Archaeology.

When British India was partitioned in 1947, most Indus sites, including Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, became part of Pakistan. The Archaeological Survey of India undertook a new program of exploration, and excavation. Many sites were discovered across northwestern India. Between 1954 and 1958, more than 50 sites were excavated in the Kutch (notably Dholavira), and Saurashtra peninsulas, extending the limits of Harappan civilisation by to the river Kim, where the Bhagatrav site accesses the valley of the rivers Narmada and Tapti. Lothal stands from Mohenjo-daro, which is in Sindh.  The meaning of Lothal (a combination of "Loth" and "(s) thal") in Gujarati to be "the mound of the dead" is not unusual, as the name of the city of Mohenjo-daro in Sindhi means the same. People in villages neighbouring to Lothal had known of the presence of an ancient town and human remains. As recently as 1850, boats could sail up to the mound. In 1942, timber was shipped from Broach to Saragwala via the mound. A silted creek connecting modern Bholad with Lothal and Saragwala represents the ancient flow channel of a river or creek.  Speculation suggests that owing to the comparatively small dimensions of the main city, Lothal was not a large settlement at all, and its "dock" was perhaps an irrigation tank. However, the ASI and other contemporary archaeologists assert that the city was a part of a major river system on the trade route of the ancient peoples from Sindh to Saurashtra in Gujarat. Lothal provides with the largest collection of antiquities in the archaeology of modern India. It is essentially a single culture site—the Harappan culture in all its variances is evidenced. An indigenous micaceous Red Ware culture also existed, which is believed to be autochthonous and pre-Harappan. Two sub-periods of Harappan culture are distinguished: the same period (between 2400 and 1900 BCE) is identical to the exuberant culture of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.  After the core of the Indus civilisation had decayed in Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, Lothal seems not only to have survived but to have thrived for many years. Its constant threats - tropical storms and floods - caused immense destruction, which destabilised the culture and ultimately caused its end. Topographical analysis also shows signs that at about the time of its demise, the region suffered from aridity or weakened monsoon rainfall. Thus the cause for the abandonment of the city may have been changes in the climate as well as natural disasters, as suggested by environmental magnetic records. Lothal is based upon a mound that was a salt marsh inundated by tide. Remote sensing and topographical studies published by Indian scientists in the "Journal of the Indian Geophysicists Union" in 2004 revealed an ancient, meandering river adjacent to Lothal, in length according to satellite imagery— an ancient extension of the northern river channel bed of a tributary of the Bhogavo river. Small channel widths () when compared to the lower reaches () suggest the presence of a strong tidal influence upon the city—tidal waters ingressed up to and beyond the city. Upstream elements of this river provided a suitable source of freshwater for the inhabitants.

Town planning.

A flood destroyed village foundations and settlements (c. 2350 BCE). Harappans based around Lothal and from Sindh took this opportunity to expand their settlement and create a planned township on the lines of greater cities in the Indus valley. Lothal planners engaged themselves to protect the area from consistent floods. The town was divided into blocks of 1–2-metre-high (3–6 ft) platforms of sun-dried bricks, each serving 20–30 houses of thick mud and brick walls. The city was divided into a citadel, or acropolis and a lower town. The rulers of the town lived in the acropolis, which featured paved baths, underground and surface drains (built of kiln-fired bricks) and potable water well. The lower town was subdivided into two sectors. A north-south arterial street was the main commercial area. It was flanked by shops of rich and ordinary merchants and craftsmen. The residential area was located to either side of the marketplace. The lower town was also periodically enlarged during Lothal's years of prosperity.  Lothal engineers accorded high priority to the creation of a dockyard and a warehouse to serve the purposes of naval trade. While the consensus view amongst archaeologists identifies this structure as a "dockyard," it has also been suggested that owing to small dimensions, this basin may have been an irrigation tank and canal. The dock was built on the eastern flank of the town, and is regarded by archaeologists as an engineering feat of the highest order. It was located away from the main current of the river to avoid silting, but provided access to ships in high tide as well. The warehouse was built close to the acropolis on a 3.5-metre-high (10.5 ft) podium of mud bricks. The rulers could thus supervise the activity on the dock and warehouse simultaneously. Facilitating the movement of cargo was a mudbrick wharf, long, built on the western arm of the dock, with a ramp leading to the warehouse. There was an important public building opposite to the warehouse whose superstructure has completely disappeared. Throughout their time, the city had to brace itself through multiple floods and storms. Dock and city peripheral walls were maintained efficiently. The town's zealous rebuilding ensured the growth and prosperity of the trade. However, with rising prosperity, Lothal's people failed to upkeep their walls and dock facilities, possibly as a result of over-confidence in their systems. A flood of moderate intensity in 2050 BCE exposed some serious weaknesses in the structure, but the problems were not addressed properly. All the construction were made of fire dried bricks, lime and sand mortar and not by sun-dried bricks as bricks are still intact after 4000 years and still bonded together with each other with the mortar bond.

Economy and urban culture.

The uniform organisation of the town and its institutions give evidence that the Harappans were very disciplined people. Commerce and administrative duties were performed according to standards laid out. Municipal administration was strict – the width of most streets remained the same over a long time, and no encroached structures were built. Householders possessed a sump, or collection chamber to deposit solid waste in order to prevent the clogging of city drains. Drains, manholes and cesspools kept the city clean and deposited the waste in the river, which was washed out during high tide. A new provincial style of Harappan art and painting was pioneered. The new approaches included realistic portrayals of animals in their natural surroundings. Metalware, gold and jewellery and tastefully decorated ornaments attest to the culture and prosperity of the people of Lothal.  Most of their equipment: metal tools, weights, measures, seals, earthenware and ornaments were of the uniform standard and quality found across the Indus civilization. Lothal was a major trade centre, importing "en masse" raw materials like copper, chert and semi-precious stones from Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, and mass distributing to inner villages and towns. It also produced large quantities of bronze celts, fish-hooks, chisels, spears and ornaments. Lothal exported its beads, gemstones, ivory and shells. The stone blade industry catered to domestic needs—fine chert was imported from the Larkana valley or from Bijapur in modern Karnataka. Bhagatrav supplied semi-precious stones while "chank" shell came from Dholavira and Bet Dwarka. An intensive trade network gave the inhabitants great prosperity. The network stretched across the frontiers to Egypt, Bahrain and Sumer. One of the evidence of trade in Lothal is the discovery of typical Persian gulf seals, a circular button seal

Architectural development.

While the wider debate over the end of Indus civilisation continues, archaeological evidence gathered by the ASI appears to point to natural catastrophes, specifically floods and storms as the source of Lothal's downfall. A powerful flood submerged the town and destroyed most of the houses, with the walls and platforms heavily damaged. The acropolis was levelled (2000–1900 BCE), and inhabited by common tradesmen and newly built makeshift houses. The worst consequence was the shift in the course of the river, cutting off access to the ships and dock. The people built a new but shallow inlet to connect the flow channel to the dock for sluicing small ships into the basin. Large ships were moored away. Houses were rebuilt, yet without removal of flood debris, which made them poor-quality and susceptible to further damage. Public drains were replaced by soakage jars. The citizens did not undertake encroachments, and rebuilt public baths. However, with a poorly organised government, and no outside agency or central government, the public works could not be properly repaired or maintained. The heavily damaged warehouse was never repaired properly, and stocks were stored in wooden canopies, exposed to floods and fire. The economy of the city was transformed. Trade volumes reduced greatly, though not catastrophically, and resources were available in lesser quantities. Independent businesses caved, allowing a merchant-centric system of factories to develop where hundreds of craftsmen worked for the same supplier and financier. The bead factory had ten living rooms and a large workplace courtyard. The coppersmith's workshop had five furnaces and paved sinks to enable multiple artisans to work.  The declining prosperity of the town, paucity of resources and poor administration increased the woes of a people pressured by consistent floods and storms. Increased salinity of soil made the land inhospitable to life, including crops. This is evidenced in adjacent cities of Rangpur, Rojdi, Rupar and Harappa in Punjab, Mohenjo-daro and Chanhudaro in Sindh. A massive flood (c. 1900 BCE) completely destroyed the flagging township in a single stroke. Archaeological analysis shows that the basin and dock were sealed with silt and debris, and the buildings razed to the ground. The flood affected the entire region of Saurashtra, Sindh and south Gujarat, and affected the upper reaches of the Indus and Sutlej, where scores of villages and townships were washed away. The population fled to inner regions.

Later Harappan culture.

Archaeological evidence shows that the site continued to be inhabited, albeit by a much smaller population devoid of urban influences. The few people who returned to Lothal could not reconstruct and repair their city, but surprisingly continued to stay and preserved religious traditions, living in poorly built houses and reed huts. That they were the Harappan peoples is evidenced by the analyses of their remains in the cemetery. While the trade and resources of the city were almost entirely gone, the people retained several Harappan ways in writing, pottery, and utensils. About this time ASI archaeologists record a mass movement of refugees from Punjab and Sindh into Saurashtra and to the valley of Sarasvati (1900–1700 BCE). Hundreds of ill-equipped settlements have been attributed to this people as "Late Harappans" a completely de-urbanised culture characterised by rising illiteracy, less complex economy, unsophisticated administration and poverty. Though Indus seals went out of use, the system of weights with an 8.573 gram (0.3024 oz avoirdupois

Civilization.

The people of Lothal made significant and often unique contributions to human civilisation in the Indus era, in the fields of city planning, art, architecture, science, engineering, pottery, and religion. Their work in metallurgy, seals, beads and jewellery was the basis of their prosperity.

Science and engineering.

A thick ring-like shell object found with four slits each in two margins served as a compass to measure angles on plane surfaces such as housing alignments, roads or land surveys. S.R. Rao also suggested that it could have functioned as an instrument for measuring angles and perhaps the position of stars and thus for navigation like a sextant. Lothal contributes one of three measurement scales that are integrated and linear (others found in Harappa and Mohenjodaro). An ivory scale from Lothal has the smallest-known decimal divisions in Indus civilisation. The scale is 6 millimetres (0.2 inches) thick, broad and the available length is, but only 27 graduations are visible over, the distance between graduation lines being (the small size indicates use for fine purposes). The sum total of ten graduations from Lothal is approximate to the "angula" in the "Arthashastra". The Lothal craftsmen took care to ensure durability and accuracy of stone weights by blunting edges before polishing.  For their renowned draining system, Lothal engineers provided corbelled roofs, and an apron of kiln-fired bricks over the brick face of the platform where the sewerage entered the cesspool. Wooden screens inserted in grooves in the side drain walls held back solid waste. The well is built of radial bricks, in diameter and deep. It had an immaculate network of underground drains, silting chambers and cesspools, and inspection chambers for solid waste. The extent of drains provided archaeologists with many clues regarding the layout of streets, organisation of housing and baths. On average, the main sewer is in depth, with outer dimensions of 86 × 68 × 33 cm (34 × 27 × 13 in). Lothal brick-makers used a logical approach in manufacture of bricks, designed with care in regards to thickness of structures. They were used as headers and stretchers in same and alternate layers. Archaeologists estimate that in most cases, the bricks were in ratio 1:0.5:0.25 on three sides, in dimensions which were integral multiples of large graduations of Lothal scale of.

Religion and disposal of the dead.

The people of Lothal worshipped a fire god, speculated to be the horned deity depicted on seals, which is also evidenced by the presence of private and public fire-altars where religious ceremonies were apparently conducted. Archaeologists have discovered gold pendants, charred ashes of terra-cotta cakes and pottery, bovine remains, beads and other signs that may indicate the practice of the Gavamayana sacrifice, associated with the ancient Vedic religion. Animal worship is also evidenced, but not the worship of the Mother Goddess that is evidenced in other Harappan cities—experts consider this a sign of the existence of diversity in religious traditions. However, it is believed that a sea goddess, perhaps cognate with the general Indus-era Mother Goddess, was worshipped. Today, the local villagers likewise worship a sea goddess, "Vanuvati Sikotarimata", suggesting a connection with the ancient port's traditions and historical past as an access to the sea. But the archaeologists also discovered that the practice had been given up by 2000 BCE (determined by the difference in burial times of the carbon-dated remains). It is suggested that the practice occurred only on occasion. It is also considered that given the small number of graves discovered—only 17 in an estimated population of 15,000—the citizens of Lothal also practised cremation of the dead. Post-cremation burials have been noted in other Indus sites like Harappa, Mehi and Damb-Bhuti.

Metallurgy and jewellery.

Lothal copper is unusually pure, lacking the arsenic typically used by coppersmiths across the rest of the Indus valley. The city imported ingots from probable sources in the Arabian peninsula. Workers mixed tin with copper for the manufacture of celts, arrowheads, fishhooks, chisels, bangles, rings, drills, and spearheads, although weapon manufacturing was minor. They also employed advanced metallurgy in following the "cire perdue" technique of casting, and used more than one-piece moulds for casting birds and animals. They also invented new tools such as curved saws and twisted drills unknown to other civilisations at the time.  Lothal was one of the most important centres of production for shell-working, owing to the abundance of chank shell of high quality found in the Gulf of Kutch and near the Kathiawar coast. Gamesmen, beads, unguent vessels, chank shells, ladles and inlays were made for export and local consumption. Components of stringed musical instruments like the plectrum and the bridge were made of shell. An ivory workshop was operated under strict official supervision, and the domestication of elephants has been suggested. An ivory seal, and sawn pieces for boxes, combs, rods, inlays and ear-studs were found during excavations. Lothal produced a large quantity of gold ornaments—the most attractive item being microbeads of gold in five strands in necklaces, unique for being less than 0.25 millimetres (0.010 inches) in diameter. Cylindrical, globular and jasper beads of gold with edges at right angles resemble modern pendants used by women in Gujarat in plaits of hair. A large disc with holes recovered from a sacrificial altar is compared to the "rukma" worn by Vedic priests. Studs, cogwheel and heart-shaped ornaments of fainence and steatite were popular in Lothal. A ring of thin copper wire turned into double spirals resembles the gold-wire rings used by modern Hindus for weddings.

Art.

The discovery of etched carnelian beads and non-etched barrel beads in Kish and Ur (modern Iraq), Jalalabad (Afghanistan) and Susa (Iran) attest to the popularity of the Indus bead industry across West Asia. The lapidaries select stones of variegated colours, producing beads of different shapes and sizes. The methods of Lothal bead-makers were so advanced that no improvements have been noted over 4,000 years—modern makers in the Khambhat area follow the same technique. Double-eye beads of agate and collared or gold-capped beads of jasper and carnelian beads are among those attributed as uniquely from Lothal. It was very famous for micro-cylindrical beads of steatite (chlorite). The Lothal excavation yielded 213 seals, third in volume amongst all Indus sites. Seal-cutters preferred short-horned bulls, mountain goats, tigers and composite animals like the elephant-bull for engravings. There is a short inscription of intaglio in almost every seal. Stamp seals with copper rings inserted in a perforated button were used to sealing cargo, with impressions of packing materials like mats, twisted cloth and cords, a fact verified only at Lothal. Quantitative descriptions, seals of rulers and owners were stamped on goods. A unique seal found here is from Bahrain—circular, with motif of a dragon flanked by jumping gazelles.  Lothal offers two new types of potter work, a convex bowl with or without stud handle, and a small jar with flaring rim, both in the micaceous Red Ware period, not found in contemporary Indus cultures. Lothal artists introduced a new form of realistic painting. Paintings depict animals in their natural surroundings. On one large vessel, the artist depicts birds with fish in their beaks, resting in a tree, while a fox-like animal stands below. This scene bears resemblance to the story of The Fox and the Crow in the "Panchatantra". Artistic imagination is also suggested via careful portrayals—for example, several birds with legs aloft in the sky suggest flight, while half-opened wings suggest imminent flight. On a miniature jar, the story of the thirsty crow and deer is depicted – of how the deer could not drink from the narrow-mouth of the jar, while the crow succeeded by dropping stones in the jar. The features of the animals are clear and graceful. Movements and emotions are suggested by the positioning of limbs and facial features—in a jar without overcrowding.  A complete set of terra-cotta gamesmen, has been found in Lothal—animal figures, pyramids with ivory handles and castle-like objects (similar to the chess set of Queen Hatshepsut in Egypt). The realistic portrayal of human beings and animals suggests a careful study of anatomical and natural features. The bust of a male with slit eyes, sharp nose, and square-cut beard is reminiscent of Sumerian figures, especially stone sculptures from Mari. In images of men and women, muscular and physical features are sharp, prominently marked. Terra-cotta models also identify the differences between species of dogs and bulls, including those of horses. Animal figures with wheels and a movable head may have been utilised as toys.

Excavated Lothal.

On plan, Lothal stands north-to-south and east-to-west. At the height of its habitation, it covered a wider area since remains have been found south of the mound. Due to the fragile nature of unbaked bricks and frequent floods, the superstructures of all buildings have receded. Dwarfed walls, platforms, wells, drains, baths and paved floors are visible. But thanks to the loam deposited by persistent floods, the dock walls were preserved beyond the great deluge (c. 1900 BCE). The absence of standing high walls is attributed to erosion and brick robbery. The ancient nullah, the inlet channel, and riverbed have been similarly covered up. The flood-damaged peripheral wall of mud-bricks is visible near the warehouse area. The remnants of the north-south sewer are burnt bricks in the cesspool. Cubical blocks of the warehouse on a high platform are also visible.  The ASI has covered the peripheral walls, the wharf and many houses of the early phase with earth to protect from natural phenomena, but the entire archaeological site is nevertheless facing grave concerns about necessary preservation. Salinity ingress and prolonged exposure to the rain and sun are gradually eating away the remains of the site. Heavy rain in the region has damaged the remains of the sun-dried mud brick constructions. Stagnant rain water has lathered the brick and mud work with layers of moss. Due to siltation, the dockyard's draft has been reduced by and saline deposits are decaying the bricks. Officials blame the salinity on capillary action and point out that cracks are emerging and foundations weakening even as restoration work slowly progresses.

Dockyard.

The dockyard was located away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt. It is speculated that Lothal engineers studied tidal movements, and their effects on brick-built structures, since the walls are of kiln-burnt bricks. This knowledge also enabled them to select Lothal's location in the first place, as the Gulf of Khambhat has the highest tidal amplitude and ships can be sluiced through flow tides in the river estuary. The engineers built a trapezoidal structure, with north-south length of average, and east-west width of. Another assessment is that the basin could have served as an irrigation tank, for the estimated original dimensions of the "dock" are not large enough, by modern standards, to house ships and conduct much traffic. Criticism of the dock theory has grown since first doubted by Leshnik in 1968 and later Yule in 1982. The controversy was finally settled when scientists from The National Institute of Oceanography, Goa discovered foraminifera (marine microfossils) and salt, gypsum crystals (due to evapouration of seawater) in the rectangular structure clearly indicating that sea water once filled the structure. Additional evidence includes findings of 7 stone anchors of which 5 were found in the dock, 5 terracotta models of boats and a circular Persian Gulf seal from Bahrain.  The original height of the embankments was. (Now it is.) The main inlet is wide, and another is provided on the opposite side. To counter the thrust of water, offsets were provided on the outer wall faces. When the river changed its course in 2000 BCE, a smaller inlet, wide was made in the longer arm, connected to the river by a channel. At high tide flow of of water would have allowed ships to enter. Provision was made for the escape of excess water through the outlet channel, wide and high in the southern arm. The dock also possessed a "lock-gate" system—a wooden door could be lowered at the mouth of the outlet to retain a minimum column of water in the basin so as to ensure flotation at low tides. Central to the city's economy, the warehouse was originally built on sixty-four cubical blocks, square, with passages, and based on a 3.5-metre-high (11.5 ft) mud-brick podium. The pedestal was very high to provide maximum protection from floods. Brick-paved passages between blocks served as vents, and a direct ramp led to the dock to facilitate loading. The warehouse was located close to the acropolis, to allow tight supervision by ruling authorities. Despite elaborate precautions, the major floods that brought the city's decline destroyed all but twelve blocks, which became the makeshift storehouse.

Acropolis and lower town.

Lothal's acropolis was the town centre, its political and commercial heart, measuring east-to-west by north-to-south. There were three streets and two lanes running east-west, and two streets running north-south. The four sides of the rectangular platform on which houses were built are formed by mud-brick structures of thickness and high. The baths were primarily located in the acropolis—mostly two-roomed houses with open courtyards. The bricks used for paving baths were polished to prevent seepage. The pavements were lime-plastered and edges were wainscoted (wooden panels) by thin walls. The ruler's residence is in area with a 1.8-square-meter-bath (19 sq ft) equipped with an outlet and inlet. The remains of this house give evidence to a sophisticated drainage system. The Lower town marketplace was on the main north-south street wide. Built in straight rows on either side of the street are residences and workshops, although brick-built drains and early period housing has disappeared. The street maintained a uniform width and did not undergo encroachment during the reconstructive periods after deluges. There are multiple two-roomed shops and workplaces of coppersmiths and blacksmiths.  The bead factory, which performs a very important economic function, possesses a central courtyard and eleven rooms, a store, and a guardhouse. There is a cinder dump, as well as a double-chambered circular kiln, with stoke-holes for fuel supply. Four flues are connected with each other, the upper chamber and the stokehold. The mud plaster of the floors and walls are vitrified owing to intense heat during work. The remnants of raw materials such as reed, cow dung, sawdust, and agate are found, giving archaeologists hints of how the kiln was operated. A large mud-brick building faces the factory, and its significance is noted by its plan. Four large rooms and a hall, with an overall measurement of. The hall has a large doorway and a raised floor in the southern corner of the building.

Coastal trade route.

A coastal route may have existed linking sites such as Lothal and Dholavira to Sutkagan Dor on the Makran coast.

Notes.

Harappa Town Planning" (published in "Uttar Pradesh" in November 1961).

Lothal () was one of the southernmost cities of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, located in the Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt and first inhabited 3700 BCE. Discovered in 1954, Lothal was excavated from 13 February 1955 to 19 May 1960 by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the official Indian government agency for the preservation of ancient monuments. According to the ASI, Lothal had the world's earliest known dock, which connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra when the surrounding Kutch desert of today was a part of the Arabian Sea. However, this interpretation has been challenged by other archaeologists, who argue that Lothal was a comparatively small town, and that the "dock" was actually an irrigation tank. The controversy was finally settled when scientists from The National Institute of Oceonography, Goa discovered foraminifera (marine microfossils) and salt, gypsum crystals in the rectangular structure clearly indicating that sea water once filled the structure.

Lothal [] ( ‚Hügel der Toten‘) war eine wichtige Stadt der antiken Indus-Kultur. Die im heutigen Bundesstaat Gujarat gelegene und aus dem 24. Jahrhundert v. Chr. stammende Stadt ist Indiens wichtigste archäologische Stätte aus dieser Ära.


Professional career.

Edmonton Oilers (2001–2006).

Before making his professional debut, Conklin spent two seasons playing for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League, followed by three seasons playing hockey with the University of New Hampshire's team, the Wildcats (before Conklin could join the Wildcats, he was forced to take a year off because NCAA regulations dictated he do so due to a Division I program transfer). With the completion of his career at the University of New Hampshire in the spring of 2001, Conklin signed a professional contract as an undrafted free agent with the Edmonton Oilers. He spent the bulk of his first two seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs, the then-shared American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate for the Oilers and Montreal Canadiens, and led the Bulldogs to within one win of a Calder Cup championship in 2003. He set an AHL record for most saves in a game with 83 (in a quadruple overtime, 134:56 minute 2–1 win over the Houston Aeros in Game 2 of the 2003 Calder Cup Final) in what was then the longest game in AHL history. In the 2003–04 season, he played as back-up to Tommy Salo, effectively becoming the starter when Salo was lost to injury, and then as the joint starter with Jussi Markkanen following Salo's trade to the Colorado Avalanche. During the NHL lockout he played for Wolfsburg in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the German elite league.  Conklin also played for the United States at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships in the spring of 2004 and 2005. In the 2004 event, the Americans won a surprising bronze medal. Following an upset of the host Czechs and a shutout, 1–0 shootout victory over Slovakia in the bronze medal game, Conklin was selected as the tournament's best goaltender.  With the conclusion of the lockout, Conklin entered the new season as Edmonton's probable starting goaltender, backed up by Markkanen. Given the prevalent idea that either goaltender could assume the starting job, local media began using the nickname "Conkkanen" to describe Edmonton's starting goaltender. However, during the 2005–06 season, both goaltenders proved to be inconsistent, with Conklin's performance additionally hampered by injury and no longer considered NHL-caliber, prompting the Oilers to waive Conklin in early February and general manager Kevin Lowe to acquire a new starter, Dwayne Roloson, from the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline.

2006 Stanley Cup Final.

Despite having played one game for the Oilers between March and June, Conklin was on the bench in Game 1 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final in Raleigh, against the Carolina Hurricanes. Roloson then suffered what would prove to be a series-ending knee injury late in the third period with the game tied 4–4, and Conklin was suddenly called into play. Edmonton had led by three goals at one point before allowing Carolina to then score four unanswered and take the lead before the Oilers managed to tie the game. With just over 30 seconds of time remaining in regulation, he committed a blunder that allowed Hurricanes forward Rod Brind'Amour to score the winning goal unopposed, into an empty net.  It also served as his first and at the time, only, experience in the NHL post-season; Jussi Markkanen played all subsequent six games of the series at head coach Craig MacTavish's discretion; not meant as a punishment or a reflection of Conklin's play, MacTavish explained, but, "...I can't be in a situation that I was in during the course of the year where you are going back between 1 and 1-A, and never give them the opportunity to get confident in the net. If he struggles, he will continue to play. If he plays well, he will continue to play." Canadian national television analyst and former NHL goaltender Kelly Hrudey was less diplomatic than MacTavish: "Not even a question – Markkanen. And I gain no satisfaction in saying that."  "Let's not turn that play into some monumental thing", Conklin said at the time. However, the extraordinarily bad timing and subsequent massive public focus on the indelible miscue did nothing to improve his reputation, already severely diminished by a poor regular season.  Conklin did not return to the ice again as an Oiler, as the team option on his contract for the 2006–07 NHL season was subsequently declined. "Obviously I needed a change of scenery", he said. "I kicked myself a lot after it happened, but you can't change things, so you just have to deal with it and move on."

Columbus Blue Jackets / Buffalo Sabres (2006–2007).

Following the start of free agency on July 1, Conklin was signed as an unrestricted free agent (UFA) by the Columbus Blue Jackets, on July 6. He was expected to compete for the Blue Jackets' backup goaltending position, however head coach Gerard Gallant opted to go with internationally experienced Fredrik Norrena. Conklin was subsequently waived and sent to the Jackets' AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. An injury to Blue Jackets' starter Pascal Leclaire prompted the team to recall him to the NHL on December 11, 2006.  On February 27, 2007, Conklin was acquired by the Buffalo Sabres in a trade for a fifth-round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. In his first start with the Sabres, Conklin made a then-career high 42 saves in a win over the Florida Panthers.

Pittsburgh Penguins (2007–2008).

On July 19, 2007, Conklin was signed as a UFA by the Pittsburgh Penguins to a $500,000, one-year, two-way contract (that would pay him $100,000 in the AHL, exempting him from re-entry waivers). After being assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL on September 22, he was recalled by Pittsburgh on an emergency basis on December 6, when starting goaltender Marc-André Fleury suffered a high ankle sprain. His first appearance on December 11 in Philadelphia was noted and extremely unprepossessing, as he relieved Dany Sabourin in the third period of an ugly game with the division rival Philadelphia Flyers and promptly earned a 9.00 goals against average (GAA) by allowing the final three goals in an 8–2 blowout loss.  Although initially expected to remain Sabourin's backup, Conklin instead became a sensation as Pittsburgh's "de facto" starting goaltender, winning his first nine starts from December 20, playing all but one game in the month of January. (Coincidentally, he was the first player to wear #35 for the Penguins since franchise goaltender Tom Barrasso, whose 12-year tenure with the team ended in 2000.)  Before Fleury's return as a starter on March 2, 2008, Conklin compiled a record of 17–6–5, earning the nickname "Conkblock" (derived by keeping a person away from a goal, or preventing someone from scoring) by posting career numbers (such as a 50-save win over the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on February 26, despite being outshot 52–21) and leading the NHL in save percentage.  Despite Conklin's later protests that "[t]he kid has way too much talent, athleticism, and ability to not be a great goalie", and "I had nothing to do with it", Fleury's noticeably improved play upon return was also partially attributed to the competition and mentoring his presence provided, as Penguins goaltending coach Gilles Meloche attested in May,  Conklin helped the team to not only sustain, but advance their position in the standings during Fleury's extended injury. He was considered by his teammates to have played a role equal to that of Hart Memorial Trophy nominee Evgeni Malkin in the success of the 2007–08 Pittsburgh Penguins season, and was the team's candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, "given annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.  Conklin played in 33 games for the Penguins, finishing with a personal record of 18–8–5 and a save percentage of.923, second overall in the NHL, and a single-season franchise record. Though he did not play, he served as Fleury's backup in all 20 of the team's playoff games, as Pittsburgh reached the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Detroit Red Wings four games to two.  Due to the existence of the salary cap, the fact Pittsburgh had both Fleury and Sabourin under one-way contracts for 2008–09, and the likelihood of his ability to earn a major increase in both playing time and salary (the 50% raise that eventually came from the Red Wings, who guaranteed him 30 games, was seen as a bargain) with his 2007–08 performance, despite Conklin's significant and memorable contribution to the team, the Penguins did not renew his contract, and decided to allow him to reach unrestricted free agency once more on July 1.

Detroit Red Wings (2008–2009).

On July 1, 2008, Conklin signed a one-year, one-way deal as a UFA with the Detroit Red Wings, worth $750,000. Along with Conklin, former Penguin Marián Hossa also signed a one-year contract with Detroit, joining the team that had just defeated them in the Stanley Cup Finals less than a month earlier. In order to meet his new teammates and familiarize himself, Conklin was one of only six Red Wings to participate in the first optional skate before training camp.  Detroit head coach Mike Babcock expressed a desire to play Conklin in every third game in order to relieve starter Chris Osgood. Conklin made his first start with Detroit on the road, against the Carolina Hurricanes on October 13, where he made 27 saves in a 3–1 Red Wings victory and was named the first star of the game. On November 17, 2008, Conklin made his debut at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena against the Edmonton Oilers, posting his fifth career shutout as the Red Wings won 4–0.  Due to a sub-par regular-season performance from Osgood, Conklin essentially served in an equal-time platoon situation, playing in 40 games and winning 25 to Osgood's 26, his best NHL season, in that regard, to date. Despite significantly outplaying Osgood for the vast majority of the regular season, being credited by his fellow netminder and others for stabilizing the team's goaltending situation, allowing Detroit to capture another Central Division title and the second playoff seed in the Western Conference, Osgood played all but 20 minutes in the playoffs, largely on the strength of his playoff experience.  Conklin received his second taste of NHL playoff experience in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks, where he substituted for a dehydrated Osgood in the third period and played 20 scoreless minutes. The Red Wings reached the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, losing a rematch to Conklin's former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in seven games.  It was announced in the 2009 off-season Conklin would not be offered a new contract for the 2009–10 season due to salary cap constraints, with the Wings instead opting to promote longtime prospect Jimmy Howard from the AHL.

St. Louis Blues (2009–2011).

On July 1, 2009, Conklin signed a two-year deal worth an average of US$1.3 million per year with the St. Louis Blues, who made him an immediate offer following the start of free agency at noon.  "It's a young team, a pretty exciting team, an up-and-coming team, and one that played as well as anyone in the second half of the [2008–09] season," Conklin said. "Obviously, financially it's a lot better, a step up from what I've made the last couple years...I know the great season [Blues goaltender Chris] Mason had last year. I don't think they're signing me to play 10 games. Hopefully, I'll challenge for some ice time."  Conklin made his debut with the Blues overseas, on October 3, facing his former team, the Red Wings, at Sweden's Globe Arena, in the second game of the doubleheader of NHL Premiere 2009 Stockholm. After allowing two goals in the first 2:08, he ended with 30 saves on 33 shots as the Blues won 5–3, with his performance publicly contrasted to the widely criticized one of Jimmy Howard, his replacement on Detroit's roster, at the other end.  Conklin's first North American game with the Blues (also his first win and first shutout) came on October 17 away against the Anaheim Ducks, a 5–0 win. Conklin made 26 saves to earn St. Louis's first win since returning from Sweden, the second star of the game, and his 11th career shutout. Conklin did not record any of his ten wins during the 2009–10 NHL season at the Scottrade Center, home of the Blues. On February 26, 2011, Conklin was placed on waivers by St. Louis.  Following the 2011 NHL season, Conklin returned to play for the United States at the 2011 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia, with his best performance coming on May 6 against Canada in a 4–3 shootout loss in the qualifying round. Conklin was named player of the game after making 48 saves. The U.S. reached the tournament's quarter-finals, but lost to the Czech Republic, 4–0. He became a free agent on July 1.

Detroit Red Wings (2011–2012) and retirement.

On July 20, 2011, Conklin signed a one-year contract worth $750,000 to return to the Detroit Red Wings as the backup to Jimmy Howard. Detroit assigned Conklin to its AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, on February 21, 2012. He later re-joined the Red Wings and finished his final season with a 5–6–1 record, combined with a.884 save percentage and 3.28 GAA.  On July 12, 2013, the Blues hired Conklin as their goaltender development coach, effectively signaling his retirement from playing professional hockey.

Achievements.

NHL outdoor games.

Conklin participated in each of the first three NHL regular-season games outdoors, the most of any NHL player — even though on each occasion he was not his team's starting goaltender even a month prior to the game. "I count myself very lucky", he said of the opportunity. "There's not a guy in this league who wouldn't like to play in these games."

Personal.

Conklin is the son of Robert and Beth Conklin. Although his Phoenix birth possibly makes him the first Arizona-born ice hockey player to play regularly in the NHL, Conklin spent his entire childhood in Alaska, attending West Anchorage High School until he was recruited by Shattuck-St. Mary's, a boarding school in Faribault, Minnesota. He is the first Alaskan goaltender to reach the NHL. His younger brother Brice used him for shooting practice in their basement (a reversal of the usual positions for siblings) and went on to play defense for Shattuck and for Harvard University. His brother Sid also played at Shattuck as a goaltender.  Conklin and his wife Erika have a daughter and son, Maggie and Chase, and gave birth to their second son, Nash, on November 15, 2008. They live in central Maine during the off-season.

Ty Curtis Conklin (born March 30, 1976) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. Throughout his National Hockey League (NHL) career, he played for the Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues and two stints with the Detroit Red Wings.

Ty Conklin (* 30. März 1976 in Anchorage, Alaska) ist ein ehemaliger US-amerikanischer Eishockeytorwart, der im Laufe seiner Karriere für die Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues und die Edmonton Oilers in der National Hockey League aktiv war.


Blasts.

Pressure cooker bombs were placed on trains on the Western Line of the suburban ("local") train network, which forms the backbone of the city's transport network. Pressure cookers were used in this bombing and other recent explosions to increase the afterburn in a thermobaric reaction, more powerful than conventional high explosives. The first blast reportedly took place at 18:24 IST (12:54 UTC), and the explosions continued for approximately eleven minutes, until 18:35, during the after-work rush hour. All the bombs had been placed in the first-class "general" compartments (as opposed to compartments reserved for women, called "ladies" compartments) of several trains running from Churchgate, the city-centre end of the western railway line, to the western suburbs of the city. They exploded at or in the near vicinity of the suburban railway stations of Matunga Road, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar and Borivali. Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters that authorities had "some" information an attack was coming, "but place and time was not known".  The bomb attacks in Mumbai came hours after a series of grenade attacks in Srinagar, the largest city in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Home Secretary V K Duggal said there was no link between the Srinagar and Mumbai bomb blasts.

Injuries and fatalities.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R. R. Patil confirmed that a total of 200 people were killed and another 714 others have been injured. Additionally, various news organisations have reported that at least 200 people have died and that more than 700 others have been injured. A week after the blasts in Mumbai the confirmed death toll rose to 207. In September 2006 it was confirmed that the death toll had risen to 209.

Response.

A state of high alert was declared in India's major cities. Both the airports in Mumbai were placed on high alert. The western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network was at first shut down, although some trains resumed service later, and stringent security arrangements, including frisking and searching of commuters, were instituted on the other lines of the network. The city's bus service, the BEST, pressed extra buses into service to transport stranded commuters home.  The Prime Minister also held a security meeting at his residence attended by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, and Home Secretary V K Duggal.

Resumption of services and return to normality.

Western Railway services were restored on 11 July by 10.45 pm. As a show of investor confidence, the Bombay Stock Exchange rebounded, starting the day with the BSE Sensex Index up by nearly 1% in morning trade. Foreign investors also retained confidence, with the Sensex up almost 3% at 10,930.09 at the end of the day's trade.

Rescue and relief operations.

However a study commissioned by former MP Kirit Somaiya noted that only 174 of the 1,077 victims had received compensation through the Railway Claims Tribunal. For the handicapped victims, only 15 out of 235 eligible cases had been taken care of. Regarding the Prime Minister's promise to India concerning the rehabilitation of the victims, L. K. Advani noted that "none of the above mentioned assurances has been fulfilled to any degree of satisfaction"

Sources of information.

Due to the mobile phone networks being jammed, news channels ran tickertapes with information of injured individuals as well as SMS messages from those who wished to contact their families. Reports indicated that at around 18:00 UTC on 11 July (midnight in Mumbai), the phone networks were restoring service; telephone service was completely restored during the night.  Mumbai Help, a blog run by around thirty bloggers, was a useful source of information, especially for those outside India.

Investigation.

Some 350 people were detained 36 hours after the incident in Maharashtra — police claim that these are people rounded up for investigations. On 14 July, Lashkar-e-Qahhar, a terrorist organisation possibly linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the bombings. In an e-mail to an Indian TV channel, the outfit says it organised the bombings using 16 people who are all "safe". According to the e-mail, the main motive seems to have been a retaliation to the situation in the Gujarat and Kashmir regions, possibly referring to the alleged oppression of Muslim minorities in certain parts of the region. It also says that the blasts were part of a series of attacks aimed at other sites such as the Mumbai international airport, Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Red Fort in New Delhi. The authorities are investigating this claim and are trying to track the location of the e-mail sender. However, on 17 July, the forensic science laboratory Mumbai has confirmed the use of a mixture of the highly explosive RDX and Ammonium Nitrate for the bombings. The presence of these explosives in the post explosive debris was confirmed by modern techniques such as Liquid Chromatography with mass detector (LCMS), Gas Chromatography with mass detector (GCMS) and Ion Scan Chromatography. They have indicated a strong possibility of all explosives being planted at the Churchgate railway station, which was the starting point for all affected trains.  Initially, religious extremists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India terrorist groups, and Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI were the prime suspects. Both Lashkar and SIMI denied responsibility for the bombings. There was also evidence about the involvement of the international Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda following a phone call from a man claiming to be a spokesperson for the group on 13 July. The alleged al-Qaeda spokesman had said the blasts were a "consequence of Indian oppression and suppression of minorities, particularly Muslims."  On 30 September 2006, CNN reported that "The Indian government accused Pakistan's military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, of planning the 11 July Mumbai train bombings that killed 209 people".  The New York City Police Department was intensely concerned about the attacks, citing their simplicity and lethality. To address these worries, the department deployed Brandon del Pozo, a Jordanian-based intelligence officer, to Mumbai to collect information on the attacks and report on ways they reflected similar vulnerabilities in the New York City's extensive commuter rail system.

Arrests.

On 21 July 2006, police arrested three people suspected to be involved in the bombings. Police have detained more than 300 suspects since 18 July but these are the first arrests in the case. Two of the men were detained on Thursday in the northern state of Bihar and the third later in Mumbai. All three are said to belong to the banned SIMI organisation.  On the same day, Abdul Karim Tunda was thought to be arrested in Mombasa, Kenya on suspicions of involvement in the train bombings. but it was the wrong person. He was one of India's most wanted men and also a suspected organiser for the banned Islamic terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was arrested in 2013 near the Nepal border.  In late 2006, all the seven key accused in the Mumbai train blasts in July retracted their alleged confession to the police, saying they were illegally forced to sign blank papers, an Indian TV channel reported.

Continuing investigation.

M K Narayanan, the Indian National Security Advisor, has said that India doesn't have "clinching" evidence of the involvement of ISI in the Mumbai train blasts of 11 July.  "I would hesitate to say we have clinching evidence but we have pretty good evidence," he was quoted as saying on CNN-IBN.  Following Narayanan's remarks, the Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal on Monday characterised the evidence as "very good [...] it is fairly solid evidence,". 5 On 25 September 2008, Hindustan Times reported that "the Crime branch also learnt that the men [behind 2008 Delhi bombings] are those very operatives who had introduced themselves as Pakistanis to perpetrators of 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings.  Jemaah Islamiyah is known to use pressure cooker bombs with RDX and like explosives with taggants. Note that Jemaah Islamiyah had operatives in the Pakistan areas active in religious indoctrination and that were working with Egyptian Islamic Jihad through al-Zawahiri who taught on the use of pressure cooker bombs. As such it is quite possible that Jemaah Islamiyah was involved in the attack possibly through Indian Mujahideen which it also forms part of. Note that Jemaah Islamiyah was behind the 9-11 anthrax attacks as well.

Involvement of Indian Mujahideen.

On 27 February 2009, Sadiq Sheikh, an arrested leader of the Indian Mujahideen confessed to his alleged role in the bombings in a news channel broadcast. He claimed to have engineered the pressure cooker bombs with his associates in a flat in central Mumbai. If verified, these allegations could invalidate the previous claims by the ATS that the ISI or the SIMI were involved. Sadiq states in his confession, ‘'All five of us arranged local first class train passes beforehand. We also had the local train time table with us so that we could choose a train as per our convenience. We purchased bags and pressure cookers in Bombay.'’ He also claimed to have misled investigators by blaming the attacks on the Al-Qaeda. On 6 April 2013, IM co-founder Sadiq Sheikh declared hostile witness by defence advocates.

Convictions.

In September 2015, 12 people were convicted in this case. On 30 September 2015, a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court sentenced to death Faisal Sheikh, Asif Khan, Kamal Ansari, Ehtesham Sidduqui and Naveed Khan who planted the bombs in various trains.  The other seven convicts—Mohammed Sajid Ansari, who prepared the electrical circuits for the bombs, Mohammed Ali, who provided his Govandi residence to make the bombs, Dr Tanveer Ansari, one of the conspirators, and Majid Shafi, Muzzammil Shaikh, Sohail Shaikh and Zamir Shaikh who provided logistical support – were sentenced to life.

Impact.

Heightened security measures.

In wake of the blasts, the Indian government tightened security in railway stations. Under new restrictions passed by the Ministry of Railways, non-passengers would no longer be allowed on the railway platforms after July 2006. Other major security steps include installation of close circuit televisions inside the stations for round-the-clock vigil and installation of metal detectors.

Statements in response.

Various senior political figures from India and around the world condemned the attacks. In India, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was quick to call for calm in Mumbai, while President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, and president of the Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi also issued statements regarding the bombings in Mumbai. Officials from other nations offered their condolences to those affected by the bombings. Officials, from Pakistan which has long feuded with India, and the United Kingdom, which was the target of similar attacks the previous July, were among those who denounced the attacks in Mumbai as well as terrorism as a whole. Several terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Toiba and al-Qaeda, made comments — both in condemnation and condonation — about the attacks as well.

Memorial service.

A memorial service was held in Mumbai on 18 July at 6:25 pm local time— exactly one week after the blasts. President Abdul Kalam, his hand raised to his forehead in salute, led the two-minute silence as people lit candles and placed wreaths at Mahim station, one of the seven places on the suburban rail network hit by bombs. Sirens sounded across Mumbai marking the memorial service. People gathered at the site of the blasts, in railway stations on the city's Western Line, traffic came to a halt, It interrupted films and observed a moment of silence to pay homage to the victims.

External links.

The 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts on 11 July. They took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the nation's financial capital. The bombs were set off in pressure cookers on trains plying on the Western Line Suburban Section of the Mumbai Division of Western Railway. The blasts killed 209 people and injured over 700 more.

Bei den Bombenanschlägen in Mumbai 2006 detonierten am 11. Juli 2006 in der indischen Metropole Mumbai in dichter Abfolge sieben Bomben, die die Terroristen in Personenwagen von voll besetzten Vorortzügen im abendlichen Berufsverkehr gelegt hatten. Indische Sicherheitskräfte entschärften darüber hinaus einen achten Sprengsatz. Nach offiziellen Angaben kosteten die Anschläge 209 Menschen das Leben und verletzten mindestens 714 weitere.


History.

Prehistory.

The phenomenon of the shadow has always aroused human curiosity and inspired artistic representation, as recorded by Pliny the Elder, and various forms of shadow play since the 1st millennium BCE. The photogram in essence is a means by which the fall of light and shade on a surface may be automatically captured and preserved. To do so required a substance that would react to light, and from the 17th century photochemical reactions were progressively observed or discovered in salts of silver, iron, uranium and chromium. In 1725 Johann Heinrich Schulze was the first to demonstrate a temporary photographic effect in silver salts, confirmed by Carl Wilhhelm Scheele in 1777, who found that violet light caused the greatest reaction in silver chloride. Humphry Davy and Thomas Wedgewood reported that they had produced pictures from stencils on leather and paper, but had no means of fixing them and some organic substances respond to light, as evidenced in sunburn (an effect used by Dennis Oppenheim in his 1970 "Reading Position for Second Degree Burn") and photosynthesis (with which Lloyd Godman forms images).

Nineteenth century.

The first photographic negatives made were photograms (though the first permanent photograph was made with a camera by Niécephore Niépce). William Henry Fox Talbot called these "photogenic drawings", which he made by placing leaves or pieces of lace onto sensitized paper, then left them outdoors on a sunny day to expose. This produced a dark background with a white silhouette of the placed object.  As an advance on the ancient art of nature prints, in which specimens were inked to make an impression on paper, from 1843, Anna Atkins produced a book titled "British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions" in instalments; the first to be illustrated with photographs. The images were all photograms of botanical specimens, mostly seaweeds, which she made using Sir John Herschel's cyanotype process, which yields blue images. This very rare book can be seen in the National Media Museum in Bradford, England.

Modernism.

In Modernism, and especially in Dada and Constructivism and in the formalist dissections of the Bauhaus, the photogram enabled experiments in abstraction by Christian Schad as early as 1918, Man Ray in 1921, and Moholy-Nagy in 1922, through dematerialisation and distortion, merging and interpenetration of forms, and flattening of perspective.

Christian Schad's'schadographs'.

In 1918 Christian Schad's experiments with the photogram were inspired by Dada, creating photograms from random arrangements of discarded objects he had collected such as torn tickets, receipts and rags. Some argue that he was the first to make this an art form, preceding Man Ray and László Moholy-Nagy by at least a year or two, and one was published in March 1920 in the magazine "Dadaphone" by Tristan Tzara, who dubbed them 'Schadographs'.

Man Ray's 'rayographs'.

Photograms were used in the 20th century by a number of photographers, particularly Man Ray, whose "rayographs" were also given the name by Dada leader Tzara. Ray described his (re-)discovery of the process in his 1963 autobiography;  In his photograms, Man Ray made combinations of objects—a comb, a spiral of cut paper, an architect’s French curve—some recognisable, others transformed, typifying Dada's rejection of'style', emphasising chance and abstraction. He published a selection of these rayographs as "Champs délicieux" in December 1922, with an introduction by Tzara. His 1923 film "Le Retour à la Raison" ('Return to Reason') adapts rayograph technique to moving images.

Other 20th century artists.

In the 1930s artists including Theodore Roszak, and Piet Zwart made photograms while Luigi Veronesi combined the photographic image with oil on canvas in large-scale colour images by preparing a light-sensitive canvas on which he placed objects in the dark for exposure and then fixing. The shapes became the matrix for an abstract painting to which he applied colour and added drawn geometric lines to enhance the dynamics, exhibiting them at the Galerie L’Equipe in Paris in 1938-1939. Bronislaw Schlabs, Julien Coulommier, Andrzej Pawlowski, Beksinki and Kurt Wendlandt were photogram artists in the 1940s and 1950s; Lina Kolarova, Rene Mächler, and Andreas Mulas in the 1970s; and Tony Ceballos, Kare Magnole, Andreas Müller-Pohle, and Floris M. Neusüss in the 1980s.

Contemporary.

Established contemporary artists who are widely known for using photograms are Adam Fuss, Susan Derges and Christian Marclay, and younger artists worldwide continue to value the materiality of the technique in the digital age.

Procedure.

The customary approach to making a photogram is to use a darkroom and enlarger and to proceed as one would in making a conventional print, but instead of using a negative, to arrange objects on top of a piece of photographic paper for exposure under the enlarger lamp which can conveniently be controlled with the timer switch and aperture controls. That will give a result similar to the image at left; since the enlarger emits light through a lens aperture, the shadows of even tall objects like the beaker standing upright on the paper will stay sharp; the more so at smaller apertures.  The print is then processed, washed, and dried.  At this stage the image will look similar to a negative, in which shadows are white. A contact-print onto a fresh sheet of photographic paper will reverse the tones if a more naturalistic result is desired, which may be facilitated by making the initial print on film.  However, there are other arrangements for making photograms, and devising them is part of the creative process. Alice Lex-Nerlinger used the conventional darkroom approach in making photograms as a variation on her airbrushed stencil paintings, since lighting penetrating the translucent paper from which she cut her pictures would print a variegated texture she could not otherwise obtain.  One variable is the light source, or sources, used. A broad source of light will cast nuances of shadow; umbra, penumbra and antumbra, as shown in the accompanying diagram.  Photograms may be made outdoors providing the photographic emulsion is sufficiently slow to permit it. Direct sunlight is a point-source of light (like that of an enlarger), while cloudy conditions give soft-edged shadows around three-dimensional objects placed on the photosensitive surface. The cyanotype process ('blueprints') such as that used by Anna Atkins (see above), is slow and insensitive enough that coating it on paper, fabric, timber or other supports can be done in subdued light indoors. Exposure outdoors may take many minutes depending on conditions, and its progress may be gauged by inspection as the coating darkens. 'Printing-out paper' or other daylight-printing material such as gum bichromate may also enable outdoor exposure. Christian Schad simply placed tram tickets and other ephemera under glass on printing-out paper on his window-sill for exposure.  Conventional monochrome or colour, or direct-positive photographic material may be exposed in the dark using a flash unit, as does Adam Fuss for his photograms that capture the movement of a crawling baby, or an eel in shallow water. Susan Derges captures water currents in the same way, while Harry Nankin has immersed large sheets of monochrome photographic paper at the edge of the sea and mounted a flash on a specially-constructed oversize tripod above it to capture the action of waves and seaweeds washing over the paper surface.  Other variations include using the light of a television screen or computer display, pressing the photosensitive paper to the surface. Multiple light sources or exposing with multiple flashes of light, or moving the light source during exposure, projecting shadows from a low-angle light, and using successive exposures while moving, removing or adding shadows, will produce multiple shadows of varying quality.

A photogram [from the combining form φωτω- (phōtō-) of Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs, “light”), and Ancient Greek suffix -γραμμα (-gramma), from γράμμα (grámma, “written character, letter, that which is drawn”), from γράφω (gráphō, “to scratch, to scrape, to graze”)] is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light.

Als Fotogramm auch Schadografie oder Rayogramm wird die direkte Belichtung von lichtempfindlichen Materialien wie Film oder Fotopapier im Kontaktverfahren bezeichnet. Im Gegensatz zur Fotografie oder Luminografie wird dabei keine Kamera benutzt.


Coaching career.

College.

Bicknell was the head football coach at the University of Maine from 1976 to 1980, earning an 18–35–1 record. After that, he went to coach at Boston College, where he stayed for ten years. At Boston College, he was 59–55–1, and was head coach in 1984 when Heisman Trophy-winner Doug Flutie completed his famous Hail Mary pass to Gerard Phelan to beat the Miami Hurricanes as time expired. Bicknell son, Jack Jr., was the center for BC at the time of Flutie's miracle pass.

NFL Europe.

Bicknell was named the head coach of the Barcelona Dragons at their inception in 1991, and served there until October 2003, when he was named head coach of the Scottish Claymores. He has an overall record of 59–55 in his NFL Europe career. Bicknell made four World Bowl appearances, and had been to three title games in six years. In 1991, he led the Barcelona Dragons to an 8–2 mark and a berth in the first World Bowl. In 1997, his Dragons won the first half of the season and went on to win World Bowl '97 in Barcelona. In 1999, the Dragons posted a league-best 7–3 mark before losing to Frankfurt in the World Bowl. Also posted a league-best 8–2 record in 2001 before losing World Bowl IX to the Berlin Thunder in Amsterdam. On March 28, 2007, Bicknell stepped down as head coach of the Hamburg Sea Devils, citing health issues as the reason for his resignation.

Personal life.

Bicknell is nicknamed "Cowboy Jack" because of his love for country music and horse riding. He and his wife, Lois, have three children, Jack, Jr., Wendy and Bob and five grandchildren. Both of his sons played for him at Boston College and are currently coaches in the National Football League.

Jack Bicknell (born February 20, 1938) is a retired American football coach, most recently known for his long involvement in NFL Europa and its predecessor, the World League of American Football (WLAF). He served as the head football coach at the University of Maine from 1976 to 1980 and at Boston College from 1981 to 1988, compiling a career college football record of 77–90–2. In 1984, Bicknell coached his Boston College Eagles team to a 10–2 mark including a victory in the Cotton Bowl Classic. His quarterback that season, Doug Flutie, was awarded the Heisman Trophy.

Jack Bicknell (* 20. Februar 1938) ist ein ehemaliger American Football-Trainer, der unter anderem die Hamburg Sea Devils, eine deutsche American Football-Mannschaft, die in der NFL Europe spielte, trainiert hat.


Early years.

Azinger was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts; his father Ralph (1930–2013) was a navigator in the U.S. Air Force and later a businessman. He started in golf at age five. After Ralph retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1972, he opened a marina, and Paul spent his summer pumping gas and painting boats.  The family moved to Sarasota, Florida, where he attended and graduated from Sarasota High School. Azinger attended Brevard Community College in the late 1970s. While there, he found more time to practice his swing, playing on the team as a walk-on, and landed a summer job at the Bay Hill Golf Academy in Orlando, which allowed him more practice time. Practice earned him more opportunity, in the form of a scholarship to Florida State University in Tallahassee, and he turned professional in 1981.  During his early years, Azinger collected meager earnings. He and his wife, Toni, bought a used motor home, a 1983 Vogue, and drove from tournament to tournament. Azinger had a breakout year in 1987, when he won three times on the PGA Tour and had a second place finish in the Open Championship

Professional career.

PGA Tour.

Azinger won eleven tournaments on the PGA Tour in seven seasons from 1987 to 1993, climaxing in his one major title, the 1993 PGA Championship at Inverness, which he won in a sudden-death playoff against Greg Norman.  Azinger finished one shot behind Nick Faldo at the 1987 Open Championship at Muirfield after making bogey at both the 71st and 72nd holes. Azinger was bidding to become only the fourth golfer since 1945 to win the Open Championship at the first attempt and said that he was "heartbroken" to leave Muirfield without the Claret Jug trophy.  At the 1991 Ryder Cup, Azinger was involved in a controversial episode with Seve Ballesteros, with whom he had a fierce rivalry. Azinger and American teammate Chip Beck were using balls of different compressions off the tee on multiple holes, in violation of an agreement between the Cup captains. Azinger initially denied that the Americans had engaged in this practice, but admitted to it once he realized that there would be no penalty assessed.  In December 1993, Azinger was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in his right shoulder. His treatment included six months of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation in California. He wrote a book called "Zinger" about his battle with the disease and was the recipient of GWAA Ben Hogan Award in 1995, given to the individual who has continued to be active in golf despite physical handicap or serious illness. In 2000, he won his first tournament in seven seasons at the Sony Open in Hawaii.  Azinger was the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2008 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. He led the team to its first victory over the European squad since 1999. The team's victory was largely credited to his innovative strategy. This strategy is outlined in his book, "Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make it Work for You", which was released in May 2010. The book was co-authored with Ron Braund, a corporate team builder and psychologist, who consulted Azinger throughout the Ryder Cup.

Champions Tour.

Azinger made his Champions Tour debut at The ACE Group Classic in February 2010. He played four events that year and none since.

Television work.

From 2005 to 2015, Azinger worked as lead analyst for ESPN and ABC Sports' golf coverage. He initially shared analyst duties with his former Ryder Cup and Open Championship rival Nick Faldo. Azinger and Faldo, along with host Mike Tirico, formed a broadcast team that was met with positive critical acclaim. Faldo left for rival CBS after the 2006 season; since then, Azinger has worked alone with Tirico. However, when Faldo and Azinger were opposing captains at the 2008 Ryder Cup, Azinger's colleague Andy North filled in for him. Faldo and Azinger have also reunited as analysts on two occasions. The first reunion was at the 2007 Open Championship (for ABC) and the second was at the 2009 Presidents Cup (for the Golf Channel).  After ESPN/ABC lost its rights to both the U.S. Open and Open Championship to Fox and NBC, Azinger joined Fox Sports as its head golf analyst in 2016, replacing Greg Norman.  In October 2018, NBC Sports and Golf Channel named Azinger their lead golf analyst, succeeding the retiring Johnny Miller. He will remain with Fox for the U.S. Open and U.S Women's Open.

Other interests.

Azinger is an avid poker player and competed in the main event at both the 2006 World Series of Poker and the 2008 World Series of Poker. He is an avid foosball player, and often seeks places to play foosball while traveling.  Azinger threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Tampa Bay Rays' second ever playoff game on October 3, 2008. He recently launched a new application for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch called Golfplan.

Personal.

Azinger is a Christian. He and his wife Toni met at FSU and have been married since 1982. They have two daughters, Sarah Jean Collins and Josie Azinger Mark, and currently live in Bradenton, Florida.  Azinger gave the eulogy at the memorial service for his friend Payne Stewart, who was killed in a plane crash in 1999. His two managers and close friends, Robert Fraley and Van Ardan, also died in the crash.  Politically conservative, Azinger refused an invitation to the White House for the winning 1993 Ryder Cup team due to what he saw as draft dodging on the part of President Bill Clinton. He was however persuaded to attend and said that the visit "was just wonderful".

Professional wins (16).

PGA Tour wins (12).

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

European Tour wins (3).

European Tour playoff record (3–0)

Major championships.

Results timeline.

CUT = missed the half way cut WD = Withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place.

Results in The Players Championship.

CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships.

Cancelled due to 9/11
 QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
 "T" = Tied
 NT = No tournament

Paul William Azinger (born January 6, 1960) is an American professional golfer and TV golf He won twelve times on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1993 PGA Championship. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1988 and 1994.

Paul William Azinger (* 6. Januar 1960 in Holyoke, Massachusetts) ist ein US-amerikanischer Profigolfer der PGA TOUR. Er gehört dem Kreis der "Major"-Sieger an.


Early life.

Oliva was born in Cuba on July 4, 1941. At 12, he worked with his father in the sugar cane fields of Guanabacoa. When Oliva was 16, his father suggested that he enlist in Fulgencio Batista's army. In the absence of a birth certificate, the recruiting officer took the senior Oliva's word that his son was old enough to enlist in the fight against communism.  After losing the war to Fidel Castro, Oliva stayed in Cuba and took to hanging out at the beach. There, he met a fellow beachgoer who invited him to the local weightlifting club. After just six months of training Oliva was doing clean and jerks with over 300 lb and totaling 1000 lb in the three major lifts at a bodyweight of 195 lb, considered a middle-heavyweight.  In 1962, the National Weightlifting Championship for Cuba was won by Alberto Rey Games Hernandez; Sergio Oliva took second place. Because Games received an injury, Oliva was chosen to represent Cuba at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games hosted in Kingston, Jamaica.  During his stay in Jamaica, Oliva snuck out of his quarters while the guards were distracted. He ran at top speed until he was safely inside the American consulate. Arriving breathlessly, he demanded and received political asylum. Soon, 65 other Cuban nationals followed him, including Castro's entire weightlifting team and their security guards. Soon afterward, Oliva was living in Miami, Florida, working as a TV repairman.

Life in the United States.

In 1963 Oliva moved to Chicago, Illinois. There he worked at a local steel mill and began working out at the Duncan YMCA. Working 10- to 12-hour days at the steel mill and putting in another 2.5–3 hours at the gym gave Oliva very little time for anything else. Soon the bodybuilding grapevine was abuzz with gossip about a Cuban powerhouse who lifted more than any of the local Olympic champs. Oliva won his first bodybuilding competition, the Mr. Chicagoland contest, in 1963. He was successful again at the Mr. Illinois in 1964, but he lost in 1965 at the AAU Mr. America, winning 2nd place even though he won the trophy for "Most Muscular." In 1966, he won the AAU Jr. Mr. America, and lost at the AAU Mr. America again taking 2nd place although once again he claimed the trophy for "Most Muscular". He then joined the International Federation of BodyBuilders IFBB in which he won both the professional Mr. World and Mr. Universe Contests. In 1967, he won the prestigious Mr. Olympia contest.  Oliva then went on to win the Mr. Olympia title three years in a row, at 5 feet 10 inches and at a contest weight of 225-245lbs. Oliva's 1968 Mr Olympia win was uncontested. In 1969, he won his third consecutive Mr. Olympia by beating a Mr. Europe, a Mr. International, and four-time Mr. Universe winner Arnold Schwarzenegger. In his 1977 autobiography, "Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder", Arnold tells of their first encounter: "Then for the first time, I saw Sergio Oliva in person. I understood why they called him "the Myth". It was as jarring as if I'd walked into a wall. He destroyed me. He was so huge, he was so fantastic, there was no way I could even think of beating him. I admitted my defeat and felt some of my pump go away. I tried. But I'd been so taken back by my first sight of Sergio Oliva that I think I settled for 2nd place before we walked out on the stage... I never like to admit defeat, but I thought Sergio was better. There were no two ways about it."  However, Schwarzenegger won his first Mr. Olympia title by edging the Myth the following year with a score of 4-3. Oliva was banned from competing in the 1971 IFBB Mr. Olympia because he competed in the 1971 NABBA Mr. Universe. This was extremely controversial because Schwarzenegger had competed for this very same contest the year before and without Sergio to challenge Arnold, some felt that the contest was fixed. "I'd coasted to my second title as Mr.Olympia, in Paris in 1971. The only possible challenger had been Sergio - nobody else was in my league - and he'd been barred from the contest, along with others, because of a dispute between federations." Oliva was permitted to simply guest pose at the 1971 Mr Olympia. After this setback, Oliva was fiercely determined to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger and prove once and for all that he was the world's greatest bodybuilder.  In 1972, under the High Intensity Training (HIT) system of Arthur Jones, the designer of Nautilus training equipment, Oliva challenged Schwarzenegger for the 1972 Olympia in Essen Germany. By all accounts, Sergio was in his all-time greatest shape and completely confident he would regain the Mr. Olympia title. Arnold beat Sergio into 2nd place and was crowned Mr Olympia yet again. He said "In Essen, it seemed like all the top Bodybuilders turned up at their very best except for me. Sergio was back, even more impressive than I remembered." "Compared with all of the other Bodybuilders I've ever faced, Sergio really was in a class by himself. I was struck by that again the minute we were onstage. It was so hard to look impressive next to him with those incredible thighs, that impossibly tiny waist, those incredible triceps."  After being disqualified from the 1973 IFBB Mr. International that Sergio actually won, he severed all ties with the Joe Weider controlled IFBB and continued competing for other world bodybuilding federations. He won the World BodyBuilding Guild (WBBG) Mr. Galaxy in 1972 and 1973, the WBBG Mr. Olympus in 1975, 1976 and 1978, the WABBA Professional World Championships in 1977 and 1980, and the WABBA Professional World Cup in 1980 and 1981. After a 12-year hiatus from the IFBB, Oliva was invited back to the IFBB and came out of retirement to compete in the 1984 Mr. Olympia. Finishing in eighth place, "the Myth" still sported an extremely impressive physique and V-taper.  In 1985, at the age of 44, Oliva returned for an attempt at the famed Mr. Olympia title one last time. He could manage just an 8th-place finish, the same as the year before. Robert Kennedy, publisher of the magazine MuscleMag International, wrote, "Anyone who loves the sport of bodybuilding knows the name of Sergio Oliva, known as ‘the Myth’. I greatly admired him and consider him to be the all-time world's greatest physique. I saw him in competition many times, including his shows against Arnold. There is no doubt that with his wide shoulders and narrow hip structure he was superior to any other Bodybuilder of his generation. Sergio was not only the most aesthetic bodybuilder on stage but also the biggest... Sergio Oliva is considered by most to be the world's most genetically gifted bodybuilder... He set a whole new standard for competitive bodybuilding; loved by millions, revered by many and feared by some. He was so huge and extremely proportioned that he used to bring chills to his adversaries. This is how he acquired the name of the Myth."

Death.

Sergio Oliva died on November 12, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois from apparent kidney failure. He was 71. He was the first Mr. Olympia to have died, followed by Larry Scott on March 8, 2014 and Franco Columbu on August 30, 2019.  | colspan = 3 align = center | Mr. Olympia

Sergio Oliva (July 4, 1941 – November 12, 2012) was a Cuban bodybuilder known as "The Myth". This sobriquet was reportedly given to him by bodybuilder/writer Rick Wayne but Oliva himself has doubted this claim. Supposedly Wayne had begun calling Oliva "Champagne" because everyone who saw him at the 1967 Montreal World's Fair said he was "Just unbelievable".

Sergio Oliva (* 4. Juli 1941 in Havanna, Kuba; † 12. November 2012 in Chicago, Vereinigte Staaten) war ein kubanischer Bodybuilder.


Plot.

The film opens to the sounds of a couple having sex. Afterwards, Carlos the Jackal kills a spider in its web with his cigarette and evicts the woman from his room because he claims he has work to do. He is seen donning a disguise, and he walks to a cafe where CIA officer Jack Shaw is sitting at a table outdoors. He recognizes Shaw and asks for a light. Shaw does not recognize Carlos, because of his disguise, but he turns to watch Carlos enter the cafe. He watches as Carlos detonates a grenade, killing dozens of people.  The film shows an attack on the OPEC meeting by the Jackal and his followers in 1975. Shaw is sent by the CIA to identify Carlos, but secretly plans to assassinate him with a concealed pistol. The plan is foiled when his CIA superior stops Shaw from reaching out to shake Carlos' hand (actually to shoot Carlos) because he might be photographed doing so by nearby journalists.  In 1986 a man, looking like Carlos, is apprehended in an open-air market in Jerusalem and brutally interrogated by a Mossad commander named Amos. The man claims to actually be a US Naval officer named Annibal Ramirez whose identification was lost in the chaos of his arrest. Amos confirms his identity and lets him go, stunned that Ramirez looks exactly like Carlos. Back at home, Ramirez is visited by Shaw who tries to recruit him to impersonate the terrorist leader. Ramirez, however, is deeply embittered by his rough treatment at Amos' hands, and threatens to sue.  Shaw persists, turning up at a navy ball and trying various manipulations to goad Ramirez into taking the assignment. He finally succeeds by confronting Ramirez with the human cost of Carlos' terrorism, taking him to Bethesda Naval Hospital where a boy has been crippled by one of Carlos' bombs.  Amos and Shaw train Ramirez at a former prison in Canada. Much of his training is devoted to situational awareness and internalizing details of Carlos' life. His training concludes with Carla, one of Carlos' ex-mistresses, training Ramirez in how to make love like Carlos. The plan revolves around convincing the KGB, which is financing his terrorism, that Carlos has begun selling information to the CIA's Counter-terrorism Division. Shaw lures one of Carlos' girlfriends to Libya, where Ramirez meets up with her, successfully posing as Carlos, even during their lovemaking. The girlfriend has become an informant for French intelligence, however. Several French agents arrive at their apartment, and Ramirez is forced to kill them in self-defense. He is horrified at having to kill allies in his undercover operation.  Carlos sends an assassin to kill the girlfriend in France, ordering him to leave Europe through London. The assassin happens to be in Heathrow airport at the same time as Ramirez, and he quickly realizes he is an impostor after Ramirez fails to give the correct response to a password. The assassin forces Ramirez into a bathroom and a struggle ensues. Amos rushes in and manages to kill the assassin before being fatally shot. After Amos' death, the CIA suspends the operation pending a review, and Ramirez returns home.  Back with his wife, he makes love to her as Carlos would, and she is disturbed by the change in his personality. The next day, at his son's little league game, he gets into a confrontation with another father and nearly kills him. Shaw bails him out of jail, and both men are clearly suffering deeply by not being able to finish their mission and kill Carlos. Ramirez accuses Shaw of fabricating the scene at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Shaw threatens to use the Ramirez family as bait to lure out Carlos, if he tries to back out. That night Ramirez confesses everything to his wife, including his infidelity, but leaves to go on the mission, knowing that his family will never be safe as long as Carlos is alive.  They head to East Berlin and conspicuously meet with each other. The KGB photographs Ramirez meeting with Shaw and assumes Carlos has been turned.  Enraged, the KGB raids Carlos' safe house, but as they try to kill the terrorist, he fatally shoots several agents and escapes. Shaw and Ramirez are waiting outside for him, and Ramirez fights Carlos on the bank of the Spree River. It's impossible to tell which of the two is the real Carlos during the struggle. As one of the men is being held under water by the other, Shaw comes upon them and shoots the man above the water several times. He realizes too late that he has shot Ramirez, and Carlos swims away. Ramirez presses Shaw to leave him and kill Carlos, but Shaw insists that their plan has worked and that Carlos is now a marked man by the KGB. One way or another, Shaw points out that Carlos' days as a terrorist are over.  After returning home, the Ramirez family is seen leaving for Mass. Their car explodes in a fireball, and Carlos is shown receiving in the mail a newspaper clipping of their deaths. After their funeral we find the deaths of Ramirez and his family were staged by Shaw, and in the final scene, the family are safely cavorting on a beach in the Caribbean. Ramirez moves to kill a spider in its web with his cigarette, but suddenly changes his mind. He watches his children, finally at peace.  An epilogue reveals that Carlos the Jackal was jailed in 1994, after being refused sanctuary by several countries. A former U.S. Naval officer and a retired CIA agent are rumored to have played a major role in his capture.

The Assignment is a 1997 spy action thriller film directed by Christian Duguay and starring Aidan Quinn (in two roles), with Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley. The film, written by Dan Gordon and Sabi H. Shabtai, is set mostly in the late 1980s and deals with a CIA plan to use Quinn's character to masquerade as the Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal.

The Assignment – Der Auftrag (Originaltitel: "The Assignment") ist ein kanadischer Spionagethriller von Regisseur Christian Duguay aus dem Jahr 1997. Die Hauptrollen verkörperten Aidan Quinn und Donald Sutherland.


History.

On February 7, 1919, by the order of the Head of State Józef Piłsudski, the Postal Savings Bank was created. Its first director was appointed on December 28, 1919, Hubert Linde. For many years during the Second Polish Republic, Henryk Gruber was the president of the PKO. With time, a bank's head office was established in Warsaw with headquarters at ul. Świętokrzyska 31/33 and the first local branches: in Kraków, Lwów, Łódź, Poznań and Katowice. The first goal of the PKO was to introduce the Polish zloty into circulation instead of the Polish marka (as a derivative of the Reichsmark). From 1920, the bank had a legal personality as a state institution. The employees of the funds were associated in the Association of Postal Savers Workers, which had their own wheels at larger branches, e.g. in Warsaw, in Łódź.  During the German occupation of Poland, in the Second World War, Bank Polski operated under German management.  In 1945, the cash register activity was resumed. On January 1, 1950, the Postal Savings Fund was liquidated, and its agencies were taken over by the General Savings Bank (). In 1974, the PKO offer was enriched with a savings and settlement account for natural persons (commonly known as ROR).  From 1975 to 1987, the PKO branches operated within the structures of the National Bank of Poland, retaining their identity. On November 1, 1987, PKO Bank Polski became an independent bank again, as part of the economic reforms implemented by the communist government of Poland in its last years.

Operations.

Today (as at the end of 2015) PKO Bank Polski employs around 29,000 people and has a full-year net profit of over 7 billion PLN (more than 2 billion US dollars). Its assets are worth more than 285 billion PLN (around 80 billion US dollars). Bank was ranked 510 in the Forbes Global 2000 for year 2010. The bank is also present outside Poland, notably in Ukraine after the acquisition of KredoBank (Кредобанк). The company is headquartered in central Warsaw.  Because of its size and position as one of the first banks, PKO Bank Polski is still one of the best recognized and most valuable brands in Poland. Specialists from The Banker magazine estimated the value of Bank's brand at US$1 billion and in Rzeczpospolita "Polish Brands 2010" ranking its value was set at PLN 3.6 billion. In the 2011 edition of ranking "The BrandFinance® Banking 500" prepared by the British firm Brand Finance, which includes the most valuable bank brands in the world, PKO Bank Polski brand was valued at US$1.480 billion. It gives PKO Bank Polski the 1st place in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe and 114th place in the world.

Ownership.

Although floated on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, as of May 2019 the state still directly and indirectly holds 51.24% of shares (40.99% belong to State Treasury and 10.25% to state-owned Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego).

Capital Group.

PKO Bank Polski is the leader of the Capital Group. In addition to the parent, the group structure includes wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries and associates. These pursue their own business objectives whilst supporting the Bank's sales objectives and acting as its service providers. The subsidiary companies also complement the Bank's offer with such services as leasing, settlement of electronic card transactions, factoring and investment fund management.  Companies in PKO Bank Polski Capital Group - Direct subsidiaries:

Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski Spółka Akcyjna (also known as "PKO Bank Polski S.A.", "PKO BP S.A.") is Poland's largest bank founded in 1919. It provides services to individual and business clients. The core business activity of PKO Bank Polski is retail banking. The full Polish name roughly translates to "General Savings Bank". Popularly, only the acronym "PKO" is used by clients.

Die Bank Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski Spółka Akcyjna (PKO Bank Polski S.A., PKO BP S.A., „Allgemeine Sparkasse – Polnische Bank Aktiengesellschaft“) ist die größte Bank Polens mit Sitz in Warschau. Das Unternehmen ist an der Warschauer Wertpapierbörse im Aktienindex WIG30 gelistet.


Plot.

John Wisdom is a young man just out of college. On the night of his high school graduation, he got drunk and stole a car. With a grand theft auto conviction he is branded a felon and as a result can not hold down a decent job. Seeing no future for himself, Wisdom takes a left turn: he decides to become a criminal "for the people", evocative of Robin Hood. After seeing news reports about impoverished farmers and working class people being sent to the bank to pay ownership debts, Wisdom goes on a bank robbing spree with his girlfriend, Karen Simmons; they erase loan and mortgage records, buying time for the poor to pay their debts.  With the FBI after them, things take a turn for the worse when a panicky Karen kills a local sheriff. She and Wisdom make a run for the Canada–United States border, but when Karen is shot by a police helicopter, Wisdom leaves her in the care of some high school students and their teacher. He resumes his flight but is surrounded by police and federal agents at a college football field. As Wisdom appears to be reaching for his gun, he is riddled with gunfire and dies.  John wakes up where the film started, in his parents' bathroom. He emerges from the bathtub and proceeds to get ready for his job interview. His entire story has apparently been a daydream.

Production.

Estevez says the idea for the film "started as just the title. I thought it would be great visually. Just 'Wisdom' across the screen."  He wrote the first draft in three weeks. Wisdom became the surname of the lead character. Estevez says Wisdom is "without a place in society... He becomes a criminal because he feels it's the only thing society has left him to do."  Estevez added at the film was basically "about two people - their relationship and their discoveries. Those discoveries leave Wisdom not only wanted dead or alive in five states, but also a modern-day folk hero."  In October 1985 David Begelman's Gladden Entertainment announced it had signed a deal with the 23 year old Estevez to write, produce and direct "Wisdom". Estevez had previously written "That Was Then This is Now". Begelman had been in charge of Columbia, and MGM, during which time he gave Walter Hill, Barry Levinson and Richard Benjamin their first directing jobs.  Comparisons were made with Orson Welles who was 24 when he wrote, produced and directed "Citizen Kane". Estevez said "if they promote "Wisdom" as this most phenomenal thing that hasn't happened since Orson Welles, I'm going to get hit."  "I have a kind of nihilistic point of view," he added. "I'm into making films that are realistic and not fluff. When you deal in reality, you're dealing with a lot of serious problems. We could be sitting here and now and being vaporized by nuclear weapons by accidentally. That's reality... Life does not end happily ever after."  The female lead went to Demi Moore who was then Estevez's fiancée. (The two met while making "St Elmo's Fire".)  "I'm not going to sit here and say it was the most positive professional move for me when I made that picture," she said later. "Of course, doing it was based on my feelings for him and my desire to share it with him. It was very special. I was around from the day Emilio wrote the first page. I would read every page, and we would talk. The attachment to the project was real."  The Gladden Entertainment Company suggested Robert Wise be hired to work as "executive director" (mentor) and Estevez agreed. Wise said, "I was there to be an aid to him if he wanted to discuss something or whether he felt this kind of angle or editing standpoint was a good one, whether the different angles in a scene were enough coverage. I didn't ever step in when he was staging a scene. Then if I saw something that bothered me, I would get him aside and say, 'Be careful of this or watch for that. Be careful, I think you have her looking the wrong way in this shot.' Mainly technical things. We would discuss the pacing of scenes. And that would be primarily it."  The film was finished $200,000 under budget and a day ahead of schedule.  It was one of the first film scores from Danny Elfman.  "In a way, it's a very subversive film," Estevez said. "A lot of people are angered by the message it gives the kids: If you want something changed, then pick up a gun and change it. But if they stay until the end, they'll realize that violence doesn't solve anything. I'm going to take a beating on this one. "I can see myself getting my feet wet as a director, and there's a choppiness, an awkwardness to it. It's not totally relaxed. I made the movie first for myself, and I think just getting it done is an accomplishment. I fought my battle in just getting it done, and being the youngest person to get it done. Not that I set out to break any kind of record or anything, or to prove to anybody that I could do it."

Reception.

The film received negative reviews from critics: Leonard Maltin considered it "wretchedly scripted, with one of the most self-defeating wrap-ups you'll ever see." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.  Estevez later said the film "was a very disappointing experience - the outcome of it. I shouldn't say disappointing. I should say devastating - the response, how it was received. I tell you what: It was not a great film, but it was a good film. And I believe that now... I think if I show an area of weakness, it's in the writing and in the structure of my writing. I think I need to get an objective point of view." "  Moore and Estevez broke up not long after the film's release. She later recalled "there was a strong lash-out against Emilio. I can't get in the skins of those people who wrote what they wrote... I thought he did a great job and that his directing was very strong for someone who had never done this before."  "I took a beating from critics and I took it personally," said Estevez later. "I was broken for a period of time. But I've learned you really can't take it personally.... Making a film at that age was winning the battle. Having it released was icing on the cake."  Estevez added "I learned that you don't go into a project with a script that's not ready. You've got to have all the bugs worked out before you start... I also learned how to be more economical with my shots and with my time... [I was] like a kid in a candy store. When you're 23 and somebody hands you $4.5 million and tells you to go out and make a film, there will be some excesses."

Home media.

In 2009, Warner Bros. released "Wisdom" on DVD through its "Warner Archive" burn-on-demand service.

Wisdom is a 1986 American romantic crime film written and directed by its star Emilio Estevez in his filmmaking debut. The film also stars Demi Moore, along with Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright as Estevez's parents. The ending credits song is "Home Again" by Oingo Boingo and the score by Danny Elfman.

Wisdom – Dynamit und kühles Blut (englisch "Wisdom") ist ein US-amerikanisches Filmdrama von Emilio Estevez aus dem Jahr 1986. Die Hauptrollen spielten Emilio Estevez und Demi Moore.