The Lusatian culture existed in the Bronze Age and early Iron Age in most of today's Poland and parts of the Czech Republic, eastern Germany, western Ukraine. It covers the Periods Montelius III to V of the Northern-European chronological scheme. There were close contacts with the Nordic Bronze Age. Hallstatt and La Tène influences can be seen in ornaments and weapons; the Lusatian culture developed as the preceding Trzciniec culture experienced influences from the Tumulus culture of the Middle Bronze Age incorporating the local communities into the socio-political network of Iron Age Europe. It forms part of the Urnfield systems found from eastern France, southern Germany and Austria to Hungary and the Nordic Bronze Age in northwestern Germany and Scandinavia, it is followed by the Billendorf culture of the Early Iron Age in the West. In Poland, the Lusatian culture is taken to span part of the Iron Age as well and is succeeded in Montelius VIIbc in northern ranges around the mouth of Vistula by the Pomeranian culture spreading south.'Lusatian-type' burials were first described by the German pathologist and archaeologist Rudolf Virchow.

The name refers to the Lusatia area in western Poland. Virchow identified the pottery artifacts as'pre-Germanic' but refused to speculate on the ethnic identity of their makers; the Polish archeologist Józef Kostrzewski, who starting in 1934 conducted extensive excavations of a Lusatian settlement of Biskupin, hypothesized that the Lusatian culture was a predecessor of cultures which belonged to the early Slavs. Modern archeologists, such as Kazimierz Godłowski and Piotr Kaczanowski, hold the view that at that time, the ethnic geography of Bronze Age central-Europe included peoples whose languages and ethnic identity we do not know. Burial was by cremation; the urn is accompanied by numerous—up to 40—secondary vessels. Metal grave gifts are sparse, but there are numerous hoards that contain rich metalwork, both bronze and gold. Graves containing moulds, like at Bataune, Saxony or tuyeres attest to the production of bronze tools and weapons at the village level. The'royal' tomb of Seddin, Germany, covered by a large earthen barrow, contained Mediterranean imports like bronze-vessels and glass beads.

Cemeteries can contain thousands of graves. Well known settlements include Biskupin in Poland, Buch near Berlin. There fortified settlements on hilltops or in swampy areas; the ramparts were constructed of wooden boxes filled with soil or stones. The economy was based on arable agriculture, as is attested by numerous storage pits. Wheat and six-row barley formed the basic crops, together with millet and oats, broad beans and gold of pleasure. Flax was grown, remains of domesticated apples and plums have been found. Cattle and pigs were the most important domestic animals, followed by sheep, goats and dogs. Pictures on Iron Age urns from Silesia attest horse riding, but horses were used to draw chariots as well. Hunting was practiced, as bones of red and roe deer, bison, hare and wolf attest, but did not provide much of the meat consumed; the numerous frog bones found at Biskupin may indicate. Hoards in swampy areas are considered by some archaeologists as'gifts for the Gods'. Human bones in 5 m deep sacrificial pits in Lossow might point to human sacrifice and possible ritual cannibalism.

Lusatia Urnfield culture Nordic Bronze Age Hallstatt culture J. M. Coles and A. F. Harding, The Bronze Age in Europe. Dabrowski, J. Nordische Kreis und Kulturen Polnischer Gebiete. Die Bronzezeit im Ostseegebiet. Ein Rapport der Kgl. Schwedischen Akademie der Literatur-Geschichte und Altertumsforschung über das Julita-Symposium 1986. Ed Ambrosiani, B. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Konferenser 22. Stockholm. Hypothetical reconstruction of a Lusatian culture settlement, raised using only bronze age tools - Wola Radziszowska - Poland

The Link was an internet based mobile phone and communications retailer in the United Kingdom. It was owned by Dixons Retail, the United Kingdom's largest consumer electronics retail group, traded online through a dedicated retail website, which in addition to mobile phones offered satellite navigation systems and broadband internet services; the brand was used for a chain of mobile phone retail stores, which were 60% owned by DSGi, 40% owned by O2, the telecommunications company. At the time of The Link's retail store operation, O2 was a subsidiary of BT Group, but the network is now owned by Telefónica of Spain. In June 2006, the retail store network was taken over by O2. In September 2010, The Link website went offline, ceased taking new orders, directing customers to visit the site of sister firm Currys. DSG International opened the first branch of The Link in October 1994, due to the demand for mobile phones and other communications products. DSG International sells mobile phones in its Currys Digital and Currys chains, but opened a separate chain to provide more capacity for the growth in mobile phone sales.

By August 2005, there were 295 branches of The Link, spread across the United Kingdom. The Link's annual sales from 2004 to 2005 were £428 million. Nick Wood, who as managing director of The Link had overseen the unit's growth, was subsequently moved across DSGi, to take over the running of the struggling chain Dixons. After turning around the fortunes of Dixons, he was brought back to The Link to replace his own replacement, Elizabeth Fagan, after the comparatively poorer performance of The Link under her management. Wood made his mark, applying an easier to understand commission structure, placing "live" models of phones in stores, expanded the product range to include MP3 players and Satellite navigation systems; the Link replaced their long running advertising campaign with new comedy sketches, featuring the Ken and Kenneth characters from The Fast Show, filmed inside the Waltham Cross store of The Link. A new logo was created, the in store look was overhauled. "Music" was seen as the main focus of The Link from that point, according to Nick Wood, he hoped that would turn the fortunes around.

On 21 June 2006, DSGi sold their 60% share of The Link to O2 for £30 million. The deal included all of The Link's stores. O2's purchase of The Link meant that some stores were rebranded as O2, whilst non retained sites were sold to others. Overall, of the 295 Link stores, around half were rebranded as O2, with the majority of the remainder being sold to competing telecoms retailers such as Orange, T-Mobile, Phones 4U, 3, with three in particular being able to expand their smaller store network with a number of former Link sites. In some cases, such as the Bexleyheath Shopping Centre, O2 moved from their own previous site to the Link site, released their previous store to another operator, in the case of Bexleyheath, this was 3. A small percentage of sites were closed or sold to non mobile phone related companies, such as Costa Coffee; the majority of Link staff in these stores remained employed by the new store owners, under Transfer of Undertakings United Kingdom regulations. By 31 January 2007, no branches of The Link remained open.

TheLink.com and TheLink.co.uk is still owned by DSGi, following the closure of The Link stores, the websites continued selling pay monthly and pay as you go mobile phones on Orange, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Three, as well as mobile broadband and mobile services. The Link offered a range of portable consumer electronics, such as iPods, Sat Navs and Laptops, as well as LCD televisions. In September 2010, The Link website went offline, was replaced with a link to the Currys webpage; the Link's main competitors were Phones 4U, Carphone Warehouse and Dial-a-Phone, who offered a variety of networks to their customers. The Link had competition from the networks' own shops, namely 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile, as well as prepay competition from the likes of Woolworths and Argos; this was the reason for the late adoption of Vodafone, as a post-pay network, which did not take place until 2002, as announced in November 2001. Official consumer site

Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the Rocky films. He was played by Carl Weathers, he is a tough but agile boxer, who is, as the series begins, the undisputed heavyweight world champion. The character was inspired by the real-life champion Muhammad Ali, having what one author remarked as the same "brash, theatrical" personality. Sylvester Stallone stated, " Johnson served as the inspiration for the character of Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies". Protagonist Rocky Balboa, Creed's rival in Rocky and Rocky II, faces underdog odds and views Creed with respect, pointedly refusing the prodding of a reporter to trash-talk against Creed after the flamboyant Creed publicly taunted him, by laconically remarking, "He's great."In Rocky, Creed cleans out his division of serious challengers and magnanimously decides to fight local journeyman Balboa for the fan spectacle, as well as the symbol of fighting a man with an Italian background on "this country's biggest birthday." In the film and its sequel and Creed find themselves evenly matched in the ring, ending up friends by the third movie.

Creed had multiple nicknames, including most prominently "The Master of Disaster". Others include "The King of Sting", "The Dancing Destroyer", "The Prince of Punch", "The Count of Monte Fisto". A 2013 poll of former heavyweight champions and boxing writers, including former WBA heavyweight star James "Bonecrusher" Smith, ranked Creed as the second-best boxer in the Rocky series, second only to Rocky himself. In the Rocky and Creed films, Apollo Creed is a heavyweight boxing champion, rival and friend of Rocky Balboa. Michael Wilbon of Pardon the Interruption describes Creed as "maybe the best of all time. Apollo Creed first appeared in the 1976 Oscar-winning film Rocky as the charismatic and undefeated 33-year-old World Heavyweight Champion. A planned Bicentennial fight against number-one contender Mac Lee Green was scheduled for January 1, 1976, which Creed gladly hypes whenever someone places a microphone in front of him. However, Green hurts his left hand in training, when none of the other top-ranked contenders, such as Joe Czak and Buddy Shaw, step up to face the champion, Creed responds with a promotion that will generate huge publicity: He will offer an unknown local fighter an opportunity to battle for the title in a match in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Upon reviewing the local boxers in Philadelphia, Creed is drawn to a club fighter named Rocky Balboa, because Balboa is Italian and has a catchy nickname, "The Italian Stallion". Creed explains his choice by saying: "Who discovered America? An Italian, right? What better way to celebrate its 200th birthday than to get it on with one of his descendants?" Creed brushes off the idea of the left-handed Balboa giving him a fight, pledging to knock him out in three rounds. In spite of his trainer's concern when he sees Balboa in a television interview, training by punching sides of beef in a meat-packing plant, Creed puts more effort into giving everyone a good show rather than training for the bout; when the match takes place, Creed dresses up like both George Washington and Uncle Sam in the pre-fight festivities and is in a jovial mood until Balboa knocks him down in the first round with a single uppercut, the first time Creed has been knocked down in his career. He endures a gruelling 15-round fight with Balboa, who gets to his feet after Creed takes him down with an uppercut in the 14th round in what appeared to be the end of the match.

This was the first time anyone had taken the champion the full 15 rounds. Both fighters are beaten and bruised by the end of the bout—Balboa with severe eye damage and Creed with internal bleeding in the abdomen. Creed gains a controversial split decision victory, neither fighter wants a rematch, at least at that moment. In the second film, Creed angrily demands a rematch in the hospital ER, challenges Rocky to finish the fight from the climax of the first film. Creed's desire for a rematch with Balboa intensifies when it becomes clear that the prevailing public opinion is that Creed had been paid to intentionally carry Rocky for the 15-round distance instead of knocking him out early in the fight. Eager to change minds and ignoring the pleas of his staff to "let it go", Creed challenges Balboa to a second fight on Thanksgiving Day, 1976. Rocky has married his girlfriend Adrian after getting out of the hospital after the first fight, decided to stop fighting after his brilliant but grueling feat against the world champion.

But Creed uses various humiliation tactics to coax Balboa out of retirement, until he and his trainer Mickey Goldmill accept the challenge. Creed harshly taunts Balboa at the press conference, insisting that he would "drop him like a bad habit", telling Balboa as he leaves, "Come November, you're mine!" In a press interview during training, he insists that Rocky "cannot last five minutes in the ring with a superior athlete like ". Creed plows through sparring partners and trains harder than before, with the intention of punishing Balboa for the embarrassment he caused eleven months earlier. Mickey trains Rocky to become faster and instructs him to change his boxing stance, from left-handed to right-handed, both to confuse Creed and to protect his damaged right eye. Unlike their first fig