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Russian Winter

Russian Winter, sometimes personified as "General Frost" or "General Winter", is an aspect of the climate of Russia that has contributed to military failures of several invasions of Russia and the Soviet Union. Mud is a related contributing factor that impairs military maneuvering in Russia and elsewhere, and is sometimes personified as "General Mud". Russians call those muddy conditions rasputitsa, which occur with autumnal rains and spring thaws in Russia and make transport over unimproved roads difficult.

Winter as a contributing factor to military defeat
In his study of winter warfare in Russia, author Allen F. Chew concludes that "General Winter" was a 'substantial contributing factor'—not a decisive one—in the military failures of both Napoleon's invasion of the Russian Empire and Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. He notes that Napoleon's army was already suffering significant attrition before winter, owing to lack of supplies, disease, desertions and casualties of war. Likewise, Hitler's Wehrmacht had already suffered 734,000 casualties and was running low on supplies in November 1941, before the arrival of winter.

Swedish invasion of 1708
In the Great Northern War, Charles XII of Sweden invaded the Russian Empire, crossing the Vistula on 1 January 1708. The Russians retreated, adopting a scorched-earth policy. The winter of 1708–1709 was the most brutal of the 18th century, so severe that the seaport of Venice froze during the Great Frost of 1709. Charles' 35,000 troops were crippled, and by the spring of 1709 only 19,000 were left. The Battle of Poltava in the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate in late June 1709 sealed the end of the Swedish Empire.

French invasion of 1812

Napoleon's Grande Armée of 610,000 men invaded Russia, heading through territory of today's Belarus towards Moscow, in the beginning of summer on 24 June 1812. The Russian army retreated before the French and again burnt their crops and villages, denying the enemy their use. Napoleon's army was ultimately reduced to 100,000. His army suffered further, even more disastrous losses on the retreat from Moscow, which started in October. Multiple sources concur that winter and its aftermath was only a contributing factor to Napoleon's defeat and retreat.

To counter claims that the French defeat resulted from winter weather, Denis Davydov published a military historical analysis, titled "Was it Frost that Devastated the French Army in 1812?", wherein he demonstrated that the French suffered casualties in battles during relatively mild weather and outlined multiple causes for their defeat. He drew on both his direct observations and on those of foreign commentators, including French authors.

According to Chew in 1981, the main body of Napoleon's Grande Armée, initially at least 378,000 strong, "diminished by half during the first eight weeks of his invasion, before the major battle of the campaign. This decrease was partly due to garrisoning supply centres, but disease, desertions, and casualties sustained in various minor actions caused thousands of losses. At the Battle of Borodino, about 110 km from Moscow, on 7 September 1812—the only major engagement fought in Russia—Napoleon could muster no more than 135,000 troops and he lost at least 30,000 of them to gain a narrow and pyrrhic victory almost 600 miles inside hostile territory. The sequels were his uncontested and self-defeating occupation of Moscow and his humiliating retreat, which began on 19 October, before the first severe frosts later that month and the first snow on 5 November." Lieven cites the difficulty of finding food for troops and forage for horses in winter as an important contributing factor.

Allied intervention in Russia, winter 1918–19
During the Northern Russian expedition of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in the Archangelsk region, both sides, the Allied forces and the Bolshevik Red Army knew or quickly learned the principles of winter warfare and applied them whenever possible. However both sides had their resources strained and at times one side or other suffered the severe consequences of underpreparedness, but Chew concluded that winter did not provide a decisive advantage to any of the combatants.

German invasion of 1941
During World War II, the Wehrmacht lacked necessary supplies, such as winter uniforms, due to the many delays in the German army's movements. At the same time, Hitler's plans for the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, actually miscarried before the onset of severe winter weather. Neither Hitler nor the General Staff anticipated a long campaign lasting into the winter. Thus, they failed to make adequate preparations for a possible winter campaign, such as the distribution of warm clothing and winterization of vehicles and lubricants. In fact his eastern army suffered more than 734,000 casualties (about 23% of its average strength of 3,200,000) during the first five months of the invasion before the winter started in recently occupied Poland and Soviet Belarus, Ukraine, and western Russia. On 27 November 1941, Eduard Wagner, the Quartermaster General of the German Army, reported that "We are at the end of our resources in both personnel and material. We are about to be confronted with the dangers of deep winter." Also of note is the fact that the unusually early winter of 1941 cut short the rasputitsa season, improving logistics in early November, with the weather still being only mildly cold.

Winter effects on warfare
In his 1981 paper, Fighting the Russians in Winter: Three Case Studies, Chew draws on experiences from the Allied intervention in northern Russia during the winter of 1918–19, the destruction of the Soviet 44th Motorized Rifle Division, and German–Soviet war during World War II to derive winter warfare factors pertaining to military tactics, materiel and personnel:
 * Tactics – Defensive positions are highly advantageous because of the ability to maintain warmth and protection, compared to attacking in winter cold. Mobility and logistical support are often restricted by snow, requiring plowing or compacting it to accommodate wide-tracked vehicles or sleds. Infantry movement in deep snow requires skis or snowshoes to avoid exhaustion. Sound carries well over crusted snow, diminishing the element of surprise. Explosives are useful for excavating foxholes and larger shelters in frozen ground. Attacking field kitchens and encampments deprives the enemy of food and shelter. Rapid removal of the wounded from the battlefield is essential to their survival in the cold.
 * Materiel – Weapons and vehicles require special lubricants to operate at low temperatures. Mines are unreliable in winter, owing to deep snow that may cushion the fuse or form an ice bridge over the detonator.
 * Personnel – Proper winter clothing is required to maintain body heat and to avoid such cold injuries as frostbite. Troop efficiency and survival requires either making use of available shelter or providing portable shelter.

Sandy Woodward, Royal Navy task force commander during the Falklands War, which was fought before the oncoming South Atlantic winter, remarked in his memoirs, "I thought then, for the first time, about the arrival of General Winter. If he had been here ten days ago, he would not have been much help to the Args [ Argentines], dug in on the heights with no chance of their High Command getting their air forces into the skies. But I think he would’ve finished us."

title: Russian Winter


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Van Ness station

Van Ness station is an underground Muni Metro station on the Market Street subway at the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue (U.S. Route 101) in San Francisco, California. The station consists of a concourse mezzanine on the first floor down, and a single island platform on the second level down.

History
The station was constructed by BART as part of the Market Street subway. The BART Board approved the name "Van Ness" in December 1965. Service at the station began in February 1980.

The station has suffered flooding during heavy rainstorms, including one in October 2009, and another in December 2014 which damaged an electrical equipment room. In February 2017, the SFMTA signed a $1.9 million contract to repair water-damaged wiring in the room. Surface stops on Van Ness Avenue at Market Street are the southern end of the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit route, which began service on April 1, 2022. The northeast headhouse was closed on March 11, 2023, for an estimated six months during construction of an adjacent building.

Under the proposed western variant of the planned Better Market Street project, the outbound F stop would be moved across the intersection.

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

title: Van Ness station


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Simon May

Simon May (born 15 August 1944 ) is a British composer. He has composed many British television theme tunes, including EastEnders and Howards' Way, and the music for the 1988 film The Dawning.

Biography
Born in Devizes and a pupil of Dauntsey's School, May was a choral scholar at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a degree in modern languages in 1965. While teaching languages and music at Kingston Grammar School, he co-wrote a musical named Smike with a colleague, history teacher Clive Barnett, and songwriting partner Roger Holman. Following the publicity Smike attracted, May was contacted by the BBC, who televised the play in 1973, starring Beryl Reid and Andrew Keir. It also featured DJ Neil Fox, a pupil at Kingston Grammar, as one of the schoolboys. The show has subsequently been staged many times by youth drama groups.

While working at ATV, he was asked to compose some music for Crossroads. Stephanie de Sykes got to number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1974 with the subsequent "Born With a Smile on My Face", which was used within a storyline on the show. Kate Robbins performed another of May's songs for Crossroads: "More Than in Love," which was co-written by Barry Leng and got to number 2 in the UK in 1981.

He was one of the members of the vocal harmony group Rain, with de Sykes, Alex Keenan and Chas Mill. The group recorded the theme song "Golden Day", penned by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue, for the TV programme "The Golden Shot" to co-incide with the return of Bob Monkhouse as its host. They also released an album produced by Len Beadle, with the title "Rain Featuring Stephanie De-Sykes" in 1974.

May himself performed "The Summer of My Life", which reached number seven in the UK Singles Chart in October 1976. The song originally appeared in Crossroads, in a scene between Meg and Hugh. It was one of the best selling singles of the year, and was one of few songs to spend three weeks in a row at number seven in the UK Singles Chart. His follow-up single, "We'll Gather Lilacs - All My Loving (Medley)", flopped, reaching number 49 in May 1977. In 1986, he released an album called Simon's Way, which included his themes to EastEnders and Howards' Way, which peaked at number 59 in the UK Albums Chart. In the same year, his 'Holiday Suite' theme was used for the BBC Programme 'Holiday', and was released as a single. The theme has also been used by Video 125 for three of its railway drivers-eye-view productions.

He worked on his first feature film in 1988, The Dawning. Music from the film, with various other TV themes (including The Olympic Track and People like You), was released in 1989 on the Simon May Orchestra album Themes.

He co-produced Amii Stewart's "Knock on Wood", which reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in April 1979.

EastEnders
Tony Holland and Julia Smith commissioned May to write the theme to EastEnders after being impressed by his work on spy-thriller Cold Warrior. Don Black put lyrics to the popular theme, and Anita Dobson (who portrayed Angie Watts in the show) reached number 4 in the UK in August 1986 with "Anyone Can Fall in Love". With Barry Rose, the theme was adapted into a hymn, "Glory Be", which was performed on Songs of Praise and released on single.

Another soap storyline gave May a hit in 1986. Nick Berry ("Wicksy") topped the charts with "Every Loser Wins", which he co-wrote after plugging it in EastEnders (a storyline which Holland openly hated).

In 1993 the theme itself was given an unpopular 'jazzy' update, and an updated version of the original was introduced in 1994. With Johnny Griggs, he wrote another set of lyrics for the EastEnders theme. "I'll Always Believe in You" featured lead vocals by Sharon Benson. which was based around the extended version of the 1993 theme. In 2009 he was asked to revamp the EastEnders theme again, to update the one running from 1994, making it lighter in tone and bringing back elements of the original theme missing in the previous version. However it is worth noting that one major element of all the previous themes (bar the jazzy version) is missing - the bells, which are mainly replaced with the piano.

Simon wrote "Peggy's Theme" for Barbara Windsor's exit episode from EastEnders screened on 10 September 2010. The single was released on iTunes on 4 September.

Post-EastEnders
Lyrics were also added to May's theme to Howards' Way; Marti Webb reached number 13 with "Always There" in 1986, a year after the orchestral version of the theme (credited to May and Leslie Osborne) had reached number 21 in the same UK Singles Chart. This was the version played over the opening credits of all six series, and the second half of the closing credits of series 1. The first part of the theme was a faster, upbeat rendition (later extended and slightly updated for the season 3 credits) which merged into the more familiar version used in the opening credits. The Marti Webb version of the theme was only played over the closing credits of series 2, with an updated extended version of the first half of the original series 1 orchestral version, playing over new style credits from series 3 onwards.

Mike Read wrote lyrics to May's Trainer theme. "More to Life" was performed by Cliff Richard. The theme won May his third TRIC award for Best TV Theme, after previous success with EastEnders and Howards' Way.

Following their collaboration on EastEnders, Julia Smith and Tony Holland commissioned May to write the theme tune for the new Eurosoap Eldorado. May reworked a song called "When You Go Away" which he had written for his ill-fated musical Mefisto, based on Goethe's Faust, adding Spanish guitars to make it more relevant to the Eldorado project. An instrumental version of the theme was used for the opening and closing credits. However, the vocal version of the song was recorded by Johnny Griggs, and was used over the closing credits of the final episode.

In 1994, New Vintage: The Best of Simon May, a compilation of some of May's work was released to coincide with his "A Night Away From The TV" UK tour. The tour was not a commercial success and some dates had to be cancelled. A Pebble Mill special documentary was produced by the BBC around this time discussing his career and the tour.

He has reached number one in Belgium with "Fragile Not Broken", sung by Natalia.

He worked with Simon Lockyer and John Brant on "Music on Screen", and worked as a music therapist at Unsted Park near Godalming, Surrey.

May recorded his latest album The Simon May Collection with his two co-writers/co-producers Simon Lockyer and John Brant. The album was released on 13 September 2010. "Peggy's Theme" was the lead track on the album.

In August 2015 Simon May released his autobiography 'Doof Doof: My Life in Music' through Austin Macauley Publishers. Two versions were released; one, a book-only version and also a CD-set, with a shorter printed autobiography.

May is visiting professor at the Faculty of Media, Arts and Society, Southampton Solent University who in 2015 conferred on him the degree of Honorary Doctor of Music. He is also Patron of the Devizes Junior Eisteddfod, Vice President of the British Federation of Festivals and Patron of the Swindon 105.5 Community Radio Station.

Television

 * Adventures of Enid Blyton
 * Animal SOS
 * Brat Camp
 * Body Spies
 * Castaway 2000 / Castaway 2007
 * City Hospital
 * Dealing with Dickinson
 * Don't Try This at Home
 * EastEnders
 * Eldorado
 * Evacuation
 * Food & Drink
 * Great Estates
 * Hampton Court
 * Health Farm
 * Holiday '86
 * Howards' Way
 * Jobs for the Boys
 * Jobs for the Girls
 * Lakesiders
 * Lion Country (end theme of 'Animal Park')
 * 1988 Olympics (ITV)
 * Paramedics
 * People
 * Pet Rescue
 * The Really Useful Show
 * Russ Abbott Show
 * Seaworld
 * Secrets of Enid Blyton
 * Smike [also a stage musical]
 * Skorpion
 * Swiss Family Robinson
 * Testing Testing
 * Trainer
 * The Tribe
 * The Trial of James Earl Ray
 * Turnstile
 * TV Weekly
 * The Adventures of Swiss Family Robinson
 * The Vet
 * The Legend of William Tell
 * You Know What You Ate Last Summer

Films

 * The Dawning (1988)
 *  HST West (1986) was done for Video 125. The theme 'The Holiday Suite' is the same as Holiday programme for the BBC. And the full version can heard on the DVD of HST West & Far West.
 *  HST Far West (1990)
 *  HST Great West (1993)
 * The Fleet for The Northern Lights (1996)
 * Caught in the Act (2008)
 * House Husbands (2009)

Stage musicals

 * Rip van Winkle
 * Smike [also dramatised for BBC television]

title: Simon May


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SAS Group

SAS AB (Scandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag), trading as SAS Group, is an airline holding company headquartered in the SAS Frösundavik Office Building in Solna Municipality, Sweden. It is the owner of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines and SAS Connect. SAS once owned 19.9% of the now defunct Spanish airline Spanair as well as shares in Estonian Air and Skyways Express. SAS Group is partially owned by the governments of Sweden and Denmark with a 14.82% and 14.24% holding, respectively. The remaining 70.92% is held by private shareholders, of which Foundation Asset Management owns 6.50%. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the Stockholm Stock Exchange, and the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.

The conglomerate was founded in 1951 as a merger between the three Scandinavian flag carriers Aerotransport (ABA—Sweden), Det Danske Luftfartselskab (DDL—Denmark), and Det Norske Luftfartselskap (DNL—Norway), after the three had been cooperating on international routes since 1946. Until 2001, the three national companies owned a fixed share of the SAS Group, after which the shares of the three companies were merged. The SAS Group previously owned the Rezidor Hotel Group (owner of the Radisson SAS brand) and Braathens and had a minority interest in bmi, airBaltic, Texas Air, Thai Airways International, and LAN Airlines. SAS was a founder of the Amadeus Computerised Reservation System and the Star Alliance, where several of the group's airlines are members. SAS runs the frequent flyer program EuroBonus.

History
The airline was founded on 1 August 1946 when Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S, AB Aerotransport, and Det Norske Luftfartselskap AS (the flag carriers of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) formed a partnership to handle intercontinental traffic to Scandinavia. Operations started on 17 September 1946. The companies then started coordination of European operations in 1948 and finally merged to form the current SAS Consortium in 1951. When established the airline was divided between SAS Danmark (28.6%), SAS Norge (28.6%), and SAS Sweden (42.8%), all owned 50% by private investors and 50% by their respective governments. SAS gradually acquired control of the domestic markets in all three countries by acquiring full or partial control of several local airlines. In May 1997 SAS formed the global Star Alliance network with Air Canada, Lufthansa, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines.

 * SAS Group Milestones
 * 1918 AB Aerotransport (ABA), SAS' Swedish parent company, is founded.
 * 1920 Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S (DDL), SAS' Danish parent company, is founded.
 * 1924 DDL is listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange
 * 1927 Det Norske Luftfartselskap A/S (DNL), SAS' Norwegian parent company, is founded
 * 1946 SAS is formed from Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S (DDL), Det Norske Luftfartselskap A/S (DNL), and Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB (SILA). The first intercontinental flight is from Stockholm to New York.
 * 1951 DDL, DNL, and ABA form the present SAS Consortium.
 * 1954 SAS is the world's first airline to fly the Copenhagen - Los Angeles polar route in regular scheduled service.
 * 1955 SILA (which owns 50% of ABA) is quoted on the "Stockbrokers' List" in Sweden.
 * 1957 SAS is the first airline to offer "round the world service over the North Pole" from Copenhagen to Tokyo via Anchorage.
 * 1959 SAS enters the jet age. The first jet aircraft, the Caravelle, is introduced in service.
 * 1960 SAS opens its first hotel, the SAS Royal Hotel Copenhagen. SAS helps set up Thai Airways International, taking a 30% share in the joint venture.
 * 1965 SAS is the first airline to introduce an electronic reservation system.
 * 1967 DNL is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
 * 1971 SAS puts its first Boeing 747 jumbo jet into service.
 * 1977 SAS sells its remaining stakes in Thai Airways.
 * 1980 SAS opens its first hotel outside of Scandinavia, the SAS Kuwait Hotel. SILA is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
 * 1981 SAS EuroClass is introduced on all European routes.
 * 1982 SAS is named the most punctual airline in Europe for the first time.
 * 1984 SAS receives the Air Transport World's distinction "Airline of the Year" for 1983.
 * 1986 Spanair is founded.
 * 1987 SAS cofounds the Amadeus Computerised Reservation System (also known as GDS).
 * 1989 SAS International Hotels owns 40% of Intercontinental Hotels Group. This stake is sold in 1992.
 * 1994 SAS begins to refocus on airline operations in the SAS Group - selling a number of subsidiaries, along with the franchise of Diners Club Nordic.
 * 1996 SAS celebrates its 50th anniversary on August 1. SAS parent company changes its name to SAS Danmark A/S, SAS Norge ASA, and SAS Sverige AB.
 * 1997 SAS is one of the founding members of Star Alliance.
 * 1998 Air Botnia (Blue1) becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of the SAS Group.
 * 1999 The SAS Group becomes a majority owner of Widerøe.
 * 2001 A single SAS share is established. On July 6, SAS is listed on the stock exchanges in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Oslo. Braathens is acquired by the SAS Group in December.
 * 2002 Rezidor SAS Hospitality signs a master franchise agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide; the agreement comes to an end in 2009.
 * 2003 SAS acquires 49% of the shares in Estonian Air.
 * 2004 Scandinavian Airlines Sverige, SAS Braathens, and Scandinavian Airlines Danmark are incorporated.
 * 2006 SAS sells its remaining shares in the Rezidor Hotel Group chain.
 * 2007 CEO and President Mats Jansson is inaugurated; SAS sells the SAS Flight Academy.
 * 2010 CEO Jansson departs his position and is replaced by John S. Dueholm on an interim basis.
 * 2011 Rickard Gustafson becomes the new permanent CEO.
 * 2012 In January Spanair collapses and lead to write-downs of 1.7bn kronor by SAS.
 * 2013 SAS sells 80% of the shares in Widerøe.
 * 2014 SAS sells the cleaning part of SAS Ground Handling to Sodexo.
 * 2015 SAS sells SAS Ground Handling in 14 Airports in Norway to Widerøe Ground Handling. SAS sells Blue1 to CityJet. In November Estonian Air collapses and SAS loses 2.5% of the shares.
 * 2016 SAS sells its remaining 20% stake in Widerøe.
 * 2020 SAS halts most of its traffic from 16 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operations
SAS Group is the main operational company in the SAS consortium. The SAS Group company structure looks as follows:

 * Core SAS Holdings
 * Scandinavian Airlines (100%)
 * SAS Connect (100%)
 * SAS Link
 * SAS Cargo Group (100%)
 * SAS Ground Handling (100%)
 * SAS Technical Services (100%)

Head office
The SAS Group head office is currently in the SAS Frösundavik Office Building in, Solna Municipality, Sweden, in the Stockholm area.

The SAS Group head office was previously located on the grounds of the Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) in Sigtuna Municipality, Sweden.

Before spring 2011, it was located in the SAS Frösundavik Office Building.

Partners and alliances

 * Air Greenland has an interline agreement with SAS.
 * Scandinavian Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance.
 * SAS Cargo Group is a member of the WOW Alliance.

Presidents

 * 1946–1948: Per Norlin
 * 1949–1951: Per Møystad Backe
 * 1951–1954: Per Norlin
 * 1955–1957: Henning Throne-Holst
 * 1958–1961: Åke Rusck
 * 1961–1962: Curt Nicolin
 * 1962–1969: Karl Nilsson
 * 1969–1978: Knut Hagrup
 * 1978–1981: Carl-Olov Munkberg
 * 1981–1993: Jan Carlzon
 * 1993–1994: Jan Reinås
 * 1994–2001: Jan Stenberg
 * 2001–2006: Jørgen Lindegaard
 * 2007–2010: Mats Jansson
 * 2010–2011: John S Dueholm
 * 2011–2021: Rickard Gustafson
 * 2021: Anko van der Werff

Financial performance

 * Prior to 2001, the SAS Group traffic figures did not include airBaltic, Blue1, and Spanair.

Fleet
The SAS Group fleet consists of the following aircraft as of November, 2023:

On January 4, 2010, the SAS Group announced the sales of 18 surplus MD-80 series aircraft to Allegiant Travel Company. The aircraft, built from 1985 to 1991, were delivered during the first half of 2010.

On August 26, 2010, the SAS Group announced a 5-year lease agreement of 8 MD-90 series aircraft to an undisclosed US airline. The aircraft will be delivered between Q3-2010 and Q2-2011.

On April 10, 2018, the SAS Group announced a deal with Airbus for 35 new Airbus A320neos with another 15 being leased. These aircraft are meant to replace some of SAS's current A320s, as well as their Bombardier CRJ900's. Bringing the total of the type to 80 aircraft.

SAS Museum
The exhibits at the SAS Museum at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, in Norway, represent an important part of Scandinavian civil aviation history. The museum collections cover Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) as well as its parent companies: AB Aerotransport (ABA), Det Danske Luftfartselskab (DDL), and Det Norske Luftfartselskap (DNL). A museum was originally established in 1989 in the hangar area at Oslo Airport, Fornebu at the same time as the formation of the DNL/SAS Historic Society. It was built up through the efforts of a group of enthusiasts among retired and active SAS employees. The establishment of the new museum in 2003-2004 is a result of SAS feeling a responsibility to document the history of Scandinavian civil aviation. For this purpose, the airline has entered a partnership with its three national historic societies and the latter undertake the day-to-day work on a volunteer basis. SAS absorbs the rental cost of the museum building and has also provided depots for museum exhibits in Denmark and Sweden. The museum at Oslo's Gardermoen is therefore more than just a continuation of the facility at Fornebu – it is a completely new and considerably expanded Scandinavian museum. It is run by a board that includes representatives of the SAS consortium and the Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian historic societies.

title: SAS Group


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Tony Vincent

Tony Vincent (born July 25, 1973 ) is an American actor, songwriter, and singer based in New York City and Nashville.

Early career
Vincent was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His professional career began while attending Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Using the school's recording studio, he recorded what became his first single, "Love Falling Down." It was originally released only to his hometown radio station, KLYT in Albuquerque. The song proved popular. When it hit No. 1 on that station's charts, he and a college friend organized a campaign to release the single nationally.

The single was released nationwide in May 1993 and appeared on the national CCM Billboard Hot 100 in July 1993, becoming the first independently released single ever to do so. After signing a recording contract with EMI, Vincent spent six more years recording in Nashville. During that time, Vincent had six #1 songs on Billboard's radio charts and his song, "One Deed", from the album of the same name, was featured in a national United Way of America campaign.

Musical Theatre
In 1998, Vincent moved to New York, and by March 1998 had landed a role in the American touring production of "Rent." In January 1999, Vincent returned to New York and made his Broadway debut in the cast of Rent at the Nederlander Theatre, playing the roles of both Roger Davis and Mark Cohen at different time periods.

In 2000, Vincent was cast in the role of Simon Zealotes in the film remake of "Jesus Christ Superstar" in London. This new production brought about a revival of the show on Broadway, and Vincent was cast this time as Judas at composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's request. Vincent's performance as Judas won him a nomination for an Outer Critics award for "Best Featured Actor." Impressed with his Broadway performances, Webber selected Vincent to travel through China in 2001, introducing the composer's music in a cultural exchange production later released on DVD as "Andrew Lloyd Webber-Masterpiece (Live in Beijing)."

In 2001, Vincent landed the lead role of Galileo Figaro in Queen's musical, "We Will Rock You" on London's West End. He performed the role from May 2002 through November 2003. Vincent also performed "Bohemian Rhapsody" with Queen for the band's June 2002 appearance at Party at the Palace, a celebration of Queen Elizabeth's 50th anniversary as monarch.

The North American premiere of "We Will Rock You" opened in Las Vegas in 2004. Vincent remained with the show until July 2005, when he returned to New York City to resume work on his solo music career after signing a priority record deal this time via David Massey and Tommy Mottola for Epic Records.

Vincent originated the role of St. Jimmy in "American Idiot," the Tony award-winning stage musical based on Green Day's award-winning album of the same name. The production premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2009 and, after being extended twice, became Berkeley Rep's most popular and highest grossing production.

When "American Idiot" opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 20, 2010, Tony Vincent received considerable praise for his portrayal of St. Jimmy. Charles Isherwood of the New York Times praised the show as "performed with galvanizing intensity by a terrific cast, … a pulsating portrait of wasted youth that invokes all the standard genre conventions … only to transcend them through the power of its music and the artistry of its execution," and describing Vincent's performance as having "mesmerizing vitality and piercing vocalism." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone," in his review of "American Idiot", wrote "the standout is vocal powerhouse Tony Vincent as St. Jimmy, Johnny's dealer and toxic ideology," "American Idiot"...cuts its own path to the heart. You won't know what hit you. "American Idiot" knows no limits – it's a global knockout."

In April 2010, Vincent, along with co-star John Gallagher, Jr., received a 2010 Drama League Award nomination for the Distinguished Performance Award.

Vincent played his final performance as St. Jimmy on December 30, 2010, and was succeeded by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. The show closed on Broadway on April 24, 2011.

Vincent returned to Broadway in the production of "Rocktopia" in March, 2018.

Music career
Vincent released three solo albums during the 90's – Love Falling Down (1993), Tony Vincent (1995) and One Deed (1997).

In 2007 Vincent released a five-song EP entitled A Better Way, a collaboration with platinum-selling producer Adam Anders, and in 2012 released his highly anticipated studio project, In My Head, which he co-produced with Swedish artist Ulf Dernevik.

Along with performing rock-focused symphonic performances with orchestras across the globe, Vincent currently operates his independent recording studio, SoundShop370, in South Nashville, where he is actively involved in producing, songwriting, mixing and collaborating with artists. He also leads a comprehensive artist development program for aspiring contemporary artists, musicians, and musical theater performers.

"NBC's The Voice"
Vincent was a contestant on the second season of the hit reality talent show The Voice. Cee Lo Green was so impressed by Vincent's powerful (blind audition) performance of We Are The Champions that he snatched him up for his Team (TeamCeeLo) and commented that Freddie Mercury would have been proud. Vincent won his Battle Round against teammate Justin Hopkins singing Journey's "Faithfully".

During the Live round, Vincent sang Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", but received mixed reviews from the judges, who felt the song held back his true voice dynamic. Vincent ended up in the Sing-Off of the Last Chance Performances, singing Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams", but was eliminated as a finalist from the competition.

Side Projects
In 2005, the multi-platinum vocal group Il Divo included the song, Hoy Que Ya No Estas Aqui (As Far As Any Man Can See), co-written by Vincent and Jorgen Elofsson (translation by Rudy Perez), on their self-titled debut album.

Tony has been successful in the voice over world, and, to date, has done voice over work for Pepperidge Farm, Mrs Fields and for the Fisher-Price interactive game, I Can Play Guitar.

Vincent has been a guest artist with The SAS Band for several live concerts in the UK. He is also a recurring guest artist at the Vanemuine Theater in Tartu, Estonia as well as a recurring guest artist for at BBC Radio 2's rock concerts around the world with the BBC Concert Orchestra. The concerts, produced in conjunction with the BBC and the Maltese Tourism Authority in Valletta, Malta and presented by Gary Davies, draw thousands each year.

Philanthropy
Vincent supports the work of the Broadway Dreams Foundation and regularly participates in their intensive theatre training courses as a faculty member and guest instructor.

Vincent is also a regular guest artist at David Foster Foundation events to support families whose children are undergoing life-saving organ transplants. The Foundation's 2022 gala raised over $11.2 million in one night.

title: Tony Vincent


text:
Talk:Pepero Day

Pocky Day
Don't take a writer's stereotypical observation to be the fact. Pocky day started on 1999 because it was the 11th year of Heisei and this meant all the number of the calendar was 11. Nobody would care what a copycat competitor does. Revth 02:03, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Copyright violation
Since the "Pepero Day Sweet for Retailers" section was lifted wholesale from the JoongAng daily piece cited on the bottom of the article, I reverted to the last edit that doesn't completely copy the article (before the violating section was added.) --Zonath 07:02, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Pepero Day


text:
Earl of Melfort

The titles of Viscount of Melfort and Lord Drummond of Gillestoun were created in the Peerage of Scotland on 14 April 1685 for John Drummond, second son of James Drummond, 3rd Earl of Perth, with remainder to the heirs male of his body by his second marriage, to Euphemia Wallace, failing whom to the heirs male of his body whatsoever. He was further created, on 12 August 1686, Earl of Melfort, Viscount of Forth and Lord Drummond of Riccartoun, Castlemains and Gilstoun, also in the peerage of Scotland, and with a similar remainder.

A supporter of King James II and VII, Melfort escaped to France on 16 December 1688, following the "Glorious Revolution" which installed William of Orange and Mary II on the English and Scottish thrones. Drummond was further created Baron Cleworth in the Jacobite Peerage of England by the exiled monarch, on 7 August 1689, and Duke of Melfort, Marquess of Forth, Earl of Isla and Burntisland, Viscount of Rickerton and Lord Castlemains and Galston in the Jacobite Peerage of Scotland 17 April 1692, all with a similar remainder to the 1685 viscountcy.

The 1st Earl and titular 1st Duke of Melfort was outlawed by the de facto régime in England on 23 July 1694 and was attainted by Act of Parliament on 2 July 1695, when his honours became forfeit. In 1701, after the death of James II and VII, the Duke of Melfort was granted the honours and precedence of a French peer by Louis XIV. He and his descendants used the title "Duc de Melfort" in France, but this was a French translation of their Jacobite dukedom and not a French dukedom. The dukedom was never recognised by the governments of England and later of Great Britain.

On 2 July 1800 the titular 4th Duke of Melfort succeeded as heir male to the attainted Earldom of Perth and as titular 9th Duke of Perth, Marquess of Drummond, Earl of Stobhall, Viscount of Cargill and Lord Concraig, on the death of his second cousin once removed, James Drummond, Lord Perth and Baron Drummond of Stobhall, a descendant of the 1st Earl and Duke of Melfort from his first marriage, to Sophie Maitland. In 1841 the titular 6th Duke of Melfort established his right before the French Council of State and the Tribunal de la Seine to the French titles of Duc de Melfort, Comte de Lussan and Baron de Valrose (his great-grandfather the 2nd Duke of Melfort had been married in 1707 to Marie Gabrielle d'Audebert, widow of the Duke of Albemarle and only daughter of Jean d'Audebert, Comte de Lussan). The titular 6th Duke of Melfort proved to the incumbent British authorities his descent from the 1st Earl of Melfort in 1848, and by a reversal of his ancestors' attainder on 28 June 1853 became 5th Earl of Perth and Lord Drummond of Stobhall, Earl of Melfort, Viscount of Forth and Lord Drummond of Riccartoun, Castlemains and Gilstoun, Viscount of Melfort and Lord Drummond of Gillestoun and Lord Drummond of Cargill. He died on 28 February 1902, when the Melfort titles became dormant or extinct and the Perth titles passed to the Viscount of Strathallan.

Viscounts (1685), Earls (1686) and titular Dukes (1692) of Melfort

 * John Drummond, 1st Duke of Melfort (1650–1714), attainted 1695
 * John Drummond, 2nd Duke of Melfort (1682–1754)
 * James Drummond, 3rd Duke of Melfort (1708–1766)
 * James Louis Drummond, 4th Duke of Melfort (1750–1800)
 * Charles Edouard Drummond, 5th Duke of Melfort (1752–1840)
 * George Drummond, 5th Earl of Perth (1807–1902), restored 1853

title: Earl of Melfort


text:
Talk:Ward Christensen

Shareware Hall of Fame
Does anybody know anything about this Shareware Hall of Fame? Is that to be taken seriously or is that just some lobby organization that is really irrelevant to this article? --EnOreg 22:27, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

 * I've now removed the sentence in question:

He also was an initial inductee into the Shareware Hall of Fame in 1997. --EnOreg (talk) 21:50, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

"Randy"?
Who (or what) is "Randy"?

um, "randy" is randy suess, his buddy, who helped with the inital programming.

c'mon, folks, ward is the man who brought computer communication to the masses. surely wikipedia can do a better job of writing up his bio!

-bowerbird

OK, but it [Randy's last name] is misspelled at least once
You can't have it both ways -- unless there are 2 persons named Randy, with very similar last names, one spelled "Suess" and the other spelled "Seuss".

(and, if there really were two of them, then it should be explained, to avoid causing well-meaning editors to "Be Bold" and "correct" one of them.)

I don't know which spelling is correct. But IMHO, the other one is a TYPO. Just my 0.02, --Mike Schwartz (talk) 08:34, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Birth date?
I'm looking through Google for any further info on Ward, but there's no birth date, no death date, no nothing. Just whatever that's already been said on this article. I mean, seriously, the guy is very important to communications history, so why the lack of further info on him (or Randy Suess)? Makes no sense... --Toussaint 14:20, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * That's why they call it a stub! -- Orange Mike 16:07, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Death Date ?!?! - Ward is alive and well, and still working at IBM. Email him at wlchris@us.ibm.com -- Scotthan  10:00, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Orangemike, please accept that he still works for IBM. If you don't believe it, just send him an e-mail to his IBM address. If you want to be picky about something you might want to start searching for a source for his birth place... --EnOreg 15:26, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
 * You're probably right, but I need a reliable source. I have no way of knowing whether the IBM address above is kosher; he's not listed in IBM's online employee directory (which does permit "unlisted" employees). (The birthplace is sourced.) -- Orange Mike 15:36, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
 * The only source we have for his employment status says that he works for IBM. As long as we don't find a source that says that he quit IBM I don't see why we wouldn't assume that he still does. Otherwise, if we find a source confirming he still works for IBM today, will you come back tomorrow and say, "yeah, but that was yesterday -- how do we know he still works for IBM today?" --EnOreg 15:40, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Really, EnOreg, I'm not trying to be stubborn, but the source we have is fourteen years old; the guy's gotta retire sometime (heaven knows he's earned his laurels already). "As of THISDATE" is the way to go with a cite that old, to my way of thinking. -- Orange Mike 15:46, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Here's his entry in an IBM Employee Directory: . Which directory did you search? --EnOreg 17:41, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
 * http://www.ibm.com/contact/employees/us/ (which now returns his name & address!) -- Orange Mike 17:56, 18 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Ward is definitely still an IBMer - and we're extremely lucky for that. --Jltibm (talk) 18:59, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Additional links
--EnOreg 22:21, 11 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Photos of Ward Christensen from the filming of BBS: The Documentary

42nd anniversary with IBM
Not only is Ward still with IBM, this week marks his 42nd anniversary with the company. I'm fortunate enough to be Ward's manager and I'm honored to work with such a distinguished member of the IT community. There's really no one like Ward. Congrats Ward on your anniversary, and thank you for being an IBMer!Jentrogan (talk) 14:41, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Wipedians with articles
SeeUser:WardXmodem. --Wtshymanski (talk) 17:59, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

Ward Christensen and CACHE
Ward Christensen kindly responded to my question about his role in CACHE and added info on his experience as an early computer hobbyist. Copying this here the wiki software has removed cr-lf markings:

AFAICR (made that up - As Far As I Can Remember) the Chicago computer club I was involved with was C.A.C.H.E., the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists Exchange. I believe there was a meeting approx Apr '75, begun by Robert Swartz, who was lucky enough to be able to affort a "Digital Systems" original 8080 "box" - and the CP/M operating system. (Digital Systems was right up the road from Gary Kildall (the CP/M guy)so they got together. - One making a rugged box and the other the OS for it). The "hobby" as I see it really took off with the MITS Altair on the cover of the January, 1975 issue of Popular Electronics. [Back to Chicago Club] SO one day reading Pop'tronics, I noticed a piece saying there had been a computer club in the Chicago area, naming the people who attended, and saying when the next one was. As I recall it was Lloyd Smith (now my best friend) formerly of Dyer IN, and Bill Burther, Valparaiso IN (R.I.P.). SO we rode together to that possibly 2nd, or perhaps 3rd meeting (? Sept 1975) and I was hooked. MY involvement with the club was to be an "active participant" in that for example. I was sec'y for many years, wrote programs to maintain the mailing list, help with the newsletter, often whipping up a small newsletter myself when no one else helped (this was one of the events that led to the invention of the BBS). I brought my system in to show, back when maybe one in 10 actually HAD a system. My home system consisted of an Altair 8080, to which I had added a Selectric Typewriter and Dynastor FLYING HEAD disk drive (a whopping 256K, yes, KAY). I had to (1) teach myself digital electronics; and (2) design and create the board to interface to these uniquely-mine peripherals (Example: Type a char on the selectric (terminal) and watch what came in - on an oscilloscope) THEN program the Altair to "produce outputs that matched that timing", learning that -- gasp -- IBM put the parity bit at the opposite end of the word than most of the rest of the world!) My machine also -- once "video" became available (I skipped the "TV Typewriter" phase), a 16 x 64 display called a Processor Technology Video Display Module. (and no coincidence, the BBS Randy Suess and I invented and I programmed, had a 16 x 64 size message limit at first). THEN my world opened to assembler programming (not hand assembling or some other hack) when Processor Technology came out with a paper tape-distributed editor and 8080 assembler. (I seem to recall it having 4 things, but don't recall now.) I modified the PT Asm to run on cassette tapes (The "Tarbell" having become a standard) and called the combination of things the "CACHE Cassette Operating System" (CCOS) and several people in the club started writing assembler programs. SO anyway, the club had a huge variety of machines represented - from the "boards" - Kim-1, ?? Trying to remember if the Apple-1 was a "board" - I think so -- and the little Sinclair "pocket calculator" sized ones from TI or with a TI chip. When the Radio Shack computers came along, many of us pioneers thought "this is the end of the hobby". What we meant was, for example (maybe an extreme example) - I could design and make my own boards, AND write the BIOS routines to run them, etc, and THAT was more the fun - so someone buying a "built" machine seemed kind of sad. However, this is the march of time, and I'm sure the "Hams" (amateur radio enthusiasts) felt a bit the same way as more and more products came along making it easier and easier to "talk over the air".. I eventually - and somewhat delinquently - adopted the PC, but by then had pretty much "burned out" programming as a hobby, and did not make a LOT of contributions in that area. ____ END _____ of my thoughts on the club, is this what you were looking for? Just to "come to a better close" -- the fact I'd done my own HW meant incompatability, so I invented MODEM.ASM (named -- and it stuck -- Xmodem by Keith Peterson) to be able to "beep" things back and forth with friends; Then the BBS came about as ME thinking a dial-in system to gather articles for a newsletter, but Randy Suess suggested a club project would be "by committee" so just the two of us - him HW and me SW - did it, independently of the club.

-- posted by Javaweb (talk) 01:41, 18 January 2011 (UTC)Javaweb

 * Thanks for sharing! --EnOreg (talk) 14:09, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

More Ward Christensen History?
In the request for history of CACHE, I thought of expanding it to what brought me to computers, digital electronics, home computers, the CACHE club, etc.

Is that appropriate? Unnecessary? Welcome?

My first draft, stopped before Xmodem and BBSs, follows:

Ward Christensen computer-related history leading up to Xmodem and the BBS
Ward won the West Bend Sr. High School science fair grand prize in 1965, with a (Not very original /Ward) "computer" exhibit, completely scratch-built from circuits published in Popular Electronics citation needed. The project consisted of ten flip-flops using power transistors, with input and output jacks for each. A phone dial supplied pulses to make the device count in binary, in its most common wired configuration.

From this, he learned binary arithmetic, two's complement subtraction, repetitive addition multiplication, etc.

Looking back Ward says "I am now horrified to think of the WIRING in that project, as every wire was point-to-point (through 3-dimensional space)! I knew so little, and learned so much.  Obviously routing of wires (like a wiring harness) would have been MUCH better and more professional.

After "wasting" three semesters in a Physics/Chemistry program at the University of Wisconsin, Ward dropped out and came home to West Bend, and picked up a job as the person who worked in the Production Engineering lab of the West Bend Company. Previous summer jobs were, in order, the warehouse, the production engineering lab, the development engineering lab, and the research engineering lab (where a new 'toy' was the microwave oven).

Within a few weeks, the Data Processing Department of West Bend Company asked Ward if he wanted to "program the mainframe", recalling his having won the Sr. Science fair.

The answer was an immediate "yes" followed by a few weeks of riding a Honda 160 30 miles to the IBM facility in Milwaukee to take "Autocoder" training, and beginning to program.

Ward asked the local rep what kind of jobs were available at IBM, and learned that "SE" or "Systems Engineer" was the technical side of the team that called on customers. Asked what kind of degree was required, the answer -- remember "back then" -- was "just about anything, we'll teach you all you need". Computer science as a degree program was in its infancy, and was oriented more toward the internals of computers, computing, languages and their compilers, etc.

When "Uncle Sam" showed an interest in Ward after six months of programming, Ward took a common escape in these Vietnam War years, and quickly signed up for a small college (Milton, Milton WI) where he did well for three years and then went to work for IBM in Hammond, IN (part of the area run by Chicago).

Ward's IBM education was in many programming languages, and of course IBM products. Hands-on was very seldom on those days of mainframes, with the exception of helping set one up when it first arrived.

Ward's creativity showed for example in setting up the first mainframe whose size was 1.5 times another, not 2 times like was also available. The generation of the OS failed because of the odd sized memory. Ward generated systems for both the smaller and larger systems, dumping the nucleus (think, "Kernel") to PAPER with the first, then OVERPRINTING the second, then looking for the unequal character overstrike to know the offset of where the nucleus stored the machine size. For example if an 0080 were overstruck with an 0100, then he knew he had to patch in an 00C0 to handle the as-yet-unsupported size.

Ward's interest in hands-on took the form of a poster on the wall of a Texas Instruments TI 980-A, with its silent-700 thermal printer, dual computer controlled cassette decks, and 16-bit processor. The price, however, significantly exceeded what an individual would likely pay to have their own computer.

Then in 1974, attending an IBM class, Ward learned about "integrated circuits" and the 8008 microprocessor in a single optional one-hour lecture. Ward asked the lecturer "What would I need to know to build a home computer based upon this?" and was told "T.T.L." which he wrote down, having never heard of it before.

By the end of 1974, Ward had taught himself digital electronics, and was making small circuits with TTL chips blowtorched off of used computer boards purchased from a local hobby electronics store in Hammond IN.

Ward felt the 8008 was too feeble, and began designing his own computer using TTL components, with microcode to support changing the instruction set. Progress was slow, rather unplanned, but knowledge gained by experimentation (such as avoiding the glitches he found in his four phase system clock, by learning about "synchronous counters" vs. the ripple carry one he had first made.

When the January, 1975 issue of Popular Electronics came out with the Altair on its cover, Ward realized that the world didn't stop at the 8008, and that a more powerful and integrated "CPU chip", the 8080, was very suitable for his needs.

With his self-taught knowledge in digital electronics and TTL, Ward build a (Serial terminal) selectric typewriter interface, and later a floppy disk controller.

I would go on from there about "Tarbell" cassette tapes, modifying an assembler/editor to work on it, the purchase of the CP/M operating system, then because of my home-brew disk controller, I couldn't swap CP/M files so invented Xmodem, and from the communications experience, programmed the world's first BBS because of the availablity of "S-100" (Altair Clone) computers.

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title: Talk:Ward Christensen


text: User talk:63.161.253.207

title: User talk:63.161.253.207


text:
Talk:Loretta Swit

Birth name?
In the lede it's Loretta Szwed, in the infobox it's Loretta Jane Swit. Herostratus (talk) 04:42, 10 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Crickets, so let's see. The sources saying "Szwed" are either Wikipedia mirrors or unreliable. However, unreliable or not, the ones that seem to not be mirrors do say Szwed. They must be getting their info from somewhere. (they may still be getting their info from us and just rewriting it tho). So who knows. BUT, according to the article, her parents were "Lester and Nellie Szwed". If that's true, I would guess -- guess -- that it's unusual for a baby's surname at birth to be anglicized when the parents haven't done that. So I'm going to assume that it's "Szwed". I mean, we have do decide/guess something as it's no good to have two different birth names given in the article. Thus I changed to infobox and kept the lede. Herostratus (talk) 01:44, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Not dead.
The actress who portrayed Hot Lips Houlihan in the movie, Sally Kellerman, is the one who died on 24-Feb-2022. Please fix this. 2600:8801:8C00:217F:C1C6:53D:1F3:E676 (talk) 01:12, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

 * You’re wrong. Loretta Swit played that role period. 71.238.200.98 (talk) 22:41, 28 May 2024 (UTC)
 * They are taking about the series. Not the movie. You are in her biography. 71.238.200.98 (talk) 22:43, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Loretta Swit


text:
Ursitoare

The three Ursitoare, in Romanian mythology, are supposed to appear three nights after a child's birth to determine the course of its life. They are similar to the Greek Fates or Moirai.

The Fates appearing to baptize children has been part of Romanian tradition for hundreds of years. In recent years there has been a "physical materialization" too of this tradition through the show presented during the name party.

Names
Fieldwork in the Oltenia region found dialectal variations of their names: ursătóri(le), ursitóri(le), ursătoáre(le).

Role
According to ethnologist Pauline Schullerus (fr), the Ursitoari comes at night to the newborn's cradle and weaves their fate.

Parallels
Scholarship indicates that similar beings (a trio of women that allot men's fates) also exist in South Slavic folklore, among the Serbians, Macedonians, Croatians, Bulgarians and Montenegrinians.

title: Ursitoare


text: User talk:81.178.197.4

title: User talk:81.178.197.4


text:
American Collegiate Hockey Association

The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes quality in collegiate ice hockey. The ACHA currently has three men's and two women's divisions and includes approximately 450 teams from across the United States and Canada. Most ACHA teams offer few athletic scholarships and typically receive far less university funding. The ACHA offers an opportunity for college hockey programs that struggle with large budgets and Title IX issues, as an alternative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) financial structure.

Policies and regulation
The interest in college hockey has grown as the game of hockey has grown in the United States. But as aggressively as the sport has grown at the grass-roots level, the number of NCAA programs has not expanded as rapidly to meet the demand as these youth players reach college and look to extend their hockey-playing experience. This is why the ACHA level was created.

The ACHA's primary mission is to support the growth of two-year and four-year collegiate hockey programs nationwide. The ACHA identifies standards that serve to unite and regulate teams at the collegiate level. The ACHA emphasizes academic performance, institutional sanction, eligibility criteria, and standards of play and opportunities for national competition, and the ACHA promotes all aspects of collegiate hockey stressing the personal development of individual athletes as well as national recognition for member organizations. In order to do this, the ACHA has developed organizational by-laws and a Policies and Procedures Manual to provide the policy foundation for the organization as it works to fulfill its purpose. These documents are reviewed yearly at the ACHA's annual meeting.

The ACHA's policies cover team and player eligibility, rules of play, ranking procedures, national tournament procedures, and other administrative issues, although the ACHA parallels the NCAA Division III with most eligibility requirements, recruitment processes, gameplay rules, etc. The league holds its annual meeting in conjunction with the annual convention of the American Hockey Coaches Association, in the month of April in Naples, Florida.

ACHA history
The ACHA was established on April 20, 1991. Fifteen charter members met during the Chicago Showcase in Skokie, Illinois at the North Shore Hilton. These member teams had been playing college hockey for many years but wished to legitimize its play by standardizing some of its procedures.

The members that created the organization were Tom Keegan (ACHA), Al Murdoch (Iowa State), Joe Battista (Penn State), Jim Gilmore (Ohio), Ernie Ferrari (Stanford), Howard Jenks (California), Jeff Aikens (North Dakota State), Don Spencer (West Virginia), Jim Barry (Navy), Scott Fuller (Navy), Leo Golembiewski (Arizona), Ron Starr (DePaul), Cary Adams (PCHA), Jim Warden (PCHA) and Jack White (UCLA).

The inaugural year of the ACHA was the 1991–1992 season. The goal of the organization was to create an impartial governing body to monitor national tournaments, player eligibility, and general oversight. Over the years the ACHA quickly grew to over 150 teams in three men's divisions. A Women's Division was added in 2000 with a second Women's division being added for the 2006–2007 season.

By the 2001–2002 season, marking their 10th anniversary, the ACHA had a total of 179 teams registered with 33 teams in Division I, 100 teams in Division II, 18 teams in Division III, and 20 teams in the Women's Division.

By the 2002–2003 season that number raised to over 250 teams, with Division III adding over 80 teams alone.

By the 2003–2004 season the number raised to 278 teams: 40 teams in D-I, 124 teams in D-II, 87 teams in D-III, and 27 teams in the Women's Division.

By the summer of 2007 ACHA membership had reached 360 teams (M1-54, M2-190, M3-139, W1-32, W2-8), that cover 48 of the 50 states.

During the summer of 2009 the University of Alaska Fairbanks established a Women's Division II team becoming the 49th state in the ACHA. Hawaii is currently the only state without an ACHA team.

Every year since 2003, the Men's Division I Showcase has been an event that features some of the top teams in the ACHA.

ACHA partners with Fasthockey.com to broadcast many of the league's games.

In 2017, the ACHA adopted a new hosting format for holding the annual National Championship Tournament for all Men's & Women's Divisions. Then ACHA Executive Director Michael Walley championed an idea to hold all of the ACHA's National Championship Tournaments in one major U.S. city, in partnership with that city's National Hockey League (NHL) team. The inaugural year saw the 2017 ACHA National Championship Tournament Festival held in Columbus, Ohio, in partnership with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets. Then ACHA Executive Director Michael Walley assumed the role of Tournament Director for the inaugural tournament, Andy Storz was placed in the role of National Tournament Manager-Game Day Hockey Operations/P.A. Announcer/Anthem Soloist, while Fasthockey.com handled broadcasting. In July 2017, after undergoing a nationwide search, Russ Slagle was selected by the ACHA's Board of Directors and appointed to fill the vacant staff position of ACHA National Tournament Director, and A.J. Boldan was placed in the role of National Tournament Manager-Broadcast Operations/Executive Producer in conjunction with the ACHA opting to engineer its own National Tournament broadcasts on a newly launched YouTube channel "ACHA National Championships".

Membership

The ACHA includes both Men's and Women's Divisions. The Men's side is made up of three Divisions: 1, 2, and 3. Division 3 was the last to be established in 1999. Each division has its own distinguishing set of guidelines which are explained below. The Women's side has two divisions. Division 1 began in 2000 and Division 2 is the most recent addition to the ACHA with its inception in 2006.

Despite most teams' non-varsity status, the caliber of ACHA play can be quite high, especially in Division 1. Many large universities that do not sponsor hockey at the NCAA varsity level have become powerhouses, such as Ohio University, Adrian College, and Lindenwood University. Additionally, several universities that do sponsor NCAA varsity hockey teams also field ACHA-affiliated teams. Of all non-varsity sports activities, the ACHA-affiliated hockey teams generally garner the most attention at their universities, such as Missouri State where it is the third-largest spectator sport. The same can be said for the Arizona and University of Georgia who draw the third-largest fan base behind football and basketball.

All ACHA teams are members of USA Hockey and the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA).

Men's divisions
ACHA Men's Division 1 comprises 72 teams as of the 2023–2024 season. Some of these teams also compete against NCAA Hockey D1 and D3 Schools throughout the pre-season in informal exhibition games. Nine conferences and Independent teams compete annually for the Murdoch Cup, which is awarded to the Men's ACHA Division 1 National Champion. Twenty teams compete in the National Tournament. These top-twenty teams are ranked/selected by way of computer rankings, and as determined by auto-berths from the seven regular-season Conference champions. At Nationals, teams ranked 1–12 all receive first-round byes, with teams ranked 13–20 matching up 20 vs 13 (etc.), for the rights to play in the second-round in pre-determined bracket slots. Since 2012, two teams (Penn State and Arizona State) have moved from ACHA to NCAA Division I. A third, Lindenwood moved up in 2022.

Conferences
 * Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL)
 * College Hockey Mid-America (CHMA)
 * Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA)
 * Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL)
 * Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL)
 * Midwest College Hockey (MCH)
 * Northeast Collegiate Hockey League (NECHL)
 * Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL)
 * Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC)

ACHA Men's Division 2 is currently the largest division in the ACHA, it includes approximately 200 teams in 12 conferences and Independents. These teams are divided into four Regions (Central, Northeast, Southeast and West). A total of 16 teams qualify for the National Tournament, four from each region. Each month of the season a ranking of the top 15 teams in region is released. After the final ranking in February the top two seeds from each region earn an automatic berth into Nationals. Seeds 3–10 compete in their respective single-elimination Regional Tournaments, with the two teams who win both of their games also earning a Nationals berth. The National Tournament is a pool play format with the winners of each pool advancing to the semifinals. The semifinal match-ups are the winner of Pool A vs. Pool C and Pool B vs. Pool D.

Conferences ACHA Men's Division 3 consists of approximately 140 teams in nine conferences and Independents. These teams are also divided into four Regions (Atlantic, North, Pacific and South). A total of 16 teams qualify for the National Tournament in the same manner as Division 2. The National Tournament has also been conducted in the same manner as Division 2 since 2010. Before that it was single elimination and every team played four games. The one exception is the semifinals match-ups. The winner of Pool A plays the winner of Pool B and the winner of Pool C plays the winner of Pool D.
 * Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (ACCHL)
 * Big Mountain Hockey Conference (BMHC)
 * Colonial States College Hockey Conference (CSCHC) (The Colonial)
 * Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA)
 * Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association (MACH)
 * Mountain West Collegiate Hockey League (MWCHL)
 * Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association (NECHA)
 * Northern Collegiate Hockey League (NCHL)
 * Pacific 8 Intercollegiate Hockey Conference (PAC-8)
 * Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association (PCHA)
 * Super East Collegiate Hockey League (SECHL)
 * Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference (TCHC)
 * Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League (TSCHL)
 * Western Collegiate Club Hockey Association (WCCHA)
 * West Coast Hockey Conference (WCHC)

Conferences
 * Blue Ridge Hockey Conference (BRHC)
 * College Hockey East (CHE)
 * Indiana Collegiate Hockey Conference (ICHC)
 * Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) (Contains Non-ACHA members)
 * Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC)
 * Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA)
 * Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association (NECHA)

Women's divisions
ACHA Women's Division 1 includes 25 teams for the 2019–20 season, with all but independent Wisconsin playing in one of the four WD1 conferences. Eight teams qualify for the national tournament each season: automatic bids are awarded to the playoff champions of the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association, the Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League and Women's Midwest College Hockey, with the remainder of the field filled out by the highest-placing teams from the last of a series of weekly computer rankings. At nationals, the eight teams are paired off by ranking (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc.) for a best-of-three first round, with the winners of those series advancing to the semifinals.

Conferences
 * Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association (CCWHA)
 * Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League (ECWHL)
 * Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League (WWCHL)
 * Women's Midwest College Hockey (WMCH)

ACHA Women's Division 2 includes 51 teams for the 2019–20 season, with a majority standing as a member of one of four conferences. All teams are sorted into the Northeast Region (13 teams), the Southeast Region (19 teams), or the West Region (19 teams). At the end of the year, the top four teams from each region in the final edition of a monthly computer ranking are invited to the ACHA National Tournament. The WD2 tournament differs from WD1 in that teams are divided into four pools and play a round robin, with the pool winners advancing to the semifinals.

Northeast Region Conference
 * Independent Women's Collegiate Hockey League (IWCHL)

Southeast Region Conferences
 * College Hockey East (CHE)
 * Delaware Valley Collegiate Hockey Conference (DVCHC)

West Region Conference
 * Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association (CCWHA)
 * Note: The CCWHA includes both a Division 1 and a Division 2 conference, with separate groups of teams as members

International competition
Players are selected from only ACHA Men's D1 to represent USA Hockey in the Winter World University Games, an IIHF and FISU event. ACHA Men's D2 and D3 division created the Select Teams to offer opportunities for the other Men division's to experience International hockey and they are ACHA events. The Division 2 & Division 3 Selects Teams alternate going over to Europe each year during the Holiday Break to play European teams. The players are chosen from a round robin tournament in the spring usually in Pennsylvania. The tournament pits each conference's elite players against each other.

Logos
The original ACHA logo was created by Dave Kammerdeiner of the West Virginia University Art Department under the direction of Don Spencer for a cost of $50.

In August 2003, the ACHA held an official contest to design a new logo, with the winning school receiving free registration for the 2003–2004 season. The University of Washington's Husky Hockey team won the contest, with former graphic-design intern Tom Eykemans designing the new version of the logo (as shown above).

Results by school and year
37 teams have appeared in the ACHA Tournament in at least one year starting with 2001 (the first year that the ACHA sponsored a women's division). The results for all years are shown in this table below.

The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:
 * Pool Round
 * Quarterfinals
 * Semifinals
 * National Runner-Up
 * National Champion

† Tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Number shown is the team's final regular season ranking/seeding.

Results by school and year
37 teams have appeared in the ACHA Tournament in at least one year starting with 2007, the first year for Women's Division 2. The results for all years are shown in this table below, other than missing data for the third-place games from 2007 and 2009.

The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:
 * Pool Round
 * Semifinals
 * National Runner-Up
 * National Champion

† Tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Number shown is the team's final regular season ranking/seeding.

Zoë M. Harris Award winners
The Zoë M. Harris Award is given to the player of the year in each ACHA women's division.

title: American Collegiate Hockey Association


text:
National Commercial Bank (China)

The National Commercial Bank Limited, also known as Zhejiang Xingye Bank, was a Chinese bank considered one of the "Three Southern Banks" during nationalist government era. It was merged to Bank of China (Hong Kong) in 2001.

History

 * 1907: Founded in Hangzhou by Zhejiang Provincial Railway Company.
 * 1908: Opened its Shanghai branch.
 * 1915: Moved headquarters to Shanghai.
 * 1946: Established Hong Kong branches.
 * 1980: Moved headquarters to Beijing.
 * 1989: Became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of China Group.
 * 2001: Merged to form Bank of China (Hong Kong).

Notable staff

 * Xu Xinliu (Singloh Hsu), general manager

title: National Commercial Bank (China)


text:
Church station (Muni Metro)

Church station or Church Street station is a Muni Metro light rail station in San Francisco, California. It is located at the six-way intersection of Market Street, Church Street and 14th Street in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood.

Station layout
The station consists of two side platforms next to the tracks on the second level down with the concourse mezzanine level overlooking it. At both Church Street station and Castro Street station, there is only one stairway on each side of Market Street leading into the station. (All other stations on the Market Street subway have entrances spread out along the length of the station.) One of these entrances is located on the northwest corner of Market and 14th Street, and the other is on the southwest corner of Market and Church Street. The street elevator is on the north side of Market Street west of 14th Street. Originally freestanding, it was incorporated in the façade of an apartment building constructed in 2017–2020.

The J Church line, which enters and exits the Market Street subway tunnel in a portal near the station, connects to this station at two surface-level platforms. The inbound stop is near the corner of Church and Market Streets, while the outbound stop is near the corner of Church and 14th Streets. The F Market & Wharves streetcar line, running along Market Street, also has stops at the intersection. The N Judah line also exits the Market Street tunnel before reaching the Church Street station and stops one block away at Church and Duboce Avenue.

History
The station was constructed by BART as part of the Market Street subway. The BART Board approved the name "Church Street" in December 1965. Service at the station began in June 1980. The station was featured in the 1982 Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy film 48 Hrs. Seismic retrofitting of the station took place in the first half of 2009.

As part of August 2020 changes to Muni Metro, the J became an all-surface line. The J terminated at the inbound platform on Church Street, providing an accessible transfer between the J and subway trains. A mini-high platform was to be constructed on the inbound platform at Church and Duboce, and an outbound mini-high platform was to be built on Church Street south of Market Street, allowing the J to be re-extended slightly to Duboce Street in October 2020. The forced transfer at Church station – which requires J Church riders to cross two streets and use two elevators to transfer – was criticized by disability advocates.

However, on August 25, 2020 – just days after the changes – all Muni Metro service was again replaced by buses. J Church rail service resumed on December 19, 2020, with both new mini-high platforms in use and Duboce as the new terminus. The platforms were painted with a mural, Them (Ramp) by Simon Malvaez, in early 2021.

In 2022, new decorative railings were added on both Market Street boarding islands as part of the Upper Market Street Safety Project. They feature a quote from Harvey Milk's 1977 "You've Got to Have Hope" speech, as well as an illustration of streetcar #1051, which is dedicated in Milk's honor.

title: Church station (Muni Metro)


text:
Morar

Morar (Mòrar) is a small village on the west coast of The Rough Bounds of Scotland, 3 mi south of Mallaig. The name Morar is also applied to the northern part of the peninsula containing the village, though North Morar is more usual (the region to the south west of Loch Morar is known as Arisaig, rather than South Morar). The coastline of the area forms part of the Morar, Moidart and Ardnamurchan National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection by restricting certain forms of development.

Morar has a railway station on the West Highland Line and is by-passed by the A830, part of the Road to the Isles, between Fort William and Mallaig. The village was formed of the farms and crofts of Bourblach, Beoraid Beg and Beoraid Mor with the modern village growing up around the railway station of Morar during the 20th century. The 1911 census suggests that the village name was not yet in regular use at the time, as only the old settlement names are used in it.

Early history
Following raids by Vikings, the district of Morar became part of the Kingdom of the Isles, a Norwegian dependency. In practice though, by the mid 12th century, the kingdom was divided; the portion containing Morar was known as Garmoran, and ruled by the MacRory. Following the 1266 Treaty of Perth, Garmoran became a Scottish crown dependency - the Lordship of Garmoran - still ruled by the MacRory, until the sole MacRory heir was Amy of Garmoran.

Most of the remainder of the Kingdom of the Isles had become the Lordship of the Isles, ruled by the MacDonalds, whose leader, John of Islay, married Amy. After the birth of three sons, he divorced Amy and married the king's niece, in return for a substantial dowry. As part of the arrangement, John deprived his eldest son, Ranald, of the ability to inherit the Lordship of the Isles, in favour of a son by his new wife; as compensation, he made Ranald the Lord of Garmoran.

However, at the end of the 14th century, on Ranald's death, his sons were still children, and Ranald's younger brother Godfrey took the opportunity to seize the Lordship of Garmoran. Furthermore, the heirs of Ranald's other brother Murdoch now made their own claim. This led to a great deal of violent conflict involving Godfrey's family (the Siol Gorrie) and those of his brothers (which is not described in surviving records in much detail).

In 1427, frustrated with the level of violence generally in the highlands, together with the insurrection caused by his own cousin, King James I demanded that highland magnates should attend a meeting at Inverness. On arrival, many of the leaders were seized and imprisoned. Alexander MacGorrie, son of Godfrey, was considered to be one of the two most reprehensible, and after a quick showtrial, was immediately executed. As Alexander had by now inherited Godfrey's de facto position as Lord of Garmoran, and in view of Ranald's heirs being no less responsible for the violence, King James declared the Lordship forfeit.

Lairdship grants
In 1469, James' grandson (James III) granted Lairdship of the lands of Garmoran and Uist to John, the Lord of the Isles. In turn, John passed it to his own half-brother, Hugh of Sleat; the grant to Hugh was confirmed by the king in a 1493 charter. The violence that led to Alexander's execution had brought the Siol Gorrie to the brink of extinction, and after Alexander's death they played no further part in Morar's history.

Ranald's heirs (Clan Ranald) disputed and fought against the charter. Following Hugh of Sleat's death, in 1498, and for reasons that are not remotely clear, his son John immediately resigned, transferring all authority to the king. In 1539 the king granted Morar to the MacDonells of Glengarry, a group who claimed descent from Ranald's son Donald.

Over the course of the 16th century, following an inheritance dispute over the lands of MacDonalds of Lochalsh, there were several violent encounters between the MacDonells and the MacKenzies. At the end of the century, the MacKenzies now sought to complain about MacDonell behaviour in court, but the MacDonell leadership wouldn't turn up, so in 1602, the MacKenzies laid waste to Morar as punishment. This led to the MacDonells waging battle against the MacKenzies in the Battle of Morar.

Later history
The surrounding region is important to the history of the once strictly illegal and underground Catholic Church in Scotland. The island in Loch Morar was briefly the location of a clandestine Catholic seminary until the Jacobite rising of 1715 forced its closure and eventual reopening at Scalan in Glenlivet.

After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Royal Navy crews under the command of Captain John Fergussone of HMS Furnace (1740) and Captain Duff of HMS Terror (1741) portaged overland seeking to capture local Jacobite Army veterans who were suspected of meeting together upon the island chapel in Loch Morar on 8 June 1746. Although the Jacobite leaders managed to escape the island in time, the crew of HMS Furnace continued searching in caves surrounding the Loch and eventually succeeded in capturing Lord Lovat. Bishop Hugh MacDonald, the underground Vicar General of the Highland District, remained in hiding locally until he managed to escape to France.

In early to mid July 1746, Roman Catholic priest and former Jacobite Army non-combatant military chaplain Fr. Alexander Cameron was captured by a posse of Redcoats commanded by Captain McNiel while similarly hiding near Morar and was handed over to Captain John Fergussone and held as a prisoner aboard HMS Furnace. After "he bore all kinds of insults and cruelty with unconquerable patience and Christian fortitude", Fr. Cameron died of torture and the many hardships of his imprisonment on 19 October 1746, while aboard the prison hulk HMS Furnace, which was anchored in the Thames River. His cause for Roman Catholic Sainthood is now being advanced by the Knights of St Columba.

During the subsequent Highland Clearances, many local residents emigrated to Canada. Boats left in 1790, 1802, and 1826, carrying local Gaels to Quebec, Glengarry County, Ontario, and the Strait of Canso in Nova Scotia respectively.

In 1917, Dom Odo Blundell of Fort Augustus Abbey wrote, "At Morar chapel-house is preserved a set of green vestments, with red and white intermingled, bearing the date 1745. It still has its original lining; there is also an altar front to match it. These were probably brought over from France by the adherents of Prince Charlie, and must have been part of the furnishings of the chapel on the island, though it is not known how they were saved when the building was ransacked and burned in 1746. The same remarks apply to the old chalice, which bears the inscription, Ad usum Pr Fr Vincenti Mariani, Missri Scot. Ord. Praedic. Anno 1658. This chalice, which is of silver, is very small indeed; it has its paten to match. Unfortunately, we have no further information regarding this early missioner. In the list of priests for 1668 it is stated that there were three Dominicans on this mission. Father Vincent was apparently one of these; the others being Father George Fanning - long in the Isle of Barra and Father Primrose - who died in prison in 1671."

The local population long remained Catholic and it was often said in the 1890s, "There was never a ministers sermon said in this country until the railway came."

Many houses in the area were covertly used as training schools for Special Operations Executive operatives preparing for missions behind enemy lines during World War II. The Land, Sea and Islands Centre in Arisaig has a display on the connection between SOE and the area and has published a book on the subject.

In addition to being where Fr. Alexander Cameron was captured by the redcoats in 1746, Morar Beach has also served as a location in the 1983 film Local Hero. It was also used for filming the scene in Highlander (1986), when Ramirez (Sean Connery) and Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) race along the beach. In the 1995 movie, Rob Roy Morar was used to film the location for Rob Roy MacGregor's thatched blackhouse.

Notable people

 * Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c.1698–1770), an officer and Gaelic tutor to Prince Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and poet who wrote many immortal works of Scottish Gaelic literature, spent the last years of his life near Morar as the local Tacksman of Clan MacDonald of Clanranald. After moving permanently to the area, the poet, a recent convert from Protestantism to the still illegal and underground Catholic Church in Scotland, composed a poem in praise of Bishop Hugh MacDonald, the priests, and students at the clandestine Buorblach Seminary.
 * Rt.-Rev. Angus Bernard MacEachern (1759–1835), later the first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown, studied for the priesthood during that same era at Buorblach Seminary.
 * BBC weather forecaster Carol Kirkwood (b.1962), is a native of Morar.
 * Fr. Alexander Macdonnell (1762–1840), a descendant of Clan MacDonald of Glengarry, received his educated at the clandestine Buorblach Seminary, before continuing his priestly training in Spain at the Royal Scots College in Valladolid. After his ordination, Fr. Macdonnell went on to become the first Roman Catholic military chaplain in post-Reformation British military history and the first Bishop of the Diocese of Kingston, in the Canadian Gaelic-speaking immigrant community of Glengarry County, Ontario.
 * Morar was a favourite winter travel destination of the noted English composer, Sir Arnold Bax (1883–1953), during the 1930s. He worked on his Third Symphony and each subsequent symphony during his visits to the Station Hotel there.
 * Morar was, for many years, the home of Cyril Kenneth Bird, better known as Fougasse, who was a cartoonist for Punch magazine and served as its editor for four years.

In popular culture

 * The area is famous for its beaches, known as the "White Sands of Morar": one, which featured prominently in the film Local Hero, as well as in Breaking the Waves, is a few miles south of the village. Nearby Loch Morar is the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles at 1020 ft and is linked to the sea by the short River Morar.

title: Morar