1.
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
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Government of Indiana
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The government of Indiana is established and regulated by the Constitution of Indiana. The state-level government consists of three branches, the branch, the legislative branch, and the executive branch. The three branches share power and jointly govern the state of Indiana, County and local governments are also constitutional bodies with limited authority to levy taxes, pass legislation, and create and maintain local public infrastructure. The government of Indiana was first formed in December 1816 and replaced the government of the Indiana Territory, in 1851 a new constitution was adopted by the state, remedying many of these problems and opening many more office to public election. Significant government reforms were enacted again in 1971 when the courts were reorganized. Elections to fill positions in Indianas government are held biennially on Election Day, State representatives serve two-year terms, while all other elected state, county, and municipal officials serve four-year terms. Most of the positions in the government bureaucracy are filled through the merit system or the state patronage system. The government of Indiana sits in the capital of Indianapolis. Each of the three branches operates out of the Indiana Statehouse, the state maintains several office buildings that hold many of its bureaus and departments. Most of the bureaus are located in the Indiana Government Center North. The Indiana General Assembly is the branch of the state of Indiana. It is a legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house. The General Assembly meets annually at the Indiana State House in Indianapolis, members of the General Assembly are elected from districts that are realigned every ten years. Representatives serve two-year terms, senators serve four-year terms, both houses must pass a bill before it can be submitted to the governor and enacted into law. The Supreme Court of Indiana is the highest judicial body in Indiana, the court oversees the lower courts and commissions that jointly make up the judicial branch. The other courts include the Indiana Tax Court, the Indiana Court of Appeals, and circuit, superior, and city or town courts. Every county in the state has a court, in which all matter of suits may be filed. The courts are assisted by several commissions that are part of the judicial branch
4.
Marion County, Indiana
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Marion County is a county located in the U. S. state of Indiana. Census 2010 recorded a population of 903,393, making it the largest county in the state and 55th most populated county in the country, the county seat is Indianapolis, the state capital and largest city. Marion County is consolidated with Indianapolis through an arrangement known as Unigov, Marion County is included in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, the county has an area of 403.01 square miles. The White River flows through the county where it is joined by Eagle Creek and Fall Creek, Marion County contains two Indiana State Parks, Fort Harrison State Park and White River State Park, as well as numerous municipal parks. The extension connecting Indianapolis and Evansville is expected to be completed around 2018, marys, the Lenape had previously occupied the area. It is named for Francis Marion, a Brigadier General from South Carolina in the American Revolutionary War, the state capital was moved to Indianapolis in Marion County from Corydon on January 10,1825. This began a period of growth in population. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.05 inches in January to 4.78 inches in July, as of the 2010 United States Census, there were 903,393 people,366,176 households, and 218,338 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,279.6 inhabitants per square mile, there were 417,862 housing units at an average density of 1,054.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 62. 7% white,26. 7% black or African American,2. 0% Asian,0. 3% American Indian,0. 1% Pacific islander,5. 4% from other races, and 2. 8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 9. 3% of the population, in terms of ancestry,18. 9% were German,11. 8% were Irish,8. 4% were English,6. 6% were American, and 5. 2% were Subsaharan African. The average household size was 2.42 and the family size was 3.08. The median age was 33.9 years, the median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $54,142. Males had an income of $42,215 versus $34,169 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,498, about 13. 5% of families and 17. 3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25. 7% of those under age 18 and 9. 0% of those age 65 or over. Marion County has a consolidated city-county government, known as Unigov and they retain the ability to levy taxes for these purposes. Since many of these towns were and remain fairly wealthy and influential within the county
5.
Seating capacity
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Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The International Fire Code, portions of which have adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms and it also requires that every public venue submit a detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including details of the means of egress, seating capacity, arrangement of the seating. Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the size of the venue. For sports venues, the decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors, chief among these are the primary sports program and the size of the market area. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide, in contracting to permit performers to use a theatre or other performing space, the seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed. Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used, the seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity, seating capacity is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas. The seating capacity for restaurants is reported as covers, a restaurant that can seat 99 is said to have 99 covers, seating capacity differs from total capacity, which describes the total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Use of the term public capacity indicates that a venue is allowed to more people than it can actually seat. Again, the total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law
6.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
7.
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
8.
FieldTurf
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FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett Inc. headquartered in Calhoun, Georgia, in the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass. The new system quickly began taking market share from AstroTurf, and is now the leader in the industry, the surface is composed of monofilament polyethylene blend fibers tufted into a polypropylene backing. The infill is composed of a layer of silica sand, a middle layer which is a mixture of sand and cryogenic rubber. The fibers are meant to replicate blades of grass, while the acts as a cushion. This cushion is intended to improve safety when compared to earlier artificial surfaces and allows players to plant, each square foot of turf contains approximately 3 kg of sand and 1.5 kg of cryogenic rubber. FieldTurf does not use shock absorbency pads below its infill, the backing of the turf is a combination of woven and non-woven polypropylene. These materials are permeable and allow water to drain through the backing itself, jean Prévost bought the patent of the FieldTurf product in 1988 and originally named his Montreal-based company SynTenni Co. a name which would eventually be dropped in favor of FieldTurf Inc. In 1995, John Gilman, a former Canadian Football League player and coach, in 1997, FieldTurf made its first major installation for a professional team, at the training facility for the English Premierships Middlesbrough F. C. As of 2012, FieldTurf has installed over 7000 athletic fields, in 2005, French flooring manufacturer and minority shareholder Tarkett increased its share in FieldTurf, which led to the integration of the two companies. FieldTurf is now a part of the Tarkett Sports division, part of the holding company Tarkett SA, the FieldTurf head corporate office is located in Calhoun, Georgia. In May 2010, FieldTurf acquired EasyTurf of San Diego, California, by late 2016, press reports were describing the companys product as defective. A number of agencies in New Jersey had joined together to file a lawsuit against the firm. The suits allege that the DuraSpine product it sold was inferior, internal company documents showed the company knew its sales claims were false. There is evidence showing higher player injury on artificial turf, in a study performed by the National Football League Injury and Safety Panel, published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine, Elliott B. Hershman et al. reviewed injury data from NFL games played between 2000 and 2009. the injury rate of knee sprains as a whole was 22% higher on FieldTurf than on natural grass. While MCL sprains did not occur at a significantly higher than on grass. There are conflicting studies of the safety of FieldTurf, a five-year study funded by FieldTurf and published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that injury rates for high school sports were similar on natural grass and synthetic turf
9.
HKS, Inc.
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HKS, Inc. is an American international architecture firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in 1939 by Harwood K. Smith, in 2014 HKS launched a year-long public campaign to commemorate the firms 75th anniversary. In 2012 HKS announced the acquisition of Miami-headquartered educational design firm HADP Architecture, in 2011 HKS saw rapid expansion. In October HKS released an announcement it had acquired the design firm Maregatti Interiors LLC in Indianapolis. The HKS Science & Technology Practice was formed after the firm acquired Earl Walls Studios in San Diego, HKS also opened new locations in Chicago, Denver, New York, and New Delhi, India. In 2010 HKS announced the formation of an architectural research group, Center for Advanced Design. HKS has expanded its presence, in 2008 opening offices in Abu Dhabi and São Paulo, Brazil and again in 2010 with an office in Shanghai. In 2007, HKS expanded their hospitality architectural design services and also acquired the hospitality design firm Hill Glazier Architects, located in Palo Alto, the firm also opened offices in Miami, Nashville, Oklahoma City, and Chennai, India. In 2006, HKS acquired the Stein-Cox Group and Trinity Design to have presences in Phoenix, Arizona and Detroit, Michigan, in 2002, HKS expanded its international presence by opening HKS Arquitectos in Mexico City to serve its Latin American clients. This list includes projects in which HKS collaborated with other architecture firms, Phoenix Childrens Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas Orlando Health/Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando, Florida L. A
10.
Indianapolis Colts
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The Indianapolis Colts are an American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues American Football Conference South division. Since the 2008 season, the Colts have played their games in Lucas Oil Stadium, previously, the team had played for over two decades at the RCA Dome. Since 1986, the Colts have been the host team for the NFL Scouting Combine, the Colts have been a member club of the NFL since their founding in 1953 in Baltimore. The Colts were one of three NFL teams to join the teams of the American Football League to form the AFC following the 1970 merger. While in Baltimore, the team advanced to the playoffs 10 times, the Colts played in two Super Bowl games while it was based in Baltimore, losing to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III, while defeating the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V. The Colts relocated to Indianapolis in 1984 and have appeared in the playoffs 16 times. Following World War II, a professional football league was organized known as the All America Football Conference which began play in the 1946 season. These Colts played for the three seasons in the old AAFC. With the organization in 1920 of the original American Professional Football Conference, the NFL considers the Texans and Colts to be separate teams, although many of the earlier teams shared the same colors of blue and white. Thus, the Indianapolis Colts are legally considered to be a 1953 expansion team, the third version of the Colts football team played their first season in Baltimore in 1953, where the team compiled a 3–9 record under first year head coach Keith Molesworth. The franchise struggled during the first few years in Baltimore, with the team not achieving their first winning record until the 1957 season. The Colts faced the New York Giants in the 1958 NFL Championship Game in what is considered to be among the greatest contests in professional football history. The Colts defeated the Giants 23–17 in the first game ever to utilize the overtime rule, a game seen by 45 million people. Following the two championships in 1958 and 1959, the Colts did not return to the NFL Championship for four seasons, in Shulas second season the Colts compiled a 12–2 record, but lost to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship. However, in 1968 the Colts returned with the leadership of Unitas and Shula and went on to win the Colts third NFL Championship. The Colts, however, were stunned by the Jets, who won the game 16–7 in the first Super Bowl victory for the young AFL. The Colts immediately went on a rampage in the new league, as new head coach Don McCafferty led the 1970 team to an 11–2–1 regular season record, winning the AFC East title
11.
National Football League
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The National Football League is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The NFL is one of the four professional sports leagues in North America. The NFLs 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing 16 games, the NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season, the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. S. The NFLs executive officer is the commissioner, who has authority in governing the league. The team with the most NFL championships is the Green Bay Packers with thirteen, the current NFL champions are the New England Patriots, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. Another meeting held on September 17,1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association, the league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Cardinals, remain, the first event occurred on September 26,1920 when the Rock Island Independents defeated the non-league St. Paul Ideals 48–0 at Douglas Park. On October 3,1920, the first full week of league play occurred, the following season resulted in the Chicago Staleys controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League, in 1932, the season ended with the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans tied for first in the league standings. This method had used since the leagues creation in 1920. The league quickly determined that a game between Chicago and Portsmouth was needed to decide the leagues champion. Playing with altered rules to accommodate the playing field, the Bears won the game 9–0. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933, the 1934 season also marked the first of 12 seasons in which African Americans were absent from the league. The de facto ban was rescinded in 1946, following public pressure, the NFL was always the foremost professional football league in the United States, it nevertheless faced a large number of rival professional leagues through the 1930s and 1940s. Rival leagues included at least three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference, on top of regional leagues of varying caliber. Three NFL teams trace their histories to these leagues, including the Los Angeles Rams
12.
Indy Eleven
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Indy Eleven is an American professional soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2014, indy Elevens vision is to create a team that is representative of Indiana and creates strong emotional connections with its fans. Those connections will be made with Indianas youth and adult soccer community, the makeup of the team will reflect the community, so that it can live up to its slogan of The Worlds Game, Indianas Team. The club sold over 7,000 season tickets for its inaugural 2014 campaign, the name and club colors were officially revealed to the public on April 25,2013 during a ceremony held at Indianapolis Soldiers and Sailors Monument. The team was named after the 11th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, colonel Lew Wallace commanded the regiment, which was mustered on April 25,1861. The team name reflects both the culture of the game and pays homage to the history of the state, on October 1,2013 the team announced Kristian Nicht as their first signing. The team made its NASL regular-season debut on April 12,2014, in a 1–1 draw against the Carolina Railhawks, on 2 June 2015, Juergen Sommer was fired as manager, with Tim Regan taking over in an interim capacity. On 2 December 2015, Regans interim role was ended, with Tim Hankinson being appointed as the clubs manager, indy Eleven won the 2016 Spring Championship after an undefeated season. The team, in a game called The Miracle at the Mike, on January 31,2017, the Eleven announced that they would seek to join the MLS in the coming years expansion. Lady Victory from the Soldiers and Sailors monument is the point of the crest. The color scheme is the same as that of the flag of Indianapolis. The jerseys will be manufactured by Diadora and Honda is the shirt sponsor, where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth. Squad correct as of February 15,2017, official website Video of clubs NASL introduction Video of clubs jersey unveiling, sponsorship, and first player
13.
United Soccer League
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The United Soccer League, formerly known as USL Pro, is a professional mens soccer league in the United States and Canada that began its inaugural season in 2011. USL is sanctioned as a Division II Professional League by the United States Soccer Federation, placing it under Major League Soccer and this multi-year deal encourages MLS and USL Pro team affiliations and player loans, aiming to have more games for teams and developing players. As of March 2017,22 USL teams are affiliated to MLS teams and every MLS team, on September 8,2010, the United Soccer Leagues formally announced the creation of USL Pro in a press release. With this disclosure, the Dutch Lions were the first confirmed team in USL Pro for its inaugural 2011 season, alongside the announcement of the new league, the Richmond Kickers revealed they would be moving to USL Pro for 2011. On September 22,2010, the Caribbean Division of USL Pro was announced, with teams from Puerto Rico and Antigua, with the inclusion of a team from Los Angeles, this division eventually became the International Division. On September 28,2010, USL announced that one of their clubs and reigning 2010 USL Second Division Champions. On September 30,2010, nearly two months following the teams own announcement of a USL Pro Championship Division move, the USL formally announced Dayton Dutch Lions FC would join USL Pro. On October 4 and 7,2010, the USL revealed two Second Division clubs, the Charlotte Eagles and the Harrisburg City Islanders, would be making the jump to USL Pro for 2011, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds were added as the 9th official team on October 22,2010. On November 9,2010, former USL-2 Division side Wilmington Hammerheads officially joined the league as the 12th team, the expected number of teams to launch league play in 2011 was announced as 18–20, alongside the announcement of the Wilmington Hammerheads joining the league. The Los Angeles Blues, associated with the successful womens Pali Blues organization, were added on December 7,2010 with a message of future Western Conference growth into 2012, USL Pro debuted in 2011, starting with 15 teams playing a 24-game regular season schedule. International Division teams played each team in their division four times while traveling to face American or National Division opponents in four games, the original playoff format saw eight teams compete in a one-game quarterfinal. The four remaining teams were re-seeded for a single semi-final match, in all playoff matches the highest seeded team hosted. On May 10,2011, early in the inaugural season. The PRSL clubs were dropped due to economic and ownership issues, the two remaining International Division teams – Antigua Barracuda FC and Los Angeles Blues – were re-aligned into the American and National Divisions. Due to the removal of the International Division, the playoff format featured the top four teams in each of the two divisions. The two division winners met in the USL Pro Championship at the home venue of the team with the better record. Following the 2011 season, USL Pro announced with the release of the 2012 season schedule that F. C, New York would not be returning to play, with the former National and American Divisions being dissolved to form a single, eleven team league table. New York withdrawing in January 2012, the league announced an eleven team single-table schedule for the 2012 season, two expansion teams joined for the 2013 season, Phoenix FC and the VSI Tampa Bay FC. C
14.
Downtown Indianapolis
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Downtown Indianapolis refers to the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The boundaries of downtown Indianapolis have varied over time as the city has grown, the citys original platted area, the Mile Square, is sometimes used to denote the downtown area. Modern skyscrapers were constructed in the area during the 1980s, including Salesforce Tower, revitalization of the Central Canal followed. This, along with plans for a new mall, basketball arena. Thirty-six apartment buildings in downtown Indianapolis are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the Apartments and Flats of Downtown Indianapolis Thematic Resources, tourism is a large part of the economy of Downtown Indianapolis, due in large part to the presence of the Indiana Convention Center. Lucas Oil Stadium and Bankers Life Fieldhouse host professional sports as well as music concerts, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza are two historical landmarks in Downtown Indianapolis. Downtown Indianapolis attractions include the Circle Centre Mall, which is considered to be one of the most successful malls in the country. Circle Centre Mall also has GameWorks Studios arcade and a nine-screen United Artists movie theater, the Indiana State Museum has an IMAX theater that shows documentaries and delayed releases of commercial IMAX movies. The Massachusetts Avenue Cultural District is home to a number of independent shops, the waiting area and Greyhound bus station are located underneath Union Stations trainshed. Megabus is another bus service connects downtown Indianapolis to Chicago, Cincinnati. Developments in Downtown Indianapolis include the creation of the Cultural Trail throughout downtown, construction of new mid to high rise buildings, six of the seven designated Cultural Districts of Indianapolis are in or adjoining downtown. They ar Canal and White River State Park, Fountain Square, Indiana Avenue, Market East, Mass Ave, and these areas have held historic and cultural importance to the city. In recent years they have been revitalized and are becoming major centers for tourism, commerce, georgia Street in downtown was renovated to serve as Super Bowl Village during Super Bowl XLVI, and as an outdoor event space after the Super Bowl. The downtowns main nightlife is located on Meridian Street and Massachusetts Avenue, the night clubs and bars are located on Meridian Street between the Monument Circle and Lucas Oil Stadium. Massachusetts Avenue is a location with multiple European bars and restaurants and is often considered as a hip. Mass Ave bars include Front Page Grill, Bazbeaux Pizza, Old Point Tavern, Bu Da Lounge, Chatterbox, Mesh on Mass, FortyFive Degrees, Mass Ave also has various European bars that include MacNivens, Chatham Tap, and The Rathskeller. There are many other bars located around the Downtown area, the trail includes benches, bike racks, lighting, signage and bike rentals/drop-offs along the way and features local art work. Lucas Oil Stadium is the home of the NFL Indianapolis Colts and also concerts and other sporting events including college basketball
15.
Indiana
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Indiana /ɪndiˈænə/ is a U. S. state located in the midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. Indiana is the 38th largest by area and the 16th most populous of the 50 United States and its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th U. S. state on December 11,1816, before becoming a territory, varying cultures of indigenous peoples and historic Native Americans inhabited Indiana for thousands of years. Indiana has an economy with a gross state product of $298 billion in 2012. Indiana has several areas with populations greater than 100,000. The states name means Land of the Indians, or simply Indian Land and it also stems from Indianas territorial history. On May 7,1800, the United States Congress passed legislation to divide the Northwest Territory into two areas and named the section the Indiana Territory. In 1816, when Congress passed an Enabling Act to begin the process of establishing statehood for Indiana, a resident of Indiana is officially known as a Hoosier. The first inhabitants in what is now Indiana were the Paleo-Indians, divided into small groups, the Paleo-Indians were nomads who hunted large game such as mastodons. They created stone tools made out of chert by chipping, knapping and flaking, the Archaic period, which began between 5000 and 4000 BC, covered the next phase of indigenous culture. The people developed new tools as well as techniques to cook food, such new tools included different types of spear points and knives, with various forms of notches. They made ground-stone tools such as axes, woodworking tools. During the latter part of the period, they built mounds and middens. The Archaic period ended at about 1500 BC, although some Archaic people lived until 700 BC, afterward, the Woodland period took place in Indiana, where various new cultural attributes appeared. During this period, the people created ceramics and pottery, an early Woodland period group named the Adena people had elegant burial rituals, featuring log tombs beneath earth mounds. In the middle portion of the Woodland period, the Hopewell people began developing long-range trade of goods, nearing the end of the stage, the people developed highly productive cultivation and adaptation of agriculture, growing such crops as corn and squash. The Woodland period ended around 1000 AD, the Mississippian culture emerged, lasting from 1000 until the 15th century, shortly before the arrival of Europeans. During this stage, the people created large urban settlements designed according to their cosmology, with mounds and plazas defining ceremonial
16.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
17.
RCA Dome
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The RCA Dome was a domed stadium in Indianapolis. It was the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise for 24 seasons and it was completed at a cost of $77.5 million, as part of the Indiana Convention Center, with the costs split between private and public money. The largest crowd to attend an event at the dome was 62,167 for WrestleMania VIII in 1992 and it was demolished in December 2008, as part of a project to expand the attached convention center. The dome was made up of teflon-coated fiberglass and weighed 257 short tons, the ceiling was 193 feet high, though the height varied up to five feet as the materials expanded and contracted with the weather. Like other domes of this there were warning signs posted cautioning patrons of the high winds at the doors when exiting. The stadium was named the Hoosier Dome until 1994 when RCA paid $10 million for the naming rights for 10 years. The stadium seated 56,127 for football, the smallest in the NFL, modifications were made to the stadium in 1999 to expand the suites and add club seating. Before that, the seating for a football crowd was 60,272. The Dome was officially dedicated on August 11,1984, as a sellout crowd watched the Indianapolis Colts defeat the NY Giants in an NFL preseason game, the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears played a preseason game at the Hoosier Dome on August 26,1984. The game had been scheduled prior to the Colts moving to Indianapolis, the stadium also hosted high-school football games. In 1991, the Dome hosted the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, in 1992, the Dome hosted WrestleMania VIII for the World Wrestling Federation. Basketball was also played at the RCA Dome, the Dome also was the site of the NBA All-Star Game in February 1985, where a record NBA crowd of 43,146 saw the Western Conference beat the Eastern Conference 140–129. Since then it hosted many NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championship games, the NCAA, whose headquarters are in Indianapolis, has committed to holding the Final Four in Indianapolis once every five years. The RCA Dome hosted its only Womens Final Four in 2005, the closing ceremony and the gymnastics and handball events of the 1987 Pan American Games were held in the Hoosier Dome. It also hosted a PBR Built Ford Tough Series bull riding event in 2004, the Dome hosted an AMA Supercross Championship round from 1992 to 2008. Many memorable concerts took place in the Hoosier Dome such as Farm Aid in 1990, Monsters of Rock,1987 Pink Floyd reunion, Rolling Stones, The Monsters of Rock Festival and Farm Aid 5. It also hosted events such as Black Expo, Promise Keepers, truck pulls, wrestling, the football playing surface was originally AstroTurf, it was replaced with FieldTurf in 2005. The stadium was replaced by a new stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium
18.
Brick
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A brick is building material used to make walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Traditionally, the term referred to a unit composed of clay. A brick can be composed of clay-bearing soil, sand, and lime, Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region and time period, and are produced in bulk quantities. Two basic categories of bricks are fired and non-fired bricks, block is a similar term referring to a rectangular building unit composed of similar materials, but is usually larger than a brick. Lightweight bricks are made from expanded clay aggregate, fired bricks are one of the longest-lasting and strongest building materials, sometimes referred to as artificial stone, and have been used since circa 5000 BC. Air-dried bricks, also known as mudbricks, have an older than fired bricks. Bricks are laid in courses and numerous patterns known as bonds, collectively known as brickwork, the earliest bricks were dried brick, meaning that they were formed from clay-bearing earth or mud and dried until they were strong enough for use. The oldest discovered bricks, originally made from shaped mud and dating before 7500 BC, were found at Tell Aswad, in the upper Tigris region, ceramic, or fired brick was used as early as 3000 BC in early Indus Valley cities. In pre-modern China, bricks were being used from the 2nd millennium BCE at a site near Xian, the carpenters manual Yingzao Fashi, published in 1103 at the time of the Song dynasty described the brick making process and glazing techniques then in use. He also had to know when to quench the kiln with water so as to produce the surface glaze, Early civilisations around the Mediterranean adopted the use of fired bricks, including the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Roman legions operated mobile kilns, and built large brick structures throughout the Roman Empire, during the Early Middle Ages the use of bricks in construction became popular in Northern Europe, after being introduced there from Northern-Western Italy. An independent style of architecture, known as brick Gothic flourished in places that lacked indigenous sources of rocks. Examples of this style can be found in modern-day Denmark, Germany, Poland. A clear distinction between the two styles developed at the transition to Baroque architecture. In Lübeck, for example, Brick Renaissance is clearly recognisable in buildings equipped with terracotta reliefs by the artist Statius von Düren, production of bricks increased massively with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the rise in factory building in England. For reasons of speed and economy, bricks were increasingly preferred as building material to stone and it was at this time in London, that bright red brick was chosen for construction to make the buildings more visible in the heavy fog and to help prevent traffic accidents. The transition from the method of production known as hand-moulding to a mechanised form of mass-production slowly took place during the first half of the nineteenth century. His mechanical apparatus soon achieved widespread attention after it was adopted for use by the South Eastern Railway Company for brick-making at their factory near Folkestone, the Bradley & Craven Ltd ‘Stiff-Plastic Brickmaking Machine’ was patented in 1853, apparently predating Clayton
19.
Indiana Limestone
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Bedford, Indiana, has been noted to have the highest quality quarried limestone in the United States. Salem limestone, like all limestone, is a rock formed of calcium carbonate. Native Americans were the first people to discover limestone in Indiana, not long after they arrived, American settlers used this rock around their windows and doors and for memorials around the towns. The first quarry was started in 1827, and by 1929 Hoosier quarries yielded 12,000,000 ft3 of usable stone, the expansion of the railroads brought great need for limestone to build bridges and tunnels and Indiana was the place to get it. American architecture of the late 19th and early 20th century included a lot of detail work on buildings. Salem limestone was officially designated as the stone of Indiana by the Indiana General Assembly in 1971. With the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, the price of building materials skyrocketed so Indiana limestone reemerged as an energy-efficient building material. Indiana limestone is part of a high-end market and it is mostly used on the exterior of homes and commercial buildings. With the impact of rain it is not used in monuments as it was in the 19th century. Indiana limestone has also used in many other famous structures in the United States, such as the Empire State Building, the Pentagon, Yankee Stadium. In addition,35 of the 50 state capitol buildings are made of Indiana limestone, Indiana limestone was used extensively in rebuilding Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire. Built from 1890-1893, Indianas Wayne County Courthouse is also made of Salem limestone, 1959s architecturally significant St. Augustines Episcopal Church uses Indiana limestone in the interior. The Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Merrillville, Indiana, consecrated in 1991 and awarded a Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Masonry Design, the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, which opened in 2009, extensively uses Indiana limestone paneling on its exterior facade. The original 1930s buildings of Rockefeller Center use limestone from Bedford, in 1955 the Tennessee State Capitol exterior was renovated using Indiana limestone to replace the poorer quality Tennessee limestone that had started to deteriorate. Indiana limestone was used in the rebuilding of the Pentagon after the terrorist attack of Sept.11,2001, the project took around 15,000 cubic feet of stone and was rededicated exactly one year after the attack. Indiana limestone has been popular for the construction of university buildings. The Neo-Gothic campus of the University of Chicago is almost entirely constructed out of Bedford limestone, the campus of Washington University in St. Louis – both for new construction and original buildings – makes use of Indiana limestone in its collegiate gothic architecture. The majority of Indiana University, Bloomington, was constructed out of limestone, in addition, many buildings on the north side of Michigan State University use Indiana limestone
20.
Bankers Life Fieldhouse
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Bankers Life Fieldhouse is an indoor arena located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It is the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association, the Fieldhouse also hosts college basketball games, indoor concerts, and ice hockey. The arena opened in November 1999 as Conseco Fieldhouse to replace Market Square Arena, the naming rights to the venue were sold to Conseco, a financial services organization based in nearby Carmel, Indiana. In May 2010, the company renamed itself as CNO Financial Group, in December 2011, CNO Financial Group changed the name of the Fieldhouse to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, after one of its subsidiaries, Bankers Life and Casualty. Unlike other multipurpose arenas, the arena was designed primarily for basketball, nevertheless, the arena can accommodate an NHL-sized rink, but the seating capacity would be reduced to 12,300 for ice hockey, as the seating arrangement is asymmetrical. Many of the seats on one end of the arena have obstructed views, the first NBA game held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was on November 6,1999 when the Indiana Pacers played their regular-season home opener against the Boston Celtics. Later that same season, the Pacers made it to the 2000 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, games 3,4, and 5 of that championship series were held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but the Pacers ended up losing that seasons title 4 games to 2. In 2009, Bankers Life Fieldhouse was the site for the 2009 WNBA Finals, the Indiana Fever took on the Phoenix Mercury for games three and four of that series, but ended up losing the series. Three years later, the Fever hosted the 2012 WNBA Finals for games 3 &4, Bankers Life Fieldhouse is a host venue for many different events besides home games for the Pacers and Fever. In 2008, the tournament was moved to Bankers Life Fieldhouse exclusively for five years, the arena is also a frequent site of the Big Ten Womens Basketball Tournament. 2012 will mark the 12th time in 13 years that the tournament has been held at the Fieldhouse, Bankers Life Fieldhouse will again be the site for both mens and womens events in 2014 and 2016. The 2011 NCAA Womens Final Four was also held at the Fieldhouse on April 3, for basketball, the venue seats 17,923. Additionally, the Indiana Firebirds of the Arena Football League played at the Fieldhouse from 2001 to 2004, the venue also hosted select games for the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League. The Professional Bull Riders brought its Built Ford Tough Series bull riding tour to the Fieldhouse for the first time in January 2011 and it was their second visit to Indianapolis, they first visited Indianapolis during the 2004 season when they held a BFTS event at the RCA Dome. On September 14,2011, Katy Perry performed at the arena as a part of her California Dreams Tour, on July 14,2013, Paul McCartney, of The Beatles, played a sold-out show as part of his Out There. On July 20,2016 Coldplay performed at the arena as a part of A Head Full of Dreams Tour, the Lumineers are scheduled to perform as part of their Cleopatra World Tour Continues on March 10,2017. Ariana Grande is set to perform for her Dangerous Woman Tour on March 11,2017, WWE has hosted many shows such as Raw and SmackDown. WCW has hosted the PPV event Sin and it also hosted many PPV events such as The Great American Bash, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Clash of Champions
21.
Hinkle Fieldhouse
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Hinkle Fieldhouse is a basketball arena located on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. When built in 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States and it is the sixth-oldest college basketball arena still in use, and it is a U. S. National Historic Landmark. It is among the earliest of the major college fieldhouses, which, along with changes that made for a faster game. Hinkle Fieldhouse and the 36, 000-seat Butler Bowl football stadium were two of the first buildings erected when the university moved to the Fairview campus. The facilities were promoted by a corporation of 41 Indianapolis businessmen who viewed it as a prize for the city as well as for Butler. When Butler signed a lease with the Indiana High School Athletic Association to host the high school state tournament, in 1933, the interior was reconfigured, moving the court from an east-west orientation to a north-south position. In the initial arrangement, over half of the seats were at the ends of the court, while event viewing is typically better from the sides. Butler hosted the high school tourney from 1928 to 1971, except for 1943–1945, ralph Underwood was the radio announcer. A major $1.5 million facelift in 1989 reduced the capacity from 15,000 to 11,043, as well as renovating the main reception area, basketball offices, film rooms. The other athletic and physical education offices, sports locker rooms, Hinkle Fieldhouse hosted the entire 1994 Horizon League mens basketball conference tournament as well as parts of the 2004,2008,2009, and 2010 Horizon League tournaments. The fieldhouse was originally called Butler Fieldhouse, but was renamed in 1966 to honor Paul D, tony Hinkle, who was basketball coach at Butler for 41 seasons ending in 1970. It also inspired the design of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, in 2006, to celebrate Butler Universitys 150th anniversary, a documentary about Hinkle Fieldhouse aired on ESPN entitled Indianas Basketball Cathedral. In 2011, Butler University began the first phase of a renovation and restoration project, capacity has been cut from 10,000 to 9,100. The gym that once held bleachers now has about 4,500 chair back seats and that includes nearly all of the lower two levels except for some bleachers reserved for student seating. Small scoreboards occupy each of the four corners in addition to the video board above midcourt. A pool was attached to the west end of Hinkle, the athletic department had been using it since then as a storage area. The mens and womens basketball offices are adjacent to their locker rooms just off the Hinkle floor. The mens basketball locker room has expanded and Butler has a separate video room for the first time
22.
Indiana Farmers Coliseum
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The Indiana Farmers Coliseum is an indoor multi-use arena, located on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. The Indiana Farmers Coliseum is home to both the Indy Fuel, of the ECHL and the IUPUI Jaguars, of the NCAA, on October 26,2012, the Coliseum held a Lights Out ceremony and closed for renovations. On April 24,2014, after a 17-month, $53 million renovation, in December 2014, the Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Company entered into a ten-year agreement with the Indiana State Fair Commission to re-christen the arena as the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. On October 31,1963, during a Holiday on Ice show, a memorial plaque was dedicated 40 years later in the building, but it has since been removed. Another plaque honoring the explosion victims currently hangs inside the buildings lobby, the venue was home to the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association from 1967 to 1974. The Pacers were very successful in their tenure at the Coliseum, the team moved to Market Square Arena in 1974. In 1976, the Pacers became a franchise in the National Basketball Association when the ABA merged with the NBA. The Pacers returned for a night when they played their first pre-season game of the 2008–09 season at the Pepsi Coliseum on October 8,2008,7,439 people watched the Pacers lose to the Hornets 105–71. The Pacers wore uniforms based on the 1967 to 1971 uniform design, the finals of the 1942–43 – 1944–45 Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournaments were held at the Coliseum. The Indianapolis Capitals of the American Hockey League played at the Coliseum from 1939-52, the Indianapolis Chiefs of the International Hockey League played at the Coliseum from 1955-62, winning the Turner Cup in 1958. The Indianapolis Checkers of the Central Hockey League and International Hockey League played at the Coliseum from 1981-85, winning back to back Adams Cup Championships in 1982 and 1983. The Indianapolis Ice of the International Hockey League and CHL played in the Coliseum from 1989-94, the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League played at the Coliseum from 2004 to 2012, leaving due to the renovation. The Ice won the USHLs Clark Cup in 2009 while playing in the building and they did not return to the Coliseum upon the venue reopening, opting for withdrawal from competition or dormancy until another venue could be secured. Since 2014 the Indy Fuel hockey team has played in the arena, the Fuel are an ECHL team affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks. Eight of Indianapolis nine hockey championship teams called the Coliseum home, the other was the 2014 Indiana Ice, who split their schedule between Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Pan Am Pavilion. During the winter months, public ice skating is offered for a small fee, on April 27,2016, Donald Trump held a rally for his presidential campaign in the Coliseum. Official Site Photos from Indiana Ice games Photo gallery of Pacers highlights at Coliseum Indianapolis, IN Coliseum Explosion, Oct 1963
23.
Precipitation
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In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
24.
Lightning
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Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge that occurs during a thunder storm. This discharge occurs between electrically charged regions of a cloud, between two clouds, or between a cloud and the ground. The charged regions in the atmosphere temporarily equalize themselves through this discharge referred to as an if it hits an object on the ground. Lightning causes light in the form of plasma, and sound in the form of thunder, Lightning may be seen and not heard when it occurs at a distance too great for the sound to carry as far as the light from the strike or flash. This article incorporates public domain material from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration document Understanding Lightning, the details of the charging process are still being studied by scientists, but there is general agreement on some of the basic concepts of thunderstorm electrification. The main charging area in a thunderstorm occurs in the part of the storm where air is moving upward rapidly and temperatures range from -15 to -25 Celsius. At that place, the combination of temperature and rapid upward air movement produces a mixture of super-cooled cloud droplets, small ice crystals, the updraft carries the super-cooled cloud droplets and very small ice crystals upward. At the same time, the graupel, which is larger and denser. The differences in the movement of the precipitation cause collisions to occur, when the rising ice crystals collide with graupel, the ice crystals become positively charged and the graupel becomes negatively charged. The updraft carries the positively charged ice crystals upward toward the top of the storm cloud, the larger and denser graupel is either suspended in the middle of the thunderstorm cloud or falls toward the lower part of the storm. The result is that the part of the thunderstorm cloud becomes positively charged while the middle to lower part of the thunderstorm cloud becomes negatively charged. This part of the cloud is called the anvil. While this is the charging process for the thunderstorm cloud. In addition, there is a small but important positive charge buildup near the bottom of the cloud due to the precipitation. Many factors affect the frequency, distribution, strength and physical properties of a lightning flash in a particular region of the world. These factors include ground elevation, latitude, prevailing wind currents, relative humidity, proximity to warm and cold bodies of water, to a certain degree, the ratio between IC, CC and CG lightning may also vary by season in middle latitudes. Lightnings relative unpredictability limits a complete explanation of how or why it occurs, the actual discharge is the final stage of a very complex process. At its peak, a thunderstorm produces three or more strikes to the Earth per minute
25.
Temperature
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A temperature is an objective comparative measurement of hot or cold. It is measured by a thermometer, several scales and units exist for measuring temperature, the most common being Celsius, Fahrenheit, and, especially in science, Kelvin. Absolute zero is denoted as 0 K on the Kelvin scale, −273.15 °C on the Celsius scale, the kinetic theory offers a valuable but limited account of the behavior of the materials of macroscopic bodies, especially of fluids. Temperature is important in all fields of science including physics, geology, chemistry, atmospheric sciences, medicine. The Celsius scale is used for temperature measurements in most of the world. Because of the 100 degree interval, it is called a centigrade scale.15, the United States commonly uses the Fahrenheit scale, on which water freezes at 32°F and boils at 212°F at sea-level atmospheric pressure. Many scientific measurements use the Kelvin temperature scale, named in honor of the Scottish physicist who first defined it and it is a thermodynamic or absolute temperature scale. Its zero point, 0K, is defined to coincide with the coldest physically-possible temperature and its degrees are defined through thermodynamics. The temperature of zero occurs at 0K = −273. 15°C. For historical reasons, the triple point temperature of water is fixed at 273.16 units of the measurement increment, Temperature is one of the principal quantities in the study of thermodynamics. There is a variety of kinds of temperature scale and it may be convenient to classify them as empirically and theoretically based. Empirical temperature scales are historically older, while theoretically based scales arose in the middle of the nineteenth century, empirically based temperature scales rely directly on measurements of simple physical properties of materials. For example, the length of a column of mercury, confined in a capillary tube, is dependent largely on temperature. Such scales are only within convenient ranges of temperature. For example, above the point of mercury, a mercury-in-glass thermometer is impracticable. A material is of no use as a thermometer near one of its phase-change temperatures, in spite of these restrictions, most generally used practical thermometers are of the empirically based kind. Especially, it was used for calorimetry, which contributed greatly to the discovery of thermodynamics, nevertheless, empirical thermometry has serious drawbacks when judged as a basis for theoretical physics. Theoretically based temperature scales are based directly on theoretical arguments, especially those of thermodynamics, kinetic theory and they rely on theoretical properties of idealized devices and materials
26.
Wind speed
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Wind speed, or wind flow velocity, is a fundamental atmospheric quantity. Wind speed is caused by air moving from high pressure to low pressure, Wind speed affects weather forecasting, aircraft and maritime operations, construction projects, growth and metabolism rate of many plant species, and countless other implications. Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer but can also be classified using the older Beaufort scale which is based on observation of specifically defined wind effects. Wind speed is affected by a number of factors and situations and these include the pressure gradient, Rossby waves and jet streams, and local weather conditions. There are also links to be found between wind speed and wind direction, notably with the gradient and terrain conditions. Pressure gradient is a term to describe the difference in air pressure between two points in the atmosphere or on the surface of the Earth and it is vital to wind speed, because the greater the difference in pressure, the faster the wind flows to balance out the variation. The pressure gradient, when combined with the Coriolis effect and friction, Rossby waves are strong winds in the upper troposphere. These operate on a scale and move from West to East. The Rossby waves are themselves a different wind speed from what we experience in the lower troposphere, the wind gust was evaluated by the WMO Evaluation Panel who found that the anemometer was mechanically sound and the gust was within statistical probability and ratified the measurement in 2010. The anemometer was mounted 10 m above ground level, the pattern and scales of the gusts suggest that a mesovortex was embedded in the already strong eyewall of the cyclone. The now second highest surface wind speed ever recorded is 372 km/h at the Mount Washington Observatory,6,288 ft above sea level in the US on 12 April 1934. The anemometer, specifically designed for use on Mount Washington was later tested by the US National Weather Bureau, Wind speeds within certain atmospheric phenomena may greatly exceed these values but have never been accurately measured. Directly measuring these tornadic winds is rarely done as the violent wind would destroy the instruments, another method of estimating is to use Doppler on Wheels to sense the wind speeds remotely. The figure of 486 km/h during the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado in Oklahoma on 3 May 1999 is often quoted as the surface wind speed. However, another figure of 512 kilometres per hour has also quoted for the same tornado. Yet another number used by the Center for Severe Weather Research for that measurement is 486 ±32 km/h, however, speeds measured by Doppler radar are not considered official records. Wind speed is a factor in the design of structures. It is often the governing factor in the required strength of a structures design
27.
Super Bowl XLVI
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The Giants defeated the Patriots by the score of 21–17. The game was played on February 5,2012, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, in addition to winning their fourth Super Bowl in team history, the Giants set a new record for the lowest regular season record by a Super Bowl champion. The Patriots entered the game with a 13–3 regular season record, two years later, the Seattle Seahawks/Denver Broncos, from the NFC/AFC West, would continue this trend when they met each other for Super Bowl XLVIII. The Giants jumped to a 9–0 lead in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLVI before the Patriots scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17–9 lead in the third quarter. But the Giants prevented the Patriots from scoring again, and two consecutive New York field goals chipped away New Englands lead, 17–15, late in the third quarter. The Giants capped off an 88-yard drive with running back Ahmad Bradshaws 6-yard game-winning touchdown with 57 seconds left in the game. Eli Manning, who completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards, one touchdown and he became the third consecutive quarterback to win the award after Aaron Rodgers in Super Bowl XLV and Drew Brees in Super Bowl XLIV. The broadcast of the game on NBC broke the record for the most-watched program in American television history. The game also set the record for most tweets per second during a sporting event, per convention as an even-numbered Super Bowl, the Patriots as the AFC representatives had the home team designation. Super Bowl XLVI was the sixth Super Bowl in which the two teams had competed in a previous Super Bowl match up, as the Giants and Patriots had previously met in Super Bowl XLII, both head coaches and both starting quarterbacks returned from Super Bowl XLII. On February 19,2008, the City of Indianapolis, led by Colts owner Jim Irsay and Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard, officially announced details about their intentions to bid for Super Bowl XLVI. Part of the agreement included a proposal to build a facility on the campus of Arsenal Technical High School that would be utilized by the school after the Super Bowl. Glendale would eventually win its bid for Super Bowl XLIX in February 2015, NFL franchise owners selected the Indianapolis bid at their meeting on May 20,2008 in Atlanta. Since the dispute was resolved well before the start of the season, no postponements were implemented. This was the first Super Bowl to be played in Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, the home of Lucas Oil Stadium, featured an outdoor Super Bowl Village and other programs at the Indiana Convention Center. Finally back to strength, the Giants entered their week 17 match up with the Cowboys with both teams tied for the division lead with 8–7 records. New Yorks offense was led by Super Bowl XLII winning quarterback Eli Manning, in his seventh season as the teams starter. Manning set new highs in nearly every statistical category in 2011, throwing for a franchise record 4,933 yards and 29 touchdowns, with 16 interceptions
28.
NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen. Played mostly during March, it has one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States. The tournament teams include champions from 32 Division I conferences, and 36 teams which are awarded at-large berths, the 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into a single-elimination bracket, which pre-determines, when a team wins a game, which team it will face next. Each team is seeded, or ranked, within its region from 1 to 32, after an initial four games between eight lower-ranked teams, the tournament occurs during the course of three weekends, at pre-selected neutral sites across the United States. The Final Four is usually played during the first weekend of April and these four teams, one from each region, compete in a pre-selected location for the national championship. The tournament has been at least partially televised since 1969, currently, the games are broadcast by CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV under the trade-name NCAA March Madness. Since 2011, all games are available for viewing nationwide and internationally, such as in the Philippines, as television coverage has grown, so too has the tournaments popularity. Currently, millions of Americans fill out a bracket, attempting to predict the outcome of all 67 games of the tournament. With 11 national titles, UCLA has the record for the most NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championships, the University of Kentucky is second, with eight national titles. The University of North Carolina is in place, with six titles, while Duke University. The University of Connecticut is sixth with four national titles, the University of Kansas and University of Louisville are tied with three championships. During that time Villanova, Michigan, UNLV, Duke, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Syracuse, the NCAA has changed the tournament format several times since its inception, most often representing an increase of the number of teams. This section describes the tournament as it has operated since 2011, for changes during the course of its history, and to see how the tournament operated during past years, go to Format history, below. A total of 68 teams qualify for the tournament played during March, thirty-two teams earn automatic bids as their respective conference champions. Of the 32 Division I all-sports conferences, all 32 currently hold championship tournaments to determine which team receives the automatic qualification. The Ivy League was the last Division I conference that did not conduct a tournament, through the 2015–16 season, if two or more Ivies shared a regular-season championship, a one-game playoff was used to decide the tournament participant. Since 2017, the league conducts their own postseason tournament, the committee also determines where all sixty-eight teams are seeded and placed in the bracket. The tournament is divided into four regions and each region has at least sixteen teams, the committee is charged with making each of the four regions as close as possible in overall quality of teams from wherever they come from
29.
Bands of America
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Bands of America, a division of Music for All, is an organization that promotes and organizes marching band competitions for high school students. Competitions include both Regional and Super Regional Championships as well as the Grand National Championships, the BOA Grand National Championships is considered the largest and most prestigious national marching band event available to high school marching bands. This annual three-day competition is held in the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with about 100 high school marching bands participating from around the country. More than 50,000 participants and spectators attend the event annually, No performance qualifications are required to compete. The music performance scores are averaged for 20%, as are the performance scores. The general effect music scores are added together, the general effect visual score is also 20%. One of the largest events of the year is the annual Summer Symposium, High school students from across the nation come together on the campus of Ball State University. The week includes camps for band, jazz band, percussion, marching band, colorguard. In 1976, the first Bands of America marching band championship was held during the Summer National Championship in Whitewater, Wisconsin, as part of the Summer Workshop/Festival. Four years later, the first Grand National Championships was held at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, beginning in 1984, the organization officially changed its name to Bands of America. In 1984, the competition was moved to Indianapolis, Indianas Hoosier Dome, except for 1987 and 1988, when the Grand Nationals were held in the Pontiac Silverdome, the event has remained in Indianapolis. In 2006, BOA merged with Music for All Foundation to create Music for All, Bands of America is used as the organization name for all marching band competitions through the Music for All, Inc. With the start of the 2008 marching season, the Grand National Championships has been held in the Lucas Oil Stadium located immediately south of the site of the RCA Dome. The expansion has ultimately benefited the competitions student workshops and various demonstrations held there during the Grand National Championships, the Music for All/Bands of America headquarters is located in downtown Indianapolis at the historic Union Station. BOAs headquarters were located in Schaumburg, Illinois and Arlington Heights. Bands of America has four times been invited to have an Honor Marching Band perform at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, the Parade takes place on January 1. Under the direction of George N, in 2009, the ensemble marched adjacent to four floats sponsored by NAMM, the International Music Products Association, which is a major sponsor of Bands of America. Each float featured a character from the TV show Sesame Street, Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, each float also carried a soloist or small ensemble that represented a different type of music
30.
Big Ten Football Championship Game
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The Big Ten Football Championship Game is a college football game that is held by the Big Ten Conference each year since 2011 to determine the conferences season champion. The championship game will pit the champions from the conferences West and East divisions in a game held after the regular season has been completed. The game is held the first Saturday of December at 8 PM Eastern, the winner of this game will earn the Big Tens automatic berth in the Rose Bowl Game, unless the team is selected to play in the four-team College Football Playoff. If this is the case, they go to one of the bowls hosting the national semifinals. The winner of game will also receive the Stagg Championship Trophy. The conference currently has a deal making Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis the site of the game through 2021. In 2010, the Big Ten Conference added the University of Nebraska, thus, the conference was able to meet NCAA requirements. On August 5,2010 Big Ten Conference Commissioner James Delany announced Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis had been chosen as the site for the inaugural championship game. The league office began a 30-day period to negotiate an agreement with Indiana Sports Corp. On November 17,2010, the Big Ten Conference announced an agreement with FOX Sports to serve as the official broadcast partner for the 2011-16 Big Ten Football Championship Games. In the leagues press release, it was confirmed that the 2011 event will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the events will be played in prime time. On June 5,2014 the Big Ten Conference announced via press release that the Big Ten Football Championship game would continue to be held at Lucas Oil Stadium through the 2021 season. The Big Ten expanded to 11 schools by adding Penn State in 1990, less than a year later, on June 11,2010, Nebraska applied for membership and was unanimously accepted by the conferences 11 member schools. Its membership became effective on July 1,2011, in November 2012, the Big Ten announced that Maryland and Rutgers would join the conference in 2014, which brought conference membership up to 14 schools. After the addition of Nebraska to the conference, there was debate over what would be the best division of the 12 schools. Some felt that it would be best to maintain geographical divisions, others felt that geography should only be a factor insofar as there was competitive balance between the two divisions. Another very important factor for Big Ten schools was the maintenance of long-standing rivalries that the schools held with each other, on September 1,2010, Commissioner Delany revealed how the teams would be placed into the two divisions. They were provisionally called X and O. Later, on December 13,2010, the scheduling arrangement for the schools was that they would face each of the other schools in their division, plus three crossover opponents, one of which would be permanent
31.
Drum Corps International
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Drum Corps International, formed in 1972, is the non-profit governing body for junior drum and bugle corps in the U. S. and Canada. Junior corps are composed of members 21 years of age and younger, DCI is composed of member corps who have earned their membership through competition. It is responsible for developing and enforcing the rules of competition and is the body for junior corps competitions. DCI is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and its Board of Directors is composed primarily of directors of the member corps. The stated purpose of a DCI corps is. to provide a life changing experience for youth through the art of marching music performance, the DCI competitive summer tour, consisting of DCI-sanctioned competitions throughout the United States, culminates in August with the week-long DCI World Championships. Other drum corps associations around the world are based upon DCI. The corps felt that not only were they having their creative potential as artistic performing groups stifled, the two groups members felt that the corps should be making their own rules, operating their own competitions and championships, and keeping the bulk of the monies those shows earned. For the 1971 season, the Combine and the Alliance stuck together, in 1972, the ten corps from the Alliance and the Midwest Combine, plus the Anaheim Kingsmen, Argonne Rebels, and De La Salle Oaklands were the founding members of Drum Corps International. The inaugural DCI World Championships were held at Warhawks Stadium on the campus of University of Wisconsin–Whitewater with 39 corps from 15 states, the Anaheim Kingsmen were crowned the first DCI World Champions on August 18,1972. Currently, DCI assigns North American corps to two classes, and corps from Europe and Asia are assigned to the International Class, Corps from all classes often compete together, but are judged and ranked separately. In the past, classes have been fully or partially determined by the number of marching members in each corps, at present, the higher a corps is ranked at the DCI Championships, the higher the performance fees they will earn for the following seasons performances. Open Class corps are generally smaller or committed to a competitive level. In September 2007, DCI combined the former Divisions II and III into this new division, International Class is for corps based outside North America that wish to participate in DCI competitions. International corps which abide by DCI rules, however, would be eligible to march in Open or World Class, through 2015, corps have competed in International Class from, Guatemala, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Source, Open Class had a limit of 128. Class A generally had 90 members or fewer although the limit was 128. All-Girl Class was for corps with membership restricted to girls only, there was no class for corps restricted to all-boy membership. Class A60 and the later Division III had a maximum of 60 members, Division II had the same membership limit as Division I but a generally lower level of competitive expertise
32.
Indiana High School Athletic Association
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The Indiana High School Athletic Association is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public and private high schools in the U. S. state of Indiana. It monitors a system that divides athletically-competing high schools in Indiana based on the schools enrollment, the divisions, known as classes, are intended to foster fair competition among schools of similar sizes. A school ranked 3A is larger than a school ranked 1A, boys basketball, girls basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball are divided into four classes. Boys and girls soccer will be divided into two classes for the first time for the 2011–12 school year, all other sports compete in a single class. See also, Indiana High School Athletic Conferences Page 1,2,3, for the State Tournament, there are two divisions. The Northern District is composed of 21 of Indianas Counties consisting the northern third of Indiana, the Southern District is composed of the remaining 71 counties and includes all of the Indianapolis area except Madison County. It is from two districts, the top two teams meet at the state finals usually held in or around Indianapolis
33.
AMA Supercross Championship
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The AMA Supercross Championship is an American motorcycle racing series. Supercross is one of the motorcycle races, together with motorcycle speedway. The race series was founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association in 1974, Supercross is an offshoot of the sport of motocross which is held on natural terrain, closed courses. Supercross racing involves off-road motorcycles on an artificial, man-made dirt track consisting of steep jumps, the AMA Supercross Championship is sponsored by Monster Energy and is held from January through early May in major league baseball and football stadiums. The easy accessibility and comfort of these stadium venues meant that by the late 1970s, the first motocross race held on an artificially created race track inside a stadium took place on August 28,1948 at Buffalo Stadium in the Paris suburb of Montrouge. With the surge in popularity of motocross in the United States in the late 1960s, the 1972 race was held at Daytona International Speedway on an artificial track on the grass surface between the main grandstand and the pit lane. The event that paved the way for artificial, stadium-based motocross events was the 1972 race held in the Los Angeles Coliseum, the event was promoted by Mike Goodwin and Terry Tiernan, President of the AMA at the time. It was billed as the Super Bowl of Motocross which eventually led to the coining of the term Supercross. The Super Bowl of Motocross II held the year was an even greater success and, eventually evolved into the AMA Supercross championship held in stadiums across the United States. Supercross would evolve until it became the most important motocross series in the world. Originally, each of the AMA Supercross races were promoted by different companies, most notably Mike Goodwin in the West, Pace Motorsports in the Midwest and Southwest, in the 1980s, Mickey Thompson partnered Goodwin, then took over the West region. In the 1990s, MTEG went bankrupt and Super Sports sold its business to SRO/Pace, the company was bought by SFX Entertainment in 1998, and Clear Channel bought the latter in 2000. The events division of Clear Channel was split off as Live Nation in 2005, and the division was sold to Feld Entertainment in 2008. While growing consistently since the 70s, in the part of the 21st Century Supercross popularity really took off. In the United States, Supercross races today are now some of the most popular races regularly held, the American Motorcyclist Association awards three Supercross Championship Champs each year. They are the 450cc, and both an East and West division on the 250cc, World Supercross Champions are named by other racing organizations around the world. Supercross racing classifications are governed by the displacement of the engine based on two-stroke engines until 2006. Since then, the AMA has labeled the classes by four-stroke displacement, from 2007 until 2012, a formula nomenclature similar to INDYCAR was used, with the 450cc class known as Supercross and 250cc as Supercross Lites
34.
Monster Jam
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Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour and television show operated by Feld Entertainment. The series is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association, although individual event formats can vary greatly based on the intermission entertainment, the main attraction is always the racing and freestyle competitions by monster trucks. Monster Jam shows are held throughout the year with more shows during the winter than the summer. The drivers autograph memorabilia, clothing, flags and other merchandise at these events, held in Las Vegas, Nevada Sam Boyd Stadium, it is the culmination of the Monster Jam season with only the top competitors competing. It is often referred to as the superbowl of monster trucks and features drivers competing for the Racing, in 2012, Monster Jam started a new competition called the Young Guns Shootout on Double Down night. In the smaller shows they have a competition and / or a donut contest. The goal in the competition is to hit a ramp. In the donut competition a driver tries to spin their truck until he/she gets dizzy, the freestyle competition allows drivers two minutes on an open floor to show off their skills as they drive the trucks over cars, and doing stunts and tricks with their trucks. The freestyle winner is determined by 6 judges each giving an out of 10. The high and the low scores are dropped that the fans gave, the tour begins in the spring each year and ends in March with the World finals in Las Vegas every year. The tour visits many major cites in the U. S. Canada, Europe and this tour featured 8 drivers driving 3 different vehicles in a points series. The top 2 finishers got an invite to the Monster Jam World Finals 16, in 2015, Monster Jam started its first stadium tour called the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. This tour followed 16 drivers each weekend on Fox Sports 1 competing for points in qualifying, racing, obstacle course racing, the top 4 in the series got invites to the Monster Jam World Finals 16. In 2016, Monster Jam will feature an East and West Coast #MoreMonsterJam series with only the winner of each tour getting an invite to Monster Jam World Finals 17, in 2017, Monster Jam will have three arena tours called Monster Jam Triple Threat Series. An East, West, and Central where 8 drivers on each tour will battle it out for one spot in Monster Jam World Finals 18, Monster Jam will also have two FS1 Championship Tour called Monster Jam FS1 Championship Series. An East and West where 14 drivers will battle it out each weekend for one spot in Monster Jam World Finals 18, mattels Hot Wheels brand produces officially licensed toy versions of monster trucks under the Monster Jam name. They also sponsored a truck, which competed in the series in previous years. However, in 2008, the Hot Wheels truck was not on the circuit, in late 2011, Monster Jam announced a new Hot Wheels truck, named Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
35.
NFL Scouting Combine
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With increasing interest in the NFL draft, the scouting combine has grown in scope and significance, allowing personnel directors to evaluate upcoming prospects in a standardized setting. Its origins have evolved from the National, BLESTO, and Quadra Scouting organizations in 1977 to the event it has become today. Implications of a performance during the combine can affect their draft status and salary. The 2017 NFL scouting combine occurred from February 28,2017 to March 6,2017, tex Schramm, the president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1989, proposed to the NFL competition committee a centralization of the evaluation process for NFL teams. Prior to 1982, teams had to schedule individual visits with players to run them through drills, the national invitational camp was first held in Tampa, Florida, in 1982. It was originated by National Football Scouting, Inc. as a means for member organizations to look at NFL draft prospects, for non-member teams, two other camps were created and used 1982–1984. The NIC was renamed the NFL scouting combine following the merger of the three camps in 1985 to cut the cost of running the extra camps, the NIC was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1984 before the merger. It was held in Arizona in 1985 and once again in New Orleans in 1986 before permanently moving to Indianapolis in 1987, the NFL is now questioning the drills and may change them in the next few years. In fact, the Lyons et al. study suggests that a prospects past performance in college is an indicator of future NFL performance than the aforementioned physical ability tests. At the NFL combine, bench press is used as a test of strength and stamina, since 1998, only fifteen men at the combine have managed to achieve more than 40 reps. 51 reps, Justin Ernest NFL Combine record holder and it is now known simply as BLESTO despite the fact that the Bears and Eagles are no longer members. The groups offices stayed in Pittsburgh until 2007 when the headquarters moved to Jacksonville, Florida, CEPO, formed in 1964, was a joint venture of the Colts, Browns, Packers and Cardinals. National Football Scouting is now simply as The National. Another scouting organization formed in 1964 was Troika, launched by the Cowboys, Rams and it was renamed Quadra when the Saints joined in 1967. Quadra no longer exists, its members now all belong to The National. As of the 2015 season, eighteen franchises participate in The National, each of the six non-affiliated teams relies on its in-house scouting staffs. In a typical year, there are about 330 invited players, about 250 invitations are sent before bowl games are completed to those who have completed their seasons. However, underclassmen have until mid-January to confirm their draft status, invitations are made to those receiving supermajority support from the selection committee
36.
One Direction
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The group signed with Simon Cowells record label Syco Records after forming and finishing third in the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor in 2010. Their awards include six Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, eleven MTV Europe Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, according to Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment UK, One Direction represented a $50 million business empire by June 2012. They were proclaimed 2012s Top New Artist by Billboard, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, by April 2013, they had an estimated personal combined wealth of £25 million making them the second-wealthiest musicians in the UK under 30 years of age. In 2014, Forbes listed them the second-highest earning celebrities under 30, in June 2015, Forbes listed their earnings at $130 million for the previous twelve months, and ranked them the fourth highest earning celebrities in the world. In 2016 Forbes ranked them the second highest earning celebrities. After the release of Four, One Direction became the first band in the US Billboard 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one and their third album, Midnight Memories, was the biggest-selling album worldwide of 2013 despite being released in late November. The bands Where We Are Tour in support of Midnight Memories and Four, was the concert tour in 2014. In 2014, Billboard named One Direction Artist of the Year, the band is temporarily on a hiatus that began in January 2016, which is expected to last around 18 months. In 2010, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge, and Simon Cowell have both claimed to have come up with the idea of forming the band. In 2013, Cowell said that it took him 10 minutes to put together as a group. Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to each other and to practice. Styles came up with the name One Direction, for their qualifying song at judges houses, and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of Torn. Cowell later commented that their performance convinced him that they were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were his last act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK, shortly afterwards it was confirmed that One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported £2 million Syco Records record contract. Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with RedOne, a book licensed by One Direction, One Direction, Forever Young, was published by HarperCollins in February 2011, subsequently topping The Sunday Times Best Seller list. The same month, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour, during the tour, the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album, recording took place in Stockholm, London and Los Angeles, as One Direction worked with producers Carl Falk, Savan Kotecha, Steve Mac, and Rami Yacoub, among others. Subsequent singles, Gotta Be You and One Thing, peaked in the UK Singles Chart top ten, in November 2011, they signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America
37.
On the Road Again Tour
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The On the Road Again Tour was the fourth headlining concert tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction. It promoted the fourth studio album, Four. The tour began on 7 February 2015 in Sydney, Australia and ended on 31 October 2015 in Sheffield, the majority of the tour venues were sold out, bringing in revenue of $208 million from 80 shows total. During the tour, on 19 March 2015, it was announced that group member Zayn Malik would be taking a hiatus from the due to stress. Malik later announced his departure from the six days later. His last performance with the group was the 18 March show in Hong Kong, the group continued performing on tour and began to release new material as a foursome. As of February 2016, this is the last tour the group have headlined due to their extended hiatus that began earlier in the year, the tour was announced on the Australian breakfast television program Today. The group will be making their debut performance in some countries on this tour and it was reported on 19 January 2015 that The X Factor 2012 winner Samantha Jade would be headlining the Australian leg alongside McBusted. On 19 March 2015, Zayn Malik announced his decision to exit the tour, a representative for the band said in a statement, Zayn has been signed off with stress and is flying back to the UK to recuperate. In a statement, they said, Were really sad to see Zayn go, the past five years have been beyond amazing, weve gone through so much together, so we will always be friends. The four of us will now continue, were looking forward to recording the new album and seeing all the fans on the next stage of the world tour. On 1 June 2015, the North American tour was announced as a part of 14th Annual Honda Civic Tours. This set list is representative of the show on 7 February 2015
38.
Gen Con
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Gen Con is the largest tabletop-game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, Gen Con also features computer games. Attendees engage in a variety of tournament and interactive game sessions, in 2015, Gen Con had 61,423 unique attendees, making it one of the largest conventions in North America. Established in 1968 as a convention by Gary Gygax, who later co-created Dungeons & Dragons, Gen Con was first held in Lake Geneva. Other Gen Con conventions have been held sporadically in various locations around the United States, in 1976, Gen Con became the property of TSR, Inc. the gaming company co-founded by Gygax. TSR were acquired by Wizards of the Coast in 1997, which was acquired by Hasbro. Hasbro then sold Gen Con to the former CEO of Wizards of the Coast, Peter Adkison, Gen Con spent a short time under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, due to a lawsuit brought against them by Lucasfilm in 2008. The organization emerged from bankruptcy protection a year later, while holding its regularly scheduled events. Some IFW gamers in the Chicago area could not make the journey to Malvern, so they had a gathering that same weekend at the Lake Geneva. Later this gathering would come to be referred to as Gen Con 0, in 1968, Gygax rented Lake Genevas Horticultural Hall to hold a follow-up IFW convention, the Lake Geneva Wargames Convention, later known as the Gen Con gaming convention. The IFW, which Gygax co-founded, put up $35 of the $50 Horticultural Hall fee to sponsor this first Gen Con, at the second Gen Con in August 1969, Gygax met Rob Kuntz and Dave Arneson. During these early conventions, the events centered around board games, Gen Cons name is a derivation of Geneva Convention, due to the conventions origins in Lake Geneva. It is also a play on words, as the Geneva Conventions are a set of important international treaties regarding war, starting in 1971, Gen Con was co-sponsored by the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association. Beginning in 1975, Gen Con was managed and hosted by TSR, in 1978 the convention moved to the University of Wisconsin–Parkside campus in Kenosha, where it remained through 1984. A Gen Con West was held in California for only three years, 1976–1978. From 1978 to 1984, Gen Con South was held in Jacksonville, Florida, and Gen Con East was held in 1981 and 1982, first in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and then in Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1985, Gen Con moved to the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center & Arena in Milwaukee, after the move, attendance steadily rose from 5,000 to a peak of 30,000 in 1995, making Gen Con the premier event in the role-playing game industry. In 1992, Gen Con broke all attendance records for any U. S. gaming convention
39.
U2
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U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, initially rooted in post-punk, U2s sound grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music, yet has maintained an anthemic sound. Their lyrics, often embellished with spiritual imagery, focus on personal themes, popular for their live performances, the group has staged several ambitious and elaborate tours over their career. The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 when the members were teenagers with limited musical proficiency, within four years, they signed with Island Records and released their debut album Boy. Subsequent work such as their first UK number-one album War, by the mid-1980s, they had become renowned globally for their live act, highlighted by their performance at Live Aid in 1985. The groups fifth album, The Joshua Tree, made them international superstars and was their greatest critical and commercial success. Topping music charts around the world, it produced their only number-one singles in the US, With or Without You, facing a backlash and creative stagnation, U2 reinvented themselves in the 1990s through a new musical direction and public image. This experimentation continued through their album, Pop, and the PopMart Tour. U2 regained critical and commercial favour with the records All That You Cant Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and their U2 360° Tour of 2009–2011 is the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour in history. The groups thirteenth album, Songs of Innocence, was released at no cost through the iTunes Store, U2 have released 13 studio albums and are one of the worlds best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. They have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other band, Rolling Stone ranked U2 at number 22 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The band formed in Dublin on 25 September 1976, Larry Mullen Jr. then a 14-year-old student at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, posted a note on the schools notice board in search of musicians for a new band—six people responded. Mullen later described it as The Larry Mullen Band for about ten minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge. Martin, who had brought his guitar and amplifier to the first practice but could not play, did not remain with the group, the group settled on the name Feedback because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. Most of their material consisted of cover songs, which the band admitted was not their forte. Some of the earliest influences on the band were emerging punk rock acts, such as the Jam, the Clash, Buzzcocks, the popularity of punk rock convinced the group that musical proficiency was not a prerequisite to being successful. In April 1977, Feedback played their first gig for an audience at St. Fintans High School. Shortly after, the changed their name to The Hype
40.
Fishers High School
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Fishers High School is the second high school in Hamilton Southeastern Schools in Fishers, Indiana. The student count for the 2012-2013 year was 2,531, Fishers High School has been approved by the International Baccalaureate Organization as an IB World School, and began offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in the fall of 2007. The Fishers High School mascot is a tiger, the Tigers athletic teams participate in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. In 2003, the current school opened as a campus but, in 2007. List of high schools in Indiana Fishers High School Hamilton Southeastern Schools DOE Mustang Snapshot
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