The Xia dynasty is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him; the Xia was succeeded by the Shang dynasty. There are no contemporaneous records of the Xia, they are not mentioned in the oldest Chinese texts, since the earliest oracle bone inscriptions date from the late Shang period; the earliest mentions occur in the oldest chapters of the Book of Documents, which report speeches from the early Western Zhou period, are accepted by most scholars as dating from that time. These speeches justify the Zhou conquest of the Shang as the passing of the Mandate of Heaven, likening it to the succession of the Xia by the Shang; this political philosophy was promoted by the Confucian school in the Eastern Zhou period. The succession of dynasties was incorporated into the Bamboo Annals and the Records of the Grand Historian, became the official position of imperial historiography and ideology.

Some scholars consider the Xia dynasty mythical, or at least unsubstantiated, while others identify it with the archaeological Erlitou culture. According to the traditional chronology based upon calculations by Liu Xin, the Xia ruled between 2205 and 1766 BC; the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project, commissioned by the Chinese government in 1996, concluded that the Xia existed between 2070 and 1600 BC. The Xia dynasty was described in classic texts such as the Classic of History, the Bamboo Annals, the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. According to tradition, the Huaxia were the ancestral people of the Han Chinese. Traditional histories trace the development of the Xia to the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. According to ancient Chinese texts, before the Xia dynasty was established, battles were frequent between the Xia tribe and Chi You's tribe; the Xia tribe developed around the time of Zhuanxu, one of the Five Emperors. The Records of the Grand Historian and the Classic of Rites say that Yu the Great is the grandson of Zhuanxu, but there are other records, like Ban Gu, that say Yu is the fifth generation of Zhuanxu.

Based on this, tradition ascribes the ancestry of the Xia clan to Zhuanxu. Gun, the father of Yu the Great, is the earliest recorded member of the Xia clan; when the Yellow River flooded, many tribes united together to stop the flooding. Gun was appointed by Emperor Yao to stop the flooding, he ordered the construction of large blockades to block the path of the water. The attempt of Gun to stop the flooding lasted for nine years, but it was a failure because the floods became stronger. After nine years, Yao had given his throne to Shun. Gun was ordered to be imprisoned for life to reform the Eastern Barbarians by Shun at Yushan, a mountain located between modern Donghai County in Jiangsu Province and Linshu County in Shandong Province. Yu was trusted by Shun, so Shun appointed him to finish his father's work, to stop the flooding. Yu's method was different from his father's: he organized people from different tribes and ordered them to help him build canals in all the major rivers that were flooding and lead the water out to the sea.

Yu was dedicated to his work. People were inspired, so much so that other tribes joined in the work. Legend says that in the 13 years it took him to complete the work to stop the floods, he never went back to his home village to stop and rest though he passed by his house three times. Yu's success in stopping the flooding increased agricultural production; the Xia tribe's power increased and Yu became the leader of the surrounding tribes. Soon afterwards Shun sent Yu to lead an army to suppress the Sanmiao tribe, which continuously abused the border tribes. After defeating them, he exiled them south to the Han River area; this victory strengthened the Xia tribe's power more. As Shun aged, he relinquished the throne to Yu, whom he deemed worthy. Yu's succession marks the start of the Xia dynasty; as Yu neared death he passed the throne to his son, Qi, instead of passing it to the most capable candidate, thus setting the precedent for dynastic rule or the Hereditary System. The Xia dynasty began a period of clan control.

It is believed that Yangcheng was two of the capitals of the dynasty. Jie, the last king, was said to be corrupt, he was overthrown by the first king of the Shang dynasty. Tang is said to have given the small state of Qi as a fief to the remnants of the Xia ruling family; this practice was referred to as "the two crownings and the three respects". Zengzi was a descendant of the Xia dynasty Kings through Shao Kang; the Kings of the State of Yue claimed descent from the Xia dynasty Kings through Shao Kang. The time gap between the supposed time of the Xia and the first written references to it have meant that the historicity of the Xia dynasty itself and the traditional narrative of its history are at best uncertain; the Skeptical School of early Chinese history, started by Gu Jiegang in the 1920s, was the first group of scholars within China to systematically question the traditional story of its early history. By critically examining the development of the narrative of early Chinese history throughout history, Gu concluded "the the time, the longer the legendary period of earlier history... early Chinese history is a tale told and retold for generations, during which new elements were added to the front end".

Some historians have suggested that the Zhou rulers invent

The N-II or N-2 was a derivative of the American Delta rocket, produced under licence in Japan. It replaced the N-I-rocket in Japanese use, it used a Thor-ELT first stage, a Delta-F second stage, nine Castor SRMs, on most flights either a Star-37E or Burner-2 upper stage, identical to the US Delta 0100 series configurations. Eight were launched between 1981 and 1987, before it was replaced by the H-I, which featured Japanese-produced upper stages. All eight launches were successful. Comparison of orbital launchers families Delta rocket H-I H-II H-IIA N-I rocket PGM-17 Thor Wade, Mark. "Delta". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2008-08-31. McDowell, Jonathan. "Thor". Orbital and Suborbital Launch Database. Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2008-08-31. Krebs, Gunter. "N-2". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2008-08-31

Nogometni Klub Brotnjo is a football club based in Čitluk and Herzegovina. The club plays in Second League of the Federation of Herzegovina. Brotnjo plays out of Bare Stadium, which has a capacity of 8,000; the club's crest features the Coat of Arms of Croatia. The name'Brotnjo' comes from the historical name of the region of Čitluk; the biggest success came in 2000. When they won the Bosnian-Herzegovinian play-off competition. That's the club's only championship title which secured them presence in the Champions League first qualifying round. Club lost first match 4:0 against Fbk Kaunas. In second game Brotnjo won 3:0. A year they played in UEFA Cup qualifying round. Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Winners: 1999–2000 Runners-up: 2000–01 Herzeg-Bosnia Cup: Winners: 1998–99 Had senior international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Brotnjo. Blaž Slišković Ivo Ištuk Srećko Lušić

The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield is a Windows and Macintosh computer game released in 1997 and published by Fox Interactive. It allows players to explore the fictional town Springfield featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, the goal is to collect an entire set of character cards throughout the town; the game features dialog by the cast members of the series. Critics have given Virtual Springfield mixed reviews; the plot and gameplay have been the target of criticism, while the game has been praised for its humor. Virtual Springfield is a first-person adventure game that allows players to explore a 3D simulation of Springfield, the fictional town featured in the animated television series The Simpsons and the home of the Simpson family. Many of the familiar locations from the show are present, including Moe's Tavern, Springfield Elementary School, the Kwik-E-Mart, Krustylu Studios, the Simpsons' house. Players can interact with Simpsons characters such as Mr. Burns, Principal Skinner and Ned Flanders in the game.

Virtual Springfield has the overall goal of collecting an entire set of character cards throughout Springfield. To do so, the player must unlock hidden areas by obtaining secret items. A map of the town is featured that gives instructions to players on where to go so that they can progress through the game. Various minigames can be played at certain locations in the game; these include some video games that have been seen on The Simpsons, such as the boxing game Slugfest that Homer and Bart played in the season one episode "Moaning Lisa". Virtual Springfield was published by Fox Interactive for Windows and Macintosh computers in 1997, it was developed by Digital Evolution. When the designers were working on the 3D-visualizations of Springfield at Fox Interactive for the game, they conceived of the project to construct a real-life replica of the Simpsons' house and gave it away in a contest. Cast members of The Simpsons, including Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Pamela Hayden, Russi Taylor, Tress MacNeille, Maggie Roswell, Phil Hartman, provided their voices for the dialog in the game.

Bonita Pietila, who has worked on the show, directed the voice actors. The game includes the theme song from The Simpsons by Danny Elfman. Virtual Springfield was rated Teen in North America by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for "animated violence", "comic mischief", "suggestive themes". Critics have given the game mixed reviews. Billboard's Doug Reece commented that "Unfortunately, the detail is so great that there are moments when Virtual Springfield can become somewhat tedious." Nancy Basile of About.com gave the game a three out of five rating, criticizing the lack of a plot but praising the humor. She wrote that Virtual Springfield "isn't so much a game as an interactive tour of Springfield and The Simpsons characters. Though your task is to collect trading cards around town, it doesn't offer any difficulty in finding them; the game controls make it difficult, however, to collect them. The real fun of Virtual Springfield is browsing the Kwik-E-Mart, visiting Krustylu Studios or hangin' on Evergreen Terrace with the Simpson family.

The entire cast lent their voice to this game, so meeting the characters and hearing their quotes is a lot of laughs."Mark Kanarick of All Game Guide gave Virtual Springfield a three out of five rating. He praised the game for its references to the television series, noting that "The inside jokes and story-lines alone make the game worth it for those that are fans. For casual viewers and non-viewers, there is not enough here to warrant purchase of The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield." Kanarick further wrote that while exploring Springfield was fun at times, "it is very tedious. Reading the map can be a problem for younger kids. If you do not utilize the map to its full extent, you will most find yourself lost in the town and unsure of where to go next. Although it is a full town, you do at times feel constricted, as you can only change directions at certain corners; the rest of the time you are just moving where the computer is telling you to."Joe Toledo of Animation World wrote in his review that "While the software has game-like elements, it is lacking the depth of a true game.

The individual objectives to get into each location are easy to achieve. Once you've been around town a few times, traveling in real time between locations starts to get a bit long. Plus though there are 17 great locations to visit, once you've been to them several times, the novelty starts to wear off. Virtual Springfield would have benefited from having a better gaming element incorporated into it revealing more locations around town and introducing the characters one by one to extend playing time and add an extra layer of depth." The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield at MobyGames

The Kreisliga Südmain was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Main in 1923; the league is named after the river Main, which flows through Frankfurt am Main and reaches the Rhine near Mainz. The league was formed from clubs from the southern side of the river, around the Offenbach am Main area. With two clubs from Aschaffenburg, it included teams from the Bavaria. From 1907, four regional leagues were formed within the structure of the Southern German football championship, in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany, these being: Ostkreis-Liga, covering Bavaria Nordkreis-Liga, covering Hesse Südkreis-Liga, covering Württemberg and Alsace Westkreis-Liga, covering the Palatinate and the southern Rhine ProvinceIn 1908, a first Nordkreis-Liga was established, consisting of ten clubs and playing a home-and-away season. With the outbreak of the First World War, league football came to a halt and, during the war, games were only played on a limited level.

With the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, no Nordkreis championship was played in 1918-19 but football returned to a more organised system in 1919. Southern Germany, now without the Alsace region, which had to be returned to France, was sub-divided into ten Kreisligas, these being: Kreisliga Hessen Kreisliga Nordbayern Kreisliga Nordmain Kreisliga Odenwald Kreisliga Pfalz Kreisliga Saar Kreisliga Südbayern Kreisliga Südmain Kreisliga Südwest Kreisliga WürttembergThe clubs of the former Nordkreis-Liga were split into three regional competitions, Nordmain, Südmain and Hessen, each with ten clubs; the three league winners advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1920-21 season. In 1921-22, the Kreisliga Südmain was split into two groups of eight, increasing the number of tier-one clubs in the region to 16; the two league winners played a final to determine the Südmain champion, which in turn advanced to a Main championship final against the Nordmain champion. The Hessen champion rather played a Rhinehesse/Saar championship.

This "watering down" of football in the region lasted for only one season, in 1922-23, the number of top clubs was reduced to eight clubs in a single division, with a Main final against the Nordmain champion once more. In 1923, a league reform, decided upon in Darmstadt, established the Southern German Bezirksligas which were to replace the Kreisligas; the best four teams each from the Nordmain were admitted to the new Bezirksliga Main. The four clubs from Südmain were: Kickers Offenbach SC Bürgel Viktoria Aschaffenburg SpVgg Offenbach The clubs from the Kreisliga Südmain were not successful in this era and none managed to qualify for the German championship. Played in 1922 and 1923, these were the finals: 1922: Südmain final: VfL Neu-Isenburg - Union Niederrad 3-0 / 4-1 Main final: Germania 94 Frankfurt - VfL Neu-Isenburg 1-0 / 0-3 / 4-2 1923: Main final: FSV Frankfurt - Kickers Offenbach 0-1 / 7-2 / 2-1 Qualified teams and their success: 1920: Kickers Offenbach, Group stage 1921: Kickers Offenbach, Group stage 1922: VfL Neu-Isenburg, not qualified 1923: Kickers Offenbach, not qualified 1 Withdrew before or during the season.

2 FV and Viktoria merged in 1921 to form VfL Neu-Isenburg. 3 Viktoria moved from the Kreisliga Odenwald to the Kreisliga Nordmain in 1920 and to the Kreisliga Südmain in 1921. Fussball-Jahrbuch Deutschland and results of the German tier-one leagues 1919-33, publisher: DSFS Kicker Almanach, The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll The Gauligas Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv German league tables 1892-1933 Hirschi's Fussball seiten Germany - Championships 1902-1945 at RSSSF.com

Countess Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya anglicized to Tolstoy, was the youngest daughter and secretary of the noted Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. The youngest daughter of Leo Tolstoy and of his wife Sophia, Alexandra was close to her father. In 1901, at the age of seventeen, she became his secretary, he appointed her as executor of his will, a task she had to undertake in 1910. Although Alexandra shared her father's belief in non-violence, she felt it was her duty to take part in the events of the First World War and served as a nurse on the Turkish and German fronts; this led to her being admitted to hospital herself. After the war, she worked on an edition of her father's writings. However, after allowing White Russians to meet in her Moscow home, she was arrested five times by the Bolsheviks and in 1920 was sent to prison for a year. In 1921 she became the director of the Tolstoy museum at Yasnaya Polyana, she was given permission to leave the Soviet Union in 1929, settled in the United States, where she gave lectures and worked as a chicken farmer.

Some years into this life, she was visited by Tatiana Schaufuss, an old friend who had spent several years in prison and in exile in Siberia. Together, in 1939 they founded the Tolstoy Foundation. Tolstaya became a naturalized U. S. citizen in 1941, abandoning the use of the title of countess. In 1974, at the age of ninety, Tolstaya received birthday greetings from President Nixon, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, others, was interviewed by The New York Times, she commented: “I don't believe in everything the Orthodox Church says, I don't believe in miracles, but want the people to go to church. Maybe my father could live without church and without God, but we weaker people need something to support us, they will say I am old fashioned, but I am afraid for this country, because of lack of religion among the young ones, drugs and the shamelessness of youth.” Countess Alexandra Tolstoy interview at YouTube Bio at Tolstoy Foundation web site Picture of Alexandra Tolstoy in Valley Cottage The human spirit is free, Alexandra Tolstaya's appearances by Radio Svoboda's microphone.

Introduction by Ivan Tolstoy, April 28, 2008. 1970 film from National Archive Saint Sergius Learning Center founded in association with Tolstoy Foundation in Valley Cottage Rayfield, Donald and His Hangmen, Random House, 2004, ISBN 0-375-75771-6