1.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
2.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
3.
Basketball at the Summer Olympics
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Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a sport, basketball was held as a demonstration event in 1904. Womens basketball has played in the Summer Olympics since its first appearance in 1976. United States womens teams have won 8 titles out of the 10 tournaments in which they competed, besides the United States, Argentina is the only nation still in existence who has won either the mens or womens tournament. The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and the Unified Team are the countries no longer in existence who have won the tournament, Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Within a few decades, the new game became popular throughout the United States as an indoor sport, the popularity spread overseas and the International Basketball Federation was organized in 1932 in Geneva, Switzerland. Thanks in part to the effort of Phog Allen—a Kansas Jayhawks collegiate coach—the first Olympic basketball tournament was organized in the 1936 Olympics at Berlin on outdoor tennis courts, dr. Naismith presented the medals to the top three teams. According to the Olympic rules of time, all of the competitors were amateurs. The tournament was held indoors for the first time in 1948, the American team proved its dominance, winning the first seven Olympic tournaments until 1968, without losing a single game. The United States winning streak ended in 1972 under highly controversial circumstances, after the game, the American team refused to accept the silver medal, and the medal has been kept in IOC possession ever since. The Americans reclaimed the gold medal in 1976, with Yugoslavia, in 1980, with the Americans absence due to the boycott, Yugoslavia became the third team to win the title, after beating the Soviets anew in the semifinals and Italy in the final. The United States regained the title in 1984, by beating Spain in the final, the Soviets won the gold medal for the second time in 1988, after beating the Americans for the second time in the semifinal, and the Yugoslavs in the gold medal game. In April 1989, through the leadership of Secretary General Borislav Stanković, FIBA approved the rule that allowed NBA players to compete in international tournaments, by this time, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia no longer existed, but their successor states continued to be among the leading forces. Two newly independent countries of the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union, Croatia and Lithuania, won the silver, the United States repeated its victory in 1996 and 2000, but its performance was not as successful as in 1992. Since active NBA players have been allowed to compete in the Summer Olympics, Yugoslavia was the runner-up in Atlanta, and France in Sydney, with Lithuania winning bronze again on both occasions. The Americans regrouped in 2008, beating the current FIBA world champions, Spain, in a gold medal game. The Americans and the Spaniards met again in the 2012 gold medal game, with the Americans again winning, the first womens tournament was in 1976. The Soviet Union won against five other teams, in 1988, the tournament expanded into eight teams, with the Americans beating Yugoslavia in the gold medal game
4.
1996 Summer Olympics
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A record 197 nations, all current IOC member nations, took part in the Games, comprising 10,318 athletes. The 1996 Summer Games were the first to be staged in a different year from the Winter Games, Atlanta became the fifth American city to host the Olympic Games and the third to hold a Summer Olympic Games. Atlanta was selected on September 18,1990, in Tokyo, Japan, over Athens, Belgrade, Manchester, Melbourne, and Toronto at the 96th IOC Session. Atlantas bid to host the Summer Games that began in 1987 was considered a long-shot and this would be Torontos fourth failed attempt since 1960. The Athens bid was based on the fact that 1996 marked 100 years since the first Summer Games in Greece in 1896, though Athens would eventually host the 2004 Summer Olympics. The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics at USD4.1 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 151% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the committee for the purpose of staging the Games. The competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games. The cost and cost overrun for Atlanta 1996 compares with costs of USD4.6 billion, average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is USD5.2 billion, average cost overrun is 176%. The 1996 Olympics was predicated on the model established by the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The cost to stage the Games was US$1.8 billion, to pay for the games, Atlanta relied on commercial sponsorship and ticket sales, resulting in a profit of $10 million. Events of the 1996 Games were held in a variety of areas, a number were held within the Olympic Ring, a 3 mi circle from the center of Atlanta. Others were held at Stone Mountain, about 20 miles outside of the city, to broaden ticket sales, other events, such as soccer, occurred in various cities in the Southeast. The opening ceremony featured Céline Dion singing The Power of the Dream, the mascot for the Olympiad was an abstract, animated character named Izzy. In contrast to the tradition of mascots of national or regional significance in the city hosting the Olympiad, Izzy was an amorphous. The 1996 Olympics were the first to have two separate opening ceremony events, Savannah, because of its geographical separation from Atlanta, had its own opening ceremonies on July 18,1996. The event featured Worldwide Connection, a composed by Savannah native Jeffrey Reed and a concert by Trisha Yearwood. Atlantas Olympic slogan Come Celebrate Our Dream was written by Jack Arogeti, the slogan was selected from more than 5,000 submitted by the public to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau
5.
Pan American Games
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The Pan-American or Pan American Games is a major sporting event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held among athletes from nations of the Americas, the only Winter Pan American Games were held in 1990. The Pan American Sports Organization is the body of the Pan American Games movement, whose structure. The XVII Pan American Games were held in Toronto from July 10–26,2015, since 2007, host cities are contracted to manage both the Pan American and the Parapan American Games, in which athletes with physical disabilities compete with one another. The Parapan American Games are held following the Pan American Games. The Pan American Games Movement consists of sports federations, National Olympic Committees that are recognized by PASO. As the decision-making body, PASO is responsible for choosing the host city for each Pan American Games, the host city is responsible for organizing and funding a celebration of the Games consistent with the Olympic Charter and rules. The Pan American Games program, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games, is determined by PASO, the celebration of the Games encompasses many rituals and symbols, such as the flag and torch, and the opening and closing ceremonies. Over 5,000 athletes compete at the Pan American Games in 36 sports, the first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively. At the first Pan American Sports Congress, held in Buenos Aires in 1940, the plans had to be postponed because of World War II. A second Pan American Sports Congress held in London during the 1948 Summer Olympics reconfirmed Buenos Aires as the choice of host city for the inaugural games, countries that were part of the Commonwealth of Nations such as Canada did not compete at the first Pan American Games. The second games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, competitions started on March 12 and included 2,583 athletes from 22 countries, competing in 17 sports. The Pan American Games were held every four years in the cities of Chicago, United States in 1959, São Paulo, Brazil in 1963 and Winnipeg. While the inaugural 1951 Games hosted 2,513 participants representing 14 nations, during the games most athletes and officials are housed in the Pan American Games village. This village is intended to be a home for all the participants. It is furnished with cafeterias, health clinics, and locations for religious expression, PASO allows nations to compete that do not meet the strict requirements for political sovereignty that other international organizations demand. As a result, colonies and dependencies are permitted to set up their own National Olympic Committees, examples of this include territories such as Puerto Rico and Bermuda which compete as separate nations despite being legally under the jurisdiction of another power. There have been attempts to hold Winter Pan American Games throughout the history of the games, reliable winter snow in the Americas is limited to two countries, the United States and Canada
6.
1991 Pan American Games
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The 11th Pan American Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 2 to August 18,1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the PASO community, the main stadium was the Estadio Panamericano, a multi-use stadium in Havana that holds 50,000 people. Havana was awarded the 1991 Pan Am Games as a consolation for losing the 1987 edition to the U. S. city of Indianapolis, london, Ontario had made a bid, but withdrew due to local opposition. Bowling made its debut at the Pan American Games To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, the 1991 Games mascot named Tocopan, was a combination of the countrys national bird Tocororo and the first three letters of Panamerican
7.
1987 Pan American Games
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Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas competed in 30 sports earning 1,015 medals. Events were held at 23 venues in and around Indianapolis, the official mascot for the games was Amigo, a green parrot. Santiago, Chile, was named the host of the 10th Pan American Games. Quito, Ecuador, was named to replace Santiago, but it also withdrew, desperate, PASO held a new election. Indianapolis was planning to bid on the 1991 Games, but, at the request of the United States Olympic Committee, since many sports facilities were already in place, PASO announced on December 18,1984, that Indianapolis would be the host. Havana, Cuba, was interested, but PASO appeased Fidel Castro by agreeing to give Havana the 1991 games provided that Cuba participated at Indianapolis. The city of Indianapolis created a committee called Pan American Ten/Indianapolis. It had eighteen operating divisions,300 paid staff, and 37,000 volunteers, the 1987 Pan Am Games were held at 23 sites total. The athletes village, which provided lodging and dining for the athletes, was located at Fort Benjamin Harrison. About 80,000 spectators watched a performance produced by The Walt Disney Company with 6,500 performers in the largest outdoor live entertainment show held in the United States up to that point and it was also the largest Opening Ceremony of the Pan Am games yet. Dignitaries included IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, Indianapolis Mayor William H. Hudnut III, Indiana Governor Robert D. Orr, US Vice President George Bush officially opened the games. The final leg of the relay had the flame passed from Oscar Robertson to Kristie Phillips to Wilma Rudolph who lit the cauldron. The closing ceremony took place in the Hoosier Dome, the headline act was Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan and her band Miami Sound Machine. The logo of the 1987 Pan Am Games consisted of five stylized Xs, designed by Michael Hayes of the JMH Corporation in Indianapolis, the seven colors represent the wildlife and flags of western hemisphere countries. The mascot was Amigo, a parrot, designed by Jerry Reynolds of Perennial Pictures in Indianapolis. The official music of the X Pan American Games was Pan American Fanfare by Lalo Schifrin, the rights for the 1987 games were won by CBS with a bid of $4,000,000, and Brent Musburger hosted. CBS aired 26 hours of coverage, all on weekend afternoons, additionally, CBS provided the world feed. The ratings were boosted by the participation of Cuban athletes on U. S. soil, coinciding with the Pan American Games was the Indianapolis Museum of Art exhibition Art of the Fantastic, Latin America, 1920–1987
8.
1994 FIBA World Championship for Women
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The 1994 FIBA Womens World Championship was hosted by the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia from 2 June to 12 June,1994. Brazil won the tournament, defeating China 96-87 in the final, teams from 16 nations participated in the championship. These teams were divided into four groups for the Preliminary Round, based on the placement in the Quarterfinal round, the teams were then sorted into groups of four, each of which played a two-round knockout draw to determine the final standings. The Sydney Entertainment Centre hosted some preliminary games and all of the finals. In the Preliminary Round, each team played games against the three teams in its group. The top two teams in each group were placed into Groups A and B for the Quarterfinal Round. Teams placed into Groups A and B for the Quarterfinal Round were eligible for the Championship bracket, in the Quarterfinal Round, each team played games against the other three teams in its group. The top two teams in Groups A and B qualified for the Championship bracket, while the teams from Groups A and B were placed in the bracket to determine places 5 through 9. The top two teams from Groups C and D were placed in the bracket to determine places 9 through 12,1994 FIBA World Championship For Women
9.
Maria Paula Silva
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Maria Paula Gonçalves da Silva, nicknamed Magic Paula, is a retired Brazilian womens basketball player. She is considered one of the greatest players in her country, along with Hortência Marcari and Janeth Arcain. For Brazil womens national team, Paula is the second biggest scorer with 723 points and holds the record for caps with 45 games. Paula became a member of the Womens Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, Paula begun playing basketball at the age of ten, and in 1974, was invited to join Assis Tênis Clube. In 1988, Paula went to play in Spain, but an injured knee, in 1979, she helped her team to a fourth place at the Pan American Games, held in Puerto Rico. During the 1983 World Championship hosted by Brazil, reporter Juarez Araújo compared Paulas play to Magic Johnson, in 1992, Paula helped her team qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time. Brazil finished in place at the Barcelona Olympics. In 1993, Paula went to Associação Atlética Ponte Preta, where she played along with Hortência, after discussions with Hortência, Paula returned to Piracicaba. In 1996, she won a medal at the Atlanta Olympics. She still played for clubs before retiring in 2000, after retirement, Paula became an entrepreneur, director of the Centro Olímpico do Ibirapuera, and worked for a while in the Brazilian Ministry of Sports. Official website Paula at the Brazilian Confederation website Maria Paula Silva on Twitter
10.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
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The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as the sports most complete library, in addition to promoting and preserving the history of basketball, dedicated to Canadian physician and inventor of the sport James Naismith, it was opened and inducted its first class in 1959. As of the induction of the Class of 2016 on September 9,2016, the Naismith Hall of Fame was established in 1959 by Lee Williams, a former athletic director at Colby College. In the 1960s, the Basketball Hall of Fame struggled to raise money for the construction of its first facility. The Basketball Hall of Fames Board named four inductees in its first year, in addition to honoring those who contributed to basketball, the Hall of Fame sought to make contributions of its own. In 1979, the Hall of Fame sponsored the Tip-Off Classic and this Tip-Off Classic has been the start to the college basketball season ever since, and although it does not always take place in Springfield, Massachusetts, generally it returns every few years. In the 17 years that the original Basketball Hall of Fame operated at Springfield College, the popularity of the Basketball Hall of Fame necessitated that a new facility be constructed, and in 1985, an $11 million facility was built beside the scenic Connecticut River in Springfield. As the new hall opened, it also recognized women for the first time, with such as Senda Berenson Abbott. In 2002, the Basketball Hall of Fame moved again—albeit merely 100 yards south along Springfields riverfront—into a $47 million facility designed by renowned architects Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, the buildings architecture features a metallic silver, basketball-shaped sphere flanked by two similarly symmetrical rhombuses. The dome is illuminated at night and features 80,000 square foot, including numerous restaurants, the second Basketball Hall of Fame was not torn down but rather converted into an LA Fitness health clubs. The current Basketball Hall of Fame features Center Court, a basketball court on which visitors can play. Inside the building there are a gallery, many interactive exhibits, several theaters. A large theater for ceremonies seats up to 300, the honorees inducted in 2002 included the Harlem Globetrotters and Magic Johnson, a five-time NBA champion, three-time NBA finals MVP and Olympic gold medalist. As of 2011, the current Basketball Hall of Fame has greatly exceeded attendance expectations, despite the new facilitys success, a logistical problem remains for the Basketball Hall of Fame and the City of Springfield. Urban planners at universities such as UMass Amherst have called for the I-91 to be moved, in 2010, the Urban Land Institute announced a plan to make the walk between Springfields Metro Center and the Hall of Fame easier. Since 2011, the induction process employs a total of seven committees to both screen and elect candidates, since 2011, the Veterans and International Committees also vote to directly induct one candidate for each induction class. Contributor Direct Election Committee Note that other committees may choose to elect contributors, for example, the 2014 class included two contributors. However, each screening committee is limited as to the number of candidates it can put forth to the Honors Committee—10 from the North American Committee, any individual receiving at least 18 affirmative votes from the Honors Committee is approved for induction into the Hall of Fame
11.
FIBA Hall of Fame
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The FIBA Hall of Fame honors basketball players, coaches, and administrators, who have contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991 and it includes the Samaranch Library, the largest basketball library in the world, that as of 2007, had over 10,000 basketball books, and 950 magazines, from over 65 countries. The FIBA Hall of Fame building is a museum built in Alcobendas, Community of Madrid, Spain. Initially, induction ceremonies occurred every two years, with the first taking place in 2007, the pattern was interrupted in 2010, when a class was inducted on the day of the 2010 FIBA World Championships Final in Istanbul. After that, no induction took place until 2013, with a class announced in May of that year, with induction taking place on 19 June. Key, NB, Newell was born in Canada, but is classified as American because he became a U. S. citizen as a young adult, in addition, Newell is a member of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame as a contributor, not as a coach. The eight founding Federations of FIBA were those of Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland. Serbia, Nebojša Popović, Borislav Stanković, Radomir Šaper Spain, Anselmo López, Raimundo Saporta, Ernesto Segura de Luna, Juan Antonio Samaranch USA, Willard N. Greim, George Killian, Edward S
12.
Potirendaba
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Potirendaba is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city has 15,449 inhabitants and an area of 342.4 km², Potirendaba belongs to the Microregion and Mesoregion of São José do Rio Preto. The name comes from the Tupi language and means Land of flowers There are various versions about the foundation, one of the versions tells that Manoel Ponciano had, around 1820, a farm in the region. In 1908, José Contador, a salesman, bought parts of the Três Rios farm, at the time, the owners of the land were the Siqueira family, José Contador, João Francisco Pinto and the Manfredini family. A village was created with the time, another version tells that the brothers José and Joaquim Gonçalves de Souza were the first to arrive. The creation of the city started in 1905, with the distribution of lands between the heirs of João Antônio de Siqueira, in December,1919, Potirendaba was established as a district of São José do Rio Preto. The district was elevated to city in December 26,1925. All data from SEADE and IBGE Population,15,449 Area,342.4 km² Population density,45. 12/km² Urbanization,89. 9% Sex ratio,103.1 Birth rate,14. 89/1,000 inhab. Infant mortality,8. 81/1,000 births Homicide rate,8. 9/100 thousand ppl HDI,0.805 The Tertiary sector is the basis of Potirendaba. Commerce, services and administration corresponds to 59. 2% of the city GDP, industry is 27. 2% of the GDP. The Primary sector is relevant, with 13. 4%
13.
Streetball
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Streetball or street basketball is a variation of basketball typically played on outdoor courts, featuring significantly less formal structure and enforcement of the games rules. As such, its format is more conducive to allowing players to showcase their own individual skills. Streetball is often regarded as another element of the Hip Hop culture, Streetball may also refer to other urban sports played on asphalt. It is particularly big in New York City, some places and cities in the United States have organized streetball programs, operated similarly to midnight basketball programs. Many cities also host their own weekend-long streetball tournaments, with Hoop-It-Up, Streetball rules vary widely from court to court. Players typically divide into teams by alternating choices, typically when a player calls ball that means that you have current possession of the ball and they can stop grabbing for it. Then they continue the game from the spot where ball was called, a common misconception is that saying And 1 is synonymous with calling foul. The phrase is commonly employed as a form of trash talk, in reality, and as the rules that follow indicate, there is no such thing as a traditional And 1 in Streetball. Because the duration of the game is dictated by score and players cannot foul-out in streetball and it goes without saying that calling fouls in streetball is disfavored. A common feature of streetball is the pick up game, generally, the team captains alternate their choices, but different courts have differing rules in regards to player selection. Many games play up to 7,11,13,15, players often play win by 2 which, as in tennis, means that the team has to win by a margin of at least 2 points. The most common game is 3 on 3 played half court. Another common variation to the rules is the skunk rule and this merely means that if a player reaches a certain point without the other player scoring, the game is over. The skunk rule limit can vary, but is used at the score 7 to 0. Sometimes in a game, a winners ball or make it. This means that if a team scores, it gets the ball again on offense, full court basketball is not played with these rules, but, in most instances, the winning team gets to choose which basketball and usually which direction they get to use. Also, if the ball out of bounds players must check up. Another possible streetball feature is having an MC call the game, the MC is on the court during the game and is often very close to the players and uses a microphone to provide game commentary for the fans
14.
School
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A school is an institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools, the names for these schools vary by country but generally include primary school for young children and secondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education. An institution where higher education is taught, is called a university college or university. In addition to these schools, students in a given country may also attend schools before. Kindergarten or pre-school provide some schooling to young children. University, vocational school, college or seminary may be available after secondary school, a school may also be dedicated to one particular field, such as a school of economics or a school of dance. Alternative schools may provide nontraditional curriculum and methods, there are also non-government schools, called private schools. Private schools may be required when the government does not supply adequate, Schools for adults include institutions of corporate training, military education and training and business schools. In homeschooling and online schools, teaching and learning take place outside of a school building. Schools are commonly organized in several different organizational models, including departmental, small learning communities, academies, integrated, and schools-within-a-school. The word school derives from Greek σχολή, originally meaning leisure and also that in which leisure is employed, the concept of grouping students together in a centralized location for learning has existed since Classical antiquity. Formal schools have existed at least since ancient Greece, ancient Rome ancient India, the Byzantine Empire had an established schooling system beginning at the primary level. According to Traditions and Encounters, the founding of the education system began in 425 AD. The sometimes efficient and often large government of the Empire meant that citizens were a must. Although Byzantium lost much of the grandeur of Roman culture and extravagance in the process of surviving, the Byzantine education system continued until the empires collapse in 1453 AD. Beginning in the 5th century CE monastic schools were established throughout Western Europe. Islam was another culture developed a school system in the modern sense of the word
15.
Women's National Basketball Association
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The Womens National Basketball Association is a professional womens basketball league in the United States. It is currently composed of twelve teams, the league was founded on April 24,1996 as the womens counterpart to the National Basketball Association, and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from June to September with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July, many WNBA teams have direct NBA counterparts and play in the same arena. The four aforementioned franchises, along with the Atlanta Dream and the Los Angeles Sparks, are all independently owned. The creation of the WNBA was officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors on April 24,1996, and announced at a conference with Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie. The new WNBA had to compete with the recently-formed American Basketball League, while not the first major womens professional basketball league in the United States, the WNBA is the only league to receive full backing of the NBA. The WNBA logo, Logo Woman, paralleled the NBA logo and was selected out of 50 different designs. On the heels of a gold medal run by the 1996 USA Basketball Womens National Team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. The first WNBA game featured the New York Liberty facing the Los Angeles Sparks in Los Angeles, the game was televised nationally in the United States on the NBC television network. Penny Toler scored the leagues first point, the WNBA centered its marketing campaign, dubbed We Got Next, around stars Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes. In the leagues first season, Leslies Los Angeles Sparks underperformed, the WNBAs true star in 1997 was WNBA MVP Cynthia Cooper, Swoopes teammate on the Houston Comets. The Comets defeated Lobos New York Liberty in the first WNBA Championship game, the initial We Got Next advertisement ran before each WNBA season until it was replaced with the We Got Game campaign. Two teams were added in 1998 and two more in 1999, bringing the number of teams in the league up to twelve and we expect to keep growing the league. In 1999, the chief competition, the American Basketball League. When a lockout resulted in an abbreviated NBA season, the WNBA saw faltering TV viewership, on May 23,2000, the Houston Comets became the first WNBA team to be invited to the White House Rose Garden. Before this invitation, only mens sports teams had traveled to the White House, at the end of the 2000 season, the Houston Comets won their fourth championship, capturing every title since the leagues inception. Led by the Big Three of Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, and four-time Finals MVP Cynthia Cooper, under head coach Van Chancellor, the team posted a 98–24 record through their first four seasons. After 2000, Cooper retired from the league and the Comets dynasty came to an end, the top contender in the 2001 season was the Los Angeles Sparks
16.
Teen idol
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A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan-base. Teen idols are generally young but not necessarily teenaged, often teen idols are actors or singers, but some sports figures and even political figures also have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as actors, like Leif Garrett, Lindsay Lohan, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Raven-Symoné, Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Hilary Duff. The idols popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups, many teen idols are targeted for adults for nostalgia purposes. With the advent of television, teen idols were also promoted through programs such as American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, todays teen idols have spawned an entire industry of gossip magazines, television shows, YouTube, and whole television channels such as E. Many American teen idols achieve cross-over success internationally, however, this list is not limited to American artists alone with some such as Japanese popstar Kusumi Koharu. Ha^Ash and RBD in the 2000s and 2010s, in Spain, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Miguel Bose, Mecano and Hombres G all enjoyed teen-idol status. Even in the music field, a British-Chinese violinist Vanessa-Mae became the first teen idol in that category. The kind of idolizing following Liszt drew in Europe would not be followed for several decades, geraldine Farrar, American opera singer, had a large following of young women nicknamed Gerry-flappers in the early 20th century. However, he claims that many males were also at his sold-out concerts. He was also possibly the first popular singer to have a vehicle created for him. Frank Sinatra, whose career is often linked to his appeal to bobby soxers, is also regarded as having been amongst the first teen idols. Even crooners like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were still considered idols, actors Edd Byrnes and Troy Donahue and other artists deliberately cultivated a idol image, like Paul Anka. Anka initially modelled himself on a generic type, the teen idol carried on the process. Of changing the image of male youth, from wild to mild, by providing a cleaner, more wholesome image of masculinity than that of the previous eras rebellious rockabilly heroes. Post-war teens were able to buy relatively inexpensive phonographs — including portable models that could be carried to friends houses —, rock music played on 45s became the soundtrack to the 1960s as people bought what they heard on the radio. Their parents worried about their attraction to artists who were edgy, faces on magazines fed fans, fans buy records, see films, watch TV and buy fashions. Marketing of the teen idol generally focuses on the image, the teen idol is structured to appeal to the pre-teen and young teen female pop audience member and children in general
17.
Autograph
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Autograph also refers to a famous persons artistic signature. This term is used in particular for the practice of collecting autographs of celebrities, the hobby of collecting autographs is known as philography. What might be considered the oldest autograph is a Sumerian clay table from about 3100 BC which includes the name of the scribe Gar. Ama. No ancient written autographs have been found, and the earliest one known for a historical figure is that of El Cid from 1098. Some of the most popular categories of subjects are presidents, military soldiers, athletes, movie stars, artists, social and religious leaders, scientists, astronauts. Some collectors may specialize in fields or general topics or specific documents. Sports memorabilia signed by a team can often be sold for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Some celebrities still enjoy signing autographs for free for fans, keeping it an interesting hobby and this is one of the main reasons why some celebrities will only distribute their signatures for a price. Joe DiMaggio was able to more money on signing fees than he made in his playing career. Bill Russell does not sign at all in public, and only sparingly at private sessions, michael Jordan reportedly did not sign for most of his career because of safety concerns about frenzied attempts to get his signature, which is worth hundreds of dollars. Jordan has frequently signed at more events, such as golf tournaments. Pete Rose was paid to sign 30 baseballs with the inscription Im sorry I bet on baseball, michael Jacksons experience was typical, he often signed just a handful of autographs as he rushed from his hotel to his vehicle. Some collectors take note of which celebrities are the most gracious or the least forthcoming, some dealers would locate a celebritys home address and write to them repeatedly asking for autographs. The celebrities soon grew tired of the practice and limited their responses, because of the many autographs a celebrity might sign over time, some check requests against a record of past requests. Boxer George Foreman, for instance, records the names and addresses of every person requesting an autograph to limit such abuses, canadian sculptor Christian Cardell Corbet has his assistant research all requested autographs and also records all sent out. Some famous people flatly refuse to autograph anything for fans, such as the actors Paul Newman and Greta Garbo, celebrities sometimes authorized secretaries to sign their correspondence. In the early months of World War II, U. S. Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall felt obligated to sign every condolence letter sent to the families of slain soldiers. But as the rate increased, he was forced to assign an assistant to forge his signature to the letters
18.
Paraguay
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Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the country from north to south. Due to its location in South America, it is sometimes referred to as Corazón de Sudamérica. Paraguay is one of the two landlocked countries that lie outside Afro-Eurasia, Paraguay is the smallest landlocked country in the Americas. The indigenous Guaraní had been living in Paraguay for at least a millennium before the Spanish conquered the territory in the 16th century, Spanish settlers and Jesuit missions introduced Christianity and Spanish culture to the region. Paraguay was a colony of the Spanish Empire, with few urban centers and settlers. Following independence from Spain in 1811, Paraguay was ruled by a series of dictators who generally implemented isolationist and protectionist policies and he was toppled in an internal military coup, and free multi-party elections were organized and held for the first time in 1993. A year later, Paraguay joined Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to found Mercosur, as of 2009, Paraguays population was estimated to be at around 6.5 million, most of whom are concentrated in the southeast region of the country. The capital and largest city is Asunción, of which the area is home to nearly a third of Paraguays population. In contrast to most Latin American nations, Paraguays indigenous language and culture, Guaraní, in each census, residents predominantly identify as mestizo, reflecting years of intermarriage among the different ethnic groups. Guaraní is recognized as an official language alongside Spanish, and both languages are spoken in the country. There is no consensus for the derivation or meaning of the name Paraguay, the most common interpretations include, Born from water Riverine of many varieties River which originates a sea Fray Antonio Ruiz de Montoya said that it meant river crowned. The Spanish officer and scientist Félix de Azara suggests two derivations, the Payaguas, referring to the tribe who lived along the river. The French-Argentine historian and writer Paul Groussac argued that it meant river that flows through the sea, Paraguayan poet and ex-president Juan Natalicio González said it meant river of the inhabitants of the sea. Indigenous peoples have inhabited this area for thousands of years, pre-Columbian society in the region which is now Paraguay consisted of semi-nomadic tribes that were known for their warrior traditions. These indigenous tribes belonged to five language families, which was the basis of their major divisions. Differing language groups were generally competitive over resources and territories and they were further divided into tribes by speaking languages in branches of these families. Today 17 separate ethnolinguistic groups remain, the first Europeans in the area were Spanish explorers in 1516. The Spanish explorer Juan de Salazar de Espinosa founded the settlement of Asunción on 15 August 1537, the city eventually became the center of a Spanish colonial province of Paraguay
19.
Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and briefly called Porto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea. It is an archipelago that includes the island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller ones such as Mona, Culebra. The capital and most populous city is San Juan and its official languages are Spanish and English, though Spanish predominates. The islands population is approximately 3.4 million, Puerto Ricos rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, renowned traditional cuisine, and attractive tax incentives make it a popular destination for travelers from around the world. Four centuries of Spanish colonial government transformed the ethnic, cultural and physical landscapes primarily with waves of African captives, and Canarian. In the Spanish imperial imagination, Puerto Rico played a secondary, in 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States appropriated Puerto Rico together with most former Spanish colonies under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Ricans are natural-born citizens of the United States, however, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the United States Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. As a U. S. territory, American citizens residing on the island are disenfranchised at the level and may not vote for president. However, Congress approved a constitution, allowing U. S. citizens on the territory to elect a governor. A fifth referendum will be held in June 2017, with only Statehood, in early 2017, the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government. The outstanding bond debt that had climbed to $70 billion or $12,000 per capita at a time with 12. 4% unemployment, the debt had been increasing during a decade long recession. Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen – a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, the terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also known in Spanish as la isla del encanto. Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city. The islands name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898, the anglicized name was used by the US government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila in 1931, the ancient history of the archipelago known today as Puerto Rico is not well known. The scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish scholarly accounts from the colonial era constitute the basis of knowledge about them. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, the first settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture of Amerindian hunters and fishermen who migrated from the South American mainland
20.
Venezuela
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Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a federal republic located on the northern coast of South America. It is bordered by Colombia on the west, Brazil on the south, Guyana on the east, Venezuela covers 916,445 km2 and has an estimated population of 31775371. The territory now known as Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522 amid resistance from indigenous peoples and it gained full independence as a separate country in 1830. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, since 1958, the country has had a series of democratic governments. This new constitution changed the name of the country to República Bolivariana de Venezuela. Venezuela is a presidential republic consisting of 23 states, the Capital District. Venezuela also claims all Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River, oil was discovered in the early 20th century, and Venezuela has the worlds largest known oil reserves and has been one of the worlds leading exporters of oil. Previously an underdeveloped exporter of commodities such as coffee and cocoa, oil quickly came to dominate exports. The recovery of oil prices in the early 2000s gave Venezuela oil funds not seen since the 1980s, the Venezuelan government then established populist policies that initially boosted the Venezuelan economy and increased social spending, significantly reducing economic inequality and poverty. However, such policies later became controversial since they destabilized the economy, resulting in hyperinflation, an economic depression. According to the most popular and accepted version, in 1499, the stilt houses in the area of Lake Maracaibo reminded the navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, of the city of Venice, so he named the region Veneziola Piccola Venezia. The name acquired its current spelling as a result of Spanish influence, where the suffix -uela is used as a term, thus. The German language 16th century-term for the area, Klein-Venedig, also means little Venice, however, Martín Fernández de Enciso, a member of the Vespucci and Ojeda crew, gave a different account. In his work Summa de geografía, he states that they found people who called themselves the Veneciuela. Thus, the name Venezuela may have evolved from the native word and it is not known how many people lived in Venezuela before the Spanish conquest, it has been estimated at around one million. In addition to indigenous peoples known today, the population included historic groups such as the Kalina, Auaké, Caquetio, Mariche, the Timoto-Cuica culture was the most complex society in Pre-Columbian Venezuela, with pre-planned permanent villages, surrounded by irrigated, terraced fields. They also stored water in tanks and their houses were made primarily of stone and wood with thatched roofs. They were peaceful, for the most part, and depended on growing crops, regional crops included potatoes and ullucos
21.
Indianapolis
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Indianapolis, is the capital and largest city of the U. S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. It is in the East North Central region of the Midwestern United States, with an estimated population of 853,173 in 2015, Indianapolis is the second most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and 14th largest in the U. S. The city is the economic and cultural center of the Indianapolis metropolitan area, home to 2 million people and its combined statistical area ranks 26th, with 2.4 million inhabitants. Indianapolis covers 372 square miles, making it the 16th largest city by area in the U. S. The city grew beyond the Mile Square, as completion of the National Road and advent of the railroad solidified the position as a manufacturing. Indianapolis is within a single-day drive of 70 percent of the nations population, Indianapolis has developed niche markets in amateur sports and auto racing. The city is perhaps best known for hosting the worlds largest single-day sporting event. The city is notable as headquarters for the American Legion and home to a significant collection of monuments dedicated to veterans and war dead, the most in the U. S. outside of Washington, D. C. Since the 1970 city-county consolidation, known as Unigov, local government administration has operated under the direction of an elected 25-member city-county council, Indianapolis is considered a high sufficiency global city. In 1816, the year Indiana gained statehood, the U. S. Congress donated four sections of land to establish a permanent seat of state government. Two years later, under the Treaty of St. Marys and this tract of land, which was called the New Purchase, included the site selected for the new state capital in 1820. The availability of new lands for purchase in central Indiana attracted settlers. Although many of these first European and American setters were Protestants, few African Americans lived in central Indiana before 1840. The first European Americans to permanently settle in the area that became Indianapolis were either the McCormick or Pogue families, on January 11,1820, the Indiana General Assembly authorized a committee to select a site in central Indiana for the new state capital. The state legislature approved the site, adopting the name Indianapolis on January 6,1821, in April, Alexander Ralston and Elias Pym Fordham were appointed to survey and design a town plan for the new settlement. Indianapolis became a seat of county government on December 31,1821, a combined county and town government continued until 1832, when Indianapolis incorporated as a town. Indianapolis became an incorporated city effective March 30,1847, Samuel Henderson, the citys first mayor, led the new city government, which included a seven-member city council. In 1853, voters approved a new city charter provided for an elected mayor
22.
Cuba
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Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and it is south of both the U. S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital, other cities include Santiago de Cuba. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 109,884 square kilometres, prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century, Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, as a fragile republic, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batistas ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 Movement, since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. A point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a nuclear war broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America, Cuba is a Marxist–Leninist one-party republic, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have accused the Cuban government of human rights abuses. It is one of the worlds last planned economies and its economy is dominated by the exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee, according to the Human Development Index, Cuba is described as a country with high human development and is ranked the eighth highest in North America. It also ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including health care, the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as where fertile land is abundant, authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal. Before the arrival of the Spanish, Cuba was inhabited by three distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Taíno, the Guanajatabey, and the Ciboney people. The ancestors of the Ciboney migrated from the mainland of South America, the Taíno arrived from Hispanola sometime in the 3rd century A. D. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, having a population of 150,000. The name Cuba comes from the native Taíno language and it is derived from either coabana meaning great place, or from cubao meaning where fertile land is abundant. The Taíno were farmers, while the Ciboney were farmers as well as fishers and hunter-gatherers, Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias. In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa, other towns soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later became the capital
23.
Olympic Games
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The Olympic Games are considered the worlds foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in changes to the Olympic Games. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, as a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship, World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916,1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games, the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, the IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, gold, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to themselves to the world. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat such as wrestling. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce and this idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus
24.
1992 Summer Olympics
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The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event played in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1992. The games were the first to be unaffected by boycotts since 1972, Barcelona is the second-largest city in Spain, and the birthplace of then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch. The city was also a host for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, on October 17,1986, Barcelona was selected to host the 1992 Summer Games over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane, and Paris, during the 91st IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. Barcelona had previously bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, but they ultimately lost to Berlin, at the Opening Ceremony Greek mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa sang Romiossini as the Olympic flag was paraded around the stadium. Alfredo Kraus later sang the Olympic Hymn in both Catalan and Spanish as the flag was hoisted, the Olympic flame cauldron was lit by a flaming arrow, shot by Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo. The arrow had been lit by the flame of the Olympic Torch, Rebollo overshot the cauldron as this was the original design of the lighting scheme. South Africa was allowed to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time since the 1960 Summer Olympics, after a long suspension for its apartheid policy. After a close race in the Womens 10,000 metres event, white South African runner Elana Meyer and black Ethiopian runner Derartu Tulu ran a victory lap together, hand-in-hand. Following its reunification in 1990, Germany sent a single, unified Olympic team for the first time since the 1964 Summer Olympics. As the Soviet Union had been dissolved in 1991, the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania sent their own teams for the first time since 1936, the other Soviet republics competed under the name Unified Team. These nations consisted of present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the separation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia led to the Olympic debuts of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to United Nations sanctions, athletes from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were not allowed to participate with their own team, however, some individual athletes competed under the Olympic flag as Independent Olympic Participants. Fermín Cacho won the 1,500 metres in his home country, chinese diver Fu Mingxia, age 13, became the youngest Olympic gold medalist of all time. In mens artistic gymnastics, Vitaly Scherbo from Belarus, won six gold medals, Scherbo tied Eric Heidens record for individual gold medals at a single Olympics, winning five medals in an individual event. In womens artistic gymnastics, Tatiana Gutsu took gold in the All-Around competition edging the United States Shannon Miller, russian swimmers dominated the freestyle events, with Alexander Popov and Yevgeny Sadovyi each winning two events. Sadovyi also won in the relays, evelyn Ashford won her fourth Olympic gold medal in the 4×100-metre relay, making her one of only four female athletes to have achieved this in history. The young Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary won three individual swimming gold medals, in womens 200 metre breaststroke, Kyoko Iwasaki of Japan won a gold medal at age of 14 years and six days, making her the youngest-ever gold medalist in swimming competitions at the Olympics. After demonstrated in six previous Summer Olympic Games, baseball became an Olympic sport
25.
FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup
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The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup is a world basketball tournament for womens national teams held quadrennially. Its inaugural game was in 1953 with the four-year cycle established in 1967, the next FIBA Womens World Cup will be held in September/October 2018. Formerly known as the FIBA World Championship for Women, the name changed shortly after its 2014 edition, from 1986 through 2014, the tournament was held in the same year as the mens FIBA Basketball World Cup, though in different countries. After the 2014 editions of both championships, the event was rescheduled on a new four-year cycle to avoid conflict with the mens FIFA World Cup. The Womens World Cup remains on the current four-year cycle, with editions held in the years as the mens FIFA World Cup. The next FIFA Womens World Cup is in June and July 2019, the Women’s World Cup was created by the International Basketball Federation. It began in 1953, held in Chile, three years after the first mens World Championship, for most of its early history, it was not held in the same year as the mens championship, and was not granted a consistent quadrennial cycle until 1967. After the 1983 event, FIBA changed the scheduling so that the tournament would be held in even-numbered non-Olympic years. The number of participating womens FIBA teams has remained at 16, unlike the mens event, only four nations have won titles in the history of the Womens World Cup. The United States has won the title nine times, including six of the last eight, the Soviet Union won six titles, including five in a row from 1959 to 1975. The only other countries to win have been Brazil in 1994, the 2014 World Championship for Women was the last tournament played in the same year as the mens, and also the last to be known as the World Championship for Women. The Womens World Cup will remain on the current four-year cycle, the mens FIBA World Cup will move to the year after the Womens World Cup. Accordingly, only the FIBA Womens World Cup will be held in 2018, note, From 1953 through 1979 the medalists were decided in a league format instead of in a knockout tournament, results of the final round matches are shown. FIBA Basketball World Cup FIBA World Championship for Women 2010 Official Site United States history
26.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
27.
Peru
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Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures spanning from the Norte Chico civilization in Caral, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty with its capital in Lima, ideas of political autonomy later spread throughout Spanish America and Peru gained its independence, which was formally proclaimed in 1821. After the battle of Ayacucho, three years after proclamation, Peru ensured its independence, subsequently, the country has undergone changes in government from oligarchic to democratic systems. Peru has gone through periods of political unrest and internal conflict as well as periods of stability, Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. It is a country with a high Human Development Index score. Its main economic activities include mining, manufacturing, agriculture and fishing, the Peruvian population, estimated at 31.2 million in 2015, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages and this mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music. The name of the country may be derived from Birú, the name of a ruler who lived near the Bay of San Miguel, Panama. When his possessions were visited by Spanish explorers in 1522, they were the southernmost part of the New World yet known to Europeans, thus, when Francisco Pizarro explored the regions farther south, they came to be designated Birú or Perú. An alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer Inca Garcilasco de la Vega, son of an Inca princess, the Spanish Crown gave the name legal status with the 1529 Capitulación de Toledo, which designated the newly encountered Inca Empire as the province of Peru. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination Viceroyalty of Peru, the earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 9,000 BC. Andean societies were based on agriculture, using such as irrigation and terracing, camelid husbandry. Organization relied on reciprocity and redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money, the oldest known complex society in Peru, the Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BC. These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal, the Cupisnique culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BC along what is now Perus Pacific Coast was an example of early pre-Incan culture. The Chavín culture that developed from 1500 to 300 BC was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, on the coast, these included the civilizations of the Paracas, Nazca, Wari, and the more outstanding Chimu and Mochica. Their capital was at Chan Chan outside of modern-day Trujillo, in the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in pre-Columbian America with their capital in Cusco
28.
Singapore
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Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, sometimes referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree north of the equator, at the tip of peninsular Malaysia. Singapores territory consists of one island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its size by 23%. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan, after early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce. Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub, the country has also been identified as a tax haven. Singapore ranks 5th internationally and first in Asia on the UN Human Development Index and it is ranked highly in education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing, but does not fare well on the Democracy index. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-occupied, 38% of Singapores 5.6 million residents are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. There are four languages on the island, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil. English is its language, most Singaporeans are bilingual. Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The Peoples Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959, however, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island, Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijayan prince said to have founded and named the island Singapura, perhaps saw a Malayan tiger. There are however other suggestions for the origin of the name, the central island has also been called Pulau Ujong as far back as the third century CE, literally island at the end in Malay. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was part of the Johor Sultanate. The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period, in 1824 the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, prior to Raffles arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations
29.
Malaysia
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Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government, with a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the 44th most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia, located in the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species. Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, the first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946, Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which plays a role in politics. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with minorities of Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians. The constitution declares Islam the state religion while allowing freedom of religion for non-Muslims, the government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and he is an elected monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of government is the prime minister, since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with its GDP growing at an average of 6. 5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce. Today, Malaysia has a newly industrialised market economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia, the name Malaysia is a combination of the word Malay and the Latin-Greek suffix -sia/-σία. The word melayu in Malay may derive from the Tamil words malai and ur meaning mountain and city, land, malayadvipa was the word used by ancient Indian traders when referring to the Malay Peninsula. Whether or not it originated from these roots, the word melayu or mlayu may have used in early Malay/Javanese to mean to steadily accelerate or run. This term was applied to describe the current of the river Melayu in Sumatra. The name was adopted by the Melayu Kingdom that existed in the seventh century on Sumatra
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Bulgaria
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Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, with a territory of 110,994 square kilometres, Bulgaria is Europes 16th-largest country. Organised prehistoric cultures began developing on current Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period and its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians, Greeks, Persians, Celts, Romans, Goths, Alans and Huns. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came under Ottoman rule for five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 led to the formation of the Third Bulgarian State, the following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both world wars. In 1946 it became a one-party socialist state as part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc, in December 1989 the ruling Communist Party allowed multi-party elections, which subsequently led to Bulgarias transition into a democracy and a market-based economy. Bulgarias population of 7.2 million people is predominantly urbanised, most commercial and cultural activities are centred on the capital and largest city, Sofia. The strongest sectors of the economy are industry, power engineering. The countrys current political structure dates to the adoption of a constitution in 1991. Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic with a high degree of political, administrative. Human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria can be traced back to the Paleolithic, animal bones incised with man-made markings from Kozarnika cave are assumed to be the earliest examples of symbolic behaviour in humans. Organised prehistoric societies in Bulgarian lands include the Neolithic Hamangia culture, Vinča culture, the latter is credited with inventing gold working and exploitation. Some of these first gold smelters produced the coins, weapons and jewellery of the Varna Necropolis treasure and this site also offers insights for understanding the social hierarchy of the earliest European societies. Thracians, one of the three primary groups of modern Bulgarians, began appearing in the region during the Iron Age. In the late 6th century BC, the Persians conquered most of present-day Bulgaria, and kept it until 479 BC. After the division of the Roman Empire in the 5th century the area fell under Byzantine control, by this time, Christianity had already spread in the region. A small Gothic community in Nicopolis ad Istrum produced the first Germanic language book in the 4th century, the first Christian monastery in Europe was established around the same time by Saint Athanasius in central Bulgaria. From the 6th century the easternmost South Slavs gradually settled in the region, in 680 Bulgar tribes under the leadership of Asparukh moved south across the Danube and settled in the area between the lower Danube and the Balkan, establishing their capital at Pliska
31.
1984 Summer Olympics
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The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984. When Tehran, the other interested city on the international level, declined to bid due to the concurrent Iranian political and social changes. This was the second occasion Los Angeles hosted the games, the first being in 1932, for differing reasons, Iran and Libya also boycotted. The USSR announced its intention not to participate on May 8,1984, citing security concerns and chauvinistic sentiments, boycotting countries organized another large event in June–September 1984, called the Friendship Games, however, not even a single competition was held between July 28 and August 12. Representatives of the countries, the Soviets in particular, underlined it was not held to replace the Olympics. Elite athletes from the U. S. and USSR would only compete against each other at the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow, organized in response to the boycotts. The Olympic Committee led by Peter Ueberroth used some of the profits to endow the LA84 Foundation to promote sports in Southern California, educate coaches. The 1984 Summer Olympics are often considered the most financially successful modern Olympics, the host state of California was the home state of U. S. President Ronald Reagan, who officially opened the Games. He had served as Governor of California from 1967 to 1975, the official mascot of the Los Angeles Games was Sam the Olympic Eagle. The logo of the games featured five blue, white and red stars arranged horizontally and struck through with alternating streaks and these were the first Summer Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch. On July 18,2009, a 25th anniversary celebration was held in the main stadium and this celebration included a speech by the former president of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Ueberroth, and a re-creation of the lighting of the cauldron. After the murder of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists in Munich and significant financial debts of Montreal, only two cities made serious bids for the 1984 Summer Games. But before a city could be anointed in 1978, Tehran, too. Hence, the process for the 1984 Summer Olympics consisted of a single finalized bid. The bid from Tehran was withdrawn before the selection as a result of Irans policy changes following the Iranian Revolution, Los Angeles had unsuccessfully bid for the two previous Summer Olympics, for 1976 and 1980. The 1984 Olympic Torch Relay began in New York City and ended in Los Angeles, traversing 33 states, unlike later torch relays, the torch was continuously carried by runners on foot. The route covered more than 9,320 mi and involved 3,636 runners, noted athlete O. J. Simpson was among the runners, carrying the torch up the California Incline in Santa Monica. With the torch, he touched off the flame passed through a specially designed flammable Olympic logo
32.
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
33.
Gustavo Kuerten
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Gustavo Kuerten, nicknamed Guga, is a retired former World No.1 tennis player from Brazil. He won the French Open singles title three times, and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000, Kuerten suffered many problems with injuries which led him to miss a number of tournaments between 2002 and 2005. After a few failed attempts of comebacks, he retired from tennis in May 2008. During his career he won 20 singles and 8 doubles titles, Kuerten was born in Florianópolis in southern Brazil. He began playing tennis when he was six, a start to a life. His father, Aldo, an amateur tennis player, died of a heart attack in 1985 while umpiring a junior tennis match in Curitiba. His older brother, Raphael, is currently his business manager and he gave every trophy he won to his younger brother as a souvenir, including the three miniature replicas of the French Open mens singles trophy. His favourite football team is Brazilian Avaí Futebol Clube, as a young player, Kuerten first learned from Carlos Alves. Alves would continue to coach Kuerten for the next 8 years, when he was 14 years old, Kuerten met Larri Passos who would be his coach for the following 15 years. Passos convinced Kuerten and his family that the youth was talented enough to make an out of playing tennis. The two started traveling all over the world to participate in junior tournaments, as a junior player in South America, Guga won many of the most important tournaments in the region. He often played in an age group above his,1998 was the worst year in his career that was not related to injuries. Like many South American players, his favorite surface is clay. He won three Grand Slam titles, all of them at the French Open, played on the courts of Roland Garros. He won these titles in 1997,2000 and 2001, in every one of the three French Open victories he defeated Russias Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the quarterfinal match and defeated two top 10 players on his way to the title. Kuerten became the No.1 player in the world in 2000, Kuerten won at least one title a year between 1997 and 2004. The streak came to an end in 2005, when injuries and he was also a regular participant for Brazil in the Davis Cup. Kuerten embraced the style of play, with heavy topspin on his ground strokes
34.
Vanderlei de Lima
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Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima is a former long-distance runner who specialised in marathons. He received international renown after a spectator, a former Irish priest Cornelius Neil Horan, following the incident he fell back from first to third place, winning the bronze medal. He was later awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship for that race, Neil Horan, the priest who attacked de Lima, was defrocked by the Catholic Church the following year in January 2005. He lit the Olympic cauldron and carried the Olympic flame during the ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics. He started out as a cross country runner, representing Brazil at the 1989 and 1992 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. It was at regional level that he won his first medals and he won his first marathon in 1996, taking the Tokyo International Marathon title. He attended his first Summer Olympics that same year, running in the marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Games and his first world appearance followed a year later at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics and he improved to finish in 23rd place overall. He set a personal best at the 1998 Tokyo Marathon, completing the distance in 2,08,31. Just as in the cross country competitions, it was in regional competitions that he won his first marathon medals. He was the Pan American champion twice consecutively, running 2,17,20 at the 1999 Games and 2,19,08 for the victory at the 2003 Games. He began the 2004 season well with a win at the Hamburg Marathon. On 29 August 2004, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, soon after the 35 km mark, holding a lead of approximately 25–30 seconds, de Lima was halted and grappled by a spectator named Neil Horan, an Irish priest who was later defrocked. Horan had previously disrupted the 2003 Formula One British Grand Prix by running onto the Silverstone track, greek spectator Polyvios Kossivas helped free de Lima from Horans grasp and back into his running. De Lima lost about 15–20 seconds in the incident, but could well have lost much more due to the disruption and he finished third with a time of 2,12.11, winning the bronze medal. Solutions like that have been done in the past for other events, at the closing of the event, the International Olympic Committee awarded de Lima the Pierre de Coubertin medal for the spirit of sportsmanship. De Lima was also named Brazilian Athlete of the Year in 2004, de Limas award was the first occasion in which the winner was selected by online popular vote. On 1 July 2005, Brazilian beach volleyball player Emanuel Rego, who won the medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, tried to give his gold medal to de Lima on television. Im happy with mine, its bronze but means gold, said de Lima and his biography was written by Renata Adrião DAngelo, Vanderlei de Lima - A Maratona de uma Vida, printed in Brazil by Casa da Palavra, in 2007
35.
Dressage
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Dressage is a highly skilled form of riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the Olympic Games, at the peak of a dressage horses gymnastic development, the horse responds smoothly to a skilled riders minimal aids. The rider is relaxed and appears effort-free while the horse performs the requested movement. The discipline has a history with ancient roots in the writings of Xenophon. Much about training systems used today reflects practices of classical dressage, in modern dressage competition, successful training at the various levels is demonstrated through the performance of tests, prescribed series of movements ridden within a standard arena. A score of 9 is very good and is a high mark, all riding horses can benefit from use of dressage principles and training techniques. The most popular horse breeds seen at the Olympics and other international FEI competitions are warmblood horses bred for dressage, in classical dressage training and performances that involve the airs above the ground, the baroque breeds of horses are popular and purposely bred for these specialties. There are two sizes of arenas, small and standard, each has letters assigned to positions around the arena for dressage tests to specify where movements are to be performed. Cones with letters on them are positioned on the sidelines of the arena for reference as to where a movement is to be performed. The small arena is 20 by 40 m and is used for the levels of eventing in the dressage phase. Its letters around the edge, starting from the point of entry. Letters also mark locations along the line in the middle of the arena. Moving down the line from A, they are D-X-G. The standard arena is 20 by 60 m, and is used for tests in both dressage and eventing. The standard dressage arena letters are A-K-V-E-S-H-C-M-R-B-P-F, the letters on the long sides of the arena, nearest the corners, are 6 m in from the corners, and are 12 m apart from each other. The letters along the line are D-L-X-I-G, with X again being halfway down the arena. There is speculation as to why these letters were chosen, most commonly it is believed because the German cavalry had a 20 × 60-meter area in-between the barracks which had the letters posted above the doors. At the start of the test, the horse enters the arena at an opening at A, ideally this opening is then closed for the duration of the test, however, this is not always logistically possible, particularly at smaller competitions with few volunteers
36.
2016 Summer Olympics
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More than 11,000 athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees, including first time entrants Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team, took part. With 306 sets of medals, the games featured 28 Olympic sports, including rugby sevens and golf and these sporting events took place at 33 venues in the host city, and at five in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília, and Manaus. These were the first Summer Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee presidency of Thomas Bach, the host city Rio de Janeiro was announced at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October 2009. Rio became the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics, the United States topped the medal table for the fifth time in the past six Summer Olympics, winning the most golds and most medals overall, as well as its 1, 000th Olympic gold medal overall. Great Britain finished second and became the first country in the history of the modern Olympics to increase its tally of medals in the subsequent games after being the host nation. Host country Brazil won seven medals, its most at any single Summer Olympics. Bahrain, Fiji, Jordan, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Tajikistan, Ivory Coast and Vietnam each won their first gold medals, the bidding process for the 2016 Olympic Games was officially launched on 16 May 2007. The first step for each city was to submit an application to the International Olympic Committee by 13 September 2007. Completed official bid files, containing answers to a 25-question IOC form, were to be submitted by each 14 January 2008. Four candidate cities were chosen for the shortlist on 4 June 2008, Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, prague and Baku also failed to make the cut. Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco headed the 10-member Evaluation Commission, having chaired the evaluation commission for the 2012 Summer Olympics bids. The commission made on-site inspections in the quarter of 2009. They issued a comprehensive technical appraisal for IOC members on 2 September, many restrictions are in place designed to prevent bidding cities from communicating with or influencing directly the 115 voting members. Cities may not invite any IOC member to visit nor may they send anything that could be construed as a gift, the final voting was held on 2 October 2009, in Copenhagen with Madrid and Rio de Janeiro perceived as favourites to land the games. Chicago and Tokyo were eliminated after the first and second rounds of voting, respectively, the lead held and Rio de Janeiro was announced as host of 2016 Summer Olympics. This comes just five months after CCO Flávio Pestana quit for personal reasons, Pestana withdrew later during the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Renato Ciuchin was then appointed as COO, events took place at eighteen existing venues, nine new venues constructed specifically for the Games, and seven temporary venues. Each event was held in one of four geographically segregated Olympic clusters, Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro, the same was done for the 2007 Pan American Games
37.
Jim Boeheim
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James Arthur Jim Boeheim is the head coach of the mens basketball team at Syracuse University. In those games, the Orange lost to Indiana in 1987 on a jump shot by Keith Smart. Boeheim was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2005, the Syracuse athletics scandal resulted in 101 of his wins being vacated by the NCAA in 2015. Boeheim has announced that he will retire in March 2018, after suffering from cancer in 2001, Boeheim and his wife founded the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation devoted to child welfare, cancer treatment, and prevention. Boeheim was born in Lyons, New York and he graduated from Lyons Central High School. Boeheim enrolled in Syracuse University as a student in 1962 and graduated with a degree in social science. During his freshman year, Boeheim was a walk-on with the basketball team. By his senior year he was the captain and a teammate of All-American Dave Bing. The pair led coach Fred Lewiss Orange to a 22–6 overall win-loss record that earned the teams second-ever NCAA tournament berth, while at Syracuse, he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. In 1969, Boeheim decided to coach basketball and was hired as an assistant at Syracuse under Roy Danforth. Soon thereafter he was promoted to an assistant coach and was a member of the coaching staff that helped guide the Orange to its first Final Four appearance in the 1975 NCAA Tournament. In 1976, Danforth left to head basketball coach and athletic director at Tulane University. A coaching search led to naught, and Boeheim was promoted to be the head coach of his alma mater. Apart from his stint in the pros, Boeheim has spent his entire adult life at Syracuse as a student, player, assistant coach or head coach. In 1986 Boeheim was offered the coaching job at Ohio State. During a Syracuse vs. Georgetown game, Hoyas star Patrick Ewing was nearly struck by an orange, Boeheim borrowed a microphone and threatened to forfeit the game if fans continued to throw objects at Ewing. In 39 years as coach at Syracuse, Boeheim has guided the Orange to postseason berths, either in the NCAA or NIT tournaments. During his tenure, the Orange have never had a season, have appeared in three NCAA national championship games and have won the national title in 2003
38.
Jim Calhoun
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James A. Calhoun is the former head coach of the University of Connecticut mens basketball team. His teams won three NCAA national championships, played in four Final Fours, won the 1988 NIT title, with his teams 2011 NCAA title win, the 68-year-old Calhoun became the oldest coach to win a Division I mens basketball title. He won his 800th game in 2009 and finished his career with 873 victories, Calhoun is one of only six coaches in NCAA Division I history to win three or more championships and is widely considered one of the greatest coaches of all time. In 2005, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, a self-described Irish Catholic, Calhoun was born and raised in Braintree, Massachusetts, where he was a standout on the basketball, football, and baseball teams at Braintree High School. After his father died of an attack when Calhoun was 15. Although he received a scholarship to Lowell State, he only attended the school for three months after which he returned home to help support his mother and siblings. He worked as a cutter, headstone engraver, scrapyard worker, shampoo factory worker. He was the scorer on the team his junior and senior seasons. At the time he graduated, he was ranked as the fourth all-time scorer at AIC. Calhoun graduated in 1968 with a degree in sociology. On February 3,2003, Calhoun announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and he took an immediate leave of absence from the team, and underwent surgery three days later to have his prostate removed. He was released from the hospital on February 9 and within days was again involved in the day-to-day operation of the program. On February 22 Jim Calhoun returned to the sidelines for the teams match-up with St. Johns at Gampel Pavilion, on May 30,2008, UConn announced that Calhoun was undergoing treatment for squamous cell carcinoma. On June 13,2009, Calhoun fell during a charity bike event, on January 19,2010, Calhoun took a leave of absence from the team again due to health reasons. Calhoun had a condition that he wanted to discuss with his family. Calhoun returned to the court to coach the Huskies on February 13, on February 3,2012, Calhoun took a medical leave of absence from coaching as a result of spinal stenosis. He returned on March 3,2012, less than a week after having back surgery, after a left hip fracture he received while bike riding on August 4,2012, Calhoun had surgery that same day. Calhoun and his wife, Pat, live in Pomfret, Connecticut, have married since 1967. They also have purchased a home on Long Island Sound in Madison, in 1998, a $125,000 gift from Jim Calhoun and his wife Pat established the Jim and Pat Calhoun Cardiology Research Fund at UConn Health Center
