Shoaib Akhtar is a Pakistani cricket commentator, YouTuber, former cricketer who played all formats of the game over a fourteen year career. He is recognized as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket, delivering a world record top speed of 161. 3 km/h in a pool match against England during the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Akhtar was "Tiger" as a tribute to his hometown and fast bowling, he is the first bowler to break the 100 mph barrier, doing so twice in his career. Akhtar made his Test debut in November 1997 as an opening fast bowler and played his first One Day International three months later. Akhtar has been involved in several controversies during his career accused of unsportsmanlike conduct, despite his commendations for impacting games in Pakistan's favour. Akhtar was sent home during a Test match series in Australia in 2005 for alleged poor attitude. A year he was embroiled in a drug scandal after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance nandrolone. However, the ban imposed on him was lifted on appeal.

In his latest YouTube video, Shoaib Akhar took a dig at Virender Sehwag saying he is happy that his words are given so much importance and it turns into breaking news. In September 2007, he received a ban. On 1 April 2008, Akhtar was banned for five years for publicly criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board. In October 2008, the Lahore High Court in Pakistan suspended the five-year ban and Akhtar was selected in the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 Quadrangular Tournament in Canada. Pakistani judge Rana Bhagwandas once stated. Akhtar retired from international cricket after the 2011 World Cup. Akhtar was born in a small town in Morgah near Pakistan, his father, Mohammad Akhtar, "from a hardworking economically unprivileged family of the Gujjar community", who worked as a night watchman at a petrol station belonging to the Attock oil refinery, married his mother, Hameeda Awan, when she was still a teenager, they had five children: four sons, Shoaib being the fourth after Shahid and Obaid, followed by a daughter, Shumaila.

He married Rubab Khan on 11 November 2014. A good student, Akhtar was admitted to the Asghar Mall College, but disrupted his studies to attend trials for the PIA team's Karachi division to be held in Lahore. Lacking the money for a bus ticket, he got onto the roof. After some struggle, starting his List A career during the 1993/1994 season and his First-class career during the 1994/1995 one, he caught the eye of Majid Khan the chief executive of the PCB, after a good performance for the Pakistan A team's tour of England, in 1996, he was rewarded his maiden Test cap against the West Indies, in 1997. Considering his subsequent high profile in cricket, Akhtar's test career started rather modestly, he was first picked to play on his home ground in Rawalpindi during the 2nd Test of the West Indies 1997/98 tour of Pakistan. He was subsequently included in the tour of South Africa during the winter of 1998, where he played in all three Tests, he was notably the spearhead of a depleted Pakistani bowling attack in the Peshawar Test against the visiting Australians in 1998, where Mark Taylor scored his famous unbeaten 334 in Australia's first innings.

Subsequently, after 8 tests and 16 innings, Akhtar had accumulated only 18 wickets. Akhtar's run of average performances started during a pre-World Cup series against India, it was followed by low-class bowling performances in Sharjah and in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. In 2002, he was selected for the Pakistan team against Australia and achieved a small amount of success; however he performed poorly during the 2003 Cricket World Cup and after the tournament he was dropped from the Pakistan squad. He was selected back into the Pakistan squad as they had no choice in the 2004 Test match series against New Zealand, but struggled in a losing Test series against India in 2004; the series ended with a controversy when he left the field citing an injury leading to suspicions by former Pakistan captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, about his commitment to the team. As a result, his relationship with Inzamam-ul-Haq and former Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer deteriorated. A medical panel was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board to investigate the nature of his injury, however Pakistan officials dispelled all suspicions.

In 2005, Akhtar regained his reputation as a fast bowler for his side. Playing in a three Test home series against England, he made a series of impressive bowling performances, his effective use of slower deliveries proved to be unplayable by the English batsmen. Akhtar emerged as the highest wicket taker of the series with seventeen wickets, his comeback was remarkable as prior to his return, he had been criticised from all corners. His performance was acknowledged by the English captain Michael Vaughan, who remarked "I thought he was a big difference between the two teams", he is known as one of only three bowlers to have broken the 100 mph barrier in cricket history, with a delivery of 100.2 mph, during a one-day international against England in World cup 2003 On 29 October 2007, Akhtar made his return to cricket, from his 13 match ban and performed well, taking 4 wickets for 43 runs against South Africa in the fifth and deciding One Day International series in Lahore in Pakistan. Subsequently, he was included in the 16-man Pakistan squad for the 2007 tour of India, which again he underperformed in 2007 series against India.

Akhtar made a return to international cricket albeit in the shorter format of the game. In May 2010, PC

Androctonus maroccanus is a species of scorpion, belonging to the family Buthidae. Along with other members of the genus Androctonus it is known by the collective vernacular name fat-tailed scorpion. A. maroccanus is endemic to the Atlantic coast of central Morocco. The species was described in 2009 by Eric Ythier and Elise-Anne Leguin; the type specimens were collected by F. Principaud in September 2009, it was named after its country of origin. Adult specimens reach a considerable size of about 70 mm; the overall color is uniformly yellow to yellow-reddish with darker carinae on the metasoma. The scorpion shows the typical characteristics of the genus Androctonus including slender pedipalp chelae and a thick, robust metasoma with a proportionally large vesicle. Granulation of the cephalothorax and mesosoma is more pronounced in the male than in the female and the males have an excavation at the base of the fixed finger of the chelae to accommodate the females pincers during mating "dance". A. maroccanus is distinct from most of the sympatric, dark-colored species of Androctonus by its brighter coloration.

It differs from the similar A. australis in having a hirsute "fore-arm" of the pedipalps and a more reddish coloration. Furthermore, in Morocco A. australis is so far known only from the easternmost part of the country. Another yellow-colored species, A. amoreuxi, occurring in the south and southwest of Morocco, is distinguished by a much slender metasoma. There are no data on the toxicity of this species. However, as it is the case in many other species of Androctonus, the presence of potent toxins and a potential medical importance to humans can be anticipated. A. maroccanus is known so far only from its type locality, the semi-arid coastal plain at Sidi Smaïl, c. 120 km southwest of Casablanca, Morocco. As several other of the seven species of Androctonus known from Morocco, it is considered endemic

Blind musicians are singers or instrumentalists, or in some cases singer-accompanists, who are blind. Many blind musicians, including some of the most famous, have performed without the benefit of formal instruction, since such instruction relies extensively on written musical notation. However, today there are many resources available for blind musicians who wish to learn Western music theory and classical notation. Louis Braille, the man who created the braille alphabet for the blind created a system of classical notation for the blind called Braille music; this system allows the blind to write music much as the sighted do. The largest collection of Braille musical scores is located at the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C. Outside the U. S. the largest collection of braille music scores is stored at the National Library for the Blind in England. Computer technology and the Internet make it possible in theory for blind musicians to be more independent in composing and studying music. In practice, most programs rely on graphical user interfaces, which are difficult for the blind to navigate.

There has been some progress in creating screen-reading interfaces for the blind for the Windows operating systems. Today there are several organizations devoted to the support of blind musicians; the National Resource Center for Blind Musicians and The Music Education Network for the Visually Impaired are dedicated to musical education for the blind. The image of the blind musician is an important touchstone in many cultures where the influence of the blind on music has been limited; the idea of Homer, the blind poet, for example, has had a long existence in Western tradition though its basis in truth is uncertain. The legendary 6th century Breton druid and bard Kian Gwenc'hlan is depicted as being imprisoned after having his eyes gouged out for refusing to convert to Christianity and singing out that he isn't afraid to die. In his book Singer of Tales, Albert Lord explains that in Yugoslavia he found many stories of blind musicians, but few current musicians who were blind. Natalie Kononenko had a similar experience in Turkey, though one Turkish musician of great talent, Ashik Veysel, was in fact blind.

The popularity of the idea of the blind musician has inspired several artists. John Singer Sargent painted a 1912 canvas based on this theme, Georges de La Tour has a whole series of paintings devoted to blind musicians. Though the idea of blind musicians may be more prevalent than their actuality, it remains true that at many points in history and in many different cultures, blind musicians, individually or as a group, have made important contributions to the development of music; some of these contributions are discussed below. Blind musicians have appeared in Muslim harems to entertain the patron and his wives. Robert Heinlein made a science fiction use of the "blind bard" theme in "The Green Hills of Earth". Court musician was a traditional profession for the blind in China in antiquity; the first musician mentioned in Chinese sources, Shi Kuang, was a blind performer in the 6th century BC. The Guilds of Blind Musicians and Fortune-Tellers, which were still around in China during the middle of the 20th century, claimed to have existed as far back as 200 BC.

More groups of blind buskers have continued to perform in Zuoquan County, in other areas as well. One of the most popular musical works in China, "Erquan Yingyue", was composed in the first half of the 20th century by Hua Yanjun, better known as "Blind Ah Bing". In Japan, Heike Biwa, a form of narrative music, was invented and spread during the Kamakura period by traveling musicians known as biwa hoshi, who were blind; these musicians played the biwa, a kind of lute, recited stories, of which the most famous was The Tale of the Heike. The musicians were sometimes known as "blind priests" because they wore robes and shaved their heads, though they were not in fact Buddhist priests. Goze were similar communities of visually impaired female shamisen and kokyū players who travelled around the country singing songs and begging alms. There is a long tradition of performance by blind minstrels in Ukraine known as Kobzarstvo. At least from 1800 to 1930 — and well before that as well — the majority of itinerant musicians in Ukraine were blind.

Music was an important part of the culture. Those who could not work at other occupations could be apprenticed to become professional bards referred to as kobzars; these wandering blind minstrels were divided into two groups—bandurists, or kobzars who played bandura, lirnyks, who played the lira, a crank-driven hurdy-gurdy. The kobzars were an important part of oral tradition in Ukraine. According to the ethnographer P. Zhytetsky, kobzars were thought to have been sighted Cossacks, who were associated with epic songs, or dumas. Kononenko states that lirnyks, on the other hand, were blind church singers organized into guilds who sang religious songs and were associated with beggars. By the middle of the 19th century, the two groups had merged; the kobzars have a central place in the national identity of Ukraine. Folklorist Izmail Sreznevskyi argued that the initial Cossack bandurists were actual witnesses of the great battles about which they sang; the image of warrior-bards singing epics was quite popular, there became a tradition that the great ancient singers were veterans valorously blinded in combat.

This in turn led to the belief that the kobzar tradition had weakened in the 19t

Katharina Schratt was an Austrian actress who became "the uncrowned Empress of Austria" as a confidante of Emperor Franz Joseph. Katharina Schratt was born in the only daughter of stationery dealer Anton Schratt. From the age of six, she took an interest in theatre, her parents tried to discourage her from becoming an actress and sent her to a boarding school in Cologne, this only increased her ambition. She was allowed to take acting lessons in Vienna and gave her debut at the age of 17 in her hometown Baden. In 1872 she joined the ensemble of the Royal Court Theatre in Berlin, achieving considerable success in a short time. Schratt left Germany after only a few months, following the call of the Viennese to join their City Theatre, her performance made her a leading lady of the Viennese stage. In 1879 she married the Hungarian magnate and consular officer Baron Miklós Kiss de Ittebe, gave birth to a son, Anton. Soon after and her husband separated due to incompatibility. Schratt toured overseas, appeared in New York City after which she returned permanently to Vienna's Hofburgtheater, she was one of Austria's most popular actresses until she retired in 1900, following disagreement with theatre director Paul Schlenther.

Schratt's appearances and performances in the early 1880s at Hofburgtheater captivated Franz Joseph, she was invited to perform for visiting Czar Alexander III of Russia at Kremsier Castle. She soon became Franz Joseph's companion, it is said that Franz Joseph's wife Empress Elisabeth encouraged the relationship between the actress and the Emperor. After Elisabeth's murder in 1898, their relationship continued, with one interruption, until the emperor's death in November 1916, she was rewarded with a generous lifestyle including a mansion on Vienna's Gloriettegasse, near Schönbrunn Palace and a mansion in Bad Ischl. In addition, her gambling debts were paid by him. Upon her husband's death in 1909, she inherited Palais Königswarter, a three-story palace on Vienna's Kärntner Ring boulevard, just across from the State Opera. Schratt was a friend of notable men such as Count Johann Nepomuk Wilczek or Prince Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, her relationship with the Emperor remained platonic. After the death of Franz Joseph, she lived withdrawn in her palace on the Kärntner Ring.

In the 1930s, journalists bothered her to talk about her relationship with the late Emperor. Book companies asked her to write her memoirs, however Schratt would always say, "I am an actress not a writer and I have nothing to say, for I was never a Pompadour, still less a Maintenon." In her years, Schratt became religious. She visited Empress Elisabeth's tomb in the Kapuzinergruft daily; the former actress loved animals and donated money to animal shelters. She died in 1940 at the age of 86, she was buried at Hietzing Cemetery in Vienna. The War of the Oxen Joan Haslip, The Emperor & the Actress: The Love Story of Emperor Franz Josef & Katharina Schratt Georg Markus, Katharina Schratt: Die zweite Frau des Kaisers Brigitte Hamann, Meine liebe, gute Freundin! Die Briefe Kaiser Franz Josephs an K. Schratt Stefan Haderer, A unusual affair: The intimate relationship between Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and actress Katharina Schratt, Royalty Digest Quarterly, Vol. 3/2015, Rosvall Royal Books, Falköping 2015 Bourgoing, Jean de The Incredible Friendship- The Letters of Emperor Franz Joseph to Frau Katharina Schratt "Katharina Schratt".

Findagrave.com. "Katharina schratt". Translation from German to English

Alphonse Case "Phonney" Martin was an American Major League Baseball baseball player who played two seasons in the National Association from 1872 to 1873. Martin, born in New York, New York, an American Civil War veteran, played in organized baseball as far back as 1869 when he pitched for the Brooklyn Eckfords; that year, a reporter for the New York Clipper described him as an "extremely hard pitcher to hit for the ball never comes in a straight line‚ but in a tantalizing curve." If the observation is true, this would pre-date Candy Cummings, the pitcher given credit as the inventor of the curveball. His pitching style led to his nickname of "Old Slow Ball". Martin began his professional baseball career when he joined the 1872 Troy Haymakers of the National Association as a pitcher and right fielder, playing in 25 games, pitching in eight of those games. In the season, he returned to the Eckfords, now in the Association, played in the same pitcher/outfielder role for 18 games; that year, he is given credit for managing the Eckfords for nine games, with a record of 1 win and 8 losses.

There is a level of dispute on this and retrosheet.org list Andy Allison, Jimmy Wood, Martin as managing the team that year, while baseball-reference.com list Jim Clinton and Wood as the managers. For the 1873 season, he joined the New York Mutuals, which turned out to be his last season at this level, he played 30 games in the right field, pitched six games. Martin died in Hollis, New York at the age of 87, is interred at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference Phonney Martin at Find a Grave

Ambahan is a traditional form of poetry by the Hanunó'o Mangyan people of Mindoro, Philippines. The ambahan has several characteristics. First, it is rhythmic poetic expression with a meter of seven syllable lines and having rhythmic end-syllables, it is most presented as a chant without a determined musical pitch or musical instrument accompaniment. It is meant to express in an allegorical way, liberally using poetic language, certain situations or certain characteristics referred to by the one reciting the poem; the characteristic of the ambahan of having seven syllables in a single line distinguishes it from other forms of poetry of the Hanunó'o Mangyans. This particular feature has exceptions; this may be due to the shortage of suitable word combinations for a certain line or the line could not be further shortened. A line could be shorter than seven syllables in order to preserve the meaning of the line which would have been changed by the addition of syllables although this is rare; the ambahan is traditionally sung and may focus on various topics such as courtship, giving advice to the young, asking for a place to stay, saying goodbye to a friend.

Ambahan is traditionally recorded on bamboo. It is inscribed in the material using Surat Mangyan, an indigenous script predating the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines. Mangyan Poet Ginaw Bilog was recognized for the preservation of his people's tradition in 1993 who records the ambahan in a notebook; the mode of transmission of the poetry prevents the carrier from adding his own content or modification, ensuring the purity of the poetry