text:
Webvan

Webvan was a dot-com company and grocery business that filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after 3 years of operation. It was headquartered in Foster City, California, United States. It delivered products to customers' homes within a 30-minute window of their choosing. At its peak, it offered service in ten US areas: the San Francisco Bay Area; Dallas; Sacramento; San Diego; Los Angeles; Orange County, California; Chicago; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Atlanta, Georgia. The company had hoped to expand to 26 cities by 2001.

Long after the failure of Webvan, the concept of companies delivering groceries very quickly grew from about 2020, and several companies were vying for business from dark stores.

History
Webvan was founded in the heyday of the dot-com bubble in 1996 by Louis Borders, who also co-founded the Borders Group in 1971.

Growth
The company's investors pressured it to grow very fast to obtain first-mover advantage. This rapid growth was cited as one of the reasons for the downfall of the company. Webvan started taking orders in the San Francisco Bay Area in June 1999.

Webvan placed a $1 billion order with Bechtel to build its warehouses, and bought a fleet of delivery trucks. In 2000, Webvan bought HomeGrocer, a competitor that was also losing money, for $1.2 billion in stock. At its peak in 2000, Webvan had $178.5 million in sales but it also had $525.4 million in expenses.

Financing
Benchmark Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Borders each invested $3.5 million in the company in a Series A round in 1997, buying shares for $9.58 each. Sequoia later invested another $50 million, Softbank Capital later invested $160.3 million, and Goldman Sachs' venture arm invested $50 million. E-Trade and Yahoo! each invested $10 million. In total, venture capitalists invested more than $396 million in Webvan.

The company raised an additional $375 million in an initial public offering in November 1999, during the dot-com bubble that valued the company at more than $4.8 billion. Up to that time, the company had reported cumulative revenue of $395,000 and cumulative net losses of more than $50 million.

Management
None of Webvan's senior executives or major investors had any management experience in the supermarket industry, including its CEO George Shaheen, who had resigned as head of Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), a management consulting firm, to join the venture. Webvan had a contract to pay Shaheen, who gave up a $4 million per year salary at Andersen, $375,000 per year for life. When the company filed bankruptcy in July 2001, Shaheen was an unsecured creditor. Shaheen resigned in April 2001, while the company was on the verge of shutting down.

Bankruptcy
The company lost over $800 million and shut down in June 2001, filing for bankruptcy and laying off 2,000 employees. As part of its shutdown process, all non-perishable food was donated to local food banks.

Reasons for failure
Commentators point to several reasons for Webvan's failure:
 * Aggressive expansion to many cities without proving its business model in its first market
 * A business model targeting price-sensitive mass-market consumers rather than upmarket consumers who would be more profitable
 * Building its own warehouses and fulfillment infrastructure from scratch, in contrast to services such as Peapod which survived the dot-com bust and used the infrastructure of existing supermarkets (as did the later Instacart)

CNET named Webvan one of the largest dot-com flops in history.

Legacy

A large number of Webvan's colored plastic shipping tubs are now used for household storage. The company's distinctively shaped vans, now repainted, are still seen.

Some executives of the company went to work for Amazon.com.

From about 2020 many companies were vying to provide ultrafast delivery, similar to the Webvan concept.

title: Webvan


text:
Omethoate

Omethoate (C5H12NO4PS) is a systemic organophosphorous insecticide and acaricide available as a soluble concentrate. It is used to control insects and mites in horticulture and agriculture, as well as in the home garden.

Omethoate works by inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. This inhibition over-stimulattes parts of the nervous system that rely on acetylcholine to transmit nerve impulses.

It is an irritant to the skin and mucous membranes. Its toxicity and hazard potential are still under review because of concerns about its safety. Additionally, it cannot be used on food products.

The acceptable daily intake (ADI) has been amended from 0.0003 to 0.0004 mg/kg bw

Other names

 * Folimat - Registered trademark.

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

title: Omethoate


text:
Sturmgeschütz III

The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) was an assault gun produced by Germany during World War II. It was the most-produced fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle, and second-most produced German armored combat vehicle of any type after the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track. It was built on a slightly modified Panzer III chassis, replacing the turret with an armored, fixed superstructure mounting a more powerful gun. Initially intended as a mobile assault gun for direct-fire support for infantry, the StuG III was continually modified, and much like the later Jagdpanzer vehicles, was employed as a tank destroyer.

Development
The Sturmgeschütz originated from German experiences in World War I, when it was discovered that, during the offensives on the Western Front, the infantry lacked the means to engage fortifications effectively.

The artillery of the time was heavy and not mobile enough to keep up with the advancing infantry to destroy bunkers, pillboxes, and other minor fortifications with direct fire. Although the problem was well known in the German army, it was General Erich von Manstein who is considered the father of the Sturmartillerie (assault artillery). The initial proposal was from von Manstein and submitted to General Ludwig Beck in 1935, suggesting that Sturmartillerie units should be used in a direct-fire support role for infantry divisions.

On 15 June 1936, Daimler-Benz AG received an order to develop an armoured infantry support vehicle capable of mounting a 7.5 cm calibre artillery piece. The gun mount's fixed, fully integrated casemate superstructure was to allow a limited traverse of a minimum of 25° and provide overhead protection for the crew. The height of the vehicle was not to exceed that of the average soldier.

Daimler-Benz AG used the chassis and running gear of its recent Panzer III medium tank as a basis for the new vehicle. Prototype manufacture was passed over to Alkett, which produced five prototypes in 1937 on Panzer III Ausf. B chassis. These prototypes featured a mild steel superstructure and a Krupp short-barrelled, howitzer-like in appearance, 7.5 cm StuK 37 L/24 cannon. Production vehicles with this gun were known as Gepanzerte Selbstfahrlafette für Sturmgeschütz 7.5 cm Kanone Ausführung A bis D (Sd.Kfz.142).

While the StuG was considered self-propelled artillery, it was not clear which land combat arm of the German Army would handle the new weapon. The Panzerwaffe (armoured corps), the natural user of tracked fighting vehicles, had no resources to spare for the formation of StuG units and neither did the infantry. It was agreed that it would best be employed as part of the artillery arm. The StuGs were organized into battalions (later renamed "brigades" for disinformation purposes) and followed their own doctrine. Infantry support using direct fire was its intended role. Later, there was also a strong emphasis on its use as an anti-tank gun.

As the StuG was designed to fill an infantry close support combat role, early models were fitted with a howitzer-pattern, low-velocity 7.5 cm StuK 37 L/24 gun, similar to those used by the earliest versions of the fully turreted Panzer IV. Low-velocity shells are lightly built of thin steel and carry a large charge of explosive, to destroy soft-skin targets and blast fortifications. Such shells do not penetrate armour well. After the Germans encountered the Soviet KV-1 and T-34 tanks, the StuG was then equipped with a high-velocity 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/43 main gun (spring 1942) and in the autumn of 1942 with the slightly longer 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun. These high-velocity guns were the same as those mounted on the Panzer IV for anti-tank use but the heavy steel wall high-velocity shells contained much less explosives and had a lower blast effect for use against infantry or field fortifications. These versions were known as the 7.5 cm Sturmgeschütz 40 Ausf.F, ''Ausf. F/8 and Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz.142/1)''.

Beginning with the StuG III Ausf. G from December 1942, a 7.92 mm MG34 machine gun could be mounted on a shield on top of the superstructure for added anti-infantry protection. Some of the F/8 models were retrofitted with a shield. An additional coaxial 7.92 mm MG34 started to appear in 1944 and became standard on all production during the same year.

The vehicles of the Sturmgeschütz series were cheaper and faster to build than contemporary German tanks; at 82,500 RM, a StuG III Ausf G was cheaper than a Panzer III Ausf. M, which cost 103,163 RM. This was due to the omission of the turret, which greatly simplified manufacture and allowed the chassis to carry a larger gun.

Operational history

The Sturmgeschütz III-series of vehicles proved very successful and served on all fronts, from Russia to North Africa and Western Europe to Italy, as assault guns and tank destroyers. Because of their low silhouette, StuG IIIs were easy to camouflage and hide, and were difficult targets to destroy. By the end of the war 11,300 StuG IIIs and StuH 42s had been built., but due to heavy losses, there were only 1,053 StuG IIIs and 277 StuH 42s remaining in German service by 10 April 1945. The StuG assault guns were cost-effective compared with the heavier German tanks such as the Tiger I and the Panther, although as anti-tank guns they were best used defensively as the lack of a traversable turret and their generally thin armour was a severe disadvantage in the attack role. As the situation for the German military deteriorated further later in the war, more StuGs were built than tanks, particularly due to ease of production.

In Italy, the Sturmgeschütz was highly valued by crews fighting Allied armour, but was dogged by mechanical unreliability; particularly the delicate final drive units. The small box on the track cover, which was normally fixed on the engine deck, contained the track tools.

In 1943 and 1944, the Finnish Army received 59 StuG III Ausf. Gs from Germany and used them against the Soviet Union. Thirty of the vehicles were received in 1943 and a further twenty-nine obtained in 1944. The first batch from 1943 destroyed at least eighty-seven enemy tanks for a loss of only eight StuGs (some of which were destroyed by their crews to prevent enemy capture). The later batch from 1944 saw no real action. After the war, the StuGs were the main combat vehicles of the Finnish Army up until the early 1960s when they were phased out. These StuGs gained the nickname "Sturmi" in the Finnish military, which can be found in some plastic scale-model kits.

One hundred StuG III Ausf. Gs were delivered to Romania in the autumn of 1943. They were officially known as TAs (or TAs T3 to avoid confusion with TAs T4 (Jagdpanzer IVs)) in their army's inventory. By February 1945, 13 were still in use with the 2nd Armoured Regiment. None of this initial batch survived the war. Thirty-one TAs were on the Romanian military's inventory in November 1947. Most of them were probably StuG III Ausf. Gs and a small number of Panzer IV/70 (V) (same as TAs T4). These TAs were supplied by the Red Army or were damaged units repaired by the Romanian Army. All German equipment was removed from service in 1950 and finally scrapped four years later due to the army's decision to use only Soviet armour.

StuG IIIs were also exported to other nations friendly to Germany, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, and Spain. Hungary fielded its StuG IIIs against Soviet forces as they invaded their country in end-1944 up until early 1945. As with Hungary, Bulgaria received several StuGs from Germany too but almost none saw service against the Soviets, the country having ended the alliance with Germany by switching sides to the Allies before the Soviets invaded. Post-WWII, these were used for a short time before being turned into fixed gun emplacements on the Krali Marko Line on the border with neighbouring Turkey. StuG IIIs were also given to the pro-German Croatian Ustaše Militia, most of which were captured in Yugoslavia by Tito's Yugoslav partisans during and after the war, as did German-operated vehicles. These were used by the Yugoslav People's Army until the 1950s when they were replaced by more modern combat vehicles. Spain received a small number (around 10) of StuG IIIs from Germany during WWII, later sold to Syria between 1950 and 1960. Italy received 12 StuG III Ausf.Gs previously owned by local german units in 1943. They were donated, along with 12 Panzer III Ausf.Ns, 12 Panzer IV Ausf.Gs and 24 8.8 cm Flak 37 complete with half-track tractors, to the Armored Division "M", an intended elite unit composed by Blackshirts. With the fall of the Fascist regime and the Italian Armistice all equipment given to them was recovered by the germans and used against the Allies.

After the Second World War, abandoned German StuG IIIs remained behind in many European nations Germany had occupied during the war years, such as Czechoslovakia, France, Norway and Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union also captured hundreds of StuGs, most ending up being donated to Syria. An Italian 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun taken from Syrian Fiat G.55 was mounted on commander cupola with retrofitted anti-aircraft mount. Syria continued to use StuG IIIs along with other war surplus armoured fighting vehicles received from the USSR or Czechoslovakia (varying from long-barrelled Panzer IVs (late models) and T-34-85s) during the 1950s and up until the War over Water against Israel in the mid-1960s. By the time of the Six-Day War in 1967, many of them had been either destroyed, stripped for spare parts, scrapped or emplaced on the Golan Heights as pillboxes. Some remained in service up to the Yom Kippur War in 1973. None remain in service today. A few Syrian StuG IIIs ended up in Israeli hands and became war memorials or were simply left rusting away on former battlefields.

Variants
Production numbers were:
 * StuG III prototypes (1937, 5 produced on Panzer III Ausf. B chassis): by December 1937, two vehicles were in service with Panzer Regiment 1 in Erfurt. Vehicles had eight road wheels per side with 360 mm wide tracks, 14.5 mm thick soft steel superstructure and the 7.5 cm StuK 37 L/24 gun. Although not suitable for combat, they were used for training purposes as late as 1941.

 * StuG III Ausf. A (Sd.Kfz. 142; January–May 1940, 30+6 produced by Daimler-Benz): first used in the Battle of France, the StuG III Ausf. A used a modified 5./ZW chassis (Panzer III Ausf. F) with front armour strengthened to 50 mm. The last six vehicles were built on chassis diverted from Panzer III Ausf. G production.
 * StuG III Ausf. B: (Sd.Kfz 142; June 1940–May 1941, 300 produced by Alkett) Modified 7./ZW chassis (Panzer III Ausf. H), widened tracks (380 mm). Two rubber tires on each roadwheel were accordingly widened from 520 × 79 mm to 520 × 95 mm each. Both types of roadwheel were interchangeable. The troublesome 10-speed transmission was changed to a 6-speed one. The forwardmost return rollers were re-positioned further forward, reducing the vertical movements of the tracks before they were fed to the forward drive sprocket, and so reduced the chance of tracks being thrown. In the middle of production of the Ausf. B model, the original drive sprocket with eight round holes was changed to a new cast drive sprocket with six pie slice-shaped slots. This new drive wheel could take either 380 mm tracks or 360 mm wide tracks. 380 mm tracks were not exclusive to new drive wheels, as spacer rings could be added to the older sprockets. Vehicle number 90111 shows the older drive wheel with wider 380 mm tracks.
 * StuG III Ausf. C: (Sd.Kfz 142; April 1941, 50 produced) Gunner's forward view port above driver's visor was a shot trap and thus eliminated; instead, superstructure top was given an opening for gunner's periscope. Idler wheel was redesigned.
 * StuG III Ausf. D: (Sd.Kfz 142; May–September 1941, 150 produced) Simply a contract extension on Ausf. C. On-board intercom installed, transmission hatch locks added, otherwise identical to Ausf. C.
 * StuG III Ausf. E: (Sd.Kfz 142; September 1941 – February 1942, 284 produced) Superstructure sides added extended rectangular armoured boxes for radio equipment. Increased space allowed room for six additional rounds of ammunition for the main gun (giving a maximum of 50) plus a machine gun. One MG 34 and seven drum-type magazines were carried in the right rear side of the fighting compartment to protect the vehicle from enemy infantry. Vehicle commanders were officially provided with SF14Z stereoscopic scissor periscopes. Stereoscopic scissor type periscopes for artillery spotters may have been used by vehicle commanders from the start.
 * StuG III Ausf. F: (Sd.Kfz 142/1; March–September 1942, 366 produced) The first real up-gunning of the StuG, this version uses the longer 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/43 gun. Firing armour-piercing Panzergranat-Patrone 39, the StuK 40 L/43 could penetrate 91 mm of armour inclined 30 degrees from vertical at 500 m, 82 mm at 1,000 m, 72 mm at 1,500 m, 63 mm at 2,000 m, allowing the Ausf. F to engage most Soviet armoured vehicles at normal combat ranges. This change marked the StuG as being more of a tank destroyer than an infantry support vehicle. An exhaust fan was added to the rooftop to evacuate fumes from spent shells, to enable the firing of continuous shots. Additional 30 mm armour plates were welded to the 50 mm frontal armour from June 1942, making the frontal armour 80 mm thick. From June 1942, Ausf. F were mounted with approximately 13 inch (334 mm to be exact) longer 7,5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun. Firing above mentioned ammunition, longer L/48 could penetrate 96 mm, 85 mm, 74 mm, 64 mm respectively (30 degrees from vertical).
 * StuG III Ausf. F/8: (Sd.Kfz 142/1; September–December 1942, 250 produced) Introduction of an improved hull design similar to that used for the Panzer III Ausf. J / L with increased rear armour. This was 8th version of the Panzer III hull, thus the designation "F/8". This hull has towing hook holes extending from side walls. From October 1942, 30 mm thick plates of additional armour were bolted (previously welded) on to speed up the production line. From F/8, the 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun was standard until the last of the Ausf. G. Due to the lack of double baffle muzzle brakes, a few L/48 guns mounted on F/8s were fitted with the single baffle ball type muzzle brake used on the Panzer IV Ausf. F2/G.
 * StuG III Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 142/1; December 1942 – April 1945, ~8,423 produced, 142 built on Panzer III Ausf. M chassis, 173 converted from Panzer III): The final and by far the most common of the StuG series. Upper superstructure was widened: welded boxes on either sides were abandoned. This new superstructure design increased its height to 2160 mm. The back wall of the fighting compartment was straightened, and the ventilation fan on top of the superstructure was relocated to the back of the fighting compartment. From March 1943, the driver's periscope was abandoned. In February 1943, Alkett was joined by MIAG as a second manufacturer. From May 1943, side hull spaced armour plates (Schürzen) were fitted to G models; these were primarily intended for protection against Russian anti-tank rifles, but were also useful against hollow-charge ammunition. Side plates were retrofitted to some Ausf. F/8 models, as they were to be fitted to all front line StuGs and other tanks by June 1943 in preparation for the battle of Kursk. Mountings for the Schürzen proved to be inadequate, as many were lost in the field. From March 1944, an improved mounting was introduced; as a result, side skirts are seen more often with late model Ausf G. From May 1943, 80 mm thick plates were used for frontal armour instead of two plates of 50 mm + 30 mm. However, a backlog of StuGs with completed 50 mm armour existed. For those, a 30 mm additional armour plate still had to be welded or bolted on until October 1943.

A rotating cupola with periscopes was added for the Ausf G.'s commander. However, from September 1943, the lack of ball bearings (resulting from USAAF bombing of Schweinfurt) forced cupolas to be welded on. Ball bearings were once again installed from August 1944. Shot deflectors for the cupolas were first installed from October 1943 from one factory, to be installed on all StuGs from February 1944. Some vehicles without shot deflectors carried several track pieces wired around the cupola for added protection.

From December 1942, a square machine gun shield for the loader was installed, allowing an MG34 to be factory installed on a StuG for the first time. When stowed this shield folded back, partially overlapping the front half of the loader's hatch cover. A curved protrusion welded to the backside of the shield pushed the shield forward as the front half of the loader's hatch cover was opened and guided the hatch cover to naturally engage a latch point on the shield thus, supporting the shield in its deployed position without exposing the loader to hostile forward fire. F/8 models had machine gun shields retro-fitted from early 1943. The loader's machine gun shield was later replaced by rotating machine gun mount that could be operated by the loader inside the vehicle sighting through a periscope. In April 1944, 27 of them were being field tested on the Eastern front. Favourable reports led to installation of these "remote" machine gun mounts from the summer of 1944.

From October 1943, G versions were fitted with the Topfblende pot mantlet (often called Saukopf "Pig's head") gun mantlet without a coaxial mount. This cast mantlet, which had a sloped and rounded shape, was more effective at deflecting shots than the original boxy Kastenblende mantlet that had armour varying in thickness from 45 mm to 50 mm. The lack of large castings meant that the trapezoid-shape boxy mantlet was also produced until the very end. Topfblende were fitted almost exclusively to Alkett-produced vehicles.

A coaxial machine gun was first added to boxy mantlets, from June 1944, and then to cast Topfblende, from October 1944, in the middle of "Topfblende" mantlet production. With the addition of this coaxial machine gun, all StuGs carried two MG 34 machine guns from autumn of 1944. Some previously completed StuGs with a boxy mantlet had a coaxial machine gun hole drilled to retrofit a coaxial machine gun; however, Topfblende produced from November 1943 to October 1944 without a machine gun opening could not be tampered with.

Also from November 1943 onwards, all-metal return rollers of a few different types were used due to lack of rubber supply. Zimmerit anti-magnetic coating to protect vehicles from magnetic mines was applied starting in September (MIAG facility) or November (Alkett facility) 1943 and ending in September 1944.

Further variants
In 1942, a variant of the StuG Ausf. F was designed with a 10.5 cm true howitzer instead of the 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/43 cannon. These new vehicles, designated StuH 42 (Sturmhaubitze 42, Sd.Kfz 142/2), were designed to provide infantry support with the increased number of StuG III Ausf. F/8 and Ausf. Gs being used in the anti-tank role. The StuH 42 mounted a variant of the 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer, modified to be electrically fired and fitted with a muzzle brake. Production models were built on StuG III Ausf. G chassis. The muzzle brake was often omitted due to the scarcity of resources later in the war. Alkett produced 1,299 StuH 42 from March 1943 to 1945, the initial 12 vehicles were built on repaired StuG III Ausf. F and F/8 from the autumn of 1942 to January 1943.

In 1943, 10 StuG IIIs were converted to the StuG III (Flamm) configuration by replacing the main gun with a Schwade flamethrower. These chassis were all refurbished at the depot level and were a variety of pre-Ausf. F models. There are no reports to indicate that any of these were used in combat and all were returned to Ausf. G standard at depot level by 1944.

In late 1941, the StuG chassis was selected to carry the 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun. These vehicles were known as Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B. Twenty-four were rebuilt on older StuG III chassis of which twelve vehicles saw combat in the Battle of Stalingrad, where they were destroyed or captured. The remaining 12 vehicles were assigned to 23rd Panzer Division.

Due to the dwindling supply of rubber, rubber-saving road wheels were tested during 8–14 November 1942, but did not see production.

Bombing raids on the Alkett factory resulted in significant drops in StuG III production in November 1943. To make up for this loss of production, Krupp displayed a substitution StuG on a Panzer IV chassis to Hitler on 16–17 December 1943. From January 1944 onwards, the StuG IV, based on the Panzer IV chassis and with a slightly modified StuG III superstructure, entered production.

Field modifications were made to increase the vehicle's survivability, resulting in diversity to already numerous variants; cement plastered on front superstructure, older Ausf.C/D retrofitted with a KwK 40 L/48 gun, Ausf.G mounting Panzer IV cupola, a coaxial MG34 through a hole drilled on a boxy mantlet, et cetera.

The Soviet SU-76i self-propelled gun was based on captured StuG III and Panzer III vehicles. In total, Factory #37 in Sverdlovsk manufactured 181 SU-76i plus 20 commander SU-76i for Red Army service by adding an enclosed superstructure and the 76.2 mm S-1 tank gun.

Approximately 10,000 StuG IIIs of various types were produced from 1940 to 1945 by Alkett (~7,500) and from 1943 to 1945 by MIAG (2,586). From April to July 1944, some 173 Panzer III were converted into StuG III Ausf. G. The 1,299 StuH 42 and the 12 conversions from StuG III were solely built by Alkett.

Operators

 * Nazi Germany - Main operator
 * Kingdom of Romania - Several hundred supplied by Germany and (postwar) the USSR, referred to as TAs or TAs T-3. All scrapped by 1954.
 * Kingdom of Bulgaria - Several supplied by Germany and (postwar) the USSR and all either scrapped or turned into gun emplacements bordering Turkey
 * 🇫🇮 Finland - 30 StuGs, nicknamed "Sturmi", were bought in 1943 and another 29 bought in 1944, all directly from Germany. They were used during the Continuation War against the Soviet Union in 1944.
 * Czechoslovakia - Several captured after the war and either scrapped or sold to Syria. One vehicle is on display in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.
 * 🇫🇷 France - Several captured after the war and briefly operated before being scrapped or sold to Syria
 * Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46) - 50 given by Germany in 1944
 * 🇮🇹 Kingdom of Italy - 12 received from Germany in 1943 and assigned to 1st Blackshirt Armoured Division "M"
 * 🇳🇴 Norway - Surrendered German military equipment was used from 1947 to 1951
 * 🇪🇸 Spain - In 1943, Franco's Spain received 10 units and used them until 1954. One Ausf. G remains in drivable condition in the Museo Histórico Militar de Cartagena, Spain
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden - one Ausf. D variant received from Denmark in late 1945 and used for trials and testing of anti-tank mines, and one Ausf. G used for spare parts
 * Syria - At least 30 obtained from various states including the Soviet Union, France, Spain and Czechoslovakia during the 1950s
 * Soviet Union - Several hundred captured vehicles used for testing and modifications, including the SU-76i assault gun and SG-122 self-propelled howitzer, with some others (very few) fielded for frontline use
 * SFR Yugoslavia - Many captured from Germany and its local allies in the Balkans and used up until the 1950s

In working order

 * Jon Phillips Private Armor Collection. StuG III Ausf. D. In working order as of 1 July 2016.
 * WJHJ Collection, Belgium. StuG III Ausf. G. in full working order with original HL120 Maybach engine and drivetrain.
 * Parola Tank Museum, Finland. One StuG III Ausf. G. in museum area and one in storage.
 * Histórico Militar de Cartagena, Spain. One StuG III Ausf. G in museum area.
 * Bastogne Barracks, Belgium. One StuG III Ausf. F/8
 * American Heritage Museum, USA. One StuG III Ausf. G
 * Schweizerisches Militärmuseum Full, Switzerland, 1 Ausf. G.
 * Deutsches Panzermuseum, Munster, Germany. One Ausf. G
 * The Weald Foundation, UK. Two Ausf. G. One was built by MIAG.
 * WTD 41, Germany. One Ausf. G.
 * The Artillery, Engineer and Signals Museum of Finland, One Ausf. G.
 * Patriot Park, Kubinka, Russia. One StuH 42.

Intact, but not in working order

 * Musée des Blindés, Saumur France. Two StuG IIIs, a StuG III Ausf. G and a StuH 42.
 * The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum Two StuG IIIs - Ausf A (the only remaining Ausf A), Ausf G, and Ausf. F. And as of March-2024  Ausf. B
 * Kubinka Tank Museum, Russia. Ausf.G
 * Yad La-Shiryon Tank Museum, Israel. One StuG III Ausf. G.
 * Belgrade Military Museum, Serbia. One StuG III Ausf. F/8.
 * The Wheatcroft Collection Four Ausf. G (2 being restored).
 * The Tank Museum, Bovington Camp, UK. Two Ausf. G, one is a Finnish StuG III with Zimmerit, concrete armour, and logs for unditching.
 * Parola Tank Museum, Finland. Two StuG III Ausf. G in museum area and three in storage. One cut open so public can see interior. Also 16 in various locations around Finland.
 * Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow, Russia. Ausf.G
 * Museum of Slovak National Uprising, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. Stug III Ausf. G, late production variant.
 * Arsenalen Tank Museum, Strängnäs, Sweden. One StuG III Ausf. D.
 * Bundeswehr Military History Museum (Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr), Dresden, Germany. One StuG III Ausf. G.
 * National Museum of Military History, Sofia, Bulgaria. Two Ausf. G
 * Parque y Centro de Mantenimiento de Sistemas Acorazados (PCMASA) nº 2 Segovia, Spain, 1 Ausf. G
 * Brigada de Infantería Acorazada "Guadarrama" XII (BRIAC XII), Spain, 1 Ausf. G.
 * Brigada de Caballería “CASTILLEJOS II”, Spain, 1 Ausf. G.
 * Estonian Military Museum, Estonia, Tallinn. StuG III Ausf. G.
 * Overloon War Museum, Overloon, Netherlands. One StuG III Ausf. G.
 * Memorial to the Heroes of Volokolamsk Who Died During the Second World War, Moscow Oblast, Russia. One Ausf. D.
 * Patriot Park, Kubinka, Russia. One Ausf. F/8 and Two Ausf. G (One is a wreck).
 * Forsvarsmuseet Oslo Storage, Trandum, Norway. One Ausf. G.
 * Steve Lamonby Collection, UK. One Ausf. G.
 * Tey Vehicle Restorations, UK. One Ausf. G.
 * WTD 91, Germany. One Ausf. G.
 * Motor Technica Museum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. One Ausf. E.
 * Auto + Technik Museum, Sinsheim, Germany. One Ausf. G.
 * Artillerie Schule, Idar Obenstein, Germany. One Ausf. G.
 * War Museum for Peace "Diego de Henriquez", Trieste, Italy. One Ausf. G.
 * Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. One Ausf. G.
 * MUMA. Museum of Tanks, Madrid, Spain. One Ausf. G.
 * General Military Academy, Zaragoza, Spain. One Ausf. G.
 * Finnish Armoured Brigade's Garrison, Parola, Finland. Three Ausf G.
 * Military Museum of Manège, Helsinki, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * Savon Prikaati Garrison, Mikkeli, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * Hiukkavaara Garrison, Oulu, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * Maasotakoulu, Lappeenranta, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * Hamina, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * Kuljetusvarikko, Tampere, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * Karelia Brigade, Vekaranjarvi, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * Panssarivarikko, Ilveskallio, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * Säkylä Winter War and Continuation War Museum, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * Sovintovaara, Finland. One Ausf. G.
 * SdKfz Team Poland, One Ausf. G.
 * Stalin Line Museum, Minsk Region, Belarus. One Ausf. G superstructure and main gun.
 * Museum Of Combat Glory, Yambol, Bulgaria. One Ausf. G.
 * Khmeimim Air Base, Near Lattaquie, Syria. One Ausf. G.
 * The Royal Tank Museum, Jordan. One Ausf. G.
 * Muzey Tekhniki Vadima Zadorozhnogo, Moscow Oblast, Russia. Three Ausf. G.
 * Museum Of Military Equipment "Battle Glory Of The Urals", Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. One Ausf. G.
 * Saratov, Saratov Oblast, Russia. One Ausf. G.
 * U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection, Georgia, USA. Two Ausf. G.
 * Patton Museum Of Cavalry And Armor, Kentucky, USA. One Ausf. G.

StuH 42s

 * Musée Des Blindés, Saumur, France.
 * Australian Armour And Artillery Museum, Cairns, Australia.
 * U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection, Georgia, USA. Two late production versions.
 * US Army Artillery Museum, Oklahoma, USA.
 * White Eagle Museum, Skarżysko-Kamienna, Poland. One wreck.

Vehicles of comparable role, performance and era

 * American M10 GMC
 * German Hetzer, and Jagdpanzer IV
 * Italian Semovente da 75/34 and Semovente da 75/46
 * Romanian Mareșal
 * Soviet SU-85

title: Sturmgeschütz III


text:
List of replenishment ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

This is a list of replenishment ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom.

Tankers

 * Tide (II)-class fast fleet tanker (2017)
 * RFA Tidespring
 * 'Tiderace' (in extended readiness - uncrewed reserve)
 * 'Tidesurge'
 * 'Tideforce'
 * Wave-class fast fleet tanker (2003)
 * Wave Knight (in extended readiness - uncrewed reserve - as of 2023)
 * Wave Ruler (in extended readiness - uncrewed reserve - as of 2023)

Replenishment ships

 * Fort Victoria or Fort (II)-class replenishment oiler (1994)
 * Fort Victoria

Tankers & oilers

 * Leaf-class support tanker, A. B. Uddevalla type (1981)
 * Oakleaf
 * Leaf-class support tanker, Cammell Laird type (1979)
 * Orangeleaf
 * Appleleaf
 * Brambleleaf
 * Bayleaf
 * Leaf-class support tanker, Rheinstahl Nordseewerke, Emden type (1973)
 * Cherryleaf
 * Rover-class small fleet tanker (1969)
 * Green Rover
 * Blue Rover
 * Grey Rover
 * Gold Rover
 * Black Rover
 * Dale-class mobile reserve tanker (1967)
 * Derwentdale
 * Dewdale
 * Ennerdale
 * Ol-class large fleet tanker (1965)
 * Olmeda
 * Olna
 * Olwen
 * Tide (I)-class large fleet tanker (1963)
 * Tidespring
 * Tidepool
 * Leaf-class support tanker, Blythswood Shipbuilding Company type (1960)
 * Pearleaf
 * Leaf-class support tanker, Blyth Drydock & Engineering Company type (1960)
 * Plumleaf
 * Leaf-class support tanker, Furness Shipbuilding Company type (1959)
 * Bayleaf
 * Brambleleaf
 * Orangeleaf
 * Leaf-class support tanker, Bartram type (1959)
 * Appleleaf
 * Leaf-class support tanker, Sir James Laing type (1959)
 * RFA Cherryleaf
 * Tide (I)-class large fleet tanker (1955)
 * Tidereach
 * Tideflow
 * Tidesurge
 * Tide Austral
 * Eddy-class coastal tanker (1953)
 * Eddybeach
 * Eddybay
 * Eddycliff
 * Eddycreek
 * Eddyrock
 * Eddyreef
 * Eddyfirth
 * Eddyness
 * Surf-class tanker (1951)
 * Surf Patrol
 * Surf Pioneer
 * Ol-class coastal tanker (1946)
 * Birchol
 * Oakol
 * Rowenol
 * Teakol
 * Fleet tanker (1946)
 * Olna
 * Fast replenishment oiler (1945)
 * Northmark
 * Wave-class oiler (1944)
 * Wave Baron
 * Wave Chief
 * Wave Emperor
 * Wave Governor
 * Wave Liberator
 * Wave Protector
 * Wave Regent
 * Wave Ruler
 * Wave Sovereign
 * Wave Victor
 * Wave King
 * Wave Monarch
 * Wave Duke
 * Wave Knight
 * Wave Laird
 * Wave Prince
 * Wave Protector
 * Wave Master
 * Wave Commander
 * Wave Conqueror
 * Ranger-class small fleet tanker (1941)
 * Gold Ranger
 * Green Ranger
 * Grey Ranger
 * Black Ranger
 * Blue Ranger
 * Brown Ranger
 * Sprite-class aviation spirits carrier (1941)
 * Airsprite
 * Nasprite
 * Dale-class oiler (1940)
 * Dewdale
 * Darkdale
 * Derwentdale
 * Dingledale
 * Dinsdale
 * Denbydale
 * Eaglesdale
 * Easedale
 * Ennerdale
 * Echodale
 * Dale-class oiler (1938)
 * Cairndale
 * Cedardale
 * Dale-class oiler (1937)
 * Abbeydale
 * Aldersdale
 * Arndale
 * Bishopdale
 * Boardale
 * Broomdale
 * Ol-class fleet tanker (1936)
 * Olcades
 * Oligarch
 * Olynthus
 * Olwen
 * Olna
 * Oleander
 * War-class fleet oiler (1918)
 * War Afridi
 * War Bahadur
 * War Bharata
 * War Brahmin
 * War Diwan
 * War Gaekwar
 * War Ghurka
 * War Hindoo
 * War Jemadar
 * War Krishna
 * War Mehtar
 * War Nawab
 * War Nizam
 * War Pathan
 * War Pindari
 * War Rajah
 * War Ranee
 * War Sepoy
 * War Shikari
 * War Sirdar
 * War Subadar
 * War Sudra
 * Leaf-class tankers (5,000 ton class) (1917)
 * Appleleaf
 * Brambleleaf
 * Cherryleaf
 * Orangeleaf
 * Pearleaf
 * Plumleaf
 * Leaf-class tankers (1916)
 * Ashleaf
 * Aspenleaf
 * Bayleaf
 * Beechleaf
 * Birchleaf
 * Boxleaf
 * Briarleaf
 * Laureleaf
 * Limeleaf
 * Mapleleaf
 * Palmleaf
 * Roseleaf
 * Vineleaf
 * Dockleaf
 * Elmleaf
 * Fernleaf
 * Hollyleaf
 * Oakleaf
 * Ol-class tankers (1918)
 * Dredgol
 * Ol-class tankers (2000 ton class) (1917)
 * Belgol
 * Celerol
 * Fortol
 * Francol
 * Montenol
 * Prestol
 * Rapidol
 * Serbol
 * Slavol
 * Vitol
 * Ol-class tankers (ex-Port of London Authority) (1916)
 * Barkol
 * Battersol
 * Blackol
 * Greenol
 * Purfol
 * Silverol
 * Ol-class tankers (1000 ton class) (1916)
 * Birchol
 * Boxol
 * Creosol
 * Distol
 * Ebonol
 * Elderol
 * Elmol
 * Hickorol
 * Kimmerol
 * Larchol
 * Limol
 * Mixol
 * Oakol
 * Palmol
 * Philol
 * Scotol
 * Sprucol
 * Teakol
 * Viscol
 * Ol-class tankers (1915)
 * Ferol
 * Collier and distilling ship (1915)
 * Hungerford
 * Fleet oiler (1915)
 * Nucula
 * Fleet oiler (1915)
 * Delphinula
 * Fleet oiler (1911)
 * Burma
 * Collier (1908)
 * Mercedes
 * Collier (tanker after 1907) (1901)
 * Kharki

Replenishment ships

 * Fort Victoria or Fort (II)-class replenishment oiler (1994)
 * Fort George
 * Fort Rosalie or Fort (I)-class replenishment ship (1978)
 * Fort Rosalie
 * Fort Austin
 * Regent class (1967)
 * Regent
 * Resource
 * Ness class (1966)
 * Lyness
 * Stromness
 * Tarbatness
 * Hebe class (1962)
 * Hebe
 * Bacchus
 * Air Stores Support Ship (1957)
 * Reliant
 * Retainer class (1954)
 * Retainer
 * Resurgent
 * Fort class (1944)
 * Fort Beauharnois
 * Fort Charlotte
 * Fort Constantine
 * Fort Dunvegan
 * Fort Duquesne
 * Fort Langley
 * Fort Rosalie
 * Fort Sandusky
 * Spa-class coastal water carriers (1942)
 * Spa
 * Spabeck
 * Spabrook
 * Spaburn
 * Spalake
 * Spapool
 * Fresh-class tank vessels
 * Freshbrook
 * Freshburn
 * Freshener
 * Freshet
 * Freshford
 * Freshlake
 * Freshmere
 * Freshpond
 * Freshpool
 * Freshspray
 * Freshspring
 * Freshtarn
 * Freshwater
 * Freshwell
 * Stores carrier (1941)
 * Demeter
 * Robert Dundas-class coastal store carriers (1938)
 * Robert Dundas
 * Robert Middleton
 * Stores Support and Distilling Ship (1936)
 * Bacchus
 * Stores Carrier (1915)
 * Bacchus
 * Stores Carrier (1902)
 * Bison


text:
Dry River (New Zealand)

The Dry River is a river in the extreme southeast of the North Island of New Zealand. It feeds into the Ruamahanga River to the southwest of Martinborough. The headwaters are in the Haurangi Forest Park, and its eventual outflow (via the Ruamahanga River) is into Cook Strait at Palliser Bay.

Dry River was the name of a sheep station about 1877, which later was renamed Dyerville. A vineyard called Dry River was established in the area in 1979.

title: Dry River (New Zealand)


text:
Australian Astronomical Observatory

The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO), formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory, was an optical and near-infrared astronomy observatory with its headquarters in North Ryde in suburban Sydney, Australia. Originally funded jointly by the United Kingdom and Australian governments, it was managed wholly by Australia's Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education. The AAO operated the 3.9-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) and 1.2-metre UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) at Siding Spring Observatory, located near the town of Coonabarabran, Australia.

In addition to operating the two telescopes, AAO staff carried out astronomical research, and designed and built astronomical instrumentation for the AAT, UKST, and other telescopes including the European Southern Observatory (ESO)'s Very Large Telescope in Chile, and the Japanese Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

UK involvement in the AAO ceased in June 2010, with the change of name and management arrangements effective from 1 July 2010.

History

In the years immediately after World War II optical observational astronomy in the UK was toiling due to a lack of modern infrastructure. There were no large telescopes in the southern hemisphere despite some of the most intriguing astronomical objects (e.g. the Galactic Centre and the Magellanic Clouds) being best placed for study from these latitudes. In the 1950s Richard Woolley, Director of Mount Stromlo Observatory from 1939 to 1956 and Astronomer Royal from 1956 to 1971, suggested constructing a large telescope in Australia.

After a series of meetings between British and Australian scientists in the early 1960s to discuss the technical specifications and begin the search for a suitable site for the proposed telescope, a formal approach was made to the governments of both countries in July 1965. It was finally agreed in April 1967 that the building of a 150" telescope, the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT), should proceed. The telescope was to be located on Siding Spring Mountain in the Warrumbungles, which was owned by the Australian National University (ANU) and the site of some of their existing infrastructure.

Later that year an interim body known as the Joint Policy Committee, and including prominent scientists Edward Bowen (Aus), Olin Eggen (Aus), Richard Woolley (UK) and Jim Hosie (UK) was formed to oversee the early running of a project office which was located in Canberra. The project office finalised designs and specifications for the telescope, the mounting and the building and let contracts on a worldwide basis, exploiting the experience of those staff members who were involved in the development and construction of the Parkes radio telescope.

The Anglo-Australian Telescope Agreement was signed on 25 September 1969 and came into effect on 22 February 1971. The Joint Policy Committee was replaced by the Anglo-Australian Telescope Board (AATB), an entity with full legal status under Australian law with responsibilities of overseeing the running of the telescope.

As construction of the AAT gathered pace, a heated debate ensued as to the details of the management structure which would control the telescope. Then Director of Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, Olin Eggen and then Vice-Chancellor of the ANU, John Crawford, claimed that the bi-national agreement did not provide for the creation of a separate observatory. They argued that the telescope should ultimately be under the control of the Director of Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories and that additional staff for the new telescope should be provided by the ANU. However, fearing that they would be mere guests rather than equal partners in the AAT, British astronomers, with support from Australian state university astronomers, campaigned hard for a separate director and staff who were employed by and answerable only to the AATB. The matter was not settled until June 1973 when the Australian government endorsed the AATBs decision for an independent staff, marking the birth of the Anglo-Australian Observatory. The first director, Joe Wampler, took up his post in September 1974. To date there have been five directors.

Construction of the Anglo-Australian Telescope
In late-1967 the contract for the primary mirror blank was awarded to Owens-Illinois, USA and the 27.5 ton structure was cast from zero-expansion Cervit glass in April 1969. The blank was shipped to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England to be figured and polished by Grubb Parsons The final product has a diameter of 3.9m and a focal length of 12.7m.

Construction of the building and dome, undertaken by the Australian companies Leighton Contractors and Evans-Deakin Industries respectively, began in late-1970 and was completed by the end of 1972. The building was manufactured from concrete, stands 26m high and has seven floors housing offices, labs and a mirror aluminising chamber. The telescope stands on a concrete pier with a separate foundation to the main building, to reduce the risk of vibrations. The double skinned dome is manufactured from both steel and aluminium and weighs 570 tonnes.

The telescope is mounted equatorially, loosely following the design of the 4m Kitt Peak National Observatory telescope. The mount was manufactured in Muroran, Japan by Mitsubishi Electric. It was shipped to Australia in early 1973 before being assembled at Siding Spring Mountain in April of that year. The telescope drive system was also produced by Mitsubishi Electric and delivered at this time. It was one of the first to be controlled by computer, an Interdata Model 70, and provided new levels of pointing and tracking precision. Assembly of the AAT was completed by 1974 and commissioning of the telescope began in April of that year. In total it took eight years to build at a cost of A$16 million. It was inaugurated by HRH Prince Charles on 16 October 1974 and went into general use in June 1975.

Research with the AAT
The AAO has made use of optical fibres in astronomy for over 25 years. Instruments such as AAOmega, and its predecessor 2dF, use optical fibres to feed the light of stars and galaxies from the telescope into a spectrograph where it is dispersed into its component colours for detailed subsequent analysis. The broad field-of-view accessed by the 2dF and AAOmega instruments (4 times the width of the moon) and their 400 optical fibres, makes it feasible to spectroscopically survey large numbers of objects distributed across expansive areas of sky in a reasonable time frame.

A number of major studies undertaken with the AAT have exploited these capabilities. The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) used the 2dF instrument to obtain spectra and redshifts for ~250000 galaxies brighter than B~19.5 over ~7% of the southern sky in only ~270 nights. The 2dFGRS sample size was an order of magnitude greater than those of previous surveys, allowing a rigorous evaluation of cosmological parameters. For example, the survey has refined estimates of the mass density of the Universe, provided a determination of the fraction of baryonic matter in the Universe and set an upper limit on the total mass of neutrinos. In addition 2dFGRS yielded an independent estimate of the Hubble constant, which was in excellent agreement with value determined by the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project.

The ongoing WiggleZ project is using the AAT and AAOmega to measure the redshifts of ~200000 distant luminous blue star forming galaxies distributed over an area of ~5000 times the area of the moon. The primary goal of this study is to use an intrinsic feature in the distribution of galaxies as a "standard ruler" to relate distance to redshift and improve our knowledge of the nature of dark energy. This mysterious component of the Universe appears to be responsible for accelerating its rate of expansion.

Another AAOmega based survey on the AAT, Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA), is in the process of obtaining optical spectroscopy for ~250000 galaxies in the Local Universe. The AAOmega data will be used in conjunction with observations from satellite observatories such as the Herschel Space Observatory, and other telescopes around the world, to examine the predictions of the Cold Dark Matter standard cosmological model, like the relationship between the number density of dark matter halos and their masses and the relationship between the number density of galaxies and their masses as determined through studying their starlight.

The AAT also hosts a program to search for extrasolar planets, the Anglo-Australian Planet Search (AAPS). The AAPS exploits the high stability of the University College London Echelle Spectrograph (UCLES) to obtain the few metres per second precision in measurements of the line-of-sight velocities of stars necessary to detect the reflex Doppler motion induced by the presence of a planet. The AAPS has found more than 20 extrasolar planets, with masses ranging from ~10% to > 10 times that of Jupiter.

The Schmidt Telescope
The 1.2-metre UK Schmidt Telescope was built to complement the AAT and officially began operations in August 1973. It was designed for survey astronomy, having an extremely large field-of-view which is more than 12 times the apparent diameter of the moon. The telescope was operated by the Schmidt Telescope Unit of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh until 1988, when it was agreed that control would be handed over to the AAO.

The Schmidt has undertaken work including blue and red photographic surveys of the southern sky and the 6dF Galaxy Survey. Its multi-object spectroscopic capability is currently being exploited to perform the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey.

title: Australian Astronomical Observatory


text:
Battle of Inab

The Battle of Inab, also called Battle of Ard al-Hâtim or Fons Muratus, was fought on 29 June 1149, during the Second Crusade. The Zengid army of the atabeg Nur al-Din Zengi destroyed the combined army of Prince Raymond of Poitiers and the Assassins of Ali ibn-Wafa. The Principality of Antioch was subsequently pillaged and reduced in size as its eastern border was pushed west.

Background
After the death of Nur ad-Din's father Zengi in 1146, Raymond of Poitiers invaded the vulnerable province of Aleppo (part of the Seljuk Empire), which was threatened by hostile powers on all sides. After establishing his own authority in Aleppo and successfully defending Edessa in 1147, Nur ad-Din invaded Antioch in late 1148 and besieged Afamiya. Raymond beat him off and captured his baggage train. When he returned a few months later to attack Yaghra, Raymond, at the head of a small force, forced him to retire to Aleppo.

In June 1149, Nur ad-Din invaded Antioch and besieged the fortress of Inab, with aid from Unur of Damascus and a force of Turcomans. Nur ad-Din had about 6,000 troops, mostly cavalry, at his disposal. Raymond and his Christian neighbor, Count Joscelin II of Edessa, had been enemies since Raymond had refused to send an army to relieve besieged Edessa in 1146. Joscelin even made a treaty of alliance with Nur ad-Din against Raymond. For their part, Raymond II of Tripoli and the regent Melisende of Jerusalem refused to aid the Prince of Antioch. Feeling confident because he had twice defeated Nur ad-Din previously, Prince Raymond struck out on his own with an army of 400 knights and 1,000 foot soldiers.

Battle
Prince Raymond allied himself with Ali ibn-Wafa, a leader of the Assassins and an enemy of Nur ad-Din. Before he had collected all his available forces, Raymond and his ally mounted a relief expedition. Amazed at the weakness of Prince Raymond's army, Nur ad-Din at first suspected that it was only an advance guard and that the main Frankish army must be lurking nearby. Upon the approach of the combined force, Nur ad-Din raised the siege of Inab and withdrew. Rather than staying close to the stronghold, Raymond and ibn-Wafa camped with their forces in open country. After Nur ad-Din's scouts noted that the allies camped in an exposed location and did not receive reinforcements, the atabeg swiftly surrounded the enemy camp during the night.

On 29 June, Nur ad-Din attacked and destroyed the army of Antioch. Presented with an opportunity to escape, the Prince of Antioch refused to abandon his soldiers. Raymond was a man of "immense stature" and fought back, "cutting down all who came near him". Nevertheless, both Raymond and ibn-Wafa were killed, along with Reynald of Marash. A few Franks escaped the disaster. Much of the territory of Antioch was now open to Nur ad-Din, the most important of which was a route to the Mediterranean. Nur ad-Din rode out to the coast and bathed in the sea as a symbol of his conquest.

The contemporary historian William of Tyre blamed the Antiochenes' defeat on Raymond's rashness. One modern historian says the Crusader defeat at Inab was "as disastrous at that of the Ager Sanguinis" a generation earlier. Yet another remarks that it "was not part of a watershed moment, and should not be seen in the context of the Second Crusade".

Aftermath
After his victory, Nur ad-Din went on to capture the fortresses of Artah, Harim, and ‘Imm, which defended the approach to Antioch itself. Harim was not recovered until 1157, then lost permanently in 1164. He sent the main party of his army to besiege Afamiya. After plundering the region, he besieged Antioch, which was virtually defenceless because of the loss of its prince and its army. The city was divided between a surrender party and a resistance party. The former, led by Raymond's widow, Constance, and the Patriarch, Aimery of Limoges, prevailed, and Nur ad-Din was bought off, with some of the treasure coming from the Patriarch's own possessions. A small force was left behind to prevent reinforcements from entering the city, while Nur ad-Din went down to the sea to bathe in it as a sign of victory. He plundered the lands around Saint Simeon's Monastery and then rejoined his forces to capture Afamiya.

Upon receiving news that King Baldwin III of Jerusalem was marching north with some Templars to relieve the siege, Nur ad-Din opened negotiations. The border between Antioch and Aleppo was re-drawn to Nur ad-Din's gain and the armies went home. Joscelin now found that his enemy Raymond's defeat and death placed his own possessions in extreme peril. Joscelin would soon be captured by Nur ad-Din (1150) and what remained of his County of Edessa was evacuated by its Latin inhabitants.

After the victory at Inab, Nur ad-Din became a hero throughout the Islamic world. His goal became the destruction of the Crusader states, and the strengthening of Islam through jihad; he had already set up religious schools and new mosques in Aleppo, and expelled those he considered heretics from his territory, especially Shiites. Jihad was influenced by the presence of the Christian Crusader states as it could be used as an excuse for maintenance of a permanent state of war. Nur ad-Din went on to capture the remnants of the County of Edessa, and brought Damascus under his rule in 1154, further weakening the Crusader states.

title: Battle of Inab


text:
Mount Stanley

Mount Stanley or Mount Ngaliema (, also, ) is a mountain located in the Rwenzori range. With an elevation of 5,109 m (16,763 ft), it is the highest mountain of both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, and the third highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) and Mount Kenya (5,199 m). The peak and several other surrounding peaks are high enough to support glaciers. Mount Stanley is named for the journalist and explorer, Sir Henry Morton Stanley. It is part of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mt. Stanley consists of two twin summits and several lower peaks:
 * {| class="wikitable"

! align=left|Peak !! metres !! feet
 * Margherita Peak || 5,109 || 16,763
 * Alexandra  ||	5,091 || 16,703
 * Albert     || 5,087 || 16,690
 * Savoia     || 4,977 || 16,330
 * Ellena     || 4,968 || 16,300
 * Elizabeth  || 4,929 || 16,170
 * Phillip    || 4,920 || 16,140
 * Moebius    || 4,916 || 16,130
 * Cheptegei    || 4,907 || 16,099
 * Great Tooth || 4,603 || 15,100
 * }
 * Elizabeth  || 4,929 || 16,170
 * Phillip    || 4,920 || 16,140
 * Moebius    || 4,916 || 16,130
 * Cheptegei    || 4,907 || 16,099
 * Great Tooth || 4,603 || 15,100
 * }
 * Cheptegei    || 4,907 || 16,099
 * Great Tooth || 4,603 || 15,100
 * }
 * }

Expeditions
The first recorded ascent of Mt. Stanley was in 1906 by Luigi Amedeo, J. Petigax, C. Ollier, and J. Brocherel. Margherita Peak is named after Queen Margherita of Italy.
 * First ascent

title: Mount Stanley


text:
Talk:Mount Stanley

Rename Mount Stanley
Mount Stanley is named after Henry Stanley, a person who was responsible for much of the horrible action that occurred in Africa as he assisted the Europeans in colonialism. It would seem counterproductive, especially in our modern society, that we are focusing on the whitewashed western name of the mountain as opposed to the original and true name of the mountain which is Mount Ngaliema. 46.11.149.191 (talk) 20:16, 5 April 2023 (UTC)

 * Agreed 46.11.78.32 (talk) 10:57, 16 July 2023 (UTC)
 * You can start a move discussion by following the steps in WP:PCM. However, I don't think the move request will be successful since Mount Stanley is still the overwhelming WP:COMMONNAME. Vpab15 (talk) 11:10, 16 July 2023 (UTC)

Added Cheptegei Peak
While online information on this is scarce, we recently summited this peak (JULY 2024). Happy to post pictures of proof. The peak is listed at 4907 ASL. It has been recently opened peak, and named after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Cheptegei 102.182.46.169 (talk) 08:21, 15 July 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Mount Stanley


text:
List of miscellaneous ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

This is a list of miscellaneous ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom.

Active

 * Littoral Strike/Primary Casualty Receiving Ship
 * RFA Argus
 * Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship
 * RFA Proteus
 * Autonomous Minehunting Mothership
 * RFA Stirling Castle

Decommissioned

 * Forward Repair Ship
 * RFA Diligence
 * Helicopter Support Ships
 * RFA Engadine
 * RFA Reliant
 * Salvage Vessels
 * King Salvor-class ocean salvage ships
 * RFA King Salvor
 * RFA Salviking
 * RFA Ocean Salvor
 * RFA Prince Salvor
 * RFA Salvage Duke
 * RFA Salvalour
 * RFA Salventure
 * RFA Salvestor
 * RFA Salvictor
 * RFA Salvigil
 * RFA Salviola
 * RFA Sea Salvor
 * Hospital Ships
 * RFA Berbice
 * RFA Maine
 * RFA Maine
 * RFA Maine
 * RFA Maine


text:
Talk:Charles Rennie Mackintosh

todos

 * add note about Derngate (the rather harsh one, with all the lines) - George Bernard Shaw slept there twice, while promoting the local labour party candidate prior to an election. When asked if he'd enjoyed sleeping in the blue&white striped bedroom, he said "Luckily I sleep with my eyes closed" or something  (need to find actual quote)
 * I think the article isn't quite right - mackintosh didn't ever entirely give up on architecture, it's just that no-one wanted his stuff any more - so he kept doing a few more things, but nothing major
 * I think he was an alcoholic by the end of his life (the article doesn't say why he died)
 * I believe I read (in some art book) that the Art Nouveau fans thought he was too harsh and rectilinear, and the bauhaus types thought his flowery features were too prissy - so he fell between two stools and ended up belonging to neither faction (and this explains his fall from popularity)
 * there's plenty of building photos now, but we really need one of some of his furniture, one of his lettering, and one of one of his watercolours (or at least an exlink to these). Getting the furniture photos proves to be rather hard, as neither the Hunterian Museum (including the Mackintosh house) nor the Art School allow you to take photos inside their respective buildings.  Scotland St. school do (and I did) but it's not really very representative, and there's no mackintosh furniture at all.
 * did he really go to the art school (need to find a biography) - the CRM society says yes?
 * I dont think he did the equivalent of a degree, but he definitely studied there.
 * add some better stuff about the southpark ave house (now the Mackintosh House) from -- Finlay McWalter |  Talk 16:51, 9 May 2004 (UTC)
 * I notice that it says at the start that he died in 1928, later in the article it states he died in 1930. What is the right year? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.195.12.4 (talk) 21:47, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Last decade

 * the article doesn't say why he died - I seem to recall that he got cancer of the tongue (or possibly throat) whilst he was living in Suffolk. The cancer was considered a result of tobacco and I have a vague impression that he was chewing it not smoking it. The move to the South of France in 1923 may have been during a reprive. There are a number of online references that say he died of cancer in London, so presumably the cancer returned and finished him off. I would have to check some references before putting this into the article, although clearly there is about a decade missing at the end of the article at the moment. -- Solipsist 18:08, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

According to Tamsin Pickeral's book "Mackintosh" Flame Tree Publishing, 2005, at the end of 1927 he complained of a sore throat and was persuaded by his doctor to return to England for treatment. He was then diagnosed with cancer of the throat and tongue. Radiation therapy gave him a brief remission, but he relapsed and died. MidlandLinda (talk) 18:00, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

Images in Architectural Work section
There are too many images in the Architectural Work section, causing a large amount of whitespace. I think some of these images need to be removed to resolve this. bruce89 16:54, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Argyll chair essay
This edit introduced an essay about what it claims is called the "Argyll chair". It was unsourced and disproportionately large for this article so was quite rightly removed, but if proper sources could be cited might merit a brief mention here or in a sub-article. .. dave souza, talk 09:57, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Popularity
it doesnt say how popular he is + thats realy important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.193.86.224 (talk) 16:51, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Talwin Morris
I've created Talwin Morris, a stub, which you may want to link to from here; or to expand. Andy Mabbett (User: Pigsonthewing ); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 18:26, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

 SilkTork   ✔Tea time  23:14, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 1 one external link on Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071212164634/http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk:80/collections/art_gallery/art_gallery/mackintosh_collection.shtml to http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/collections/art_gallery/art_gallery/mackintosh_collection.shtml

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 07:20, 20 November 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 5 external links on Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100216181326/http://www.scotland.org/about/innovation-and-creativity/features/culture/margaret-macdonald.html to http://www.scotland.org/about/innovation-and-creativity/features/culture/margaret-macdonald.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150205094559/http://www.crmsociety.com/crmackintosh.aspx to http://www.crmsociety.com/crmackintosh.aspx
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/19991206172020/http://www.crmsociety.com/ to http://www.crmsociety.com/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20050830083646/http://www.unbuiltmackintosh.net/ to http://www.unbuiltmackintosh.net/
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/collections/art_gallery/art_gallery/mackintosh_collection.shtml

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 11:49, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Charles Rennie Mackintosh


text:
Missouri General Assembly

The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are subject to term limits. Senators are limited to two four-year terms and representatives to four two-year terms, a total of 8 years for members of both houses.

The General Assembly meets at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.

Qualifications
Members of the House of Representatives must be 24 years of age to be elected. Representatives also must be a qualified Missouri voter for two years, and a resident of the county or district of their constituency for one year. Senators must be 30 years of age, a qualified Missouri voter for three years, and similar to House qualifications, must be a resident of their senatorial constituency for one year prior to their election.

Sessions and quorum
According to Article III, Section 20 of the Missouri Constitution, the General Assembly must convene on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January following the state general election. It adjourns on May 30, with no consideration of bills after 6:00 p.m. on the first Friday following the second Monday in May. No appropriation bill may be considered after 6:00 p.m. on the first Friday after the first Monday in May. If the Governor returns a bill with his objections after adjournment sine die, the General Assembly is automatically reconvened on the first Wednesday following the second Monday in September for a period not to exceed ten days to consider vetoed bills.

The Governor may convene the General Assembly in special session for a maximum of 60 calendar days at any time. Only subjects recommended by the Governor in his call or a special message may be considered. The President Pro Tem and the Speaker may convene a 30-day special session upon petition of three-fourths of the members of each chamber.

Neither the House nor Senate, without the consent of the other chamber, adjourn for more than ten days at any one time, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses may be sitting.

As a part-time legislature, compensation is low with the General Assembly, and most senators and representatives hold jobs outside their legislative duties. Lawmakers are paid about $35,915 per legislative year.

title: Missouri General Assembly


text:
Talk:Rhythmomachy

What is known about the rules of this game? —Herbee 23:43, 2004 May 8 (UTC)

 * I think we have a pretty good idea of the rules. There is a transcript of a 16th century work about the game at http://jducoeur.org/game-hist/fulke.html. --Imran 00:15, 9 May 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Rhythmomachy


text:
Wallace John Eckert

Wallace John Eckert (June 19, 1902 – August 24, 1971) was an American astronomer, who directed the Thomas J. Watson Astronomical Computing Bureau at Columbia University which evolved into the research division of IBM.

Life
Eckert was born in Pittsburgh on June 19, 1902. Shortly thereafter, his parents John and Anna Margaret (née Heil) Eckert moved to Erie County, Pennsylvania, where they raised their four sons on a farm in Albion, PA. Wallace graduated from Albion High School in a class of six boys and eight girls. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1925, and earned an MA from Amherst College in 1926.

He started teaching at Columbia University in 1926, and earned his PhD from Yale in 1931 in astronomy under Professor Ernest William Brown (1866–1938).

He married Dorothy Woodworth Applegate in 1932. They raised three children, Alice, John and Penelope.

He was not related to another computer pioneer of the time, J. Presper Eckert (1919–1995).

He attended the launch of Apollo 14 just before his death August 24, 1971, in New Jersey.

A lunar crater, located within Mare Crisium, is named in his honor.

Solution of differential equations for astronomy
Around 1933 Eckert proposed interconnecting punched card tabulating machines from IBM located in Columbia's Rutherford Laboratory to perform more than simple statistical calculations. Eckert arranged with IBM president Thomas J. Watson for a donation of newly developed IBM 601 calculating punch, which could multiply instead of just adding and subtracting. In 1937 the facility was named the Thomas J. Watson Astronomical Computing Bureau. IBM support included customer service and hardware circuit modifications needed to tabulate numbers, create mathematical tables, add, subtract, multiply, reproduce, verify, create tables of differences, create tables of logarithms and perform Lagrangian interpolation, all to solve differential equations for astronomical applications. In January 1940, Eckert published Punched Card Methods in Scientific Computation, which solved the problem of predicting the orbits of the planets, using the IBM electric tabulating machines, based on the punched card. This slim book is only 136 pages, including the index.

Naval service
In 1940, Eckert became director of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. World War II had been raging in Europe for many months. The US had not yet officially joined the effort to defeat Hitler. Nonetheless, the demand for navigation tables had risen. This demand helped inspire Eckert to automate the process of creating these tables, using punched card equipment. The 1941 almanac was the first to be produced using automated equipment, down to the final typesetting. Martin Schwarzschild became directory of the Columbia laboratory while Eckert was at USNO.

Manhattan Project
Columbia Physics professor Dana P. Mitchell served in the Manhattan Project (developing the first nuclear weapons) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. By 1943 the laborious simulation calculations used electromechanical calculators of that time operated by human "computers," mostly wives of the scientists. Mitchell suggested using IBM machines like his colleague Eckert. Nicholas Metropolis and Richard Feynman organized a punched-card solution, proving its effectiveness for physics research. John von Neumann and others were aware of this "computing by punched cards". That helped them develop wholly electronic electronic solutions which helped pave the way for modern computers.

Watson laboratory
After the war Eckert moved back to Columbia. Watson had just had a falling out with Harvard University over a project IBM had funded. IBM would instead focus their funding on Columbia, and Eckert's laboratory was named Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory. Eckert understood the significance of his laboratory, keenly aware of the advantage of scientific calculations performed without human interventions for long stretches of computation. A massive machine built to Eckert's specifications was built and installed behind glass at IBM's headquarters on Madison Avenue in January 1948. Known as the Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator, it was used as a calculating device with some success, but served even better as a recruiting tool. Eckert published a description of the SSEC in November 1948.

As an employee of IBM, Eckert directed one of the first industrial research laboratories in the country. In 1945 he hired Herb Grosch and Llewellyn Thomas as the next two IBM research scientists, who both made significant contributions. When Cuthbert Hurd became the next PhD to be hired by IBM in 1949, he was offered a position with Eckert, but instead founded the Applied Science Department, and later directed the development of IBM's first commercial stored program computer (the IBM 701) based on the demand demonstrated by applications such as those of Eckert.

In this period he continued his innovative contributions to computational astronomy by implementing Brown's Lunar theory in his computer; developing the Improved Lunar Ephemeris; and performing the first numerical integration to compute an ephemeris for the outer planets.

In 1957 the Watson lab moved to Yorktown Heights, New York (with a new building completed in 1961) where it is known as the Thomas J. Watson Research Center. Eckert won the James Craig Watson Medal in 1966 from the US National Academy of Sciences.

Author
Faster, Faster - A Simple Description of a Giant Electronic Calculator, and the Problems it Solves. Written with Rebecca Jones, Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory, Columbia University, International Business Machines. McGraw-Hill, 1955- An account for the layman. Says multiplying 1,000 pairs of ten digit numbers would take a week by hand, and could be done by an "electronic supercalculator" (of the day!) in one second.

title: Wallace John Eckert