part with the score of 13–1, defeated Mega Leks (2-0) and FMP (3-0) in the playoffs, and lifted another trophy.

2017–present: After coach Radonjić.

During the summer of 2017, the head coach Radonjić didn't sign a new contract, and the club parted ways with no less than eleven players, including key figures in the last couple of years such as Simonović, captain Mitrović, Jenkins, Jović, Kuzmić, and Gudurić. Young prospect Dušan Alimpijević was named as the head coach. Depleted roster was reinforced by James Feldeine and Taylor Rochestie, veterans Pero Antić and Marko Kešelj and a quartet of young players: Mathias Lessort, Nikola Radičević, Stefan Janković and Nikola Jovanović. Zvezda also brought in Dragan Apić, Dejan Davidovac and Stefan Lazarević from its development team FMP. Half of the rebuilt team hasn't previously played a single game in EuroLeague. Breaking with defense-oriented philosophy of Radonjić era, the staple of the Zvezda's game became 3 point shot. In December 2017, the roster was further strengthened with combo guard Dylan Ennis, while Apić and Lazarević got loaned back to FMP. The last player to arrive was Slovenian national team center Alen Omić, while underperforming Radičević parted ways with the club. Zvezda finished first in the regular part of ABA League, having 19 wins and 3 losses, and reached finals by defeating Mornar 2–1 in series, but lost 3–1 in final series to Budućnost. The defeat meant that the club will not participate in EuroLeague next year, which triggered downsizing. Management terminated contract with Dylan Ennis and Milko Bjelica, and reinforced squad with Filip Čović and young prospect Aleksa Radanov from FMP. Poor start in domestic KLS forced coach Alimpijević to resign, and his assistant Milenko Topić took over as interim head coach. The modified team managed to win the Superleague title, beating FMP in the finals, but the season was generally deemed to be unsuccessful due to failure to secure a spot in Euroleague. Squad rebuilding prior to the 2018–19 season started with signing Milan Tomić as a head coach. Soon to follow were the players Billy Baron, Michael Ojo and two centers from Radonjić era: Maik Zirbes and Dušan Ristić. The Zvezda also added experienced Stratos Perperoglou and Mouhammad Faye, as well as point guard Joe Ragland. The last one to sign was combo guard Nemanja Nenadić from the development team FMP. Zvezda started season well, convincingly winning ABA League Super Cup tournament by beating last season champion Budućnost in the final game. Tomić struck a great balance between hard defense and versatile offense, causing team to grab the first spot at the beginning of ABA League, as well as EuroCup Group A. Bad streak in the EuroCup during November, caused Zvezda to finish the group phase on the third spot, which was still good enough for it to advance to the next stage. In the ABA League, the Zvezda ended the first part of the season with 11–0, having defeated every opponent in the league. Zvezda ended the 2018-19 EuroCup season in Top 16 stage, reaching third out of four places in group G. Mid-February roster was strengthened by signing experienced guard K. C. Rivers. Zvezda entered ABA playoffs from the first position, having 21 win and one loss. In semifinals, Zvezda eliminated Partizan 2-1 despite losing starting playmaker Ragland at the beginning of match one due to a knee injury. In the finals, Zvezda clashed with last year's champions KK Budućnost and defeated them 3–2 in series, despite playing without injured Perperoglou in the last three matches. In the Serbian Super League, the Zvezda won all 10 league games, downed Mega Bemax in playoffs semifinals 2–0, and triumphed over Partizan in final series 3–1.  Prior to the 2019–20 season, the club extended contracts with Baron, Čović, Dobrić, Faye, Lazić, Boriša Simanić, and Perperoglou, brought back Jenkins and Kuzmić, as well as signed Derrick Brown, James Gist and Lorenzo Brown. Zvezda entered season poorly, getting relegated from ABA Supercup in the first match, losing 2 out of 3 games in ABA and having the same score in Euroleague. Coach Milan Tomić resigned less than a month after the season kicked off, leaving assistant Andrija Gavrilović, who never held a head coach position before, as an interim solution. Gavrilović failed to make any notable progress, which added to the bad atmosphere around the club. Upset by his poor performances, Zvezda fans started booing Filip Čović. Club management reacted at the end of December, hiring Dragan Šakota as a coach and reinforcing squad with Vladimir Štimac and Kevin Punter. Derrick Brown and Mo Faye agreed with the club to terminate their contracts in January. Mid-February Zvezda transferred Čović and Kuzmić to FMP, bringing in Kalin Lucas instead. An outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic brought EuroLeague and ABA seasons to a standstill mid-March. At that point, the Zvezda held 3rd position in ABA with one round left to be played, and the 14th position in EuroLeague, with six rounds remaining. Both competitions ended without a champion, and EuroLeague decided to stick with the same clubs in the next season.  The Zvezda entered the 2020–21 season hiring club's legend Saša Obradović as the new head coach.

Rivalries.

Partizan.

The rivalry between Crvena zvezda and Partizan involves the two biggest and most storied basketball clubs in Serbia.  The two Belgrade-based clubs have won the two highest numbers of national titles in Serbia: Partizan has won 21, and Crvena zvezda has won 20. Together, they account for 17 of the 48 national titles in Yugoslavia (1945–1992), 11 of 14 national titles in Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006), and all national titles in Serbia (2006 onwards). Also, the two clubs have won the two highest numbers of championships in the Adriatic League. Together, they account for 10 of 18 championships.

Identity.

The main colors of Crvena zvezda, since its foundation, are red and white. The crest is a red five-pointed star, white and gold framed, on a red-white shield. In addition, the whole crest is framed with gold color. There are two golden stars on the top of their emblem, symbolizing the 20 national titles won. The typical kit of the team is a shirt with red and white vertical stripes and red or white shorts. Crvena zvezda used also as away kit or third kit, an all-blue jersey, but very rarely, so that the club used all the colors of the Serbian flag.

Sponsors and Manufacturers.

Since 1979, Crvena zvezda has a specific kit manufacturer and a kit sponsor. The following table details the shirt sponsors and kit suppliers by year:

Sponsorship naming.

Crvena zvezda has had several denominations through the years due to its sponsorship:

Home arenas.

Crvena zvezda plays their domestic home games at the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall, located in the Belgrade municipality of Palilula. The arena, then named Pionir Hall, was built in 1973 in eleven months, by Energoprojekt. Basketball was popular in Yugoslavia at the time, and although the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall hosted many different sports events (volleyball, handball) it became known as a basketball arena. It has a seating capacity of 8,000. The Aleksandar Nikolić Hall is also the home of Zvezda's main rival Partizan.  Crvena zvezda plays their EuroLeague home matches at the Štark Arena, which has a seating capacity of 18,386 for basketball games. Club holds the highest attendance records for three EuroLeague seasons: 2014–15, 2015–16, and 2016–17.

Supporters.

Delije is an umbrella name referring to the supporters of various sports clubs that compete under the Red Star Belgrade Sports Society banner. The name is derived from the Serbian word "delija", meaning "brave, hero". The name Delije first began to be used by hardcore Red Star supporters during the late 1980s, with the official inauguration taking place on 7 January 1989.

Players.

Current roster.

Second-generation players.

The following is a list of father-and-son combinations who have played for Crvena zvezda.

Head coaches.

History.

There have been 40 head coaches in the club's history. Montenegrin coach Dejan Radonjić is the all-time leader in both regular-season games coached and wins. Nebojša Popović won 10 National Championships, while Radonjić won 3 National Cups and he is the only head coach who won multiple Cup tournaments. Radonjić and Bratislav Đorđević won both a National Championship and a National Cup. Also, Crvena zvezda won 3 Adriatic Championships under Radonjić and an ABA Supercup under Milan Tomić. Coaches Radonjić and Tomić won the Adriatic Championship and the National Championship in the same season. In the 2014–15 and 2016–17 season, coach Radonjić recorded three titles (Serbian League, Adriatic League, and Serbian Cup). Coach Aleksandar Nikolić won the only European-wide competition in the club's history, the FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup in 1974.  Nikolić and Ranko Žeravica are members of FIBA Hall of Fame as coaches, while Nikolić is a member of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. American coach Tom Ludwig, hired in 1997, was the first foreign head coach, and the only non-European. Montenegrin Radonjić and Slovenian Zmago Sagadin were the other foreign head coaches. Head coaches Vladislav Lučić and Aleksandar Trifunović were hired three times.  Head coaches Popović, Aleksandar Gec, Milan Bjegojević, Đorđe Andrijašević, Nikolić, Nemanja Đurić, Strahinja Alagić, Dragiša Vučinić, Zoran Slavnić, Lučić, Stevan Karadžić, Trifunović, and Milenko Topić were also Crvena zvezda's players. Popović and Vučinić were player-coaches, while Popović, Bjegojević and Topić won the National Championships both as the players and head coaches.  The four-time EuroLeague-winning head coach, Božidar Maljković was an in the 1980s. Further notable assistant coaches include Marin Sedlaček, Velibor Radović, and Saša Kosović.  The current head coach is Saša Obradović, a Serbian coach and former player who has been the head coach since June 2020. Coach Obradović played for the club during his playing career (1987–1993, 1999–2000) and won two National Championships as the Zvezda's player.

Youth selections.

History.

Some of the most notable home-grown players are Zoran Slavnić, a member of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in 1991, then Igor Rakočević – the three-time EuroLeague Top Scorer, Peja Stojaković – the NBA All-Star player and FIBA EuroBasket MVP, as well as Vladimir Cvetković and Dragan Kapičić.  Further notable home-grown players include Goran Rakočević, Ivan Sarjanović, Žarko Koprivica, Slobodan Nikolić, Predrag Bogosavljev, Boban Janković, Mirko Milićević, Branislav Prelević, Aleksandar Trifunović, Nebojša Ilić, Saša Obradović, Rastko Cvetković, Nikola Jestratijević, Miloš Vujanić, Vladimir Radmanović, Milutin Aleksić, Milko Bjelica, Luka Bogdanović, Tadija Dragićević, Nemanja Nedović, and Marko Gudurić.  Aleksandar Đorđević (one of 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors), Dejan Koturović, Marko Jarić and Vladimir Micov were also members of the Crvena zvezda's youth selections but they haven't played a single game for the first team.

Management.

"Source"

Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda (, ), commonly referred to as KK Crvena zvezda mts for sponsorship reasons or simply Crvena zvezda, is a men's professional basketball club based in Belgrade, Serbia, the major part of the Red Star multi-sports club. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the Adriatic Basketball Association, and competes in the ABA League, the EuroLeague and in the Basketball League of Serbia.

Le KK Crvena Zvezda Beograd est la section basket-ball du club omnisports de l'Étoile rouge de Belgrade. Le club participe à la première division du championnat de Serbie de basket-ball et à la Ligue adriatique.


Grand Hôtel du Louvre.

The Grand Hôtel du Louvre operated between 1855 and 1887. It had many innovative features, including many bathrooms and two steam-powered elevators. The hotel was progressively converted into retail space, becoming a large department store.  The building was constructed at 164-168, rue de Rivoli, Paris by the Péreire brothers at the request of Baron Haussmann, the prefect of the Seine. The "Société immobilière de la rue de Rivoli" was launched in June 1854 to undertake this and other projects in the area. Three months later a company to build the hotel was founded, with many of the same principals. The architect was Alfred Armand (1805-88). Jacques Ignace Hittorff (1793-1967), Auguste Pellechet (1829-1903) and Charles Rohault de Fleury (1801-75) also participated in the design. Félix-Joseph Barrias was commissioned to paint the frescoes. The Grand Hôtel du Louvre opened in 1855 in time for the Exposition Universelle.  An 1872 Baedeker guide described the Grand Hôtel du Louvre as "a huge, palatial edifice, the construction of which cost upwards of 50,000 "l"." It was the largest hotel in Europe. On the ground floor there was a large courtyard with a glass roof and galleries. There were shops along the street front. A massive stairway led from the courtyard to the "table d'hôte" dining room. The "table d'hôte" often accommodated over 300 diners. There was also a more expensive restaurant, a salon in length and a large billiard room. The modern hotel included many bathrooms and twenty lavatories. Another innovative feature was a pair of steam-powered lifts.  The hotel had 700 rooms and a staff of 1,250. It became renowned for both its French and foreign cuisine. The hotel provided interpreters and guides, a post office, a telegraph room and an bureau of exchange. Although the public rooms were splendid, the hotel catered to tourists with modest budgets as well as to the wealthy. The building was shared by "Les Galeries du Louvre", a department store.  The company that owned the building collapsed after a financial scandal and was dissolved on 30 June 1872. Another company had been founded on 26 March 1855, known as "Les Galeries du Louvre", to operate the store and the hotel. It became the Société du Louvre, which still exists. In August 1875 this company bought the buildings that held the Grands Magasins du Louvre and the Grand Hotel du Louvre.  The hotel rooms were gradually taken over for retail space, and eventually the whole building was a department store. The hotel was closed on 1 November 1887. In 1888 the Hôtel du Louvre opened on the other side of the Place du Palais Royal. This successor continues to operate in this location today.

Grands Magasins du Louvre.

The department store Les Grands Magasins du Louvre, initially Les Galeries du Louvre, was founded in 1855, three years after its competitor, Le Bon Marché. Les Grands Magasins du Louvre inspired Émile Zola's novel "Au Bonheur des Dames" (1883).  In 1855, Alfred Chauchard, who had been a clerk of the "Au Pauvre Diable" store with a salary of 25 Francs per month, joined Auguste Hériot and Léonce Faré to rent the ground floor of the Grand Hôtel du Louvre, which had just opened its doors in Paris on the rue de Rivoli in a building constructed in 1852 by the Péreire brothers at the request of the Baron Haussmann, the prefect of the Seine.  On the ground floor of the building, Faré's company, Chauchard, Hériot et Compagnie, established a store for fashion called Les Galeries du Louvre. The building was rented by La Compagnie Immobilière de Paris. The Péreire brothers financed the launching of the business and, in 1860, took shares in the company.  In 1857, Faré withdrew, mistakenly, because commerce did not cease thriving. In 1865, the enterprise realised 15 million in sales and 41 million ten years later. At that time, it employed about 2,400 people, and Chauchard and Hériot became extremely rich.  In 1875, the two associates were able to repurchase the entire building. They transferred the Hôtel du Louvre to other side of the Place du Palais-Royal, where it is still today and, after two years of work, opened Les Grands Magasins du Louvre. The store offered much of what the customers of the day desired; 52 departments and counters offered silks in a wide range of colors, shawls from the Indies, tartans, "article de Paris", hosiery, toys, watercolors, and more.  Auguste Hériot died in 1879, and his brother, Olympe, inherited his shares of the company. Chauchard sold his shares, for some unknown reason, in 1885. Then Olympe directed the company alone until 1888, the year when the first signs of his mental illness forced his resignation. He was succeeded by the son of Émile Pereire.  In 1889, the company was renamed Société du Louvre and opened a second hotel, the Hôtel Concorde Saint-Lazare, whose hall was designed by Gustave Eiffel. In 1909, the company opened the Hôtel de Crillon on the Place de la Concorde, after its renovation. In 1930, the shares were registered in the official list of the Paris Bourse, the stock exchange.  An Avro Lancaster from the No. 57 Squadron RAF, based at RAF East Kirkby, was hit by German flak and crashed into the building on the night of September 23, 1943, almost completely destroying the interior, leaving only the exterior walls standing. The Canadian pilot, Joe Douglas Hogan, and six crew members were all killed. The store was rebuilt after WWII and continued to operate until it closed in 1974.

Le Louvre des Antiquaires.

The building was rebuilt and reopened in October 1978 as an antique center, "Le Louvre des Antiquaires". The building also hosted occasional temporary exhibitions. After years of financial trouble, and an increasing number of vacancies, the antique mall closed in 2015, in preparation for a complete remodeling by its owners SFL, at a cost of 100 million Euros, as a luxury shopping mall, set to open in 2020.

Le Louvre des Antiquaires is a historic structure in Paris, France on the Place du Palais-Royal. The building was designed by and was constructed in 1855 as a hotel, the Grand Hôtel du Louvre. The enormous building was gradually converted to a department store, with the hotel finally closing in 1887. The department store, Grands Magasins du Louvre, operated until 1974. The building was then converted to an antiques mall, Le Louvre des Antiquaires. That business closed in 2015, and the building is currently being converted to a luxury shopping mall, set to open in 2020.

Les Grands Magasins du Louvre sont un ancien grand magasin parisien dont l'origine remonte à l'ouverture, en 1855, des "Galeries du Louvre" installées au rez-de-chaussée du Grand Hôtel du Louvre, sur la rue de Marengo et la rue de Rivoli. Ayant pris la dénomination "Grands Magasins du Louvre" en 1857, le commerce investit, en 1888, l'ensemble de l'ancien établissement hôtelier jusqu'à la place du Palais-Royal. Il ferme définitivement en 1974 pour être remplacé, après une importante campagne de restructuration, par Le Louvre des Antiquaires, inauguré en 1978.


Occupations.

The business executive occupation covers many jobs. These positions include chief executive officer, department store manager, and small business operator. Executives are in charge of their organization. They create and review goals for the company. They work closely with a team of upper-level staff or assistants. This team may make both long- and short-range plans to achieve these goals. Once the plans are set, executives make sure the company follows the changes. They do this by meeting with the managers of all the departments and getting progress reports. Executives are typically elected by the organization's owners, shareholders, board of directors. The term usually refers to the person running the organization or someone involved in the upper-level management role of a corporation, company, as opposed to being the founder, owner, or majority shareholder of the organization. 748

Duties.

Executives' duties depend on how many people are on their staff. Some executives oversee general managers in different areas. In larger organizations, they may direct one area, such as marketing, finance, or legal services. For example, in the financial area, executives may direct the buying or selling of land or other investments. Other executives get more involved. They may hire and train new staff. They may direct staff in what tasks need to be done. They may choose computer systems to record data, such as budgets. When complaints arise, executives may direct investigations to resolve what occurred in the agency or between staff members.  A large part of an executive's job is developing relationships with people outside the organization. These people may be customers or contributors. One way executives create relationships is by giving speeches at conferences. Executives may also serve on the boards of community groups. These activities promote the company and its leader.  In addition, executives oversee budgets. They use budgets to analyze how well the organization is running. They make suggestions about where to cut expenses. Executives may also suggest where improvements could be made. Executives also negotiate contracts with outside agencies. They need good persuasion skills to keep costs down.

Government executives.

Government executives oversee agencies that develop laws and regulations. They meet regularly with their citizens. They learn how voters feel about the issues. Officials need to do these reality checks to see if they have the citizens' support. Executives also promote economic growth within their communities. They plan and organize different activities to help meet these goals. Government executives make connections between the United States and other countries. They help to promote international trade.  The government executive occupation also covers many jobs. They range from city council member, mayor, and governor, all the way up to President of the United States. Some of these positions are elected. Other officials are appointed to their jobs. In smaller communities, many of these jobs may be volunteer positions. Sometimes these jobs run through only part of the year.

See also.

Chief executive officer (CEO)

A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.

Un chef d'entreprise ou dirigeant d'entreprise est une personne physique qui est à la tête d'une entreprise, sans en être forcément le fondateur ou le propriétaire. Il dirige l'entreprise en fonction des pouvoirs qui lui sont conférés.


History.

In 1892, the Austro-Hungarian krone replaced the gulden, at the rate of one gulden equaling two kronen (which is also the reason why the 10-koruna coin had been nicknamed "pětka" or "the five" by the Czechs even long time after the empire fell apart). The name ""krone"" was invented by the emperor, Franz Joseph I of Austria. After Austria-Hungary dissolved in 1918, the only successor state that kept the name of the currency, the koruna, was Czechoslovakia. In the late 1920s, the Czechoslovak koruna was the hardest currency in Europe. During the Second World War, the currency on the occupied Czech territory was artificially weakened. The Czechoslovak koruna was restored after the war. It underwent a highly controversial monetary reform in 1953.  The Czech koruna replaced the Czechoslovak koruna when it was introduced in 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. It first consisted of overstamped 20-, 50-, 100-, 500-, and 1000-Czechoslovak koruna banknotes, but a new series was properly introduced in 1993.  In November 2013, the Czech National Bank (ČNB) intervened to weaken the exchange rate of the koruna through a monetary stimulus to stop the currency from excessive strengthening. This was meant to support the Czech economy, mainly focused on export, but people were unhappy about this step because it was set up before Christmas, which led to raising the prices of imported goods. In late 2016, the ČNB stated that the return to conventional monetary policy was planned for mid-2017. After higher-than-expected inflation and other figures, the national bank removed the cap at a special monetary meeting on April 6, 2017. The koruna avoided significant volatility and City Index Group stated: "If you want to drop a currency peg, then the ČNB can show you how to do it".

Euro adoption discussion.

The Czech Republic planned to adopt the euro in 2010, but its government suspended that plan indefinitely in 2005. Although the country is economically well positioned to adopt the euro, there is considerable opposition to the move within the Czech Republic. According to a survey conducted in April 2014, only 16% of the Czech population was in favour of replacing the koruna with the euro. As reported by an April 2018 survey by CVVM (Public Opinion Research Center), this value has remained at nearly identical levels over the past four years, with only 20% of the Czech population above 15 years old supporting euro adoption.

Coins.

The coins of the Czech koruna increase in size and weight with value.  In 1993, coins were introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 haléřů, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 korun. The 10- and 20-haléřů coins were taken out of circulation by 31 October 2003 and the 50-haléřů coins by 31 August 2008 due to their diminishing purchasing power and circulation. However, financial amounts are still written with the accuracy of 1-haléř (CZK 0.01); prices in retail shops are usually multiples of CZK 0.10. When transactions are made, the amount is rounded to the nearest integer.  In 2000, the 10- and 20-korun coins were minted with different obverses to commemorate the millennium. In 1993 and 1994, coins were minted in Winnipeg and Hamburg, then in the Czech Republic. The 10- and 50-korun coins were designed by (1934–2007).  Since 1997, sets for collectors are also issued yearly with proof-quality coins. Also, a tradition exists of issuing commemorative coins – including silver and gold coins – for numismatic purposes.  For a complete listing, see Commemorative coins of the Czech Republic.

Banknotes.

The first Czech banknotes were issued on 8 February 1993 and consisted of Czechoslovak notes with adhesive stamps affixed to them. Only the 100-, 500- and 1,000-korun notes were overstamped, the lower denominations circulated unchanged during this transitional period. Each stamp bears a Roman and Arabic numeral identifying the denomination of the banknote to which it is affixed (C and 100, D and 500, M and 1,000). Subsequent issues of the 1,000-korun note replaced the adhesive stamp with a printed image of same.  A newly designed series of banknotes in denominations of 20-, 50-, 100-, 200-, 500-, 1,000 and 5,000-korun were introduced later in 1993 and are still in use at present – except for 20, 50 and the first versions of 1,000 and 5,000 korun notes, since the security features of 1,000 and 5,000 notes were upgraded in the subsequent issues (The 2,000 korun note, which was introduced in 1996, is still valid in all versions, with and without the new security features). These banknotes feature renowned Czech persons on the obverse and abstract compositions on the reverse. Modern protective elements can be found on all banknotes.

Original Czech banknotes.

The Greater coat of arms of the Czech Republic can be found on the reverse side of all denominations.

Commemorative banknotes.

For the 100th anniversary of the Czechoslovak koruna, a new banknote will be created, featuring the face of Czech politician Alois Rašín. There is also an overprint on the normal 100 Korun note as second commemorative note.

Exchange rates.

Historic rates.

The currency was on a record exchange rate run in 2008.  Most traded currencies (since 31 December 2008):

The koruna (sign: Kč; code: CZK) is the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of European Union's 11 currencies, and Czechia is legally bound to adopt the euro currency in the future.

La couronne tchèque (, symbole : Kč, code ISO : CZK) est la monnaie nationale de la Tchéquie depuis 1993. La couronne tchèque est divisée en (génitif pluriel : haléř au singulier, haléře au nominatif pluriel).


Operations.

, the network consists in a central loop running around the centre of Charleroi and comprising 8 stations, from which three branches radiate towards suburban areas:  In addition, another branch is currently inactive:  The network allows transfers to the national railway network at the main Charleroi-Sud railway station as well as at the secondary Charleroi-Ouest station.

Lines.

The completion and opening of the central loop in 2012 led to a significant reorganization of the premetro/tram lines previously operating on the system. The five former premetro lines – 54, 55, 84, 88, and 89 – that operated on the network were replaced on 27 February 2012 by three new lines (M1, M2 and M4); a fourth line (M3) went into service on 22 June 2013.  Line numbers are used alone on maps and station signage, while the prefix "M" is added on timetables and on destination indicators of trams, to avoid confusion with similarly numbered bus lines.  The system is run by TEC Charleroi, a subsidiary of the Walloon public transport operator (Société Régionale Wallonne du Transport). Intervals between trains depend on the period (weekdays/weekends, holidays, etc.). The standard interval is 30 minutes for lines M1 and M2, ensuring a 15 minutes interval on the common Charleroi - Pétria section. This interval becomes 60 minutes (30 minutes on the common section) on weekends and holidays, and during the July–August period. On line M4, the standard interval is 10 minutes (15 minutes on Sundays and public holidays); similarly, line M3 also runs with 10-minute intervals.  From 2012 on, all trams have been equipped with orange colored LED destination indicators, displaying the line number and final station. Prior to that, mechanical destination indicators were used, using various layouts. The most common display showed two distinctly colored rectangles indicating the most important stations of the line, with the line number displayed on a white square between both rectangles. Rectangle color used the following code:  Beside this system, it happened that trams only displayed the terminus station as one of "Charleroi-Sud" (dark blue background) or "Parc" (green), without line number. Line 84 used a completely different display with black characters on a full white background and line number on the right.  Trams drive on the right track, except on the Soleilmont branch and the not operated Châtelet branch. Some small sections on the street in Anderlues (and in Gosselies on the newly opened Gosselies branch) are single track. Theoretical maximum speed on the network is, but actual speed is generally lower, especially in curves. Speed limits are displayed on panels along the track and can take one of the following values :,,,,, and. An onboard system warns the driver in case of overspeed, and will stop the tram abruptly in absence of reaction. A similar system will stop the tram immediately in the event of a red signal being ignored. Rail switches are controlled directly by tram drivers using a remote control unit sending a signal to a receiver along the track.

Stations.

, the Charleroi Metro network comprises 48 metro stations (28 premetro stations, and 28 tram stops) served by the four Charleroi Metro lines.  Station entrances are marked with a stylized white "M" on a blue background, identical to the symbol used by the Brussels metro. Access to the platforms is unrestricted (no gates/barriers) and most stations are not staffed. Some stations are equipped with automatic ticket vending machines, otherwise tickets are sold by machines inside the trams (tickets used to be sold directly by the tram driver until 2012).

Rolling stock.

Passenger cars.

Charleroi's LRV cars are reversible articulated trams which were supplied by La Brugeoise et Nivelles (BN) (with ACEC providing the motors and the electrical/electronic components) from 1980 to 1982. They are similar to the trams operated on the Belgian coast tram line (although those have doors on only one side) and, to a lesser extent, to the first generation trains of the Manila Light Rail Transit System yellow line.  According to an official statement by TEC Charleroi, 44 of these trams are operational, the future network with the completed downtown loop and the Gilly branch extension requiring 22, then 35 when the Gosselies branch opens.  Each unit has a length of for a width of, and is capable of carrying 44 seated and 148 standing passengers (6 pax/m), totalling 192 passengers. It is powered by two electric engines providing a total power of. Their maximum speed is. They can theoretically be coupled to form trains of up to three trams, however the single tram configuration is the preferred one on the Charleroi network, with only a few peak hour services on line M4 being operated by 2 trams coupled together.  Most trams wear the distinctive bright yellow, red and grey livery of TEC Charleroi and are identified by a 4 digit number starting with 74. Six trams (7404, 7426, 7428, 7448, 7453 and 7454) wear a temporary special livery to celebrate the new lines created on 27 February 2012. Prior to that date, several trams were still wearing the old SNCV livery with an orange bottom and beige top separated by a blue line (wearing a 4 digit number starting with 61).

History.

The Charleroi Pre-metro was planned in the 1960s as a network, consisting of eight branch lines radiating from a central downtown loop and no less than 69 stations. If completed as planned, this would have been the largest metro system in the Benelux region.  In the 1960s, Charleroi already had an extensive tramway network, operated by both SNCV and STIC, but trams were starting to be replaced by buses as those offered better flexibility, were cheaper to operate and were perceived as more modern. The pre-metro network was meant to offer trams a second life by providing a fast and comfortable mass transit system, while removing them from the street.  Full completion of the initial project was envisioned between 1992 and 1994. As a general rule, plans called for tracks to be at ground level, on dedicated infrastructure (separated from the street). If not possible, priority was given to viaducts, and tunnels were considered as the last option, except in Charleroi downtown or in densely populated areas.  The first section opened on 21 June 1976, between Sud and Villette (which was the first metro station in Belgium to be built on a viaduct). These were served by what would eventually become line 89 of the original premetro system.  Piges and Ouest were opened 4 years later, on 30 June 1980. Each time a new section was inaugurated, trams would transit through it before going back to the street for the remainder of their journey.  Stations Beaux-Arts, Dampremy, and the section between Morgnies and Paradis were opened on 24 May 1983. Pétria followed on 24 May 1986. The same year, works were completed on a first section of the Châtelet branch (until "Centenaire" station), however this branch has never been put into service.  The remaining stations on the Anderlues branch (Providence, De Cartier, Moulin and Fontaine) were opened on 22 August 1992. One week later, on 28 August, a first section of the Gilly branch (from the downtown loop until Gilly)) was inaugurated, along with the Waterloo station on the downtown loop. At the time, infrastructure beyond Gilly to Soleilmont was in various stages of completion, but not in service. 54 was created to serve the new branch.  On 30 August 1996, two additional stations were opened on the downtown loop (Janson and Parc). Lines 55 and 88 were created to duplicate the two existing lines while using the northern part of the unfinished loop.  2008 and 2009 saw the resumption of metro construction, following a 75 million euro loan from the European Investment Bank, out of a total estimated cost of 150 million euro. Work to complete the downtown loop started on 20 October 2008, building of the Gosselies branch on 16 March 2009, and the lengthening works on the Gilly branch toward Soleilmont started on 30 March 2009.  The finished downtown loop was put in service on 27 February 2012 with the completion of the Sud to Parc section. The same day saw the opening of the Soleilmont extension of the Gilly branch. The completion of the downtown loop involved a comprehensive reorganization of the lines and the introduction of new numbers (M1, M2 and M4) and colors, and the inauguration of the now "Charleroi Metro".

Expansion plans.

Gosselies branch (Line M3).

This project created a new branch starting at Piges station and running as a regular tramway line toward Gosselies. A large section of the line already existed to the Jumet tram depot, but as it is only used by empty trams going to and from the depot, and was not equipped for commercial passenger transport, it had to be completely rebuilt. The Jumet to Gosselies section is new, although it is built on the site of former SNCV tramway lines.  The project included full renovation of the "Chaussée de Bruxelles" (Brussels Road) which is used by the new line.  Because of the narrowness of some streets in Gosselies, the line uses single track in different streets for each direction.  The Gosselies branch was scheduled for completion in 2011, however multiple delays have delayed its opening until 2013.  The fourth line of the Charleroi Metro thus entered service on 22 June 2013. This Gosselies branch is served by a new line, dubbed "M3" (yellow color), which is how it is now depicted on official maps and on station signage.

Châtelet branch.

The original pre-metro project envisioned an eastern branch from Waterloo station (then "Nord") to Châtelet, comprising eight stations. Construction of this branch began in the 1980s and resulted in a first section in various stages of completion.  Sometimes specials journeys are organized to the station Centenaire on the ghost metro, like on 19 March 2017.  The Waterloo to Centenaire part has been finished, but was never put into service. As a result, the finished Neuville, Chet, Pensée and Centenaire stations remained closed and were vandalized. Somewhere in the 2010s the station building of Centenaire has been demolished.  Only structural work was completed on the Centenaire to Corbeau part, with no tracks installed. The rest of the branch has never been built.  Although there are no immediate plans to put the Châtelet branch into service, preliminary estimates give a cost of 5 million euros to refresh the Waterloo-Centenaire section, and another 20 million to complete the line to Corbeau (serving a nearby popular shopping mall).  Currently, there are no plans to go ahead with the intended line to the Châtelet terminus.

Charleroi Metro (; previously known as the "Charleroi Premetro" ()) is a light rail network in Belgium, consisting of a loop line around central Charleroi and three branches towards the suburbs of Gilly, Anderlues and Gosselies. Another branch to Châtelet (historically, the third one) was partially built but never entered service.

Le métro léger de Charleroi (abrégé MLC) est un réseau de transport en commun de l’agglomération de Charleroi en Belgique, de type métro léger.


Taxonomy.

The Russian desman is one of two surviving species of the tribe "Desmanini", the other being the Pyrenean desman. Despite its outward similarity to muskrats (a rodent), the Russian desman is actually part of the mole family Talpidae in the order Soricomorpha. Like other moles, it is functionally blind and obtains much of its sensory input from the touch-sensitive Eimer's organs at the end of its long, bilobed snout. However, the hind feet are webbed and the tail is laterally flattened —specializations for its aquatic habitat. The body is long while the tail is in length. Easily the largest species of mole, it weighs. Decidedly rich and thick in nature, desman fur used to be highly sought after by the fur trade. Consequently, the Russian desman is now a protected species under Russian law. However, due to loss of habitat (farming), water pollution, illegal fishing nets, and the introduction of non-native species like muskrat, population levels continue to decline. In the mid-1970s, an estimated 70,000 desmans were left in the wild; by 2004, the figure was only 35,000. However, in some Russian regions, the number of desmans appears to be increasing.

Distribution and habitat.

From 2009 to 2011, the Don Basin rivers were searched for Russian desman to evaluate if this environment was sustainable for the species. No evidence was found that the species lives in this area but if so, the population was very small. The limiting factors consist of global factors, interspecific processes, and new immigrating species in the river ecosystem.

The Russian desman ("Desmana moschata") ( "vykhukhol") is a small semiaquatic mammal that inhabits the Volga, Don and Ural River basins in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. It constructs burrows into the banks of ponds and slow-moving streams, but prefers small, overgrown ponds with abundance of insects, crayfish and amphibians. The Russian desman often lives in small (usually not related) groups of two to five animals, and appears to have a complex (but largely unstudied) communication and social system.

Le Desman de Moscovie (Desmana moschata) est une espèce de mammifères de la famille des Talpidés (). Ce petit animal semi-aquatique, proche des taupes, est le seul représentant actuel du genre. On le rencontre au Kazakhstan, en Russie et en Ukraine. C'est l'une des deux espèces de desmans encore vivantes au, mais ils sont menacés de disparition à cause des méthodes modernes de pêche et la dégradation de leur habitat.


Biography.

Born ca. 143/760, Sībawayh was from Shiraz, in Fars Province, Iran. Reports vary, some say he went first to Basra, then to Baghdad, and finally back to the village of al-Baida near Shiraz where he died between 177/793 and 180/796, while another says he died in Basra in 161/777. His Persian nickname "Sibuyah" (Arabized as Sībawayh) - "odour of apples" - reportedly refers to his "sweet breath." A protégé of the Banu Harith b. Ka'b b. 'Amr b. 'Ulah b. Khalid b. Malik b. Udad, he learned the dialects (languages) from Abu al-Khattab al-Akhfash al-Akbar (the Elder) and others. He came to Iraq in the days of Harun al-Rashid when he was thirty-two years old and died in Persia when he was over forty. He was a student of the two eminent grammarians Yunus ibn Habib and Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi, to whom, the latter, he was most indebted..

Debates.

Despite Sībawayh's renowned scholarship, his status as a non-native speaker of the language is a central feature in the many anecdotes related in the biographies. The accounts throw useful light on early contemporary debates which influenced the formulation of the principle fundamental Arabic grammar.

Rival schools of Basra and Kufa.

This is a story about the debate held by the Abbasid vizier Yahya ibn Khalid of Baghdad on the standard Arabic usage, between Sībawayh, representing the Basra school, and al-Kisa'i, one of the canonical Quran readers and the leading figure in the rival school of Kufa. It became known as "al-Mas'ala al-Zunburīyah" ("The Question of the Hornet").  Involved was the translation of the sentence: "I have always thought that the scorpion was more painful in stinging than the hornet, and sure enough it is." At issue was the form of the last word in the Arabic sentence.  Sībawayh proposed "fa-'idhā huwa hiya" (), literally "sure-enough he she", meaning "sure-enough he (the scorpion, masc.) is she (the most painful one, fem.)"; Arabic does not need or use any verb-form like "is" in such situations.  Al-Kisa'i argued instead for "fa-'idhā huwa 'iyyaha" (), literally "sure-enough he her", meaning "he is her".  Sībawayh justified his position on theoretical grammatical grounds, arguing that the accusative form could never be predicate. To his dismay, however, al-Kisa'i ushered in four Bedouins who had 'happened' to be waiting by the door. In fact al-Kisa'i had bribed them earlier. Each testified that "huwa 'iyyaha" was the proper usage and Sībawayh's was judged incorrect. At this he left the court and was said to have returned in indignation to Shīrāz and died there, apparently either from upset or illness.  A student of Sībawayh's, al-Akhfash al-Asghar (Akhfash The Younger), accosted al-Kisa'i after his teacher's death and asked him 100 grammatical questions, proving al-Kisa'i's answers wrong each time. When the student revealed who he was and what had happened, al-Kisa'i approached the Caliph Harun al-Rashid and requested that he be punished for having a share in "killing Sībawayh."

Legacy.

Sībawayh's "Al-Kitab" was the first formal and analytical Arabic grammar written by a non-native speaker of Arabic, i.e. as a foreign language. His application of logic to the structural mechanics of language was wholly innovative for its time. Both Sībawayh and his teacher al-Farahidi are historically the earliest and most significant figures in respect to the formal recording of the Arabic language. Much of the impetus for this work came from the desire of non-Arab Muslims for correct interpretation of the Quran and the development of "tafsir" (Quranic exegesis); The poetic language of the Qur'an presents interpretative challenges even to the native Arabic speaker. In Arabic the final voiced vowel may occasionally be omitted, as in the Arabic pronunciation of the name "Sībawayh" where the name terminates as "Sibuyeh". Discrepancies in pronunciation may occur where a text is read aloud (See "harakat"); these pronunciation variants pose particular issues for religious readings of Qur'anic scripture where correct pronunciation, or reading, of God's Word is sacrosanct.  Later scholars of Arabic grammar came to be compared to Sībawayh. The name Niftawayh, a combination of "nift", or asphalt - due to his dark complexion - and "wayh", was given to him out of his love of Sībawayh's works. Abu Turab al-Zahiri was referred to as the Sībawayh of the modern era due to the fact that, although he was of Arab descent, Arabic was not his mother tongue.

"Al-Kitāb".

"Al-Kitāb" or "Al-Kitāb al-Sībawayh" ('Book of Sibawayh'), is the foundational grammar of the Arabic language, and perhaps the first Arabic prose text. Al-Nadim describes the voluminous encyclopedic work, reputedly the collaboration of forty-two grammarians, as "unequaled before his time and unrivaled afterwards". Sībawayh was the first to produce a comprehensive encyclopedia of Arabic grammar, in which he sets down the principles rules of grammar, the grammatical categories with countless examples taken from Arabic sayings, verse and poetry, as transmitted by Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi, his master and the famous author of the first Arabic dictionary, ""Kitab al-'Ayn"", and of many philological works on lexicography, diacritics, poetic meter (ʻarūḍ), cryptology, etc. Sibawayh's book came from flourishing literary, philological and tafsir (Quranic exegetical) tradition that centred in the schools of Basra, Kufa and later at the Abbasid caliphal seat of Baghdad. Al-Farahidi is referenced throughout "Al-Kitāb" always in the third person, in phrases such as "I asked him", or "he said". Sibawayh transmits quotes, mainly via Ibn Habib and al-Farahidi, of Abu ʻAmr ibn al-ʻAlāʼ 57 times, whom he never met. Sibawayh quotes his teacher Harun ibn Musa just five times.

Grammarians of Basra.

Probably due to Sībawayh's early death,"no one", al-Nadim records "was known to have studied "Al-Kitāb" with Sībawayh," and nor did he expound it as was the tradition. Sibawayh's associate and pupil, Al-Akhfash al-Akbar, or al-Akhfash al-Mujashi'i, a learned grammarian of Basra of the Banu Mujashi ibn Darim, transcribed Sibawayh's "Al-Kitāb" into manuscript form. Al-Akhfash studied "Al-Kitāb" with a group of student and grammarian associates including Abu 'Umar al-Jarmi and Abu 'Uthman al-Mazini, who circulated Sibawayh's work, and developed the science of grammar, writing many books of their own and commentaries, such as al-Jarmi's "(Commentary on) The Strange in Sibawayh". Of the next generation of grammarians, Al-Mubarrad developed the work of his masters and wrote an "Introduction to Sibawayh", "Thorough Searching (or Meaning) of the "Book" of Sibawayh" and "Refutation of Sibawayh". Al-Mubarrad is quoted as posing the question to anyone preparing to read the "Book", Al-Mabriman of al-'Askar Mukram and Abu Hashim debated educational approaches to the exposition of "Al-Kitāb". Among Al-Mabriman's books of grammar was "An Explanation of the "Book" of Sibawayh" (uncompleted). Al-Mubarrad's pupil and tutor to the children of the Caliph al-Mu'tadid, Ibn as-Sarī az-Zajjāj wrote a "Commentary on the Verses of Sibawayh". Al-Zajjaj's pupil, Abu Bakr ibn al-Sarraj, also wrote a "Commentary on Sibawayh". In an anecdote about ibn al-Sarraj being reprimanded for an error, he is said to have replied "you have trained me, but I've been neglecting what I studied while reading this book (meaning the Book of Sibawayh) - because I've been diverted by logic and music, and now I'm going back to [Sibawayh and grammar]". And so he became the leading grammarian after al-Zajjaj, and wrote many books of scholarship. Ibn Durustuyah an associate and pupil of al-Mubarrad and Tha'lab wrote "The Triumph of Sibawayh over All the Grammarians" - this comprised a number of sections but was unfinished. Al-Rummani wrote a "Commentary on Sibawayh". Al-Maraghi a pupil of al-Zajjaj, wrote "Exposition and Interpretation of the Arguments of Sibawayh".

Format.

Al-Kitāb, comprising 5 volumes, is a huge highly analytic and comprehensive encyclopedia of grammar and remains largely untranslated into English. Due to its great unwieldiness and complexity the later grammarians produced concise grammars in a simple descriptive format suitable for general readership and educational purposes. Al-Kitāb categorizes grammar under subheadings, from syntax to morphology, and includes an appendix on phonetics. Each chapter introduces a concept with its definition. Arabic verbs may indicate three tenses (past, present, future) but take just two forms, defined as "past" (past tense) and "resembling" (present and future tenses).  Sibawayh generally illustrates his statements and rules by quoting verses of poetry; mainly from the Pre-Islamic Arabian and Bedouin poets and some from the early Umayyad Caliphate era.  Although a grammar book, Sibawayh extends his theme into phonology, standardised pronunciation of the alphabet and prohibited deviations. He dispenses with the letter-groups classification of al-Farahidi's dictionary. He introduces a discussion on the nature of morality of speech; that speech as a form of human behavior is governed by ethics, right and wrong, correct and incorrect. Many linguists and scholars highly esteem "Al-Kitāb" as the most comprehensive and oldest extant Arabic grammar. Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati, the premier grammarian of his era, memorized the entire "Al-Kitāb", equated its value to grammar as the Hadith - the recorded statements of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, is to Islamic law.

Sībawayh (; c. 760–796), whose full name is Abu Bishr Amr ibn Uthman ibn Qanbar al-Basri (, ""), was a Persian leading grammarian of Basra and author of the earliest Arabic linguistics books. His famous unnamed work, referred to as "Al-Kitab", or "The Book", is a five volume seminal encyclopedic grammar of the Arabic language.

Sîbawayh est un grammairien de langue arabe et d’origine perse, né probablement à Bayzâ près de Chiraz aux environs de 760 et décédé jeune, entre 32 ans et la quarantaine, vers 796 dans le Fars. Il est considéré comme le plus important des grammairiens arabes en raison de son livre, connu sous le titre de "Livre de Sibawayh" ("Kitâb Sîbawayh"), ou tout simplement "Al-Kitâb" ("Le Livre"), auquel font référence tous les grammairiens postérieurs. Les érudits de Basra et Kufa le considérèrent très vite comme la référence fondamentale en matière de science grammaticale, et il passe à ce titre pour un membre éminent de l'école de Basra.


Examples.

Two examples of hyperconnected spaces from point set topology are the cofinite topology on any infinite set and the right order topology on formula_1.  In algebraic geometry, taking the spectrum of a ring whose reduced ring is an integral domain is an irreducible topological space—applying the lattice theorem to the nilradical, which is within every prime, to show the spectrum of the quotient map is a homeomorphism, this reduces to the irreducibility of the spectrum of an integral domain. For example, the schemesformula_2, formula_3are irreducible since in both cases the polynomials defining the ideal are irreducible polynomials (meaning they have no non-trivial factorization). A non-example is given by the normal crossing divisorformula_4since the underlying space is the union of the affine planes formula_5, formula_6, and formula_7. Another non-example is given by the schemeformula_8where formula_9 is an irreducible degree 4 homogeneous polynomial. This is the union of the two genus 3 curves (by the genus–degree formula)formula_10

Hyperconnectedness vs. connectedness.

Every hyperconnected space is both connected and locally connected (though not necessarily path-connected or locally path-connected).  Note that in the definition of hyper-connectedness, the closed sets don't have to be disjoint. This is in contrast to the definition of connectedness, in which the open sets are disjoint.  For example, the space of real numbers with the standard topology is connected but "not" hyperconnected. This is because it cannot be written as a union of two disjoint open sets, but it "can" be written as a union of two (non-disjoint) closed sets.

Irreducible components.

An irreducible component in a topological space is a maximal irreducible subset (i.e. an irreducible set that is not contained in any larger irreducible set). The irreducible components are always closed.  Unlike the connected components of a space, the irreducible components need not be disjoint (i.e. they need not form a partition). In general, the irreducible components will overlap. Since every irreducible space is connected, the irreducible components will always lie in the connected components.  The irreducible components of a Hausdorff space are just the singleton sets.  Every subset of a Noetherian topological space is Noetherian, and hence has finitely many irreducible components.

In mathematics, a hyperconnected space is a topological space "X" that cannot be written as the union of two proper closed sets (whether disjoint or non-disjoint). The name irreducible space is preferred in algebraic geometry.

En topologie, un espace irréductible est un espace topologique non vide qui ne peut pas se décomposer en (c'est-à-dire s'écrire comme réunion de) deux parties fermées strictement plus petites. Ce type d'espaces apparaît (et est utilisé) surtout en géométrie algébrique, où l'irréductibilité est une des propriétés topologiques basiques.


Properties.

Gaskets are normally made from a flat material, a sheet such as paper, rubber, silicone, metal, cork, felt, neoprene, nitrile rubber, fiberglass, polytetrafluoroethylene (otherwise known as PTFE or Teflon) or a plastic polymer (such as polychlorotrifluoroethylene).  One of the more desirable properties of an effective gasket in industrial applications for compressed fiber gasket material is the ability to withstand high compressive loads. Most industrial gasket applications involve bolts exerting compression well into the 14 MPa (2000 psi) range or higher. Generally speaking, there are several truisms that allow for better gasket performance. One of the more tried and tested is: "The more compressive load exerted on the gasket, the longer it will last".  There are several ways to measure a gasket material's ability to withstand compressive loading. The "hot compression test" is probably the most accepted of these tests. Most manufacturers of gasket materials will provide or publish the results of these tests.

Gasket design.

Gaskets come in many different designs based on industrial usage, budget, chemical contact and physical parameters:

Sheet gaskets.

When a sheet of material has the gasket shape "punched out" of it, it is a sheet gasket. This can lead to a crude, fast and cheap gasket. In previous times the material was compressed asbestos, but in modern times a fibrous material or matted graphite is used. These gaskets can fill various different chemical requirements based on the inertness of the material used. Non-asbestos gasket sheet is durable, of multiple materials, and thick in nature. Material examples are mineral, carbon or nitrile synthetic rubber. Applications using sheet gaskets involve acids, corrosive chemicals, steam or mild caustics. Flexibility and good recovery prevent breakage during installation of a sheet gasket.

Solid material gaskets.

The idea behind solid material is to use metals which cannot be punched out of sheets but are still cheap to produce. These gaskets generally have a much higher level of quality control than sheet gaskets and generally can withstand much higher temperatures and pressures. The key downside is that a solid metal must be greatly compressed in order to become flush with the flange head and prevent leakage. The material choice is more difficult; because metals are primarily used, process contamination and oxidation are risks. An additional downside is that the metal used must be softer than the flange — in order to ensure that the flange does not warp and thereby prevent sealing with future gaskets. Even so, these gaskets have found a niche in industry.

Spiral-wound gaskets.

Spiral-wound gaskets comprise a mix of metallic and filler material. Generally, the gasket has a metal (normally carbon rich or stainless steel) wound outwards in a circular spiral (other shapes are possible) with the filler material (generally a flexible graphite) wound in the same manner but starting from the opposing side. This results in alternating layers of filler and metal. The filler material in these gaskets acts as the sealing element, with the metal providing structural support.  These gaskets have proven to be reliable in most applications, and allow lower clamping forces than solid gaskets, albeit with a higher cost.

Constant seating stress gaskets.

The constant seating stress gasket consists of two components; a solid carrier ring of a suitable material, such as stainless steel, and two sealing elements of some compressible material installed within two opposing channels, one channel on either side of the carrier ring. The sealing elements are typically made from a material (expanded graphite, expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), vermiculite, etc.) suitable to the process fluid and application.  Constant seating stress gaskets derive their name from the fact that the carrier ring profile takes flange rotation (deflection under bolt preload) into consideration. With all other conventional gaskets, as the flange fasteners are tightened, the flange deflects radially under load, resulting in the greatest gasket compression, and highest gasket stress, at the outer gasket edge.  Since the carrier ring used in constant seating stress gaskets take this deflection into account when creating the carrier ring for a given flange size, pressure class, and material, the carrier ring profile can be adjusted to enable the gasket seating stress to be radially uniform across the entire sealing area. Further, because the sealing elements are fully confined by the flange faces in opposing channels on the carrier ring, any in-service compressive forces acting on the gasket are transmitted through the carrier ring and avoid any further compression of the sealing elements, thus maintaining a 'constant' gasket seating stress while in-service. Thus, the gasket is immune to common gasket failure modes that include creep relaxation, high system vibration, or system thermal cycles.  The fundamental concept underlying the improved sealability for constant seating stress gaskets are that (i) if the flange sealing surfaces are capable of attaining a seal, (ii) the sealing elements are compatible with the process fluid and application, and (iii) the sufficient gasket seating stress is achieved on installation necessary to affect a seal, then the possibility of the gasket leaking in-service is greatly reduced or eliminated altogether.

Double-jacketed gaskets.

Double-jacketed gaskets are another combination of filler material and metallic materials. In this application, a tube with ends that resemble a "C" is made of the metal with an additional piece made to fit inside of the "C" making the tube thickest at the meeting points. The filler is pumped between the shell and piece. When in use, the compressed gasket has a larger amount of metal at the two tips where contact is made (due to the shell/piece interaction) and these two places bear the burden of sealing the process. Since all that is needed is a shell and piece, these gaskets can be made from almost any material that can be made into a sheet and a filler can then be inserted.

Kammprofile gaskets.

Kammprofile gaskets (sometimes spelled Camprofile) are used in many older seals since they have both a flexible nature and reliable performance. Kammprofiles work by having a solid corrugated core with a flexible covering layer. This arrangement allows for very high compression and an extremely tight seal along the ridges of the gasket. Since generally the graphite will fail instead of the metal core, Kammprofile can be repaired during later inactivity. Kammprofile has a high capital cost for most applications but this is countered by long life and increased reliability.

Fishbone Gaskets.

Fishbone Gaskets are direct replacements for Kammprofile and Spiralwound gaskets. They are fully CNC machine manufactured from similar materials but the design of the gaskets has eliminated inherent short comings. Fishbone gaskets do not unwind in storage or in the plant. The rounded edges do not cause flange damage. The added "Stop Step" prevents the Fishbone gaskets from being over compressed/crushed, often caused by hot torque techniques on plant start up. The bones of the gasket remain ductile and adjust to thermal cycling and system pressure spikes resulting is a durable and reliable flange seal that out performs all other gaskets of this nature significantly.

Flange gasket.

A flange gasket is a type of gasket made to fit between two sections of pipe that are flared to provide higher surface area.  Flange gaskets come in a variety of sizes and are categorized by their inside diameter and their outside diameter.  There are many standards in gasket for flanges of pipes. The gaskets for flanges can be divided in major 4 different categories:  "Sheet gaskets" are simple, they are cut to size either with bolt holes or without holes for standard sizes with various thickness and material suitable to media and temperature pressure of pipeline.  "Ring gaskets" also known as RTJ. They are mostly used in offshore oil- and gas pipelines and are designed to work under extremely high pressure. They are solid rings of metal in different cross sections like oval, round, octagonal etc. Sometimes they come with hole in center for pressure.  "Spiral wound gaskets" are also used in high pressure pipelines and are made with stainless steel outer and inner rings and a center filled with spirally wound stainless steel tape wound together with graphite and PTFE, formed in V shape. Internal pressure acts upon the faces of the V, forcing the gasket to seal against the flange faces. Most spiral wound gasket applications will use two standard gasket thicknesses: 1/8 inch and 3/16 inch. With 1/8 inch thick gaskets, compression to a 0.100 inch thickness is recommended. For 3/16 inches, compress to a 0.13 inch thickness.

Improvements.

Many gaskets contain minor improvements to increase or infer acceptable operating conditions:

Reasons for failure.

Uneven distributed pressing force.

Uneven pressure can be caused by a variety of factors. First is the human factor: asymmetric application of the bolt preload, this can cause uneven pressure. Theoretically when the flanges are pressed, the sealing surfaces are absolutely parallel, in practice however, the centerline of a pipeline cannot be absolutely concentric, and tightening the bolts on the flange moment makes the flange a discontinuity. With asymmetric connections, the seal surfaces will be more or less deformed and the pressure reduced, the running load, prone to leakage. Third, the density of bolt arrangement has an obvious impact on the pressure distribution, the closer the bolts, the more uniform the pressure.

Stress relaxation and torque loss.

Tighten the bolts on the flange. Due to vibration, temperature changes, and other factors such as spiral wound gasket stress relaxation, the bolt tension will gradually decrease, resulting in loss of torque, causing a leak. In general longer bolts and smaller diameters of bolt are better at preventing the loss of torque. A long thin bolt is an effective way to prevent torque loss. Heating for a certain period of time to stretch the bolt, and then maintaining a given torque, is very effective in preventing the loss of torque. When the gasket is thinner and smaller there will be a greater loss of torque. In addition, prevent strong vibration of the machine and the pipe itself, and isolate them from adjacent equipment vibration. Impacts on the sealing surface are not meaningless. Not impacting the tightened bolts can prevent the loss of torque.

Surface not smooth.

It is important to make the sealing finish properly otherwise it will cause leakage. A surface that is too smooth can allow your gasket material to blow out under pressure. A surface that is not machined flat can provide leak paths. A good rule of thumb is a machined surface to 32RMS. This insures the surface is flat, but with enough surface finish to bite into the gasket under compression.

References.

A gasket is a mechanical seal which fills the space between two or more mating surfaces, generally to prevent leakage from or into the joined objects while under compression.

Un joint d'étanchéité est un dispositif assurant l'étanchéité, c'est-à-dire évitant les fuites de fluide (liquide ou gaz) entre un milieu intérieur et un milieu extérieur, par exemple au niveau d'un raccord de robinetterie (fixe ou mobile).


Gameplay.

As an expansion pack for "Half-Life", "Blue Shift" is a first-person shooter. The overall gameplay of "Blue Shift" does not significantly differ from that of "Half-Life": players are required to navigate through the game's levels, fight hostile non-player characters and solve a variety of puzzles to advance. The game continues "Half-Life"s methods of an unbroken narrative. The player sees everything through the first person perspective of the protagonist and remains in control of the player character for almost all of the game. Story events are conveyed through the use of scripted sequences rather than cut scenes. Progress through the game's world is continuous; although the game is divided up into chapters, the only significant pauses are when the game needs to load the next part of an environment.  The player battles through the game alone, but is occasionally assisted by friendly non-player characters. Security guards and scientists will occasionally help the player in reaching new areas and convey relevant plot information. "Blue Shift" also includes a substantial section dedicated to keeping a major character in the story safe from enemy characters, and escorting him to a specific location. A selection of enemies from "Half-Life" populate the game, including alien creatures such as headcrabs and Vortigaunts. The player also encounters human opponents in the form of a detachment of US Marines who have been sent to eliminate the alien threat and silence any witnesses. "Blue Shift" does not elaborate on the storyline in "", the preceding expansion pack, and no enemy characters or weapons introduced in it appear in the game. The player is instead given access to a limited selection of "Half-Life"s original weaponry.

Synopsis.

Setting.

"Blue Shift" is set in the same location and time frame as that of "Half-Life", taking place at a remote New Mexico laboratory called the Black Mesa Research Facility. In "Half-Life", the player takes on the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist involved in an accident that opens an inter-dimensional portal to the borderworld of Xen, allowing the alien creatures of Xen to attack the facility. The player guides Freeman in an attempt to escape the facility and close the portal, ultimately traveling to Xen to do so. As in "Opposing Force", "Blue Shift" shows the events of "Half-Life" from the perspective of a different protagonist. The player assumes the role of Barney Calhoun, a security guard working near the labs where the accident takes place. Calhoun is responsible for the preservation of equipment and materials and the welfare of research personnel, and after the accident turns Black Mesa into a warzone, he must work with Dr. Rosenberg, a high-ranking scientist involved in the experiment, to evacuate the facility.

Plot.

"Blue Shift" begins in a similar manner to "Half-Life", as Barney Calhoun rides a train through the Black Mesa facility to reach his place of work. After reporting for duty, Calhoun is instructed to assist in maintenance on a malfunctioning elevator. As Calhoun finishes repairs, however, Freeman's experiment takes place and results in a "resonance cascade", causing massive damage to the facility and teleporting alien creatures into the base. The elevator is badly damaged and fails, sending Calhoun plummeting into the depths of Black Mesa.  Calhoun regains consciousness at the bottom of the shaft and begins to fight his way to the surface to escape. Emerging near Black Mesa's classification yards, Calhoun learns that Dr. Rosenberg and his colleagues plan to escape the facility using teleportation technology. After freeing Rosenberg from the captivity of the US Marines detachment sent to silence the facility, Calhoun escorts him to a decommissioned prototype teleportation laboratory, where several Black Mesa employees have already gathered. Rosenberg then teleports Calhoun to the Xen border world to calibrate research equipment needed to pinpoint a teleport destination outside of Black Mesa. Upon his return, Rosenberg informs Calhoun that the teleporter's battery power has been exhausted, and contact has been lost with a team sent to acquire a new power cell.  Calhoun travels to the power generators on a lower level to find a fresh power cell while firefights rage between the Marines and the forces of Xen. After returning with a new power cell, Calhoun assists Rosenberg in evacuating the few surviving personnel through the teleporter. Calhoun is the last to enter the portal and as he does so, Marines breach the laboratory and fire on him, causing the teleporter to explode. As a result of the teleporter's destruction, Calhoun enters a "harmonic reflux", causing him to be rapidly teleported to a variety of locations in Xen and Black Mesa. At one location, he witnesses Freeman's capture by Marines midway through "Half-Life", before eventually stabilizing at the intended teleport location with Rosenberg at the outskirts of Black Mesa, where they then escape the facility in a company SUV.

Development.

"Blue Shift" was announced in the second quarter of 2000 as part of an upcoming Dreamcast port of "Half-Life". While the port was developed by Captivation Digital Laboratories, "Blue Shift" was developed by Gearbox Software, who also developed the first "Half-Life" expansion, "". The game had the working title "Half-Life: Guard Duty"; publisher Sierra Entertainment announced the name "Blue Shift" on August 30, 2000. As with "Opposing Force", the title has a double meaning, referring to both the blue shift light phenomenon and the name of Barney's shift. The Dreamcast port would include higher detail models and textures that were double the polygon count of Valve's original "Half-Life" models.  At the European Computer Trade Show in September 2000, information about "Blue Shift"s story and development direction was revealed, along with a release date of November 1, 2000, for the Dreamcast version of "Half-Life". The port was delayed by Sierra to ensure the "high expectations of consumers" were met, anticipating release by the end of the year. Further media and information were released in the following weeks and months.  On March 29, 2001, Sierra that "Blue Shift" would also be released for Windows as a standalone game that would not require the original "Half-Life" to run. The new models developed for the Dreamcast version would also be included in the PC version as the "Half-Life" High Definition pack, and could be applied to "Half-Life" and "Opposing Force". At the E3 2001, Gearbox announced that "Blue Shift" was complete and exhibited a playable version. It was released on June 12, 2001.  On June 16, 2001, Sierra canceled the Dreamcast port of "Half-Life", citing "changing market conditions". Before its cancellation, the port was reviewed in publications; the UK "Dreamcast Magazine" gave it 81%, criticizing the framerate, loading times, and lack of online play. A late build of the Dreamcast version was eventually leaked to the Internet, featuring complete versions of "Half-Life" and "Blue Shift".  "Blue Shift" and the High Definition pack were initially absent from the launch of Valve's content delivery system Steam in September 2003, despite the presence of both "Half-Life" and "Opposing Force" on the system. The game was released on Steam on August 29, 2005 along with the High Definition Pack. "Blue Shift" was also published as part of Sierra's "Half-Life: Generation" compilation in 2002, and as part of Valve and Electronic Arts' "Half Life 1: Anthology" on September 26, 2005.

Critical reception.

"Blue Shift" received a mixed reaction from critics, holding overall scores of 67.40% and 71/100 on the review aggregator sites GameRankings and Metacritic, respectively. The game has sold around 800,000 copies at retail (this figure does not include later sales on Steam). In a review for IGN, critic Tal Blevins noted that "Blue Shift"s gameplay "is pretty much what we've come to expect out of "Half-Life"" by blending action and puzzle solving, stating that the latter "were all logical and well done, although some of the jumping puzzles were frustrating". Though IGN praised the game for maintaining the "epic" feel of the original, Blevins was critical of the relatively short length of the game. GameSpot reviewer Greg Kasavin agreed with many of IGN's criticisms, stating that "it's not that the game is easy so much that it's extremely short" and that "Blue Shift" "doesn't amount to much on its own terms". In addition, Kasavin described the graphical enhancements brought about by the High Definition pack as "helpful", but noted that "they still don't make "Half-Life" look like a new game—nor are many of the changes themselves very noticeable".  Other reviews echoed complaints about the similarity of "Blue Shift" to previous games. GameSpy's reviewer Jamie Madigan stated that "what really pulls the game down is the'more of the same' factor". Although writing that the game "feels like just a few more levels for the original game", he noted that this is what "Blue Shift" was designed to be, given its origins as an add-on for a Dreamcast version of "Half-Life". Madigan described the single-player campaign as "decent" and commented that the High Definition pack made the game "worthy of consideration". Eurogamer echoed criticism on the game's length; reviewer Tom Bradwell commented that "although I'm hard pressed to criticize what you get, the complete absence of everything we've learnt from the likes of "Counter-Strike" and everything since is frankly bizarre". Bradwell did, however, criticize the game's artificial intelligence and the occasional bug that caused a player to get stuck on a wall. "PC Zone"s Mark Hill was more lenient, praising the game's artificial intelligence as "intelligent as you could hope an AI enemy to be". In addition, Hill praised the game for showing more activity in the base, noting that "a whole world goes on around you, with people eating at a cantina and scientists doing their laundry. The complex is more alive than ever before". Hill also praised the focus "on a greater interaction with scientists as proper people rather than the two or three models that were cloned throughout the facility who kept repeating the same phrases", describing this as "Blue Shift"s "greatest achievement". "PC Zone"s review closed by commenting that "as a Dreamcast extra it works perfectly, but as a standalone PC title there's not nearly enough to it." Jim Preston reviewed the PC version for "Next Generation", and recommended players play the "Half-Life" mods "They Hunger" or "Day of Defeat" instead.

Half-Life: Blue Shift is an expansion pack for Valve's science fiction first-person shooter video game "Half-Life". The game was developed by Gearbox Software with Valve and published by Sierra On-Line on June 12, 2001. "Blue Shift" is the second expansion for "Half-Life", originally intended as part of a Dreamcast version of the original game. Although the Dreamcast port was later cancelled, the PC version was released as a standalone product. It was released on Steam on August 24, 2005.

Le titre est un jeu de mots faisant à la fois référence au décalage vers le bleu ("blueshift" en anglais), phénomène physique, et à l'équipe ("shift" en anglais) dans laquelle travaille Barney.