text:
1st Parachute Division (Germany)

The 1st Parachute Division (1. Fallschirmjäger-Division) was an elite German military parachute-landing division that fought during World War II. A division of paratroopers was termed a Fallschirmjäger Division. For reasons of secrecy, it was originally raised as the 7th Air Division or (7. Flieger-Division), before being renamed and reorganized as the 1st Parachute Division in 1943.

Operational history
The division was formed in October 1938 under the command of Major-General Kurt Student. At the start of World War II, the division contained two parachute regiments; it was brought up to full strength in 1941. In April 1940, the division took part in the invasion of Denmark and Norway during Operation Weserübung, successfully seizing several airfields.

The German plan for the invasion of Belgium and the Netherlands in May 1940 called for the use of the 7th Fliegerdivision to aid in the advance through the capture of key bridges and the fortress of Eben Emael. The invasion of the Netherlands included the majority of the 7th Fliegerdivision in cooperation with the 22nd Air Landing Division. This force was grouped as the 11th Fliegerkorps, and commanded by Kurt Student. The attack on The Hague was a failure: the high loss of transport planes grew to quite dramatic proportions. Many paratroopers and air landing troops were captured, hundreds were killed or wounded and 1,536 prisoners of both divisions were transported to England. (The Rotterdam Blitz on 14 May 1940 led to Rotterdam's surrender.) The Eben Emael assault was a complete success with both the fort itself and 1,000+ enemy captured.

The division took part in the Battle of Crete. The Allied forces on the island put up a stubborn defense and the troops of the 7th Fliegerdivision took heavy losses. With the aid of the follow-on reinforcements, and the capture of the airfield allowing resupply however, the Allies were forced to evacuate the island by 29 May.

In September 1941, the division was transferred to the Eastern Front, fighting in the vicinity of Leningrad, Stalino and later taking part in anti-partisan warfare near Smolensk. In the summer of 1942, the division was transferred to France where it trained for the planned capture of Malta. After this operation was cancelled, elements of the division saw combat in North Africa.

The division took part in the July 1943 fight against the Allied invasion of Sicily. For the remainder of the war, the division fought in the Italian Campaign. From 14–27 December 1943, the division, under General-Lieutenant Richard Heidrich, saw action against the 1st Canadian Division in the Battle of Ortona. Later the division was concentrated in the defense of the Winter Line south of Rome, defending against the advance of the British Eighth Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese. In February to May 1944, the 1st Parachute Division took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino, and in late May and June it fought against the Allied Operation Diadem later retreating to the north of Rome. They formed part of the German I Parachute Corps, along with the German 4th Parachute Division.

By January 1945, the German I Parachute Corps was deployed to the Adriatic coast behind the Senio Rivier. The Allied advance resumed on 8 April, and the 1st Parachute Division was forced into a steady withdrawal toward the Po River by the British Eighth Army. Elements of the Polish II Corps captured the 1st Parachute Division’s battle flag, and on the morning of April 21, the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division entered Bologna ahead of the American 34th Division. By 25 April, the division had completed the river crossing. They immediately set off on a final march toward the Alpine Mountains. Finally, the German surrender in Italy came on 2 May 1945, and included the men of the 1st Parachute Division. The unconditional surrender of Germany followed a week later.

Order of battle

 * HQ Staff
 * 1. Panzerjäger Battalion
 * 1. Pioneer Battalion
 * 1. Flak Battalion
 * 1. Medical Battalion
 * 13. Nebelwerfer Company
 * 14. Panzerjäger Company
 * 1. Fallschirmjäger Regiment
 * 3. Fallschirmjäger Regiment
 * 4. Fallschirmjäger Regiment
 * 1. Artillery Regiment
 * Supply Troops

War crimes
Members of various units of the division committed war crimes in Italy between 1943 and 1945. A massacre by members of the 1. Fallschirmjäger Regiment occurred on November 21, 1943, in Pietransieri, a frazione of Roccaraso in Abruzzo. A total of 128 unarmed civilians, mostly women and children, were slaughtered in the Massacre of Pietransieri. After they refused to leave the village, civilians were rounded up and executed by gunfire and explosives and their farms were set on fire and demolished. According to a project funded by the German federal government and led by a commission of historians Atlante delle Stragi Naziste e Fasciste in Italia (Atlas of the Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy), nearly 400 Italian civilians were murdered by members of the 1st Parachute Division by the end of the war.

title: 1st Parachute Division (Germany)


text:
List of island countries

[[Image:Island nations.svg|thumb|350px|Map depicts [[sovereign state]]s and a de facto state (Taiwan) (tw) fully located on islands: those with land borders shaded green, and those without shaded dark blue (Bahrain (bh) should be shaded green as it shares a small land border with Saudi Arabia on Passport Island).

Countries/territories not shown on the map: Antarctica (aq) (continental disputed territory), Australia (au) (continental country), the Cook Islands (ck) (free association with New Zealand), Greenland (gl) (constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark), Niue (nu) (free association with New Zealand), Northern Cyprus (ct.tr and nc.tr) (unrecognized country), and Puerto Rico (pr) (unincorporated U.S. territory).]]

This is a list of island countries. An island is a landmass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water. Many island countries are spread over an archipelago, as is the case with Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines—these countries consist of thousands of islands. Others consist of a single island, such as Barbados, Dominica, and Nauru; a main island and some smaller islands, such as Cuba, Iceland, and Sri Lanka; a part of an island, such as Brunei, the Dominican Republic, East Timor, and the Republic of Ireland; or one main island but also sharing borders in other islands, such as the United Kingdom (Great Britain and a part of Ireland).

The list also includes two states in free association with New Zealand, the Cook Islands and Niue, as well as two states with limited diplomatic recognition which have de facto control over territories entirely on the islands, Northern Cyprus and Taiwan. In total, 50 island countries have been included in the lists.

Australia is not included as it is considered a continental country, although it was historically referred to as an island country because of its lack of land borders.

Greenland is generally considered as the largest island on Earth and listed among the island territories.

Indonesia is the world's largest island country by area (1,904,569 km2), and by total number of islands (17,504 islands). It is also the world's most populous island country, with a population of over 270 million (the fourth most populous country in the world, after India, China, and the United States).

Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea is officially an unincorporated territory of the United States.

South America is the only inhabited continent without an island country.

Africa
• State of Anjouan (1997–2008)

•  Sultanate of Bambao (Ngazidja, 1886–1908)

•  Merina Kingdom

•  Mohéli (1997–1998)

•  Mwali Sultanate

•  Sultanate of Ndzuwani

•  Sultanate of Zanzibar

Asia
• East Asia

• * Republic of Ezo

• * Republic of Formosa

• * Empire of Japan, (1868–1910)

• * Ryūkyū Kingdom

• * Tamna

• * Kingdom of Tungning

• * Usan

• * Yamatai

• Southeast Asia

• * Aceh Sultanate

• * Aru Kingdom

• * Bali Kingdom

• * Sultanate of Banjar

• * Banten Sultanate

• * Blambangan Kingdom

• * Sultanate of Brunei

• * Buton Sultanate

• * Rajahnate of Butuan

• * Sultanate of Cirebon

• * Sultanate of Deli

• * Demak Sultanate

• * Galuh Kingdom

• * Sultanate of Gowa

• * Janggala

• * Kediri Kingdom

• * Lanfang Republic

• * Sultanate of Maguindanao

• * Ma-i

• * Majapahit

• * Mataram Kingdom

• * Mataram Sultanate

• * Maynila

• * Melayu Kingdom

• * Pagaruyung Kingdom

• * First Philippine Republic

• * Pontianak Sultanate

• * Riau-Lingga Sultanate

• * Sultanate of Sambas

• * Raj of Sarawak

• * Sultanate of Siak

• * Kingdom of Singapura

• * Singhasari

• * Srivijaya

• * Sugbu

• * Sultanate of Sulu

• * Sunda Kingdom

• * Tarumanagara

• * Sultanate of Ternate

• * Sultanate of Tidore

• South Asia

• * Kingdom of Anuradhapura

• * 🇱🇰 Dominion of Ceylon

• * Kingdom of Dambadeniya

• * Kingdom of Gampola

• * Jaffna Kingdom

• * Kingdom of Kandy

• * Kingdom of Kotte

• * Kingdom of Polonnaruwa

• * Kingdom of Sitawaka

• * United Suvadive Republic

• Western Asia

• * Kingdom of Ormus

Europe
• Mediterranean Sea

• * Archaic Greek city-states

• ** Andros

• ** Delos

• ** Khios

• ** Lesbos

• ** Milos

• ** Minoans

• ** Pholegandros

• ** Rhodes

• ** Samos

• ** Syracuse, Sicily

• ** Zakynthos

• * Lordship of Chios

• * Kingdom of Corsica (1736)

• * Corsican Republic

• * Anglo-Corsican Kingdom

• * Emirate of Crete

• * Cretan State

• * Kingdom of Cyprus

• * Duchy of the Archipelago

• * Principality of Elba

• * Gozo (independent state)

• * Hospitaller Malta

• * Hospitaller Rhodes

• * Kingdom of Majorca

• * Triarchy of Negroponte

• * Sardinian Judicati

• ** Judicate of Arborea

• ** Judicate of Cagliari

• ** Judicate of Gallura

• ** Judicate of Logudoro

• * Republic of Sassari

• * Emirate of Sicily

• * Kingdom of Sicily, (1282–1816)

• North Europe & West Europe

• * Dál Riata

• * Commonwealth of England /  Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland

• * 🏴 Kingdom of England

• * Kingdom of Great Britain

• * Heptarchy (seven kingdoms before the unification of England )

• * Kingdom of Mann and the Isles

• * Commonwealth of Iceland

• * Kingdom of Iceland

• * Gaelic Ireland

• * Norman Ireland

• * Kingdom of Ireland

• * 🇮🇪 Irish Free State

• * Soviet Republic of Naissaar

• * 🏴 Kingdom of Scotland (Kingdom of Alba before the First War of Scottish Independence)

• * Kingdom of Strathclyde

• * Principality of Wales

• ** Brycheiniog

• ** Kingdom of Deheubarth

• ** Kingdom of Gwent

• ** Kingdom of Gwynedd

• ** Kingdom of Morgannwg

• ** Kingdom of Powys

North America
• Republic of Anguilla

•  First Republic of Cuba

•  First Empire of Haiti

•  Second Empire of Haiti

•  Kingdom of Haiti

•  Republic of Spanish Haiti

•  Republic of the Floridas

•  West Indies Federation, (1958–1962)

Oceania
• Kingdom of Bora Bora

•  Franceville, New Hebrides

•  Kingdom of Fiji

•  Kingdom of Hawaii

•  Republic of Hawaii

•  Republic of the North Solomons

•  Kingdom of Tahiti

• Tuʻi Tonga Empire

Former colonies, possessions, protectorates, and other territories

 * Annobón (1474–1778), now part of Equatorial Guinea
 * Bay Islands, now a department of Honduras
 * Cape Breton Island, now part of Nova Scotia, Canada
 * 🇩🇰 Danish West Indies, now the United States Virgin Islands
 * Elobey, Annobón and Corisco (1843–1926) unified with the rest of Spanish Guinea
 * Fernando Po (1778-1926)
 * The Territory of Hawaii, now Hawaii, a state of the United States
 * Heligoland (1807–1890)
 * Hong Kong Island (1841–1860), now a part of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China
 * United States of the Ionian Islands, protectorate of the United Kingdom.
 * Septinsular Republic, protectorate in the Ionian Islands under nominal Russo-Ottoman joint sovereignty.
 * Labuan, briefly part of British North Borneo, the Straits Settlements and Sabah, now a federal territory of Malaysia
 * 🇾🇹 Mayotte, now an overseas department and region of France
 * Minorca (1713–1802)
 * Colony of Newfoundland (1583–1907)
 * New Hebrides, now Vanuatu
 * British North Borneo
 * Padang
 * Prince of Wales Island between 1786 and 1800, at that point joined by Province Wellesley (now Seberang Perai). Now as the state of Penang in the Malaysian federation.
 * Prince Edward Island, now a province of Canada
 * The Providence Island colony
 * Queen Charlotte Islands
 * 🇷🇪 Réunion, now an overseas department and region of France
 * Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, former British overseas territory dissolved in 1983.
 * Socotra Archipelago, now a governorate of Yemen
 * Tasmania, now a state of Australia, shares a land boundary with Victoria on Boundary Islet
 * Vancouver Island, now a part of British Columbia, Canada
 * People's Republic of Zanzibar, now a member of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Island countries with man-made fixed links to continents

 * 🇧🇭 Bahrain to 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia via the King Fahd Causeway
 * 🇸🇬 Singapore to 🇲🇾 Malaysia via the Johor–Singapore Causeway since 1924, with the Tuas Second Link added in 1998
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom to 🇫🇷 France via the Channel Tunnel

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

title: List of island countries


text:
Mayor of Dallas

The Mayor of the City of Dallas is a member of the Dallas City Council and its presiding officer. The current mayor is Eric Johnson, who has served one term since 2019 and is the 60th mayor to serve in the position. Dallas operates under a city charter that designates the mayor as the official head of city government and a council-manager system where a city council-appointed city manager serves as the chief operating officer of the city.

Duties and powers
The city of Dallas operates under a council-manager government type, putting the city of Dallas in a unique position as being one of the largest cities in the United States to utilize this municipal government structure. Unlike the more common form of government used by large cities known as the mayor-council government - where the mayor serves the chief-executive position of the city - the council-manager government of the city of Dallas gives the operational responsibility to the appointed City Manager. The mayor presides over city council meetings and official ceremonies and serves as a representative of the City of Dallas at the local, state, national, and international level. Likewise, it is not uncommon for mayors of the city of Dallas to simultaneously serve as members or heads of other committees while in office, further representing the interests of the people and city of Dallas in organizations and committees.

History
The Office of Mayor was created with the formation of the Dallas City Charter in 1856, also providing for the mayor six aldermen, a treasurer, recorder and a constable. In the charter, it was stated that each office would be elected for a term of one year. In the reorganization of 1876, the mayor was elected to the office for a term of two years. The office was first filled in the election of 1856, in which Dr. Samuel B. Pryor defeated A. D. Rice for the position. A. D. Rice would run for office again and go on to serve as the 4th mayor of the city.

For much of the 19th century, mayors of the city of Dallas served for only one term. This precedence was broken at the end of Winship C. Connor's term, who – after serving three consecutive terms from 1887 to 1894 – would go on to be the city's longest consecutively serving mayor in the 19th century. His success was accredited to the development of the city's first water, power, and streetcar systems.

The municipal government of Dallas underwent two significant structural changes during its history. The first change was made in 1907 where the city voted to change from an alderman system to a commission form of government. Stephen J. Hay was the first mayor elected in this new form of government, demonstrating the success of the highly debated commission form of government and contributing to the development of White Rock Lake in response to a water shortage in 1910. The second major government change was made in 1930, altering the commission form of government to specifically be a council-manager form. The first mayor to serve following this change was Tom Bradford, a successful grocer who was a significant financial contributor to the Bradford Memorial Hospital for Babies, the preliminary institution to the Children's Medical Center Dallas. He died after suffering a major heart attack in 1932 and was the first mayor of Dallas to die in office.

Woodall Rodgers, serving two 4 year terms from 1939 to 1947, was mayor during World War II and served during the rampant manufacturing of aircraft and weapon goods in a rapidly industrializing Dallas. Rodgers oversaw the initial transformation of Dallas Love Field from a USAAF training ground to a commercial airport. He was also mayor when the Mercantile National Bank Building was constructed, which was the only skyscraper built in the United States during World War II and was the tallest building in the city of Dallas until the completion of Republic Center Tower I in 1954. The economic success brought by his contributions in office are commemorated by several namesakes throughout the city, most notably the Woodall Rodgers Freeway that passes underneath Klyde Warren Park and over the Trinity River along the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

Earle Cabell served as 48th mayor from 1961 to 1964 and was mayor during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in the city. In the wake of the assassination, Cabell was the target of multiple death threats and accusations of his involvement in the act.

The image of the city of Dallas was immensely tarnished by the assassination of the President, earning the moniker "City of Hate". Following Earle Cabell was Mayor J. Erik Jonsson who funded and supported the then proposed Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. As mayor, he went on to support public works projects such as developing the new Dallas City Hall, the Dallas Convention Center, and the Dallas Central Library - the last of which is now named in his honor. He was followed by Wes Wise who went on to further improve the city's image during his three terms as mayor from 1971 to 1976. However, he stepped down to pursue a political career in United States Congress before the end of his third term. His pro-term mayoral successor, Adlene Harrison, stepped in and became acting mayor for the remainder of his term. She was the city's first female mayor, and the first female Jewish mayor in the United States. Although Dianne Feinstein is officially recognized as the first female Jewish mayor in the United States, Adlene Harrison's position as acting mayor predates Feinstein's start in office by almost two years; Adlene began serving as acting mayor on February 11, 1976, while Feinstein took office on December 4, 1978. Adlene would go on to serve as a member of several environmental committees and organizations after her short tenure, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ron Kirk was the first African-American mayor of the City of Dallas and served two terms from 1995 to 2002. As mayor, he led several efforts advocating for race equality and social welfare, mitigated tension between City Council and the Dallas School Board, advocated for economic development, and oversaw the construction of the American Airlines Center. He would later step down to pursue a seat in the US Senate, where he lost in the 2002 election to John Cornyn. After his defeat, he went on to become a lobbyist before being nominated and appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as United States Trade Representative from 2009 to 2013.

Laura Miller - the city's third female mayor, following Adlene Harrison and Annette Strauss - was instrumental in renegotiating the Wright Amendment to revise flight restrictions at Love Field Airport, as well as implementing a citywide smoking ban and an ordinance prohibiting sex-based discrimination. The following mayor Tom Leppert would impose a staunch crime-fighting policy, promote the economic development of a modern inland port, and was a vocal supporter of a controversial convention center hotel project at the peak of the 2008 recession. He would later vacate the office to pursue a US Senate campaign in 2012, of which he would place third in the runoff. Following the four-month incumbency of acting mayor Dwaine Caraway, mayor Mike Rawlings would be known for his vocal leadership during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers, and the removal of confederate monuments following the Charlottesville riots.

List

This is the list of people who have held the office of Mayor. Note: municipal elections in Texas are non-partisan. The party affiliation of the Mayor is listed here for informational purposes only.

title: Mayor of Dallas


text:
Kingpin: Life of Crime

Kingpin: Life of Crime is a first-person shooter developed by Xatrix Entertainment and published by Interplay Entertainment in June 1999. The game begins with the player character wounded and beaten up by associates of the crime boss The Kingpin, and the story follows his thirst for revenge. Released shortly after the Columbine High School massacre, the game attracted controversy due to the overall timing of its release; thus, it was not sold by various retailers in the US, despite receiving generally positive reviews from critics. The game was also ported to Linux.

In 2020, 3D Realms announced a partnership with Interplay Entertainment to release a remastered version of the game, titled Kingpin: Reloaded. It was initially planned for a release later that same year, but due to development issues the game got delayed. It was eventually released on December 5, 2023 for PC.

Background
Set in a quasi-retro time period, Kingpin features a mix of 1930s art deco crossed with modern technology and ideas. Many inventions are conveyed through an art deco style design, like helicopters and monorail networks. The setting is described by the game manual as a past that never happened. According to artist Viktor Antonov, the game was initially envisioned as "like Blade Runner with a gangster touch", before hip-hop group Cypress Hill got associated to the project, which in turn influenced the setting of the game, causing the science-fiction elements to be phased out in favor of a "realistic city".

Set in a city, the world of Kingpin revolves around crime and criminals. The game begins in the most desolate and deprived area of the city, Skidrow, a dystopia where the population consists entirely of criminal elements, prostitutes, and transients. It is here that the player character has been left, after being beaten up by some thugs under the employ of Nikki Blanco, one of The Kingpin's lieutenants. For some reason not explained within the game, Nikki Blanco wants the player out of his territory for good, and the beating is a warning that should he ever return, he can expect much worse.

Kingpin is a game about revenge. Picking up a piece of lead piping as a makeshift weapon, the player plots against Nikki Blanco and The Kingpin himself. The player's rise to prominence, and his lust for revenge will take him through various areas of the city: from chemical plants through to steel mills and train yards, and eventually onto Radio City, home of The Kingpin's headquarters.

The game was influenced by the films Pulp Fiction and The Big Lebowski which features many lines of dialogue and characters lifted from both films. A few primary examples would be the main antagonist "The Kingpin" being heavily inspired by the Marsellus Wallace character from Pulp Fiction. The boss player's encounter known as "The Jesus" shares the same name and personality as the John Turturro character from The Big Lebowski. Much of the NPC dialogue is lifted from film characters. Many generic NPCs will say "Forget about it huh", which is another line from The Big Lebowski and many female NPCs will quote Jules Winfield from Pulp Fiction with such lines as the "That's cool and the gang!" phrase.

Gameplay
Gameplay in Kingpin was most noted for its profanity-laden dialog and its graphic depiction of violence. An idea incorporated into the game was that of area-specific damage: a shot to the head deals more damage than a shot on the leg. To complement this, each game character also has a deformable skin, which indicates where and how badly the character had been injured. Injured characters also bleed, and leave a blood trail making it easier to follow them. Instead of having a universal armor value for the player, armor is split into three different types, helmet, body armor and leggings, with separate values for each one.

Another innovative feature of the game is the use of weapon modifications. Various mods can be used to upgrade the weapons in the game. The pistol, for example, can be modified to increase its firepower, or its rate of fire, among other things.

Kingpin also features heavy NPC interaction for a first-person shooter; the player can interact with NPCs and choose between positive or negative responses. This can lead to various outcomes such as gleaning new information, hiring gang members, or provoking an enemy into attacking. The NPC response to the player also takes into account whether the player's gun is holstered or not. Some areas, such as bars and clubs, which acted as hubs for the chapters, force the player to lower his weapon. The player can also hire gang members to join him, and in some cases this is necessary as the player would need an AI character's specific skill.

Another new feature is the introduction of cash. Fallen enemies can be searched for cash, which can then be used to purchase weapons and ammunition at the Pawn-O-Matic, a shop found in every chapter, except in chapter five. Cash can also be used to hire gang members.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack for Kingpin was provided by the rap group Cypress Hill, and featured three tracks from their album IV. These were: "16 Men Till There's No Men Left", "Checkmate", and "Lightning Strikes". Alongside the full versions of these tracks, instrumental versions with the vocals removed were used as backing tracks. Cypress Hill also provided some of the voice acting for the game. Prior to the game's release, the group's song "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That" was used for the initial trailer in 1998. The song and "How I Could Just Kill a Man" were initially going to be included in the game, but was scrapped in favor of the tracks off of the newer IV album. According to producer Drew Markham, Cypress Hill's involvement prompted the team to make a more grounded and gritty approach to the overall setting.

On the initial UK release of the game, a free Ministry of Sound album was bundled with the game.

Controversy
Kingpin received a fair amount of controversy due to its graphic depiction of violence and heavy use of profanity. The game picked up increased media attention because it was the first high-profile first-person shooter to be released since the Columbine High School massacre. At that point, computer games were facing increasing pressure from Congress and lobby groups seeking an answer to what had influenced the Columbine killers.

Calls for Xatrix to cancel the game were made by various congressmen; the game was debated on the floor of the US senate and was singled out for criticism in the National Institute on Media and the Family's 1999 report on violent video games. In a response to this, Xatrix implemented a "safe" version, a password-protected game mode, which meant that the game would play with low violence and bleeped out swearing. Xatrix also stressed that Kingpin was not in any way, shape or form aimed or marketed at minors, with a warning message during the installation stage from Xatrix CEO Drew Markham himself:

 * "In light of the recent acts of youth-related violence that have taken place across America we thought that you should know how 'Kingpin' was initially conceived. Kingpin was never intended for children. This is a game with mature themes made for a mature audience. There was never any attempt to market or influence children to buy Kingpin."

Still, the controversy led various retailers to not stock the game, including Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us. Xatrix team member Greg Goodrich would claim later that "If it wasn't for Electronics Boutique, the game might have never seen the light of day in North America."

Reception
The game received positive reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Erik Wolpaw of GameSpot was particularly impressed at the way that Xatrix had used the then two-year-old Quake II engine, calling the game world a "beautifully depicted metropolitan nightmare". Jay Boor of IGN enjoyed the game, noting its excellent level design and the advanced NPC interaction. PC Gamer UK described the game as "an incredible achievement in terms of graphics, AI and level design and a nasty, bloody swear-fest". Incidentally, the most negative reaction to the game came from Stephen Poole of the publication's US edition, who rated the game 53% (out of 100%) and felt that the game was too shallow, offered nothing new to the genre, and was peppered with bugs and oversights. In contrast, the most positive reception came from Computer and Video Games, who scored the game five stars (out of five total), and concluded with "It plays like a dream and will have you whooping with joy after every level is successfully completed." John Lee of NextGen said of the game, "Although it doesn't stick to its theme of street-level crime, there's more than enough action and shocks to keep your interest." PC Zone concluded that "If you've got a strong stomach and [you] aren't offended by foul and abusive language, then Kingpin: Life of Crime is a beautiful thing, and one which could open the floodgates for more adult games."

Initially for July 1999, the game had ranked No. 19 as the best-selling PC game of the month, as tracked by PC Data in the US. NPD Techworld, the firm that bought out PC Data and also tracked sales in the US, reported 76,189 units sold of the game by December 2002 in the US. Overseas in the UK, the game fared better, and debuted as the No. 1 best-selling PC game for the month of September, as tracked by ELSPA. It would sink to No. 6 in October and slightly rise to No. 5 in November before leaving the charts completely.

Kingpin was nominated for PC PowerPlay's "Best Music" and "Best Firstperson [sic] Shooter (Single Player)" awards, both of which went to Half-Life. Kingpin was also a runner-up in PC Formats "Best Shoot 'em Up Game" and Levels "First Person Shooter" categories, which was ultimately won by Quake III Arena and Aliens vs. Predator respectively.

Legacy and Kingpin: Reloaded
Multiplayer for Kingpin was previously hosted on both heat.net and Mplayer.com in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Afterwards, multiplayer was hosted on Gamespy Arcade. Once Gamespy dissolved in 2014, the multiplayer was shifted to be primarily ran by an online fan community which contains a large archival library of downloads and active servers.

Kingpin would prove to be Xatrix's last game; on the day that Kingpin shipped, Xatrix Entertainment ceased to exist. Many of their team reformed later to create Gray Matter Studios. A sequel to Kingpin was in production at Interplay in 2004 for the PC and Xbox with a 2005 release date, but nothing came of the project.

In 2014, the long-thought lost source code and publishing rights for Kingpin was questioned by Slipgate Studios' Frederik Schreiber. In 2016, Herve Caen responded, and confirmed that Interplay still held the rights to the game, but did not mention the source code. These two interactions would ultimately manifest in a remastering of the game by 3D Realms (where Schreiber would later work for), announced in January 2020 as Kingpin: Reloaded. Initially set to be released later that same year, the missing source code required the developers to ultimately reverse engineer the original game, resulting in a delay. Kingpin: Reloaded was eventually released on December 5, 2023 for PC, while release dates for other platforms remained unannounced.

title: Kingpin: Life of Crime


text:
Talk:1st Parachute Division (Germany)

Untitled
Shouldn't the part about the 7th Flieger be broken out into a separate article? I know the 1st FJ was ultimately raised in part from the 7th, but I wouldn't consider them to be the same formation; after all, the 2nd FJ was also raised in part from the 7th. Also, didn't the 7th actually include air assets, rather than just the ground forces? — B.Bryant 12:29, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)

 * If a separate article for the 7th Air Division isn't created, at least its years of operation ought to be added to the info-box. --89.27.36.41 (talk) 17:22, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

little green devils
i have hears the allies troops at cassio called the german paras little green devils might be worth mentioning

Misleading Title
Someone troll wrote a title "Liberation of the Soviet Union" meaning Operation Barbarossa. If no one objects, I'm gonna to correct that. -- Nik —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.132.31.142 (talk) 15:05, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

7th Flieger Corps/citations
German paratroops were part of the Luftwaffe, not the Wehrmacht. Also, the Flieger Corps used gliders to transport the troops. That is how they made the attack on the Belgian Fort Eban Emael. Gliders carrying the commandos with weapons, landing silently, penetrate area rapidly, land ready for combat with weapons, etc. It was a combined operation, not just airborne troops dropping from the sky. Hitler never allowed the information about the use of the gliders to be publicized because he wanted to keep it secret and give the impression that he military had some special awesome skill in overtaking Eban Emael, and others. I have several books on this and I will added material and fill-in where citations are needed.Malke 2010 (talk) 03:16, 20 September 2010 (UTC)
 * The Luftwaffe was a component of the Wehrmacht. You had the Heer, the Kriegsmarine, and the Luftwaffe. So despite the Luftwaffe being Goring's own little petty kingdom in practice, it was never separate from the Wehrmacht, unlike the SS.172.190.15.163 (talk) 04:40, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Several edits
Added Kurt Student as a prominent divisional commander.

Not 1st Battalion but 1st Coy was dropped at Narvik on 14 May 1940. The rest of 1st Battalion was still stuck in the Netherlands, whilst 1st Coy had been liberated from the Norvegian army and rebuilt to be dropped at Narvik. Correction as such been incorporated.

The section on the Belgian and Dutch theatre has been modified considerably. It was poorly addressed. The division of theatres has been added and the old myth that the prime objective of the airlanding in Holland would have been to seize the Dutch crown and parliament. The operational around the Hague was self sustaining and had nothing to do with the other airlanding operation around Rotterdam.

Grebbegoos (talk) 16:01, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

title: Talk:1st Parachute Division (Germany)


text:
Kingpin (TV series)

Kingpin is an American crime drama television series which debuted on NBC in the United States and CTV in Canada on February 2, 2003, and lasted 6 episodes. The series detailed a Mexican drug trafficker named Miguel Cadena (Yancey Arias) and his family life. Low ratings and the network's discomfort with airing a show with a drug trafficker protagonist resulted in the show's cancellation. Commercials on NBC featured the song "Más" by the Mexican band Kinky, which also featured in the series.

Cast

 * Yancey Arias as Miguel Cadena
 * Sheryl Lee as Marlene McDillon Cadena
 * Rubén Carbajal as Joey Cadena
 * Bobby Cannavale as Chato Cadena
 * Angela Alvarado Rosa as Delia Flores
 * Brian Benben as Dr. Heywood Klein
 * Shay Roundtree as Junie Gatling
 * Neko Parham as Shawn Williams
 * Elpidia Carrillo as Lupita
 * Eduardo Palomo as Capt. Lazareno
 * Sean Young as Lorelei Klein
 * Toy Connor as Sheronda Clifford

Crew
The series was created by writer David Mills. Mills also served as the head writer, show runner and an executive producer. Aaron Spelling and E. Duke Vincent were the series other executive producers. James L. Conway and Jonathan Levin were consulting producers for the series. Daniel Sackheim was a co-executive producer and regular director. Doug Palau was a supervising producer and writer for the series. Paul Cajero was the series line producer.

The series other writers were Lloyd Rose, Diego Gutierrez, Maria Elena Rodriguez, Floyd Salas and Susie Putnam. The series other directors were Allen Coulter, James Hayman, Michael M. Robin and Peter O'Fallon.

title: Kingpin (TV series)


text:
Be (Cyrillic)

Be (Б б or Ƃ, δ; italics: Б б or Ƃ, δ )  is a letter of the Cyrillic script. It commonly represents the voiced bilabial plosive, like the English pronunciation of $⟨b⟩$ in "ball". It should not be confused with the Cyrillic letter Ve (В в), which is shaped like Latin capital letter B but represents the voiced labiodental fricative  or the voiced bilabial fricative. The Cyrillic letter Б (Be) is romanized using the Latin letter B.

History
The Cyrillic letters Be and Ve (В в) were both derived from the Greek letter Beta (Β β).

In the Early Cyrillic alphabet the name of the letter Be was (buky/ буки ), meaning "letter".

In the Cyrillic numeral system, the letter Be had no numeric value because the letter Ve inherited the Greek letter Beta's numeric value.

Form
The Russian small letter б (be) is similar (but not identical) in shape to the 6|digit 6. Its lowercase form also somewhat resembles a lowercase letter B ("b"), the letter to which it corresponds in the Latin alphabet. After all, the lowercase letter B ("b") developed from scribal alterations to the capital letter B ("B"), just as б did from scribal alterations to the capital letter В ("Ve").

In Serbian and Macedonian the italic form is allowed to vary, but the regular should look like in other languages.

The cursive form of the lowercase letter Be resembles the lowercase Greek letter Delta ( δ ), but they are slightly different in their upper portions.

Usage
In Russian and Bulgarian, the letter Be generally represents the voiced bilabial plosive, but word-finally or before a voiceless consonant, it also represents the voiceless. Before a palatalizing vowel, it represents. In Macedonian, the letter represents the sound, but if it is in the final position of the word, it is pronounced as , like in леб ('bread').

In Mari, it may represent either /b/ or the voiced bilabial fricative.

In Serbian, the letter represents the voiced bilabial plosive /b/, regardless of the position in the word.

title: Be (Cyrillic)


text:
Hornby Railways

Hornby Hobbies Limited is a British-owned scale model manufacturing company which has been focused on model railways. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first OO gauge train. In 1964, Hornby and Meccano were bought by their competitor, Tri-ang Railways, and sold when Tri-ang went into receivership. Hornby Railways became independent again in the 1980s, and became listed on the London Stock Exchange, but due to financial troubles reported in June 2017, became majority owned by British turnaround specialist Phoenix Asset Management.

Hornby Hobbies bought model paint manufacturer Humbrol and their scale model kit subsidiary Airfix in 2007. The die-cast model car brand Corgi was added in 2008.

Hornby's other brands include for model railways Bassett-Lowke, Jouef, Lima, Rivarossi and Electrotren, the large scale car model kit Pocher, and the scale car racing Scalextric.

Early history: 1920–1938

Hornby was at first a trade name for the railway productions of Meccano Ltd and based around Liverpool. Until 1907 the company produced under the name of Mechanics made easy. Hornby released its first train, a clockwork 0 gauge (1:48) model, in 1920. An electric train soon followed but was under-designed and the few that were made were sold in France. In 1925, a much more successful electric model was introduced, operating on the high voltage of 110 volts AC power.

Safety concerns saw low voltage 4V and then 6V motors introduced, followed by a reliable 20V AC system, which was developed in the early 1930s. However, clockwork remained the mainstay of the Hornby 0 gauge trains until 1937 and became the only power available in Liverpool-made 0 gauge trains from 1949. Competitors in the UK were Leeds Model Company and Bassett-Lowke.

A factory was established in France, which developed its own range of French outline trains, but Liverpool dominated export activity elsewhere, with large numbers of Hornby trains exported to Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Scandinavia. Even though the export models were often painted in 'foreign' liveries, Hornby trains looked very British. Hornby attempted to break into the American market by setting up a factory in 1927 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to make American-style trains.

These were colourful and attractive, but low-market and only clockwork. They probably would have failed in the marketplace because several established U.S. firms could undercut them and Hornby offered no better-class goods or electric models, but the Wall Street Crash precipitated matters. In late 1929, Meccano Ltd. sold its New Jersey factory to the A. C. Gilbert Company and Hornby trains had vanished from the U.S. market by 1930. The leftover inventory was sold in Canada and in the UK and some of the tooling was reused for products in other markets.

Hornby Dublo era: 1938–1963

Meccano introduced its OO scale trains in 1938 under the name 'Hornby Dublo'. The locomotives were diecast metal, and the carriages and wagons were generally made of tinplate. This was a very well planned range of electric and clockwork models, successfully consolidating 12 V DC as the standard for OO scale. This led to the adoption of OO as a broadly accepted modelling standard in the UK, whereas much of the rest of the world adopted HO scale. As for their O gauge locomotives, electric Hornby Dublo locomotives ran on a third rail electric system with the track built on a pressed tinplate base.

Both OO and HO use the same track gauge, but their scales are different. Beginning as literally "half O gauge", the HO models of continental prototypes at 3.5 mm/foot (1:87) scale were workable but Hornby chose to slightly increase the scale to 4 mm/foot for the smaller British prototypes, to provide more internal space for a motor. This has had the effect, remaining to this day, of making their gauge an apparent 4 ft rather than the true.

The range expanded quickly, but was curtailed from 1940 due to World War II, production being completely suspended in 1942. Production resumed after the war but did not reach full capacity until 1948. Clockwork models were not produced in 00 scale after the war.

In 2008, a special commemorative model of LNER Class A4 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley was produced, in period packaging, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this introduction.

Like its counterparts Bassett-Lowke and Exley in the UK and Lionel and American Flyer in the US, Hornby thrived in the first half of the 1950s but struggled in the second half of the decade. The company was slow to recognise the threat posed by rival manufacturers (particularly Triang-Rovex) and to realise the potential of plastic. In 1959, far too late, Hornby introduced two-rail track and moulded plastic rolling stock (the Super Detail series), but even then the system was complicated and difficult to use in comparison to its rivals. With the benefit of hindsight, the policy of keeping the faith with its existing three-rail users whilst bringing the two-rail system to the market was a mistake that cost the company dearly. Whilst all the newer plastic-wheeled rolling stock was compatible with either system, the locomotives (and track) most definitely were not, requiring the two parallel productions of practically every locomotive* in the range to be offered in both formats. Meanwhile, the company persisted in producing a range of very old-fashioned 0 gauge models, in 1957 completely retooling much of the range instead of taking the opportunity to discontinue it, indicative of major failings at management level.

(* With the exception of the very first two-rail locomotive, a Southern Region R1 0-6-0 tank engine; the later E3002 AL1 Bo-Bo electric locomotive was ordinarily two-rail only but three-rail ones were made to special order.)

Tri-ang Hornby: 1964–1972

In 1964, Lines Bros Ltd., the parent company of rival Tri-ang Railways, purchased Meccano Ltd., and merged Hornby and Tri-ang into Tri-ang Hornby. The former Hornby line was discontinued in favour of Tri-ang's less costly plastic designs. The Hornby Dublo tooling was sold to G & R Wrenn, which continued to make most of the loco range and 'superdetail' rolling stock. Remaining stocks of 0 gauge were either scrapped or sold to the local retailer Hattons Model Railways.

Hornby Railways: 1972–1980

The Tri-ang group was disbanded in 1971 when Meccano Ltd's owner Lines Bros. filed for bankruptcy. The former Tri-ang Hornby was sold to Dunbee-Combex-Marx, becoming Hornby Railways in 1972. By 1976 Hornby was facing challenges from Palitoy and Airfix, both of which were producing high quality detailed models. Detail on the models was upgraded to make the product line more attractive to adult hobbyists.

Zero 1
A digital model railway control system named Zero 1 was introduced in late 1979. The Zero 1 system enabled the simultaneous control of up to 16 locomotives and up to 99 accessories such as points and signals.

Zero 1 was based on digital, not analogue, technology. This really was the first digital system and as such was a forerunner to the Märklin Digital which appeared in the mid-1980s and the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) Digital Command Control (DCC) system, which appeared around 1990 and was standardized internationally in the mid-1990s.

Although an important milestone, Zero 1 was not a lasting success. The Master Control unit last appeared in the catalog in 1985. The slave controller, the locomotive module, and the accessory module were still available until the late 1980s. The system is still used today by many modellers, highlighted by the demand on such sites like eBay for the items in the secondhand market. The Main Master unit was discontinued in 1986, and finally the last time Loco Modules were listed was in the 1991 catalogue 'Limited supplies of R955 Loco module are available'. Repairs to Zero 1 units were no longer undertaken by Hornby apparently due to 'Lack of available parts required'.

Despite being on the market for a short time, Zero 1 had the largest installed base among command control systems in the early 1980s in North America, according to a reader survey done by Model Railroader magazine.

Rocket
As part of the 1980 Rocket 150 celebrations, Hornby released a live steam-powered gauge locomotive, a model of Stephenson's Rocket  A major goal was to make real live steam accessible to an indoor domestic environment. The boiler was considerably smaller than the external diameter, surrounded by a thick insulating jacket to prevent burns. It was fuelled by butane gas, from cigarette lighter refills. To provide more torque from the small cylinders, gearing was adeptly hidden between the cranks and the wheels. The track was of asymmetric moulded plastic units, representing the fishbelly rails of the period. These could be assembled either way round, to give either curved or straight track.

By 1980, the market was extremely tough and Dunbee-Combex-Marx was liquidated, placing Hornby in receivership.

Hornby Hobbies Limited: 1980–2015

In 1980, Hornby became Hornby Hobbies and in 1981 a management buyout saw the company back on a sound footing. It went public in 1986.

By the early 1990s Hornby again faced competition from newcomers such as Dapol (established 1983) and established foreign manufacturers, including Lima and Bachmann Industries. Manufacturing was moved to Guangdong province in China in 1995, completed by 1999, in a cost-cutting exercise. As part of the process Hornby also bought in some of Dapol's products and also some of the old Airfix moulds (which had been bought by Dapol as part of the Mainline range from Palitoy in 1985). Train sets based on Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and Harry Potter (the "Hogwarts Express") have been particularly profitable ventures. In September 2003 Hornby released its first steam-powered 00 gauge locomotive, a model of the record-breaking Mallard. Several other "Live Steam" locomotives have now been produced.

Since then Hornby has bought Lima, an Italian model railway equipment manufacturer that had previously acquired Jouef, a French manufacturer. Some of the ex-Lima models appear in the main Hornby products list. This range is known as Hornby International. This acquisition also included the Rivarossi line of HO-scale products, also originally from Italy, and the Arnold brand of N-scale products. They also took over the Spanish model railway company Electrotren. Electrotren had been the Spanish importer for Scalextric, sold in Spain as Superslot. The takeover was at the request of the Spanish company and was not due to obvious financial problems. They have remained independent outside of the Hornby International umbrella.

With competition mainly from Bachmann Industries, and to a much lesser extent from minor and generally niche players such as the Danish model railway company Heljan, Dapol, Vi Trains and Peco, Hornby Railways produced a large range of highly detailed British steam and diesel locomotives, such as the BR 9F, LNER Class A4, SR Merchant Navy, Class 60, Class 50, Class 31 and Class 08.

In November 2006, Hornby Hobbies acquired Airfix and Humbrol paints for the sum of £2.6 million. The parent company, Humbrol, had gone into administration earlier that year after cashflow problems. Airfix fans had been concerned that it could be the end of the brand, but just as the name Hornby was once a tradename of Meccano, Airfix is now a successful tradename of Hornby.

In May 2008, Hornby announced the acquisition of Corgi Classics Limited, one of the world's oldest makers of collectable die-cast models of trucks, buses, cars and aeroplanes, from Corgi International Limited for £7.5million.

In 2009, the Hornby Shop and Visitor Centre was in development. Christmas 2009 saw the launch of the new Hornby Shop at Margate in Kent, with the visitor centre still under construction. July 2010 saw the opening of the Hornby Shop And Visitor Centre.

Financial troubles, PAM takeover
From 2015, Hornby plc began to announce a series of declining financial results. The major reason behind the decline Hornby declared was twofold, with the decline in the number of collecting customers, (older customers dying and not being replaced by younger ones), and a general lack of interest in modelling as a hobby in light of the digitization and advancement of the internet games industry. After the PLC shares dropped by more than 50% in a year, at the 2016 results, Hornby declared that it planned to cut more than half of the toys it made, after discovering that it generated 90% of its profits from only 50% of its range. In the year to 31 March 2017, revenues fell further to £47.4m from £55.8m, while underlying losses widened to £6.3m from a £5.7m deficit in 2016. The financial declines culminated in July 2017, when the largest shareholder Phoenix Asset Management (PAM) agreed to buy 17.6 million Hornby shares for 32.375p from the second largest - and activist/protagonist shareholder - New Pistoia Income (NPI), which gave PAM a 55.2% holding in the company. Under stock exchange rules, this triggered a mandatory takeover offer of Hornby by PAM, at the NPI strike price of 32.375p, valuing Hornby at £27.4million. As a result of the takeover, the chairman of Hornby resigned from the company in August 2017, followed by the Chief Executive in September 2017.

In October 2017, PAM announced their new management team who would join the company and steer through the turnaround. They were Lyndon Davies, former Mettoy employee and owner of Oxford Diecast. Simon Kohler, ex Hornby marketing manager and Tim Mulhall, also from Oxford Diecast and credited with knowledge of the International market, having been the former importer for Hornby International brands in the UK.

The trio proposed a turnaround plan to reengage with the market, make products which were more appealing to customers, clamp down on rising overheads and recover first sales and then move the company back into profitability. The outcomes were not expected to bear fruit for 3–5 years.

The end of year Annual Report for March 2018 revealed how serious the position was for the company, showing further slumps in revenue (down to £35.7m) and a widening pre-tax loss (up to £7.6m).

The March 2019 end of year report showed progress, having stabilised the business, closed unnecessary offices and returned to their historic home in Margate. Sales grew to £37.8m, losses narrowed to £2.8m

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was one element credited in a sales growth of 30%, which was announced in the 2019/20 half year results which covered a period to March 2020. Half year sales of £21m (up from £15.9m) and the first profit in 8 years.

In August 2021, it was announced that Hornby had acquired the remaining 51% of LCD Enterprises (who owned Oxford Diecast) for £1.3 million. This followed Hornby's 49% stake in the company, for which they had acquired in 2017.

In October 2022 Hornby released a range of TT:120 items. Two train sets are being offered, with four series of locomotives and rolling stock available.

Collector and enthusiasts' groups
Pre-1964 Hornby trains have enjoyed a level of adult collector interest since the 1940s. In 1969 the Hornby Railway Collector's Association was founded to cater for this and currently enjoys a membership approaching 3000, producing 10 journals a year, as well as other literature. Publications on older Hornby and Meccano products are dominated by those published by New Cavendish Books as "The Hornby Companion Series", in particular Chris & Julie Graebe's "The Hornby Gauge 0 System" and Michael Foster's sister volume on Hornby Dublo. Triang-Hornby and later Hornby products are catered for by the Train Collectors' Society.

Brands
Hornby owns Humbrol and, through that acquisition, Airfix, and Corgi Toys. It also owns a number of established brands in the model railway market.

Lima
Lima was an Italian company that was a popular, affordable supplier of model railway material but market pressures in the mid-1990s led to Lima merging with Rivarossi, Arnold, and Jouef. When these consolidations failed and operations ceased in 2004, Hornby Railways acquired Lima's assets. As of mid 2006, a range of these products has been made available under the Hornby International brand, refitted with NEM couplings and sprung buffers and sockets for DCC decoders. Lima also had a popular OO gauge range much like Hornby, which strengthened the case for acquisition.

Skaledale
‘Skaledale’ is a range of resin buildings and track accessories produced for 00 gauge railways by Hornby Hobbies Ltd. Production began in 2003 when an initial range of only 6 items were distributed into the market place. The interest and demand proved so positive that the range increased the following year to include new domestic style buildings plus the introduction of station and trackside buildings.

Many of the models are similar to those of 'Lyddle End' (a range which followed 'Skaledale'), but these “N” Gauge buildings are produced to a smaller scale of 1:148.

The Skaledale range comprises station buildings, platforms, trackside accessories, shops, houses, churches, monuments and street furniture.

Forbes Outfitters and St. Andrews Church for example, provided the inspiration for their scaled down models, although others are adapted to suit a particular price point or subject. The station and trackside buildings are inspired by actual structures but again in some cases adapted to suit manufacturing constraints. Some of the station pieces were inspired by Goathland railway station.

Lyddle End
Lyddle End is the range of N scale model railway buildings for Hornby Railways. The buildings are created from high quality die cast resin and are made to represent the fictional village of Lyddle End, somewhere in England. Most of the buildings are models of GWR style buildings made out of red sandstone.

Hornby created these buildings thanks to the success of their 00 gauge buildings, which they call Skaledale. Many of the buildings are the same as their Skaledale equivalent, except in different scales, to save the cost of designing a new model. They are generally released about 6 months to a year behind their 00 counterparts. When Hornby announced their 2010 range, Lyddle End was not mentioned, presumably ended.

Warlord Games Limited
In July 2023 Hornby acquired a 25% share in Warlord Games, a company that produces historical tabletop wargames.

In media
An attempt to build the world's longest model railway formed the final episode of James May's Toy Stories. May, who had previously identified the train set as his "absolute favourite", hoped that a train would run successfully along the length of the Tarka Trail, which is a disused 37 mi long railway line in North Devon.

Hornby was heavily involved, providing the track and the prototype of their OO gauge British Rail Class 395 Javelin train. Simon Kohler, marketing manager of Hornby model railways, said that the train which travels at just 1 mph failed two miles short of Bideford station; but he also told BBC News "Even though the last locomotive gave up the ghost at Instow, we did link the track. In April 2011 on the TV series James May's Toy Stories: Revisited, James tried again, this time against the Germans. All the trains reached their destinations and the British team won.

In 2019 the mini-series James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain was broadcast on BBC Four, which the channel described as, 'A year inside Hornby Hobbies – an iconic British toymaker on the brink of collapse.'

In 2021, a ten episode series was produced by Rare TV for the Yesterday TV channel called Hornby: A Model World, which went behind the scenes at Hornby and also featured models from Airfix, Scalextric and Corgi within various episodes. A second season of 11 episodes was broadcast in 2023.

One:One Collection
In 2019 the One:One Collection of real historic engines and rolling stock opened at Hornby's former Margate factory. It had been purchased by Jeremy Hosking, with some Hosking-owned rolling stock placed on display.

title: Hornby Railways


text:
Sexton (artillery)

The 25pdr SP, tracked, Sexton was a Canadian-designed self-propelled artillery vehicle of the Second World War. It was based on Canadian-built derivatives of the American M3 Lee and M4 Sherman tank chassis. Canada had set up to produce the Ram tank using the M3 chassis and Grizzly (a copy of the M4) to complement US medium tank production; when Sherman production in the US expanded and supply was no longer a problem, it was decided in 1943 to switch the Canadian production lines to produce the Sexton to give the British Army a mobile artillery gun using their 87.6 mm Ordnance QF 25-pounder gun-howitzer for commonality with towed guns. The Sexton could fire either HE shell or an armour-piercing shell. It found use in the Canadian, British, and other British Commonwealth  armies, as well as other countries. After the war, a number of Sextons and Grizzlies were sold to Portugal, which used them into the 1980s.

History
In order to better provide artillery support in the highly mobile desert warfare of the North African Campaign, the British Army had quickly adapted the Valentine tank into a self-propelled 25-pounder gun: the Bishop. Introduced in 1942, the Bishop proved to have many problems in service. In particular, limited space meant that the turret had little elevation, requiring crews to use natural slopes, embankments or mounds to get the full range out of the gun.

As a stop-gap, the US-built M7 Priest, with a M101 105 mm howitzer, mounted on a M3 Lee chassis, was soon replacing the Bishop, reaching service in October 1942. In March 1942, the UK ordered 2,500 for 1942 with another 3,000 for 1943. The first M7s were rushed to Egypt for the Second Battle of El Alamein where they played an important part. However, because the US 105 mm gun was not otherwise used by the British military, supplying ammunition to Priest crews was complicated and caused delays.

Simultaneously, two new self-propelled 25-pounder projects were being pursued by the British General Staff. Firstly, in the US, the 25-pounder Howitzer Motor Carriage T51 – a Priest adapted to mount the 25-pounder – was tested from July 1942. Development was delayed by issues including the destruction of the gun mount on the prototype, during the first live-firing trials.

Secondly, because US resources were increasingly devoted to equipping and upgrading the existing weaponry of US forces, the UK government inquired whether the Canadian government could facilitate rapid development and manufacturing of a self-propelled 25-pdr. The Canadian Department of Munitions and Supply asked the Canadian Army Engineering Design Branch to build such a vehicle.

A prototype was quickly built on the chassis of a Canadian Ram tank, which was also based on the M3 chassis. The Ram had been sidelined by a decision that Canadian armoured units should standardize around the Sherman and variants using the same chassis. The prototype was completed on 23 June 1942. Following trials in Canada, the Canadian government ordered 124 vehicles in three batches. The prototype was shipped to the United Kingdom in early 1943, where it underwent further trials. In May 1943, it was formally accepted for use by the British Army and given the name "Sexton" (after the religious custodian and following in the tradition of the Bishop and the Deacon self-propelled guns).

A UK order for 300 Sextons was made in mid-1943, albeit built on the hull of the Grizzly tank (a Canadian-built variant of the M4A1 Sherman). The Ram-based SP gun became known as the Sexton Mark I, while the Grizzly-based variant was the Sexton Mark II. UK orders for the Sexton II eventually totalled 2,026 vehicles.

The Sexton was generally regarded as a successful project, unlike the Ram (which never saw combat in its original form). Between 1943 and 1945, the Montreal Locomotive Works manufactured 2,150 Sextons for the use of both Canadian and British forces. The vehicle entered service in September 1943. In spite of its confused origins, the Sexton was a combination of proven parts and proved to be a successful design that remained in British service until 1956.

Operational service
The vehicles were first used in combat in Italy by the British Eighth Army. Later, Sextons took part in the invasion of France and subsequent Battle of Normandy and the campaign in north-western Europe. During the D-day landings, a number of Sextons were ordered to fire from their landing craft as they approached the beaches although the fire did not prove to be very accurate. After the war a number of units were equipped with the Sexton as part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).

The following units were equipped with the Sexton at different periods:

 * 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, Italy 1944-45, post-war (Sexton withdrawn in 1956)
 * 2nd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, Italy 1944-45, post-war (Sexton withdrawn in 1957)
 * 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, post-war
 * 4/22 Field Regiment (South African Irish and Transvaal Horse Artillery), South African Artillery, 6th South African Armoured Division, Italy 1944-45 (January 1944 to August 1944 then replaced by the M7 Priest when the Division transferred to US IV Corps US 5th Army )
 * 5th Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, North West Europe 1944–45; post-war
 * 6th Field (Self Propelled) Regiment, Royal Artillery, post-war
 * 10th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, post-war
 * 13th (HAC) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45
 * 86th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45
 * 90th(City of London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45
 * 98th Field Regiment (Surrey & Sussex Yeomanry Queen Mary's), Royal Artillery, North west Europe 1945
 * 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45
 * 153rd (Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45

British and Canadian forces used the Sexton for indirect supporting fire, keeping the Sextons back from the front line and used forward observers to direct overwhelming fire onto a target.

The Indian 1st and 2nd Field Artillery Regiments used Sextons after World War II.

Variants

 * Sexton I: The first 125 vehicles manufactured. Based on the Ram tank hull.
 * Sexton II: It featured boxes added to the rear deck to carry batteries and an auxiliary generator to charge them. Based on the Grizzly (M4A1 Sherman) hull.
 * Sexton GPO (Gun Position Officer): The 25 pounder was removed and an extra No. 19 Wireless was added along with map tables; this vehicle was used to control battery fire.

British self-propelled gun naming
A British self-propelled gun armed with the Ordnance QF 25-pounder in design from 1941 was given the service name "Bishop" as its appearance was said to resemble a bishop's mitre. A replacement, the US 105mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 was called "Priest" by the British, as part of its superstructure was said to resemble a priest's pulpit. Following this line of names, a 1942 self-propelled QF 6 pounder on armoured truck chassis was named "Deacon". A post-war self-propelled gun was called Abbot.

title: Sexton (artillery)


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Dik hon

See discussion in cleanup page. -- The Anome 22:44, 14 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Please delete. Thanks. 199.71.174.100 05:59, 16 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete if not verified. -- Cyrius|&#9998 22:49, May 16, 2004 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Dik hon


text:
Kingpin

Kingpin or king pin may refer to:

Vehicular part

 * Kingpin (automotive part), the pivot in the steering mechanism
 * The central bolt of a skateboard, axle assembly ("truck"), around which the rest of the mechanism can flex, allowing the rider to steer by shifting body weight
 * The pivot or connector between a tractor and trailer in the fifth-wheel coupling of semi-trailer truck
 * The pivot in a railway car bogie

Crime

 * Crime boss, in organized crime
 * Drug lord, a type of crime boss

Literature

 * Kingpin (book), written by former hacker Kevin Poulsen
 * Kingpin (chess magazine) published in Britain
 * Kingpin (character), 1967 comic book character from The Amazing Spider-Man
 * Spider-Bitch (Ashley Barton), comic book character, alternate version of Kingpin on Earth-807128/21923
 * Kingpin (Matt Murdock), 2014 comic book character from The Amazing Spider-Man

Film and television

 * Kingpin (1985 film), New Zealand drama film by Mike Walker (1985)
 * Kingpin (1996 film) sports comedy film by the Farrelly brothers, (1996)
 * Kingpin (TV series), crime/drama TV miniseries (2003)

Bands

 * Kingpin (band), Swedish metal band from the mid-1980s
 * The Kingpins (Canadian band), Canadian ska band
 * The Kingpins (English vocal group), English pop group of the 1950s and 1960s
 * The Kingpins, band of King Curtis that frequently backed Aretha Franklin
 * The Kingpins, London band, toured with Albert Lee in 1969
 * The King Pins, American R&B vocal group, also known as the Kelly Brothers

Albums

 * Kingpin (1996 film), soundtrack to the 1996 film of the same name
 * The Kingpin (album), album by Craig G (1989)
 * Kingpin (Tinsley Ellis album), album by Tinsley Ellis (2000)

Songs

 * "Kingpin", song from the Wilco album Being There

Other media

 * Kingpin: Life of Crime, video game (1999)

title: Kingpin


text:
Killing Zoe

Killing Zoe is a 1993 crime film written and directed by Roger Avary and starring Eric Stoltz, Jean-Hugues Anglade and Julie Delpy. The story details a safe cracker named Zed who returns to France to aid an old friend in performing a doomed bank heist. Killing Zoe was labeled by Roger Ebert as "Generation X's first bank caper movie." In 2019, Avary directed the semi-sequel Lucky Day.

Plot
Zed, a professional safe-cracker, comes to Paris to help a childhood friend, Eric, with a bank heist. While in the taxi on his way to the hotel, the cab driver offers to procure a sex worker for him in the evening. As Zed emerges from the shower, the sex worker, Zoe, arrives. After having sex, they talk amicably and express their mutual affection. Zoe confides that she is studying art and has a "very boring" day job. They are interrupted when Eric barges in and brusquely sends Zoe out of the room. Eric takes Zed back to his residence, where Zed meets Eric's friends. Eric explains his plans: the following day is Bastille Day and virtually everything is closed except for a holding bank they plan to rob. Zed forgoes his rest time to spend the night partying with Eric and his friends at a seedy jazz club, which Eric refers to as 'the real Paris'. As they binge, Eric confides to Zed that he has AIDS, which he contracted through intravenous drug use.

The next day, Zed is awakened by Eric as they prepare to enter the bank. Donning carnival masks, Eric's team quickly kill anybody who fails to cooperate as Zed is escorted to the bank's safe. Their plans begin to fall apart as the police show up, with the team realizing they will either have to shoot their way out of the bank or go to jail for life. Eric blows open a vault with an explosive, finding a large supply of gold bars, but the thieves can't leave the bank alive with their fortune. Tensions rise even higher when Zed recognizes Zoe – who coincidentally works at the bank – and attempts to protect her, much to Eric's fury. A gunfight erupts between Eric's team and the police, with Zed caught in the middle. Most of the thieves are killed, leaving Zed and Eric to fight each other. The police kill Eric. Injured, Zed is led away quickly by Zoe, who falsely states that he is a bank customer. They drive away in her car, where Zoe promises Zed that when he gets well, she'll show him the 'real' Paris.

While some have speculated the title of the film derives from the assumption that Zed contracted HIV from having Eric's blood spill on him and he will thus pass it on to Zoe, Roger Avary has stated, "Zoe means 'life' in Greek, so the title of the movie can be interpreted as 'Killing Life.' "

Cast

 * Eric Stoltz as Zed
 * Jean-Hugues Anglade as Eric
 * Julie Delpy as Zoe
 * Gary Kemp as Oliver
 * Kario Salem as Jean
 * Tai Thai as François
 * Bruce Ramsay as Ricardo
 * Salvator Xuereb as Claude
 * Cecilia Peck as Martina
 * Ron Jeremy Hyatt as Bank Concierge
 * David Richard Thompson as Burnt Vault Guard
 * Djimon Hounsou as Voice of Moïse

Production
Killing Zoe was director Roger Avary's feature directorial debut. When scouting filming locations for Reservoir Dogs, the crew found a bank. Producer Lawrence Bender phoned a writer he knew, Avary, and asked if he had any screenplays that took place in a bank. Avary quickly wrote the script for Killing Zoe in a week or two. Avary stated he wanted to make "an art-house film for both the coffeehouse crowd and the exploitation crowd."

Set in Paris, the film was shot almost entirely in Los Angeles, California. Only the opening and end credit roll and some small car driving clips were filmed in France. In a DVD interview, Avary explains how he wanted to make a film about how nihilistic he felt his generation was and said that watching Stoltz in the film, was like seeing his evil twin come into creation. He wrote the script specifically for Stoltz. Avary stated that, as a first time director, it was a dream to work with actors as talented as Jean-Hugues Anglade, Eric Stoltz and Julie Delpy. Killing Zoe is notable as the first feature film to use the new Otto Nemenz Swing & Tilt lenses, which were used during the heroin sequences for perspective distortion instead of their original purpose of perspective correction.

Reception
The first market screening of Killing Zoe took place at the Raindance Film Market in October 1993. The film premiered in North America at the Sundance Film Festival in 1994. The film won the Grand Prize award at the 5th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival held in February 1994. Jury members that year included Roger Vadim, Dario Argento, and Dennis Hopper. The film went on to win the 1994 Cannes Prix Très Spécial.

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 36%, with an average rating of 5.30 out of 10, based on 28 reviews. The website's "Critics Consensus" for the film reads, "Senselessly violent and mean-spirited, Killing Zoe fails to deliver a much needed cleverness to back up its hyper-stylized flourishes."

title: Killing Zoe


text: User talk:68.168.154.252

title: User talk:68.168.154.252