Captain America is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 from Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Captain America was designed as a patriotic supersoldier who fought the Axis powers of World War II and was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period; the popularity of superheroes waned following the war, the Captain America comic book was discontinued in 1950, with a short-lived revival in 1953. Since Marvel Comics revived the character in 1964, Captain America has remained in publication; the character wears a costume bearing an American flag motif, he utilizes a nearly indestructible shield that he throws as a projectile. Captain America is the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a frail young man enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum to aid the United States government's efforts in World War II.

Near the end of the war, he was trapped in ice and survived in suspended animation until he was revived in modern times. Although Captain America struggles to maintain his ideals as a man out of his time, he remains a respected figure in his community, which includes becoming the long-time leader of the Avengers. Captain America was the first Marvel Comics character to appear in media outside comics with the release of the 1944 movie serial, Captain America. Since the character has been featured in other films and television series. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character is portrayed by Chris Evans. Captain America was ranked sixth on IGN's "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time" in 2011, second in their list of "The Top 50 Avengers" in 2012, second in their "Top 25 best Marvel superheroes" list in 2014. In 1940, writer Joe Simon conceived the idea for Captain America and made a sketch of the character in costume. "I wrote the name'Super American' at the bottom of the page," Simon said in his autobiography, decided: No, it didn't work.

There were too many "Supers" around. "Captain America" had a good sound to it. There weren't a lot of captains in comics, it was as easy as that. The boy companion was named Bucky, after my friend Bucky Pierson, a star on our high school basketball team. Simon recalled in his autobiography that Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman gave him the go-ahead and directed that a Captain America solo comic book series be published as soon as possible. Needing to fill a full comic with one character's stories, Simon did not believe that his regular creative partner, artist Jack Kirby, could handle the workload alone: I didn't have a lot of objections to putting a crew on the first issue... There were two young artists from Connecticut. Al Avison and Al Gabriele worked together and were quite successful in adapting their individual styles to each other, their work was not too far from Kirby's. If they worked on it, if one inker tied the three styles together, I believed the final product would emerge as quite uniform.

The two Als were eager to join in on the new Captain America book. "You're still number one, Jack," I assured him. "It's just a matter of a quick deadline for the first issue." "I'll make the deadline," Jack promised. "I'll pencil it myself and make the deadline." I hadn't expected this kind of reaction... but I acceded to Kirby's wishes and, it turned out, was lucky that I did. There might have been two Als, but there was only one Jack Kirby... I wrote the first Captain America book with penciled lettering right on the drawing boards, with rough sketches for figures and backgrounds. Kirby did his thing, building the muscular anatomy, adding ideas and popping up the action as only he could, he tightened up the penciled drawings, adding detailed backgrounds and figures." Al Lieberman would ink that first issue, lettered by Simon and Kirby's regular letterer, Howard Ferguson. Simon said. We wanted to have our say too." Captain America Comics #1 — cover-dated March 1941 and on sale December 20, 1940, a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, but a full year into World War II — showed the protagonist punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

While most readers responded favorably to the comic, some took objection. Simon noted, "When the first issue came out we got a lot of... hate mail. Some people opposed what Cap stood for." The threats, which included menacing groups of people loitering out on the street outside of the offices, proved so serious that police protection was posted with New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia contacting Simon and Kirby to give his support. Though preceded as a "patriotically themed superhero" by MLJ's The Shield, Captain America became the most prominent and enduring of that wave of superheroes introduced in American comic books prior to and during World War II, as evidenced by the unusual move at the time of premiering the character in his own title instead of an anthology title first; this popularity drew the attention and a complaint from MLJ that the character's triangular shield too resembled the chest symbol of their Shield character. In response, Goodman had Simon and Kirby create a distinctive round shield for issue 2, which went on to become an iconic element of the character.

With his sidekick Bucky, Captain America fac

The Federal Tort Claims Act is a 1946 federal statute that permits private parties to sue the United States in a federal court for most torts committed by persons acting on behalf of the United States. Citizens have not been able to sue their state—a doctrine referred to as sovereign immunity; the FTCA constitutes a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, permitting citizens to pursue some tort claims against the government. Under the FTCA, "he United States liable... in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, but liable for interest prior to judgment or for punitive damages." 28 U. S. C. § 2674. Federal courts have jurisdiction over such claims, but apply the law of the State "where the act or omission occurred". 28 U. S. C. § 1346. Thus, both federal and State law may impose limitations on liability; the FTCA exempts, among other things, claims based upon the performance, or failure to perform a "discretionary function or duty". The FTCA exempts a number of intentional torts.

However, the FTCA does not exempt intentional torts committed by "investigative or law enforcement officers", thus allowing individuals aggrieved by the actions of law enforcement officers to have their day in court. The Supreme Court affirmed this so-called "law enforcement proviso" in Millbrook v. United States, where a federal prisoner was allowed to bring a claim against the United States for intentional torts committed by federal prison guards in the scope of their employment. Under the FTCA, a tort claim against the United States must be presented in writing to the appropriate federal agency within two years after the claim accrues, or it is time-barred. 28 U. S. C. § 2401. The Supreme Court of the United States has limited the application of the FTCA in cases involving the military; this is the Feres doctrine. FTCA is the "exclusive means by which a party may sue the United States for money damages... in tort". Accordingly, an FTCA action "can be brought only in a United States District Court".

Regarding the timing of filing, FTCA's § 2401 states that the action must be brought "within two years after the claim accrues," or "within six months after... notice of final denial of the claim by the agency". In addition, under the FTCA, "Liability is determinable in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred"; the "Federal Tort Claims Act" was previously the official short title passed by the Seventy-ninth Congress on August 2, 1946 as Title IV of the Legislative Reorganization Act, 60 Stat. 842, classified principally to chapter 20 of former Title 28, Judicial Code and Judiciary. That Title IV of the Legislative Reorganization Act act of August 2, 1946 was repealed and reenacted as sections 1346 and 2671 et seq. of this title by act June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 982, the first section of which enacted this title. The Act was passed following the 1945 B-25 Empire State Building crash, where a bomber piloted in thick fog by Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith, Jr. crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building.

As NPR reported, "Eight months after the crash, the U. S. government offered money to families of the victims. Some accepted; the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, for the first time, gave American citizens the right to sue the federal government." Although the crash was not the initial catalyst for the bill, pending in Congress for more than two decades, the statute was made retroactive to 1945 in order to allow victims of that crash to seek recovery. Texas City Disaster, the first failed lawsuit using the FTCA. United States v. Stanley United States Court of Claims United States Court of Federal Claims Ballentine's Law Dictionary, p. 193. The'Lectric Law Library's Legal Lexicon On the Federal Tort Claims Act Answers.com Federal Tort Claims Act Supreme Court Opinion, Dalehite v. U. S. 346 U. S. 15

An embrasure is the opening in a battlement between the two raised solid portions, referred to as crenel or crenelle in a space hollowed out throughout the thickness of a wall by the establishment of a bay. This term designates the internal part of this space, relative to the closing device, door or window. In fortification this refers to the outward splay of a arrowslit on the inside. In ancient military engineering, embrasures were practiced in the towers and the walls, in particular between the merlons and the battle The loophole, arrow loop or arrowslit passes through a solid wall is thus an embrasure of shooting order to allow archer or gunner weapons to be fired out from the fortification while the firer remains under cover; this type of opening was flared inward, the doorway was narrow on the outside, but wide on the inside, so that the archers had free space of movement and aiming, that the attackers have as much difficulty as possible to reach them. There are embrasures in fortified castles and bunkers.

The generic term of loophole is abandoned because of its imprecision, in favor of those more precise of archer, gunner archer. The splay of the wall on the inside provides room for the soldier and his equipment, allows them to get as close to the wall face and arrow slit itself as possible. Examples of deep embrasures with arrowslits are to be seen at Aigues-Mortes and Château de Coucy, both in France. With the appearance of firearms, the embrasure designated more the opening made in a fortified structure to allow the firing of these weapons. In modern architecture, the embrasures are provided during construction because they are intended to receive a door or a window; these are not openings made after construction. The term embrasure comes from the French language, is described as a hole in a parapet through which cannons are laid to fire into the moat or field; the invention of the arrowslit is attributed to Archimedes during the siege of Syracuse in 214–212 BC. From Polybius's The Histories: "Archimedes had had the walls pierced with large numbers of loopholes at the height of a man, which were about a palm's breadth wide at the outer surface of the walls.

Behind each of these and inside the walls were stationed archers with rows of so-called "scorpions", a small catapult which discharged iron darts, by shooting through these embrasures they put many of the marines out of action." However, the invention was forgotten until reintroduced in the 12th century. By the 19th century, a distinction was made between embrasures being used for cannon, loopholes being used for musketry. In both cases, the opening was made wider on the inside of the wall than the outside; the outside was made as narrow as possible so as to afford the most difficult possible shot to attackers firing back, but the inside had to be wider in order to enable the weapon to be swivelled around so as to aim over a reasonably large arc. A distinction was made between horizontal and vertical embrasures or loopholes, depending on the orientation of the slit formed in the outside wall. Vertical loopholes—which are much more common—allow the weapon to be raised and lowered in elevation so as to cover a variety of ranges easily.

However to sweep from side to side the weapon must bodily move from side to side to pivot around the muzzle, fixed by the slit. Horizontal loopholes, on the other hand, facilitate quick sweeping across the arc in front, but make large adjustments in elevation difficult, they were used in circumstances where the range was restricted anyway, or where rapid cover of a wide field of arc was preferred. Another variation had both horizontal and vertical slits arranged in the form of a cross, was called a crosslet loop or an arbalestina since it was principally intended for arbalestiers. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, after the crossbow had become obsolete as a military weapon, crosslet loopholes were still sometimes created as a decorative architectural feature with a Christian symbolism. A stepped embrasure was utilized on pillbox bunkers of the 20th century, allowing for a wide field of fire compared to a traditional embrasure while minimizing the shot trap phenomenon created by the sloped opening.

A series of perpendicular "steps" tapering to the gun port ensured that any incoming fire would be stopped by a vertical impact and not funneled inward towards the slit. In the 19th century each step was known as a Redent. Citations Media related to Embrasures at Wikimedia Commons