A microorganism, or microbe, is a microscopic organism, which may exist in its single-celled form or in a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from ancient times, such as in Jain scriptures from 6th century BC India and the 1st century BC book On Agriculture by Marcus Terentius Varro; the scientific study of microorganisms began with their observation under the microscope in the 1670s by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. In the 1850s, Louis Pasteur found that microorganisms caused food spoilage, debunking the theory of spontaneous generation. In the 1880s, Robert Koch discovered that microorganisms caused the diseases tuberculosis and anthrax. Microorganisms include all unicellular organisms and so are diverse. Of the three domains of life identified by Carl Woese, all of the Archaea and Bacteria are microorganisms; these were grouped together in the two domain system as Prokaryotes, the other being the eukaryotes. The third domain Eukaryota includes all multicellular organisms and many unicellular protists and protozoans.

Some protists are related to some to green plants. Many of the multicellular organisms are microscopic, namely micro-animals, some fungi and some algae, but these are not discussed here, they live in every habitat from the poles to the equator, geysers and the deep sea. Some are adapted to extremes such as hot or cold conditions, others to high pressure and a few such as Deinococcus radiodurans to high radiation environments. Microorganisms make up the microbiota found in and on all multicellular organisms. A December 2017 report stated that 3.45-billion-year-old Australian rocks once contained microorganisms, the earliest direct evidence of life on Earth. Microbes are important in human culture and health in many ways, serving to ferment foods, treat sewage, produce fuel and other bioactive compounds, they are essential tools in biology as model organisms and have been put to use in biological warfare and bioterrorism. They are a vital component of fertile soils. In the human body microorganisms make up the human microbiota including the essential gut flora.

They are the pathogens responsible for many infectious diseases and as such are the target of hygiene measures. The possible existence of microorganisms was discussed for many centuries before their discovery in the 17th century. By the fifth century BC, the Jains of present-day India postulated the existence of tiny organisms called nigodas; these nigodas are said to be born in clusters. According to the Jain leader Mahavira, the humans destroy these nigodas on a massive scale, when they eat, breathe and move. Many modern Jains assert that Mahavira's teachings presage the existence of microorganisms as discovered by modern science; the earliest known idea to indicate the possibility of diseases spreading by yet unseen organisms was that of the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro in a 1st-century BC book titled On Agriculture in which he called the unseen creatures animalcules, warns against locating a homestead near a swamp: … and because there are bred certain minute creatures that cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and they cause serious diseases.

In The Canon of Medicine, Avicenna suggested that tuberculosis and other diseases might be contagious. Akshamsaddin mentioned the microbe in his work Maddat ul-Hayat about two centuries prior to Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek's discovery through experimentation: It is incorrect to assume that diseases appear one by one in humans. Disease infects by spreading from one person to another; this infection occurs through seeds that are so small they are alive. In 1546, Girolamo Fracastoro proposed that epidemic diseases were caused by transferable seedlike entities that could transmit infection by direct or indirect contact, or without contact over long distances. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek is considered to be the father of microbiology, he was the first in 1673 to discover, describe and conduct scientific experiments with microorganisms, using simple single-lensed microscopes of his own design. Robert Hooke, a contemporary of Leeuwenhoek used microscopy to observe microbial life in the form of the fruiting bodies of moulds.

In his 1665 book Micrographia, he made drawings of studies, he coined the term cell. Louis Pasteur exposed boiled broths to the air, in vessels that contained a filter to prevent particles from passing through to the growth medium, in vessels without a filter, but with air allowed in via a curved tube so dust particles would settle and not come in contact with the broth. By boiling the broth beforehand, Pasteur ensured that no microorganisms survived within the broths at the beginning of his experiment. Nothing grew in the broths in the course of Pasteur's experiment; this meant that the living organisms that grew in such broths came from outside, as spores on dust, rather than spontaneously generated within the broth. Thus, Pasteur supported the germ theory of disease. In 1876, Robert Koch established, he found that the blood of cattle which were infected with anthrax always had large numbers of Bacillus anthracis. Koch found that he could transmit anthrax from one animal to another by taking a small sample of blood from the infected animal and injecting it into a healthy one, this caused the healthy animal to become sick.

He found that he could grow the bacteria in a nutrient broth inject it into a healthy animal, and

Larry Clark Robinson is a Canadian former ice hockey coach and player. His coaching career includes head coaching positions with the New Jersey Devils, as well as the Los Angeles Kings. For his play in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings, Robinson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2017, Robinson was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players". Larry is the brother of Moe Robinson. Larry Robinson played Junior'A' hockey with the Brockville Braves of the CJHL and Juniors with the Kitchener Rangers turned professional, spending 1971 to 1973 with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the American Hockey League before making it to the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens. Nicknamed "Big Bird" in part for his size, Robinson was a big and strong yet mobile defenceman, he played 17 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens and another three seasons for the Los Angeles Kings, until his retirement after the 1992 season.

He won the James Norris Memorial Trophy twice as the league's most outstanding defenceman and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 1978 playoffs. He was named to the league's first all-star team thrice and the second all-star team thrice, his peak years were 1976-77 to 1980-81, although he had a strong comeback season at age 34 in 1985-86 when he was again named to the second all-star team and scored 82 points, just three shy of his career high of 85. Robinson was a dominant player whose talent and leadership helped lead the Canadiens to six Stanley Cups. Robinson was a member of Team Canada in the 1976, 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup tournaments and was an international All-Star team selection in the 1981 IIHF World Championships. During his career, he played in ten of the league's All-Star games and ended his 20-year career having scored 208 goals, 750 assists and 958 regular-season points as well as 144 points in 227 playoff games, a remarkable achievement for a defenceman.

He holds an impressive career plus-minus rating of +730, the NHL career record, including an overwhelming +120 in 1976–77. He won the Stanley Cup six times with the Canadiens, in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986. Together with Nicklas Lidstrom, Robinson holds the NHL record for most consecutive playoff seasons with 20, 17 of them with the Canadiens. Robinson has been honoured for his playing career. In 1995, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was ranked number 24 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. In 2000, he was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame. On November 19, 2007, the Canadiens retired Robinson's No. 19 jersey before a loss against the Ottawa Senators. Larry Robinson's name appears on the Stanley Cup ten times, six as a player, three as a coach and once as a scout. Following his retirement, Robinson was hired as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils in 1993. After winning the Stanley Cup in 1995 with the Devils, he was hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, the same year he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

He left the Los Angeles team at the end of the 1998–99 season and signed on as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils once again. Named interim head coach of the New Jersey Devils on March 23, 2000, Robinson guided his team to win the 2000 Stanley Cup. With the victory, Robinson became the first interim head coach in NHL history to guide a team to the Stanley Cup; the feat would be accomplished by Craig Berube in 2019. Robinson recounted to journalist Scott Morrison: He stayed on as head coach for the next year and again guided the Devils to the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost against the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. Robinson was fired during the 2001–02 season, but returned as an assistant coach just before the 2002–03 season to win his 9th Stanley Cup in 2003; when Pat Burns suffered a recurrence of cancer, Robinson again assumed the mantle of head coach on July 14, 2005. This stint came to an end on December 19, 2005, when Robinson resigned, citing stress and other health problems.

Robinson returned to the Devils prior to the 2007–08 season as an assistant coach under Brent Sutter. Prior to the 2008–09 season, Robinson left from behind the Devils' bench to become a special assignment coach between the organization's prospects in Lowell, Mass. and the Devils. Robinson's contract ended with the New Jersey Devils in the summer of 2012, he indicated he was interested in becoming an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens, however that post was filled with former Hab J. J. Daigneault soon after. Robinson was appointed an associate coach with the San Jose Sharks on July 10, 2012. On May 23, 2014, the Sharks added director of player development to Robinson's role. In 2017, at the end of his five-year contract with the Sharks, Robinson left the organization, he is a Senior Consultant to Hockey Operations for the St. Louis Blues. With the St. Louis Blues defeating the Boston Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals, Robinson won his tenth Stanley Cup championship. Robinson was raised on a Marvelville, Ontario farm and as a boy, he grew up with a love of horses.

While living in the rural area of St-Lazare outside of Montreal, Robinson became a co-founder with former teammate Steve Shutt, Michael Sinclair-Smith and local veterinarian Dr. Gilbert Hallé of the Montreal Polo Club at Sainte-Marthe, Quebec. While playing in Los Angeles, Robinson became involved in the sport of thoroughbred horse racing through a partnership with Kings owner Bruce

The 2017 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship occurred from November 25th, 2017 to December 3rd in Los Angeles at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. This was the 49th NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship. Eight teams across from all divisions participated in this championship; the six-member selection committee selects eight institutions based on a wide number of factors number of wins, rigor of schedule, level of availability, an indication of an upward trend or winning and RPI. With the criteria mentioned above, seeding was based on level of ranking, geographic proximity to the finals site, a projected low level of academic commitments missed; the pots outlined feature what level in the championship institutions competed in, ranging from competing away in the first round for Pot 4 to skipping to the semifinals in Pot 1. The championship featured a knockout format where schools that lost were eliminated from the tournament; the following distinctions were distributed concluding the championship to athletes that had superior performance of some kind in the championship.

First Team Second Team