Al-Samoud was a liquid-propellant rocket tactical ballistic missile developed by Iraq in the years between the Gulf War and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The Iraqi army developed a solid-fuel rocket version known as Ababil-100; the missile was a scaled-down Scud, though parts were derived from the Russian SA-2'Guideline' surface-to-air missile. The first test-firing was carried out as early as 1997 and was supervised by UNSCOM; the production started in 2001, the goal was the assembly of ten missiles each month. The Al Samoud 2 was not operational by 2003, but some of them had been delivered to the Iraqi army; the rocket engine evolved from the SA-2 design and the thrust vector controls from the Scud. The system included an Iraqi-designed mobile launcher similar to the Al-Nida, built for the missile Al Hussein, produced by the Iraqi company Al-Fida; the missile carried a 280 kilogram warhead, half high explosives and half protective steel shell. The explosive charge weighed 140 kg, made of a mixture of 84 kg of RDX=60%, 42 kg of TNT= 30% and 14 kg of aluminium= 10%, the latter used as an energetic blast enhancer.

The payload was designed to upload different types of bomblets. The guidance package was assembled by cannibalizing gyroscopes from the Chinese Silkworm cruise missile. A source is cited as claiming that there were inertial and GPS guidance systems illegally imported from Belarus, but these allegations have not been confirmed. On February 13, 2003, a UN panel reported that Iraq's Al-Samoud 2 missiles, disclosed by Iraq to weapons inspectors in December, have a range of 180 km, in breach of UNSCR 1441; the limit allowed by the UN is 150 km. Iraq agreed to destroy the Al-Samoud 2 long range missiles, by mid-March 2003, a number had been destroyed. Although UNMOVIC ordered to stop its production, Iraq assembled some 20 missiles during the early months of 2003. American forces found a cache of twelve Al Samoud missiles south of Baiji on July 21, 2003. A number of Al-Samoud 2 missiles were fired at Kuwait during the 2003 conflict. One of them, aimed at the Coalition Headquarters at Camp Doha, was intercepted by a Patriot missile on March 27.

Some debris hit buildings inside the US base. The other missiles were shot down or landed harmlessly in the desert. A similar development, the Al-Fahd or Ababil-100, a solid propellant version of the Al-Samoud, was used by the Iraqi army during the invasion; the Headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, US 3rd Infantry Division, were struck by a missile of this kind on April 7, while the Brigade's main force was conducting an incursion 15 km north, well inside Baghdad. Three soldiers and two foreign reporters were killed in the blast. Another 14 soldiers were injured, 22 vehicles destroyed or damaged, most of them Humvees. List of missiles

The 12th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry was organized at Dubuque in October and November 1861, was mustered in at intervals during those two months, it left Iowa late in November 1861, went into quarters at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, for two months. Like its predecessors at the Barracks, the 12th suffered there from diseases. Seventy-five members of the regiment died of measles, pneumonia or typhoid contracted there. At Smithland, Kentucky, it joined General Ulysses Grant for the movement upon Fort Henry, was present at the capture of the Fort, it moved to Fort Donelson, where it took part in the fight and assault which resulted in victory. It won glory for itself at the Battle of Shiloh on the battle's bloody first day, it did so by fighting in the advance until sundown, by holding back the enemy while other regiments withdrew to a new point and waited the arrival of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell.

The regiment, together with the 8th and 14th Iowa Infantry Regiments, comprised four-fifths of that advance line, surrendered only when surrounded by ten times their numbers. Those members of the regiment who escaped capture at Shiloh, including future Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives David B. Henderson, were assigned to the "Union Brigade." The Union Brigade fought in the Second Battle of Corinth and others, before being sent to Davenport, for re-organization, remaining there during the winter of 1862-63. Meanwhile, many of the members of the regiment who were captured at Shiloh were paroled on January 1, 1863, exchanged at Benton Barracks, soon thereafter went to Rolla, threatened by the forces of Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke, they returned on the January 1863, to St. Louis, where they were again stationed. Lieut. Col. John P. Coulter resigned and was succeeded by Major John A. Edgington, the latter as major by Capt. John H. Stibbs of D Company; the regiment was reorganized about April 1, 1863, became part of General Sherman's command.

It participated in the movements of that division during the Vicksburg Campaign, though it was in reserve at the May 22 assault. After Vicksburg surrendered, the regiment was engaged at Jackson and was in the skirmish at and capture of Brandon, Mississippi, it went into camp near Bear Creek on July 23 and remained there until October 10. Lieut. Col. Edgington resigned, Maj. Stibbs became a lieutenant colonel and was succeeded as major by Capt. Edward M. Van Duzee. In October 1863, the regiment was in a skirmish at Arkansas, it proceeded to Vicksburg, Tennessee, La Grange and Chewalla, where it remained on railroad guard duty until near the close of January 1864. While there, it broke up the guerrilla bands that were pillaging the country, built a strong fort, it was ordered to join the forces for the Meridian raid, but reached Vicksburg too late to take part, went into camp. Having been mustered in as a veteran organization, the reenlisted men were sent home on a furlough in March 1864. In their absence, the non-veterans, numbering about 70, accompanied the 35th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regimenton the Red River Campaign and was in battle at Lake Chicot.

On their return from home the men reached Memphis on May 2, 1864, were joined by the detachment in mid-June 1864. In May 1864, six companies under Lieut. Col. Stibbs, went to the mouth of the White River, established a military post and left A and F Companies under Captain J. R. C. Hunter; the command proceeded to Tupelo, where it was engaged in July. The regiment while acting as a train guard, was attacked by a Confederate brigade, but repelled it. In the subsequent fighting, it occupied the most dangerous post and received special commendations of the commanding general. Returning to Memphis, the regiment moved to La Grange to Holly Springs, remaining on duty there for some time. In the meantime, the detachment at White River was protecting the residents of that section and building a stockade. Before daybreak on June 5, 1864, the small force of fewer than fifty men was attacked by a force of 400, in an attack so sudden that the men were compelled to fight in their shirts only. A number of the enemy gained the stockade at one side, but Sergeant Isaac Cottle and Corporal George Hunter, armed with revolvers, attacked them and drove them out in confusion.

Hunter was shot dead and Cottle was so wounded that he died soon thereafter. The entire besieging force was driven off, with over fifty killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Joining the regiment at Holly Springs, this detachment accompanied it to Oxford, Mississippi to Memphis, to De Valls Bluff and Brownsville in search of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price. With ten days' rations it marched 350 miles in nineteen days to Cape Girardeau, via Jacksonport and Jackson, Missouri. From St. Louis it proceeded to the Missouri cities of Jefferson City, Sedalia and Independence, into Kansas, it pursued Price to Harrisonville, but was unable to catch him, returned to St. Louis; the non-veterans and some of the officers were mustered out, with Lieut. Col. Stibbs remaining as commanding officer. Moving to Nashville, the regiment aided in the defense of that city, captured two flags in a December 1864 battle, it joined in the pursuit of Nashville's attackers as far as Clinton, Tennessee proceeded to Eastport, where it assisted in building quarters and fortifications.

Maj. Samuel G. Knee took command after Lieut. Col. Stibbs was called to Washington, D. C. in January 1865 to bec

Bursera microphylla is a North American species of tree in the frankincense family in the soapwood order. Bursera microphylla, known by the common name elephant tree in English or'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in genus Bursera, it grows with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Bursera microphylla is the most northerly member of the Burseraceae in North America and perhaps the most xeromorphic species within the genus as it thrives in the arid desert hills and mountains in northwest Sonora; this tree is native to northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States (southern California and Arizona. Some of the populations lie inside Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Sonoran Desert National Monument and Gran Desierto Biosphere Reserve, Islas del Golfo de California Biosphere Reserve, Cabo Pulmo National Park, El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, Valle de los Cirios Natural Protected Area, Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park.

Bursera microphylla is a small tree with a thickened trunk and small branching structure in comparison to the trunk size. Shreve classified the plant as a sarcocaulescent tree; the sarcocaulescent habit acts as a buffer against variation in environmental water balance. The leaves are alternate, without stipules, are once-pinnate or twice-pinnate but can be unifoliate or trifoliate in some species. Bursera microphylla reaches up to 10 m in height and its bark is light gray to white, with younger branches having a reddish color; the light foliage is made up of long, flat, legume-like leaves which are composed of paired leaflets. It flowers in rounded yellow buds which open into star-shaped, white or cream flowers; the fruit is a drupe containing a yellow stone. The leaves are characterized as deciduous, including those on species that occur in tropical subhumid and humid forests; as a response to rain and warmer temperatures, B. hindsiana, B. laxiflora, other more tropical species in Sonora begin to leaf out at any time of the year.

Most species are drought deciduous, but B. microphylla keeps its leaves year-round, except under conditions of drought and cold weather. Most of the Sonoran Burseras flower in June and July, just before or just as the leaves are produced; this is in response to a lack of rainfall earlier in the summer before the monsoon season as this species is found in the region of Sonora lies at the western edge of an area, which experiences summer monsoon storms. The fruits of species in the genus Bursera are each with a single-seed. In B. microphylla, the fruits develop and ripen a few at a time, in some species many fruits remain on the trees as they begin to flower the following summer. Birds appear to be responsible for seed dispersal in Bursera. Gray Vireos and Ash- throated Flycatchers feed on the ripe fruits of B. microphylla in the Puerto Lobos region of Sonora, Mexico during the winter months. The winter range of the Gray Vireo in Sonora matches the distribution of Bursera microphylla. Birds do not appear to eat the unripe fruit.

Rodents sometimes gather seeds of Bursera. Ants have been observed carrying away seeds of B. microphylla<. The exfoliating papery bark of many of the trivalvate species may serve to attract the attention of birds and other animals from a distance as it rustles in the breeze; the Cahuilla Indian people of the Colorado Desert region of California used the red sap of the elephant tree for treating skin disorders and other diseases. Seri use the plant in many ways, including the wood for boxes, it is popular as a landscape plant in southwestern US in low warm desert. Bursera fagaroides Jepson Manual Treatment — Bursera microphylla Bursera microphylla — Calphotos Photo gallery, University of California

Simon Patrick O'Donnell is an Australian former cricketer, VFL footballer, horse racing and cricket commentator. He is a horse breeder, he is a former record holder for the fastest ODI fifty, first cricketer to score fifty less than 20 balls in ODI history. O'Donnell played as an all-rounder for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield between 1984 and 1993, scoring a century in his first match, he went on to play 6 Test matches in 1985, 5 on the Ashes tour of England and one at home, but with a low bowling strike rate in 5 and 4 day cricket, he was more successful in the shorter form of the game. Seen as a limited-overs specialist with clever medium pace bowling and explosive lower order hitting, he played 87 ODIs between 1985 and 1992, scoring 1242 runs and taking 108 wickets in his career, he played in Australia's 1987 World Cup Final victory and was a significant wicket-taker and finished the World cup as Australia's most economical bowler, but soon after he suffered severe pain, diagnosed as non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

He recovered with treatment to return to the Australian One-Day team in the 1988–89 season and played 43 more limited-overs matches till 10 December 1991 and claimed 56 wickets and made 5 match winning 50 plus scores including the fastest half-century in One Day Internationals. O'Donnell maintained a good batting strike rate of 80.96 runs per 100 balls in ODIs double his scoring rate in Tests. He was captain of Victoria for five seasons from 1988–89 until his retirement in 1993; this was a mixed period, which included a Sheffield Shield victory in 90–91, but Victoria finished last in 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1992–93. O'Donnell was voted international cricketer of the year in 1990–91; as a junior, Simon played Australian rules football for Assumption College, where he kicked 100 goals in his senior year. This led to him being recruited for senior football by the St Kilda Football Club, where his father Kevin had played 49 games on a forward flank in the 1940s. Coincidentally, Kevin O'Donnell played alongside two more notable Australian cricketers.

O'Donnell played 24 games and kicked 18 goals between 1982 and 1983 in what was the VFL. However, he had retired from football to focus on his cricket career. O'Donnell hosted Melbourne radio station Sport 927's morning program with Kevin Bartlett until 2004. With the Nine Network, O'Donnell has been a commentator of cricket and now presents The Cricket Show. Having owned and managed race horses through his company, O'Donnell Thoroughbreds International, he is used as an expert on horseracing on Nine's racing coverage. During the mid-1990s as part of his work with Channel 9, O'Donnell was a regular on the daytime program The Midday Show, teaming up with former rugby league footballer Paul "Fatty" Vautin on Friday's to give an overview of the weekends sporting events the AFL and NSWRL competitions, to give their racing tips; the pair would get into silly situations, or would be on location such as in early 1994 when O'Donnell was taken on some hot laps of the high speed Calder Park Thunderdome oval racetrack in Melbourne with multiple AUSCAR champion Brad Jones.

In November 2011, it was announced that O'Donnell would replace James Brayshaw was host of The Sunday Footy Show. However, In November 2012, Nine announced. O'Donnell made his first class debut for Victoria against South Australia at the MCG in February 1984; the following summer his bowling gathered attention when he took the wickets of Kepler Wessels and Alan Border in Victoria vs Qld Shield game, as well as making 54. An innings of 45 not out helped steer Victoria to victory in a McDonald's Cup game, he made 78 in a run-heavy game against the touring West Indies and hit 42 off 43 balls and 129 against Western Australia. He was selected in the Prime Ministers XI to play the West Indies. According to a contemporary report, "O'Donnell's selection is a timely one as his name has been cropping up in discussions on Australian teams and it will be no surprise if he is selected to play in the one-day series in the New Year; as well as being a more than useful medium-pace bowler O'Donnell has the potential to be a leading batsman, having scored a hard-hitting century against Western Australia in Perth last week."In January 1985 O'Donnell was named in the 12 man Australian one day squad.

""I am delighted", he said. "It will be the biggest thrill of my life to walk out on to the MCG on Sunday. It was my goal at the start of the year to try and make national selection, but I thought that might not come for two or three years."O'Donnell's one day debut was a successful one, taking 1-39 and scoring 20 not out against Sri Lanka. He scored 25 in a defeat against the West Indies. In the Prime Ministers XI game he dropped two catches. Kept on in the one day team he took two wickets against Sri Lanka scored some useful runs in a rare Australian victory over the West Indies. In the World Championship of Cricket, O'Donnell had a fantastic game against Pakistan, making 74 and taking 2-42; this helped earn O'Donnell selection on the short tour to Sharjah in early 1985. He was selected on the squad to tour England for the Ashes. "A lot of hard work has been one thing", he said. "The dividends are starting to pay off — they're paying off quickly", adding that "I've still got to get a Test match over there.

There are 17 going, so I've got to get into the top 11."O'Donnell had only played seven first-cla

ICivics, inc. is a 501 non-profit organization in the United States that provides educational online games and lesson plans to promote civics education and encourage students to become active citizens. ICivics was founded in 2008 by retired Supreme Court of the United States Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. ICivics’s stated mission is to “ensure every student receives a high-quality civic education, becomes engaged in – and beyond – the classroom.”iCivics, inc. is supported by private donations and grants and had annual expenses of $2.2 million in 2015. Among the top contributors were the MacArthur Foundation. In the same year, iCivics served more than 85,000 educators and 3 million students, including half of all middle school social studies classrooms in America. Justice O’Connor developed the Our Courts project in partnership with Georgetown University Law School and Arizona State University. In March 2009, Justice O'Connor went on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote Our Courts and civics education.

Our Courts added Supreme Decision and Do I Have A Right? to the website in August 2009. It was incorporated as iCivics, inc. in May 2010 as the variety of content and users began to expand more rapidly. A more comprehensive website was launched, supplementing the gaming modules with classroom lessons on the branches of government. Above The Law sponsored a Do I Have A Right? Challenge in 2010. Justice O'Connor was the keynote speaker at Games for Change in 2010, iCivics was featured at the Games for Change conference in New York in 2011; the Washington Post Editorial Board highlighted the shortcomings of traditional civics education, the efforts of iCivics. In 2011 the website added seven games and 16 lesson plans, had over 700,000 unique visitors. By 2013 it was the most adopted civics curriculum in America; the governing board of iCivics includes O’Connor as well as current Justice Sonia Sotomayor and the Honorable Robert Henry, president of Oklahoma City University. The executive director of iCivics is Louise Dubé Managing Director of Digital Learning at WGBH.

Justice O’Connor envisioned Our Courts as a response to a perceived misunderstanding of the justice system in America. As keynote speaker at the NCSS annual conference in 2007, she noted “that while two-thirds of Americans know at least two judges on FOX Television’s ‘American Idol’ reality program, less than one in 10 can name the Chief Justice of the United States.” At present, ourcourts.org maintains this mission, but iCivics has a broader mission incorporating education on the legislative and executive branches of government as well as civics at a local level. The organization focuses on broadly improving civics education but on closing the civics education gap. O'Connor saw the state of civics education as a result of the failure of traditional education methods, as well as funding cuts and lower graduation requirements imposed by the No Child Left Behind Act. Our Courts collaborator James Gee, a professor of literacy at Arizona State University, convinced her that educational games were the key to civics education, due to their capacity to teach problem solving.iCivics games have been evaluated for their educational effectiveness in a handful of research studies.

Branches of Power was shown to be both engaging and educational for a majority of students in a test group. A significant number of students play the games again at home increasing absorption of concepts and improving test scores; the general iCivics curriculum has been shown to be an effective mechanism for education on civics topics as measured by scores on the US citizenship test. It was effective among younger students in grades 4-6 and less effective among high school seniors; the interactive writing exercise Drafting Board improved persuasive writing skills among 8th graders. The organization is working on extending its curriculum to high school and reaching more high school educators, it serves one in four high school government and history teachers. ICivics hosts lesson plans, online workshops and other materials for teachers and students of American civics. All online materials are free to registered users. ICivics hosts twenty different educational games, developed in partnership with Filament Games.

Curriculum and design of each game is provided by employees of iCivics, dart and sound design is provided by Filament. Activate - Build an advocacy campaign from the local to the national level. Argument Wars - Argue one of several landmark Supreme Court cases. Branches of Power - Control the three different branches of federal government. Cast Your Vote - Interview candidates for office in a debate setting and try to vote for the one you most agree with. Counties Work - Control a municipal government, balancing taxes with public services and helping the community grow. Court Quest - help citizens resolve cases by guiding them through the different parts of the court system. Crisis of Nations - As Commander-in-Chief, take military and diplomatic action to promote the national interest. Do I Have A Right? - field a team of specialist lawyers in Constitutional litigation cases. Do I Have A Right?: Bill of Rights Edition - field a team of lawyers with specialties in each of the first ten amendments.

Executive Command - As President of the United States, take responsibility for giving the State of the Union speech, signing legislation, running the departments of the executive branch, negotiating with other branches of government and other nations, deciding on military aid and diplomacy efforts. Immigration Nation - decide, allowed to

Events from the year 1685 in England. This year sees a change of monarch. Monarch – Charles II, James II Parliament – Loyal 6 February – death of Charles II at Whitehall Palace after four days' illness, having been received into the Roman Catholic church on the previous evening, his brother, the Catholic James Stuart, Duke of York, becomes King James II of England. 23 April – coronation of King James II at Westminster Abbey. May – Titus Oates, found guilty of perjury for his part in the alleged "Popish Plot", is sentenced by Judge Jeffreys to be imprisoned and whipped. 19 May – beginning of the first session of the Loyal Parliament. 11 June – Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and Ireland, lands at Lyme Regis with an invasion force brought from the Dutch Republic to challenge his uncle, James II, for the Crown of England. 20 June – Monmouth Rebellion: James, Duke of Monmouth, declares himself at Taunton to be King and heir to his father's Kingdoms as James II of England and Ireland and James VII of Scotland.

6 July – Monmouth Rebellion: the Battle of Sedgemoor between the armies of King James II and rebel forces under Monmouth, the last pitched battle fought on English soil. Monmouth's army the Duke himself is captured shortly after the battle. 15 July – the Duke of Monmouth is beheaded at Tower Hill, London, by Jack Ketch with several blows of the axe. 25 August to 23 September – Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys holds the Bloody Assizes to try Monmouth's supporters, beginning at Winchester and ending at Wells. Over a thousand receive sentences of hanging or transportation. September – the first organised street lighting, using oil lamps, is established in London by Edward Hemming. 22 October – Louis XIV of France issues the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revokes the Edict of Nantes and declares Protestantism illegal in his country, causing Huguenot refugees to flee to England and elsewhere. 23 October – Elizabeth Gaunt, burned at the stake at Tyburn for alleged complicity in the Rye House Plot, becomes the last woman executed for political treason in England.

November – at the king's request, Ferdinando d'Adda is sent as the first Papal Nuncio to England since 1558. 20 November – the Loyal Parliament is prorogued and never meets again. 10 February – Aaron Hill, writer 12 March – George Berkeley, philosopher 30 June – John Gay, writer 3 July – Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, cavalry officer 18 August – Brook Taylor, mathematician 17 December – Thomas Tickell, writer 2 January – Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet, politician 6 February – King Charles II of England 24 February – Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle and military leader 14 April – Thomas Otway, dramatist 16 June – Anne Killigrew and painter 22 June – Thomas Dangerfield, conspirator 15 July – James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II 28 July – Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, statesman 12 December – John Pell, mathematician