The Soma cube is a solid dissection puzzle invented by Piet Hein in 1933 during a lecture on quantum mechanics conducted by Werner Heisenberg. Its name is alleged to be derived from the fictitious drug soma consumed as a pastime by the establishment in Aldous Huxley's dystopic novel Brave New World. Seven pieces made out of unit cubes must be assembled into a 3×3×3 cube; the pieces can be used to make a variety of other 3D shapes. The pieces of the Soma cube consist of all possible combinations of three or four unit cubes, joined at their faces, such that at least one inside corner is formed. There is one combination of three cubes that satisfies this condition, six combinations of four cubes that satisfy this condition, of which two are mirror images of each other. Thus, 3 + is 27, the number of cells in a 3×3×3 cube; the Soma cube was analyzed in detail by John Horton Conway in the September 1958 Mathematical Games column in Scientific American, the book Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays contains a detailed analysis of the Soma cube problem.

There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cube puzzle, excluding rotations and reflections: these are generated by a simple recursive backtracking search computer program similar to that used for the eight queens puzzle. Current world record for the fastest time to solve a soma cube is 2.93 seconds and was set by Krishnam Raju Gadiraju, India. The seven Soma pieces are six polycubes of order four, one of order three: Piece 1, or "V". Piece 2, or "L": a row of three blocks with one added below the left side. Piece 3, or "T": a row of three blocks with one added below the center. Piece 4, or "Z": bent tetromino with block placed on outside of clockwise side. Piece 5, or "A": unit cube placed on top of clockwise side. Chiral in 3D. Piece 6, or "B": unit cube placed on top of anticlockwise side. Chiral in 3D. Piece 7, or "P": unit cube placed on bend. Not chiral in 3D. Piet Hein authorized a finely crafted rosewood version of the Soma cube manufactured by Theodor Skjøde Knudsen's company Skjøde Skjern.

Beginning in about 1967, it was marketed in the U. S. for several years by the game manufacturer Parker Brothers. Plastic Soma cube sets were commercially produced by Parker Brothers in several colors during the 1970s; the package for the Parker Brothers version claimed. This figure includes rotations and reflections of each solution as well as rotations of the individual pieces; the puzzle is sold as a logic game by ThinkFun under the name Block by Block. Solving the Soma cube has been used as a task to measure individuals' performance and effort in a series of psychology experiments. In these experiments, test subjects are asked to solve a soma cube as many times as possible within a set period of time. For example, In 1969, Edward Deci, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate assistant at the time, asked his research subjects to solve a soma cube under conditions with varying incentives in his dissertation work on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation establishing the social psychological theory of crowding out.

In each of the 240 solutions to the cube puzzle, there is only one place that the "T" piece can be placed. Each solved cube can be rotated such that the "T" piece is on the bottom with its long edge along the front and the "tongue" of the "T" in the bottom center cube; this can be proven as follows: If you consider all the possible ways that the "T" piece can be placed in the large cube, it will be seen that it will always fill either two corners of the large cube or zero corners. There is no way to orient the "T" piece such; the "L" piece can be oriented such that it fills zero corners. Each of the other five pieces have no orientation. Therefore, if you exclude the "T" piece, the maximum number of corners that can be filled by the remaining six pieces is seven. A cube has eight corners, but the "T" piece cannot be oriented to fill just that one remaining corner, orienting it such that it fills zero corners will not make a cube. Therefore, the "T" must always fill two corners, there is only one orientation in which it does that.

It follows from this that in all solutions, five of the remaining six pieces will fill their maximum number of corners and one piece will fill one fewer than its maximum. Similar to Soma cube is the 3D pentomino puzzle, which can fill boxes of 2×3×10, 2×5×6 and 3×4×5 units; the Bedlam cube is a 4 × 4 × 4 sided cube puzzle consisting of one tetracube. The Diabolical cube is a puzzle of six polycubes that can be assembled together to form a single 3×3×3 cube. Tangram Tetromino Tromino Snake cube Soma Cube android game Soma Cube Lite iOS game http://www.mathematik.uni-bielefeld.de/~sillke/POLYCUBE/SOMA/cube-secrets Soma Cube – from MathWorld Thorleif's SOMA page SOMA CUBE ANIMATION by TwoDoorsOpen and Friends

Prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, the German armed forces were not aware of two newly developed Soviet tanks, the T-34 and the KV. As a result, they were surprised when they met them in combat for the first time in June 1941; the Germans' standard anti-tank weapons were found to be ineffective against these new Soviet vehicles. This experience prompted a notable leap in tank development in Nazi Germany in an effort to counter these new threats. By 22 June 1941, the Red Army deployed 1,000 T-34 and over 500 KV tanks, concentrated in five of their twenty-nine mechanized corps. By the end of December 1941, they had lost 2,300 T-34 and over 900 KV tanks, accounting for 15% of the 20,500 tanks lost that year. At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Germans were expecting little from their opponent's tank forces, which were composed of the old T-26 and BTs. While most of the Soviet Union's armoured forces were composed of such tanks, the T-34 and the KV designs, which were unknown, took the Germans by surprise.

Both types were encountered on the second day of the invasion – 23 June 1941. Half a dozen anti-tank guns fire shells at him, which sound like a drumroll, but he drives staunchly through our line like an impregnable prehistoric monster... It is remarkable that lieutenant Steup's tank made hits on a T-34, once at about 20 meters and four times at 50 meters, with Panzergranate 40, without any noticeable effect; the KV tanks were assigned to the same units as the more numerous T-34 and, although they were much larger, their overall performance was quite similar. The most common model of KV was the KV-1, it was in the Battle of Raseiniai. The Soviet 2nd Tank Division from the 3rd Mechanized Corps attacked and overran elements of the German 6th Panzer Division near Skaudvilė on 23 June. German Panzer 35 light tanks and anti-tank weapons were ineffective against the Soviet armoured giants, which closed with and though some of them were out of ammunition, destroyed some German anti-tank guns by driving over them.

An account by the Thuringian 1st Panzer Division describes this battle: The KV-1 and KV-2, which we first met here, were something! Our companies remained ineffective. We moved closer to the enemy, who for his part continued to approach us unconcerned. Soon we were facing each other at 50 to 100 yards. A fantastic exchange of fire took place without any visible German success; the Russian tanks continued to advance, all armour-piercing shells bounced off them. Thus we were presently faced with the alarming situation of the Russian tanks driving through the ranks of 1st Panzer Regiment towards our own infantry and our hinterland. Our Panzer Regiment therefore about turned and rumbled back with the KV-1s and KV-2s in line with them. In the course of that operation we succeeded in immobilizing some of them with special purpose shells at close range - 30 to 60 yards. A counter attack was launched and the Russians were thrown back. A protective front established and defensive fighting continued; the next day, at a crossroads near Raseiniai, Lithuania, a single KV heavy tank managed to block the advance of elements of the 6th Panzer Division, which had established bridgeheads on the Dubysa River.

It stalled the German advance for a full day while being attacked by a variety of anti-tank weapons before being overrun after it ran out of ammunition. Historians believed that the new tanks were "scattered" among the army in small numbers, but recent research shows the exact opposite; the new tanks were concentrated into dedicated types such as the mechanized corps. While the re-creating of the mechanised corps had been organised as proposed by Georgy Zhukov, this had not been completed when Nazi Germany attacked in 1941. Done under Marshal Tukhachevsky, the mechanised corps had been broken up by the Commissar for Defence Marshal Voroshilov in a misreading of the lessons of the Spanish Civil War and the Winter War with Finland. Voroshilov had been replaced by Marshal Timoshenko as Commissar in May 1940. Zhukov had drawn a different conclusion about armoured warfare from the success of the panzers in France and from his own experience in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against Japan. Among the mechanized corps, four formations were well equipped.

On the day of German invasion, about 70% of the total T-34 and KV tanks produced at that time were deployed in the 4th, 6th, 8th, 15th MC. The 6th MC operated in the Białystok area, all of the others in the Soviet Ukraine. All of their engagements with German tanks happened during or just before the Battle of Brody: The 15th MC destroyed 43 German tanks for the loss of 13 KVs, six T-34s and 32 BTs from 22 to 26 June 1941. Tank-to-tank battles were rare at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa as the Germans did not seek them; the two stand-out formations, the 4th and 6th MCs, lost all of their T-34 and KVs during movement, not from any German attack. Both corps tried to assemble counterattacks against German infantry, but the counterattacks had no impact and were noticeable; the same pertained to the 15th MC after 26 June. In the first two weeks of the invasion, the Soviet Union suffered the loss of most of its T-34s and KVs, as well as the loss of most of the older tanks: By 12 July 1941, the 4th MC had 45 new vehicles out of the original 414.

By 27 June, the 6th MC had ceas

Ken Thornett known by the nickname of "The Mayor of Parramatta", was an Australian rugby league fullback. He represented the Kangaroos in twelve Tests during 1963 and 1964 and on the off-season Kangaroo Tour. Ken and his two brothers were all exemplary sportsmen. John Thornett was a Wallabies captain who played 37 rugby union Tests for Australia over a distinguished 13-year career from 1955. Dick Thornett represented Australia at rugby league and rugby union. Much of Dick and Ken’s club football career was played together at Parramatta and they had the rare distinction of playing three international rugby league Tests together on the 1963–64 Kangaroo Tour; as his summer sport, Ken was devoted to water polo along with his two brothers John and Dick. Under the tutorship of ex-Hungarian international Bert Vadas, he became an excellent goalkeeper with lightning quick reflexes, was a member of Bronte’s inaugural 1st Grade water polo winning team of the NSWAWPA Premiership in season 1958/59, which feat the club repeated with Ken as goalkeeper in 1959/60.

He lost contact with water polo after departing for England to play rugby league professionally in mid 1960. Thornett began his career playing first grade rugby union with Randwick DRUFC, was the youngest player to be selected to play in a first grade union side. Switching to rugby league, Thornett played with Leeds for several seasons. Ken Thornett played fullback in Leeds' 25-10 victory over Warrington in the Championship Final during the 1960–61 season at Odsal Stadium, Bradford on Saturday 20 May 1961, in front of a crowd of 52,177, he played fullback in Leeds’ 9–19 defeat by Wakefield Trinity in the 1961 Yorkshire County Cup Final during the 1961–62 season at Odsal Stadium, Bradford on Saturday 11 November 1961. Ken Thornett was expected to sign with South Sydney upon a proposed return to Australia for the 1962 season, however negotiations with the Rabbitohs fell through and he signed with Parramatta. Thornett played only seven games in that first season, but the resultant six wins and a draw from those games lifted Parramatta to their first-ever finals position, following eight “wooden spoons” and a paltry 20 percent win record in all matches of the previous ten seasons 1952 to 1961.

Thornett played with Parramatta from 1963, totalled 136 games for the club. Thornett was the prominent Australian rugby league fullback in the early 1960s after Keith Barnes, before Les Johns and Graeme Langlands. Ken played in 10 minor tour games, he made a further six Test appearances and by the end of his representative career in 1964 had played three Tests each against Great Britain and New Zealand, five against France and one against South Africa. Ken Thornett captain-coached Parramatta in 1965 and 1966, but a dispute with the club saw him seek a transfer to Eastern Suburbs, but the blue and golds would not release him from the two years remaining on his contract without a large transfer fee. Ken Thornett retired at the end of 1968, but returned for one season under Ian Walsh in 1971 and helped Parramatta rise from last to fourth. Thornett died in Sydney on 16 August 2016. In 1965 he was named NSW Player of the Year; the western grandstand of Parramatta Stadium was named the Ken Thornett Stand in his honour.

In February 2008, Thornett was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players, commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Ken Thornett at eraofthebiff.com Profile at leedsrugby

Åke Fredrik Hellman was a Swedish-speaking Finnish still life and portrait artist and art professor. He has worked as art teacher at the University of Helsinki. In 1963, he received the order of the Lion of Finland. Åke Hellman was married to the painter Karin Hellman, née Wisuri, 11 days older, until her death on 25 February 2004. They met when studying together at Aalto University School of Arts and Architecture 1934–1938, have the son Karl-Johan and the daughter Åsa, a ceramist. Människan och målaren, a biography of Hellman written by Ulla-Lena Lundberg and Erik Kruskopf, was published until Hellman's 90th birthday in 2005. Hellman turned 100 on 19 July 2015, he died on 18 December 2017 at the age of 102. Åke Hellman in Uppslagsverket Finland. Åke Hellman and his artistship. A Shared Atelier – Karin and Åke Hellman at Kunsthalle Helsinki

Abra Kadavar is the second studio album by German rock band Kadavar, released on 12 April 2013 by Nuclear Blast. The last album to feature bassist Philipp Lippitz and the first to feature bassist Simon Boutsloup who played on the last two tracks; the album consists of nine songs, all composed by Kadavar, plus an additional bonus track, "The Man I Shot". Eduardo Rivadavia's Blabbermouth review was predominantly positive, comparing Kadavar to fellow hard rock band Wolfmother; the review said that the album "shows a lot of heart and soul - all qualities that may help put all held suspicions to rest", hailed "Come Back Life" and "The Man I Shot" as the best songs. In comparison to their debut album Kadavar, Rivadavia noted that the band had made "qualitative improvement on the songwriting and production." All songs composed by Christoph Lindemann, Christoph Bartelt and Philipp Lippitz. Bonus Track KadavarChristoph Lindemann – vocals, electric guitar, synth Philipp Lippitz – bass Christoph Bartelt - drums, organ, backing vocals, engineering, mastering Simon Bouteloup - bass Additional personnelUpneet Neetu Bains - photography Joe Dilworth - photography Nathini Erber - photography

The San Fermín was launched in 1779 and became an armed merchant corvette for the Gipuzkoan Trading Company of Caracas. The British captured her at the Action of 8 January 1780 and took her into the Royal Navy as HMS St. Fermin; the Spanish Navy recaptured her in 1781 and put it into service with the same name until it was excluded in 1785. St Fermin was a 16-gun armed merchantman. On 8 January 1780 she was under the command of Captain J. Vin. Eloy was sailing with a merchant convoy of the company. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney intercepted the convoy at Cape Finisterre and captured it on 8 June. Rodney sent to Britain the vessels of the convoy that were carrying commercial goods, with the captured 64-gun ship Guipuzcoano providing the escort. Rodney took with him for the relief of Gibraltar those vessels that carried naval supplies, together with the two smaller captured escorts, Saint Fermin and Saint Vincent; the British commissioned San Fermin in Gibraltar as the 16-gun sloop of war HMS St Fermin, under Commander Jonathan Faulknor.

Despite Rodney's delivery of supplies and reinforcements, Spain's siege of Gibraltar continued. At 1am on 7 June the Spanish launched an attack on Gibraltar by seven fireships. Boats from St Fermin helped tow some of these to. By the firelight the British observed that some Spanish warships were waiting outside to intercept any British vessels that might try to escape. None did and the attack failed completely. On 19 October St Fermin exchanged shots with some Spanish gunboats. St Fermin was not harmed. On the evening of the 3 April 1781 St Fermin sailed from Gibraltar to Menorca with dispatches, together with the tender to Brilliant, a settee. At the time, the British maintained contact with the British forces there, at least until 1782 when that island fell, by sending small, fast-sailing ships to run the blockade. On the way to Menorca, about 10 miles off Málaga, St Fermin was captured after a chase by two Spanish xebecs the next day, her captors took her to Spain. She served the Spanish Navy until decommissioned in 1785.

Ancell, Samuel A circumstantial journal of the... blockade and siege of Gibraltar, from the 12th Sept. 1779 to the 23d. Feb. 1783. Colledge, J. Ben Warlow, Ben. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy Chatham Publishing ISBN 1-86176-281-X Drinkwater, John A history of the late siege of Gibraltar: With a description and account of that garrison, from the earliest periods.. Hepper, David J.. British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3. Russell, Jack Gibraltar besieged, 1779–1783.. Vela, Rubén E. Presas de la Armada Española 1779–1828: listado de buques apresados e incorporados a la Real Armada por apresamiento. ISBN 1-86176-030-2