Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player. As a shooting guard, Bryant entered the National Basketball Association directly from high school, played his entire 20-season professional career in the league with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant won many accolades: five NBA championships, 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player, two-time NBA Finals MVP winner. Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, ranks fourth on the league's all-time regular season scoring and all-time postseason scoring lists. Bryant was the son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, he attended Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high-school basketball player in the country. Upon graduation, he declared for the 1996 NBA draft and was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick; as a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, he was named an All-Star by his second season.

Despite a feud with teammate Shaquille O'Neal, the pair led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. In 2003, Bryant was accused of sexual assault by a 19-year-old hotel clerk. Criminal charges were brought and dropped after the accuser refused to testify, with a civil suit settled out of court. Bryant denied the assault charge but issued a public apology. After the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was traded and Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers, he led the NBA in scoring during the 2005 -- 2006 -- 07 seasons. In 2006, he scored a career-high 81 points. Bryant led the team to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, was named NBA Finals MVP on both occasions, he continued to be among the top players in the league through 2013, when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon at age 34. Although he recovered from that injury, he suffered season-ending injuries to his knee and shoulder in the following two seasons. Citing his physical decline, Bryant retired after the 2015–16 season.

At 34 years and 104 days of age, Bryant became the youngest player in league history to reach 30,000 career points. He became the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history on February 1, 2010, surpassing Jerry West. Bryant was the first guard in NBA history to play at least 20 seasons, his 18 All-Star designations are the second most all time, while it is the record for most consecutive appearances as a starter. Bryant's four All-Star MVP Awards are tied with Bob Pettit for the most in NBA history, he gave himself the nickname "Black Mamba" in the mid-2000s, the epithet became adopted by the general public. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he won two gold medals as a member of the U. S. national team. In 2018, he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his 2017 film Dear Basketball. Bryant died at age 41, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Bryant was born in Philadelphia, the youngest of three children and only son of former NBA player Joe Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant.

He was the maternal nephew of NBA player John "Chubby" Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, which they saw on a restaurant menu, his middle name, was derived from his father's nickname "Jellybean." Bryant's family was Catholic and he had always practiced his faith. Bryant started playing basketball when he was aged three, the Lakers were his favorite team when he was growing up; when Bryant was six, his father retired from the NBA and moved his family to Rieti in Italy to continue playing professional basketball at a lower level. After two years, they moved first to Reggio Calabria to Pistoia and Reggio Emilia. Kobe learned to speak fluent Italian, he was fond of Reggio Emilia, which he considered a loving place and where some of his best childhood memories were made. Bryant began to play basketball while living in Reggio Emilia. Bryant's grandfather would mail him videos of NBA games for Bryant to study. Another source of inspiration was animated European films about sports, from which he learned more about basketball.

He learned to play soccer and his favorite soccer team was A. C. Milan. During summers, Bryant would come back to the United States to play in a basketball summer league; when Bryant was thirteen, he and his family moved back to Philadelphia, where he enrolled in eighth grade at Bala Cywynd Middle School. Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, located in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion, he played on the varsity basketball team as a freshman. Bryant became the first freshman in decades to start for Lower Merion's varsity team, but the team finished with a 4–20 record; the following three years, the Aces compiled a 77–13 record, with Bryant playing all five positions. During his junior year, he averaged 31.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists and was named Pennsylvania Player of the Year while earning a fourth-team Parade All-American nomination, attracting attention from college recruiters in the process. Duke, North Carolina and Villanova were at the top of his list.

However, after high schooler Kevin Garnett went in the first round of the 1995 NBA draft, Bryant began contemplating going directly to the pros. At Adidas ABCD Camp, Bryant ea

The Namaqualand Railway was a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge railway operating between Port Nolloth and O'okiep in the Namaqualand region of the former Cape Colony in South Africa. It was a mule-drawn railway built to provide an outlet for the copper mines of the region. Constructed between 1869 and 1876, the railway was 93 1⁄2 miles long, with an additional 8 miles purely associated with the copper mine workings. Although owned by the Cape Copper Company, the railway always operated as a public railway; the railway pre-dated. Because of the success of the Namaqualand line, 2 ft 6 in gauge was promoted by civil engineer R. Thomas Hall, Superintendent of the narrow gauge Redruth and Chacewater Railway in Cornwall, involved in the construction of the Namaqualand Railway, as the primary gauge for railway construction in South Africa; the final decision was a compromise between the two recommended gauges and the 3 ft 6 in came into existence in Africa. After copper mining ceased in 1928 the railway was temporarily closed until 1937 when mining activities resumed.

The Namaqualand Railway closed in 1944. Namaqualand 0-4-0WT Condenser Namaqualand 0-4-2IST Caledonia Namaqualand 0-4-2ST Pioneer Namaqualand 0-4-2T Britannia Namaqualand 0-6-0T 1871 Namaqualand 0-6-2 Clara Class Namaqualand 0-6-2 Scotia Class

"Traitor" is the seventh episode of the eighth season of the anthology television series American Horror Story. It aired on October 24, 2018, on the cable network FX; the episode was written by Adam Penn, directed by Jennifer Lynch. Voodoo queen Dinah Stevens is seen performing a ritual on a man, guilty of having extramarital sex. Dinah gets paid by the cheated wife and surprises her with the woman's ripped-out heart which she puts in a blender, together with some other concoctions. After forcing the husband to swallow the potion, Dinah is confronted outside by Cordelia; the witch reveals. On the set of a slasher movie, witch actress Bubbles McGee is visited by Madison; the ex-coven member is needed back within the circle in order to use her power of thought reading on Ariel Augustus and Baldwin Pennypacker. Meanwhile and Dinah summon Papa Legba, accompanied by the soul of dead witch Nan. Cordelia tells Legba about preparing a trap for Michael: banishing him to Hell forever. Legba demands the souls of all the witches in return but the Supreme refuses and Legba disappears.

At Miss Robichaux's, Coco discovers a new power, she can now guess the right calorie content of sweets like muffins. While eating a snowball, Coco begins to choke and dies, but Mallory opens Coco's neck and removes the snowball and saves her life. Zoe thinks it's rather Mallory than Michael who's responsible for Cordelia's supreme powers decreasing. Bubbles prepares a meal and dines with Ariel and Myrtle. Bubbles learns about the planned death of fellow warlock John Henry Moore and about the warlocks' urge to kill all the witches through her powers; the coven travels to the gas station. Mallory brings the warlock back to life and therefore accomplishes her last task of The Seven Wonders. Coco is given the task of tracking down Mead; when Coco confronts the satanist, Mead shoots the witch with a tranquilizer gun but two men appear and kidnap Mead. Cordelia and Myrtle capture Baldwin and Ariel, who were planning to kill the witches with a poisonous chemical. Along with Mead, the warlocks are burned at the stake by Moore for their betrayals.

"Traitor" was watched by 1.85 million people during its original broadcast, gained a 0.9 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, "Traitor" holds an 87% approval rating, based on 15 reviews with an average rating of 6/10; the critical consensus reads, "Tricky table setting doesn't stop "Traitor" from having its cake and eating it too, skillfully returning to campy form with ample gore and a wholly reunited coven."Ron Hogan of Den of Geek gave the episode a 3/5, saying, "The stylistic choices—especially the 70's style film segment and the voodoo-themed cold opening—work well. Lynch has a great eye, she's adept at the house style of American Horror Story the newsreel of John Henry's resurrection, she has a great handle on the actors involved, the choice to have Miriam face her fiery death with a gleeful grin was a brilliant one. She might not have magical powers or be the child of Satan, but there's something evil about her that gives her true power that the others cannot replicate."Kat Rosenfield from Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an B.

She criticized the scene with Papa Legba and Nan, commenting that it "serves as fan service and the plot of the series advances by, like, a millimeter." She was not a fan of the multiple plot conveniences, like during the dinner scene with the warlocks or how Coco somehow located Mead. However, she enjoyed Collins' new character, calling her "an aging glamazon" and "a useful asset for the coven’s next play", she praised the development of Dinah' character, but the characters of Mallory and Behold. Vulture's Ziwe Fumudoh gave the episode a 4 out of 5, she enjoyed the final scene of the episode, commenting that it is "when we see the witches in all their badass glory". She appreciated the fact that the character of John Henry was not forgotten, the developments of Mallory and Dinah. However, she criticized the character of Coco, saying that she is "like the Weight Watchers of witches, which isn't interesting", the dinner scene with the warlocks. "Traitor" on IMDb