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Madcap is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Madcap first appeared in Captain America #307 (July 1985) and was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary.
Most of the villains Gruenwald introduced in Captain America were created to symbolize aspects of contemporary American culture and the world political situation. Gruenwald stated, "Madcap represents purposelessness, the disaffected youth of today who thinks 'What's the reason for doing anything?' The ultimate dropout generation."
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Avenue of Sphinxes or The King's Festivities Road, also known as Rams Road (Arabic: طريق الكباش) is a 2.7 km (1.7 mi) long avenue (dromos) which connects Karnak Temple with Luxor Temple having been uncovered in the ancient city of Thebes (modern Luxor), with sphinxes and ram-headed statues lined up on both flanks.
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Allen L. Milgrom (born March 6, 1950) is an American comic book writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel Comics. He is known for his 10-year run as editor of Marvel Fanfare; his long involvement as writer, penciler, and inker on Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man; his four-year tenure as West Coast Avengers penciller; and his long stint as the inker of X-Factor. He often inks Jim Starlin's work. Milgrom is the co-creator of DC superhero Firestorm.
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Stevie Hunter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Her first appearance was in The Uncanny X-Men #139 as a surprise dance teacher for the newest X-Man/Student, Kitty Pryde, a.k.a. Shadowcat. She has continued to make some scattered appearance in X-Men comic books.
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Magma (Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla, also known as Alison Crestmere) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Chris Claremont, John Buscema, Glynis Wein, and Bob McLeod; she first appeared in the series New Mutants and appears in various X-Men comics.
Like other New Mutants characters, Amara was originally depicted as a young mutant aspiring to become a hero. She has the ability to generate lava and uses the codename Magma.
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Empath (Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo de la Rocha) is a fictional mutant character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as possessing the ability to control emotion in other people.
Empath was created by Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema and first appeared in New Mutants #16-17 (June–July 1984) as a member of Emma Frost's original Hellions.
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The Ani-Mator (Dr. Frederick Animus) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Ani-Mator appeared in New Mutants vol. 1 #59 (January 1988) and was created by Louise Simonson and Bret Blevins.
Dr. Frederick Animus was a geneticist employed by a university conducting medical research, but instead concentrated on research of mutation. When he falsified reports on the effectiveness of medication, several people died; as a result he was investigated, fired and jailed for negligence. It was there he met Cameron Hodge. Taking the name Ani-Mator, he was employed as a geneticist by Cameron Hodge's organization The Right to research a means of stopping the process that created mutants. When the Right set him up on a deserted island in the North Atlantic he named Paradise, Animus instead created a race of "Ani-Mates" through gene slicing and selective breeding, which combined the characteristics of human beings and other animals, intending for them to be a slave race for humanity.
One of the Ani-Mates, Bird-Brain, escaped the island and ultimately befriended the New Mutants. They returned to the island to stop the mad scientist's experiments. They succeeded in defeating Animus' creations, but right afterwards they were captured by Hodge and agents of The Right, who had become suspicious of the doctor's activities. Bird-Brain subsequently rallied the surviving Ani-Mates to help rescue his human friends. During the fight with the Right troopers, Animus broke free and attempted to shoot and kill Wolfsbane. Instead hit and killed Cypher, who had pushed Rahne out of the way. In retaliation, Magik threatened to shoot Ani-Mator with his own gun until being talked down by Wolfsbane, and instead exiled him to the dimension of Limbo. There he was captured by S'ym, transferred into a demon of living circuitry, and forced to serve in S'ym's army.
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When the Right set him up on a deserted island in the North Atlantic he named Paradise, Animus instead created a race of "Ani-Mates" through gene slicing and selective breeding, which combined the characteristics of human beings and other animals, intending for them to be a slave race for humanity.
Gotta enslave somebody, right?
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Victor Zsasz, also known as Mr. Zsasz or simply Zsasz, is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 (June 1992). He is a sadomasochistic and psychopathic serial killer who carves a tally mark onto himself for each of his victims. A recurring adversary of the superhero Batman, Zsasz belongs to the collective of enemies that make up Batman's rogues gallery.
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Skids (Sally Blevins) is a fictional mutant character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Jackson Guice, Skids first appeared in X-Factor #7 (August 1986), first as one of the sewer-dwelling Morlocks and then as a young ward of X-Factor. She remained as a supporting character through X-Factor #33, but during the events of Inferno, she formed the X-Terminators along with peers Boom-Boom, Rusty Collins, and Rictor, as well as younger mutant children Artie Maddicks, Leech, and Wiz Kid, in X-Terminators #1-4 (1988). After Inferno, Skids (along with the older three X-Terminators) joined the remaining members of the New Mutants in New Mutants vol. 1 #76, but leaves the title as a regular after joining the Mutant Liberation Front with Rusty in New Mutants vol. 1 #87 (1990). Skids would then leave regular publication but appear semi-regularly as an antagonist to the X-Men and X-Force, originally with the MLF in X-Men (vol. 2) #13-15 (1992) and X-Force #24 (1993), but later with the Acolytes: X-Men (vol. 2) #25 (1993), Cable #10-11 (1994); The Uncanny X-Men #315 (1994), and X-Men (vol. 2) #42-44 (1995). Subsequently, Skids left the Acolytes and appeared infrequently in publication, only in isolated stories: as a college student trying to rebuild her life in X-Force #78-80, 85 (1998–99), as a member of the X-Corporation in X-Treme X-Men #42-46 (2004), as one of The 198 in X-Men (vol. 2) #183-184 (2006), as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent infiltrating the Morlocks in The Uncanny X-Men #487-491 (2007), and most recently, still with S.H.I.E.L.D. in Tales of Suspense #101-104 (2018).
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The Spook is Val Kaliban, a costumed villain and enemy to Batman in Gotham City. He is an expert hypnotist and escapologist, who uses theatrical effects to simulate supernatural events. These are used to enthrall his victims while he commits crimes. Kaliban was beheaded by Damian Wayne during the events of Batman and Son. The Spook was created by Frank Robbins and Irv Novick, first appearing in Detective Comics #434. (1973)
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Rintrah is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an other-dimensional mystic. The character, created by Peter B. Gillis and Chris Warner, first appeared in Doctor Strange #80 (Dec. 1986).
Rintrah was depicted as a green furred minotaur. Within the context of the stories, Rintrah comes from an other-dimensional planet called R'Vaal. There, because of his sensitivity to occult forces and his potential to become a skilled sorcerer, he is an apprentice to Enitharmon the Weaver. When Doctor Strange brings his Cloak of Levitation to Enitharmon for repair, the weaver sends Rintrah to return the restored cloak. After delivering the cloak, Strange briefly, and with permission, possesses his body to fend off Urthona. He remains with Strange for a short time before returning to his apprenticeship.
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James Arthur Madrox, also called the Multiple Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Len Wein, he first appeared in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (February 1975).
A mutant with the ability to create instant duplicates of himself, Madrox was mainly a minor or supporting character until his appearance in the 1987 miniseries Fallen Angels. The character underwent greater development under writer Peter David through his appearance in David's run of the monthly series X-Factor (vol. 1) in the 1990s, and in David's second and ongoing run of the title (vol. 3) in the 2000s.
The character has appeared in multiple television, film and video game adaptations, most notably in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand, in which he was portrayed by Eric Dane.
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Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Midland County with small portions extending into Martin County. The population was 132,524 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Midland is a major center for American oil and natural gas production.
Midland is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Midland County, the population of which was 169,983 in the 2020 U.S. Census. The metropolitan area is part of the larger Midland–Odessa combined statistical area, which had a population of 340,391 in the 2020 census. Residents of Midland are referred to as 'Midlanders'.
Midland was founded as the midway point between Fort Worth and El Paso on the Texas and Pacific Railroad in 1881. The city has many connections to the Bush family; it was the onetime home of former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush and the hometown of former First Lady Laura Bush. The George W. Bush Childhood Home is located in Midland.
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Donald Pierce is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a cyborg and is commonly an enemy of the X-Men.
Donald Pierce appears in the 2017 film Logan, portrayed by Boyd Holbrook.
Donald Pierce first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #132 April 1980, and was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Pierce's name and appearance were modeled by Byrne upon Donald Sutherland. The character's last name comes from Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Sutherland's character in the 1970 film M*A*S*H.
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"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" is a dystopian science fiction short story by American writer Harlan Ellison that was published in 1965. It is nonlinear in that the narrative begins in the middle, then moves to the beginning, then the end, without the use of flashbacks. Stylistically, the story deliberately ignores many of the conventional "rules of good writing", including a paragraph about jelly beans which is almost entirely one run-on sentence. First appearing in the science fiction magazine Galaxy in December 1965, it won the 1966 Hugo Award, the 1965 Nebula Award and the 2015 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award.
"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" was written in 1965 in a single six-hour session as a submission to a Milford Writer's Workshop the following day. A version of the story, read by Ellison, was recorded and issued on vinyl, but has long been out of print. The audio recording has since been reissued with other stories, by Blackstone Audio, under the title "The Voice From the Edge, Vol. 1". It was first collected in Ellison's Paingod and Other Delusions and has also appeared in several retrospective volumes of Ellison's work, including Alone Against Tomorrow, The Fantasies of Harlan Ellison, The Essential Ellison, Troublemakers and The Top of the Volcano. The story has been translated into numerous foreign languages.
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Mefisto in Onyx is a science fiction novella by American writer Harlan Ellison. The introduction and cover art were contributed by Frank Miller. Originally published in OMNI Magazine October 1993, then released as a hardcover in December 1993, Mefisto in Onyx was later included in Harlan Ellison's 1997 collection Slippage.
Ellison stated in an interview with Salon that he wrote Mefisto in Onyx to be adapted into a film starring Forest Whitaker.
The story won the 1993 Bram Stoker Award, tied with The Night We Buried Road Dog by Jack Cady. It also won first place in the 1994 Locus Poll Award "Best Novella" category.
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Christine is a horror novel by American writer Stephen King, published in 1983. It tells the story of a car (a 1958 Plymouth Fury) apparently possessed by malevolent supernatural forces. A film adaptation, directed by John Carpenter, was released eight months later in December of the same year. In April 2013, PS Publishing released Christine in a limited 30th Anniversary Edition.
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Enbridge Inc. is a Canadian multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids, and also generates renewable energy. Enbridge's pipeline system is the longest in North America and the largest oil export pipeline network in the world. Its crude oil system consists of 28,661 kilometres (17,809 miles) of pipelines. Its 38,300 kilometre (23,800 mile) natural gas pipeline system connects multiple Canadian provinces, several US states, and the Gulf of Mexico. The company was formed by Imperial Oil in 1949 as the Interprovincial Pipe Line Company Limited to transport Alberta oil to refineries. Over time, it has grown through acquisition of other existing pipeline companies and the expansion of their projects.
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Kamakura (鎌倉) officially Kamakura City (鎌倉市, Kamakura-shi) is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the total area of 39.67 km2 (15.32 sq mi). Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939.
Kamakura is one of Japan's ancient capitals, alongside Kyoto and Nara, and it served as the seat of the Kamakura shogunate from 1185 to 1333, established by Minamoto no Yoritomo. It was the first military government in Japan's history. After the downfall of the shogunate, Kamakura saw a temporary decline. However, during the Edo period, it regained popularity as a tourist destination among the townspeople of Edo. Despite suffering significant losses of historical and cultural assets due to the Great Kantō Earthquake in 1923, Kamakura continues to be one of the major tourist attractions in the Kanto region, known for its historical landmarks such as Tsurugaoka Hachimangū and the Great Buddha of Kamakura.
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Sasebo (佐世保市, Sasebo-shi) is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons per km2 (1,505 persons per square mile). The total area is 426.06 km2 (165 sq mi).
The city includes a part of Saikai National Park. Located in the southern part of the city is the Dutch-styled theme park Huis Ten Bosch. The island of Ukujima is administered as part of Sasebo city.
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Ronin is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by John David Zeik and David Mamet, under the pseudonym Richard Weisz. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, and Jonathan Pryce. The film is about a team of former special operatives hired to steal a mysterious, heavily guarded briefcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties. The film was praised for its realistic car chases in Nice and Paris.
Frankenheimer signed to direct Zeik's screenplay, which Mamet rewrote to expand De Niro's role and develop plot details, in 1997. The film was photographed by Robert Fraisse in his native France from November 3, 1997, to March 3, 1998. Professional racing car drivers coordinated and performed the vehicle stunts, and Elia Cmiral scored the film, his first for a major studio.
Ronin premiered at the 1998 Venice Film Festival before its general release on September 25. Critics were generally positive about the film's action, casting, and technical aspects, while the plot attracted criticism. The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $70.7 million on a $55 million budget. Ronin, Frankenheimer's last well-received feature film, was considered to be a return to form for the director. Film critic and historian Stephen Prince called the film Frankenheimer's "end-of-career masterpiece". The car chases, which were favorably compared with those in Bullitt and The French Connection, were included on several media outlets' lists as among the best depicted on film.
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Creepshow is a 1982 American horror comedy anthology film directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King, making this film his screenwriting debut. The film's ensemble cast includes Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Carrie Nye, E. G. Marshall, and Viveca Lindfors as well as King himself. The film was primarily shot on location in Pittsburgh and its suburbs, including Monroeville, where Romero leased an old boys' academy (Penn Hall) to build extensive sets for the film.
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Torpedo is the name of five fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The first version of the Torpedo is a hitman sent by a crime boss to assassinate a witness, but is defeated by the hero Daredevil.
The second version is Michael Stivak, a young scientist brought to the United States by his uncle, U.S. Senator Eugene Stivak. Asked to design a battlesuit for national defense, Michael Stivak develops a costume equipped with turbo-jets that can propel the wearer through the air and magnify physical blows. Learning that his uncle is the leader of the criminal organization the Corporation, Michael Stivak designs an inferior battlesuit for his uncle and secretly develops another suit. Using the alias "Torpedo", Michael Stivak attempts to destroy the plans for the suit and flaunts the suit's power by attacking two policemen. Following Stivak's path of destruction, Daredevil attacks. During their battle the building collapses on them.
Brock Jones witnesses the battle between Daredevil and Torpedo and frees the dying Michael Stivak. He explains the history of the battlesuit, and entrusts the completion of his mission to Jones. Once in costume, Jones is mistaken for Stivak and becomes a wanted criminal for both Stivak's crimes and killing Stivak. Jones acquires the final set of plans but is attacked by Daredevil before he can escape. When their battle lays waste to a suburban family home, Jones surrenders his mission, gives the plans over to Daredevil, and retires from superheroing. However, shortly after, a chance sighting of the Chameleon tempts Jones into going back on his vow to never wear the suit again.
Senator Stivak sends another squad of Rocketeers to attack the new Torpedo, but after several skirmishes Jones defeats them (with Stivak dying of a heart attack). Torpedo briefly aids superhero team the Defenders and reappears in the town of Clairton as an ally of the Spaceknight Rom. It is revealed that the alien Dire Wraiths instigated the creation of the battlesuit with the intent to use it against Rom. The Torpedo allies with Rom and together they battle a squad of Rocketeers.[9] The Torpedo acts as the guardian of the town of Clairton in Rom's absence,[10] and after thinking the Wraith threat ended, retires. Jones is then murdered by a group of newly arrived Wraiths who use sorcery.
The battlesuit is bequeathed to Jones' first cousin Phillip Jeffries and is found in storage by his son Michael Brent Jeffries. Michael and friend Michiko "Mickey" Musashi shared the suit and adopted the codename Turbo. Michael was murdered by the Dire Wraith queen Volx, who was posing as Brock Jones' son Danny (Michael's second cousin).
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Xandar is a fictional planet appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The planet is depicted as being in the Tranta system in the Andromeda Galaxy. It is best known as the home world of the Nova Corps, an intergalactic police task force. Xandar is also the home planet of Firelord and Air-Walker, former Heralds of Galactus, as well as the super-villain and anti-hero Supernova.
The first appearance of Xandar was made in Nova #1 (1976) by writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Buscema. The 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy introduced it to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as an alien planet where the major plot took place.
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Terrax the Tamer is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist John Byrne and writer Marv Wolfman, the character first appeared in October 1979, and is a herald of cosmic entity Galactus and enemy of the Fantastic Four.
The character has made several appearances in media, including several animated television shows, video games and was included in the Marvel Legends and Minimate toylines.
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Mostar is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina.
Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in the country. Mostar was named after the bridge keepers (Mostari) who guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva during the Ottoman era. The Old Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's most visited landmarks, and is considered an exemplary piece of Islamic architecture in the Balkans.
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Hot tapping, or pressure tapping, is the method of making a connection to existing piping or pressure vessels without the interrupting or emptying of that section of pipe or vessel. This means that a pipe or tank can continue to be in operation whilst maintenance or modifications are being done to it. The process is also used to drain off pressurized casing fluids and add test points or various sensors such as temperature and pressure. Hot taps can range from a ½ inch hole designed for something as simple as quality control testing, up to a 48-inch tap for the installation of a variety of ports, valves, t-sections or other pipes.
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Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between 20 and 40 carbon atoms. It is solid at room temperature and begins to melt above approximately 37 °C (99 °F), and its boiling point is above 370 °C (698 °F). Common applications for paraffin wax include lubrication, electrical insulation, and candles; dyed paraffin wax can be made into crayons. It is distinct from kerosene and other petroleum products that are sometimes called paraffin.
Un-dyed, unscented paraffin candles are odorless and bluish-white. Paraffin wax was first created by Carl Reichenbach in Germany in 1830 and marked a major advancement in candlemaking technology, as it burned more cleanly and reliably than tallow candles and was cheaper to produce.
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The Micronauts are comic books featuring a group of characters based on the Mego Micronauts toy line. The first title was published by American company Marvel Comics in 1979, with both original characters and characters based on the toys. Marvel published two Micronauts series, mostly written by Bill Mantlo, until 1986, well after the toy line was cancelled in 1980. In the 2000s, Image Comics and Devil's Due Publishing each briefly published their own Micronauts series. Byron Preiss Visual Publications also published three paperback novels based on the Micronauts. In 2016, IDW Publishing published a new comic book series. A live-action film version of the Micronauts was in development by Hasbro Studios and Paramount in 2015. In May 2023, Marvel re-acquired the licensing rights to publish The Micronauts.
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Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing a border with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Togo in the east. Ghana covers an area of 239,567 km2 (92,497 sq mi), spanning diverse biomes that range from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. With over 32 million inhabitants, Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa. The capital and largest city is Accra; other significant cities include Kumasi, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi.
The earliest kingdoms to emerge in Ghana were the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north and the Bono state in the south, with the Bono state existing in the area during the 11th century. The Ashanti Empire and other Akan kingdoms in the south emerged over the centuries. Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire, followed by other European powers, contested the area for trading rights, until the British ultimately established control of the coast by the 19th century. Following over a century of colonial resistance, the current borders of the country took shape, encompassing four separate British colonial territories: Gold Coast, Ashanti, the Northern Territories, and British Togoland. These were unified as an independent dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations. On 6 March 1957, Ghana became the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve sovereignty. Ghana subsequently became influential in decolonisation efforts and the Pan-African movement.
Ghana is a multi-ethnic country with linguistic and religious groups; while the Akan are the largest ethnic group, they constitute a plurality. Most Ghanaians are Christians (71.3%); almost a fifth are Muslims; a tenth practise traditional faiths or report no religion. Ghana is a unitary constitutional democracy led by a president who is head of state and head of government. For political stability in Africa, Ghana ranked seventh in the 2012 Ibrahim Index of African Governance and fifth in the 2012 Fragile States Index. It has maintained since 1993 one of the freest and most stable governments on the continent, and it performs relatively well in healthcare, economic growth, and human development,[15][18] so that it has a significant influence in West Africa and Africa as a whole. Ghana is highly integrated in international affairs, being a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, African Union and a member of the Economic Community of West African States, Group of 24 and Commonwealth of Nations.
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rapper Keeper is a brand of loose-leaf binder created by Mead. Popular with students in the United States and parts of Latin America from the 1970s to the 1990s, it featured sliding plastic rings (instead of standard snap-closed metal binder rings), folders, and pockets to keep schoolwork and papers, and a wrap-around flap with a Velcro closure (originally a metal snap closure).
Trapper Keepers usually had a theme, such as a cartoon, television show, or video game. Between 1988 and 1995, "Designer Series" Trapper Keepers featured abstract designs and, later, computer-generated images.
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Steel is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is a genius engineer who built a mechanized suit of armor that mirrors Superman's powers, and initially sought to replace him after he was killed by Doomsday. After Superman was resurrected, he accepted Steel as an ally. His real name is John Henry Irons and he wields a sledgehammer—this is a reference to the mythical railroad worker John Henry. He has a niece named Natasha Irons who is also a superhero in a similar mechanized suit of armour.
The character was portrayed by Shaquille O'Neal in the 1997 film adaptation of the same name. Wolé Parks portrays the character in the television series Superman & Lois.
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David Thomas Jones (30 December 1945 – 29 February 2012) was an English actor and singer. Best known as a member of the band The Monkees and a co-star of the TV series The Monkees (1966–1968), Jones was considered a teen idol.
Aside from his work on The Monkees TV show, Jones's acting credits include a Tony-nominated performance as the Artful Dodger in the original London and Broadway productions of Oliver! and a guest-starring role in a hallmark episode of The Brady Bunch television show and a later reprised parody film.
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Bizarro is a supervillain or anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in Superboy #68 (1958). Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books (1956 – c. 1970), the character has often been portrayed as an antagonist to Superman, though on occasion he also takes on an antihero role.
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Royal Vopak N.V. (Dutch: Koninklijke Vopak) is a Dutch independent multinational company that stores and handles products ranging from chemicals, oil, gases and LNG to biofuels and vegoils. Its purpose is to "Store vital products with care", which derives from the products Vopak stores and how they are being stored. The company was created by the merger of Van Ommeren and Pakhoed in 1999. In 2002, the distribution of oil and natural gas related products was split off; a new company Univar was created for that purpose. The head office is located in Rotterdam.
Vopak is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
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Princess-Majestrix Lilandra Neramani is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. She is the Empress, or Majestrix, of the Shi'ar Empire and shares a lifelong bond with the leader of the X-Men, Charles Xavier. She and Xavier were married, but their marriage was annulled after the Cassandra Nova incident.
As the Empress, Lilandra is protected by the Imperial Guard, led by Gladiator.
Lilandra has often been a pivotal secondary character in the X-Men's history, from her participation in the Phoenix Saga, to her role in Grant Morrison's experimental and controversial run on New X-Men. Her role as one of Professor X's most cherished loves has played a significant part in the development of both characters, as well as many of the plots throughout the X-Men books.
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Parasite is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Each iteration of the character has the ability to temporarily absorb the life force, attributes, memories, and superpowers of anyone through physical touch. The most well-known and recurring incarnation is Rudy Jones, who has become one of Superman's most enduring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery. In 2009, Parasite was ranked as IGN's 61st Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.
The Rudy Jones incarnation of the Parasite has been substantially adapted from the comics into multiple forms of media, most notably in the DC Animated Universe's Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League as well as the live-action TV series Smallville and Supergirl, portrayed by Brendan Fletcher and William Mapother respectively. Additionally, Raymond Jensen and Alexandra Allston, Ally Allston, appear in Supergirl and Superman & Lois, portrayed by Anthony Konechny and Rye Kihlstedt respectively.
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Bernard Hill (17 December 1944 – 5 May 2024) was an English actor. He is known for playing Théoden, King of Rohan, in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Captain Edward Smith in Titanic, and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison, in the Clint Eastwood film True Crime. Hill is also known for playing roles in television dramas, including Yosser Hughes, the troubled "hard man" whose life is falling apart in Alan Bleasdale's Boys from the Blackstuff in the 1980s, and more recently, as the Duke of Norfolk in the BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall.
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Michael Cudlitz (born December 29, 1964) is an American actor known for portraying John Cooper in the NBC/TNT drama series Southland for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2013, Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, and Sergeant Abraham Ford in the AMC horror series The Walking Dead.
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Black Sails is an American historical adventure television series set on New Providence Island and written to be a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island. The series was created by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine for Starz. It debuted online for free on YouTube and other various streaming platform and video-on-demand services on January 18, 2014. The debut on cable television followed a week later on January 25, 2014. Steinberg is executive producer, alongside Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, while Michael Angeli, Doris Egan, and Levine are co-executive producers. The show features treasure-seeking pirates fending off British government attempts to stop them.
On July 26, 2013, Starz renewed the show for a ten-episode second season, which premiered on January 24, 2015. The early renewal, six months before the first season premiered, was based on the positive fan reaction to the show at the San Diego Comic-Con. The series was renewed for a third season on October 12, 2014, and a fourth season on July 31, 2015, both before the respective previous seasons had premiered. On July 20, 2016, Starz announced that the series' fourth season would be its last; the season premiered on January 29, 2017, and the series concluded on April 2, 2017.
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Jessica Parker Kennedy (born October 3, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She played Melissa Glaser on the CW series The Secret Circle, Max on the Starz original series Black Sails and Nora West-Allen / XS on The Flash, and has also appeared on the television series Smallville, Undercovers, Kaya and Colony.
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Edward Teach (or Thatch; c. 1680 – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he may have been a sailor on privateer ships during Queen Anne's War before he settled on the Bahamian island of New Providence, a base for Captain Benjamin Hornigold, whose crew Teach joined around 1716. Hornigold placed him in command of a sloop that he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Their numbers were boosted by the addition to their fleet of two more ships, one of which was commanded by Stede Bonnet, but Hornigold retired from piracy toward the end of 1717, taking two vessels with him.
Teach captured a French slave ship known as La Concorde, renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge, equipped her with 40 guns, and crewed her with over 300 men. He became a renowned pirate. His nickname derived from his thick black beard and fearsome appearance. He was reported to have tied lit fuses (slow matches) under his hat to frighten his enemies. He formed an alliance of pirates and blockaded the port of Charles Town, South Carolina, ransoming the port's inhabitants. He then ran Queen Anne's Revenge aground on a sandbar near Beaufort, North Carolina. He parted company with Stede Bonnet and settled in Bath, North Carolina, also known as Bath Town, where he accepted a royal pardon. However, he was soon back at sea, where he attracted the attention of Alexander Spotswood, the governor of Virginia. Spotswood arranged for a party of soldiers and sailors to capture him. On 22 November 1718, following a ferocious battle, Teach and several of his crew were killed by a small force of sailors led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
Teach was a shrewd and calculating leader who spurned the use of violence, relying instead on his fearsome image to elicit the response that he desired from those whom he robbed. He was romanticised after his death and became the inspiration for an archetypal pirate in works of fiction across many genres.
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Roger Corman, as a director and/or producer, is credited with starting and/or mentoring the careers of many now-famous film directors, such as Jonathan Demme, Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, John Sayles, James Cameron, Joe Dante, and Martin Scorsese, and writers such as Robert Towne and John Sayles. He also discovered/gave early roles to then-unknown actors and actresses such as Jack Nicholson, Charles Bronson, Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Diane Ladd and Sandra Bullock.
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Charles Vane (c. 1680 – 29 March 1721) was an English pirate who operated in the Bahamas during the end of the Golden Age of Piracy.
Vane was likely born in the Kingdom of England around 1680. One of his first pirate ventures was under the leadership of Henry Jennings, during Jennings' attack on the salvage camp for the wrecked Spanish 1715 Treasure Fleet off the coast of Florida. By 1717, Vane was commanding his own vessels and was one of the leaders of the Republic of Pirates in Nassau. In 1718, Vane was captured but agreed to stop his criminal actions and declared his intention to accept a King's Pardon; however, just months later he and his men, including Edward England and Jack Rackham, returned to piracy. Unlike some other notable pirate captains of the age like Benjamin Hornigold and Samuel Bellamy, Vane was known for his cruelty, often beating, torturing and killing sailors from ships he captured. In February 1719, Vane was caught in a storm in the Bay Islands and was marooned on an uncharted island. Upon being discovered by a passing British ship, he was arrested and brought to Port Royal where he was eventually tried and hanged in March 1721.
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Ion milling is a specialized physical etching technique that is a crucial step in the preparation of material analysis techniques. After a specimen goes through ion milling, the surface becomes much smoother and more defined, which allows scientists to study the material much easier. The ion mill generates high-energy particles to remove material off the surface of a specimen, similar to how sand and dust particles wear away at rocks in a canyon to create a smooth surface. Relative to other techniques, ion milling creates much less surface damage, which makes it perfect for surface-sensitive analytical techniques. This article discusses the principle, equipment, applications, and significance of ion milling.