Massive Attack are an English musical group formed in 1988 in Bristol, consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Andy "Mushroom" Vowles. Their debut album Blue Lines was released in 1991, with the single "Unfinished Sympathy" reaching the charts and being voted the 63rd greatest song of all time in a poll by NME. 1998's Mezzanine, containing "Teardrop", 2003's 100th Window charted in the UK at number one. Both Blue Lines and Mezzanine feature in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; the group has won numerous music awards throughout their career, including a Brit Award—winning Best British Dance Act, two MTV Europe Music Awards, two Q Awards. They have released five studio albums. DJs Daddy G and Andrew Vowles and graffiti artist-turned-rapper Robert Del Naja met as members of partying collective The Wild Bunch. One of the first homegrown soundsystems in the UK, The Wild Bunch became dominant on the Bristol club scene in the mid-1980s. Massive Attack started as a spin-off production trio in 1988, with the independently released song, "Any Love", sung by falsetto-voiced singer-songwriter Carlton McCarthy, with considerable backing from Neneh Cherry, they signed to Circa Records in 1990—committing to deliver six studio albums and a "best of" compilation.

Circa became a subsidiary of, was subsumed into, Virgin Records, which in turn was acquired by EMI. Blue Lines, was co-produced by Jonny Dollar and Cameron McVey, who became their first manager. McVey and his wife, Neneh Cherry, provided crucial financial support and in-kind assistance to the early careers of Massive Attack and Tricky during this period paying regular wages to them through their Cherry Bear Organisation. Massive Attack used guest vocalists, interspersed with Del Naja and Marshall's own sprechgesang stylings, on top of what became regarded as an British creative sampling production. In the 1990s, the trio became known for working separately. Andrew Vowles left Massive Attack in late 1999. Despite having taken Del Naja's side and participating in a webcast as a duo the following year, Grant Marshall took a personal break in 2001. Marshall rejoined the band for their following tour in 2003 and 2004, returned to a studio role in 2005. Unsigned, Daddy G and 3D put out "Any Love" as a single, co-produced by Bristol double-act Smith & Mighty.

3D co-wrote Neneh Cherry's "Manchild". Cameron McVey and Neneh Cherry helped them to record their first LP, Blue Lines in their house, the album was released in 1991 on Virgin Records; the album used vocalists including Shara Nelson, a former Wild Bunch cohort. MC's Tricky and Willie Wee once part of The Wild Bunch, featured, as well as Daddy G's voice on "Five Man Army". Neneh Cherry sang backing vocals on environmentalist anthem, "Hymn of the Big Wheel"; that year they released "Unfinished Sympathy" as a single, a string-arranged track at Abbey Road studio, scored by Will Malone, that went on to be voted the 10th greatest song of all time in a poll by The Guardian. The group temporarily shortened their name to "Massive" on the advice of McVey to avoid controversy relating to the Gulf War, they went back to being "Massive Attack" for their next single, "Safe from Harm". After Shara Nelson left, the band brought in Everything but the Girl's Tracey Thorn and Nicolette as vocalists and released "Protection" on 26 September 1994.

With McVey out of the picture, Massive Attack enlisted the production talents of former Wild Bunch Nellee Hooper to co-produce some songs on it, with Mushroom. Other tracks were co-produced by The Insects and 3D. A dub version, No Protection, was released the following year by Mad Professor. Protection won a Brit award for Best Dance Act; the other collaborators on Protection were Marius de Vries, Craig Armstrong, a Scottish classical pianist, Tricky. Tricky's solo career was taking off at this time and he decided not to collaborate with Massive Attack after this.1994/1995 was the period of Portishead's Dummy and Tricky's Maxinquaye albums and the term "trip hop" was coined. The media started to refer to the "Bristol scene". In 1995, Massive Attack started a label distributed by Virgin/EMI, signed Craig Armstrong and a number of other artists such as Horace Andy, Alpha and Day One; the trio espoused a non-interference philosophy that allowed the artists to make their albums in the way they wanted.

The same year The Insects became unavailable for co-production and having parted ways with Nellee Hooper, the band were introduced to Neil Davidge, a unknown producer whose main claim to fame thus far had been an association with anonymous dance-pop outfit DNA. The first track they worked on was "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game", a cover version sung by Tracey Thorn for the Batman Forever soundtrack. Davidge was brought in as engineer, but soon became producer; the trio fractured in the lead-up to the third album, Davidge having to co-produce the three producers' ideas separately. Mushroom was reported to be unhappy with the degree of the post-punk direction in which Del Naja filling the production vacuum, was taking the band. In 1997, the group contributed to the film soundtrack of The Jackal, recording "Superpredators", a song containing a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Mittageisen" and "Dissolved Girl", a new song with vocals by Sarah Jay (t

Mariya Vasilyevna Smirnova was a squadron commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces during the Second World War. For her actions during the war, she was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on 26 October 1944. Mariya Smirnova was born in 1920 to a poor family, she attended the local village school, but at the age of 13, she attended a teacher's college at Tver. When she graduated, Smirnova started work as a secondary school teacher; the school was located near an aerodrome, the first time Smirnova had seen aircraft. She began flying lessons in 1937, earning instructor's certificates. Once qualified, she started to train pilots for the Soviet Air Forces. Smirnova responded to an appeal on Radio Moscow in 1941 for female pilots to join the Air Forces directly. Following training in Engels, Smirnova was assigned as the deputy squadron commander of the newly formed 588th Night Bomber Regiment to be nicknamed the "Night Witches", their first mission took place on 8 June 1942.

Following the death of squadron commander Lyubov Olkhovskaya during the mission, Smirnova took her place. After eight months of combat missions, the regiment was honored with the Guards designation and renamed to 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. Smirnova was dedicated to the regiment, one time absconding from a recreation center she had been sent to in order to improve her health, so that she could return to the front. Flying Polikarpov Po-2s, Smirnova and the Night Witches became accustomed to attacking targets defended by anti-aircraft guns and spotlights. However, she recalled on one flight when they were attacked by German fighters, with tracer rounds setting the canvas and paper bodies of the Russian biplanes on fire. At the end of the war, Smirnova was one of 23 members of the regiment to be recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union, she was unable to work in civilian aviation following the war, as her declining health meant that she could not pass the required medical exams.

In March 1945, she was sent alongside Yekaterina Ryabova to the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. The Commanding Officer told them to seek a civilian pursuit as he felt that their bodies would not be able to stand up to the rigors of attending the academy. Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Lenin Three Orders of the Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class Order of the Red Star Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw" Medal "Veteran of Labour" Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" various jubilee medals List of female Heroes of the Soviet Union Polina Gelman Yevdokia Bershanskaya

Richmond is a city in Ray County and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the United States. The population was 5,797 at the 2010 census, it is the county seat of Ray County. Richmond was platted in 1828; the community was named after Virginia. A post office called Richmond has been in operation since 1828. Richmond is located at 39°16′39″N 93°58′33″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.90 square miles, of which 5.88 square miles is land and 0.02 square miles is water. As of the census of 2010, there were 5,797 people, 2,430 households, 1,475 families living in the city; the population density was 985.9 inhabitants per square mile. There were 2,777 housing units at an average density of 472.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 93.7% White, 3.2% African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.1% of the population. There were 2,430 households of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.7% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, 39.3% were non-families.

33.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age in the city was 39.5 years. 23.2% of residents were under the age of 18. The gender makeup of the city was 53.5 % female. As of the census of 2000, there were 6,116 people, 2,488 households, 1,579 families living in the city; the population density was 1,062.7 people per square mile. There were 2,651 housing units at an average density of 460.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 94.29% White, 3.73% African American, 3 Native American, 1 Asian, 0.38% from other races, 1.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.03% of the population. There were 2,488 households out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.5% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older.

The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.02. In the city, the population was spread out with 27.2% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $33,514, the median income for a family was $45,186. Males had a median income of $34,500 versus $20,772 for females; the per capita income for the city was $18,021. About 8.1% of families and 10.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over. The Ray County History Museum houses both the Ray County Historical Society and the library of the Ray County Genealogy Association; the large, two-story red brick building was built in 1910 as the Ray County Poor Farm with separate wings for male and female residents, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The museum's many rooms are filled with themed exhibits displaying artifacts from the Civil War, World War 1, World War 2, Mormon history, local artifacts illustrating life on historical homesteads. According to local lore, the museum building is a site of suspected paranormal activity; the Farris Theatre, designed by the prominent Kansas City architects Shepard and Farrar, opened as the Dougherty Auditorium in 1901, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today it is owned and operated by the Friends of Farris Theatre, Inc, a non-profit that organizes both live performances and showings of digital cinema movies; the theater is located within the Farris Arts District. The Arts District includes the Hall for Arts Education and the Gallery and Museum for Fine Arts, which are housed in historical buildings built for the Order of Knights of Pythias and Fraternal Order of Eagles; the city has 60 acres of parkland distributed across five public parks. Southview Park is the largest city park with 35.3 acres, its facilities include a public outdoor swimming pool and a community amphitheater.

Cevie Due Park is the site of the city's skate park. The centerpiece of Maurice Roberts park is a decommissioned Lockheed T-33 jet trainer airplane on outdoor display. Hamann Park is the newest park in the system, is under development. In addition to parks, the city operates a gymnasium. Now part of the city hall complex, it was built in 1955 as a gym for the Richmond High School. Richmond is home to a semi-private 18-hole golf course; the well-regarded course was designed in 1969 by Chet Mendenhall, a founding member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Richmond is served by the R-XVI School District; the district operates four public schools: Dear Elementary School, Sunrise Elementary School, Richmond Middle School, Richmond High School. The Ray County Library was formed by voters in 1946, has been at its present location of 215 Eas