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Zemun

Zemun (Земун, ; Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The development of New Belgrade in the late 20th century expanded the continuous urban area of Belgrade and merged it with Zemun.

The town was conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary in the 12th century and in the 15th century it was given as a personal possession to the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković. After the Serbian Despotate fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1459, Zemun became an important military outpost. Its strategic location near the confluence of the Sava and the Danube placed it in the center of the continued border wars between the Habsburg and the Ottoman empires. The Treaty of Passarowitz of 1718 finally placed the town into Habsburg possession, the Military Frontier was organized in the region in 1746, and the town of Zemun was granted the rights of a military commune in 1749. In 1777, Zemun had 6,800 residents, half of which were ethnic Serbs, while another half of the population was composed of Germans, Hungarians and Jews. With the abolishment of the Military Frontier in 1881, Zemun and the rest of the eastern Srem was included into Syrmia County of Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, part of Austria-Hungary. Following Austro-Hungarian defeat in World War I, Zemun returned to Serbian control on November 5, 1918 and became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Kingdom of Yugoslavia).

According to the 2022 census results, the municipality of Zemun has a population of 177,908 inhabitants. Apart from the Zemun proper, the municipality includes suburbs of Batajnica, Ugrinovci, Zemun Polje and Nova Galenika to the northwest.

Name
In ancient times, the Celtic and Roman settlement was known as Taurunum. The Frankish chroniclers of the Crusades mentioned it as Mallevila, a toponym from the 9th century. This was also a period when the Slavic name Zemln was recorded for the first time. Believed to be derived from the word zemlja, meaning soil, it was a basis for all other future names of the city: modern Serbian Земун (Cyrillic) or Zemun (Latin), Za·munt (Romanian), Hungarian Zimony and German Semlin, which is mentioned in the Austrian-German folksong Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritter as the place where the army of Prince Eugene of Savoy set up camp before the Siege of Belgrade (1717) that liberated the city from the Ottoman Empire.

History
The area of Zemun has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. Baden culture graves and ceramics like bowls and anthropomorphic urns were found in the town. Bosut culture graves were found in nearby Asfaltna Baza. The first Celtic settlements in Taurunum area originate from the 3rd century BC when the Scordisci occupied several Thracian and Dacian areas of the Danube. The Scordisci founded both Taurunum and Singidunum across the Sava, predecessor of modern Belgrade. The Romans came in the 1st century BC, Taurunum became part of the Roman province of Pannonia around 15 AD. It had a fortress and served as a harbour for the Pannonian (Roman) fleet of Singidunum  (Belgrade). The pen of Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) was said to be found in Taurunum. After the Great Migrations the area was under the authority of various peoples and states, including the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of the Gepids and the Bulgarian Empire. The town was conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary in the 12th century and in the 15th century it was given as a personal possession to the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković. After the nearby Serbian Despotate fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1459, Zemun became an important military outpost. In 1521, the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary, 500 šajkaši (river flotilla troops) led by Croatian Marko Skoblić, and Serbs fought against the invading Ottoman army of Suleyman the Magnificent. Despite hard resistance, Zemun fell on July 12 and Belgrade soon afterwards. In 1541, Zemun was integrated into the Syrmia sanjak of the Budin pashaluk.

Zemun and the southeastern Syrmia were conquered by the Austrian Habsburgs in 1717, after the Ottoman defeat at the Battle of Peterwardein (5 August 1716) and through the Treaty of Požarevac (German: Passarowitz) became a property of the Schönborn family. In 1736, Zemun was the site of a peasant revolt. Its strategic location near the confluence of the Sava and the Danube placed it in the center of the continued border wars between the Habsburg and the Ottoman empires. The Treaty of Belgrade of 1739 finally fixed the border, the Military Frontier was organized in the region in 1746, and the town of Zemun was granted the rights of a military commune in 1749. In 1754, the population of Zemun included 1,900 Eastern Orthodox Christians, 600 Catholics, 76 Jews, and about 100 Romani. In 1777, the population of Zemun numbered 1,130 houses with 6,800 residents, half of which were ethnic Serbs, while another half of population was composed of Catholics, Jews, Armenians and Muslims. Among Catholic population, the largest ethnic group were Germans. From this period originates the increased settlement of Germans and Hungarians in the Zemun.

While during the Ottoman period Zemun was a typical oriental-type small town, with khans, mosques and large number of Turkish population, after becoming part of Austria, the town prospered as an important road intersection and a border city, which boosted trade. The town had a port on the Danube and was a major fishing center. It is recorded that in 1793, a 700 kg heavy Beluga sturgeon was caught. In 1816 it was greatly expanded by mass resettlement of Germans and Serbs  in the new town suburbs of Franzenstal and Gornja Varoš, respectively. In the 19th century, Zemun reached 7,089 residents and 1,310 houses. Zemun also became important in Serbian history as the refuge for Karađorđe in 1813 as well as many other people from the nearby Belgrade and the rest of Karađorđe's Serbia which fell to the Ottoman rule.

During the Revolution of 1848–1849, Zemun was one of the de facto capitals of Serbian Vojvodina, a Serbian autonomous region within Habsburg Empire, but in 1849, it was returned under the administration of the Military Frontier. With the abolishment of the Military Frontier in 1881, Zemun and the rest of the eastern Srem was included into Syrmia County of Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, part of Austria-Hungary. The first railway line that connected it to the west was built in 1883, and the first railway bridge over the Sava followed shortly thereafter in 1884.

The Zemun Fortress was the site of the first shots fired during World War I, when the Austro-Hungarian Army shelled the Serbian capital of Belgrade. Serbian engineers responded by demolishing the Old Railway Bridge over the Sava River, damaging an Austro-Hungarian Navy patrol boat below. During the Serbian campaign at the beginning of World War I, Zemun was briefly occupied by the Royal Serbian Army, and many South Slavs living in the city fled to Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian Balkan Army under Oskar Potiorek quickly retook the city and hanged suspected collaborators. The city returned to Serbian control on November 5, 1918. The town became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Kingdom of Yugoslavia). The inter-war period was marked by political struggle between the city gentry (organized into the Radical Party, Democratic Party and the Croatian Peasant Party) and the more socialist parties supported by the ethnic Germans.

In 1934 two intra-city bus lines were introduced connecting Zemun with the parts of Belgrade, and the general shift of attention towards this issue was supported by the growing Serbian population of Zemun.

The Zemun airbases originally built in 1927 were an important geostrategic objective in the Axis invasion of April 1941. Following the surrender of Yugoslavia that same month, Zemun, along with the rest of Syrmia, was given to the Independent State of Croatia. The city was taken from Axis control in 1944, and since then, it is part of Serbian region known as Central Serbia. The city is now home of the Air force command building, a monumental edifice, situated at 12 Аvijatičarski Square in Zemun, Belgrade.

Geography

The Municipality has an area of 153 km2. It is located in the eastern Syrmia region, in the central-western section of the Belgrade City area. The urban section of Zemun is both the most northern and the most western section of urban Belgrade. Zemun borders the province of Vojvodina to the west (municipality of Stara Pazova and municipality of Pećinci), and municipalities of Surčin to the south, Novi Beograd to the south-east and Palilula and Stari Grad across the Danube.

The core of the city are the neighborhoods of Donji Grad, Gardoš, Ćukovac and Gornji Grad. To the south, Zemun continues into Novi Beograd with which it makes one continuous urban area (neighborhood of Tošin Bunar). In the west it extends into the neighborhoods of Altina and Plavi Horizonti and to the north-west into Galenika, Zemun Polje and further into Batajnica.

Zemun originally developed on three hills, Gardoš, Ćukovac and Kalvarija, on the right bank of the Danube, where the widening of the Danube begins and the Great War Island is formed at the mouth of the Sava river. Actually, these hills are not natural features. Zemun loess plateau is the former southern shelf of the ancient, now dried, Pannonian Sea. Modern area of Zemun's Donji Grad was regularly flooded by the Danube and the water would carve canals through the loess. Citizens would then build pathways along those canals and so created the passages, carving the hills out of the plateau. After massive 1876 floods, local authorities began the construction of the stony levee along the Danube's bank. Levee, a kilometer long, was finished in 1889. Today it appears that Zemun is built on several hills, with passages between them turned into modern streets, but the hills are actually manmade.

The Danube bank in the north is mostly marshy, so the settlements are built further from the river (Batajnica) separated from it by hillocks (up to 114 m). The city of Zemun itself was built right on the bank, 100 m above sea level. These are points of the Zemun loess plateau, an extension of the Syrmia loess plateau, which continues into the crescent-shaped Bežanijska Kosa loess hill on the south-east. The yellow loess is thick up to 40 meters and very fertile, with rich, grass-improved, humus chernozem. The uninhabited river islands of Great War Island and Little War Island on the Danube, also belong to the municipality Zemun, too.

Loess cliff "Zemun" was protected by the city on 29 November 2013. It consists of the very steep right bank of the Danube and is a typical example of the dry land loess. There are four distinguished loess horizons and four horizons of the fossil earth. The horizons developed during the warmer intervals of the glacials. Loess cliff is estimated to be 500,000 years old. The vertical cliff is 30 to 40 m high, it is exposed and barren, and the protected area covers 72 are. It was described for the first time in 1920 by Vladimir Laskarev. Another exposed section of the same loess ridge, Kapela ridge in Batajnica, has also been protected as a separate natural monument. Kapela is older though, originating from some 800,000 years ago.

In September 2018, Belgrade's mayor Zoran Radojičić announced that the construction of a dam on the Danube, in the Zemun-New Belgrade area, will start soon. The dam should protect the city during the high water levels. Such project was never mentioned before, nor it was clear how and where it will be constructed, or if it's feasible at all. Radojičić clarified after a while that he was referring to the temporary, mobile flood wall. The wall will be 50 cm high and 5 km long, stretching from the Branko's Bridge across the Sava and the neighborhood of Ušće in New Belgrade, to the Radecki restaurant on the Danube's bank in the Zemun's Gardoš neighborhood. In case of emergency, the panels will be placed on the existing construction. The construction is scheduled to start in 2019 and to finish in 2020.

Lagums

One of the characteristics of the Zemun's topography are the lagums, artificial underground corridors which crisscross below the loess area of Gardoš, Muhar, Ćukovac and Kalvarija. This terrain is one of the most active landslide areas in Belgrade. Being cut into for centuries, the loess in some sections have cliffs vertical up to 90%. The Romans began digging the lagums at least as early as 1,700 years ago, using them mostly as the food storages, but later were also used for supply and eventual hiding and evacuation. In the previous centuries, settlers left many vertical shafts which ventilated the lagums, drying the loess and keeping it compact.

The loess is useful for this: it is strong, durable, and easy to be dug through. However, it turns into sand when mixed with water. The average temperature in the lagums is 16 C

Though used by the local population as food storages, during the Ottoman period, the Turkish administration did not commonly use them. After the Austrians acquired Zemun, they used the underground to store ammunition. In this period, the myths of the entire grid of underground corridors connecting Zemun and Belgrade under the Sava river originated. However, historians dispute this as, though the Austrians held Zemun permanently from 1717, they held Belgrade only from 1717 to 1739, which was not enough for such a major engineering enterprise, given the technology of the period. On 31 July 1938, a section of the Zemun's Roman Catholic cemetery collapsed and fell through into the lagum on which it was built, one of the largest in Zemun. As of this time people tended to label any old structures as "Roman", believing that the Romans had built them, they referred to the corridors as the "Roman" ones.

After World War II, as the city rapidly urbanized, the new settlers were unaware of the lagums, especially the largest one, which covered an area of 450 m2 on Ćukovac. As there was no sufficient sewage system at that time, they built septic tanks and collected rainwater, but also as the ventilation shafts in time were covered or filled with garbage, it all made the ground wet in the course of several decades. The lagums retained the moist and began to collapse. Eventually, the walls and houses became unstable to the point of breaking façades and walls. In 1988 city authorities finally intervened as the houses began to sink in three streets. Holes were drilled to connect the surface with the largest lagum. Altogether, 22 drillings were made and 779 m3 of concrete were poured into the lagum, filling it until the ground was stabilized, but the lagum was destroyed in the process. Still, the situation is critical after almost every downpour. On 29 September 2011, while constructing the supporting wall which was to prevent landslide in the section of Kalvarija, the construction workers triggered one which killed four of them. A 225 m long lagum, which was explored by 2001, is located right below the place where the tragedy happened. So far, 76 long corridors have been discovered, with many smaller ones. The longest of them is 96 m long and the total explored length is 1,925 m. They cover an area of 4,882 m2. Many have collapsed during time, as they are not being kept since the 1980s.

Still, it is believed that the majority of them haven't been discovered or explored. The walls of those which have, are being covered with bricks or woods. Some corridors are dead ends while others are connected. The "Galeb" rowing club uses one of the lagums on the bank of the Danube to store their kayaks.

There are numerous stories about the Zemun's lagums, their distribution and expansion of the grid. The tales of lagums connecting Zemun with the bank of the Danube, neighboring Bežanija, the Roman well in the Belgrade Fortress and the other parts of Belgrade across the Sava, became a commonplace in Zemun's and Belgrade's urban mythology. Older myths even included various monsters dwelling below. Still, there is a historically confirmed story of the house of Živojin Vukojčić, Interbellum industrialist. His son, Dragi Vukojčić, built the underground rooms in 1943 as a shelter, but the local myths claimed that he had an entire factory below. Still, when the agents from the Communist security agency OZNA came to arrest him after the war, Vukojčić asked to let him change his clothes. He fled down the lagum to the Danube, and then via boat and a plane, escaped to Brazil. Latest stories include criminals from the Zemun Clan, who were allegedly hiding in the lagums during the police Operation Sabre, after they assassinated prime minister Zoran Đinđić on 12 March 2003. In the 21st century, the stories of mythical creatures are replaced with those of criminals, smugglers, drug addicts and homeless people.

The lagums remained an important part of the local Zemun identity, preserving the spirit of the town and personal memories. For generations of the local boys, descending into the lagums, wandered through them and stayed below as long as possible, which was of a coming of age ritual. Even the name, Zemun, comes from the words zemlja (earth) or zemunica (dug out).

Neighbourhoods and suburbs
The municipality has only two official settlements: Belgrade (Zemun), which is part of the urban Belgrade city proper (uža teritorija grada; statistically classified as Belgrade-part) and the village of Ugrinovci (which includes the hamlets of Grmovac and Busije). Many of the neighbourhoods developed in the last few decades (Altina, Plavi Horizonti, Kamendin, Grmovac, Busije, etc.).

There are four local communities in the municipality: Batajnica, Ugrinovci, Zemun Polje and Nova Galenika. They were formed in 2009 after the old ones were abolished in 1996.

Urban:

Suburban:

Demographics
As Zemun grew into one of the most populous neighborhoods of Belgrade, population of the municipality had a steady growth since World War II. According to the 2022 census, the urban population of Zemun was 166,049, while the municipality had 177,908 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups
The ethnic structure of the municipality, according to 2022 census:

Administration
The municipality of Zemun became part of the Belgrade City Area (Teritorija grada Beograda) with the division of Yugoslavia into banovinas by king Alexander I on October 3, 1929. On April 1, 1934, the municipality itself was absorbed into the municipality of Belgrade, so the post of the president of the municipality of Zemun was abolished and "Zemun section administrator" was appointed to the Belgrade's city government.

Between 1941 and 1944 it was occupied by the German army as part of the East Syrmia Occupation Zone (Okupationsgebiet Ostsyrmien). Germany technically recognised Zemun and surroundings as part of the Independent State of Croatia puppet regime, but Zemun remained under direct German rule. During this time the Sajmište concentration camp was established, where over 20000 Jews, Romani and opponents of the Nazi regime died.

After 1945 Zemun was administratively divided into the City of Zemun and Zemun district (srez), unlike rest of Belgrade which was divided into raions. In 1955 both City of Zemun and most of the Zemun district were incorporated into Belgrade again. In the 1950s and 1960s, municipalities of Boljevci and Dobanovci were annexed to the municipality of Surčin while Batajnica was annexed to Zemun itself. In 1965 Surčin was annexed to the municipality of Zemun which marked the largest territorial expansion of Zemun (438 km2). However, on November 24, 2003, Belgrade City assembly voted to re-create the municipality of Surčin, but it remained under the administration of Zemun until November 3, 2004, when separate municipal government was established after the local elections. A motion for Batajnica to split from Zemun too was active for a while in the early 2000s (see List of former and proposed municipalities of Belgrade).

Presidents of the municipality:
 * October 3, 1929 – June 20, 1930: Petar S. Marković
 * June 20, 1930 – December 8, 1931: Svetislav Popović
 * December 9, 1931 – March 31, 1934: Miloš Đorić

Administrator of the Zemun section:
 * 1934 – April 12, 1941: Nikola Folger

German mayors:
 * April 13, 1941 – July 1941: Johannes Moser (d. 1980)
 * July 1941 – December 1941: Stefan Seifert
 * December 1941 – October 1944: Johannes Moser (d. 1980)

Partisan military administrator:
 * October 22, 1944 – October 26, 1944: Milan Žeželj (1917–1995)

Presidents of the municipal assembly:
 * October 26, 1944 – July 8, 1945: Ljubomir Milovanović
 * July 8, 1945 – 1947: Dimitrije Anokić
 * 1947–1949: Milenko Jovanović
 * 1949–1950: Božidar Tomić (b. 1914)
 * 1950: Lazar Popov (acting)
 * 1950–1955: Stojan Svilarić (b. 1920)
 * 1955–1958: Branko Pešić (1922–1986)
 * 1958–1962: Aleksandar S. Jovanović
 * 1962–1967: Čedomir Jovićević
 * 1967–1971: Svetozar Papić
 * 1971–1973: Radojko Filipović
 * 1973–1974: Pavle Ilić (acting)
 * 1974–1978: Branko S. Radivojević (b. 1932)
 * 1978–1982: Ilija Kragović
 * 1982–1986: Novak Rodić
 * 1986–1989: Petar Stolica
 * 1989: Dobrivoje Perović
 * 1989–1992: Živko Davidović (b. 1935)
 * 1992 – December 1996: Nenad Ribar
 * December 1996 – April 1998: Vojislav Šešelj (b. 1954)
 * April 1998 – October 17, 2000: Stevo Dragišić (b. 1971)
 * October 17, 2000 – November 4, 2004: Vladan Janićijević (b. 1934)

Presidents of the municipality:
 * November 4, 2004 – June 4, 2008: Gordana Pop-Lazić (b. 1956)
 * June 4, 2008 – March 5, 2009: Slavko Jerković (b. 1959)
 * March 5, 2009 – July 23, 2009: Zdravko Stanković (acting)
 * July 23, 2009 – July 4, 2013: Branislav Prostran (b. 1976)
 * July 4, 2013 – September 10, 2020: Dejan Matić (b. 1969)
 * September 10, 2020 – present: Goran Kovačević (b. 1969)

Economy
Zemun is one of the most developed municipalities of Belgrade, with developed industries in almost every branch. Zemun has two large and still growing industrial zones, one located along the highway and the other one along the road to Batajnica and further to Novi Sad (Galenika, Goveđi Brod, etc.). Industries include: heavy agricultural machines and appliances (Zmaj), precise and optical instruments and automatized appliances (Teleoptik), clocks (INSA), busses and other heavy vehicles (Ikarbus), pharmaceuticals (Galenika), plastics (Grmeč), shoes (Obuća Beograd), textile (TIZ, Zekstra), food, candies and chocolate (Soko Štark), metals (IMPA, Intersilver), wood and furniture (Gaj, Reprek), recycling (INOS metali and INOS papir), beverages (Coca-Cola, Navip), chemicals (Roma), building materials (DIA), electronics, leather, etc. In addition to this dozens of halls, and warehouses are built throughout both industrial zones.

The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):

Road
Several important roads of Serbia run through the municipality. The Belgrade-Zagreb highway, the old (Batajnički drum) and new (highway) road Belgrade-Novi Sad, the still in construction starting point (Batajnica-Dobanovci) of the future Belgrade beltway (Batajnica-Bubanj Potok), Belgrade-Novi Sad railway, etc. Until 2014, Zemun had no bridges, apart from the seasonal pontoon bridge which connects the mainland with the Great War Island during summer. The first bridge over the Danube, Pupin Bridge which connected Zemun to Borča, was completed in 2014.

In March 2016, mayor of Belgrade Siniša Mali announced the massive reconstruction of the Old Sava Bridge. However, in May 2017, after the project papers were publicized, it was obvious that the city actually wanted to demolish the bridge completely and build a new one. Citizens protested while the experts rejected the reasons named by the authorities, adding that it is a mere money throwing on the unnecessary project. Mali said that the old bridge will not be demolished but moved, and that citizens will decide where, but he gave an idea to move it to Zemun, as the permanent pedestrian bridge to the Great War Island. In an article "Cloud over the Great War Island", Aleksandar Milenković, member of the Academy of Architecture of Serbia, opposed the motion. He expressed fear that having in mind the "synchronous ad hoc decisions of the administration", the reaction should be prompt as the seemingly benign idea is actually a strategically disastrous enterprise (concerning the protected wildlife on the island). He also suspects that the administration in this case, just as in all previous ones, will neglect the numerous theoretical and empirical guidelines.

River
In 2014 the government set the locality of the former port as the future revitalized port area. In April 2018 it was announced that the pier for the touristic ships and cruisers will be built on the quay, constructed near the Old Port Authority (Stara Kapetanija) where the old Zemun port was located. It is designed to accept ships up to 120 m long and 15 m wide. It is the second international touristic pier in Belgrade, after the one in Savamala, on the Sava river. Construction ultimately began in June 2019 and the slabs from the previous embankment were discovered so as several submerged vessels. The pier was finished on 6 June 2020.

Railway
Gradual moving of trains from the Belgrade Main railway station to the new, Prokop station began in the early 2016. In December 2017, all but two national trains were dislocated to "Belgrade Center". In the scopes of dislocation, a new, central Belgrade freight station is planned in Zemun. But, the problems arose immediately. The Prokop is still not finished, has no station building and a proper access road and public transportation connections with the rest of the city. Additionally, it has no facilities for loading and unloading cars from the auto trains nor was ever planned top have one and this facility is to be a part of the Zemun freight station. Still, in January 2018 it was announced that the Main station will be completely closed for traffic on 1 July 2018, even though none of the projects needed for a complete dislocation of the railway traffic are finished. The Prokop is incomplete, a projected main freight station in Zemun is not being adapted at all while there is even no project on a Belgrade railway beltway.

A series of temporary solutions will have to be applied. One is a defunct and deteriorated Topčider station, which will be revitalized and adapted for auto trains, until the Zemun station becomes operational. Freight station in Zemun will be located between the already existing stations Zemun and Zemun Polje, on the area of 35 ha. Revitalization of the existing 6 km of tracks and 14,500 m2 of buildings will be followed by the construction of the 17 km of new tracks and additional 18,800 m2 of edifices. Deadline is also 2 years, but the works will start at the end of 2018. This means that the planned Belgrade railway junction won't be finished before 2021, at best. However, minister for transportation, Zorana Mihajlović, in December 2017 gave conflicting deadlines. For the Zemun station, she said that it should be finished by the end of 2018, even though, as of January 2018, non of the works have started.

Aerial
Batajnica Airbase with a limited civil traffic is also located in the municipality, near the Batajnica settlement.

In 1928, building company "Šumadija" proposed the construction of the cable car, which they called "air tram". The project was planned to connect Zemun to Kalemegdan on Belgrade Fortress, via Great War Island. The interval of the cabins was set at 2 minutes and the entire route was supposed to last 5 minutes. The project was never realized.

Architecture, culture and education

White Bear Tavern is a former kafana in the neighborhood of Ćukovac. First mentioned in 1658, it is the oldest surviving edifice on the urban territory of modern Belgrade, not counting the Belgrade Fortress. However, Zemun developed completely independently from Belgrade for centuries and for the most part during the history two towns belonged to two different states. Zemun became part of the same administrative unit as Belgrade on 4 October 1929, lost a separate town status to Belgrade in 1934 and made a continuous built-up area with Belgrade only since the 1950s. Hence, the House at 10 Cara Dušana Street in Belgrade's downtown neighborhood of Dorćol is usually named as the oldest house in Belgrade, while the White Bear Tavern is titled as the oldest house in Zemun.

The first professional theatre in Zemun was established on 22 October 1969 in the Main Street (Maršala Tita at the time), as an offshoot of the National Theatre in Belgrade. Madlenianum Opera and Theatre was founded in 1997 as the first private opera in this part of Europe. The founder and the donor of Madlenianum is Madlena Zepter. Madlenianum has been organized as a model of a new musical-scenic theatre, without its permanent ensemble, but with a permanent organization and administration apparatus and a technical team.

The faculty of agriculture of the Belgrade University is located in Zemun, as well as many other important higher schools (Internal affairs, Economics, Technics and machines, Medicine, Zemun gymnasium) and institutes (Institute for agriculture and forestry, Institute for mining, world-famous Institute for corn in Zemun Polje, Institute for livestock, Institute for the implementation of the nuclear energy in agriculture, Institute for physics). Zemun has a Homeland museum.

Two of Belgrade's major hospitals-clinical centers are located in Zemun: KBC Zemun and KBC Bežanijska Kosa, as is the retirement home Bežanijska Kosa, the largest one in Belgrade. Churches include the Gardoš cemetery church and the Hariš chapel, Saint Nicholas, Saint Archangel Gabriel and two Roman Catholic churches.

Zemun is known for many squares, though almost all of them are small in size: Magistratski, Senjski, Veliki, Branka Radičevića, Karađorđev, Masarikov, etc. On one of them, the Zemun open green market is located. The bank of the Danube is turned into Zemunski Kej, a kilometers long promenade, with various entertainment facilities along it, including barges-cafés, amusement park and especially formerly largest hotel in Belgrade, Hotel Jugoslavija.

The remnants of the old town which existed during battles between Kingdom of Hungary and Byzantine Empire in the 12th century are known as Zemunski Grad (Zemun Town). Today visible ruins however are of the medieval fortress (angular towers and parts of the defending wall) of the 1521 Ottoman siege. The Kula Sibinjanin Janka (The tower of Janos Hunyadi) or the Millennium tower was built and officially opened on August 20, 1896, to celebrate a thousand years of Hungarian settlement in the Pannonian plain. The tower was built as a combination of various styles, mostly influenced by the Roman elements. Being a natural lookout, it was used by Zemun's firemen for decades. Today, the tower is better known after the Janos Hunyadi, who actually died in the old fortress four and a half centuries before the tower was built. In general, Gardoš is today the most recognizable symbol of Zemun. For the most part, the neighborhood preserved its old looks, with narrow, still mostly cobblestoned streets unsuitable for modern vehicles, and individual residential houses.

There are five official parks in Zemun, though there are much more green areas in general. The largest and the oldest is the City park (Gradski park, opened in 1886). There are also the Kej Oslobođenja park (on the quay, renovated in November 2007), Kalvarija, Jelovac and Army park. There are also five official forests: three along the highway (Autoput Forest, Belgrade-Zagreb Highway Forests and Nacional Forest), which cover 54.18 ha, Bežanijska Kosa Forest, also along the highway (26.06 ha), and Great and Little War Islands (1.9 km2).

Sport
The most popular football club in Zemun is FK Zemun, which plays currently in the Serbian First League, the second tier of Serbian football league system, and Teleoptik Zemun, which plays currently in the Serbian League Belgrade. Teleoptik is nowadays generally considered Partizan Belgrade's farm team, with many of Partizan's youth players playing there to gain experience before being promoted to the first team. The municipality has several smaller stadiums, including those of FK Zemun, the Zemun Stadium. One of Belgrade's major sports halls, the Pinki Hall, which is Named after Boško Palkovljević Pinki, is also located in Zemun.

Twin towns — Sister cities
Zemun is twinned with:

Notable residents

 * Judah Alkalai
 * Dejan Čurović
 * Ivan Dudić
 * Aleksandar Karakašević
 * Saša Kovačević
 * Mladen Lazarević
 * Ljubomir Magaš
 * Goran Milošević
 * Zoran Modli
 * Vladica Popović
 * Jovan Prokopljević
 * Ivan Pudar
 * Radovan Radaković
 * Slavko Radovanović
 * [[:sl:Boštjan Trilar|Boštjan
 * basketball playerTrilar]]
 * Đorđe Simić
 * Jakov Mrvica

title: Zemun


text:
Tom Rukavina

Thomas Rukavina (August 23, 1950 – January 7, 2019) was an American politician and a Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1987 to 2013. In 2010 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Minnesota, seeking the DFL nomination. He was a St. Louis County commissioner from 2015 to 2018.

Early life
Rukavina was born in Virginia, Minnesota, of Croatian and Italian descent, and graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth with a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in political science. He first held elected office in the 1970s on the Virginia school board and the Pike Town Board. Before becoming a full-time legislator, he worked in various positions, including at the Minntac taconite plant, as a logger and a naturalist at the Ironworld Discovery Center in Chisholm, Minnesota, and as an assistant director at Giants Ridge Ski Area.

Minnesota House of Representatives
Rukavina was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for thirteen terms, serving from 1987 to 2013. He represented District 5A, which included the Mesabi Range in St. Louis County in northeastern Minnesota. In 2012, he announced he would not seek reelection, citing his frustration with the partisan atmosphere at the state Capitol.

Rukavina proposed a bill that would ban the sale of foreign-made American flags in Minnesota. The bill later passed into law.

In 2009, Rukavina opposed allowing the University of Minnesota to sell beer and wine only in premium seats at TCF Bank Stadium. He insisted that the University alter its policy to sell alcohol to all legal drinkers throughout the stadium, including its own students.

2010 gubernatorial campaign
On July 23, 2009, Rukavina filed paperwork for an exploratory committee for Governor of Minnesota, making his candidacy official in early September at Bayfront Park in Duluth. He was later endorsed by Congressman Jim Oberstar. At the DFL state convention he dropped out of the race and endorsed Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

Personal life
Rukavina was arrested on July 31, 2004, for fourth-degree drunk driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.15. He pleaded guilty to the charge.

Rukavina was married to Jean who previously had three children and Rukavina had two children. Rukavina's daughter Ida worked for U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. Ida Rukavina was then Executive Director of the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools (RAMS) starting in July 2021 before being appointed by MN Governor Tim Walz as the new commissioner of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board in December 2022. He was friends with late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, who was flying to attend the funeral of Rukavina's father when his plane fatally crashed in October 2002.

Death
Rukavina died of leukemia on January 7, 2019, at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis, aged 68.

In response to his death, Governor Tim Walz said: "There's folks who put their life into serving Minnesota, and Tom Rukavina was one of those". U.S. Senator Klobuchar said that: "Rukavina understood the dignity of hard work, and was a force for Iron Range workers and their families". Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison remembered Rukavina as a "friend, public servant, and a fierce defender of working people" on a statement on Twitter.

Legacy
The Thomas Rukavina Memorial Bridge was named after him after a bill introduced by Dave Tomassoni was passed by the Minnesota legislature. The bridge is located in the Bridgeview Pocket Park on the Mesabi Trail. A public ceremony was held on August 19, 2021, after the bridge was renamed. Guests at the ceremony included U.S. senator Amy Klobuchar.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Tom Rukavina


text:
Continental Basketball Association

The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball minor league in the United States from 1946 to 2009.

20th century
The Continental Basketball Association was founded on April 23, 1946, under its previous name, the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League. It went on to bill itself as the "World's Oldest Professional Basketball League", since its founding pre-dated the founding of the National Basketball Association by two months. The league fielded six franchises, five of which were in Pennsylvania: Allentown, Hazleton, Lancaster, Reading, and Wilkes-Barre. A sixth team, Binghamton, was located in New York, but moved to Pottsville in Pennsylvania mid-season.

In 1948, the league was renamed the Eastern Professional Basketball League, and additional franchises were added in three additional Pennsylvania cities, Williamsport, Scranton, and Sunbury, three New Jersey cities, Trenton, Camden, and Asbury Park, three in Connecticut, New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport, and in Wilmington, Delaware, and Springfield, Massachusetts.

From the 1950s through the 1960s, many NBA teams had unofficial quotas on the number of black players on their teams. Many players joined other professional leagues, including the EPBL. The league was fast and physical, often played in tiny, smoke-filled gyms across the Northeastern United States, and featuring the best players who could not make many NBA teams because of the quotas.

Following the lead of the American Basketball League (1961–1962) in adding a three-point line, the Eastern League added a three-point line for its 1964–65 season. Although three-point shots during the 1960s were few and far between, the Eastern League developed several scorers who used the three-point shot to their advantage.

For the 1970–71 season, the league rebranded itself the Eastern Basketball Association, operating as a professional Northeastern regional league and as an unofficial feeder system to the NBA and ABA. The CBA's first commissioner was Harry Rudolph, father of NBA referee Mendy Rudolph. Steve A. Kauffman, currently a basketball agent, succeeded Rudolph as commissioner in 1975. Kauffman executed a plan to bring the Anchorage Northern Knights into the league beginning with the 1977–78 season. Kauffman kept the league name because he felt having a team in the Eastern League from Alaska might get the league additional notice and recognition. The establishment of the Anchorage franchise garnered national media attention, including a feature story in Sports Illustrated.

Kauffman served as commissioner until 1978, when his deputy commissioner, Jim Drucker, took the reins. Drucker's eight-season reign was the longest in the league's history. Drucker, son of NBA referee Norm Drucker, continued as commissioner until 1986.

As commissioner, the league was renamed the Continental Basketball Association in 1978, eventually leading to expansion across the country.

During Drucker's term, the league expanded from 8 to 14 teams, landed its first national TV contracts and saw franchise values increase from $5,000 to $500,000, an aggregate increase in equity value from $24,000 to $7 million. The league instituted novel rule changes including sudden-death overtime, a no foul-out rule and a change in the way league standings were determined. Under the "7-Point System", seven points were awarded each game: three points for winning a game and one point for every quarter a team won. As a result, a winning team would wind up with four to seven points in the standings, while a losing team could collect from zero to three points. This made for at least some fan interest even in the late stages of games that were otherwise blowouts; the trailing team could still get a standings point by winning the final quarter, especially if the team that was leading chose to rest some or all of its starters. The league used this method to calculate division standings from its implementation in 1983 until the league's end in 2009.

After Darryl Dawkins shattered two basketball backboards during the 1979–80 NBA season, the NBA used the CBA to test an innovation as part of the basket, the breakaway rim, in the 1980–81 CBA season. Three designs were chosen to be used in games, being chosen from ten prototype designs. Several college basketball players were asked to try to break the rims before being introduced in the CBA. When force was placed upon the spring-loaded rim, it would be pulled down, then spring safely back in place. The NBA and CBA adopted the most resilient design among the three for the 1981–82 season.

Also during this time, the CBA created a series of halftime promotions. The most successful was the "1 Million Dollar CBA Supershot". In an era where the typical basketball halftime promotion, even in NCAA Division I and the NBA, featured a winning prize worth less than $100, the CBA's Supershot, created in 1983, offered a grand prize of $1 million if a randomly selected fan could hit one shot from the far foul line, 69.75 ft. No one won the insured  prize, but the shot attracted national media coverage in Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, and The Sporting News.

In 1984, the CBA signed a cable television contract with BET with 10 CBA games televised on a tape delay. For national media attention, the league created the "CBA Sportscaster Contest" to select a color commentator for its BET telecasts. With tryouts nationwide, the promotion was featured on the NBC Nightly News, Entertainment Tonight, Sports Illustrated and other media. The contest was won by a NJ high school basketball coach, Bill Lange, who later coached the Philadelphia Spirit minor league team in the United States Basketball League.

After two tape-delayed seasons on BET, CBA games moved to ESPN, with 13 games televised live. ESPN sportscaster Bob Ley did the play-by-play and former NBA player and coach Kevin Loughery provided color commentary. Drucker left as Commissioner, and his TV production company, Global Sports, produced the ESPN telecasts.

In 1985, the CBA followed with the "Ton-of-Money Free Throw", which featured a prize of 2000 lb of pennies ($5,000) if a randomly selected fan could make just one free throw. Two of fourteen contestants were successful. The next year, the league featured the "Easy Street Shootout". In that shootout, 14 contestants, one from each CBA city, were selected and the person making the longest shot won a $1,000,000 zero-coupon bond. The winner was Don Mattingly of the Evansville Thunder, unrelated to the New York Yankee baseball player. After the league's 1985 All-Star Game in Casper, Wyoming, the CBA invited fans to make a paper airplane from the centerfold of their game program, each identified with a unique serial number, and attempt to throw it through the moon roof of a new Ford Thunderbird parked at mid-court. Four fans were successful and a tie-breaker determined the winner who drove home with the new $17,000 car.

In August 1999, the CBA's teams were purchased by an investment group led by former NBA star Isiah Thomas. The group bought all of the individually owned franchises of the CBA, in a $10 million acquisition. Over the course of the next 18 months, Thomas was faced with a plethora of business troubles, losing the league's partnership with the NBA and ultimately abandoning the league into a blind trust that left teams unable to meet payroll or pay bills. The combined-ownership plan was unsuccessful and, by 2001, the CBA had declared bankruptcy and ceased operations; it folded on February 8, 2001, without managing to complete the 2000–01 season.

21st century
Before the 2000–01 season, the CBA signed a television contract with BET to broadcast up to 18 games, including the CBA All-Star Game, although the CBA folded midway through the season. Several of its teams briefly joined the now-defunct International Basketball League.

Highlights of Thomas's ownership of the CBA included:

 * August 3, 1999: Former NBA star Isiah Thomas purchases the CBA (the entire league including all the teams and its marketing entity, CBA Properties) for $10 million. He says that the league will now operate as a single-owner entity, and the CBA will continue to be the official developmental league of the NBA.
 * October 7, 1999: Sale of the CBA to Thomas is finalized. Thomas pays $5 million up front, agreeing to make four additional payments to the CBA's former team owners for the remainder of the debt.
 * October 24, 1999: He announces salary cuts in the CBA. The average salary of $1,500 per week will be reduced to $1,100, with rookies getting $800. Thomas' reasoning is that by reducing the number of veterans in the league, there will be more young players available for NBA teams.
 * March 2000: The NBA offers Thomas $11 million plus a percentage of the profits for the CBA. Thomas chooses not to sell.
 * June 28, 2000: Thomas is offered the head coaching job of the NBA's Indiana Pacers. Since NBA rules forbid a coach from owning his own league (as it would be a conflict of interest), Thomas is obliged to sell the CBA. On this day, Thomas signs a letter of intent to sell the CBA to the NBA Players' Association.
 * Summer 2000: After 20 years of using the CBA as its developmental league, the NBA announces it will form its own minor-league feeder system, creating the National Basketball Development League (later the NBA Development League). The CBA will no longer be the NBA's official developmental league following the end of the 2001 season.
 * October 2, 2000: Thomas places the league into a blind trust and becomes head coach of the Pacers.
 * February 8, 2001: The CBA suspends play midway through the 2000–2001 season. The blind trust that had hoped to find a new owner for the league abandons its efforts, and the league has over $2 million in debts. The teams are offered back to their original owners for a $1 simple consideration, and several owners accept the offer. Many more refuse, and their clubs go under.
 * February 24, 2001: The CBA declares bankruptcy. Five former CBA team owners repurchase their franchises and join the rival International Basketball League (IBL) to finish the season. Other owners choose to allow their franchises to fail, rather than cover debts that were not theirs originally.
 * Summer 2001: The IBL folds.
 * November 2001: The CBA reorganizes for the 2001–02 season as former CBA franchises in Rockford, Gary, Grand Rapids and Sioux Falls merge with the smaller International Basketball Association (IBA), which has franchises in Bismarck (Dakota Wizards), Fargo (Fargo-Moorhead Beez) and Saskatoon (Saskatchewan Hawks). The Flint (Michigan) Fuze join as an expansion team.
 * November 16, 2001: The first game in the history of the National Basketball Developmental League is played.

In fall 2001, CBA and IBL teams merged with the International Basketball Association and purchased the assets of the defunct CBA (including its name, logo and records) from the bankruptcy trustee and resumed operations as the CBA, assuming the former league's identity and history. The league obtained eight new franchises (for a total of ten) for the 2006 season. The Atlanta Krunk Wolverines and Vancouver Dragons deferred their participation until the 2007–2008 season and the Utah Eagles folded on January 25, 2007. The CBA's 2007–08 season began with 10 franchises, the greatest number of teams to start a CBA season since the 2000–01 season. In addition to six returning franchises the CBA added three expansion teams – the Oklahoma Cavalry, the Rio Grande Valley Silverados and East Kentucky Miners; the Atlanta Krunk joined the league after sitting out the 2006–07 season.

The 2008–2009 season began with only four teams, instead of the expected five. The Pittsburgh Xplosion folded under unclear circumstances, and the league scheduled games against American Basketball Association (ABA) teams for the first month of the season in an attempt to stay solvent. The maneuver was not enough. On February 2, 2009, the league announced a halt to operations, turning a scheduled series between the Albany Patroons and Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry into the league-championship series.

Integration
During the 1946–47 Eastern League season, the Hazleton Mountaineers had three African-American players on their roster during the season – Bill Brown, Zack Clayton and John Isaacs. Isaacs previously played with an all-black touring squad (the Washington Bears), while Brown and Clayton were alumni of the Harlem Globetrotters. During the 1955–56 season, the Hazleton Hawks Eastern League team was the first integrated professional league franchise with an all-black starting lineup: Tom Hemans, Jesse Arnelle, Fletcher Johnson, Sherman White and Floyd Lane. The all-black Dayton Rens competed in the 1948–49 National Basketball League.

CBA–NBA relationship
During the early years of the CBA, when it was known as the EPBL, the league's relationship with the NBA was frosty at best. The NBA sent several players to the Eastern League for extra playing time, and for several seasons two Eastern League teams played the opening game of a New Year's Eve doubleheader at Madison Square Garden (with the NBA playing the nightcap game). Although the NBA played exhibition games with the Eastern League during the late 1940s and early 1950s, the exhibition games ceased in 1954 when the Eastern League signed several college basketball players involved in point-shaving gambling scandals during their college years, including Jack Molinas, Sherman White, Floyd Layne, and Al Roth. The Eastern League also signed 7-foot center Bill Spivey, the former University of Kentucky standout who was accused of point-shaving; although Spivey was acquitted of all charges, the NBA still banned him from the league for life.

After a few seasons, however, the NBA and EPBL resumed exhibition games in the 1950s (including a 1956 matchup in which the NBA's Syracuse Nationals lost to the EPBL's Wilkes-Barre Barons at Wilkes-Barre's home court). Other EPBL-NBA exhibition matchups include an October 1959 contest in which the New York Knicks defeated the Allentown Jets 131–102 at Allentown; and a contest in April 1961, in which the Boston Celtics also played an exhibition contest against Allentown (defeating the Eastern Leaguers soundly). The Eastern League became a haven for players who wanted to play professionally, but were barred from the NBA because of academic restrictions. Even though Ray Scott had left the University of Portland two months after his matriculation, the NBA could not sign Scott to a contract until Scott's class graduated. The EPBL, however, could sign him and Scott played 77 games for the Allentown Jets before later joining the NBA's Detroit Pistons.

By the 1967–68 season, the Eastern League lost many of its players when the upstart American Basketball Association formed. Players such as Lavern "Jelly" Tart, Willie Somerset, Art Heyman and Walt Simon (all of whom were all-stars in the Eastern League a year before) were now in ABA uniforms. The ABA continued to siphon off NBA and Eastern League players, leaving the Eastern League with only six teams in 1972 and four teams in 1975. Only the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976 kept the Eastern League alive, as an influx of players from defunct ABA teams joined the league.

In 1979, the NBA signed four players from the newly renamed CBA. The CBA, receiving no compensation from the NBA for these signings, sued the NBA. The suit was settled and in exchange for the right to sign any CBA player at any time, the NBA paid the CBA $115,000; it also paid the CBA $80,000 to develop NBA referees in the CBA. During this time, the NBA created the "10-day-contract", where an NBA team could sign a CBA player for 10 days, at the pro rata NBA minimum salary (as per the NBA's collective bargaining agreement). The NBA team could re-sign him to a second 10-day contract. After the second 10-day contract, the team had to either return the player to his CBA team or sign him for the balance of the NBA regular season. The CBA teams, in turn, received compensation for each 10-day contract.

By 1980, the CBA had become the official development league of the NBA. CBA teams had exclusive rights to players released by their NBA affiliated teams. NBA teams could sign players from any CBA team. By 1986, 54 former CBA players were playing in the NBA.

During the 1993–94 season, the NBA–CBA affiliate relationship was replaced by an annual draft of NBA players. The draft gave CBA teams exclusive negotiating rights with NBA players in the event of their release from an NBA roster. The CBA team owned exclusive rights to the draftee in perpetuity.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the NBA's relationship with the CBA grew to the point where dozens of former CBA stars found their way onto NBA rosters, including Tim Legler (Omaha Racers), Mario Elie (Albany Patroons), and John Starks (Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets). The CBA also sent qualified coaches to the NBA, including Phil Jackson (Albany Patroons), Bill Musselman (Tampa Bay Thrillers), Eric Musselman (Rapid City Thrillers), Flip Saunders (LaCrosse Catbirds) and George Karl (Montana Golden Nuggets). In 2001, the NBA formed its own minor league, the National Basketball Development League (the NBDL or "D-League"). At the end of the 2005–2006 season, three current and one expansion CBA franchises jumped to the NBDL. During the 2006–07 season no players were called up from the CBA to the NBA, ending a streak of over 30 seasons of at least one call-up per year. That soon led to the beginning of the end for the CBA.

In 1987 the CBA announced that teams were allowed to sign players banned for drug use by the NBA. Mitchell Wiggins, who was suspended by the NBA for cocaine use, was one of the first players signed in the CBA under the new rule that was implemented in conjunction with the NBA and NBA Players Association.

Rules and innovations
The CBA followed largely the same basketball rules as the NBA and most other professional leagues. Sometimes rules adopted by the CBA on an experimental basis later became permanent in that league and were adopted by other levels of basketball as well; others remained unique to the CBA. From 1978 through 1986, CBA commissioner Jim Drucker created several new rules to raise fan interest, which were then adopted by the league:
 * Season standings were changed from a win–loss percentage, to the "7 Point System". During each game, seven points were awarded—three for winning the game, and one point for each quarter in which a team outscored their opponent. (If each team scored the same number of points in a quarter, the point for that quarter was halved.) Team standings were determined by the number of points, rather than win–loss percentage.
 * A player could not foul out of the game; after a player's sixth personal foul, the opposing team receives an automatic free throw.
 * During the 1982–83 and 1983–84 seasons, overtime games were decided by the team that scored the first three points in overtime. During the 1984–85 season, that rule was modified so that victory went to the first team to lead by three points in overtime. By the 1987–88 season, that rule was superseded by a standard five-minute overtime period to determine the winner.
 * During the 1981–82 season, the CBA created a 6 x "no call box"—an area in front of the baskets in which any contact in the box between offensive and defensive players was to be an automatic defensive foul. This rule, which was designed to encourage drives to the hoop, caused more confusion than scoring, and was quickly abandoned. A variation of this rule, using an arc rather than a box, was adopted by the NBA in 2002, and later also by the NCAA.
 * For a few years in the early 1980s the CBA offered a money-back guarantee—returning a patron's money if, before the start of the second quarter, the fan left the game. There was also a "national season ticket", allowing fans to attend any CBA game within a 100-mile radius of his hometown.
 * May 1984: At a league meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, three rules were changed; fouling a shooter on a three-point shot would result in three shots as opposed to two (later adopted by all levels of basketball), a win in overtime could only be determined when a team led by three points and a clear path foul was implemented.
 * Drucker also created a series of high-profile, big-money promotions that attracted increased attendance, league sponsorship and media interest. From 1984 to 1986, "The 1 Million Dollar CBA Supershot" offered a $1,000,000 annuity prize for a fan selected at random at halftime who made a 3/4-court shot. Although no fan won that one, in 1986 one fan did win a $1 million zero-coupon bond. The winner, Don Mattingly, unrelated to the New York Yankee player with the same name, won the bond in the "CBA Easy Street Shootout" at the 1986 CBA All-Star Game in Tampa, Florida. Other promotions included the "Ton of Money Free Throw", which consisted of 2,000 pounds of pennies ($5,000) for making a foul shot, and "The Fly-In, Drive-Away" Contest where each fan received a paper airplane with a distinct serial number. At halftime a new car, with the sunroof opened, was driven to mid-court and the fan who threw his airplane into the sun roof won the car. A Ford Thunderbird was won by a fan at the CBA All-Star Game in Casper, Wyoming, in 1984.
 * October 1985: A contest was held by the CBA to find a fan to be a color commentator on the "CBA Game of the Week" broadcast. The requirements for the contest was that the applicant had no prior broadcasting experience. The league set up a 24-hour phone number (212-828-8686) and a post office box where applicants could send their auditions.
 * October 21, 1985: The CBA announced they would keep statistics on slam dunks. The CBA rosters were increased from nine spots to ten. A rule change was implemented calling for a jump ball at the beginning of every quarter. A ball similar to the red white and blue basketball popularized in the American Basketball Association was used for the 1985–86 season.
 * June 1987: The CBA Board of Directors voted unanimously to extend the season to 54 games. The salary cap was adjusted to reflect the increased games. A five-minute overtime period was approved, scrapping the previous overtime rule that required a team to lead by three points to win.

CBA draft
The CBA established a draft in 1985, following the NBA's decision to reduce its draft from 10 rounds to 7. This allowed the CBA teams to have a wider selection of players: the selection criteria were the same as the NBA draft. As with the NBA draft, players had to renounce their college eligibility if they wanted to declare early. While initially the draft was limited to players who were not drafted in the NBA, this later changed, and on several occasions players were drafted by both the NBA and the CBA. Some examples include Nick Van Exel (1993, Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA and Rapid City Thrillers of the CBA), Dontonio Wingfield (1994, Seattle SuperSonics and Rapid City Thrillers), Stephen Jackson (1997, Phoenix Suns and La Crosse Bobcats), and Jason Hart (2000, Milwaukee Bucks and Idaho Stampede).

CBA franchises usually selected players who had the higher chance to sign for them instead of signing overseas or in the NBA, even though some teams used their picks in the later rounds to select players who were likely to be drafted in the NBA, in the event these players were cut in the preseason. Some teams also used their picks for publicity: for example, Cheryl Miller, a female player who played for USC in college, was selected by the Rockford Lightning with the 57$th$ pick in the 1986 CBA draft; in the 1994 CBA draft Mexican soccer player Jorge Campos was drafted by the Mexico Aztecas, despite his ineligibility. In 1997, Lamar Odom, then a highly recruited high school prospect, was given the opportunity to enter the CBA draft and choose the team he wanted to play for, reversing the traditional drafting process; Odom, however, decided not to hire an agent and opted to play in college.

Team timelines

 * Italics denote a team that was re-located or re-branded. Bold denotes a team that played in the last full CBA season.

 * Albany Patroons (1982–1992) → Capital Region Pontiacs (1992–93) → Hartford Hellcats (1993–94) → Connecticut Pride (1994–2000)
 * Albany Patroons (2005–09)
 * Alberta Dusters (1980–82) → Las Vegas Silvers (1982) → Albuquerque Silvers (1982–85)
 * Allentown Jets (1978–79) → Lehigh Valley Jets (1979–1981)
 * Anchorage Northern Knights (1978–1983)
 * Atlanta Krunk (2007–08)
 * Baltimore Metros (1978–79) → Mohawk Valley Thunderbirds (1979) → Utica Olympics (1979–1980) → Atlantic City Hi-Rollers (1980–83)
 * Butte Daredevils (2006–08)
 * Dakota Wizards (2001–06)
 * Detroit Spirits (1982–86) → Savannah Spirits (1986–88) → Tulsa Fast Breakers (1988–1991) → Tulsa Zone (1991–92) → Fargo-Moorhead Fever (1992–94) → Mexico City Aztecas (1994–95) → San Diego Wildcards (1995)
 * East Kentucky Miners (2007–09)
 * Evansville Thunder (1984–86)
 * Fargo-Moorhead Beez (2001–02)
 * Flint Fuze (2001–02) → Great Lakes Storm (2002–05)
 * Flint Pros (1972–1974)
 * Fort Wayne Fury (1991–2001)
 * Gary Steelheads (2000–06)
 * Grand Rapids Hoops (1989–1994) → Grand Rapids Mackers (1994–96) → Grand Rapids Hoops (1996–2003)
 * Great Falls Explorers (2006–08)
 * Hawaii Volcanos (1979–1980) → Billings Volcanos (1980–84)
 * Idaho Stampede (1997–2006)
 * Indiana Alley Cats (2006–07)
 * Jersey Shore Bullets (1978–79)
 * Kansas City Sizzlers (1985–86) → Topeka Sizzlers (1986–1990) → Yakima Sun Kings (1990–2008)
 * Lancaster Red Roses (1978–1980) → Philadelphia Kings (1980–81) → Lancaster Lightning (1981–85) → Baltimore Lightning (1985–86) → Rockford Lightning (1986–2006)
 * Louisville Catbirds (1983–85) → La Crosse Catbirds (1985–1994) → Pittsburgh Piranhas (1994–95)
 * Maine Lumberjacks (1978–1983) → Bay State Bombardiers (1983–86) → Pensacola Tornados (1986–91) → Birmingham Bandits (1991–92) → Rochester Renegade (1992–94) → Harrisburg Hammerheads (1994–95)
 * Michigan Mayhem (2004–06)
 * Minot SkyRockets (2006–2009)
 * Montana Golden Nuggets (1980–83) → Puerto Rico Coquis (1983–85) → Maine Windjammers (1985–86)
 * Ohio Mixers (1982–84) → Cincinnati Slammers (1984–87) → Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets (1988–1991) → Tri-City Chinook (1991–95)
 * Oklahoma Cavalry (2007–08) → Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry (2008–09)
 * Oklahoma City Cavalry (1990–97)
 * Pittsburgh Xplosion (2006–08)
 * Quad City Thunder (1987–2001)
 * Reno Bighorns (1982–83)
 * Rio Grande Valley Silverados (2007–08)
 * Rochester Zeniths (1978–1984)
 * Rockford Lightning (2007–09)
 * San Jose Jammers (1989–1991) → Bakersfield Jammers (1991–92)
 * Santa Barbara Islanders (1989–1990)
 * Sarasota Stingers (1983–85) → Florida Stingers (1985–86) → Charleston Gunners (1986–89) → Columbus Horizon (1989–1994) → Shreveport Crawdads (1994–95) → Shreveport Storm (1995–96)
 * Sioux Falls Sky Force (1989–2000, 2001–06)
 * Saskatchewan Hawks (2001–02)
 * Tampa Bay Thrillers (1984–86) → Rapid City Thrillers (1986–1995) → Florida Beachdogs (1995–97)
 * Toronto Tornados (1983–85) → Pensacola Tornados (1985–86) → Jacksonville Jets (1986) → Mississippi Jets (1986–87) → Wichita Falls Texans (1988–1994) → Chicago Rockers (1994–96) → La Crosse Bobcats (1996–2001)
 * Utah Eagles (2006–07)
 * Wilkes-Barre Barons (1978–79) → Pennsylvania Barons (1979–1980) → Scranton Aces (1980–81)
 * Wisconsin Flyers (1982–87) → Rochester Flyers (1987–89) → Omaha Racers (1989–1998)
 * Wyoming Wildcatters (1982–88)

Commissioners
The commissioners of the CBA were:

EPBL

 * William Morgan (1946–55)
 * Harry Rudolph (1955–70)

EBA

 * William Montzman (1970–75)
 * Steve A. Kauffman (1975–78)

CBA

 * Jim Drucker (1978–86)
 * Carl Scheer (1986–87)
 * Mike Storen (1987–88)
 * Jay Ramsdell (1988–89)
 * Jerry Schemmel (1989–90)
 * Irv Kaze (1990–91)
 * Terdema Ussery (1991–93)
 * Mark Lamping (1993–94)
 * Tom Valdiserri (1994–96)
 * Steve Patterson (1996–98)
 * Gary Hunter (1998–99)
 * Isiah Thomas (1999–00)
 * Don Welsh (2000–01)
 * Gary Hunter (2001–06)
 * Jim Coyne (2007)
 * Dennis Truax (2007–09)

title: Continental Basketball Association


text:
Sen no Rikyū

Sen no Rikyū (千利休), also known simply as Rikyū, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on chanoyu, the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of wabi-cha. He was also the first to emphasize several key aspects of the ceremony, including rustic simplicity, directness of approach and honesty of self. Originating from the Sengoku period and the Azuchi–Momoyama period, these aspects of the tea ceremony persist. Rikyū is known by many names; for consistency, he will be referred to as Rikyū in this article.

There are three iemoto (sōke), or 'head houses' of the Japanese Way of Tea, that are directly descended from Rikyū: the Omotesenke, Urasenke, and Mushakōjisenke, all three of which are dedicated to passing forward the teachings of their mutual family founder, Rikyū. They are collectively called.

Early life
Rikyū was born in Sakai in present-day Osaka Prefecture. His father was a warehouse owner named Tanaka Yohei (田中與兵衛), who later in life also used the family name Sen, and his mother was Gesshin Myōchin (月岑妙珎). His childhood name was Yoshiro (與四郎).

As a young man, Rikyū studied tea under the townsman of Sakai named Kitamuki Dōchin (1504–62), and at nineteen, through Dōchin's introduction, he began to study tea under Takeno Jōō, who is also associated with the development of the wabi aesthetic in tea ceremony. He is believed to have received the Buddhist name Sōeki (宗易) from the Rinzai Zen priest Dairin Sōtō (1480–1568) of Nanshūji temple in Sakai. He married a woman known as Hōshin Myōju (d. 1577) around when he was twenty-one. Rikyū also underwent Zen training at Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto. Not much is known about his middle years.

Later years
In 1579, at the age of 58, Rikyū became a tea master for Oda Nobunaga and, following Nobunaga's death in 1582, he was a tea master for Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His relationship with Hideyoshi quickly deepened, and he entered Hideyoshi's circle of confidants, effectively becoming the most influential figure in the world of chanoyu. In 1585, as he needed extra credentials to enter the Imperial Palace in order to help at a tea gathering that would be given by Hideyoshi for Emperor Ōgimachi, the emperor bestowed upon him the Buddhist lay name and title "Rikyū Koji" (利休居士). Another major chanoyu event of Hideyoshi's that Rikyū played a central role in was the Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony, held by Hideyoshi at the Kitano Tenman-gū in 1587.

It was during his later years that Rikyū began to use very tiny, rustic tea rooms referred as sō-an ('grass hermitage'), such as the two-tatami mat tea room named Tai-an, which can be seen today at Myōki-an temple in Yamazaki, a suburb of Kyoto, and which is credited to his design. This tea room has been designated as a National Treasure. He also developed many implements for tea ceremony, including flower containers, teascoops, and lid rests made of bamboo, and also used everyday objects for tea ceremony, often in novel ways.

Raku teabowls were originated through his collaboration with a tile-maker named Raku Chōjirō. Rikyū had a preference for simple, rustic items made in Japan, rather than the expensive Chinese-made items that were fashionable at the time. Though not the inventor of the philosophy of wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in the very simple, Rikyū is among those most responsible for popularizing it, developing it, and incorporating it into tea ceremony. He created a new form of tea ceremony using very simple instruments and surroundings. This and his other beliefs and teachings came to be known as sōan-cha (the grass-thatched hermitage style of chanoyu), or more generally, wabi-cha. This line of chanoyu that his descendants and followers carried on was recognized as the Senke-ryū (千家流).

A writer and poet, the tea master referred to the ware and its relationship with the tea ceremony, saying, "Though you wipe your hands and brush off the dust and dirt from the vessels, what is the use of all this fuss if the heart is still impure?"

Two of his primary disciples were Nanbō Sōkei (南坊宗啓; dates unknown), a somewhat legendary Zen priest; and Yamanoue Sōji (1544–90), a townsman of Sakai. Another was Furuta Oribe (1544-1615), who became a celebrated tea master after Rikyū's death. Nanbō is credited as the original author of the Nanpō roku, a record of Rikyū's teachings. There is, however, some debate as to whether Nanbō even existed, and some scholars theorize that his writings were actually by samurai litterateur Tachibana Jitsuzan (1655-1708), who claimed to have found and transcribed these texts. Yamanoue's chronicle, the Yamanoue Sōji ki (山上宗二記), gives commentary about Rikyū's teachings and the state of chanoyu at the time of its writing.

Rikyū had a number of children, including a son known in history as Sen Dōan, and daughter known as Okame. This daughter became the bride of Rikyū's second wife's son by a previous marriage, known in history as Sen Shōan. Due to many complex circumstances, Sen Shōan, rather than Rikyū's legitimate heir, Dōan, became the person counted as the 2nd generation in the Sen-family's tradition of chanoyu (see san-Senke at schools of Japanese tea ceremony).

Rikyū also wrote poetry, and practiced ikebana. flowers for chanoyu are not called ikebana; need verification about him practicing ikebana

One of his favourite gardens was said to be at Chishaku-in in Kyoto.

Death
Although Rikyū had been one of Hideyoshi's closest confidants, because of crucial differences of opinion and because he was too independent, Hideyoshi ordered him to commit ritual suicide. One year earlier, after the Siege of Odawara (1590), his famous disciple Yamanoue Sōji was tortured and decapitated on Hideyoshi's orders. While Hideyoshi's reason may never be known for certain, it is known that Rikyū committed seppuku at his residence within Hideyoshi's Jurakudai palace in Kyoto in 1591 on the 28th day of the 2nd month (of the traditional Japanese lunar calendar; or April 21 when calculated according to the modern Gregorian calendar), at the age of seventy.

According to Okakura Kakuzō in The Book of Tea, Rikyū's last act was to hold an exquisite tea ceremony. After serving all his guests, he presented each piece of the tea-equipage for their inspection, along with an exquisite kakemono, which Okakura described as "a wonderful writing by an ancient monk dealing with the evanescence of all things". Rikyū presented each of his guests with a piece of the equipment as a souvenir, with the exception of the bowl, which he shattered, as he uttered the words: "Never again shall this cup, polluted by the lips of misfortune, be used by man." As the guests departed, one remained to serve as witness to Rikyū's death. Rikyū's last words, which he wrote down as a death poem, were in verse, addressed to the dagger with which he took his own life:

When Hideyoshi was building his lavish residence at Fushimi the following year, he remarked that he wished its construction and decoration to be pleasing to Rikyū. Hideyoshi was known for his temper, and is said to have expressed regret at his treatment of Rikyū.

Rikyū's grave is located at Jukōin temple in the Daitoku-ji compound in Kyoto; his posthumous Buddhist name is Fushin'an Rikyū Sōeki Koji.

Memorials for Rikyū are observed annually by many schools of Japanese tea ceremony. The Omotesenke school's annual memorial takes place at the family's headquarters each year on March 27, and the Urasenke school's takes place at its own family's headquarters each year on March 28. The three Sen families (Omotesenke, Urasenke, Mushakōjisenke) take turns holding a memorial service on the 28th of every month, at their mutual family temple, the subsidiary temple Jukōin at Daitoku-ji temple.

Rikyū's Seven High-Status Disciples
The Rikyū Shichitetsu (利休七哲) ('Seven Foremost Disciples', 'Seven Luminaries') is a set of seven high-ranking daimyō or generals who were also direct disciples of Sen no Rikyū: Maeda Toshinaga, Gamō Ujisato, Hosokawa Tadaoki, Furuta Oribe, Makimura Toshisada, Dom Justo Takayama, and Shimayama Munetsuna. The seven-member set was first mentioned by Rikyū's grandson Sen no Sōtan. In a 1663 list given by Sōtan's son (and fourth-generation head of the Sen Sōsa lineage of tea masters), Maeda Toshinaga is replaced by Seta Masatada.

In popular culture
Rikyu (利休, Rikyū, 1989) is Hiroshi Teshigahara's film about the master. The film focuses on the late stages of life of Rikyū, during the highly turbulent Sengoku period of feudal Japan. The film won a number of awards.

Death of a Tea Master (千利休 本覺坊遺文, Sen no Rikyu: Honkakubô ibun, also known as Sen no Rikyū: Honkakubo's Student Writings) is a 1989 biographical drama film directed by Kei Kumai with Toshiro Mifune as the lead character. It is based on the events surrounding his ritual suicide. It was entered into the main competition at the 43rd Venice International Film Festival, in which it won the Silver Lion.

Hyouge Mono is a manga written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Yamada. Hyōge Mono is a fictional retelling of the era in which Sen no Rikyū lived, and how close tea culture was to the world of politics. It won several comic awards and was adapted into an anime series in 2011.

A period drama about Rikyū's life and work titled Ask This of Rikyu (利休にたずねよ) by film director Mitsutoshi Tanaka was released in 2013, starring kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizō XI, Rei Dan, Akira Emoto, and Seiji Fukushi. It is based on Kenichi Yamamoto's novel of the same name.

Sen no Rikyū is a character in the Sengoku Basara franchise, introduced in the 2015 game Sengoku Basara 4. Rikyū is portrayed with two split personalities - the peaceful and elegant Wabisuke, and the irreverent and aggressive Sabisuke – in reference to the philosophy of wabi-sabi that the actual Rikyū popularized. In the game, Rikyū is a former tea master to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and he is on the run after Hideyoshi ordered him to commit ritual suicide. Sen no Rikyū is one of the main characters in Flower and Sword, a 2017 tragicomical movie by Tetsuo Shinohara. The role of Rikyū is performed by Kōichi Satō.

Sen no Rikyū was added as a playable character to the game Fate/Grand Order in 2022 in the GUDAGUDA 7 event as a 5-star Berserker-class Servant. In Fate/Grand Order, he is illustrated as a female dressed in traditional Japanese clothing with white and grey hair. The Servant's Noble Phantasm animation shows him making tea and serving it to the enemy before dealing damage.

title: Sen no Rikyū


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Quirks & Quarks

Quirks & Quarks is a Canadian science news program, heard over CBC Radio One of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Created by CBC Producer Diana Filer and airing since October 8, 1975, Quirks & Quarks is consistently rated among the most popular CBC programs, attracting over 800,000 listeners each Saturday from 12:06 to 13:00. The show is also heard on Sirius Satellite Radio and some American public radio stations. The show consists of several segments each week, most of which involve the host interviewing a scientist about a recent discovery or publication, combined with in-depth documentaries; however, from time to time the show does a special "Question Show" episode, during which the format consists of scientists answering questions submitted by listeners.

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Suzuki went on to host CBC Television's The Nature of Things. Ingram left to become founding host of Discovery Channel Canada's nightly science-news program @discovery.ca. Mowbray hosted for four months and then left to make documentary films about science in international development. McDonald came to Quirks from having hosted CBC Television's children's science program Wonderstruck.

title: Quirks & Quarks