Lu Xun was the pen name of Zhou Shuren, a Chinese writer, essayist and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. Writing in Vernacular Chinese and Classical Chinese, he was a short story writer, translator, literary critic, essayist and designer. In the 1930s, he became the titular head of the League of Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai. Lu Xun was born into a family of landlords and government officials in Zhejiang. Lu aspired to take the imperial civil service exam, but due to his family's relative poverty he was forced to attend government-funded schools teaching "Western education." Upon graduation, Lu went to medical school in Japan but dropped out. He became interested in studying literature but was forced to return to China because of his family's lack of funds. After returning to China, Lu worked for several years teaching at local secondary schools and colleges before finding a job at the Republic of China Ministry of Education. After the 1919 May Fourth Movement, Lu Xun's writing began to exert a substantial influence on Chinese literature and popular culture.

Like many leaders of the May Fourth Movement, he was a leftist. He was acclaimed by the Chinese government after 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded, Mao Zedong himself was a lifelong admirer of Lu Xun's writing. Though sympathetic to socialist ideas, Lu Xun never joined the Communist Party of China. Lu Xun was born in Zhejiang; as was common in pre-modern China, Lu Xun had many names. His birth name was "Zhou Zhangshou", his courtesy name was "Yushan", but he changed that to "Yucai". In 1898, before he went to the Jiangnan Naval Academy, he took the given name "Shuren" —which means, figuratively, "to be an educated man"; the name by which he is best known internationally, "Lu Xun", was a literary pseudonym that he chose when his fiction novel "A Madman's Diary" was first published, in 1918. By the time Lu Xun was born, the Zhou family had been prosperous for centuries, had become wealthy through landowning, by having several family members promoted to government positions, his paternal grandfather, Zhou Fuqing, was appointed to the Imperial Hanlin Academy in Beijing: the highest position possible for aspiring civil servants at that time.

Lu's early education was based on the Confucian classics, in which he studied poetry and philosophy—subjects which, he reflected, were neither useful nor interesting to him. Instead, he enjoyed folk stories and traditions: local operas, the mythological creatures and stories in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the ghost stories told to him by an illiterate servant who raised him, Ah Chang. Zhou's mother was a member of the same landed gentry class as Lu Xun's father, from a smaller town in the countryside; because formal education was not considered appropriate for girls, she did not receive any, but she still taught herself how to read and write. The surname "Lu" in Zhou Shouren's pen name, "Lu Xun", was the same as his mother's surname, "Lu". By the time Lu was born, his family's prosperity had been declining, his father, Zhou Boyi, had been successful at passing the lowest, county-level imperial examinations, but was unsuccessful in writing the more competitive provincial-level examinations.

In 1893 Zhou Boyi was discovered attempting to bribe an examination official. Lu Xun's grandfather was implicated, was arrested and sentenced to beheading for his son's crime; the sentence was commuted, he was imprisoned in Hangzhou instead. After the affair, Zhou Boyi was stripped of his position in the government and forbidden to again write the civil service examinations; the Zhou family only prevented Lu's grandfather from being executed through regular, expensive bribes to authorities, until he was released in 1901. After the family's attempt at bribery was discovered, Zhou Boyi engaged in heavy drinking and opium use, his health declined. Local Chinese doctors attempted to cure him through a series of expensive quack prescriptions, including monogamous crickets, sugar cane that had survived frost three times and the skin from a drum. Despite these expensive treatments, Zhou Boyi died of an asthma attack at age 35 in 1896, he might have suffered from dropsy. Lu Xun half-heartedly participated in one civil service examination, in 1899, but abandoned pursuing a traditional Confucian education or career.

He intended to study at a prestigious school, the "Seeking Affirmation Academy", in Hangzhou, but was forced by his family's poverty to study at a tuition-free military school, the "Jiangnan Naval Academy", in Nanjing, instead. As a consequence of Lu's decision to attend a military school specializing in Western education, his mother wept, he was instructed to change his name, some of his relatives began to look down on him. Lu attended the Jiangnan Naval Academy for half a year, left after it became clear that he would be assigned to work in an engine room, below deck, which he considered degrading, he wrote that he was dissatisfied with the quality of teaching at the academy. After leaving the school, Lu sat for the lowest level of the civil service exams, finished 137th of 500, he intended to sit for the next-highest level, but became upset when one of his younger brothers died, abandoned his plans. Lu Xun transferred to

The Battle of Monck's Corner was fought on April 14, 1780, outside the city of Charleston, South Carolina, under siege by British forces under the command of General Sir Henry Clinton in the American Revolutionary War. The Loyalist British Legion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, surprised an American force stationed at Monck's Corner, drove them away; the action cut off an avenue of escape for Benjamin Lincoln's besieged army. Aside from the British Legion, the 33rd Foot and 64th Foot led by Lt. Col. James Webster, the force included Loyalists, the American Volunteers, led by Maj. Patrick Ferguson; the majority of the British soldiers who took part in the Battle of Monck's Corner were Loyalist troops raised from the colony of South Carolina, although a detachment of the 17th Light Dragoons under Capt. William Henry Talbotwith participated. Tarleton's unit was known as the Loyalist British Legion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. General Sir Henry Clinton arrived before Charleston, South Carolina on the 1st April 1780, began siege preparations as the opening move in British plan to gain control over North and South Carolina.

The city was defended by Continental Army troops under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln. After the British operations were underway, troops continued to arrive in the city to assist in its defense. On April 8, after the British had begun establishing siege lines around part of the city, 750 Virginia Continentals, under the command of William Woodford, arrived in the city. Clinton learned that a supply train, the baggage train of this company, was nearing the city, decided to cut the supply route, he detached 1,400 men under Lieutenant Colonel James Webster to go inland about 30 miles to Biggin's Bridge on the Cooper River to intercept the train. In order to protect their own lines, the British needed to face General Isaac Huger and his detachment that Lincoln had stationed at Monck's Corner. Huger's force consisted of 500 men, including cavalry under the command of Lt. Col. William Washington, elements of Pulaski's Legion under the command of Chevalier Pierre-Francois Vernier. On the evening of 13 April, Tarleton intercepted a letter from Huger meant for Lincoln, learned the disposition of Huger's force.

His march continued on in silence. The British attacked at 3 AM on the morning of 14 April 14. What followed became a rout. According to Tarleton, "The Americans were surprised, General Huger, Colonels Washington and Jamieson, with many officers and men, fled on foot to the swamps.." American casualties included 19 wounded and 64 captured. The biggest prize was the capture of the horses belonging to the American officers and cavalry. Tarleton's reputation for swift surprise attacks started with this first major victory of his in the South. Following the battle, some of Tarleton's Legion dragoons committed some brutalities as documented by Charles Stedman, including the killing of the Pulaski Horse commander Vernier after he had asked for quarter, "attempts to ravish several ladies" at the Colleton plantation. Maj. Patrick Ferguson was offended by these acts, Webster had the perpetrators sent back to the British camp outside Charleston, where they were "tried and whipped."Some of the scattered remnants of Huger's force made their way north and east.

They regrouped under Colonel Anthony Walton White, but were again scattered by Tarleton at Lenud's Ferry on May 6. Lincoln was forced to surrender Charleston and more than 5,000 Continental Army troops on May 12, it was the worst American loss of the war. The United States Army did not suffer a loss of similar size until the Battle of Harper's Ferry during the American Civil War. Ward, Christopher; the War of the Revolution. 1952. Wilson, David; the Southern Strategy. University of South Carolina Press. 2005

The Duchy of Brzeg or Duchy of Brieg, was one of the Duchies of Silesia, created in 1311 during the fragmentation of the Duchy of Wrocław. A Bohemian fief from 1329, it was ruled by the Silesian Piasts until their extinction in 1675, its capital was Brzeg in Lower Silesia. When the Piast duke Henry V of Wrocław and Legnica died in 1296, his sons and heirs were still minors and his estates were ruled by their uncle Duke Bolko I the Strict of Świdnica, succeeded by their maternal uncle King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia in 1301 and by the Wrocław bishop Henryk z Wierzbnej in 1305. In 1311, Henry's bequests were divided among his sons: Bolesław III the Generous, the eldest brother, received the southeastern lands around Brzeg and Grodków. Soon after however, Bolesław insisted on his rights as the firstborn son and ousted his younger brother Władysław from the Duchy of Legnica, he maintained good relations with his brother-in-law, the Luxembourg king John of Bohemia, declared himself a Bohemian vassal in 1329.

The duchy was re-united with the Duchy of Legnica in 1419 fragmented again, united once more with Legnica under Duke Christian in 1664. When the Kingdom of Bohemia was inherited by the Habsburg dynasty of Austria in 1526, the duchy fell under their overlordship as Bohemian kings, although it was still ruled as a lien by the Silesian Piasts. In 1537 Duke Frederick II concluded a treaty with Elector Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg, whereby the Hohenzollern dynasty would inherit the duchy upon the extinction of the Silesian Piasts; this agreement however was rejected by the Bohemian king Ferdinand I of Habsburg and did not come into effect. Together with Legnica, Brzeg was the last autonomous duchy of Silesia. Following the death of the last Piast duke George William in 1675, it was administered directly by the House of Habsburg in dynasty's capacity as Kings of Bohemia; however Brandenburg-Prussia claimed the duchy, referring to the old inheritance treaty of 1537. The Habsburg Monarchy again refused to acknowledge the validity of this agreement and annexed the duchies.

Several decades King Frederick II of Prussia used the dispute as a pretext to justify his campaign during the First Silesian War in 1740. Dukes of Silesia ŽÁČEK, Rudolf. Dějiny Slezska v datech. Praha, Libri, 2003. ISBN 80-7277-172-8

SM UB-88 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 26 January 1918 as SM UB-88, she was built by AG Vulcan of Hamburg and following just under a year of construction, launched at Hamburg on 11 December 1917. UB-88 was commissioned early the next year under the command of Oblt.z. S. Johannes Ries. Like all Type UB III submarines, UB-88 was armed with a 10.5 cm deck gun. UB-88 would carry a crew of up to 3 officers and 31 men and had a cruising range of 7,120 nautical miles. UB-88 had a displacement of 510 t while 640 t when submerged, her engines enabled her to travel at 13 knots. UB-88 was surrendered to the United States on 26 November 1918 in accordance with the requirements of the Armistice with Germany, she was refurbished and did an exhibition tour in 1919 from New York, down the East Coast, up the Mississippi River before passing through the Panama Canal and touring the West Coast as far north as Seattle, Washington.

After having all useful parts and salvage stripped from her, she was sunk as a target on 3 January 1921 in waters off Los Angeles County, California. The propellers were saved and placed on display in the city of San Pedro but were stolen in 1923 by metal thieves and were never recovered; the wreck of the vessel was found in July 2003 using publicly available sonar data from the Pacific Seafloor Mapping project. She sits upright 7.5 miles south of the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles at a depth of 190 feet. The outer hull has corroded revealing the inner pressure hull. Divers have entered the wreck and found the interior to be completely bare; as she was given a special commission to the United States Navy, she is protected by the Sunken Military Craft Act. Bendert, Harald. Die UB-Boote der Kaiserlichen Marine, 1914-1918. Einsätze, Schicksal. Hamburg: Verlag E. S. Mittler & Sohn GmbH. ISBN 3-8132-0713-7. Gröner, Erich. U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith.

London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4. Rössler, Eberhard. U-Bootbau bis Ende des 1. Weltkrieges, Konstruktionen für das Ausland und die Jahre 1935 – 1945. Die deutschen U-Boote und ihre Werften. I. Munich: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 3-7637-5213-7. Wright, Christopher C.. "The Last Strange Cruise of UB-88". Warship International. XXIII: 287–302. ISSN 0043-0374. Personal account of Charles Daniel Turner, United States Navy sailor who served aboard UB-88 following surrender, Charles Daniel Turner Collection, Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Thomas Michael Kromer was an American writer known for his one novel, Waiting for Nothing, an account of vagrant or hobo life during the 1930s. Kromer was raised in Huntington, West Virginia, he wrote his novel after five years of living as a hobo, riding trains and traveling across the United States. He spent 15 months in CCC camp but was living as a vagabond, he died in West Virginia. Dedicated "to Jolene, who turned off the gas," the work is a realistic account of life as a homeless man during the Great Depression. There is no overarching theme to the novel, a collection of anecdotes. Except for a few stories, Kromer said. Straightforward, declarative sentences in the tough-guy argot of the time are characteristic of Kromer, as are spare descriptions of grim scenes; the settings include rescue missions, flop houses, abandoned buildings and the sidewalk outside a nice restaurant. In one chapter, the narrator comes to realize that the pitch-black boxcar he is riding in contains another rider, slowly, stalking him.

Waiting for Nothing was first published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1935, reissued by Hill & Wang in 1968, and, in a definitive edition edited by Arthur D. Casciato and James L. W. West III, reprinted as Waiting for Nothing and Other Writings by the University of Georgia Press in 1986. Kromer's literary agent was Maxim Lieber

Hector Levesque is a Canadian academic and researcher in artificial intelligence. He received his BSc, MSc and PhD from the University of Toronto in 1975, 1977, 1981, respectively. After graduation, he accepted a position at the Fairchild Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence Research in Palo Alto, joined the faculty at the University of Toronto where he has remained since 1984, his research is in the area of knowledge reasoning in artificial intelligence. On the representation side, he has worked on the formalization of a number of concepts pertaining to artificial and natural agents including belief, intentions and the interaction between knowledge and action. On the reasoning side, his research concerns how automated reasoning can be kept computationally tractable, including the use of greedy local search methods. Hector Levesque has published over 60 research papers, is the co-author of two books. Four of these papers have won best paper awards of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence in 1984, 1992, 2006, two other papers won similar awards at other conferences.

In 2004, one of the 1984 papers was awarded the Classic Paper award of the AAAI, the other was given an honourable mention. In 2006, a paper written in 1990 was given the inaugural Influential Paper Award by the International Foundation of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. Levesque was elected to the Executive Council of the AAAI, was a co-founder of the International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, is on the editorial board of five journals, including the journal Artificial Intelligence. In 2001, Levesque was the Conference Chair of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, served as President of the Board of Trustees of IJCAI from 2001 to 2003. In 1985, Levesque became the first non-American to receive the Computers and Thought Award given by IJCAI, he was the recipient of an E. W. R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for 1990–91, he is a founding Fellow of the AAAI and was a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research from 1984 to 1995.

In 2006, Levesque was elected to the Royal Society of Canada. In 2011, Hector Levesque proposed a new way to test artificial intelligence called Winograd Schemas Challenge as a possible alternative of the Turing test during AAAI Spring Symposium; the idea was written in his article "The Winograd Schemas Challenge". His colleagues include Leora Morgenstern. CS Toronto