Tex Murphy

Tex Murphy is a series of adventure games designed by Chris Jones. The eponymous main character is portrayed in live-action by Chris Jones himself. He is characterized as a down-on-his-luck private investigator in a post-nuclear future San Francisco, borrowing tropes from both the film noir and cyberpunk genres.
Games.
"Mean Streets" (1989).
"Mean Streets" is the first game in the "Tex Murphy" series. Unlike later games in the series, it features segments in a variety of genres, including adventure game sequences, side-scrolling action sequences, and an open-world flight simulator. It was notable at the time as one of the first commercially available games to use 256-color VGA graphics, as well as for its "RealSound" technology that allowed recorded digital audio to be played back without the need for an external sound card.
"Martian Memorandum" (1991).
"Martian Memorandum" continues the "Tex Murphy" storyline, but features more traditional point-and-click adventure
gameplay, with inventory-based puzzles and branching dialog trees. It uses digitized actors and features short bits of video during conversation, hinting at the FMV style employed in later games.
"Under a Killing Moon" (1994).
"Under a Killing Moon" marked a change in direction for the series. Costing over two million dollars and four years of development, it used 3D graphics and full motion video to greatly expand both the gameplay and presentation. Aaron Conners was put in charge of writing duties for the first time, and he re-imagined the Tex character as a down-on-his-luck divorcee, struggling to find work as a private investigator. It featured real-time 3D graphics that were exceptionally detailed at the time, and was one of the first games to take advantage of systems with 16 megabytes of RAM in order to display higher resolution textures.
"The Pandora Directive" (1996).
"The Pandora Directive" is the direct sequel to "Under a Killing Moon." It uses the same engine as its predecessor, and features many of the same locations (some newly expanded), particularly on Tex's home street of Chandler Ave. It also features many recurring characters from the previous game, and continues the romantic plot between Tex and Chelsee Bando. It features very similar gameplay to "Under a Killing Moon" but introduces logic puzzles alongside the inventory and "jigsaw" puzzles of the previous game. It also features a branching storyline, with three main paths and seven unique endings, and allows for multiple solutions to some problems, particularly those involving money.
"Tex Murphy: Overseer" (1998).
"Overseer" is the fifth game in the series, but its story is largely a re-telling of Tex's first big case, previously portrayed in "Mean Streets." This story is told through the use of a frame narrative, set after the events of "The Pandora Directive," as Tex relates the story of his past to Chelsee. "Overseer" maintains the gameplay and presentation style of the previous two games, and borrows little from "Mean Streets" beyond its basic plot. It retcons many details from that game further sharpening the divide between the early games in the series and the live-action games. "Overseer" was developed to showcase the nascent DVD-ROM format, and was the first game developed to specifically take advantage of DVD. Produced on an accelerated schedule, it was somewhat more limited in scope than "The Pandora Directive", without the branching paths and multiple endings. Access hoped that "Overseer" would serve to set up a proper sequel to "Pandora" and ended the game on a cliffhanger that remained unresolved for over 15 years.
"Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure" (2014).
"Tesla Effect" is the sixth game in the series, and a true sequel to "The Pandora Directive". It continues in the style of the previous titles, making heavy use of live-action FMV, as well as first-person exploration and investigation of 3D environments. It once again returns the series to Chandler Ave and features many of the same characters and locations featured in "Under a Killing Moon" and "The Pandora Directive". It also features multiple paths and endings like "Pandora".
"The Poisoned Pawn" (in production).
"The Poisoned Pawn" will be the seventh game in the series. The game originally began as a fan-made remake of the 5th title in the Tex Murphy series "Overseer", and its development was sanctioned by Big Finish Games in early 2015. However, due to increased traction in the game's development, as well as significant technological advancements, the project evolved into an official canon continuation of the Tex Murphy series. The development team was streamlined and partnered with the series' owner (Big Finish Games). Aaron Conners (series writer) has come on board, writing all-new content for the game that will continue directly after the events of "Tesla Effect", and taking place in the year 2050. While the foundation of the games' story is still centered around the "Overseer" plot, Tex (with the assistance of St. Germaine) will revisit various parts of all of his prior cases "in order to decipher his true past, and prepare him for an uncertain future." "The Poisoned Pawn" refers to the original title that was given to "Overseer", before a name change was decided internally prior to its 1998 release. On April 30th, 2021, it was announced that the game is now cancelled for the time being due to creative differences.
Setting.
The games in the Tex Murphy series take place in a post-apocalyptic 21st century. All of the games take place mostly in a post-WWIII San Francisco. The skies glow red with radiation, and people who don't live in a better-sheltered city or lack genetic immunity to the radiation are disfigured and usually repulsive. Several San Francisco landmarks are still present, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and Alcatraz, but most of them are completely abandoned; most damaged beyond repair from bombs in WWIII. The futuristic aspect borrows heavily from sci-fi books and films, most notably "Blade Runner" for its flying cars and impossibly dense tenements.
The character.
Tex Murphy is a hard-boiled PI. Tex is a member of the portion of the population born without any genetic defects making him a normal human (referred by in-game characters as a "Norm"). He is an avid fan of the classic film noir films of Humphrey Bogart. As such, he does his work in the style of archetypal film noir detectives such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. He has remarkable skills of observation (always punctuated with humorous internal monologues); when examining objects or features, he hardly ever misses an important or unusual detail. However, he is also occasionally a bit clumsy and naive which gets him into trouble from time to time, as does his sarcastic wit.
Tex is honest and generally a good-natured fellow who suffers from a bad back, a little too much alcohol (Bourbon...neat, preferred) and a few too many blows to the head. He runs his private investigation business out of his apartment at the Ritz Hotel on Chandler Avenue in Old San Francisco "among the mutants and the destitute" where several businesses and friends reside, including his love interest, the mysteriously mutated newspaper stand owner Chelsee Bando. Aside from wishing for a respectable, not to mention high-paying, client all he'd like to do is earn her love and respect if he can just refrain from placing his admittedly not too bad smelling foot in his mouth.
In 2011, NowGamer ranked him as the eighth-best game detective, calling him "the epitome of the hard boiled flatfoot detective", but wondering why he "dress[es] like a cross between an alcoholic Indiana Jones and Deckard from "Blade Runner"."
Radio theater.
When plans for a new game fell through, Chris Jones and Aaron Conners, produced a series of audio dramas in 2001, to continue the storyline. The radio theater stars several of the original characters and voices from the games, including Jones as Tex Murphy. They were financed out-of-pocket by the creators and released for free as digital downloads. These episodes continue to be available through The Unofficial Tex Murphy website. A new series of six more episodes have been announced to accompany the upcoming "" as a reward for qualifying backers.
Novelizations.
Aaron Conners has published novelizations of three "Tex Murphy" titles, as well as an original follow-up, which will serve as the basis for the upcoming "Tex Murphy and the Poisoned Pawn," currently in development by Chaotic Fusion.
The novels follow the same story as the games but differ somewhat in detail. "The Poisoned Pawn" incorporates elements of "" (itself based on "Mean Streets") but serves to retcon certain elements. Conners has announced two more novels following "The Poisoned Pawn". Connors claims that "One will pick up from the end of The Pandora Directive and reveal the exciting events that happened prior to Tex Murphy and the Tesla Effect. The other will continue the story that comes after, leading up to Tex's last ride into the sunset".
History.
The Tex Murphy character was first created for the amateur film "Plan 10 from Outer Space", created by Chris Jones and other members of Access Software. Following the development of their flight game "Echelon" they wanted to create another 3D flight game that cast players in the role of the futuristic private investigator. Eventually, adventure and action elements emerged, eclipsing the still-present flight sim sequences. "Mean Streets" would be noted for its use of high-color VGA graphics, digitized actors, and for its "Real Sound" technology, which allowed waveforms to be played back on the PC's speaker without the use of a sound card.
For the sequel, Access developed a more traditional point and click adventure game, "Martian Memorandum". Like "Mean Streets" it featured digitized actors, including Chris Jones as Tex, and featured a great deal more digitized voice. "Martian Memorandum" also introduced dialog trees to the series, which would continue to be a prominent element.
The third title in the series spent nearly four years in development, and represented the company's most ambitious game to date. "Under a Killing Moon" shipped on a previously unheard-of four CD-ROMs, and featured full voiceover and hours of cut scenes and dialog featuring live actors. Unlike many games using full motion video, however, it also featured high-end real-time 3D graphics and explorable environments unlike anything previously seen in the genre. Under a Killing Moon was widely praised for its use of technology, and represented the series' commercial peak.
For the next game, Access re-used the engine and technology they had developed for "Under a Killing Moon," but hired Hollywood director Adrian Carr to direct the game's video sequences and improve the storytelling and presentation. It also introduced narrative "pathing" wherein moral choices made throughout the game affect the story, and eventually the ending, in a manner similar to later games by BioWare. Although "The Pandora Directive" was well received by fans and critics, it was unable to replicate the financial success of its predecessor.
Access' plans for a sequel eventually evolved into plans for a trilogy, but these plans were scrapped when Intel approached Access about creating a game to demonstrate new DVD technology they were working on. To accommodate the accelerated schedule needed for the project, Access shifted their plans to a re-telling of "Mean Streets", done in the style of the later games in the series, and stripped away many gameplay elements. When Intel dropped the project, Access spent 3 months expanding the game's interactive elements and making it into a "full featured" title. They shipped the title themselves as "". The game was met with mixed reviews, and would mark the end of the series for well over a decade.
Hiatus and revival.
Shortly after the release of "Tex Murphy: Overseer" in 1998, Access Software was sold to Microsoft. By this point in time, the adventure genre was in sharp decline, and Microsoft was more interested in having the studio develop sports titles. Several Tex Murphy games were proposed during this time in a variety of genres, but none ever entered production. Access was later sold to Take-Two Interactive, and then closed down in 2006. In 2007, series leads Chris Jones and Aaron Conners formed a new studio, Big Finish Games, in Salt Lake City, and by 2009 had re-acquired the rights to the series. Conners declared his optimism to the community, stating, "I no longer think Tex's return is an 'if,' but a 'when.'"
Big Finish updated the main page of their site in April 2009 with an announcement of "Tex Murphy - Project Fedora" as a future release. This led to much speculation amongst the Tex Murphy fanbase that a new project in the form of a game was in the works as the fedora is a signature component of Tex's outfit, especially in light of the fact that this announcement coincided with the news that the rights to the series had been secured.
On June 16, 2009, Good Old Games re-released the first three games in the series as downloadable titles and put the last two into the "coming soon" section. The fourth game followed on June 30, and the fifth on July 21. Some of the releases use DOSbox to maintain compatibility with modern operating systems. In June 2014, a collection of Tex Murphy games were re-released on Steam as part of a collaboration between Big Finish Games and Night Dive Studios.
On March 20, 2012, Big Finish Games announced an upcoming Kickstarter campaign for ""Tex Murphy - Project Fedora". On May 15, 2012, Big Finish Games launched the Kickstarter campaign for "Tex Murphy - Project Fedora" with a goal of $450,000, to be supplemented by an additional $300,000 from Big Finish. This goal was met on June 7, and the campaign eventually raised $657,196, including PayPal donations. Production began on June 18, 2012. The game's official name was revealed on July 10, 2013 as ".
On May 10, 2016, Big Finish Games announced their official partnership with the development collective "Chaotic Fusion", for the development of the seventh game in the series "The Poisoned Pawn". The game is currently in production and does not have a set release date.
Video Documentary.
On Dec 2, 2017, Big Finish Games released a documentary on the Tex Murphy franchise. The video was originally a "Kickstarter" backer incentive for "", but was made available to the general public via YouTube. The 45-minute video provides a detailed insight into the history and development of the Tex Murphy character and game series. It also features interviews with many of the series' original creators, including behind the scenes video content from when the "Access Software" company was formed, all the way through to the "Tesla Effect" Kickstarter campaign.
Guinness World Record controversy.
On Feb 3, 2016, Guinness World Records awarded "Longest-running graphic adventure protagonist" to George Stobbart (from the "Broken Sword" series). The award was in recognition of his character spanning a period between September 30, 1996 and December 5, 2013 (a total of 17 years and 199 days). Then on March 3, 2016, the award was handed to Guybrush Threepwood (from the "Monkey Island" series), after his character was recognized for spanning the period between October 15, 1990 and December 8, 2009 (a total of 19 years and 54 days as of March 3, 2016).
However, when taking into consideration Tex Murphy's first adventure ("Mean Streets"' released in 1989), and his latest adventure ("Tesla Effect", released on May 8, 2014), the Tex Murphy character has actually spanned a total of (at least) 24 years and 121 days.
Despite Tex Murphy being a longer running graphic adventure protagonist (when taking into consideration the length of time between his first and his latest appearance), Guinness' justification for not considering Tex Murphy for this award was due to its interpretation of "Tesla Effect" as a reboot or "revival", despite the game officially being a canon continuation of the series and the Tex Murphy character as an ongoing protagonist. Guinness also cited Tex's 16-year hiatus as evidence of this. This caused some controversy within the adventure gaming community, with some adventure fans and adventure forums questioning and criticizing Guinness' decision when it was first awarded.
The award currently still stands with Guybrush Threepwood.
Longest wait for a sequel to a point-and-click adventure contradiction.
Despite officially acknowledging Tex's 16-year absence as the primary reason for disqualifying it from the "Longest-running graphic adventure protagonist" record, Guinness World Records currently maintains that the "Longest wait for a sequel to a point n click adventure" record still stands with 'Tales of Monkey Island' for the 8 years and 242 days between "Escape from Monkey Island" in 2000 and "Tales of Monkey Island" in 2009.—Which is half as long as the wait between "Tex Murphy: Overseer" (released in 1998), and "Tesla Effect" (released in 2014) - 16 years. A direct contradiction to the justification had been used to disqualify it from the "Longest-running graphic adventure protagonist" record.


Bradford Thomas Wagner

Bradford Thomas Wagner (March 31, 1968 – July 13, 2005) was an American real estate agent and former pornographic film actor who committed suicide while in police custody as a suspected serial rapist.
Early life and career.
Wagner was born in 1968 in Bismarck North Dakota. He had a brother and three sisters.
Under the stage name Tim Barnett, he appeared in more than twenty gay pornographic films in the early 1990s. He had also worked as a part-time ski instructor and as a real estate agent in Aspen, Colorado.
Arrest and death.
Police arrested Wagner in June 2004. He was a suspect in the rapes of five women between 1993 and 1998 at the Tantra Lake and Bridgewalk apartment complexes in Boulder, Colorado, an unsolved 1994 rape case in Lakewood, Colorado, and another in 1995 in Austin, Texas. According to law enforcement officials, DNA evidence linked him to the crimes.
Wagner hanged himself with a bed sheet in his jail cell in Boulder and died July 13, 2005. He was 37.


Claiborne Avenue Bridge

The Claiborne Avenue Bridge, officially known as the Judge William Seeber Bridge, is a vertical lift bridge in New Orleans, Louisiana over the Industrial Canal. It was built by the Louisiana Department of Highways (later renamed the Department of Transportation and Development) and opened to vehicular traffic in 1957. The bridge has suffered numerous disasters: A barge hit the bridge in 1993, Hurricane Katrina damaged it in 2005, and a car plunged into the canal in 2008 due to a malfunction.
Description.
The bridge carries four vehicular lanes, two in each direction, of North Claiborne Avenue, which here is also Louisiana Highway 39. It accommodates most marine traffic in the down position. The bridge is located in the 9th Ward of New Orleans, with the Upper 9th Ward on the western side and the Lower 9th Ward on the eastern or "lower" (down river) side. Along with St. Claude Avenue, it is one of the main links of New Orleans with the communities in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana such as Arabi and Chalmette. Many locals who regularly use the bridge are unaware of the bridge's official name.
Accidents.
Tugboat collision.
On May 28, 1993 the tugboat Chris was pushing an empty barge through the canal toward the Mississippi River locks. As was common at the time, the tugboat captain would have to wait to enter the locks, and he was directed to the side of the canal to ground his barge to keep the waterway clear. However, at 3:30 p. m., the barge collided with a support pier of the bridge, causing a section of the bridge to collapse onto the western canal bank and onto the barge. Two automobiles plummeted off of the bridge, killing one person and severely injuring two others. The waterway was closed to navigation for 2 days, and the bridge was closed for 2 months while the collapsed span was rebuilt. The concrete debris from the collapsed span was used to protect the new support pier from future collisions.
Hurricane Katrina.
In 2005 Hurricane Katrina severely affected the areas on both sides of the bridge (see Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans), with the most extreme devastation on the Lower 9th Ward side. The bridge was out of service for months, left in the up position to accommodate Canal shipping, until it was restored to service in early 2006.
Crossing gates malfunction.
On May 20, 2008 17-year veteran New Orleans Police Officer Tommie Felix was killed when his vehicle drove off the bridge and plunged into the canal while the bridge was in the raised position. Eye witness accounts say that the gates which come down to indicate the bridge's closure were not functioning at the time, and several other cars came close to driving off the bridge but stopped short.


John Gavin (convict)

John Gavin (or John Gaven) (1829 – 6 April 1844) was the first European settler to be legally executed in Western Australia. He was executed for murder at the age of fifteen.
Life.
Born in 1829, John Gavin was convicted of an offence while still a juvenile, and was transported to Western Australia as a Parkhurst apprentice, arriving on board the "Shepherd" in October 1843.
On 3 April 1844, he was tried for the murder of his employer's son, 18-year-old George Pollard. He confessed to killing the sleeping victim with an adze, but he seemed unaware of a rational motive. Three days later he was publicly hanged outside the Round House in Fremantle. After a death mask had been taken and his brain studied for "scientific purposes" he was buried in the sand hills to the south without a ceremony.


Robert Jan Verbelen

Robert Jan Verbelen (5 April 1911, Herent, Belgium – 28 August 1990, Vienna, Austria) was a Belgian Nazi collaborator. During the last years of the War, Verbelen was head of the "De Vlag Veiligheidscorps", a Nazi SS security force in Belgium. In that function he assassinated Alexandre Galopin, director of the Société Générale de Belgique, and tried to murder Albert Devèze, Minister of State, Charles Collard-de Sloovere, Attorney General, and Robert de Foy, former State Security director. He was sentenced to the death penalty by a Belgian court in 1947, who found him responsible for the deaths of 101 Belgian resistance fighters.
After the liberation of Belgium in the Second World War, Verbelen fled through Germany to Austria, where for eight years he worked for the Counter Intelligence Corps of the US Army, while he already was convicted as war criminal in Belgium. He obtained Austrian citizenship in 1959. He was charged with five murders in a 1965 war crime trial in Austria, but was acquitted of war crimes.


Ralph Works

Ralph Talmadge Works (March 16, 1888 – August 8, 1941), nicknamed "Judge," was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers (1909–12) and Cincinnati Reds (1912–13).
Born in Payson, Illinois, Works was called "Judge" by teammates for his scholarly countenance. Works had career record of 24–24 with a 3.79 ERA. His best season was 1911 when he went 11–5 in 30 games for the Tigers. He ranked fifth in the American League in winning percentage (.688) in 1911, seventh in shutouts with three and eighth in games finished with 10.
Works died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Pasadena, California in 1941 at age 53, with his wife in an apparent double suicide. He is buried in Altadena's Mountain View Cemetery.


Otto Reich

Otto Juan Reich (born ) is an American diplomat and lobbyist who worked in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Reich was born in Cuba; his family moved to North Carolina when he was fifteen. He graduated from University of North Carolina in 1966, and after a brief stint in the US Army, received a master's degree from Georgetown University in 1973. After graduating, Reich worked for the state and federal governments in Florida and Washington, D.C..
In 1983 Reich began leading the Office of Public Diplomacy (OPD), which he helped establish. The OPD sought to promote the Contra guerillas in Nicaragua, through techniques described by the Comptroller General in 1987 as "prohibited, covert propaganda". Reich, described as "chief spinner" of the effort by journalist Ann Bardach, was not accused of illegal activity. The OPD was shut down after the Iran-Contra affair in 1987. Reich served as the Ambassador to Venezuela from 1986 to 1989, and subsequently worked as a corporate lobbyist for twelve years.
Reich was nominated by George W. Bush to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs in 2001. The Senate did not allow confirmation hearings, citing Reich's role in the Iran-Contra affair, and his advocacy as ambassador for Orlando Bosch, then imprisoned in Venezuela on suspicion of bombing Cubana de Aviación Flight 455. Bush made a recess appointment, allowing Reich to hold the position for one year without confirmation. He was subsequently appointed special envoy to Latin America. He resigned from the Bush administration in 2004, and has since run a consulting firm and advised Republican presidential candidates.
Early life and education.
Otto Reich was born in Cuba to an Austrian Jewish father and a Cuban Catholic mother. His father, who fled Nazi Germany in 1938, traveled to Cuba with the intention of continuing on to the United States. In Havana, he met and married a Cuban woman, and began selling furniture. By 1945, most of his father's family had been killed in the Holocaust. According to "The New York Times", his father's experiences in Nazi Germany made the elder Reich "immediately suspicious of [Fidel] Castro, prompting him to flee with his family to North Carolina in 1960, when Otto was 15."
In 1966, Reich received a B.A. in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He then spent two years in the US Army, from 1967 to 1969, as an officer in the 3rd Civil Affairs Detachment stationed in the Panama Canal Zone. He received an Master's degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University in 1973.
Career.
After receiving his master's degree, Reich began working as an international representative for the Florida Department of Commerce, the first position he held in government. He also worked as a staff assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives, as a Community Development Coordinator for the City of Miami, and later as a Director of the Council of the Americas. Reich was Assistant Administrator of the US Agency for International Development in charge of US economic assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean between 1981 and 1983. This position was the first he held under the administration of Ronald Reagan.
Office of Public Diplomacy.
From 1983 to 1986, Reich established and managed the inter-agency Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean (OPD), which sought to promote the Contra guerrillas in Nicaragua. Reich managed a staff including officials from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and The Pentagon, some of whom were personnel trained in psychological warfare. Reich reported to Oliver North, who then worked at the National Security Council, although the office itself was under the State Department.
The OPD sent false information to the US media, such as a claim that the Nicaraguan government was involved with drug trafficking. It also wrote opinion pieces in mainstream US newspapers, attributed to fictitious Nicaraguan rebel leaders, attacking opponents of Reagan's foreign policy. While heading this office, Reich also once demanded a meeting with staff of the National Public Radio (NPR), after NPR reported on a massacre of civilians carried out by the Contras, and warned the staff that their reports were being monitored. Reich also confronted journalists at CBS News in April 1984 after the network aired a documentary about El Salvador that, according to Reich's superior George Shultz, favored the country's guerrillas over the US and Salvadoran governments.
Reich's position drew him into the Iran-Contra affair. A House Foreign Affairs Committee report characterized the OPD as a "domestic political and propaganda operation", while the Comptroller General of the United States described the office as having engaged in "engaged in prohibited, covert propaganda activities." A 1987 Congressional committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair stated that the OPD had encouraged "′white propaganda′: pro-Contra newspaper articles by paid consultants who did not disclose their connection to the Administration." A senior U.S. official described its activities as "a huge psychological operation of the kind the military conducts in denied or enemy territory." The Comptroller General also determined that the OPD violated rules placed on the State Department's use of funds.
The OPD was shut down in 1987 after the investigation. Reich himself, described as the "chief spinner" of the Iran-Contra effort by journalist Ann Bardach, was not accused of illegal activity. Reich said that the Comptroller General report was flawed and called the investigation into Iran-Contra an "inquisition." The operation involving op-eds, described in a declassified memorandum from one of Reich's subordinates to Patrick Buchanan, then the communications director for the Reagan White House, was also denied by a spokesperson for Reich.
Ambassadorship and lobbying career.
Reich served as the US Ambassador to Venezuela between 1986 and 1989. In that position he lobbied the US government to press for the release of Orlando Bosch, a Cuban exile militant then being held in Venezuela under suspicion of organizing the bombing of Cubana de Aviación Flight 455. Reich argued both that Bosch was innocent, and that his safety was threatened. After Bosch's acquittal and release in 1986, Reich asked his superiors on multiple occasions for permission to grant Bosch a visa, but was denied. Reich subsequently denied taking a special interest in Bosch's situation. In 1989, Reich received the State Department's "Exemplary Service Award". Reich maintained good relations with the government of Jaime Lusinchi, and received the Order of the Liberator, Venezuela's highest honor, from him.
From 1989 to 2001, Reich worked as a corporate lobbyist. In 2001, he was President of RMA International, a lobbying and consulting company. In this role, he helped the rum company Bacardi, which wanted to revoke Cuba's trademark protection, so that it could use a familiar Cuban rum brand name, "Havana Club". Bacardi's efforts met success with the passage of the Helms–Burton Act in 1996, which tightened the US embargo against Cuba, and stripped trademark protection from the brand name. Reich helped author the act. Reich was also involved with an effort by Lockheed-Martin to sell F-16 jet fighters to Chile, which would have been the first time in twenty years that advanced weapons had been sold by the US to Latin American countries. In 1991 and 1992, at the request of President George H. W. Bush, Reich also served as Deputy US Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. Reich was co-host of CNN International's , a Spanish-language version of CNN's "Crossfire", on which he represented the right-wing position.
Assistant secretary of state.
In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Reich to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, the top State Department post for Latin America. The nomination was supported by his brother, Jeb Bush, then the Governor of Florida. The Senate, however, did not allow confirmation hearings, and the appointment resulted in controversy. Opponents to Reich's nomination cited his advocacy as ambassador to Venezuela for Bosch, and his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Bosch was described as a terrorist by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney General. After the nomination process had lasted for nearly a year, Bush made a recess appointment, allowing Reich to remain in office for a year without being confirmed by the Senate. Reich was sworn in on January 11, 2002.
Reich held the post of Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the time of the Venezuelan coup d'état on April 11, 2002, that briefly overthrew President Hugo Chávez. During the coup, Reich spoke to coup leader Pedro Carmona Estanga, who replaced Chávez as president, and urged him not to shut down the National Assembly. Reich also spoke to ambassadors of other Latin American countries hours after the coup, telling that Chávez had resigned, and asked them to support the new government. Carmona nonetheless dissolved both the Assembly and the Supreme Court, leading to a popular uprising that toppled the coup government and returned Chávez to the presidency. After Chávez was returned to power, the US supported a resolution issued by the Organization of American States condemning the coup: however, a perception remained among Latin American countries that the US had played a role in it, and led to concerns over Reich's appointment.
Later career.
Reich's year-long term as Assistant Secretary of State was ended in December 2002. Reich was replaced at the State Department by Roger Noriega, and became special envoy to Latin America, which was a position that did not require confirmation by the Senate. Reich resigned from the Bush administration in June 2004, citing "personal and financial reasons."
During the 2008 US presidential election, Reich served as an adviser on Latin America to John McCain. During the 2012 US presidential election, Reich was a spokesman for the Mitt Romney campaign. Reich also served as a foreign policy advisor to Jeb Bush during the latter's 2016 presidential campaign. , Reich runs a Washington, DC-based business consultancy, Otto Reich & Associates. In 2001, Reich was also vice-chairman of Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production.
Political positions and reputation.
A 2002 profile of Reich in "The New York Times" described him as a "minor celebrity" in Latin America, stating that editorial cartoons in Nicaragua had depicted him "as a Superman-like figure capable of terrorizing corrupt officials and the nation's former Marxist leaders." The state-run media in Cuba, in contrast, referred to him as a "terrorist" and a "mafioso". His much-debated links to Bosch, his support of the Contras, and his lobbying activities, generated controversy, particularly during his nomination for Assistant Secretary for State. At the time of his nomination, he received considerable support from right-wing Spanish-language radio shows in Miami, and from Cuban-American organizations in general. While he was an advisor to Jeb Bush's presidential campaign, he expressed support for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 led by the US. He has been described as a right-winger, and a person with strong opinions, and called himself an anti-communist.


Albert Spradling Jr.

Albert M. Spradling Jr. (March 13, 1920 – October 20, 2004) was an American politician from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, who served in the Missouri Senate. He served as city attorney of Cape Girardeau from 1948 until 1952 when he was elected to the state senate. Spradling was educated in the Cape Girardeau public schools and at the local Southeast Missouri State College and at the University of Missouri. He served in the Missouri Senate for 25 years and as president pro tem for four years in the early 1960s. During World War II, Spradling worked as an FBI agent in California.
His son Albert M. Spradling, III served as mayor of Cape Girardeau from 1994 until 2002.


Therapeutic vaccines

A therapeutic vaccine is a vaccine which is administered after a disease or infection has already occurred. A therapeutic vaccine works by activating the immune system of a patient to fight an infection. A therapeutic vaccine differs from a prophylactic vaccine in that prophylactic vaccines are administered to individuals as a precautionary measure to avoid the infection or disease while therapeutic vaccines are administered after the individual is already affected by the disease or infection.
Therapeutic vaccine fights the existing infection in the body rather than immunizing the body for protection against future diseases and infections.
The therapeutic vaccines are mostly against viral infections. The patients affected with chronic viral infections are administered with therapeutic vaccines, as their immune system is not able to produce enough efficient antibodies.
Provenge, developed by Dendreon, was the first therapeutic vaccine approved by FDA in 2010. This therapeutic vaccine helped in treating prostate cancer where patients' own white blood cells (WBCs) were taken and treated with drug (vaccine) to train them to differentiate and fight cancer cells.
Functionality.
Therapeutic vaccines are a new form of vaccines that are mostly being used for viral infections and various type of cancers. A therapeutic vaccine helps an immune system to recognise a foreign agent such as cancerous cells or a virus. The specific type of therapeutic vaccines include antigen vaccines. In case of antigen vaccines, the body is introduced to a foreign agent to activate the immune system so that it recognizes the agent when later encountered.
Types.
There are two types of therapeutic vaccines:
Autologous vaccines.
"Autologous" means that 'derived from oneself' – An autologous vaccine is a personalized vaccine which is made from an individual's own cells which could be either cancer cells or immune system cells.
Allogeneic vaccines.
"Allo" means 'other'. Allogeneic are majorly cancer vaccines which are made from non-self cancer cells which are grown in a lab.
How therapeutic vaccines are different from vaccines.
The concept of therapeutic vaccines is different. When a person hears the word vaccine, the thought of prevention against a certain disease comes to mind. However, therapeutic vaccines are a method of treatment. Like any other vaccine, the immune system is regulated against a specific type of target. The main goal is to enhance the immune system activity. This type of vaccine can be employed for the treatment of various type of diseases and viral infections. Efforts are being made to develop vaccines against various fatal diseases such as HIV, cancer, dengue fever, cholera, Diphtheria, etc.
Therapeutic vaccines against HIV.
HIV has no vaccine up until now, but therapeutic vaccines could be the breakthrough for HIV. Such vaccines would enhance affected patients immune systems to fight the disease. Many researchers are trying to develop and test therapeutic HIV vaccines in order to slow the HIV progression to AIDS. People affected with HIV normally have HIV at undetectable level, which is detected by use of antiretroviral therapy (ART). If therapeutic vaccines for HIV work out, many lives will be saved. Many clinical trials are being conducted for HIV therapeutic vaccines, such as those conducted by AIDSinfo, summaries for their trials are available at their website.
Therapeutic vaccine against cancer.
Cancer is the major cause of deaths in the recent era. Cancer types and stages have enhanced with time and so has efforts to treat cancer. Currently, there are about 369 cancer vaccine studies ongoing all around the world.
There are three cancer therapeutic vaccines which are approved by USA Food and Drug Administration, as following;
Provenge is Sipuleucel-T, a dendritic cell based vaccine for prostate cancer. Bacillus Calmettle-Guerin (TheraCys) is a live attenuated vaccine which makes use of "Mycobacterium bovis" strain for bladder invasive cancer. Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC or Imlygic) is a vaccine for advanced oncolytic melanoma


Pedro Toledo

Pedro Toledo Dávila (1943December 23, 2012) was a former Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police. He served for two non-consecutive terms under two different administrations. Toledo was a former attorney and FBI agent.
Early years and studies.
Pedro Toledo Dávila was born in 1943 to Pedro Toledo and Gladys Dávila at Hospital Dr. Pila in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He lived with his mother in Juana Díaz, until his father returned from World War II. After that, they moved to Ponce, where Toledo attended elementary and secondary school, graduating in 1961.
Toledo enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez where he obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1966. Toledo then went to work for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as an air conditioning systems engineer for the Saturn V and Apollo missions.
Career with the FBI.
In 1968, Toledo was accepted into the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Toledo has said "I had finished the career in engineering but there are a lot of lawyers in my family, and I believed that [by joining the FBI] I could indirectly enter the field of law." As part of the FBI, he was assigned as an agent to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he worked until November 1969. That year, he was transferred to Miami, Florida.
In 1971, Toledo was moved to Puerto Rico, where he began law school at the Interamerican University Law School, and graduated in 1974 with a Juris Doctor degree. During his time with the FBI, Toledo also worked as legal adviser. He also attended the Bureau's technology and polygraph schools, as well as hostage negotiator's school. He eventually joined a specialized national team of negotiators called the Critical Incident Negotiation Team.
Toledo was the main negotiator in 1987 during the Atlanta Prison Riots. The riots were caused by a group of Cuban inmates who refused to be repatriated to Cuba after the Mariel boatlift. The negotiation process took two weeks, and nearly collapsed when U.S. supervisors withdrew Toledo's team to reestablish negotiations in English with a translator. Toledo said about the incident "Six hours after they did that there was a near riot. Inmates broke the phone used for negotiations and demanded that we, the Latinos, be called back," Toledo remembered. "They had to do it. Once we were back, the inmates, in a show of good will, immediately freed some hostages."
Toledo was appointed supervisor of the Violent Crimes Unit of the FBI in San Juan in 1989. In 1991, Toledo also participated in negotiations during riots at the federal prison in Talladega, Alabama. During the riots, over nine hostages were taken by 121 Cuban detainees. The Cubans, who had arrived in the U.S. during the boatlift, were trying to avoid deportation, and refused to negotiate. Toledo was asked to buy time so that SWAT teams could effectively prepare for a raid.
In 1992, Toledo was the second in charge of the FBI in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico Police.
First term (1993-2001).
After his time with the FBI, Toledo became supervisor of the Violent Crimes division for the Policia de Puerto Rico. When Pedro Rosselló was elected Governor of Puerto Rico during the elections, he selected Toledo to be the Puerto Rico Police Superintendent. Toledo, who was a known supporter of Rossello's party (PNP), became known for his firm stance against crime, which he dubbed "Mano Dura contra el Crimen" ("Strong arm against crime").
Some of Toledo's initiatives against drugs and violence involved the collaboration with the National Guard and the occupation of public housing projects (or "caseríos"). During his tenure, murders in the island went from its highest peak in recent years (995 in 1994) to its lowest (690 in 2000).
In 2000, elected Governor Sila María Calderón appointed Miguel Pereira as Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police. Toledo announced his retirement from the force, and dedicated himself to a small law practice in association with one of his sons.
Second term (2005-2009).
In 2005, elected Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (from the PPD) appointed Toledo as Superintendent. Despite his opposing political beliefs, Toledo return to the Police helm. During this time, Toledo led a restructuring of the Police Department assigning police chiefs for the narcotics, illegal weapons, and internal affairs division, among others.
Later years and death.
After his second stint as Superintendent, Toledo returned to private life, but was regularly interviewed for his opinion on security matters of the island.
On December 23, 2012, Toledo was taken to Hospital Auxilio Mutuo in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, where he died of a heart attack. As a result, Governor Luis Fortuño declared a day of mourning on December 26. Upon Toledo's death, politicians from all parties and ideologies expressed their grief while praising Toledo's integrity and work ethic. Toledo's body was exposed on Ehret Funerary in Río Piedras starting December 26, and was buried two days later at the Borinquen Memorial Cemetery in Caguas.
Toledo had four sons: Pedro Jorge, Juan José, Luis Fernando and José Eduardo.


Hippo (Greek woman)

Hippo was a Greek woman mentioned by the 1st century AD Latin author Valerius Maximus as an example of chastity. She was also included among the "Famous Women" written about by Giovanni Boccaccio in the 14th century.
In Valerius Maximus.
Valerius Maximus included the story of Hippo in his "Facta et dicta memorabilia" as a foreign example of chastity to complement the Roman stories he has previously related. He stated that when Hippo was abducted by an enemy fleet, she decided to save her chastity at the cost of her life, and threw herself into the sea to her death. Her body was washed up on the shore of Erythrae. According to Valerius Maximus, a tomb was built for her which survived in his own day, and her glorious reputation had endured among the Greeks.
In Boccaccio.
Valerius Maximus served as the source for Boccaccio's more elaborate account of Hippo.
Boccaccio observed that no history of her ancestry or her place of birth survived, other than from "books of the ancients" which stated that she was Greek and that she was known for a single virtuous act. He gave a more detailed explanation than Valerius Maximus of Hippo's decision to kill herself, stating that she was beautiful and was aware that her captors planned to rape her. He says that after being tossed by the waves, Hippo's body was cast onto the Erythraean shore, where the inhabitants buried her like one who had been shipwrecked, but that her name and the cause of her death were later disclosed by her enemies, when the Erythraeans built her a great, long-lasting tomb as a memorial.
Boccaccio himself praised Hippo's conduct, remarking that she saved her chastity at the cost of perhaps a few more years of life and gained with her premature death eternal honour for herself.


SMS Hela

SMS "Hela" was an aviso built for the German "Kaiserliche Marine" (Imperial Navy) in the mid-1890s, the last vessel of that type to be built by the German Empire. As the culmination of the type in German service, she represented significant improvements over earlier vessels, particularly the and es, which had been disappointments in service. She was intended to serve as a fleet scout and as a flotilla leader for torpedo boats. "Hela" marked a step toward the development of the light cruiser. Armed with a battery of four guns and three torpedo tubes, the ship proved to be too weakly-armed for front-line combat.
"Hela" had a relatively short active career; engine damage during sea trials shortly after her completion in 1896 delayed the start of her service with the fleet until 1898. She served as a scout for I Squadron from then until 1900, when she was deployed as part of an expeditionary force to help suppress the Boxer Rebellion in Qing China. "Hela" saw little action during the deployment, instead frequently patrolling the coast of China and the Yangtze river. After returning to Germany in mid-1901, she served with I Scouting Group and the main fleet until late 1902, when she was reduced to a gunnery training ship, though boiler problems forced a more thorough reconstruction that lasted from 1903 to 1910.
The ship was used as a tender for the fleet from October 1910 through mid-1914, with few events of note for "Hela" during this period. Following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, "Hela" was deployed to the patrol line guarding the German Bight. She was present at, but was not engaged in, the Battle of Helgoland Bight in August. The next month, while conducting training off Helgoland, she was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine . Despite the fact that "Hela" sank in less than half an hour, all of her crew, save two men, were rescued by a German U-boat and patrol boat.
Design.
"Hela", named for the schooner of 1852-vintage, was the culmination in the development of the aviso type in the German fleet. The avisos were developed from earlier torpedo boats and were intended for use in home waters with the fleet, both as flotilla leaders to direct groups of torpedo boats and as scouts for the fleet's capital ships. The first aviso, , was purchased from a British shipbuilder in 1875; seven more ships were built in German yards by the early 1890s. Of these, the last four vessels, comprising the and es, had proved to be significant disappointments in service, owing to their poor seaworthiness and insufficient speed. In 1893, the naval construction staff prepared a design for a new vessel, provisionally designated "H", which remedied the problems of the earlier vessels, in part through a significant increase in size. This ship became "Hela".
The aviso type culminated in what would later be referred to as the light cruiser. German designers incorporated the best aspects of "Hela"s design—primarily a high top speed and an armor deck—with those of their contemporary unprotected cruisers of the —namely, a heavy armament and long cruising radius. This combination resulted in the s, which were the first true light cruisers built in Germany.
General characteristics and machinery.
"Hela" was long at the waterline and overall. She had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft. She was designed to displace , and at full load the displacement increased to . Her hull was constructed with transverse and longitudinal steel frames, which contained twenty-two watertight compartments above the armored deck and ten below. A double bottom ran for thirty-five percent of the length of the hull, which had a pronounced ram bow. The ship had a minimal superstructure, with a small conning tower. A raised forecastle deck extended from the stem to the funnel. She was fitted with a pair of light pole masts fitted with spotting tops.
"Hela"'s crew consisted of 7 officers and 171 enlisted men as completed and later increased to 8 officers and 187 enlisted men. She carried a number of small boats, including one barge, one yawl, and three dinghies. Later in her career, the barge was exchanged for a picket boat. "Hela" was very seaworthy, but she rolled badly (having a metacentric height of ) and tended to ship a significant amount of water in a head sea, owing to the fact that she was slightly bow-heavy. Steering was controlled by a single rudder; she had average maneuverability.
The ship was powered by two 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines; each drove a screw propeller that was in diameter. Each engine had its own separate engine room. The engines were supplied with steam by six locomotive boilers split into two boiler rooms, which were ducted into a single funnel amidships. The engines were rated at and a top speed of , though on trials they reached a half knot better. Coal storage amounted to ; range figures for the ship in her original configuration have not survived. "Hela" was equipped with three electrical generators that produced 36 kilowatts at 67 volts.
Armament and armor.
"Hela" was armed with four SK L/30 quick-firing guns in individual mountings. They were carried in MPL C/89 mounts with an elevation range of −10 to 20 degrees; at maximum elevation, the guns could reach targets at . The guns fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of . These guns were provided with a total of 800 rounds, for 200 per gun. Rate of fire was theoretically fourteen shots per minute, but in practice it was limited to ten rounds per minute.
She was also equipped with six SK L/40 quick-firing guns, each mounted in individual "Torpedobootslafette" (Torpedo Boat Mount) C/92. These guns fired shells at a muzzle velocity of . Maximum elevation for the guns was twenty degrees, which provided a range of . Shell storage amounted to 1,500 rounds, or 300 per gun. Her armament was completed with three torpedo tubes. Two were placed on the deck on the broadside and the third was submerged in the bow of the ship. These were supplied with a total of eight torpedoes, which carried a warhead. Their maximum range at 32 knots was ; when set to , their range increased to .
"Hela" was lightly armored. She was protected by an armor deck that was thick and composed of steel. The deck sloped on the sides, and was slightly increased in thickness to to provide a measure of protection against direct fire. An armored coaming that was thick protected the uptakes from the boilers. Her conning tower was armored with thick steel on the sides. She was equipped with cork cofferdams to reduce the ingress of water in the event of hull damage.
Modifications.
"Hela" was modernized in 1903–1910 at the "Kaiserliche Werft" (Imperial Shipyard) in Danzig. The vessel's internal subdivision was improved with eight additional watertight compartments above the waterline and an extension of the double bottom to cover thirty-nine percent of the hull. As part of the modifications to her hull, both of the broadside torpedo tubes were moved to torpedo rooms below the waterline. She also received eight Marine-type water-tube boilers in place of her old models, and a second funnel was added. The new boilers produced on trials, propelling the ship to the same top speed. Coal storage was increased to , which permitted a cruising radius of at a speed of . Both of her stern 8.8 cm guns were removed and their ammunition allotment was reduced to 156 shells per gun. Her aft superstructure was enlarged to provide additional accommodation space. The ship also received a larger bridge.
Service history.
"Hela" was laid down in December 1893 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen. She was launched on 28 March 1895 and at the ceremony, "Vizeadmiral" (Vice Admiral) Victor Valois, the chief of the "Marinestation der Nordsee" (North Sea Naval Station) christened the ship. She was moved to the "Kaiserliche Werft" (Imperial Shipyard) in Wilhelmshaven for final fitting out in January 1896. The ship was commissioned for sea trials on 3 May, initially under the command of "Korvettenkapitän" ("KK"—Corvette Captain) Johannes Stein, though he was replaced by "Kapitänleutnant" ("KL"—Captain Lieutenant) Carl Schönfelder in August. Her initial testing was interrupted by damage to her engines, which necessitated her decommissioning on 19 September for repairs. She spent the next year and a half out of service.
"Hela" was recommissioned on 10 March 1898, under the command of "KK" Fritz Sommerwerck, and was assigned to I Squadron to serve as its aviso. These duties were interrupted beginning on 14 June when "Hela" was chosen to escort Kaiser Wilhelm II aboard his yacht "Hohenzollern" for sailing regattas in Germany and then a cruise to Norwegian waters in July that included a stop in Hardangerfjord. On 31 July, "Hela" returned to I Squadron before being detached again on 17 September following the conclusion of the annual fleet maneuvers. She again escorted "Hohenzollern" with Wilhelm II and his wife Augusta Victoria aboard, along with the protected cruiser , for a voyage to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. She returned to her unit on 8 December, after which "KK" Paul Rampold relieved Sommerwerck.
In early 1899, "Hela" and the rest of I Squadron embarked on a training cruise into the Atlantic. While passing through the English Channel, the ships stopped in Dover, Great Britain, to represent Germany at a celebration for Queen Victoria's 80th birthday on 1 May. In June and July, "Hela" again escorted "Hohenzollern" for his summer cruise to Norway; during the fleet maneuvers in August, she operated with the fleet's scouting unit. During the exercises in the Baltic Sea on 28 August, "Hela" struck the mole outside Neufahrwassar and damaged her starboard propeller. She steamed to Kiel for repairs that were completed by 4 September, allowing her to return to the unit for the rest of the maneuvers. In mid-September, she accompanied "Hohenzollern" for a cruise to Sweden, and she and the pre-dreadnought battleship escorted the Kaiser's yacht on a visit to Britain that lasted from 17 to 30 November. "Hela" concluded the year with a training cruise with I Squadron in the Skagerrak in December.
Boxer Rebellion.
"Hela" spent the first half of 1900 as she had previous years, conducting training exercises with the fleet. Her routine was interrupted by events in Qing China, where on 20 June, during the Boxer Rebellion, the German ambassador, Clemens von Ketteler, was murdered by Chinese nationalists. The widespread violence against Westerners in China led to a creation of an alliance between Germany and seven other Great Powers, the so-called Eight-Nation Alliance: the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary, the United States, France, and Japan. Those soldiers who were in China at the time were too few in number to defeat the Boxers; in Peking there was a force of slightly more than 400 officers and infantry from the armies of the eight European powers. At the time, the primary German military force in China was the East Asia Squadron, which consisted of the protected cruisers , , "Hertha", and , the unprotected cruiser , and the gunboats and . There was also a German 500-man detachment in Taku; combined with the other nations' units the force numbered some 2,100 men. These men, led by the British Admiral Edward Seymour, attempted to reach Peking but were stopped in the Battle of Tientsin.
As a result, the Kaiser determined an expeditionary force would be sent to China to reinforce the East Asia Squadron. "Hela" was assigned to the naval expedition on 4 July, which included the four s, sent to China to reinforce the German squadron there. The ships departed Kiel five days later and arrived off the coast of China in late August. "Hela" entered the mouth of the Yangtze and then patrolled the Yellow Sea through the end of September. She contributed a landing party consisting of four officers and seventy-four men to participate in the assault on Chinese fortifications at the Shanhai Pass. The aviso spent November anchored in the Wusong roadstead, remaining there until mid-December when she returned to the Yangtze. At the end of the month, she was sent to Shanghai. "Hela" then returned to the Yangtze in January 1901, stopping in Zhenjiang, before returning to Shanghai in February and remaining there into March. At that time, "KK" Maximilian von Spee arrived to take command of the vessel from Rampold. She later visited the German concession at Tsingtao before returning to Shanghai at the end of May. While there, she received orders to return to Germany, and "KK" Joachim von Bredow took command of the vessel for the voyage home. On 1 June she and the rest of the expeditionary force departed to return home, arriving in Wilhelmshaven on 11 August.
1901–1913.
After returning from China, "Hela" immediately participated in the annual fleet maneuvers, serving for the duration with I Scouting Group from 26 August to 19 September. She joined the unit again for a voyage to Oslo, Norway in mid-December, arriving back in Wilhelmshaven on the 16th. "Hela" returned to service with the main fleet in 1902, and while on a cruise in the Atlantic in May, she was detached to escort the light cruiser , which had been damaged off the "Sevenstones" Lightship. By this time, the German naval command had decided that "Hela" was too weakly-armed to be useful as a fleet scout, and so she was sent to the "Kaiserliche Werft" in Kiel on 16 October to be modernized for use as a training ship for light guns. While in the shipyard, "Hela" passed from Bredow's command to "KK" Karl Zimmerman's. The work was completed on 21 December and she was recommissioned for this duty on 31 January 1903, but the poor condition of the ship's boilers required further modifications, which were carried out at the "Kaiserliche Werft" in Danzig beginning on 25 April. The aviso replaced "Hela" in her intended role.
Some ship location reports in the German archives in the "Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv" (German Federal Military Archive) indicate that "Hela" was in service with I Scouting Group from June to September 1903, but the naval historians Hans Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, and Hans-Otto Steinmetz have been unable to locate any official records of her commissioning or decommissioning during this period, nor of who commanded the vessel during this time. No logbook exists in the archives either. According to the location reports, the vessel was to have ended this period in Wilhelmshaven, but no records follow for the transfer to Danzig, where it is definitively known that the ship was reconstructed. Hildebrand, Röhr, and Steinmetz have nevertheless been unable to determine how the mistake continued for several months, or what ship is actually represented in the reports.
"Hela" remained in the shipyard in Danzig until 1910, where she underwent a significant reconstruction. She was recommissioned on 1 October and conducted a brief set of sea trials from 14 to 18 October. The ship was thereafter employed as a fleet tender. While on maneuvers on the night of 29–30 March 1911, the torpedo boat inadvertently crossed too closely in front of "Hela", which struck the torpedo boat with her bow. Neither vessel was seriously damaged in the collision. In April, "KK" Theodor Püllen became the ship's captain, serving until October. After that year's fleet maneuvers in August and September, the navy conducted a fleet review for the visit of the Austro-Hungarian "Marinekommandant" (Naval Commander), Admiral Rudolf Montecuccoli. "Hela" then carried Montecuccoli to visit Wilhelmshaven and the island of Helgoland. The next two years passed uneventfully; she was transferred to Kiel on 1 April 1912. In September, "KK" Carl-Wilhelm Weniger took command of the ship. In mid-1913, the Italian Vice Admiral Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi visited Germany, and on 31 May, she carried him for a visit to Helgoland, where the fleet was anchored. In September, "KK" Paul Wolfram relieved Weniger; Wolfram was to be the vessel's last commander.
World War I.
Following the start of World War I in July 1914, "Hela" was brought back to active duty and assigned to IV Scouting Group. The unit was tasked with supporting the German torpedo boats that formed the outer ring of coastal scouting patrols in the German Bight. She was modified slightly between 13 and 16 August, having a third 8.8 cm gun installed. "Hela" was stationed to the northeast of Helgoland, along with the cruiser .
On 28 August, British cruisers and destroyers from the Harwich Force surprised and attacked the German patrol line, resulting in the Battle of Helgoland Bight. "Hela"s commander received reports of the fighting and turned east to reinforce the vessels engaged in the action. While en route, the ship received a contradictory report that stated that the British vessels were retreating, leading now "Fregattenkapitän" (Frigate Captain) Wolfram to reverse course and return to his assigned location. As a result, she was not engaged in the action. Later that night, she regrouped with the cruisers and to provide cover for the remaining torpedo boats and reestablish the Bight patrol line.
Two weeks later, on the morning of 13 September, "Hela" was attacked six miles southwest of Helgoland by the British submarine under command of the future Admiral Max Horton. "Hela" was conducting a training exercise at the time; the area around Helgoland was presumed safe from British submarines. After surfacing, "E9" spotted the German cruiser and immediately re-submerged to fire two of her torpedoes, one of which struck "Hela"s stern. After 15 minutes, "E9" rose to periscope depth to inspect the scene. The British submarine found "Hela" sinking. Within another 15 minutes, "Hela" had slipped beneath the waves. Despite the speed with which the ship sank, her entire crew, with the exception of two sailors, were rescued from the sea by the U-boat "U-18" and one of the coastal patrol vessels.
"Hela" was the first German ship sunk by a British submarine in the war. As a result of her loss, all German ships conducting training exercises were moved to the Baltic Sea to prevent further such sinkings. One of her 8.8 cm guns was retrieved from the wreck and is now preserved at Fort Kugelbake in Cuxhaven.


Mera Naam Hai Mohabbat

Mere Naam Hai Mohabaat () is a 1975 Pakistani romantic drama film. It won the Nigar Award in 1975 for Best Film of the Year. The film was also released in China and became successful there.
Babra Sharif rose to become one of the most popular actresses of Pakistani cinema for almost two decades following the success of this film.
Plot summary.
This film is a story of a sad romantic girl who has cancer. She tries to hide this from her lover. Her family is unaware of this problem also. The lovers are very idealistic and truly in love with each other and this film also has a tragic end just like "Love Story (1970)".
Production.
The film's plot was reportedly inspired by a Chinese folk story.
"Mera Naam Hai Mohabbat" introduced two new faces to the Pakistani silver screen, actor Ghulam Mohiuddin and actress Babra Sharif, propelling them into stardom due to the box-office success of this film.
Box office.
"Mera Naam Hai Mohabbat" was a box office success in Pakistan.
Overseas in China, it released in 1981, following the success of Indian Bollywood films such as "Awaara", "Noorie" and "Caravan" in the last several years. "Mera Naam Hai Mohabbat" became the highest-grossing foreign film of 1981, selling nearly tickets in China. At an average ticket price of , the film grossed an estimated , equivalent to (). Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to ().


Salman Shah (actor)

Shahriar Chowdhury Emon (known by his stage name Salman Shah; 19 September 1971 – 6 September 1996) was a Bangladeshi film and television actor. He started his career with the first episode of the television serial "Pathor Shomoy". He got breakthrough for his role in the film "Keyamat Theke Keyamat". His death in 1996 was ruled as a suicide, a claim that is disputed by his family.
Early life and career.
Shah was born as Shahriar Chowdhury Emon on 19 September 1971 in Zakiganj, Sylhet, Bangladesh to Nilufar Zaman Chowdhury and Kamaruddin Chowdhury. He had a younger brother Chowdhury Mohammad Shahran Evan.
In 1993, Shah got his break-through in the film "Keyamot Theke Keyamot", directed by Sohanur Rahman Sohan. The film was a remake of an Indian film named "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak", released in 1988. He started his acting career in a television drama. He acted in a total of 27 films. His film career was associated first with actress Moushumi and then Shabnur. He acted with Moushumi in feature films Denmohor and Antore Antore.
Death.
Salman Shah died 6 September 1996. He was found hanging from the ceiling of his bedroom at Eskaton, Dhaka. Police had filed a case of suicide, but the family objected to it and lodged a murder case. Business tycoon Aziz Mohammad Bhai was alleged to be involved in the murder. One Rezvi Ahmed was arrested from the house of Shah's mother, who reportedly named Bhai and Shah's wife Samira of ordering the hit. Rezvi later disowned his confession. On 24 February 2020, Police Bureau of Investigation completed their investigation and reported that Salman Shah killed himself due to family dispute over his affair with one of the most popular silver screen actresses at the time, actress Shabnur.
Shah is buried in Shah Jalal Dargah Cemetery in Sylhet.
Legacy.
On his birth anniversary the "Salman Shah Smriti Parishad" (Salman Shah Memorial Council) organizes a festival every year.


Sobral Santos II

The September 20, 1981, shipwreck of the riverboat was one of the worst maritime tragedies in the history of the Amazon River.
The riverboat was making its weekly trip between Santarém and Manaus and was claimed to be overcrowded when it sank in Óbidos harbour. It is assumed over 300 people died in the disaster, with hundreds of bodies and body parts never identified. Of 500 people estimated to have been aboard, at least 178 had survived as reported by the Captain, Elio Palhares, that day.
In 2014, British angler Jeremy Wade went to Óbidos to investigate the role that local fish species may have played in the loss of life during this disaster; his findings were documented in the "River Monsters" episode entitled "Amazon Apocalypse." After investigating numerous possibilities, including botos (river dolphins), caimans, and piranha, Wade concluded that the culprits were likely hordes of piraiba and redtail coda rossa catfish, drawn by chum from nearby fish processing operations, probably joined by the black piranha and other small carnivorous fish. He hypothesized that the large redtails and piraiba pulled the struggling victims underwater, where they drowned.


Scobie Malone

Scobie Malone is a fictional Sydney homicide detective created by Australian novelist Jon Cleary.
History.
Named after the jockey Scobie Breasley, Malone made his first appearance in Cleary's 1966 novel "The High Commissioner". Cleary says he got the idea from meeting an Australian policeman he knew walking out of Australia House in London one day. He was on six months leave but Cleary wondered what if he had come to arrest the Australian High Commissioner for murder.
Although the original novel was a best seller and turned into a film, Cleary did not originally intend to create a series around Malone. However, he brought the character back later for "Helga's Web" (1970) as a means to explore the construction of the Sydney Opera House, then for "Ransom" (1973). There was a long gap before he started using the detective again, but once he did he wrote Malone novels regularly from 1987 onwards until the end of his writing career.
Cleary and his wife used to travel two months every year to research his books. However, after Cleary's daughter died in 1987, his wife became ill and did not want to travel. As Cleary liked to research his books thoroughly this meant he had to write about Australia.
I wondered how if I were to write about Australia would I keep my overseas readers. I'd written three Malone tales but was resisting publishers' urging to write more because I didn't want to get trapped by it. Then I realised I could use him by hanging it on crime, which immediately intrigued the international market, and write about what it was like living in Sydney in the late 80s and through the 90s.
"I'm trying to write something more than detective novels", said Cleary in 1989. "I am offended if my book is called a potboiler."
Cleary admits that sales of the last few Malone books declined and he decided to end the series before his publishers did. He also felt he was running creatively dry. "When I found myself making notes on a serial killer, I knew that I'd got to the bottom of the barrel because that's the cliche in crime writing today", he said in 2004.
Personality and Attributes.
Cleary once stated that, "There's more than a bit of me in Scobie. We both come from fighting Irish stock, we're both from Erskineville, the wrong side of the tracks, and both of us slugged our way up." Malone was a Catholic family man with rigid principles who mostly worked in Sydney, although his adventures occasionally took him overseas.
Malone was described in "The High Commissioner" as:
Tall, six feet. His face was too bony to be handsome, but [Inspector] Leeds guessed women would find the eyes attractive: they were dark, almost Latin, and they were friendly. The mouth, too, was friendly. Malone gave the impression of being easy-going, but there was a competence about him that had marked him for promotion from his first days in the force.
In the same novel it is mentioned that Scobie once played a game for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield as a bowler and was "belted... all over the field".
Other characters.
Regular characters in the series included:
Style.
A noted feature of the books was starting them with a striking opening sentence.
Adaptations.
There have been two feature film adaptations of Malone novels. Cleary was dissatisfied with both. He did not do the adaptation of "Nobody Runs Forever" (1968), which he thought "had no sense of humour at all" and lacked reality.
He wrote a script for "Helga's Web" which was not used in the film that was eventually titled "Scobie Malone" (1975). "When I saw Scobie nibbling on the fourth nipple I thought "that's not my Scobie"", said Cleary.
In 1997 Peter Yeldham adapted "Dark Summer" for a proposed telemovie but this was never made.
Cleary thought Rachel Blake would have made the perfect Joy.


Blake Brockington


George E. Danielson

George Elmore Danielson (February 20, 1915 – September 12, 1998) was an American Democratic politician and judge from California. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1982.
Biography.
Born in Wausa, Nebraska, Danielson attended Wayne State Teachers College before earning his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1937 and 1939, respectively. He was a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1939 to 1944 and served in the United States Navy Reserve from 1944 to 1946. He was an Assistant United States Attorney from 1949 to 1951 and thereafter entered private practice.
Danielson was twice elected to the California State Assembly, serving from 1963 to 1967, and to the California State Senate, serving from 1967 to 1971. In 1970, he was elected to his first of six terms to the U.S. House of Representatives. He served on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon and voted in favor of three of the articles. Danielson resigned from Congress on March 9, 1982 after being appointed an associate justice on the California Court of Appeal in the Second District, Division Three by Governor Jerry Brown.
Danielson retired from the bench in April 1992. He died on September 12, 1998 of heart failure in Monterey Park, California.


Saathi

Saathi () is a 1968 Hindi romance film written and directed by C. V. Sridhar. The film starred Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar in the lead with Simi Garewal, Pahari Sanyal, David Abraham Cheulkar, Veena and Ram Mohan as the ensemble cast while prominent actors such as Shashi Kapoor, Nanda, Sanjeev Kumar, Shabnam, D.K. Sapru and Pratima Devi made guest appearances. The film was produced by S. Krishnamurthy and T. Govindarajan of Venus Pictures. The film's score was composed by Naushad with lyrics provided by Majrooh Sultanpuri. It was edited by N. M. Shankar and filmed by Marcus Bartley.
"Saathi" is a triangular love story among Ravi, Shanti and Rajni. The film was a remake of the 1961 Tamil film "Palum Pazhamum", which was directed by A. Bhimsingh.
Plot.
Dr. Ravi returns from abroad and takes up a position as chief surgeon in a hospital. He meets with Nurse Shanti, who lives an impoverished lifestyle with her ailing mother, on whom he decides to perform surgery, but she passes away. A guilt-ridden Ravi marries Shanti much to the chagrin of his mentor, Kaka, who had hoped that he would marry his daughter, Rajni.
The couple travel to Kashmir for their honeymoon, and settle down to a harmonious relationship. Hoping to travel more, their plans are interrupted by the hospital's head doctor, who wants Ravi to focus on cancer research. The couple drop their travel plans and immerse themselves in research so much so that Shanti becomes ill, and not wanting to become a burden, leaves. A frantic Ravi searches high and low in vain, and is subsequently devastated to learn that she has perished in a train accident. Kaka then becomes very ill and Kaki tells Ravi that the cause of his illness is Rajni's insistence that she not marry anyone except Ravi. As a result, Ravi marries her but is unable to get Shanti out of his mind. An embittered Rajni feels neglected and decides to confront him, resulting in his losing his vision, perhaps never to see again, and unable to do any further cancer research.
Cast.
Guest appearances include:
Soundtrack.
When C.V.Sridhar approached Naushad for composing, he listened to the songs of the original film Paalum Pazhamum which was composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy in Tamil. After listening to the songs, Naushad wrote a letter to M.S.Viswanathan saying than he cannot replace the wonderful music which he has composed and he's declining the project. Later, Naushad accepted to compose for the film only on Viswanathan's request. The film's soundtrack was composed by Naushad while the lyrics were provided by Majrooh Sultanpuri.
Box office.
At the end of its theatrical run, the film had grossed around 1,76,00,000 and netted 88,00,000, thus becoming the eleventh highest grossing film of 1968 with a verdict of average.


Alaska P. Davidson

Alaska Packard Davidson (March 1, 1868 – July 16, 1934) was an American law enforcement officer who is best known for being the first female special agent in the FBI.
Personal life.
Davidson was born in Warren, Ohio, on March 1, 1868, to Warren and Mary Elizabeth Doud Packard. Her two brothers, James Ward Packard and William Doud Packard, founded Packard, an automobile manufacturer later taken over by Studebaker.
Little is preserved about her personal life, except that she only had three years of public schooling and no university education and that she had one child, Esther, who died in 1902. She was married twice, first to Ephraim B. McCrum Jr. in 1893. In 1910 and 1920, the United States Census lists her husband's name as James B. Davidson. In 1930, her marital status is listed as "widowed".
She died on July 16, 1934, at the age of 66.
Work at the FBI.
On October 11, 1922, at age 54, Davidson was hired by director William J. Burns to work at the Bureau of Investigation (the former name of the FBI) as a special investigator; she was the first female special agent. Trained in New York City, she was later assigned to the Washington, D.C. field office. Her starting salary was $7 a day plus $4 when traveling.
The Bureau was interested in hiring female agents to work on cases related to the Mann Act, which aimed to combat interstate sex trafficking. However, since she was considered "very refined", the order was given that she wasn't to be put on "rough" cases. This, combined with her limited schooling, meant that she was considered to be of limited use when it came to prosecuting such crimes. During her work at the Washington field office, she was also involved in a case against another agent who was selling classified Department of Justice information to criminals.
After J. Edgar Hoover became acting director of the Bureau in 1924 following the Teapot Dome scandal, he asked for Davidson's resignation when the Special Agent in Charge at the Washington field office reported that he had "no particular work for a woman agent". She resigned on June 10, 1924.
Only three women became agents in the 1920s and, with the resignation of Davidson and fellow agent Jessie B. Duckstein in 1924 and Lenore Houston in 1928, the FBI had no female agents between 1929 and 1972.
In popular culture.
Davidson's mention as the first female FBI agent by the character Lana Kane in the episode titled "Waxing Gibbous" of the TV series "Archer: Dreamland" has been noted by "The A.V. Club" as an example of the show's habit of using obscure references.


Ladislao Nerio

Ladislao Esaú Nerio Cortez (10 November 1976 – 1 February 2012) was a professional football player, who played for several teams in the Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador.
Club career.
Nerio started his career at local side Sonsonate before joining Salvadoran second division side Platense in 2004, almost helping them to promotion.
In 2006, after joining Águila, he helped them by winning the Apertura 2006. In 2007, he left them for Luis Ángel Firpo, only to join Alianza a year later. After a year at Once Municipal, he was loaned to ADI for six month before ending his career at UES, where he played in defence alongside Luis Anaya and Ramiro Carballo.
Death.
Nerio was reported missing on Tuesday 31 January 2012 and finally his body was found in Sonsonate the day after, near six other people's bodies. His hand and feet were reportedly tied and he appeared to be strangled to death. Police announced he was presumably murdered by gang members. He was buried next to his brother Livio Efrén Nerio, who was murdered in 2006.


Ornelas v. United States

Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690 (1996), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that appellate courts should review probable cause determinations for warrantless searches de novo.
Factual background.
In December 1992, Detective Pautz of the Milwaukee Sheriff's Department was conducting drug interdiction when he noticed a 1981 two door Oldsmobile with California plates. Pautz radioed his dispatcher to check the registration of the car, and he ran the name of the owner, Miguel Ledesma Ornelas, through the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Information System (NADDIS). NADDIS reported that Ornelas was a heroin dealer. Two more officers arrived on the scene. An officer asked Ornelas if he had any contraband in the car, and Ornelas responded negatively. Detective Hurrle requested permission to search the car, and Ornelas consented. Deputy Luedke searched the car and noticed a loose door panel with a rusty screw. Deputy Luedke removed the panel and found two kilograms of cocaine. Ornelas and his accomplice, Ismael Ornelas-Ledesma, were arrested.
Ornelas filed a motion to suppress in the District Court. The court found that the officers had probable cause to remove the door panel and denied the motion. Ornelas was convicted and appealed to the Seventh Circuit. The Seventh Circuit reviewed the District Court's determination of probable cause on a deferential clear error standard and affirmed the conviction. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Decision.
Majority opinion.
Writing for a majority of eight Justices, Chief Justice Rehnquist noted that the Supreme Court itself had never expressly deferred to the probable cause determination of lower courts. The Court reasoned that deferential appellate review could cause varied and inconsistent results, and that it would hinder the clarification of the law. De novo review would unify precedent and provide clearer guidance for police. The Court held that probable cause determinations for warrantless searches should be reviewed de novo, but also that "an appeals court should give due weight to a trial court's finding that the officer was credible and the inference was reasonable." Ornelas' conviction was vacated and the case was remanded to the Seventh Circuit.
Scalia's dissent.
Justice Scalia dissented, arguing that probable cause determinations are necessarily fact intensive and unsuited to de novo review by an appellate court. Scalia also noted that true de novo review was inconsistent with giving due weight to police inferences.
Subsequent history.
On remand in the Seventh Circuit the court reviewed the probable cause determination de novo and affirmed the conviction.
Impact.
"Ornelas" was initially viewed as a victory for criminal defendants because de novo review was thought to be more critical and searching than deference to the District Court. David Sklansky, however, suggests that the "due weight" given police inferences is actually more favorable to law enforcement than a clear error standard for reviewing District Court determinations.


List of town and city fires

This is a list of major urban conflagrations. Before the 20th century, fires were a major hazard to urban areas and the cause of massive amounts of damage to cities.
For notable fires that involved a single structure, see list of building or structure fires. Other lists record wildfires (including forest fires) and transportation fires, though those that caused significant urban damage also appear on that list.


Sunshine Skyway Bridge

The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, often referred to as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or simply the Skyway, is a cable-stayed bridge spanning the Lower Tampa Bay connecting St. Petersburg, Florida to Terra Ceia. The current Sunshine Skyway opened in 1987 and is the second bridge of that name on the site. It was designed by the Figg & Muller Engineering Group and built by the American Bridge Company and is considered a symbol of Florida.
The four-lane bridge carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, passing through Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, and Manatee County. It is a toll road, with a $1.50 toll assessed on two-axle vehicles traveling in either direction and collected via cash or the state's SunPass system.
The original bridge opened in 1954 and was the site of two major maritime disasters within a few months in 1980. In January 1980, the United States Coast Guard Cutter collided with the tanker "Capricorn" near the bridge, resulting in the sinking of the cutter and the loss of 23 crew members. In May 1980, the freighter "MV Summit Venture" collided with a bridge support during a sudden squall, resulting in the structural collapse of the southbound span and the deaths of 35 people when vehicles plunged into Tampa Bay. Within a few years, the damaged span was demolished, the surviving span was partially demolished and converted into a long fishing pier, and the current bridge was built.
History.
Original bridge.
The original two-lane bridge was built by the Virginia Bridge Company and opened to traffic on September 6, 1954, with a similar structure built parallel and to the west of it in 1969 to make it a four-lane bridge and bring it to Interstate Highway standards. Opening of the newer span was delayed until 1971 for reinforcing of the south main pier, which had cracked due to insufficient supporting pile depth. The second span was used for all southbound traffic, while the original span was converted to carry northbound traffic.
The old bridge replaced a ferry from Point Pinellas at the southeastern tip of St.Petersburg to Piney Point located just north of Port Manatee. US 19 was extended from St. Petersburg to its current end north of Palmetto.
1980 collapse.
The southbound span (opened in 1971) of the original bridge was destroyed at 7:38 a.m. on May 9, 1980, when the freighter MV "Summit Venture" collided with a pier (support column) during a sudden squall, sending over of the bridge plummeting into Tampa Bay. The collision caused six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus to fall into the water, killing 35 people. One man, Wesley MacIntire, survived, although, contrary to belief, his Ford Courier pickup truck did not land on the deck of the "Summit Venture" and roll into the water; rather, it flew into the hull on the port side, ricocheted off and sank. He sued the company that owned the ship, and settled in 1984 for $175,000 ($ today). Several other drivers - including former Major League Baseball player Granny Hamner - were able to stop their vehicles before reaching the gap in the roadway.
John Lerro, the harbor pilot who had been steering the ship, was later cleared of wrongdoing by both a state grand jury and a Coast Guard investigation. A microburst had suddenly hit the freighter with torrential rains and winds as it was in the middle of a turn in the shipping channel nearing the bridge, cutting visibility to near zero and temporarily rendering the ship's radar useless. Lerro put the ship's engines into full reverse and ordered the emergency dropping of the anchor as soon as he realized that the freighter was out of the channel, but the bow still hit two support piers with enough force to cause a portion of the roadway to collapse. The south main pier withstood the ship strike without significant damage, but a secondary pier to the south was not designed to withstand such an impact and failed catastrophically.
Aftermath.
After the "Summit Venture" disaster, the southbound span was used as a temporary fishing pier and the northbound span was converted back to carry one lane in either direction until the current bridge opened. Before the old bridge was demolished and hauled away in barges, MacIntire (the only survivor in the collapse) was the last person to drive over it. He was accompanied by his wife, and when they reached the top of the bridge, they dropped 35 white carnations into the water, one for each person who died in the disaster. Both the main spans of both the intact northbound bridge and the damaged southbound bridge were demolished in 1993 and the approaches for both old spans were made into the Skyway Fishing Pier State Park. These approaches sit to the south and west of the current bridge. The approaches of the 1950s span were demolished in 2008.
Gov. Graham's idea for the design of the current bridge won out over other proposals, including a tunnel (deemed impractical due to Florida's high water table) and a simple reconstruction of the broken section of the old bridge that would not have improved shipping conditions. The new bridge's main span is 50% wider than the old bridge. The piers of the main span and the approaches for in either direction are surrounded by large concrete barriers, called "dolphins", that can protect the bridge piers from collisions by ships larger than the "Summit Venture" like tankers, container ships, and cruise ships.
Demolition of former bridge.
In 1990 FDOT awarded the winning bid to Hardaway Company to demolish all steel and concrete sections of the older Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The scope of the project required that all underwater piles and piers, and surface roadway, girders, and beams be dismantled. Special care had to be taken in removing underwater bridge elements near the shipping channel. Additionally, the concrete material, deck sections, pilings and steel girders were to be collected in order to be placed offshore and along the remaining bridge approaches to become artificial reefs for the new planned state fishing park. The main bridge span had to be removed in one piece in order not to block the main shipping canal leading to the Port of Tampa.
During the disassembly work of the bridges’ structural steel members, several difficult engineering challenges had to be resolved: the order of disassembly, a safe method for detonating charges on concrete and steel members in a publicly open and difficult to control area such as the Tampa Bay, and the development of a safe methodology for the removal in one piece of the bridge’s main span and concrete piers.
After extensive research, the engineering team developed a 4 × 1:16 ratio pulley system where each of the four corners of the span was connected to two 25-ton winches (bolted to the pavement of the deck). These winches controlled the descent of the main , 608-ton span to a barge anchored below. As part of the project design, the engineering team developed a real-time, computerized, synchronized descent calculator and control program to help each of the two winch management teams ensure that all winches were synchronized at the same per minute descent rate. The operation was executed successfully in hours despite adverse weather conditions.
Issues.
Suicides.
At least 310 people have committed suicide by jumping from the bridge or its predecessors into the waters of Tampa Bay. An estimated 43 others have survived. Many other missing persons are suspected of having jumped from the bridge but their deaths could not be confirmed as no bodies were recovered.
In response to the high number of suicide attempts from the bridge, the state of Florida installed six crisis hotline phones along the center span in 1999, and began 24-hour patrols. , the call center at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay received 18 calls from potential jumpers, all of whom survived, according to a 2003 "St. Petersburg Times" report.
In 2006, a feature film "Loren Cass" was released, which depicted a suicide jump off the Sunshine Skyway. Two years later, a second filmmaker, Sean Michael Davis of Rhino Productions, was inspired by his haunting experience witnessing a woman jump off the bridge so quickly that no one could intervene, to create a not-for-profit film titled "Skyway Down". His objectives: to deter other potential jumpers by " 'punch[ing] them in the face' with interviews with survivors and family members", to give them "hope and to try to de-glorify the romanticism of the bridge", in part by informing those who have "mulled a leap to know about the bloody, battered aftermath."
In January 2020, FDOT announced they will install the Skyway Vertical Net, a vertical barrier in an effort to deter suicide attempts. Construction for the project is expected to begin in fall 2020 and completed by early 2021. The vertical barrier will be placed on the outside walls of the bridge and extend vertically from the side barriers. It will span each side of the bridge for about .
As part of any Florida controlled-access highway, pedestrians and bicycles are prohibited. Stopping on the bridge for any non-emergency, including sightseeing, is prohibited. Traffic on the bridge is monitored by the Florida Highway Patrol, and a stopped vehicle, bicyclist, or pedestrian will elicit a police dispatch.
Corrosion.
A major problem with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is corrosion of the steel in the precast concrete segmental columns on the high level approaches. Because the segments are hollow, workers were able to enter the bridge superstructure in 2003 and 2004 to reinforce the corroded sections of the bridge, ensuring its future safety. Another problem arose around 2005–06 when several news bureaus reported paint discolorations on the bridge's cables. These paint splotches and patches were a result of touch-ups that were performed sometime in 1998 but began to show through as a result of using newer, environmentally-safe paint. The change in the paint's composition caused it to fade faster than expected.
From 2006 to 2008, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) hired a contractor to perform the first full repainting of the bridge since it opened in 1987. The work included repainting the bridge's 42 steel cables one consistent shade of yellow and rehabilitating the lighting system at the summit of the bridge.
Low clearance.
A 2014 FDOT study noted that the Skyway's low bridge clearance prevented larger vessels from using the Port Tampa Bay terminals, but made no recommendation about options as the air draft of most new cruise ships exceeds the bridge's height limit at .
Traffic.
Usage and tourism.
The former and current bridge have been featured in various forms of media. The original Sunshine Skyway Bridge is featured in "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" and the opening credits to "Superboy". The current bridge has provided the setting for several films such as "Loren Cass" and "The Punisher". The bridge also served as plot devices to various novels such as Dennis Lehane's 1997 novel "Sacred" and Ben Bova's 2005 novel "Powersat". The bridge is also the subject of the song "Skyway Avenue" by We the Kings.
The United States Postal Service featured the bridge in 2012 on a Priority Mail postage stamp. Carl T. Hermann worked on the painting and the digital illustration was created by artist Dan Cosgrove.
In 2005, an act of the Florida Legislature officially named the current bridge the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, after the former Governor of Florida and then U.S. Senator who presided over its design and most of its construction. According to sources, he was inspired to suggest the current design by a visit to France, where he saw a similar cable-stayed bridge, the Brotonne Bridge. The original bridge was dedicated to state engineer William E. Dean, as noted on a plaque displayed at the rest area at the south end of the bridge.
In November 2017, work began on installing decorative lighting to the Skyway's columns, main spans, and sloped spans. The $15.6 million lighting project provides a visual aesthetic while also enhancing safety and security by providing more light to the underside of the bridge from dusk to dawn. Over 1,800 LEDs were installed along of the bridge which cycles through animated routines. The lighting project was completed in October 2019 and funded by FDOT through collected toll fees.
Skyway 10K.
On January 11, 1987, the Skyway Bridge opened-up to 10,000 runners, joggers and walkers before the bridge was opened to motor vehicle traffic the following week. Runners participated in four races that ran simultaneously across the bridge, with two races going southbound and two races directed northbound.
On March 4, 2018, in partnership with the Armed Forces Families Foundation, the Skyway Bridge was closed for the Inaugural Skyway 10K. In contrast to the one-time race in 1987, the Skyway 10K has been held annually since 2018.


Thoros III, King of Armenia

Thoros III or Toros III (; c. 1271 – 23 July 1298) was king of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, ruling from 1293 to 1298. He was the son of Leo II of Armenia and Kyranna de Lampron, and was part of the Hethumid dynasty. In 1293 his brother Hethum II abdicated in his favour; however, Thoros recalled Hethum to the throne in 1295. The two brought their sister Rita of Armenia to Constantinople to marry Michael IX Palaiologos in 1296, but were imprisoned upon their return in Bardzrberd by their brother Sempad, who had usurped the throne in their absence. Thoros was murdered, strangled to death on July 23, 1298 in Bardzrberd by Oshin, Marshal of Armenia, on Sempad's orders.
Family.
Thoros was married twice; his first marriage, to Margaret of Lusignan (ca 1276–1296, Armenia) (the daughter of King Hugh III of Cyprus), took place on January 9, 1288. His only son, by his first marriage, was Leo III of Armenia, who became heir to his uncle Hethum II. Leo ruled from 1303 to 1307, but was murdered along with his uncle by a Mongol.