Passage 1:Jack Shea (director)Jack Shea (August 1, 1928 – April 28, 2013) was an American film and television director. He was the president of the DirectorsGuild of America from 1997 to 2002.Life and careerBorn John Francis Shea, Jr., Shea's father was a traveling salesman and his mother a bookkeeper. He receiveda parochial high school education, later attaining a degree in history from Fordham University. Shea broke into the entertainment industry in 1951, initially as astage manager for the TV series Philco Playhouse, and, following two years of service with the United States Air Force, serving from 1952 to 1954, during theKorean War, making instructional films in Los Angeles, and later becoming an associate director.Among the TV shows he contributed to during this period includeThe Jerry Lewis Show and The Bob Hope Specials, where he later shared a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for in 1961. By the late 1950s, Shea had becomeinstrumental in forming the Radio and Television Directors Guild (merged with the Screen Directors Guild in 1960 to form The Directors Guild of America) and wasa strong voice for the hiring of minorities in the industry. During the 1970s, he began an association with producers Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear, directingepisodes from two of their projects in the 1970s, the series Sanford and Son and The Jeffersons (110 episodes for the latter). Among his other credits include TheWaltons, Silver Spoons (91 episodes), Growing Pains and Designing Women, the last earning him a second Primetime Emmy Award nomination. From 1997 until2002, he served as president of the Directors Guild.A lifelong Catholic, Shea was a co-founder, with his wife Patt and other prominent Catholics in the Hollywoodentertainment community, of the Hollywood-based Catholics in Media Associates (CIMA), which he was also past president of. Shea and Patt Shea jointly receivedthe CIMA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 from the organization of Catholic entertainment industry professionals which celebrates its 20th anniversary in2013. Shea was also a former member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for Communications.Personal life and familyOn January 2,1954, Shea married the former Patricia C. Carmody, who, later known as Patt Shea, became a three-time Humanitas Award-nominated screenwriter whosecredits include the CBS-TV series All in the Family, story editor and/or writer for 38 episodes of Archie Bunker's Place, in addition to screenwriter for episodes ofLou Grant, Valerie, Cagney & Lacey, In The Heat of The Night, Bagdad Café, and the CBS pilot for Gloria, Sally Struthers’ spin-off from the popular All In TheFamily TV series, among many other television series. The couple, who resided in Studio City, CA for over 30 years, have five children, three of whom arecurrently DGA members* and 1st Assistant Directors*: Shawn Shea*; Elizabeth (now deceased); William (“Bill”) Shea*; Michael J. Shea* and John Francis(“Jay”) Shea III.DeathShea died of complications from Alzheimer's disease.Passage 2:Mark Lewis (filmmaker)Mark Lewis is an Australian documentary film andtelevision producer, director and writer. He is famous for his film Cane Toads: An Unnatural History and for his body of work on animals. Unlike many otherproducers of nature films, his films do not attempt to document the animals in question or their behaviors but rather the complex relationships between peopleand society and the animals they interact with.His films have earned him many awards, including a British Academy Award nomination, a nomination from theDirectors Guild of America, two Emmy's for Outstanding Direction in documentary film, and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Science Program on AmericanTelevision.As a student Lewis helped planning Philippe Petit's famous 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. He talks about hisinvolvement in the acclaimed documentary Man on Wire (2008).Filmography(2010) Cane Toads: The Conquest(2007) The Pursuit of Excellence(2006) TheFloating Brothel(2006) The Standard of Perfection: Show Cats(2006) The Standard of Perfection - Show Cattle(2000) The Natural History of the Chicken(1999)Animalicious(1998) Rat(1994) Gordy.(1990) The Wonderful World of Dogs(1989) Round the Twist(1988) Cane Toads: An Unnatural HistoryPassage 3:JohnWatersJohn Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressivecult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972) and Female Trouble (1974). He wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), whichbecame an international success and was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. He has written and directed other films, includingPolyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000). His films contain elements of post-modern comedy andsurrealism. Waters often worked with actor and drag queen Divine and his regular cast of the Dreamlanders.As an actor, Waters has appeared in Sweet andLowdown (1999), Seed of Chucky (2004), 'Til Death Do Us Part (2007), Mangus! (2011), Excision (2012), and Suburban Gothic (2014). More recently, heperforms in his touring one-man show This Filthy World.Waters also works as a visual artist and across different media, such as installations, photography, andsculpture. In 2016, he received an honorary degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art. The audiobooks he narrated for his books Carsick and Mr.Know-It-All were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2015 and 2020, respectively. In 2018, Waters was named an officer of theOrder of Arts and Letters in France.Early lifeWaters was born on April 22, 1946, in Baltimore, Maryland, one of four children born to Patricia Ann (née Whitaker)and John Samuel Waters, a manufacturer of fire-protection equipment. He was raised Roman Catholic by his mother, though his father was not Roman Catholic.Through his mother, who immigrated to the United States from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada as a child, he is the great-great-great-grandson of George PriceWhitaker of the Whitaker iron family. Waters grew up in Lutherville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. His boyhood friend and muse, Glenn Milstead, later knownas Divine, also lived in Lutherville. Waters lived at 313 Morris Avenue in Lutherville from his early teenage years until he moved out in his early twenties. Watersand Milstead shot many of their early films at the house, dubbing the front lawn the "Dreamland Lot".The film Lili inspired an interest in puppets in theseven-year-old Waters, who proceeded to stage violent versions of Punch and Judy for children's birthday parties. Biographer Robrt L. Pela says that Waters'smother believes the puppets in Lili had the greatest influence on Waters's subsequent career (though Pela believes tacky films at a local drive-in, which the youngWaters watched from a distance through binoculars, had a greater effect).Cry-Baby was also a product of Waters's boyhood, because of his fascination as aseven-year-old with the "drapes" then receiving intense news coverage because of the murder of Carolyn Wasilewski, a young "drapette", and his admiration for ayoung man living across the street who had a hot rod.Waters was privately educated at the Calvert School in Baltimore. After attending Towson Jr. High School inTowson, Maryland, and Calvert Hall College High School in nearby Towson, he graduated from Boys' Latin School of Maryland. While still a teen, he made frequenttrips into downtown Baltimore to visit Martick's, a beatnik bar, where he and Milstead met many of their later film collaborators. He was underage and couldn'tenter the bar proper, but loitered in the adjacent alley, where he relied on the kindness of patrons to slip him drinks.CareerEarly careerWaters's first short filmwas Hag in a Black Leather Jacket.MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939) had a profound effect on Waters' creative mind, He said about it:I was always drawn toforbidden subject matter in the very, very beginning. The Wizard of Oz opened me up because it was one of the first movies I ever saw. It opened me up tovillainy, to screenwriting, to costumes. And great dialogue. I think the witch has great, great dialogue.Waters has stated that he takes an equal amount of joy andinfluence from high-brow "art" films and sleazy exploitation films.In January 1966, Waters and some friends were caught smoking marijuana on the grounds ofNYU, and he was soon kicked out of his dormitory. He returned to Baltimore, where he completed his next two short films, Roman Candles and Eat Your Makeup.They were followed by the feature-length films Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs.Waters's films became Divine's primary star vehicles. All of Waters's earlyfilms were shot in the Baltimore area with his company of local actors, the Dreamlanders—which, in addition to Divine, included Mink Stole, Cookie Mueller, EdithMassey, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Susan Walsh, and others. Waters met Edith Massey while she was a bartender at Pete's Hotel.Waters's early campymovies present exaggerated characters in outrageous situations with hyperbolic dialogue. Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Desperate Living, which he labeledthe Trash Trilogy, pushed hard at the boundaries of conventional propriety and censorship.Move toward the mainstreamWaters's 1981 film Polyester starredDivine opposite former teen idol Tab Hunter. It was the first time that Waters was not the primary camera operator for his own work, as he had startedcollaborating with local film student David Insley. Since then, his films have become less controversial and more mainstream, although works such as Hairspray,Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, Pecker and Cecil B. Demented still retain his trademark inventiveness. Hairspray, the last film he produced, became a hit Broadwaymusical that swept the 2003 Tony Awards; and a film adaptation of the Broadway musical was released in theaters on July 20, 2007 to positive reviews andcommercial success. Cry-Baby, itself a musical, also became a Broadway musical.In 2004, the NC-17-rated A Dirty Shame marked a return to Waters' earlier,more controversial work of the 1970s. Currently, it is the most recent film he directed.In 2007, Waters became the host ("The Groom Reaper") of 'Til Death Do UsPart, a program on America's Court TV network.In 2008, he planned to make a children's Christmas film, Fruitcake starring Johnny Knoxville and Parker Posey.Filming was set for November 2008, but the project was shelved in January 2009. In 2010, Waters told the Chicago Tribune that "Independent films that cost $5million are very hard to get made. I sold the idea, got a development deal, got paid a great salary to write it—and now the company is no longer around, which isthe case with many independent film companies these days."In October 2022, it was announced that Waters will adapt his novel, Liarmouth, into a film. VillageRoadshow Pictures will produce, and Waters will write and direct.Waters has often created characters with alliterated names for his films, such as Corny Collins,Cuddles Kovinsky, Donald and Donna Dasher, Dawn Davenport, Fat Fuck Frank, Francine Fishpaw, Link Larkin, Motormouth Maybelle, Mole McHenry, Penny and


Passage 1:Greg A. Hill (artist)Greg A. Hill is a Canadian-born First Nations artist and curator. He is Kanyen'kehà:ka Mohawk, from Six Nations of the Grand RiverTerritory, Ontario.Early lifeHill was born and raised in Fort Erie, Ontario.Art careerHis work as a multidisciplinary artist focuses primarily on installation,performance and digital imaging and explores issues of his Mohawk and French-Canadian identity through the prism of colonialism, nationalism and concepts ofplace and community.Hill has been exhibiting his work since 1989, with solo exhibitions and performance works across Canada as well as group exhibitions inNorth America and abroad. His work can be found in the collections of the Canada Council, the Indian Art Centre, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, theCanadian Native Arts Foundation (now Indspire), the Woodland Cultural Center, the City of Ottawa, the Ottawa Art Gallery and the International Museum ofElectrography.Curatorial careerHill serves as the Audain Senior Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada.Awards and honoursIn 2018, Hillreceived the Indspire Award for Arts.Passage 2:John McMahon (Surrey and Somerset cricketer)John William Joseph McMahon (28 December 1917 – 8 May 2001)was an Australian-born first-class cricketer who played for Surrey and Somerset County Cricket Clubs in England from 1947 to 1957.Surrey cricketerMcMahonwas an orthodox left-arm spin bowler with much variation in speed and flight who was spotted by Surrey playing in club cricket in North London and brought on tothe county's staff for the 1947 season at the age of 29. In the first innings of his first match, against Lancashire at The Oval, he took five wickets for 81 runs.Inhis first full season, 1948, he was Surrey's leading wicket-taker and in the last home game of the season he was awarded his county cap – he celebrated bytaking eight Northamptonshire wickets for 46 runs at The Oval, six of them coming in the space of 6.3 overs for seven runs. This would remain the best bowlingperformance of his first-class career, not surpassed, but he did equal it seven years later. In the following game, the last away match of the season, he took 10Hampshire wickets for 150 runs in the match at Bournemouth. In the 1948 season as a whole, he took 91 wickets at an average of 28.07. As a tail-endleft-handed batsman, he managed just 93 runs in the season at an average of 4.22.The emergence of Tony Lock as a slow left-arm bowler in 1949 brought astuttering end of McMahon's Surrey career. Though he played in 12 first-class matches in the 1949 season, McMahon took only 19 wickets; a similar number ofmatches in 1950 brought 34 wickets. In 1951, he played just seven times and in 1952 only three times. In 1953, Lock split the first finger of his left hand, andplayed in only 11 of Surrey's County Championship matches; McMahon played as his deputy in 14 Championship matches, though a measure of their comparativemerits was that Lock's 11 games produced 67 wickets at 12.38 runs apiece, while McMahon's 14 games brought him 45 wickets at the, for him, low average of21.53. At the end of the 1953 season, McMahon was allowed to leave Surrey to join Somerset, then languishing at the foot of the County Championship andrecruiting widely from other counties and other countries.Somerset cricketerSomerset's slow bowling in 1954 was in the hands of leg-spinner Johnny Lawrence,with support from the off-spin of Jim Hilton while promising off-spinner Brian Langford was on national service. McMahon filled a vacancy for a left-arm orthodoxspinner that had been there since the retirement of Horace Hazell at the end of the 1952 season; Hazell's apparent successor, Roy Smith, had failed to realise hispromise as a bowler in 1953, though his batting had advanced significantly.McMahon instantly became a first-team regular and played in almost every matchduring his four years with the county, not missing a single Championship game until he was controversially dropped from the side in August 1957, after which hedid not play in the Championship again.In the 1954 season, McMahon, alongside fellow newcomer Hilton, was something of a disappointment, according toWisden: "The new spin bowlers, McMahon and Hilton, did not attain to the best standards of their craft in a wet summer, yet, like the rest of the attack, theywould have fared better with reasonable support in the field and from their own batsmen," it said. McMahon took 85 wickets at an average of 27.47 (Hilton tookonly 42 at a higher average). His best match was against Essex at Weston-super-Mare where he took six for 96 in the first innings and five for 45 in the second tofinish with match figures of 11 for 141, which were the best of his career. He was awarded his county cap in the 1954 season, but Somerset remained at thebottom of the table.The figures for the 1955 were similar: McMahon this time took 75 wickets at 28.77 apiece. There was a small improvement in his batting andthe arrival of Bryan Lobb elevated McMahon to No 10 in the batting order for most of the season, and he responded with 262 runs and an average of 9.03. Thisincluded his highest-ever score, 24, made in the match against Sussex at Frome. A week later in Somerset's next match, he equalled his best-ever bowlingperformance, taking eight Kent wickets for 46 runs in the first innings of a match at Yeovil through what Wisden called "clever variation of flight and spin". Thesematches brought two victories for Somerset, but there were only two others in the 1955 season and the side finished at the bottom of the Championship for thefourth season running.At the end of the 1955 season, Lawrence retired and McMahon became Somerset's senior spin bowler for the 1956 season, with Langfordreturning from National Service as the main support. McMahon responded with his most successful season so far, taking 103 wickets at an average of 25.57, theonly season in his career in which he exceeded 100 wickets. The bowling average improved still further in 1957 to 23.10 when McMahon took 86 wickets. But hisseason came to an abrupt end in mid-August 1957 when, after 108 consecutive Championship matches, he was dropped from the first team during theWeston-super-Mare festival. Though he played some games for the second eleven later in August, he regained his place in the first team for only a singleend-of-season friendly match, and he was told that his services were not required for the future, a decision, said Wisden, that "proved highlycontroversial".Sacked by SomersetThe reason behind McMahon's sacking did not become public knowledge for many years. In its obituary of him in 2002,McMahon was described by Wisden as "a man who embraced the antipodean virtues of candour and conviviality". It went on: "Legend tells of a night at the FlyingHorse Inn in Nottingham when he beheaded the gladioli with an ornamental sword, crying: 'When Mac drinks, everybody drinks!'" The obituary recounts a furtherescapade in second eleven match at Midsomer Norton where a curfew imposed on the team was circumvented by "a POW-type loop" organised by McMahon,"with his team-mates escaping through a ground-storey window and then presenting themselves again". As the only Somerset second eleven match thatMcMahon played in at Midsomer Norton was right at the end of the 1957 season, this may have been the final straw. But in any case there had been "anembarrassing episode at Swansea's Grand Hotel" earlier in the season, also involving Jim Hilton, who was also dismissed at the end of the season. Team-matesand club members petitioned for McMahon to be reinstated, but the county club was not to be moved.After a period in Lancashire League cricket with MilnrowCricket Club, McMahon moved back to London where he did office work, later contributing some articles to cricket magazines.== Notes and references==Passage 3:Wale AdebanwiWale Adebanwi (born 1969) is a Nigerian-born first Black Rhodes Professor at St Antony's College, Oxford where he was, until June2021, a Professor of Race Relations, and the Director of the African Studies Centre, School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, and a Governing Board Fellow. He iscurrently a Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Adebanwi's research focuses on a range of topics in theareas of social change, nationalism and ethnicity, race relations, identity politics, elites and cultural politics, democratic process, newspaper press and spatialpolitics in Africa.Education backgroundWale Adebanwi graduated with a first degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos, and later earned hisM.Sc. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Ibadan. He also has an MPhil. and a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the University ofCambridge.CareerAdebanwi worked as a freelance reporter, writer, journalist and editor for many newspapers and magazines before he joined the University ofIbadan's Department of Political Science as a lecturer and researcher. He was later appointed as an assistant professor in the African American and AfricanStudies Department of the University of California, Davis, USA. He became a full professor at UC Davis in 2016.Adebanwi is the co-editor of Africa: Journal of theInternational African Institute and the Journal of Contemporary African Studies.WorksHis published works include:Nation as Grand Narrative: The Nigerian Pressand the Politics of Meaning (University of Rochester Press, 2016)Yoruba Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria: Obafemi Awolowo and Corporate Agency (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2014)Authority Stealing: Anti-corruption War and Democratic Politics in Post-Military Nigeria (Carolina Academic Press, 2012)In addition, he isthe editor and co-editor of other books, including.The Political Economy of Everyday Life in Africa: Beyond the Margins (James Currey Publishers, 2017)Writersand Social Thought in Africa (Routledge, 2016)(co-edited with Ebenezer Obadare) Governance and the Crisis of Rule in Contemporary Africa (Palgrave Macmillan,2016)(co-edited with Ebenezer Obadare) Democracy and Prebendalism in Nigeria: Critical Interpretations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).(co-edited with EbenezerObadare) Nigeria at Fifty: The Nation in Narration (Routledge, 2012)(co-edited with Ebenezer Obadare) Encountering the Nigerian State (Palgrave Macmillan,2010).AwardsRhodes Professorship in Race Relations awarded by Oxford University to Faculty of African and Interdisciplinary Area Studies.Passage 4:Nil TunMaungNil Tun Maung (born 30 September 1931) is a Burmese weightlifter. He competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics, the 1956 Summer Olympics and the1960 Summer Olympics.Passage 5:Wesley BarresiWesley Barresi (born 3 May 1984) is a South African born first-class and Netherlands international cricketer. Heis a right-handed wicket keeper-batsman and also bowls right-arm offbreak. In February 2021, Barresi announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, butreturned to the national team in August 2022.CareerWesley became the 100th victim to Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, when he was dismissed in the 2011 WorldCup game against India.In July 2018, he was named in the Netherlands' One Day International (ODI) squad, for their series against Nepal. Ahead of the ODI


Passage 1:Kaya AlpKaya Alp (Ottoman Turkish:  , lit. 'Brave Rock') was, according to Ottoman tradition, the son of Kızıl Buğa or Basuk and the father of Suleyman Shah. He was the grandfather of Ertuğrul Ghazi, the father of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman I. He was also famously known for being the successing name of Ertokus Bey’s son Kaya Alp. He was a descendant of the ancestor of his tribe, Kayı son of Gun son of Oghuz Khagan, the legendary progenitor of the Oghuz Turks.Passage 2:Abd al-MuttalibShayba ibn Hāshim (Arabic:   ; c. 497–578), better known as Abd al-Mualib, (Arabic:  , lit. 'Servant of Muttalib') was the fourth chief of the Quraysh tribal confederation. He was the grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.Early lifeHis father was Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf,: 81 the progenitor of the distinguished Banu Hashim, a clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. They claimed descent from Ismā'īl and Ibrāhīm. His mother was Salma bint Amr, from the Banu Najjar, a clan of the Khazraj tribe in Yathrib (later called Madinah). Hashim died while doing business in Gaza, before Abd al-Muttalib was born.: 81 His real name was "Shaiba" meaning 'the ancient one' or 'white-haired' because of the streak of white through his jet-black hair, and is sometimes also called Shaybah al-amd ("The white streak of praise").: 81–82 After his father's death he was raised in Yathrib with his mother and her family until about the age of eight, when his uncle Muttalib ibn Abd Manaf went to see him and asked his mother Salmah to entrust Shaybah to his care. Salmah was unwilling to let her son go and Shaiba refused to leave his mother without her consent. Mualib then pointed out that the possibilities Yathrib had to offer were incomparable to Mecca. Salmah was impressed with his arguments, so she agreed to let him go. Upon first arriving in Mecca, the people assumed the unknown child was Muttalib's servant and started calling him 'Abd al-Muttalib ("servant of Muttalib").: 85–86Chieftain of Hashim clanWhen Mualib died, Shaiba succeeded him as the chief of the Hāshim clan. Following his uncle Al-Mualib, he took over the duties of providing the pilgrims with food and water, and carried on the practices of his forefathers with his people. He attained such eminence as none of his forefathers enjoyed; his people loved him and his reputation was great among them.: 61 'Umar ibn Al-Khaāb's grandfather Nufayl ibn Abdul Uzza arbitrated in a dispute between 'Abdul-Mualib and arb ibn Umayyah, Abu Sufyan's father, over the custodianship of the Kaaba. Nufayl gave his verdict in favour of ' Abdul-Mualib. Addressing arb ibn Umayyah, he said:Why do you pick a quarrel with a person who is taller than you in stature; more imposing than you in appearance; more refined than you in intellect; whose progeny outnumbers yours and whose generosity outshines yours in lustre? Do not, however, construe this into any disparagement of your good qualities which I highly appreciate. You are as gentle as a lamb, you are renowned throughout Arabia for the stentorian tones of your voice, and you are an asset to your tribe.Discovery of Zam Zam Well'Abdul-Mualib said that while sleeping in the sacred enclosure, he had dreamed he was ordered to dig at the worship place of the Quraysh between the two deities Isāf and Nā'ila. There he would find the Zamzam Well, which the Jurhum tribe had filled in when they left Mecca. The Quraysh tried to stop him digging in that spot, but his son Al-ārith stood guard until they gave up their protests. After three days of digging, 'Abdul-Mualib found traces of an ancient religious well and exclaimed, "Allahuakbar!" Some of the Quraysh disputed his claim to sole rights over water, then one of them suggested that they go to a female shaman who lived afar. It was said that she could summon jinns and that she could help them decide who was the owner of the well. So, 11 people from the 11 tribes went on the expedition. They had to cross the desert to meet the priestess but then they got lost. There was a lack of food and water and people started to lose hope of ever getting out. One of them suggested that they dig their own graves and if they died, the last person standing would bury the others. So all began digging their own graves and just as Abdul-Mualib started digging, water spewed out from the hole he dug and everyone became overjoyed. It was then and there decided that Abdul-Muttalib was the owner of the Zam Zam well. Thereafter he supplied pilgrims to the Kaaba with Zam Zam water, which soon eclipsed all the other wells in Mecca because it was considered sacred.: 86–89 : 62–65The Year of the ElephantAccording to Muslim tradition, the Ethiopian governor of Yemen, Abrahah al-Ashram, envied the Kaaba's reverence among the Arabs and, being a Christian, he built a cathedral on Sana'a and ordered pilgrimage be made there.: 21 The order was ignored and someone desecrated (some saying in the form of defecation: 696 note 35 ) the cathedral. Abrahah decided to avenge this act by demolishing the Kaaba and he advanced with an army towards Mecca.: 22–23 There were thirteen elephants in Abrahah's army: 99 : 26 and the year came to be known as 'Ām al-Fīl (the Year of the Elephant), beginning a trend for reckoning the years in Arabia which was used until 'Umar ibn Al-Khaāb replaced it with the Islamic Calendar in 638 CE (17 AH), with the first year of the Islamic Calendar being 622 CE.When news of the advance of Abrahah's army came, the Arab tribes of Quraysh, Kinānah, Khuzā'ah and Hudhayl united in defence of the Kaaba. A man from the imyar tribe was sent by Abrahah to advise them that he only wished to demolish the Kaaba and if they resisted, they would be crushed. " Abdul-Mualib told the Meccans to seek refuge in the nearest high hills while he, with some leading members of Quraysh, remained within the precincts of the Kaaba. Abrahah sent a dispatch inviting 'Abdul-Mualib to meet him and discuss matters. When 'Abdul-Mualib left the meeting he was heard saying, "The Owner of this House is its Defender, and I am sure He will save it from the attack of the adversaries and will not dishonour the servants of His House.": 24–26 It is recorded that when Abrahah's forces neared the Kaaba, Allah commanded small birds (abābīl) to destroy Abrahah's army, raining down pebbles on it from their beaks. Abrahah was seriously wounded and retreated towards Yemen but died on the way.: 26–27 This event is referred to in the following Qur'anic chapter:Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the owners of the Elephant?Did He not make their treacherous plan go astray?And He sent against them birds in flocks, striking them with stones of baked clay, so He rendered them like straw eaten up.Most Islamic sources place the event around the year that Muhammad was born, 570 CE, though other scholars place it one or two decades earlier. A tradition attributed to Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri in the musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq al-Sanani places it before the birth of Muhammad's father.Sacrificing his son AbdullahAl-Harith was 'Abdul-Mualib's only son at the time he dug the Zamzam Well.: 64 When the Quraysh tried to help him in the digging, he vowed that if he were to have ten sons to protect him, he would sacrifice one of them to Allah at the Kaaba. Later, after nine more sons had been born to him, he told them he must keep the vow. The divination arrows fell upon his favourite son Abdullah. The Quraysh protested 'Abdul-Mualib's intention to sacrifice his son and demanded that he sacrifice something else instead. 'Abdul-Mualib agreed to consult a "sorceress with a familiar spirit". She told him to cast lots between Abdullah and ten camels. If Abdullah were chosen, he had to add ten more camels, and keep on doing the same until his Lord accepted the camels in Abdullah's place. When the number of camels reached 100, the lot fell on the camels. 'Abdul-Mualib confirmed this by repeating the test three times. Then the camels were sacrificed, and Abdullah was spared.: 66–68FamilyWivesAbd al-Muttalib had six known wives.Sumra bint Jundab of the Hawazin tribe.Lubnā bint Hājar of the Khuza'a tribe.Fatima bint Amr of the Makhzum clan of the Quraysh tribe.Halah bint Wuhayb of the Zuhrah clan of the Quraysh tribe.Natīla bint Janab of the Namir tribe.Mumanna'a bint Amr of the Khuza'a tribe.ChildrenAccording to Ibn Hisham, Abd al-Mualib had ten sons and six daughters.: 707–708 note 97 However, Ibn Sa'd lists twelve sons.: 99–101 By Sumra bint Jundab:Al-ārith.: 708 He was the firstborn and he died before his father.: 99 Quthum.: 100 He is not listed by Ibn Hisham.By Fatima bint Amr:Al-Zubayr.: 707 He was a poet and a chief; his father made a will in his favour.: 99 He died before Islam, leaving two sons and daughters.: 101 : 34–35 Abu Talib, born as Abd Manaf,: 99 : 707 father of the future Caliph Ali. He later became chief of the Hashim clan.Abdullah, the father of Muhammad.: 99 : 707 Umm Hakim al-Bayda,: 100 : 707 the maternal grandmother of the third Caliph Uthman.: 32 Barra,: 100 : 707 the mother of Abu Salama.: 33 Arwa.: 100 : 707 Atika,: 100 : 707 a wife of Abu Umayya ibn al-Mughira.: 31 Umayma,: 100 : 707 the mother of Zaynab bint Jahsh and Abd Allah ibn Jahsh.: 33 By Lubnā bint Hājar:Abd al-'Uzzā, better known as Abū Lahab.: 100 : 708 By Halah bint Wuhayb:amza,: 707 the first big leader of Islam. He killed many leaders of the kufar and was considered as the strongest man of the quraysh. He was martyred at Uhud.: 100 afīyya.: 100 : 707 Al-Muqawwim.: 707 He married Qilaba bint Amr ibn Ju'ana ibn Sa'd al-Sahmia, and had children named Abd Allah, Bakr, Hind, Arwa, and Umm Amr (Qutayla or Amra).Hajl.: 707 He married Umm Murra bint Abi Qays ibn Abd Wud, and had two sons, named Abd Allah, Ubayd Allah, and three daughters named Murra, Rabi'a, and Fakhita.By Natīlah bint Khubāb:al-'Abbas,: 100 : 707 ancestor of the Abbasid caliphs.irār,: 707 who died before Islam.: 100 Jahl, died before IslamImran, died before IslamBy Mumanna'a bint 'Amr:Mus'ab, who, according to Ibn Saad, was the one known as al-Ghaydāq.: 100 He is not listed by Ibn Hisham.Al-Ghaydaq, died before Islam.Abd al-Ka'ba, died before Islam.: 100 Al-Mughira,: 100 who had the byname al-Ghaydaq.The family tree and some of his important descendantsDeathAbdul Muttalib's son 'Abdullāh died four months before Muammad's birth, after which Abdul Muttalib took care of his daughter-in-law Āminah. One day Muhammad's mother, Amina, wanted to go to Yathrib, where her husband, Abdullah, died. So, Muhammad, Amina, Abd al-Muttalib and their caretaker, Umm Ayman started their journey to Medina, which is around 500 kilometres away from Makkah. They stayed there for three weeks, then, started their journey back to Mecca. But, when they reached halfway, at Al-Abwa', Amina became very sick and died six years after her husband's death. She was buried over there. From then, Muhammad became an orphan. Abd al-Muttalib became very sad for Muhammad because he loved him so much. Abd al-Muttalib took care of Muhammad. But when Muhammad was eight years old, the very old Abd al-Muttalib became very sick and died at age 81-82 in 578-579 CE.Shaybah ibn Hāshim's grave can be found in the Jannat al-Mu'allā cemetery in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.See alsoFamily tree of MuhammadFamily tree of


Passage 1:Mona Hopton BellMona Hopton Bell (1867–1940) was a British artist, best known for her portraits of civic figures.She was the grandmother of the painter Jean H. Bell.Passage 2:Purnima (Hindi actress)Purnima Das Verma (born Meherbhano Mohammad Ali; 2 March 1934 — 14 August 2013) was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Hindi-language films. She was the aunt of director Mahesh Bhatt and grandmother of actor Emraan Hashmi.Personal lifeMeherbano Mohammad Ali was born on 2 March 1934. Her elder sister, Shirin, is the mother of directors Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt. Meherbano's first husband was a journalist named Syed Shauqat Hashmi, who moved to Pakistan during the end of colonial rule in South Asia when Pakistan and India were created as new states by the British as they decolonized. Her son from this first marriage, Anwar Hashmi (father of Emraan Hashmi), acted in Baharon Ke Manzil (1968) opposite Farida Jalal. In 1954, she married for the second time with filmmaker Bhagwan Das Varma. Meherbano took the screen name 'Purnima' when she entered the film industry.CareerPurnima acted in more than 80 Bollywood films. She was a popular actress in Hindi films from late '40s to '50s. She appeared in many films including Patanga (1949), Jogan (1950), Sagai (1951), Jaal (1952), Aurat (1953), a role in Ajay Devgan's debut film Phool Aur Kaante, and the role of Sanjay Dutt's on-screen grandmother in Naam which was directed by Mahesh Bhatt (Purnima's elder sister's son). She also played the role of Amitabh Bachchan's mother in the film Zanjeer.DeathPurnima had Alzheimer's disease during the last few years of her life and died on 14 August 2013. Mahesh Bhatt later revealed on Twitter, " My aunt Purnima, the first star of our family and who happens to be Emraan Hashmi's grandmother has entered the sunset moments of her life.".Selected filmographyPassage 3:Hannah ArnoldHannah Arnold may refer to:Hannah Arnold (née Waterman) (c.1705–1758), mother of Benedict ArnoldHannah Arnold (beauty queen) (born 1996), Filipino-Australian model and beauty pageant titleholderPassage 4:Kaoru HatoyamaKaoru Hatoyama ( , Hatoyama Kaoru, 21 November 1888 – 15 August 1982) was an educator and an administrator, the schoolmaster of Kyoritsu Women's University, which was founded by her mother-in-law, Haruko Hatoyama. She is well known as the wife of Ichirō Hatoyama, who was the 52nd–54th Prime Minister of Japan, serving terms from December 10, 1954 through December 23, 1956. She was the mother of Iichirō Hatoyama, who was Japan's Foreign Minister from 1976 through 1977.After the elections of 2009, she became more widely known as the grandmother of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his politician brother Kunio Hatoyama.See alsoHatoyama Hall (Hatoyama Kaikan)NotesPassage 5:Anne DenmanAnne Denman (1587–1661) was born in Olde Hall, Retford, Nottinghamshire. Through a second marriage with Thomas Aylesbury, she became the grandmother of Lady Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and great-grandmother of Queen Mary II and Queen Anne.Early lifeAnne was born in Olde Hall, West Retford in around 1587. She was the younger daughter of Francis Denman of Retford and Anne (Blount) Denman. Francis (born c. 1531, died 1599) was the rector of West Retford, Notts from 1578. He was the second son of Anne Hercy by her first husband, Nicholas Denman esq of East Retford, Notts. Francis had several sons who pre-deceased him and left two daughters as his heirs: Barbara (born c. 1583) who married Edward Darell (born c. 1582); and Anne.Anne's nephew, Dr John Darrell, was the youngest child of Barbara Denman and Edward Darell, and inherited substantial properties from both the Denman and Darell families. In 1665 just before his death he made a will dividing his estate between three charities. He donated the childhood home of Anne and Barbara, Olde Hall, to create a hospital for elderly men (an alms house), which became the site for Trinity Hospital, Retford (a Grade II listed building).MarriagesAnne was married at 20 and left a widow at 23 after the death of her first husband William, the younger son of Sir Thomas Darell. William was the half-brother of her sister Barbara's husband Edward.Anne left Retford due to some unknown trouble, or loss of fortune, in 1610 and proceeded to London by waggon-coach. Wilmshurst (1908) records that there had been a lawsuit between the two sisters in 1605.After reaching London, Anne is said to have halted at a hostel called the 'Goat and Compasses', where she rested before looking out for an occupation suitable for a country lady of good birth and family. The owner (not the landlord) of the hostel was Mr Thomas Aylesbury, a rich brewer of the Parish of St Andrew's, Holborn who happened to be making an inspection of his 'Houses' and required a housekeeper for his household, engaging Anne to this position. Thomas was a widower of 34, and a year later made Anne an offer of marriage.The marriage of Anne and Thomas was recorded in the Bishop of London's Registry, dated 3 October 1611, giving the couple's address as St Andrew's, Holborn. The registry notes that the marriage has 'the consent of his father, William Aylesbury, Esquire'. She is described in the register as 'Anne Darell, of the City of London, widow, whose husband died a year before'. Edwin Wilmshurst (1908) notes that Anne's first husband, William Darrel is described as 'of London', and apparently died there. He says this suggests Anne 'may have become acquainted with Mr Thomas Aylesbury before she became so young a widow and he a widower'. He also comments that on 17 April 1611, there was a partition of Estate between Edward Darrel and Barbara his wife, and her sister Anne, by an Indenture. This took place while she was working for Thomas Aylesbury but before she married him.Marrying Thomas was fortunate for Anne, as in 1627, he was created a Baronet, Master of the Mint, and Master of the Requests, by Charles I. After the King's death, the family moved to Antwerp with other Royalists. During this time in exile, Barbara, Anne's daughter died. Lady Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, and granddaughter of Anne Denman, later noted in her pocket book that her aunt Barbara died in Antwerp in 1652 and unmarried. 'My dear Aunt Bab was, when she died, 24 years of age.' Barbara, when in exile in Holland, was attached to the then Princess of Orange, as a lady in waiting at the Hague.ChildrenThe issue of Anne Denman's marriage with Thomas Aylesbury were:William baptised in 1612 at St Margaret's Lothbury in London, died in Jamaica in 1656Thomas (probably died young)Frances born 1617 died 1667, married Edward Hyde in 1634, had issueLady Anne (1637–1671), married King James II/VIIHon. Henry, later 2nd Earl of Clarendon (1638–1709)Hon. Laurence, later 1st Earl of Rochester (1641–1711)Hon. Edward, (born c 1645, died 1665) buried 13 January 1665 having died at age 19 while a student at OxfordHon. James drowned in HMS Gloucester in 1682 in the suite of the Duke of YorkLady Frances, married Thomas Keightley, Irish revenue commissioner and privy councillor in 1675.Anne, baptised at St Margaret's and married there in 1637 to John BrighamJane (probably died young)Barbara baptised at St Margaret's, Westminster, 9 May 1627 died 1652 in Antwerp, no issue.Through her daughter Frances, Anne Denman is the maternal grandmother of Anne Hyde, the first wife of James II, and is the maternal great-grandmother of Mary II of England and Queen Anne.Sir Thomas' death and willIn 1657, Sir Thomas died in exile in Breda, aged 81. Anne returned to London. Sir Thomas's will was in favour of Anne and her daughter Frances, but was disputed. Fortunately, Anne had the help of the eminent lawyer Edward Hyde (b. 18 February 1608/9 d. 1674) who was married to her daughter Frances. The deaths of Frances' brothers and sisters meant that by the time of her father's death she was the heiress for her father's estate.Edward HydeEdward Hyde was Anne's son-in-law. The Registers of Westminster Abbey show that he married Frances, daughter of Sir Thomas Aylesbury and his wife Anne, at the Church of St Margaret's, Westminster (in which Parish Sir Thomas and Anne were resident), on 10 July 1634, under a Licence from the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, issued the same day. He was said to be 26 years of age having been born in the ninth year of King Charles' reign (1609), and was already a widower. He married his first wife Anne in 1629, and she died about six months later after catching smallpox. His second wife, Frances was about 21 upon her marriage.Edward Hyde had risen rapidly in his profession. When King Charles was at Oxford, he was knighted on 22 February 1642–3, and was then made Lord Chancellor and Privy Councillor at the age of 34. Upon King Charles' death, he had to flee from Puritan vengeance. He was with King Charles II in exile in Flanders, and in Bruges on 29 January 1657–58, he was again appointed Lord Chancellor in prospectu. With the restitution of the monarchy, Edward and Frances Hyde were now in high favour. For his long service to the King, and his fidelity to the Crown, Edward was created Baron Hyde of Hindon, Wiltshire in 1660. In 1661, he was raised to be Viscount Cornberry (in which year Frances died). He was later created Earl of Clarendon (1662), taking his title from the Estate and Park of Clarendon, near Salisbury.Edward and Frances had six children. Their daughter Lady Anne (1637–1671), married King James II/VII.Death and burialAnne Denman is interred in the Hyde family vault in Westminster Abbey. She seems to have secured the regard of her grandson-in-law, James, Duke of York, as Samuel Pepys notes in his Diary that, in 1661, The Duke of York was in mourning for his wife's grandmother, who (he adds) was thought of with a great deal of fondness — and which grandmother was Anne Denman, of the Old Manor House, West Retford, Notts, now the Trinity Hospital.Queen Anne portraitAnne Denman's childhood home, the Old Hall in Retford, was given by her nephew John Darrell in his will to become a hospital for old men of good repute. As the last member of the Denman-Darrell family, he carried out the wishes of his father, Edward, in this respect. The Old Hall became Trinity Hospital, on Hospital Road, Retford. It is administered by a Trust which owns considerable property around Retford. A portrait of Queen Anne in Trinity Hospital was recently attributed (1999) by the auctioneers Phillips to Sir Godfrey Kneller. John was the nephew of Anne Denman, the first cousin of Frances Hyde, and therefore a cousin twice removed of Queen Anne.== Notes ==Passage 6:Hubba bint HulailHubba bint Hulail (Arabic:   ) was the grandmother of Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf, thus the great-great-great-grandmother of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.BiographyHubbah was the daughter of Hulail ibn Hubshiyyah ibn Salul ibn Ka’b ibn Amr al-Khuza’i of Banu Khuza'a who was the trustee and guardian of the Ka‘bah (Arabic: , 'Cube'). She married Qusai ibn Kilab and after her father died, the keys of the Kaaba were committed to her. Qusai, according to Hulail's will, had the trusteeship of the Kaaba after him.Hubbah never gave up ambitious hopes for the line of her favourite son Abd Manaf. Her two favourite grandsons were the twin sons Amr and Abd Shams, of ‘Ātikah bint Murrah. Hubbah hoped that


Passage 1:Richard T. JonesRichard Timothy Jones (born January 16, 1972) is an American actor. He has worked extensively in both film and televisionproductions since the early 1990s. His television roles include Ally McBeal (1997), Judging Amy (1998–2005), CSI: Miami (2006), Girlfriends (2007), Grey'sAnatomy (2010), Hawaii Five-0 (2011–2014), Narcos (2015), and Criminal Minds (2017). Since 2018, he has played Police Sergeant Wade Grey on the ABC policedrama The Rookie.His film roles include portrayals of Lamont Carr in Disney's Full Court Miracle (2003), Laveinio "Slim" Hightower in Rick Famuyiwa'scoming-of-age film The Wood (1999), Mike in Tyler Perry's dramatic films Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), and CaptainRussell Hampton in the Hollywood blockbuster Godzilla (2014).Early lifeJones was born in Kobe, Japan, to American parents and grew up in Carson, California. Heis the son of Lorene, a computer analyst, and Clarence Jones, a professional baseball player who at the time of Jones' birth was playing for the Nankai Hawks inOsaka. He has an older brother, Clarence Jones Jr., who works as a high school basketball coach. They would return to North America after Clarence's retirementfollowing the 1978 season. His parents later divorced. Jones attended Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, California, then graduated from TuskegeeUniversity.CareerSince the early 1990s, Jones has worked in both film and television productions.His first television role was in a 1993 episode of the seriesCalifornia Dreams. That same year, he appeared as Ike Turner, Jr. in What's Love Got to Do with It. From 1999 to 2005, he starred as Bruce Calvin van Exel inthe CBS legal drama series Judging Amy.Over the next two decades, Jones starred or guest-starred in high-profile television series such as Ally McBeal (1997),CSI: Miami (2006), Girlfriends (2007), Grey's Anatomy (2010), Hawaii Five-0 (2011–2014), Narcos (2015), and Criminal Minds (2017).His film roles includeportrayals of Lamont Carr in the Disney film Full Court Miracle (2003), Laveinio "Slim" Hightower in Rick Famuyiwa's coming-of-age film The Wood (1999), andMike in Tyler Perry's dramatic films Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), and Captain Russell Hampton in the Hollywoodblockbuster Godzilla (2014).From 2017 to 2018, Jones played Detective Tommy Cavanaugh in the CBS drama series Wisdom of the Crowd.Since February 2018,Jones has played the role of Sergeant Wade Gray in the ABC police procedural drama series The Rookie with Nathan Fillion.Personal lifeJoshua Media Ministriesclaims that its leader, David E. Taylor, mentors Jones in ministry, and that Jones has donated $1 million to its efforts.FilmographyFilmTelevisionPassage 2:DanaBlanksteinDana Blankstein-Cohen (born March 3, 1981) is the executive director of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School. She was appointed by the boardof directors  in November 2019.  Previously she was the CEO of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television. She is a film director, and an Israeli cultureentrepreneur.BiographyDana Blankstein was born in Switzerland in 1981 to theatre director Dedi Baron and Professor Alexander Blankstein. She moved to Israelin 1983 and grew up in Tel Aviv.Blankstein graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, Jerusalem in 2008 with high honors. During her studiesshe worked as a personal assistant to directors Savi Gabizon on his film Nina's Tragedies and to Renen Schorr on his film The Loners.  She also directed and shot'the making of' film on Gavison's film Lost and Found. Her debut film Camping competed at the Berlin International Film Festival, 2007.Film and academiccareerAfter her studies, Dana founded and directed the film and television department at the Kfar Saba municipality. The department encouraged and promotedproductions filmed in the city of Kfar Saba, as well as the established cultural projects, and educational community activities.Blankstein directed the mini-series"Tel Aviviot" (2012). From 2016-2019 was the director of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television.In November 2019 Dana Blankstein Cohen was appointed thenew director of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School where she also oversees the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab. In 2022, she spearheaded the launchof the new Series Lab and the film preparatory program for Arabic speakers in east Jerusalem.FilmographyTel Aviviot (mini-series; director, 2012)Growing Pains(graduation film, Sam Spiegel; director and screenwriter, 2008)Camping (debut film, Sam Spiegel; director and screenwriter, 2006)Passage 3:LammanRuckerLamman Rucker  (born October 6, 1971) is an American actor. Rucker began his career on the daytime soap operas As the World Turns and All MyChildren, before roles in The Temptations, Tyler Perry's films Why Did I Get Married?, Why Did I Get Married Too?, and Meet the Browns, and its televisionadaptation. In 2016, he began starring as Jacob Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. Rucker is married to Kelly Davis Rucker, agraduate of Hampton University. As of 2022, he stars in BET+ drama The Black Hamptons.Early lifeRucker was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son ofMalaya (née Ray) and Eric Rucker. He has partial ancestry from Barbados. Rucker spent his formative years in the greater Washington, DC, Maryland area. Hefirst had an interest in acting after he was placed in many child pageants.  His first acting role was as Martin Luther King in the 4th grade. He was in the dramaclub in 7th grade and then attended high school at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. Rucker studied at Carnegie-Mellon University andDuquesne University.On August 29, 2019, he shared personal life experiences that he credits for his success with the Hampton University football team.CareerHismajor role came in 2002 when he assumed the role of attorney T. Marshall Travers on the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns opposite Tamara Tunie. Heleft the series the following year and portrayed Garret Williams on ABC soap opera All My Children in 2005. He also had the recurring roles on the UPN sitcoms Allof Us and Half & Half.Rucker is best known for his roles in the Tyler Perry's films. He co-starred in Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and  Why Did I Get Married Too?(2010). He played Will Brown in 2008 film Meet The Browns. He later had a starring role on Perry's sitcom Meet the Browns reprising his role as Will from 2009 to2011. The following year after Meet the Browns, Rucker was cast in the male lead role opposite Anne Heche in the NBC comedy series Save Me, but left after pilotepisode. He later had roles in a number of small movies and TV movies. Rucker also had regular role opposite Mena Suvari in the short-lived WE tv drama series,South of Hell.In 2015, Rucker was cast as one of leads in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. He plays Jacob Greenleaf, the eldest son of LynnWhitfield' and Keith David's characters.FilmographyFilmTelevisionAward nominationsPassage 4:Olav AaraasOlav Aaraas (born 10 July 1950) is a Norwegianhistorian and museum director.He was born in Fredrikstad. From 1982 to 1993 he was the director of Sogn Folk Museum, from 1993 to 2010 he was the directorof Maihaugen and from 2001 he has been the director of the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. In 2010 he was decorated with the Royal Norwegian Order ofSt. Olav.Passage 5:Erle C. KentonErle C. Kenton (August 1, 1896 – January 28, 1980) was an American film director. Kenton was  director of B films, with hismost famous film being Island of Lost Souls starring Charles Laughton.BiographyPrior to filmwork, Kenton was a school teacher and later decided to become ananimal exhibitor. After working with various dog, pony and other animal shows, he entered the vaudeville circuit as a comedian. This led to him entering the filmindustry working on the Keystone Cops series of films making various short comedies.Kenton began as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1914 and would direct featurefilms for Columbia Pictures,  Tiffany Pictures, Paramount Pictures, RKO Pictures, Republic Pictures. He worked for Universal Pictures between 1941 and 1946making films such as The Ghost of Frankenstein, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula and The Cat Creeps and several films featuring comedians Abbott &Costello. Kenton was replaced by Charles Lamont on Hit the Ice after problems with Lou Costello.Producer Paul Malvern stated later that Kenton and him "gotalong beautifully" and that "He was one director who thought everything out and made sure that he came in on budget and on time. He wasn't real fond ofdirecting the Abbott and Costello films so he got a kick out of the monster films." Kenton spoke about directing horror films in a 1944 interview, stating "They giveus a chance to let our imagination run wild. The art department can go to town on creep sets. Prop men have fun with cobwebs. The cameraman has fun withtrick lighting and shadows. The director has fun. We have more fun making a horror picture than a comedy."Kenton and Edward Ludwig were the principaldirectors of the 1958–1960 CBS television series, The Texan. Kenton died on January 28, 1980, of Parkinson's disease in Glendale, California. Malvern recalledthat when he visited Kenton before his death, Kenton did not recognize him.Selected filmographyPassage 6:Brian Kennedy (gallery director)Brian Patrick Kennedy(born 5 November 1961) is an Irish-born art museum director who has worked in Ireland and Australia, and now lives and works in the United States.  He was thedirector of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem for 17 months, resigning December 31, 2020. He was the director of the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio from 2010to 2019. He was the director of the Hood Museum of Art from 2005 to 2010, and the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra) from 1997 to 2004.CareerBrianKennedy currently lives and works in the United States after leaving Australia in 2005 to direct the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. In October 2010 hebecame the ninth Director of the Toledo Museum of Art. On 1 July 2019, he succeeded Dan Monroe as the executive director and CEO of the Peabody EssexMuseum.Early life and career in IrelandKennedy was born in Dublin and attended Clonkeen College. He received B.A. (1982), M.A. (1985) and PhD (1989)degrees from University College-Dublin, where he studied both art history and history.He worked in the Irish Department of Education (1982), the EuropeanCommission, Brussels (1983), and in Ireland at the Chester Beatty Library (1983–85), Government Publications Office (1985–86), and Department of Finance(1986–89). He married Mary Fiona Carlin in 1988.He was Assistant Director at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin from 1989 to 1997. He was Chair of theIrish Association of Art Historians from 1996 to 1997, and of the Council of Australian Art Museum Directors from 2001 to 2003. In September 1997 he becameDirector of the National Gallery of Australia.National Gallery of Australia (NGA)Kennedy expanded the traveling exhibitions and loans program throughoutAustralia, arranged for several major shows of Australian art abroad, increased the number of exhibitions at the museum itself and oversaw the development of


Passage 1:Tomáš HudečekTomáš Hudeček (born 10 May 1979 in Olomouc) is a Czech university (assoc.) professor and former politician. He is currently the headof the Department of Public Administration and Regional Studies at the Masaryk Institute of Advanced Studies of the Czech Technical University in Prague, aformer local (non-party) politician and the Mayor of the Capital City of Prague. He is married, has three sons, lives alternately in Prague and Ostrava.In 2010 hewas elected to the Municipal Assembly in Prague as a candidate of the TOP 09 party.  On 24 November 2011 he became a member of the executive council ofPrague and the Deputy Mayor of Bohuslav Svoboda. Hudeček was elected deputy mayor of Prague between 24 November 2011 and 23 May 2013, then deputymayor with the responsibilities of Mayor during the flooding of May and June 2013 days in Prague, and Mayor of Prague between 20 June 2013 and 26 October2014.Passage 2:A Trial in PragueA Trial in Prague is an 83 min colour documentary film directed by Zuzana Justman, about the Slánský trial, a high-profile showtrial in 1952 Communist Czechoslovakia.ContentAt the height of the Cold War, an infamous political show trial, known as the Slánský trial, took place inCzechoslovakia. In 1952, 14 leading Communists, including Rudolf Slánský, the second most powerful man in the country, were tried on charges of high treasonand espionage. Although they were innocent of the charges, they confessed and were convicted. Most of the men were hanged, but three received life sentences.Eleven of the fourteen were Jews.The film tells the story of the trial and the paranoia of the period through testimonies, trial footage, archival films and extensivedocumentation. Among the people who appear in the film are Lise London, whose late husband Artur London was one of the defendants and wrote about the trialin a widely published memoir "The Confession;" Eduard Goldstucker, a Kafka scholar and the first Czech ambassador to Israel who was jailed and forced to testifyat the trial; and Jan Kavan, the former Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose father, also a trial witness, died shortly after his release from prison.What ledthese men to their passionate belief in Communism and why did they publicly confess to crimes they did not commit?  The film explores the questions, as well asthe role of Moscow, the motives for the trial and its anti-Semitic thrust. It deals with the personal stories of the condemned men and the legacy they left theirchildren, who "feel a need to live out the interrupted lives of their fathers".Comments"Sensitive, intelligent & moving … shows the human face of bothcommunism and its victims" - New York Times "Harrowing and enlightening, a tale that even Kafka would find hard to imagine" (Boston Phoenix)."Measured,informative…neatly structured" (Variety).“The film is as compelling for these painful details as for the tough-minded analysis that ties them together.” ( TheVillage Voice)“Powerful, important and refreshingly straightforward documentary.” (New York Post)SourcesSlánská, Josefa (1969). Report On My Husband.London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-097320-8.London, Artur (1971). Confession. USA: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-22170-2.Margolius, Ivan (2006). Reflections ofPrague: Journeys through the 20th century. Chichester: Wiley. ISBN 0-470-02219-1.Kaplan, Karel (1990). Report on the Murder of the General Secretary.London: I. B. Tauris & Co. ISBN 1-85043-211-2.Heda Margolius Kovaly (1997) Under a Cruel Star: A life in Prague 1941-1968 (ISBN 0-8419-1377-3).Passage3:Vojtěch PetráčekVojtěch Petráček (born 17 February 1964 in Prague) is a Czech nuclear physicist and University Lecturer. Since February 2018, He has alsobeen the rector of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CVUT) in Prague.EducationAfter attending the Nad Štolou Grammar School in the Letnány, Petráčekstudied mathematics and physics from 1982 at the Charles University, obtaining a doctorate in 1987.CareerIn 2014 he unsuccessfully ran in the Rectorateelection of the ČVUT, but in 2017 he was elected and at the end of January, 2018 he was appointed to this position by the Czech President Miloš Zeman witheffect from 1. February 2018.PublicationsVojtěch Petráček, as of 2018, has published 117 articles.Passage 4:Henry Kolowrat Jr.Henry Kolowrat (Czech: JindřichKolowrat; August 25, 1933 – March 16, 2021) was an American fencer. He was born in Prague into a noble Kolowrat family. He moved with his parents to theUnited States in 1948 after the communist coup d'état in Czechoslovakia. He became a U.S. citizen in 1956. He competed in the team épée event at the 1960Summer Olympics.Passage 5:Zuzana JustmanZuzana Justman, born Zuzana Pick (born 20 June 1931), is a Czech-American maker of documentary films andwriter. She was born in former Czechoslovakia, which she left in 1948 with her mother after surviving two years at Theresienstadt concentration camp duringWorld War II. She went to New York state for college and graduate school, and settled in New York City afterward. After working as a writer and translator, in thelate 1980s, she started filmmaking. She has filmed most of her documentaries in the Czech Republic and other European countries, and her topics have been theHolocaust of World War II and postwar history.Early lifeShe was born into a Jewish family as Zuzana Pick, the second child of Viktor and Marie Pick in Prague,Czechoslovakia. She had an older brother, Jiří Robert Pick, who became a writer and playwright. During World War II Zuzana, her brother and her parents, Viktorand Marie Pick, were imprisoned for two years in the Terezín concentration camp. Her father was deported to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he waskilled; she, her mother and brother were among the survivors of Theresienstadt. They returned to Prague.After the communist putsch ("Victorious February") of1948, Zuzana and her mother emigrated to Argentina. Jiří remained in Prague.Zuzana left Buenos Aires in 1950 to study at Vassar College. She received a B.A.from Vassar and later a Ph.D. in Slavic Linguistics from Columbia University in New York.CareerAfter working as a writer and translator, in 1986 Pick began tomake her first film Terezin Diary (completed in 1989). The documentary is about the World War II-era Theresienstadt concentration camp in occupiedCzechoslovakia.In 1993, she wrote, produced and directed Czech Women: Now We Are Free.Her documentary Voices of the Children (1997), which tells the storyof three concentration camp survivors, received the 1999 Emmy Award for best historical program, the Certificate of Merit at the Chicago International FilmFestival, in 1998 the Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Television Competition, in 1998 Best Documentary and Audience Choice for Best Documentaryawards at Film Fest New Haven, in 1997 the Silver Apple from National Educational Media Network.Justman's film A Trial in Prague (2001) is about a 1952 showtrial in Communist Czechoslovakia (known as the Slansky Trial). It was released theatrically in a great number of venues and it was uniformly well-received bothcritically and commercially.Her 2006 adaptation of her brother's 1982 play The Unlucky Man in the Yellow Cap (in original Czech Smolař ve žluté čepici ), wasperformed at the FringeNYC festival in August 2006.Her play Waiting for Father premiered at a staged reading at the Czech Center New York on November 16,2018.Her story My Terezin Diary was published in The New Yorker on September 9, 2019. It was also published in German translation in Switzerland in DasMagazin in January 2020.Marriage and familyShe was married for nearly 50 years to the late Daniel Justman, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. She has two sonsPhilip and David, from a previous marriage to the late writer David Boroff. She has two stepchildren, Alexander and Jessica Justman, from Daniel's first marriage.Her first husband was Miles/Milos Glaser.Film documentariesA Trial in Prague, 2000 – director, producer, screenwriter Voices of the Children, 1997 – director,screenwriterCzech Women: Now We Are Free, 1993 – director, screenwriter (with J. Becker, L. Studničková)Terezin Diary, 1989 (screenwriter, executiveproducer), directed and produced by Dan WeissmanTheatreThe Unlucky Man in the Yellow Cap, directed by Marcy Arlin, lyrics, translation and cooperation AlexZucker, other lyrics by Peter Fish (also music), Zuzana Justman, J.R. Pick, performed at the FringeNYC festival, August 2006Justman's play Waiting for Fatherpremiered at a staged reading at the Czech Center New York on November 16, 2018.Passage 6:Karel WellnerKarel Wellner (5 March 1875, in Unhošť – 14 June1926, in Olomouc) was a Czech graphic artist, painter, cartoonist, illustrator, art historian and critic. He was also a secondary school teacher and professor.Hegraduated from high school in Prague, and then studied industrial engineering and art  in Prague. He moved to Olomouc in 1902 and was active in illustratingprofessional literature and as an art historian. Some of his works were published in Germany. As a painter he took part in exhibitions in Prague and with theAssociation of Visual Artists in Moravia. He was active mainly in  graphic art. He has published several lithographs and etchings of the old city of Olomouc.SeealsoList of Czech paintersPassage 7:Petr HájekPetr Hájek (Czech pronunciation: [ptr ajk]; 6 February 1940 – 26 December 2016) was a Czechscientist in the area of mathematical logic and a professor of mathematics. Born in Prague, he worked at the Institute of Computer Science at the Academy ofSciences of the Czech Republic and as a lecturer at the faculty of mathematics and physics at the Charles University in Prague and at the Faculty of NuclearSciences and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague.AcademicsPetr Hájek studied at the faculty of mathematics and physics of theCharles University in Prague. Influenced by Petr Vopěnka, he specialized in set theory and arithmetic, and later also in logic and artificial intelligence. Hecontributed to establishing the mathematical fundamentals of fuzzy logic. Following the Velvet Revolution, he was appointed a senior lecturer (1993) and aprofessor (1997). From 1992 to 2000 he held the position of chairman of the Institute of Computer Science at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.From 1996 to 2003 he was also president of the Kurt Gödel Society.Later, he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he studied thepipe organ under Jiří Reinberger to become an organ player in a church.Awards2002, Medal of the Minister of Education of the Czech Republic2006, Medal ofMerit, third grade, in the area of sciences by President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus2008, doctor honoris causa from Silesian University inOpavaPapersHájek, Petr; Kalášek, Pavel; Kůrka, Petr (1960). O dynamické logice. Praha: Academia.Vopěnka, Petr; Hájek, Petr (1972). The Theory of Semisets.Trans. Jech, T. and Rousseau, G. Praha: Academia.Hájek, Petr; Havránek, Tomáš; Chytil, Metoděj K. (1983). Metoda GUHA: automatická tvorba hypotéz. Praha:Academia.Hájek, Petr; Pudlák, Pavel (1993). Metamathematics of First-Order Arithmetic. Berlin: Springer.See alsoSemisetPassage 8:Three StrangersThree


Passage 1:Sarre Anglo-Saxon cemeterySarre Anglo-Saxon cemetery is a place of burial that was used in the sixth and seventh centuries CE.BackgroundWith theadvent of the Anglo-Saxon period in the fifth century CE, the area that became Kent underwent a radical transformation on a political, social, and physical level.In the preceding era of Roman Britain, the area had been administered as the civitas of Cantiaci, a part of the Roman Empire, but following the collapse of Romanrule in 410 CE, many signs of Romano-British society began to disappear, replaced by those of the ascendant Anglo-Saxon culture. Later Anglo-Saxon accountsattribute this change to the widescale invasion of Germanic language tribes from northern Europe, namely the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Archaeological andtoponymic evidence shows that there was a great deal of syncretism, with Anglo-Saxon culture interacting and mixing with the Romano-British culture.The OldEnglish term Kent first appears in the Anglo-Saxon period, and was based on the earlier Celtic-language name Cantii. Initially applied only to the area east of theRiver Medway, by the end of the sixth century it also referred to areas to the west of it. The Kingdom of Kent was the first recorded Anglo-Saxon kingdom toappear in the historical record, and by the end of sixth century, it had become a significant political power, exercising hegemony over large parts of southern andeastern Britain. At the time, Kent had strong trade links with Francia, while the Kentish royal family married members of Francia's Merovingian dynasty, who werealready Christian. Kentish King Æthelberht was the overlord of various neighbouring kingdoms when he converted to Christianity in the early seventh century as aresult of Augustine of Canterbury and the Gregorian mission, who had been sent by Pope Gregory to replace England's pagan beliefs with Christianity. It was inthis context that the Polhill cemetery was in use.Kent has a wealth of Early Medieval funerary archaeology. The earliest excavation of Anglo-Saxon Kentish graveswas in the 17th century, when antiquarians took an increasing interest in the material remains of the period. In the ensuing centuries, antiquarian interest gaveway to more methodical archaeological investigation, and prominent archaeologists like Bryan Faussett, James Douglas, Cecil Brent, George Payne, and CharlesRoach Smith "dominated" archaeological research in Kent.Archaeological investigationThe existence of Sarre was not noted by any of the early antiquarians whostudied the Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of Kent. Sarre cemetery was discovered in 1843, and re-examined in 1860, when a number of artefacts were discoveredduring construction work at Sarre windmill, subsequently being purchased by the British Museum. It was excavated in 1863 by the Kent Archaeological Society, ina project directed by John Brent, who published his findings in the Archaeologia Cantiana journal. Aided by two workmen, he used a metal probe to determine thelocations of the graves.After this excavation, which was believed to have been total, the cemetery was relegated to "the history of archaeology", being considered“arguably the richest Anglo-Saxon burial ground yet discovered”. It was not scheduled as an Ancient Monument.In 1982, an excavation of the supposed site of St.Giles took place under the directorship of D.R.J. Perkins, revealing Anglo-Saxon graves around 50 metres away from Brent's excavated area. This led Perkins toreview the original cemetery plan, and undertake aerial photography of the site; this suggested that there were various features that Brent had not revealed, andthat the cemetery was larger than previously believed. It was decided that further excavation of the site was necessary, with the cooperation of the landowners,Church Commissioners, as well as the local farmer, Michael Baxter.In May 1991, Southern Water commenced a sewage construction near the site, and funded arescue excavation of the area from the Trust for Thanet Archaeology.See alsoList of Anglo-Saxon cemeteriesBuckland Anglo-Saxon cemeteryFingleshamAnglo-Saxon cemeteryMill Hill Anglo-Saxon cemeteryPassage 2:William Rockhill NelsonWilliam Rockhill Nelson (March 7, 1841 – April 13, 1915) was an Americanreal estate developer and co-founder of The Kansas City Star in Kansas City, Missouri.  He donated his estate (and home) for the establishment of theNelson-Atkins Museum of Art.He is buried at Mt. Washington Cemetery with his wife, daughter and son-in-law.Early lifeNelson was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana.His father was publisher Isaac De Groff Nelson (1810–1891) and his mother was Elizabeth Rockhill (1816–1889), the daughter of William R. Rockhill, animportant farmer and politician in Fort Wayne, Indiana. For a short time, Isaac Nelson owned The Sentinel newspaper (which became the Fort Wayne NewsSentinel). But I.D.G. Nelson, as he was fondly known for many years in Fort Wayne, was much more renowned as a nursery owner. His own estate, "Elm Park",was considered "the showplace of Allen County."Nelson, as a 15-year-old attended the University of Notre Dame (which accepted high school students) at thetime for two years which he described as "Botany Bay for bad boys." Notre Dame was reported to have asked that he not return.He was admitted to the bar in1862 and was a campaign manager for Democratic presidential nominee Samuel J. Tilden. Tilden told him: "While it is a great thing to lead armies, it is a greaterthing to lead the minds of men."Nelson attempted to run a store in Savannah, Georgia but it failed. The southern sojourn was to earn him the nickname "TheColonel" even though he never served in the military. William Allen White said later: "Not that he was ever a colonel of anything...He was justcoloneliferous."NewspapersNelson formally took over the Sentinel with Samuel Morss in 1879. In 1880 they moved to Kansas City and started the Star. At thetime there were three daily competitors – the Evening Mail; The Kansas City Times; and the Kansas City Journal. Nelson took over sole ownership of the paperwithin a few months.Nelson's business strategy called for cheap advance subscriptions and an intention to be "absolutely independent in politics, aiming to dealby all men and all parties with impartiality and fearlessness."He purchased the Kansas City Evening Mail and its Associated Press franchise in 1882 and started theWeekly Kansas City Star in 1890 and the Sunday Kansas City Star in 1894. Nelson bought the Times in 1901, putting The Morning Kansas City Star on it.Nelsonhad portraits of Tilden, Grover Cleveland, and Theodore Roosevelt in his office. Roosevelt stayed with Nelson at Oak Hall.In one encounter, Kansas City MayorJoseph J. Davenport was thrown down a stairwell at the Star building by editors (including William Allen White) when he was believed to have physicallythreatened Nelson. Nelson said afterwards, "The Star never loses!"Other interestsIn addition to his newspaper duties, Nelson developed an area of farmland southof downtown Kansas City into a neighborhood of more than 100 houses, including his own mansion called Oak Hall. The area, which became known as the RockhillDistrict, was noted for its use of limestone in both the houses and in stone walls that stood beside the streets  Nelson also acquired more than 2,400 acres (9.7km2) in what is presently Grain Valley, Missouri, for the establishment of Sni A Bar Farm.  The farm's mission was the development of improved breedingmethods and livestock.  It served as one of the world's leaders in animal health for more than 30 years.He campaigned for Kansas City's George Kessler-designedpark and boulevard system and the 1900 “Kansas City Spirit” to build Convention Hall in 90 days in order to host the 1900 Democratic National Convention afterthe original (and new) convention hall had burned in April 1900.LegacyNelson provided in his will that following the death of his wife and daughter his Oak Hillmansion be torn down and its 30-acre (120,000 m2) estate turned into an art museum.  Proceeds from his $6 million estate were used to build the Nelson-AtkinsMuseum of Art in Kansas City.  Nelson's will also established a trust for Sni A Bar Farm, with Presidents from the University of Missouri, the University of Kansas,and the University of Oklahoma charged with selecting its trustees.The Art Gallery originally contained a recreation of Nelson's oak paneled room from Oak Hall(and namesake of the estate). The room contained Nelson's red plush easy chair and bookcases.  The room was dismantled in 1988 to make way for aphotography studio. His memorial is located in a mausoleum located at Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Missouri, between Truman Road and USRoute 24.Passage 3:Motherland (disambiguation)Motherland is the place of one's birth, the place of one's ancestors, or the place of origin of an ethnicgroup.Motherland may also refer to:Music"Motherland" (anthem), the national anthem of MauritiusNational Song (Montserrat), also called"Motherland"Motherland (Natalie Merchant album), 2001Motherland (Arsonists Get All the Girls album), 2011Motherland (Daedalus album), 2011"Motherland"(Crystal Kay song), 2004Film and televisionMotherland (1927 film), a 1927 British silent war filmMotherland (2010 film), a 2010 documentary filmMotherland(2015 film), a 2015 Turkish dramaMotherland (2022 film), a 2022 documentary film about the Second Nagorno-Karabakh WarMotherland (TV series), a 2016British television seriesMotherland: Fort Salem, a 2020 American science fiction drama seriesOther usesMotherland Party (disambiguation), the name of severalpolitical groupsPersonifications of Russia, including a list of monuments called MotherlandSee alsoAll pages with titles containing MotherlandMother Country(disambiguation)Passage 4:Meritites IMeritites I was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 4th Dynasty. Her name means "Beloved of her Father". Several of her titlesare known from a stela found at Giza. She was buried in the middle Queen’s Pyramid in Giza (Pyramid G 1b).Meritites was a daughter of King Sneferu and hisconsort of unknown name. Meritites married her (half?-)brother, King Khufu. With Khufu, she was the mother of the Crown Prince Kawab, and possibly Djedefre.Both Queen Hetepheres II and Pharaoh Khafre have been suggested as children of Meretites I and Khufu as well, and it is possible that Meritites II was a daughterof Meritites I as well.Auguste Mariette recorded a stela at Giza in which Meritites is said to be a favorite of both Sneferu and Khufu:King’s wife, his beloved,devoted to Horus, Mertitytes. King’s wife, his beloved, Mertitytes; beloved of the Favorite of the Two Goddesses; she who says anything whatsoever and it is donefor her. Great in the favor of Snefr[u]; great in the favor of Khuf[u], devoted to Horus, honored under Khafre. Merti[tyt]es. [Breasted]Meritites held the titles:"great one of the hetes-sceptre of Khufu" (Weret-hetes-net-Khufu, wrt-hetes-nt-khwfw), great one of the hetes-sceptre of Snofru (Weret-hetes-net-snofru,wrt-hetes-nt-snfrw), king’s wife, his beloved (Hemet-nesu Meritef, hmt-nsw meryt.f), attendant of Horus (Khet-heru, kht-hrw) and consort and beloved of theTwo Ladies (Semayt-meri-nebti, smyt-mry-nbty).PyramidPyramid G1-b is thought to be the tomb of Meritites. The queen's pyramids were often constructed to


Passage 1:Hermann GöringHermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; German: [hman vlhlm øŋ] (listen); 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946)was a German politician, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933to 1945.A veteran World War I fighter pilot ace, Göring was a recipient of the Pour le Mérite ("The Blue Max"). He was the last commander of Jagdgeschwader 1(JG I), the fighter wing once led by Manfred von Richthofen. An early member of the Nazi Party, Göring was among those wounded in Adolf Hitler's failed BeerHall Putsch in 1923. While receiving treatment for his injuries, he developed an addiction to morphine which persisted until the last year of his life. After Hitlerbecame Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Göring was named as minister without portfolio in the new government. One of his first acts as a cabinet minister was tooversee the creation of the Gestapo, which he ceded to Heinrich Himmler in 1934.Following the establishment of the Nazi state, Göring amassed power andpolitical capital to become the second most powerful man in Germany. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe (air force), a position he held untilthe final days of the regime. Upon being named Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan in 1936, Göring was entrusted with the task of mobilizing all sectors of theeconomy for war, an assignment which brought numerous government agencies under his control. In September 1939, Hitler designated him as his successor anddeputy in all his offices. After the Fall of France in 1940, he was bestowed the specially created rank of Reichsmarschall, which gave him seniority over all officersin Germany's armed forces.By 1941, Göring was at the peak of his power and influence. As the Second World War progressed, Göring's standing with Hitler andwith the German public declined after the Luftwaffe proved incapable of preventing the Allied bombing of Germany's cities and resupplying surrounded Axis forcesin Stalingrad. Around that time, Göring increasingly withdrew from military and political affairs to devote his attention to collecting property and artwork, much ofwhich was stolen from Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Informed on 22 April 1945 that Hitler intended to commit suicide, Göring sent a telegram to Hitlerrequesting his permission to assume leadership of the Reich. Considering his request an act of treason, Hitler removed Göring from all his positions, expelled himfrom the party, and ordered his arrest. After the war, Göring was convicted of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity at theNuremberg trials in 1946. He was sentenced to death by hanging but committed suicide by ingesting cyanide hours before the sentence was to be carriedout.Early life and educationGöring was born on 12 January 1893 at the Marienbad Sanatorium in Rosenheim, Bavaria. His father, Heinrich Ernst Göring (31October 1839 – 7 December 1913), a former cavalry officer, had been the first governor-general of German South West Africa (modern-day Namibia). Heinrichhad three children from a previous marriage. Göring was the fourth of five children by Heinrich's second wife, Franziska Tiefenbrunn (1859–15 July 1943), aBavarian peasant. Göring's elder siblings were Karl, Olga, and Paula; his younger brother was Albert. At the time that Göring was born, his father was serving asconsul general in Haiti, and his mother had returned home briefly to give birth. She left the six-week-old baby with a friend in Bavaria and did not see the childagain for three years, when she and Heinrich returned to Germany.Göring's godfather was Hermann Epenstein, a wealthy Jewish physician and businessman hisfather had met in Africa. Epenstein provided the Göring family, who were surviving on Heinrich's pension, first with a family home in Berlin-Friedenau, and then asmall castle called Veldenstein, near Nuremberg. Göring's mother became Epenstein's mistress around this time, and remained so for some fifteen years.Epenstein acquired the minor title of Ritter (knight) von Epenstein through service and donations to the Crown.Interested in a career as a soldier from a veryearly age, Göring enjoyed playing with toy soldiers and dressing up in a Boer uniform his father had given him. He was sent to boarding school at age eleven,where the food was poor and discipline was harsh. He sold a violin to pay for his train ticket home, and then took to his bed, feigning illness, until he was told hewould not have to return. He continued to enjoy war games, pretending to lay siege to the castle Veldenstein and studying Teutonic legends and sagas. Hebecame a mountain climber, scaling peaks in Germany, at the Mont Blanc massif, and in the Austrian Alps. At age 16, he was sent to a military academy at BerlinLichterfelde, from which he graduated with distinction.Göring joined the Prince Wilhelm Regiment (112th Infantry, Garrison: Mülhausen) of the Prussian Army in1912. The next year his mother had a falling-out with Epenstein. The family was forced to leave Veldenstein and moved to Munich; Göring's father died shortlyafterwards. It was in Bavaria where Göring developed his "romantic sense of Germanness" that further evolved under National Socialism. When World War Ibegan in August 1914, Göring was stationed at Mülhausen with his regiment.World War IDuring the first year of World War I, Göring served with his infantryregiment in the area of Mülhausen, a garrison town less than 2 km from the French frontier. He was hospitalized with rheumatism, a result of the damp of trenchwarfare. While he was recovering, his friend Bruno Loerzer convinced him to transfer to what would become, by October 1916, the Luftstreitkräfte (transl. aircombat forces) of the German army, but his request was turned down. Later that year, Göring flew as Loerzer's observer in Feldflieger Abteilung 25 (FFA 25);Göring had informally transferred himself. He was discovered and sentenced to three weeks' confinement to barracks, but the sentence was never carried out. Bythe time it was supposed to be imposed, Göring's association with Loerzer had been made official. They were assigned as a team to FFA 25 in the Crown Prince'sFifth Army. They flew reconnaissance and bombing missions, for which the Crown Prince invested both Göring and Loerzer with the Iron Cross, first class.Aftercompleting the pilot's training course, Göring was assigned to Jagdstaffel 5. Seriously wounded in the hip in aerial combat, he took nearly a year to recover. Hethen was transferred to Jagdstaffel 26, commanded by Loerzer, in February 1917. He steadily scored air victories until May, when he was assigned to commandJagdstaffel 27. Serving with Jastas 5, 26 and 27, he continued to win victories. In addition to his Iron Crosses (1st and 2nd Class), he received the Zähringer Lionwith swords, the Friedrich Order, the House Order of Hohenzollern with swords third class, and finally, in May 1918, the coveted Pour le Mérite. According toHermann Dahlmann, who knew both men, Göring had Loerzer lobby for the award. He finished the war with 22 victories. A thorough post-war examination ofAllied loss records showed that only two of his awarded victories were doubtful. Three were possible and 17 were certain, or highly likely.On 7 July 1918, followingthe death of Wilhelm Reinhard, successor to Manfred von Richthofen, Göring was made commander of the "Flying Circus", Jagdgeschwader 1. His arrogance madehim unpopular with the men of his squadron.In the last days of the war, Göring was repeatedly ordered to withdraw his squadron, first to Tellancourt airdrome,then to Darmstadt. At one point, he was ordered to surrender the aircraft to the Allies; he refused. Many of his pilots intentionally crash-landed their planes tokeep them from falling into enemy hands.Like many other German veterans, Göring was a proponent of the stab-in-the-back myth, the belief which held that theGerman Army had not really lost the war, but instead was betrayed by the civilian leadership: Marxists, Jews, and especially the republicans, who had overthrownthe German monarchy. Atop the frustration of military defeat, Göring also experienced the personal disappointment of being snubbed by his fiancée's upper-classfamily, who broke off the engagement when he returned penniless from the front.After World War IGöring remained in aviation after the war. He triedbarnstorming and briefly worked at Fokker. After spending most of 1919 living in Denmark, he moved to Sweden and joined Svensk Lufttrafik, a Swedish airline.Göring was often hired for private flights. During the winter of 1920–1921, he was hired by Count Eric von Rosen to fly him to his castle from Stockholm. Invitedto spend the night, Göring may at this time have first seen the swastika emblem, which Rosen had set in the chimney piece as a family badge.This was also thefirst time that Göring saw his future wife; the count introduced his sister-in-law, Baroness Carin von Kantzow (née Freiin von Fock). Estranged from her husbandof 10 years, she had an eight-year-old son. Göring was immediately infatuated and asked her to meet him in Stockholm. They arranged a visit at the home of herparents and spent much time together through 1921, when Göring left to study political science at the University of Munich. Carin obtained a divorce, followedGöring to Munich, and married him on 3 February 1922. Their first home together was a hunting lodge at Hochkreuth in the Bavarian Alps, near Bayrischzell,some 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Munich. After Göring met Adolf Hitler and joined the Nazi Party in 1922, they moved to Obermenzing, a suburb of Munich.EarlyNazi careerGöring joined the Nazi Party in 1922 after hearing a speech by Hitler. He was given command of the Sturmabteilung (SA) as the Oberster SA-Führer in1923. He was later appointed an SA-Gruppenführer (Lieutenant general) and held this rank on the SA rolls until 1945. At this time, Carin—who liked Hitler—oftenplayed hostess to meetings of leading Nazis, including her husband, Hitler, Rudolf Hess, Alfred Rosenberg, and Ernst Röhm. Hitler later recalled his earlyassociation with Göring:I liked him. I made him the head of my SA. He is the only one of its heads that ran the SA properly. I gave him a dishevelled rabble. In avery short time he had organised a division of 11,000 men.Hitler and the Nazi Party held mass meetings and rallies in Munich and elsewhere during the early1920s, attempting to gain supporters in a bid for political power. Inspired by Benito Mussolini's March on Rome, the Nazis attempted to seize power on 8–9November 1923 in a failed coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Göring, who was with Hitler leading the march to the War Ministry, was shot in the groin.Fourteen Nazis and four policemen were killed; many top Nazis, including Hitler, were arrested. With Carin's help, Göring was smuggled to Innsbruck, where hereceived surgery and was given morphine for the pain. He remained in hospital until 24 December. This was the beginning of his morphine addiction, which lasteduntil his imprisonment at Nuremberg. Meanwhile, the authorities in Munich declared Göring a wanted man. The Görings—acutely short of funds and reliant on thegood will of Nazi sympathizers abroad—moved from Austria to Venice. In May 1924 they visited Rome, via Florence and Siena. Sometime in 1924, Göring met