1.
Scorpions (band)
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Scorpions are a German rock band formed in 1965 in Hanover by Rudolf Schenker. Since the bands inception, its style has ranged from hard rock to heavy metal. The lineup from 1978–92 was the most successful incarnation of the group, and included singer Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Matthias Jabs, Francis Buchholz, and Herman Rarebell. The bands only constant member has been Schenker, although Meine has been the singer for all of the bands studio albums. During the mid-1970s, with guitarist Uli Jon Roth part of the line-up and their best-selling album Crazy World includes the song Wind of Change, a symbolic anthem of the political changes in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is one of the singles in the world with over fourteen million copies sold. Scorpions have sold over 100 million records in total and they have released 18 studio albums,27 compilation albums and 74 singles. Six of their singles have reached number one on the charts in different countries and their albums, singles, compilations and video releases have reached 200 times gold, platinum and multi-platinum status in different countries. Rolling Stone Magazine described the Scorpions as the heroes of heavy metal, the band was ranked number 46 on VH1s Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme, with Rock You Like a Hurricane at number 18 on VH1s list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs. Still Loving You ranked 22nd place among the greatest ballads, Scorpions have received prestigious awards such as three World Music Awards, a star on the Hollywood Rock wall, and a presence in the permanent exhibition of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2015 the group celebrated its 50th anniversary, Rudolf Schenker, the bands rhythm guitarist launched the band in 1965. At first, the band had beat influences and Schenker himself handled the vocals, things began to come together in 1970 when Schenkers younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow, with Lothar Heimberg on bass, during the Lonesome Crow tour, Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. Near the end of the tour, guitarist Michael Schenker accepted an offer of lead guitar for UFO, Uli Roth, a friend of Michaels, was then introduced to the band and he helped them to finish off the tour. The departure of Michael Schenker led to the breakup of the band. In 1973, Uli Roth, who had helped Scorpions complete the Lonesome Crow tour, was offered the role as lead guitarist, Rudolf Schenker eventually decided that he wanted to work with Roth, but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup. He attended some of Dawn Roads rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, Uli Roth and Buchholz persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join on vocals, which he soon did. In 1974, the new line-up of Scorpions released Fly to the Rainbow, the album proved to be more successful than Lonesome Crow and songs such as Speedys Coming and the title track established the bands sound
2.
United States Navy SEALs
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The United States Navys Sea, Air, and Land Teams, commonly abbreviated as the Navy SEALs, are the U. S. Navys primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs main functions are conducting small-unit maritime military operations that originate from, and return to, the SEALs are trained to operate in all environments for which they are named. As of 2016, all active SEALs are currently male and members of the U. S. Navy, the CIAs highly secretive and elite Special Operations Group recruits operators from SEAL Teams, with joint operations going back to the MACV-SOG during the Vietnam War. This cooperation still exists today, as evidenced by military operations in Iraq, the modern day U. S. Navy SEALs can trace their roots to World War II. The United States Navy recognized the need for the reconnaissance of landing beaches. As a result, the Amphibious Scout and Raider School was established in 1942 at Fort Pierce, Florida. The Scouts and Raiders were formed in September of that year, just nine months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, from the Observer Group, a joint U. S. Army-Marine-Navy unit. The Scouts and Raiders mission was to identify and reconnoiter the objective beach, maintain a position on the designated beach prior to a landing, and guide the assault waves to the landing beach. The first group included Phil H. Bucklew, the Father of Naval Special Warfare, commissioned in October 1942, this group saw combat in November 1942 during Operation Torch on the North African coast. Scouts and Raiders also supported landings in Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Normandy, a second group of Scouts and Raiders, code-named Special Service Unit No. 1, was established on 7 July 1943, as a joint, the first mission, in September 1943, was at Finschhafen in Papua New Guinea. Later operations were at Gasmata, Arawe, Cape Gloucester, conflicts arose over operational matters, and all non-Navy personnel were reassigned. The 7th Amphibious Scouts conducted operations in the Pacific for the duration of the conflict, the third and final Scouts and Raiders organization operated in China. Scouts and Raiders were deployed to fight with the Sino-American Cooperative Organization, to help bolster the work of SACO, Admiral Ernest J. King ordered that 120 officers and 900 men be trained for Amphibious Raider at the Scout and Raider school at Fort Pierce, Florida. They formed the core of what was envisioned as a guerrilla organization of Americans and Chinese operating from coastal waters, lakes and rivers employing small steamboats. While most Amphibious Raider forces remained at Camp Knox in Calcutta, in September 1942,17 Navy salvage personnel arrived at ATB Little Creek, VA for a week long course in demolitions, explosive cable cutting and commando raiding techniques. On November 10,1942, the first combat demolition unit successfully cut cable and this enabled the USS Dallas to traverse the water and insert U. S. Rangers who captured the Port Lyautey airdrome, on 6 June 1943, LCDR Kauffman established Naval Combat Demolition Unit training at Fort Pierce
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
Tyrannosaurus
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Tyrannosaurus is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex, is one of the most well-represented of the large theropods, Tyrannosaurus lived throughout what is now western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Tyrannosaurus had a wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the Maastrichtian age of the upper Cretaceous Period,68 to 66 million years ago and it was the last known member of the tyrannosaurids, and among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus was a carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long. Relative to its large and powerful limbs, Tyrannosaurus fore limbs were short. The most complete specimen measures up to 12.3 m in length, up to 3.66 meters tall at the hips, some experts, however, have suggested the dinosaur was primarily a scavenger. The question of whether Tyrannosaurus was a predator or a pure scavenger was among the longest ongoing debates in paleontology. It is accepted now that Tyrannosaurus rex acted as a predator, more than 50 specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex have been identified, some of which are nearly complete skeletons. Soft tissue and proteins have been reported in at least one of these specimens, the abundance of fossil material has allowed significant research into many aspects of its biology, including its life history and biomechanics. The feeding habits, physiology and potential speed of Tyrannosaurus rex are a few subjects of debate and its taxonomy is also controversial, as some scientists consider Tarbosaurus bataar from Asia to be a second Tyrannosaurus species while others maintain Tarbosaurus is a separate genus. However, not every adult Tyrannosaurus specimen recovered is as big, Hutchinson et al. found that the maximum weight of Sue, the largest complete Tyrannosaurus specimen, was between 9.5 and 18.99 metric tons for this specimen. Other estimations have concluded that the largest known Tyrannosaurus specimens had masses approaching or exceeding 9 tonnes. Holtz has also suggested that it is reasonable to suspect that there were individuals that were 10,15. The neck of Tyrannosaurus rex formed a natural S-shaped curve like that of other theropods, the forelimbs had only two clawed fingers, along with an additional small metacarpal representing the remnant of a third digit. In contrast the hind limbs were among the longest in proportion to size of any theropod. The tail was heavy and long, sometimes containing over forty vertebrae, in order to balance the massive head, to compensate for the immense bulk of the animal, many bones throughout the skeleton were hollow, reducing its weight without significant loss of strength. The largest known Tyrannosaurus rex skulls measure up to 1.45 meters in length, large fenestrae in the skull reduced weight and provided areas for muscle attachment, as in all carnivorous theropods
5.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
6.
Christopher Atkins
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Christopher Atkins is an American actor, who became famous in his debut role with co-star Brooke Shields in the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon. Atkins was born in Rye, New York, to German Americans Donald Bomann, in high school, he was a lifeguard and sailing instructor, where he was discovered for The Blue Lagoon. He had no previous interest or experience in acting, but an agent he knew persuaded him to audition for The Blue Lagoon, a role he won over 2,000 other actors. In the film, he and co-star Brooke Shields played two teenage cousins who have lived together since they were marooned as children in a tropical paradise. The film grossed over $58 million with a production cost of $4.5 million and he went on to star with Kristy McNichol in The Pirate Movie, an update of Gilbert and Sullivans operetta The Pirates of Penzance. From that movie, he sang How Can I Live Without Her which peaked at #71 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1982. In A Night in Heaven, also starring Lesley Ann Warren, Atkins played Rick Monroe, for one season, Atkins had a recurring role as swimming instructor Peter Richards on the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas in which his character has an affair with Sue Ellen Ewing. Atkins has been the boy of many teen magazines and has appeared in several television commercials representing Coke. In the 1990s and 2000s, he appeared in the made-for-network and cable movies Fatal Charms, Project Shadowchaser III, other projects includef Caved In, Spiritual Warriors, 13th Child, The Employee of the Month, Tequila Express, Quigley and True Legends of the West. Comic roles include Mortuary Academy, Shoot and he reunited with Shields on her series Suddenly Susan as a fellow journalist who is uninterested in her, in 2007, he starred in the direct-to-DVD sci-fi movie 100 Million BC. In 2009, he appeared on VH1s Confessions of a Teen Idol, Atkins married Lynne Barron Weber, of Sydney, Australia on 25 May 1985, the couple had two children, a son, Grant Bomann and a daughter, Brittney Bomann. He owns a sports company and has patented a fishing lure. Atkins was nominated for a Golden Globe Awards for New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Male for The Blue Lagoon as well as Best Young Actor for the Young Artist Awards. He has also twice nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor. He is ranked Number 76 on VH1s 100 Greatest Teen Stars, Christopher Atkins on Facebook Christopher Atkins at the Internet Movie Database Christopher Atkins at AllMovie
7.
Time travel
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Some ancient myths depict skipping forward in time. The Buddhist Pāli Canon mentions the relativity of time, in the period of our century, one hundred years, only a single day, twenty four hours would have passed for them. The Japanese tale of Urashima Tarō, first described in the Nihongi tells of a fisherman named Urashima Taro who visits an undersea palace. After three days, he returns home to his village and finds himself 300 years in the future, where he has forgotten, his house is in ruins. Early science-fiction stories feature characters who sleep for years and awaken in a changed society. Among them LAn 2440, rêve sil en fût jamais by Louis-Sébastien Mercier, Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving, Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy, prolonged sleep, like the more familiar time machine, is used as a means of time travel in these stories. Decades-long and centuries-long sleep is featured in ancient myths. Like forward time travel, backward time travel has an uncertain origin, the narrator rides to ancient Greece on a hippogriff, meets Aristotle, and goes on a voyage with Alexander the Great before returning to the 19th century. While the narrator waits under a tree for a coach to take him out of Newcastle and he encounters the Venerable Bede in a monastery and explains to him the developments of the coming centuries. However, the story never makes it clear whether these events are real or a dream, charles Dickenss A Christmas Carol has early depictions of time travel in both directions, as the protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge, is transported to Christmases past and future. However, these might be interpreted as visions rather than as time travel because Scrooge experiences the time periods as a rather than as a participant. A clearer example of time travel is found in the popular 1861 book Paris avant les hommes by the French botanist and geologist Pierre Boitard. This may have been the first story to feature an alternate history created as a result of time travel. Early time machines One of the first stories to feature time travel by means of a machine is The Clock that Went Backward by Edward Page Mitchell, however, the mechanism borders on fantasy. An unusual clock, when wound, runs backwards and transports people nearby back in time, the author does not explain the origin or properties of the clock. Enrique Gaspar y Rimbaus El Anacronópete may have been the first story to feature a vessel engineered to travel through time, H. G. Wellss The Time Machine popularized the concept of time travel by mechanical means. In technical papers, physicists generally avoid the language of moving or traveling through time. Movement normally refers only to a change in position as the time coordinate is varied
8.
Michael Gross (actor)
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Michael Edward Gross is an American television, movie and stage actor. He played both comedic and dramatic roles, such as Steven Keaton from the sitcom Family Ties and the graboid hunter Burt Gummer from the Tremors film franchise. Gross was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Virginia Ruth, an operator, and William Oscar Gross. Gross was raised Catholic and attended St. Francis Xavier school in Chicago in his early years and he attended high school at Kelvyn Park High School on the north side of Chicago. He received his degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago before attending Yale University for his Master of Fine Arts degree. His younger sister, Mary Gross, is a former Saturday Night Live cast member, Gross is known for his roles as Steven Keaton in the 1980s sitcom Family Ties and as Burt Gummer in the Tremors movies and subsequent TV series. He guest starred in an episode of the sitcom Night Court, in which he played a sexual predator of Markie Posts character, in 1988, he portrayed a murderous bank robber in the true life movie In the Line of Duty, The F. B. I. His other television credits include Boston Legal, How I Met Your Mother, Batman Beyond, ER, Parks and Recreation, Law & Order, from August 2008 to January 2009, Gross appeared on the CBS soap The Young and the Restless as River Baldwin. Gross had a cameo in 2000 on Spin City as a therapist to Michael J. Foxs character on Foxs final show as a regular on that program. In November 1979, Gross originated the role of Greta in the Broadway production of Martin Shermans Bent, Gross has been married to casting director Elza Bergeron since June 2,1984, and he is a stepfather to her two daughters. Gross is a passionate railfan with a collection of railroad antiques. He is also the spokesman for the Worlds Greatest Hobby campaign sponsored by the Model Railroad Industry Association that promotes the hobby of model railroading and he has also been a spokesperson for Operation Lifesaver, a campaign promoting safety at railroad grade crossings. Beginning in 2009, Gross is the celebrity spokesman for the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore and he is also a member of the Santa Fe Railway Historical Society. Gross and his Family Ties co-star Meredith Baxter, were born on the same day, Michael Gross at the Internet Movie Database Gross at the Internet Broadway Database Michael Gross at Internet Off-Broadway Database
9.
Greg Evigan
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Gregory Ralph Greg Evigan is an American actor known for the television series B. J. and the Bear, My Two Dads, P. S. Evigan was born in South Amboy, New Jersey, the son of Barbara Elizabeth, a homemaker, and Ralph Milan Evigan and he grew up in Sayreville, New Jersey, and attended Sayreville War Memorial High School, graduating in 1971. In 2007 he was inducted into the schools Alumni Hall of Fame for his contributions to the arts, Evigan is married to dancer Pamela C. His youngest daughter Briana is the actress in Step Up 2, The Streets and Step Up. Another daughter is actress Vanessa Lee Evigan, Vanessa was in the Christmas movie Holiday in Handcuffs, with Mario Lopez and Melissa Joan Hart. Evigans son Jason is the front man of an LA-based band called After Midnight Project, Evigan was a teen idol during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He auditioned for and landed roles in Jesus Christ Superstar and Grease, however, Evigan appeared in other productions as well. It was with B. J. and the Bear that Evigan reached pop-star status, in 1980 he posed bare-chested for a pin-up wall poster. A Year at the Top B. J. and the Bear as Billie Joe B. J. S, I Luv U as Cody Powell/Joey Paciorek Columbo, A Bird in the Hand as Harold McCain Melrose Place as Dr. Die
10.
Stephen Blackehart
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Stephen T. Blackehart is an American actor, author and producer. In addition to his work, Blackehart has acted in such TV series as Greys Anatomy, The Big Apple. He was a regular on the BBCs The Tromaville Cafe, where he originated the role of Felix and it was subsequently picked up for distribution by Troma and garnered DVD Talks distinction as a Collectors Series disc immediately upon its video release. It was also voted #2 by the editors of Amazon in their list of Best DVDs of the Year - Comedy, in 2008 and 2009, he produced hit comedy web series PG Porn and Humanzee. for filmmaker James Gunn. In November 2014, he published a collection of novellas entitled A Stranger to the Darklands and it has been reported that Blackehart was born as Stefano Brando and is the son of the late actor Marlon Brando, though he denies that he is any relation. Stephen Blackehart at the Internet Movie Database Stephen Blackehart at AllMovie
11.
Philadelphia Experiment
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The U. S. Navy destroyer escort USS Eldridge was claimed to have been rendered invisible to enemy devices. The story is understood to be a hoax. The U. S. Note, Several different and sometimes contradictory versions of the experiment have circulated over the years. The following synopsis recounts key story points common to most accounts, the Navy regarded this of military value and, by the same accounts, it sponsored the experiment. In this version, there were also related secret experiments in Nazi Germany to find anti-gravity, there are no reliable, attributable accounts, but in most accounts of the supposed experiment, the USS Eldridge was fitted with the required equipment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Testing allegedly began in the summer of 1943, and it was successful to a limited extent. One test allegedly resulted in Eldridge being rendered nearly invisible, with witnesses reporting a greenish fog appearing in its place. Crew members supposedly complained of severe nausea afterwards, at that point, the experiment was allegedly altered at the request of the Navy, with the new objective being solely to render the USS Eldridge invisible to radar. None of these allegations have been independently substantiated, the conjecture then alleges that the equipment was not properly re-calibrated, but that in spite of this, the experiment was repeated on October 28,1943. This time, Eldridge not only became invisible, but she disappeared from the area in a flash of light and teleported to Norfolk, Virginia. It was also said that the warship went approximately ten minutes back in time, many versions of the tale include descriptions of serious side effects for the crew. Some crew members were said to have been fused to bulkheads while others suffered from mental disorders, some re-materialized inside out. It is also claimed that the crew may have been subjected to brainwashing. Upon his arrival, Jessup was surprised to learn that a copy of The Case for the UFO had been mailed to the ONR in a manila envelope marked Happy Easter. The book had been annotated in its margins, and an ONR officer asked Jessup if he had any idea as to who had done so. The ONR labelled the other two Mr. A. and Mr. B, the annotators refer to each other as Gypsies, and discuss two different types of people living in outer space. Their text contained non-standard use of capitalization and punctuation, and detailed a lengthy discussion of the merits of various elements of Jessups assumptions in the book and their oblique references to the Philadelphia Experiment suggested prior knowledge. Based on the style and subject matter, Jessup identified Mr. A. as Allende / Allen
