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Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás

Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás (also Baron Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás, Baron Nopcsa, Ferenc Nopcsa, báró felsőszilvási Nopcsa Ferenc, Baron Franz Nopcsa, and Franz Baron Nopcsa; May 3, 1877 – April 25, 1933) was a Hungarian aristocrat, adventurer, scholar, geologist, paleontologist and albanologist. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of paleobiology, and first described the theory of insular dwarfism. He was also a specialist on Albanian studies and completed the first geological map of northern Albania.

Life
Nopcsa was born in 1877 in Déva, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary (today Deva, Romania), to the Hungarian Nopcsa aristocratic family of Romanian origin. He was the son of Nopcsa Elek (kamarás), a member of the Hungarian Parliament. In 1895 Nopcsa's younger sister Ilona discovered dinosaur bones at the family estate at Szacsal (today part of Sânpetru, Sântămăria-Orlea, Romania). He shared the bones with Professor Eduard Suess, who encouraged him to study them. Following the professor's advice, he started studying geology at the University of Vienna in 1897, where he quickly advanced in his studies. He gave his first academic lecture in 1899 at the age of twenty-two. He acquired a PhD in geology in 1903 from the university; his doctorate focused on geologically mapping the area surrounding the family estate.

On 20 November 1906 Nopcsa met the then eighteen-year-old Bajazid Elmaz Doda in Bucharest and hired him as his secretary. Nopcsa later recounted this meeting in his memoir:

Additionally, Nopcsa was interested in Albania, which was a province of the Ottoman Empire contending for independence in that time. He was one of the few outsiders who ventured into the mountainous areas in the north of Albania. He soon learned the Albanian dialects and customs. Eventually, he got on good terms with the leaders of the Albanian nationalist resistance who fought against the Turks in the region. Nopcsa gave passionate speeches and smuggled in weapons.

In 1907 on one of his expeditions into the Albanian mountains, he was held hostage by the bandit Mustafa Lita, together with Bajazid Doda. Lita demanded ten thousand Turkish pounds for his release. In his memoirs Nopcsa described his elaborate plan to get out of this situation, which involved being taken to Prizren as a spy. He was eventually rescued by Doda's father, who had brought 'ten armed retainers'.

In 1912 the Balkan states joined forces to drive out the Turks. However, afterwards the newly liberated states immediately plunged into internal conflicts. During these Balkan Wars, Nopcsa spied for Austria-Hungary. Out of these conflicts, Albania arose as an independent state, which needed a king. Nopcsa volunteered, suggesting he would use money he would gain from marrying a rich American girl to fund the war efforts, however, to no avail.

Later, during the First World War, Nopcsa was on another mission as a spy for Austria-Hungary, working undercover as a shepherd in Transylvania. He also led a group of Albanian wartime volunteers. Nopcsa was the first to hijack an aircraft. His motive for aircraft hijacking was to flee the nascent and ultimately short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919 to Vienna. With the defeat of Austria-Hungary at the end of the war, Nopcsa's native Transylvania was ceded to Romania. As a consequence, the Baron of Felső-Szilvás lost his estates and other possessions in 1920. Compelled to find paid employment, he landed a job as the head of the Hungarian Geological Institute in 1925.

But Nopcsa's tenure in the Geological Institute was short-lived, he soon became bored of the sedentary job. He went to Europe on a motorcycle journey together with his long-standing Albanian secretary and lover Bajazid Elmaz Doda to study fossils. He later returned to Vienna where he ran into financial difficulties again and was distracted in his work. To cover his debts, he sold his fossil collection to the Natural History Museum in London. Nopcsa struggled with illness, to the extent that he had to give a lecture in a wheelchair in 1928. Soon Nopcsa became depressed. Finally, in 1933, he fatally shot first his partner, Bayazid Elmas Doda, after having slipped sleeping powder into his tea. He then wrote a suicide note, where he states the reason for his actions a nervous breakdown, and shot himself. He was cremated at Feuerhalle Simmering in Vienna, and his ashes buried there (Section 3, Ring 3, Group 8, No. 44). In his suicide note, he describes his reasons for killing his partner:

Nopcsa left behind a considerable quantity of scientific publications and private diaries. The diaries paint a picture of a complex man with great intuition, but without the ability to understand the motives of others. His devotion to the cause of the Albanians was in contrast to his sociopathic insensitivity. In his diaries he nonchalantly wrote about his bid to become king of Albania:

Once a reigning European monarch, I would have no difficulty coming up with the further funds needed by marrying a wealthy American heiress aspiring to royalty, a step which under other circumstances I would have been loath to take.'

During his lifetime Nopcsa wrote a memoir based on diaries and notes from 1897 to 1917. Even though he finished the memoir around 1929, it was never published during his lifetime. Only in 2001 was it published in German and it was later translated to English in 2014 as Traveler, Scholar, Political Adventurer: A Transylvanian Baron at the Birth of Albanian Independence, edited by Robert Elsie.

Contributions to paleobiology and geology
Nopcsa's main contribution to paleontology – and hence "paleobiology" – was, that he was one of the first researchers who tried to "put flesh onto bones." At a time when paleontologists were mainly interested in assembling bones, he tried to deduce the physiology and living behavior of the dinosaurs he was studying. Nopcsa was the first to suggest that these archosaurs cared for their young and exhibited complex social behavior, an idea that did not take off until the 1980s. Because he was one of the first people to study the biology of dinosaurs, he is known as the 'father of paleobiology', even though he himself coined the term "paleophysiology" for the study of the evolution of physiology and biology. Some of his works in this field exploited paleohistological data.

Another of Nopcsa's theories that was ahead of its time was that birds evolved from ground-dwelling dinosaurs, which is the theory of cursorial origin of flight. He theorized that the Proavis, a theorized predecessor of birds, was running animal with forearms lifted off the ground, which they would flap as they made a jump. The scales on its forearms would develop into feathers to aid this, and eventually allowing for flight. This theory found favor in the 1960s and later gained wide acceptance, though later fossil finds of tree-living feathered dinosaurs suggest the development of flight may have been more complex than Nopcsa envisioned. Additionally, Nopcsa's conclusion that at least some Mesozoic era reptiles were warm-blooded is now shared by much of the scientific community.

Nopcsa studied Transylvanian dinosaurs intensively, even though they were smaller than their "cousins" elsewhere in the world. For example, he unearthed six-meter-long sauropods, a group of dinosaurs which elsewhere commonly grew to 30 meters or more, which he named Magyarosaurus. Nopcsa deduced that the area where the remains were found was an island, Hațeg Island (now the Haţeg or Hatzeg basin in Romania) during the Mesozoic era. He theorized that "limited resources" found on islands commonly have an effect of "reducing the size of animals" over the generations, producing a localized form of dwarfism. Nopcsa's theory of insular dwarfism—also known as the island rule—is today widely accepted. Additional pygmy sauropods, named Europasaurus, were recently discovered in northern Germany.

Nopcsa also created a theory about the dinosaurs' sexual dimorphism, which he published in 1926. Among others, he thought that hadrosaurid species with the cranial crests were males and those without them were females. He paired Kritosaurus with Parasaurolophus, Prosaurolophus with Saurolophus and others. His examples were not proved to be true, but his opinion that sexual dimorphism was present among hadrosaurid dinosaurs has gained acceptance, see for example Lambeosaurus.

Nopcsa discovered and named several species in his lifetime. In 1899 he named the species Mochlodon robustus, which he later renamed to Rhabdodon robustum in 1915. He also named Struthiosaurus transylvanicus, which he described in 1915. In 1928 he named the Teinurosaurus (meaning "extended tail lizard"). He named the turtle species Kallokibotion bajazidi, which literally means 'beautiful box of Bajazid '. The reason for this name was that the shell reminded him of Bajazid's arse.

Nopcsa was also interested in evolutionary theory, especially on macroevolution, on which the fossil record can yield relevant data.

Nopcsa was also an important geologist. Indeed, Nopcsa was one of the first scholars to study the geology of the western Balkans, particularly northern Albania.

Contribution to Albanian studies
Nopcsa became fascinated with Albania during his lifetime, probably through the tales of Albania's mountain tribesmen, to which he was first introduced by Louis Drašković, a man thought to be his first lover. During his lifetime Nopcsa published more than fifty scientific studies concerning Albania, covering a wide range of linguistics, folklore, ethnology, history and kanun (that is, Albanian customary law). He was one of the leading experts on Albania in his time.

After Nopcsa's death, several of his important manuscripts were left unpublished. He participated in the work of the Albanian Congress of Trieste, published his notes on the congress that became of particular historical interest. He left the Albanological part of his estate along with a letter of manuscripts to be published to Norbert Jokl, a renowned specialist in Albanian studies and Nopcsa's former colleague. At that time, Nopcsa's material consisted of thousands of pages of notes, sketches, and finished text. Subsequently, this library came into possession of Mid'hat Bey Frashëri. When Frashëri was forced to flee the country, Nopcsa's materials were confiscated by the communist regime of Enver Hoxha. Eventually, Nopcsa's manuscripts, drawings, and completed writings formed the core of the Albanological section of Albania's National Library.

Other sources

 * István Főzy: Nopcsa báró és a Kárpát-medence dinoszauruszai (Baron Franz Nopcsa and the Dinosaurs of the Carpathian-basin), Alfadat-Press, Tatabánya. ISBN 9638103248.
 * Gëzim Alpion (2002): Baron Franz Nopcsa and his Ambition for the Albanian Throne.  BESA Journal, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 25–32.
 * Gareth Dyke (2011): The Dinosaur Baron of Transylvania, Scientific American, October, vol. 305, no. 4, pp. 81–83.
 * David B. Weishampel and C. M. Jianu (1995). The centennial of Transylvanian dinosaur discoveries: A reexamination of the life of Franz Baron Nopcsa. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15 (3, Suppl.): p. 60A.
 * Ing Jaroslav Mareš, (1993). Záhada dinosaurů (The mystery of dinosaurs), Prague, Svoboda-Libertas, ISBN 80-205-0374-9
 * Baron Franz Nopcsa and His Dream for the Albanian Throne – essay by Gëzim Alpion (2002), a British scholar of East European studies.
 * "Baron Franz Nopcsa", Encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & queer culture
 * "Histories: King of the duck-billed dinosaurs", New Scientist (2005)
 * János Magyar (2021): 125 éve találták az erdélyi dinoszauruszokat! Greenfo.hu (In Hungarian language)
 * Botfalvai, G., Csiki-Sava, Z., Kocsis, L., Albert, G., Magyar, J., Bodor, E. R., Ţabără, D., Ulyanov, A. & Makádi, L. (2021). ‘X’marks the spot! Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeontological investigations of Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) vertebrate fossil localities from the Vălioara valley (Densuş-Ciula Formation, Hațeg Basin, Romania). Cretaceous Research, 123, 104781.
 * "Histories: King of the duck-billed dinosaurs", New Scientist (2005)
 * János Magyar (2021): 125 éve találták az erdélyi dinoszauruszokat! Greenfo.hu (In Hungarian language)
 * Botfalvai, G., Csiki-Sava, Z., Kocsis, L., Albert, G., Magyar, J., Bodor, E. R., Ţabără, D., Ulyanov, A. & Makádi, L. (2021). ‘X’marks the spot! Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeontological investigations of Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) vertebrate fossil localities from the Vălioara valley (Densuş-Ciula Formation, Hațeg Basin, Romania). Cretaceous Research, 123, 104781.

title: Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Silver Koopa and Friends (2nd nomination)

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was delete (blk-cmp error). – ABCD 01:52, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Silver Koopa and Friends

 * Delete. Link broken and comic nowhere to be found. Possibly self-promotion. Unimportant and unnotable comic. Out of almost 2500 comics in my VFBLOSC, why this? Nestea 06:07, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. I think Nestea pretty much covered all that needed to be said about this vote for deletion. The entry itself seems like shameless self-promotion through an obscure medium, in addition to being something that lacks any real following anywhere, as far as I can tell.  Just look at some of the other Wiki topics, then compare the followings between this and any other.  I'm sorry, but it just doesn't seem important enough to need a Wikipedia topic. . . Joseph Collins 06:43, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, NN webcomic. Radiant_* 09:15, Apr 13, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete agree with Nestea. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:25, Apr 13, 2005 (UTC)
 * Do Not Delete, there is absolutly no reason to. First of all, The link is not broken. Second of all, it is unlikely that this is self promotion. It is a webcomic on the internet that many people view for their enjoyment. There for, this article deserves to be on Wikipedia. Give me one good reason why you think this is self promotion?
 * Do Not Delete Hello, I am the creator of this comic. So what? It isnt as popular as Bob and George but it dosn't deserve to have its article deleted because of that. Just think about. I plan on building my website to the popularity of Bob and George one day. Just because it isnt very well known now dosn't mean it won't be someday. Also, I did NOT write this article for self promotion. Not once do I say to visit the site. I made this article because SK&F is a part of the huge world of media. It deserves to have an article. SwordKirby537 16:01, Apr 13, 2005 (UTC)
 * Okay, so it might not be self-promotion. It's still vanity. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia for things popular and/or notable, not for things that MIGHT BECOME popular and/or notable! If you want to make your site popular, that's alright. But for now, don't think that just because you try to make your site popular doesn't mean you can go rank yourself up with Bob and George and 8-Bit Theater. Nestea 21:23, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Wikipedia is not a crystal ball, and doesn't carry articles because their subjects will be famous "one day". --TenOfAllTrades | Talk 22:46, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Well since it looks like it will wind up being deleted let me say this: This article WILL be back someday. Just you wait.
 * Actually, we hope it does some back someday, once notability has been established. As for why we don't take articles based on potential future notability, just think: every kid in preschool right now could grow up and be the one to find a cure for cancer... but obviously we can't have articles on them all just because they might do something someday.  Anyway, you've got a good start to a quality web comic.  Work on it, promote it, and keep at it.  I hope to see you (and it) back on Wikipedia soon. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd  13:23, Apr 14, 2005 (UTC)

 * This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.

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


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1st Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)

The 1st Mountain Division (1. Gebirgs-Division) was an elite formation of the German Wehrmacht during World War II, and is remembered for its involvement in multiple large-scale war crimes. It was created on 9 April 1938 in Garmisch Partenkirchen from the Mountain Brigade (Gebirgs Brigade) which was itself formed on 1 June 1935.

Poland and France
The 1st Mountain Division fought in the invasion of Poland in September 1939 as a part of Army Group South and distinguished itself during fighting in the Carpathians and at Lwów. On 8 September 1939 in the village of Rozdziel its soldiers committed a war crime (killing six civilians and three prisoners of war and burning houses) and attempting to execute another 250 civilians.

It subsequently took part in the Battle of France as a part of XVIII Army Corps in May–June 1940 and was selected to take part in the planned operations against the United Kingdom (Operation Sea Lion) and Gibraltar (Operation Felix) but both operations were cancelled. With Felix cancelled, the division took part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 as part of the 2nd Army.

Eastern Front and Balkans
The 1st Mountain Division participated in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union that began on 22 June 1941. On 30 June, the division captured Lviv. There, the Germans discovered several thousand bodies of prisoners the Soviet NKVD had executed because they could not be evacuated.

The 1st Mountain Division continued its advance into the Soviet Union, participating in the breakthrough of the Stalin Line and the advance to the Dniepr and Mius rivers. The division fought in the Second Battle of Kharkov in May 1942 and then participated in the offensive through southern Russia and into the Caucasus (Operation Edelweiss).

In a symbolic propaganda move, the division sent a detachment to raise the German flag on Mount Elbrus on 21 August 1942. Although the feat was widely publicized by Josef Goebbels, Hitler was furious over what he called "these crazy mountain climbers," his rage lasting for hours. However, by December 1942 with Soviet forces encircling the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, the 1st Mountain Division, as part of the 17th Army, was ordered to withdraw to the Kuban bridgehead.

In April 1943, the division was posted to Yugoslavia, where it participated in the anti-partisan offensive named Case Black, and later Greece where it took part in anti-partisan operations. In November 1943, the division returned to Yugoslavia, where it took part in operations Kugelblitz, Schneesturm, and Waldrausch. In March 1944, the division was engaged in Operation Margarethe, the German invasion of Hungary. After Operation Rübezahl in Yugoslavia in August 1944, the division took part in defensive fighting against the Red Army in the Belgrade Offensive and suffered severe losses. During the operation, the division commander, Generalleutnant Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen, was killed in action on 17 October 1944 on Avala, a mountain near Belgrade. In late November 1944 it was transferred to Baranja, the most endangered sector of the German defense.

The division was renamed the ''1. Volks-Gebirgs-Division'' ("1st People's Mountain Division") in March 1945. Its final major operations were during Operation Spring Awakening near Lake Balaton in Hungary against the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front. Two months later the division surrendered to the Americans in Austria in May 1945.

War crimes
During the onvasion of Poland in September 1939, soldiers from the division assisted in the round-up of Jewish civilians from Przemyśl for forced labour, and photos of this were printed in newspapers.

During the Case Black operation in Yugoslavia in May–June 1943, the division and other units committed crimes against prisoners of war and civilians. In its after-action report on 10 July, the division reported that it took 498 prisoners, 411 of whom were shot.

On 6 July 1943 a unit from the division attacked the village of Borovë in Albania. All of the houses and buildings were completely burned or otherwise destroyed. Among the 107 inhabitants killed were five entire families. The youngest victim was aged four months, and the oldest 73.

On 25 July 1943, soldiers from the division attacked the village of Mousiotitsa in Greece after a cache of weapons was found nearby, killing 153 civilians. On 16 August 1943, the village of Kommeno was attacked on the orders of Oberstleutnant Josef Salminger, the commander of GebirgsJäger Regiment 98. A total of 317 civilians were killed.

The 1st Mountain Division murdered 5,200 Italian soldiers from the 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui" in September 1943 on the Greek island of Cefalonia after they had surrendered. The division also executed all officers and non-commissioned officers of the 151st Infantry Division "Perugia", who had surrendered in Albania in early October 1943.

After the killing of Oberstleutnant Josef Salminger by Greek partisans, the commander of XXII Gebirgs-Armeekorps, General der Gebirgstruppe Hubert Lanz, ordered, on 1 October 1943, a "ruthless retaliatory action" in a 20 km area around the place where Salminger had been attacked. In the village of Lyngiades, 92 of its 96 residents were executed.

The division's war crimes are described in H. F. Meyer's book Bloodstained Edelweiss: The 1st Mountain Division in the Second World War.

Commanders

 * General der Gebirgstruppe Ludwig Kübler (1 September 1939 – 25 October 1940)
 * General der Gebirgstruppe Hubert Lanz (25 October 1940 – 17 December 1942)
 * Generalleutnant Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen (17 December 1942 – 18 October 1944)
 * Generalmajor August Wittmann (19. October 1944 – December 1944)
 * Generalleutnant Josef Kübler (27 December 1944 – 10 March 1945)
 * Generalleutnant August Wittmann (17 March 1945 – 8 May 1945)

1939

 * 98. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 Battalions
 * 99. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 Battalions
 * 100. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 Battalions
 * 4. Panzerabwehr (anti-tank) Battalion
 * 79. Mountain Artillery Regiment
 * 4 Battalions
 * 54. Signals Battalion
 * 54. Pioneer Battalion
 * 54. Supply Troops
 * Service Troops

1941

 * 98. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 Battalions
 * 99. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 Battalions
 * 54. Field Medical Battalion
 * 44. Panzerabwehr Battalion
 * 79. Mountain Artillery Regiment
 * 4 Battalions
 * 54. Signals Battalion
 * 54. Pioneer Battalion
 * 54. Supply Troops
 * Service Troops

1943

 * 98. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 Battalions
 * 99. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 Battalions
 * 44. Panzerjäger Battalion
 * 79. Mountain Artillery Regiment
 * 4 Battalions
 * 54. Mountain Jäger Battalion
 * 54. Reconnaissance Battalion
 * 54. Mountain Signals Battalion
 * 79. Mountain Field Medical Battalion
 * 54. Mountain Pioneer Battalion
 * 54. Mountain Pack Mule Battalion
 * 54. Supply Troops
 * Service Troops

Notable members

 * Ferdinand Schörner, war criminal and the last living German field marshal, holder of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
 * Wego Chiang, son of the Chinese leader General Chiang Kai-shek, who served in I./Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 98 from 1937 to 1939, reaching the rank of leutnant before returning to China at the outbreak of World War II.

title: 1st Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)


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Electoral district of Roebourne

The Electoral district of Roebourne was a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. It was named for the town of Roebourne and was created in 1890, being one of the original 30 seats contested at the 1890 colonial election. In 1898, the boundaries of the district did not extend far beyond the settlements of Roebourne and Cossack.

The seat was abolished in the 1948 redistribution under the Electoral Districts Act 1947, and was absorbed into the seat of Pilbara. Its final member, Aloysius Rodoreda, transferred successfully to the Pilbara seat at the election.

title: Electoral district of Roebourne


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Hararghe

Hararghe (ሐረርጌ Harärge; Harari: ሀረርጌይ Harärgeyi, Oromo: Harargee, Xararge) was a province of eastern Ethiopia with its capital in Harar.

Etymology
Hararghe is derived from the root Harari term "Gey" which refers to the modern city of Harar. The term Hararghe was used to refer solely to the modern city of Harar prior to the invasion of the Harar Emirate by the Abyssinians in 1887.

History
The region consisted mostly of the territory of the Emirate of Harar annexed by Menelik II in 1887. Including Ethiopia's part of the Ogaden, Haraghe was bounded on west by Shewa, northwest by Wollo Province, northeast by French Somaliland and on the east by Somalia. Originally however Hararghe included the Sidamo, Bale and Arsi Province until Haile Selassie split the provinces. Hararghe was the historical homeland of the Harla people and often synonymous with the region of Adal.

Hararghe was altered as a result of Proclamation 1943/1, which created twelve taklai ghizats from the existing 42 provinces of varying sizes. A comparison of the two maps in Margary Perham, The Government of Ethiopia shows that Hararghe was created by combining the Sultanate of Aussa, the lands of the Karanle, Ogaden, Issa, and Gadabursi with the 1935 provinces of Chercher and Harar.

In 1960, the province south of the Shebelle River was made into its own province, Bale. With the adoption of the new constitution in 1995, Hararghe was divided between the Oromia, Afar and Somali Regions, which was given a large part, and what remained was a tiny Harari.

title: Hararghe


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Non-coordinating anion

Anions that interact weakly with cations are termed non-coordinating anions, although a more accurate term is weakly coordinating anion. Non-coordinating anions are useful in studying the reactivity of electrophilic cations. They are commonly found as counterions for cationic metal complexes with an unsaturated coordination sphere. These special anions are essential components of homogeneous alkene polymerisation catalysts, where the active catalyst is a coordinatively unsaturated, cationic transition metal complex. For example, they are employed as counterions for the 14 valence electron cations [(C5H5)2ZrR]+ (R = methyl or a growing polyethylene chain). Complexes derived from non-coordinating anions have been used to catalyze hydrogenation, hydrosilylation, oligomerization, and the living polymerization of alkenes. The popularization of non-coordinating anions has contributed to increased understanding of agostic complexes wherein hydrocarbons and hydrogen serve as ligands. Non-coordinating anions are important components of many superacids, which result from the combination of Brønsted acids and Lewis acids.

Pre-"BARF" era
Before the 1990s, tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate , and perchlorate  were considered weakly coordinating anions. These species are now known to bind to strongly electrophilic metal centers. Tetrafluoroborate and hexafluorophosphate anions are coordinating toward highly electrophilic metal ions, such as cations containing Zr(IV) centers, which can abstract fluoride from these anions. Other anions, such as triflates are considered to be low-coordinating with some cations.

Era of BARF
A revolution in this area occurred in the 1990s with the introduction of the tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate ion,, commonly abbreviated as and colloquially called "BARF". This anion is far less coordinating than tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, and perchlorate, and consequently has enabled the study of still more electrophilic cations. Related tetrahedral anions include tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate, and.

In the bulky borates and aluminates, the negative charge is symmetrically distributed over many electronegative atoms. Related anions are derived from tris(pentafluorophenyl)boron B(C6F5)3. Another advantage of these anions is that their salts are more soluble in non-polar organic solvents such as dichloromethane, toluene, and, in some cases, even alkanes. Polar solvents, such as acetonitrile, THF, and water, tend to bind to electrophilic centers, in which cases, the use of a non-coordinating anion is pointless.

Salts of the anion were first reported by Kobayashi and co-workers. For that reason, it is sometimes referred to as Kobayashi's anion. Kobayashi's method of preparation has been superseded by a safer route.

The neutral molecules that represent the parents to the non-coordinating anions are strong Lewis acids, e.g. boron trifluoride, BF3 and phosphorus pentafluoride, PF5. A notable Lewis acid of this genre is tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane, B(C6F5)3, which abstracts alkyl ligands:
 * (C5H5)2Zr(CH3)2 + B(C6F5)3 → [(C5H5)2Zr(CH3)]+[(CH3)B(C6F5)3]−

Other types of non-coordinating anions
Another large class of non-coordinating anions are derived from carborane anion. Using this anion, the first example of a three-coordinate silicon compound, the salt [(mesityl)3Si][HCB11Me5Br6] contains a non-coordinating anion derived from a carborane.

title: Non-coordinating anion


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Lahad Datu

Lahad Datu (Bandar Lahad Datu) is the capital of the Lahad Datu District in the Dent Peninsula on Tawau Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 27,887 in 2010. The town is surrounded by stretches of cocoa and palm oil plantations. It is also an important timber exporting port. The town has an airport for domestic flights.

History
A settlement is believed to have existed here in the 15th century, as excavations have unearthed Ming dynasty Chinese ceramics. Just east of Lahad Datu is the village of Tunku, a notorious base for pirates and slave traders in the 19th century. Based on a Jawi manuscript in the Ida'an language dated 1408 A.D, it is believed to be the first site in northern Borneo where Islam was first introduced. The Jawi manuscript gives an account of an Ida'an man named Abdullah in Darvel Bay who embraced Islam.

Foreign militant intrusion
On 23 September 1985, 15-20 armed foreign pirates from the neighbouring Philippines landed on this town, killing at least 21 people and injuring 11 others.

Another standoff occurred in February 2013 and lasted for over a month between Malaysian authorities and the Filipino-based militants of the self-proclaimed "Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo" led by Jamalul Kiram III resulted in a Malaysian victory and creation of the Eastern Sabah Security Command and Eastern Sabah Security Zone.

The standoff reportedly saw a total of 68 deaths – 56 from the Sulu sultanate, nine from the Malaysian authorities and six civilians. Before this incursion, the government of Malaysia continued to dutifully pay an annual cession payment amounting to roughly $1,000 to the indirect heirs of the Sultan honoring an 1878 agreement, where North Borneo – today’s Sabah – was conceded by the late Sultan of Sulu to a British company. After the event, the Malaysian government halted the payment. Years later, eight of these Sulu heirs, who insisted they were not involved in the standoff, hired lawyers to pursue legal action based on the original commercial deal. The case is still ongoing.

Economy
Lahad Datu also has several palm oil refineries. The Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) is located near Lahad Datu township. POIC owns and operates its own port, POIC Port Lahad Datu and received its first vessel on 1 March 2013. It consists of 1150 acre of industrial land developed (with a centralised bulking facility, dry, liquid, barge and container terminals with a sea draft of 20 meters, making it one of the few deep sea ports in the world). To date, 55 companies have invested in POIC with 11 companies involved in fertilizer (making it the biggest cluster of fertilizer companies). POIC is a wholly state-owned company under the purview of the Ministry of Industrial Development, Sabah. Its Chairman is YB Senator Datuk Donald Mojuntin, and the Acting Chief Executive Officer is Mdm. Lynette Hoo (ADK). POIC was started by Datuk Dr Pang Teck Wai in 2005 and now retired since June 2020.

Transportation
Lahad Datu is linked to other towns and districts via Federal Route 13, a part of larger Pan-Borneo Highway network in the east coast of Sabah. Works of constructing a new bypass road on Sandakan-Tawau route has been commenced on mid 2016, to relieve the traffic congestion on the town itself. Lahad Datu is served by many different methods of transportation. Taxis, buses and minibuses are abundant and provide connectivity around the town and other districts such as Sandakan and Tawau. Lahad Datu Port is a container port administered by Sabah Port Sdn. Bhd.

First Palm City Centre (FPCC) along Jalan Pantai is an integrated commercial development by Titijaya Land Berhad. It consist of 2-3 storey of retail shoplots, bus terminal and anchor business, Econsave operating in this strategic business address. 1.5 km to town, 2 km to Lahad Datu Airport and 2.5 km to Lahad Datu Hospital.

MASwings, a regional airline and subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MAB) provides five direct flights daily to Kota Kinabalu, the state's capital from Lahad Datu Airport.

Climate
Lahad Datu has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

title: Lahad Datu


text:
Nathaniel Dett Chorale

The Nathaniel Dett Chorale is a Canadian choral group that specializes in Afrocentric music of all styles including classical, spirituals, gospel, jazz, folk and blues. It is named after the Canadian-born Black composer and musician R. Nathaniel Dett (1882–1943), who had a long teaching career in the United States. The group has performed in the Maritimes, Quebec, Manitoba, Western Canada, the United States and in France. The Chorale has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Nathaniel Dett
Canadian-born Black musician and composer Nathaniel Dett studied piano as a child. He worked as a church organist in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada from 1898 to 1903. He graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Music in 1908, and later studied composition with the French composer Nadia Boulanger. Dett taught at Lane College in Jackson, Mississippi; Hampton Institute in Virginia; Samuel Houston College in Austin, Texas; and Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. At the Eastman School of Music he earned a Master of Music degree in 1932. He won prizes from Harvard University for his article entitled The Emancipation of Negro Music and for a motet, "Don't Be Weary, Traveller". Dett edited several published collections of folk songs and spirituals, and served as president of the National Association of Negro Musicians from 1924 to 1926.

History
The Chorale was founded in 1998 by Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, who continues to be the director of the group.

As well as touring throughout Canada, the Chorale also performed at the Pollyfolia choral festival in France in 2004 and at the U.S. Library of Congress in 2007.

In 2009, the group performed at the inauguration of Barack Obama.

title: Nathaniel Dett Chorale


text:
Talk:University of San Francisco

Userbox
A userbox has been created for USF alums amongst the Wikipedian hordes. The userpage code is: --Dynaflow 12:46, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:University of San Francisco


text: User talk:217.128.205.198

title: User talk:217.128.205.198


text:
Lumut, Perak

Lumut is a coastal town and mukim in Manjung District, Perak, Malaysia, situated about 84 km southwest of the state capital city of Ipoh, 12 km north from the town of Sitiawan. It is the main gateway to Pangkor Island before established Marina Island Pangkor as second gateway, and noted for seashell and coral handicrafts.

This once little-known fishing town has since become the home base of the Royal Malaysian Navy and the site of the biggest naval shipbuilder in Malaysia, Boustead.

Toponymy
Lumut in Malay means moss, lichen, or seaweed. In its early days, the beach was said to be rich in moss, so the local people called it Lumut.

History
Lumut has a sheltered jetty. A large Hockchew community moved from there to Sitiawan. The estuary was formerly characterized by damp mossy soils on reddish earth. Tin and lumber were transported there by elephants and sampans, from as far away as Kinta. It was once part of the Straits Settlements by virtue of the Pangkor Treaty of 1874 until it was returned to Perak by Great Britain in 1935.

Events
On 23 April 2024, two Royal Malaysian Navy helicopters – an AgustaWestland AW139 and a Eurocopter Fennec – collided during a military parade rehearsal celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Ten people – seven on the AW139 and three on the Fennec – were killed. There were no survivors.

Dockyard
Since 1993, six U.S. Navy warships had been repaired at Lumut's dockyard at a cost of RM 1.6 million. The warships were USNS Sioux (T-ATF-171), USS Tuscaloosa (LST-1187), USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43), USS Schenectady (LST-1185), USS Rushmore (LSD-47), and USS Reid (FFG-30).

List of mosques

 * Masjid An-nur Pengkalan TLDM
 * Masjid Khairul Jariah Segari
 * Masjid Al-Adly Pekan Lumut
 * Masjid Sultan Idris Shah
 * Masjid Arfiah Kampung Batu

title: Lumut, Perak


text: User:Melangerio

title: User:Melangerio


text:
User talk:Melangerio

Headline text
hello

title: User talk:Melangerio


text: User talk:203.123.182.26

title: User talk:203.123.182.26


text:
User:Talnova

Mmm I'll get to this later.

I love the site people. Keep it up.

title: User:Talnova


text:
PL-7

The PL-7 is the PRC version of the French Magic R.550 air-to-air missile. It is a short-range, Infrared homing missile used by Chinese fighters. It was designed by Wu Shendao, and produced at the Factory 331 (Zhuzhou Aeroengine factory) (中国株洲航空发动机厂).

Specifications

 * Length - 2.74 m
 * Diameter - 157 mm
 * Wingspan - 0.66 m
 * Weight - 89 kg
 * Warhead - 12.5 kg
 * Speed - Mach 2.5
 * Range - 0.5 to 14 km
 * Guidance - Infrared homing

Operational history
During the late 1998–2001 Zimbabwean intervention in the Second Congo War, Air Force of Zimbabwe BAE Hawks were reportedly modified to be armed with PL-7s for air interception missions in support of Zimbabwean and Laurent Kabila's government forces.

Operator

 * Bangladesh Air Force
 * People's Liberation Army Air Force
 * Iranian Air Force
 * People's Liberation Army Air Force
 * Iranian Air Force
 * Iranian Air Force

title: PL-7


text:
Cerebral atrophy

Cerebral atrophy is a common feature of many of the diseases that affect the brain. Atrophy of any tissue means a decrement in the size of the cell, which can be due to progressive loss of cytoplasmic proteins. In brain tissue, atrophy describes a loss of neurons and the connections between them. Brain atrophy can be classified into two main categories: generalized and focal atrophy. Generalized atrophy occurs across the entire brain whereas focal atrophy affects cells in a specific location. If the cerebral hemispheres (the two lobes of the brain that form the cerebrum) are affected, conscious thought and voluntary processes may be impaired.

Some degree of cerebral shrinkage occurs naturally with the dynamic process of aging. Structural changes continue during adulthood as brain shrinkage commences after the age of 35, at a rate of 0.2% per year. The rate of decline is accelerated when individuals reach 70 years old. By the age of 90, the human brain will have experienced a 15% loss of its initial peak weight. Besides brain atrophy, aging has also been associated with cerebral microbleeds.

Symptoms
Many diseases that cause cerebral atrophy are associated with dementia, seizures, and a group of language disorders called the aphasias. Dementia is characterized by a progressive impairment of memory and intellectual function that is severe enough to interfere with social and work skills. Memory, orientation, abstraction, ability to learn, visual-spatial perception, and higher executive functions such as planning, organizing and sequencing may also be impaired. Seizures can take different forms, appearing as disorientation, strange repetitive movements, loss of consciousness, or convulsions. Aphasias are a group of disorders characterized by disturbances in speaking and understanding language. Receptive aphasia causes impaired comprehension. Expressive aphasia is reflected in odd choices of words, the use of partial phrases, disjointed clauses, and incomplete sentences.

Causes
The pattern and rate of progression of cerebral atrophy depends on the disease involved.

Injury

 * Stroke, loss of brain function due to a sudden interruption of blood supply in the brain
 * Moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury

Diseases and disorders

 * Alzheimer's disease (High resolution MRI scans have shown the progression of cerebral atrophy in Alzheimer's disease)
 * Cerebral palsy, in which lesions (damaged areas) may impair motor coordination
 * Senile dementia, fronto-temporal dementia, and vascular dementia
 * Pick's disease, causes progressive destruction of nerve cells in the brain
 * Huntington's disease, and other genetic disorders that cause build-up of toxic levels of proteins in neurons
 * Leukodystrophies, such as Krabbe disease, which destroy the myelin sheath that protects axons
 * Multiple sclerosis, which causes inflammation, myelin damage, and lesions in cerebral tissue
 * Epilepsy, in which lesions cause abnormal electrochemical discharges that result in seizures
 * GLUT1 deficiency syndrome
 * Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and other eating disorders
 * Malnutrition, caused by lack or excess of nutrition from foods
 * Type II diabetes, where the body does not use insulin properly resulting in high blood sugar
 * Bipolar disorder, significant loss of brain tissue during manic episodes; however it's not verified whether the episodes cause brain tissue loss or vice versa
 * Schizophrenia
 * Mitochondrial encephalomyopathies, such as Kearns–Sayre syndrome, which interfere with the basic functions of neurons
 * Posterior cortical atrophy: In the most posterior area of the brain lies the visual cortex, the area of the brain where visual information is received and processed.  When cortical atrophy occurs in this brain area due to neurodegeneration, the first symptom is impairment in vision.  A common vision impairment seen in patients with posterior cortical atrophy is simultanagnosia, where a person is unable to see multiple locations at once or to quickly shift attention between these locations.  When looking at images of a brain with posterior cortical atrophy, one can see a loss in volume of the dorsal and ventral visual pathways, where visual stimuli is brought to the visual cortex and integrated information is sent back out to other areas of the brain.  Because this disorder results in visual impairments, there is often a missed or delayed diagnosis, as the assumption is that there is a problem is in the eyes when the reality is that the problem is all the way in the back of the brain.
 * Prion diseases, a group of invariably fatal encephalopathies that cause the progressive death of neurons.

Infections
Where an infectious agent or the inflammatory reaction to it destroys neurons and their axons, these include...
 * Encephalitis, acute inflammation in the brain
 * Neurosyphilis, an infection in the brain or spinal cord
 * AIDS, disease of the immune system

Drug-induced

 * Alcohol (partially reversible): Standardized MRI evidence suggest chronic alcoholism (alcohol use disorder) is associated with widespread cortical atrophy and major brain changes. In contrast to healthy controls, macrostructural findings indicate alcoholic brains are smaller in mass and volume. Neuroimaging studies also show that cortical shrinkage in "uncomplicated alcoholism" is most severe in the frontal lobe in comparison to the other divisions of the cerebral cortex. In addition, neurological diseases that co-occur with excessive alcohol consumption—such as Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome (WKS)—are characterized by substantial volume deficits of the diencephalon structures. In comparison to unaffected, non-alcoholic participants, tissue degeneration in WKS patients is found in specific white matter structures including the corpus callosum, the hippocampus, the subcortical basal ganglia (hypothalamus, thalamus, putamen), and the mammillary bodies.
 * Antipsychotic
 * Corticosteroid use (There appears to be correlations between degree of dosing with corticosteroids and cerebral atrophy)

Neurofilament light chain
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a fluid that is found exclusively in the brain and spinal cord that circulates between sections of the brain offering an extra layer of protection. Studies have shown that biomarkers in the CSF and plasma can be tracked for their presence in different parts of the brain—and their presence can tell us about cerebral atrophy. One study took advantage of biomarkers, namely one called neurofilament light chain (NFL), in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Neurofilament light chain is a protein that is important in the growth and branching of neurons—cells found in the brain. In Alzheimer's Disease, neurons will stop working or die in a process called neurodegeneration. By tracking NFL, researchers can see this neurodegeneration, which this study showed was associated with brain atrophy and later cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients. Other biomarkers like Ng – a protein important in long-term potentiation and memory – have been tracked for their associations with brain atrophy as well, but NFL had the greatest association.

Measures

CT and MRI are most commonly used to observe the brain for cerebral atrophy. A CT scan takes cross sectional images of the brain using X-rays, while an MRI uses a magnetic field. With both measures, multiple images can be compared to see if there is a loss in brain volume over time.

Difference from hydrocephalus
Cerebral atrophy can be hard to distinguish from hydrocephalus because both cerebral atrophy and hydrocephalus involve an increase in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume. In cerebral atrophy, this increase in CSF volume comes as a result of the decrease in cortical volume. In hydrocephalus, the increase in volume happens due to the CSF itself.

Treatment
Cerebral atrophy is not usually preventable. However, there are steps that can be taken to reduce the risk:
 * controlling blood pressure
 * a healthy balanced diet including omega-3's and antioxidants
 * staying active mentally, physically, and socially.

Reversibility of cerebral atrophy
While most cerebral atrophy is said to be irreversible, there are recent studies that show this is not always the case. A child who was treated with ACTH originally showed atrophy, but four months after treatment the brain was seemingly normal again.

As previously mentioned, chronic alcoholism is known to be associated with significant brain damage. The pronounced shrinkage in the frontal lobes and cerebellum of alcoholics correlates with serious impairments in executive and psychomotor functions. However, longitudinal studies suggest that some of these brain damages are partially reversible with abstinence. In response to drinking cessation, bodies of gray and white matter including the cerebral cortex, the limbic system (amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus), the cerebellum, and the brainstem all showed a general increase in brain volume. Similarly, ventricular enlargement—which reflects atrophy of surrounding brain regions—is also reduced in abstinent alcoholics. Following extended sobriety, the volume of the lateral and third ventricles was decreased, and abstainers showed an improvement in working memory and balance. Finally, evidence for the recovery of brain volume with continued sobriety is supported by the improvement in neuropsychological performance. Compared to the control participants, abstinent alcoholic patients scored significantly better on tests measuring cognitive, sensory, and motor functions including abstract reasoning, memory, visuospatial ability, and gait and balance. That being said, while short-term abstinence suffices to produce structural and functional recovery, some alcohol-induced brain changes may persist even after long-term sobriety.

title: Cerebral atrophy


text: User talk:129.1.217.68

title: User talk:129.1.217.68


text:
Jason de Vos

Jason Richard de Vos (born January 2, 1974) is a Canadian soccer executive, coach, and former player who currently serves as an assistant coach with Toronto FC in Major League Soccer. While representing his country, he was part of the national team that won the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Early career
Jason de Vos began his professional career in 1990 as a 15-year-old high schooler with hometown club the London Lasers of the former Canadian Soccer League (CSL). When the club folded he joined the Kitchener Kickers, also of the CSL. When the latter club also folded he rejoined the re-established Lasers in 1992, the last year of operations for the CSL.

Montreal Impact
Known for his ability in the air, De Vos spent the next five seasons with the Montreal Impact of the then American Professional Soccer League, the last two on loan to English Third Division club Darlington.

Career abroad
In 1998, De Vos first signed a contract with Darlington before moving to Dundee United of the Scottish Premier League in October on a £400,000 transfer. He spent three seasons with The Terrors, captaining the side in 2000–01. He was then signed by Wigan Athletic of the then English Second Division for £500,000 in 2001. De Vos captained the side to its promotion to the First Division in 2002–03 and was named in that season's PFA Division Two Team of the Year. Following an injury-plagued 2003–04, which saw Wigan just miss out on a Premier League play-off place, De Vos left on a Bosman transfer and joined Ipswich Town. Since joining Ipswich, he held down a regular place in the centre of defence, often playing through many injuries and even captaining the team in Jim Magilton's absence. In June 2006, Magilton was appointed manager of Ipswich Town and made de Vos the new captain. He retired from club and international soccer in 2008.

International career
De Vos represented Canada at the 1991 Pan American Games. He appeared in 49 full internationals, scoring four goals. He debuted on August 19, 1997, in a 1–0 home loss friendly to Iran. He has represented Canada in 11 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played at the 2001 Confederations Cup. He captained the Canadian team from 1999 until his retirement from international soccer in 2004. De Vos was named a tournament all-star for both the 2000 and 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments, in which Canada were placed first and third respectively. He scored the winning goal in the final of the 2000 Gold Cup, a match Canada won 2–0 over Colombia.

Retirement
After the final match of the 2007–08 season in the 1–0 win over Hull City, De Vos announced his immediate retirement from playing to take up a media role in his native Canada and was given a guard of honour and standing ovation during the teams parade lap of the pitch.

De Vos will also scout players from the MLS for former-club Ipswich Town.

De Vos provided commentary on the FIFA 2010 World Cup for CBC and on Toronto FC matches for CBC and GolTV Canada.

De Vos was the colour Commentator for CBC Sports's coverage of Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Fall of 2010 he accepted the position of Technical Director at Oakville Soccer Club.

On May 4, de Vos stepped down as Technical Director at Oakville Soccer Club after accepting a full-time position with TSN as a broadcaster.

In 2012, as part of the Canadian Soccer Association's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team.

Since April 2013 is de Vos Member of the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame.

In January 2015, de Vos confirmed that he would begin work towards his UEFA Pro Licence in May of that year in Ireland.

On August 30, 2016, he was named the Director of Development for the Canadian Soccer Association.

In January 2024, he joined Toronto FC as an assistant coach.

International

 * Source:

International goals

 * Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each de Vos goal.

Player
Wigan Athletic
 * Football League Second Division: 2002–03

Canada
 * CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2000

Individual
 * CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2000, 2002
 * CONCACAF Gold Cup Fair Play Award: 2000
 * Canadian Player of the Year: 2002
 * Manchester Evening News/GMR Sports Personality of the Month: April 2003
 * Wigan Athletic Player of the Year: 2002–03
 * PFA Team of the Year: 2002–03 Second Division
 * Ipswich Town Players' Player of the Year: 2005–06
 * Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame: Inducted 2013
 * Ipswich Town F.C. Hall of Fame: Inducted 2019

title: Jason de Vos


text:
Buckskinning

Buckskinning is a branch of historical reenactment concentrating on the fur trade with different areas in the period of the Old West (approximately dated between 1800 and 1840). Participants may choose to portray mountain men, American Indians, traders, missionaries, or anybody else who might have been in the Rocky Mountains between 1800 and 1840.

Buckskinning grew out of the increased interest in gunpowder and muzzleloader firearms in the last decades of the 20th century. Many buckskinners also participate in other historical reenactment groups, particularly those involving antique and replica firearms, such as American Civil War and Revolutionary War reenactment.

Buckskinners' gatherings are called rendezvous after the large "Rendezvous" held during the years when beaver fur hats were the height of fashion, and beaver pelts commanded high prices. At a rendezvous, everybody is expected to dress in styles appropriate to the period, as far as possible, and authenticity in all things is encouraged, consistent with health and modern law. There are competitions in marksmanship with muzzle-loading firearms, bows, tomahawks and knife throwing, demonstrations of period skills, and commerce in goods related to the hobby.

title: Buckskinning


text:
Japanese destroyer Hayate (1925)

The Japanese destroyer Hayate (疾風) was one of nine Kamikaze-class destroyer (1922) destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). During the Pacific War, she was sunk by American coast-defense guns during the Battle of Wake Island in December 1941, the first Japanese warship to be lost during the war. Only a single man of her crew was rescued.

Design and description
The Kamikaze class was an improved version of the Minekaze-class destroyers. The ships had an overall length of 102.5 m and were 97.5 m between perpendiculars. They had a beam of 9.1 m, and a mean draft of 2.9 m. The Kamikaze-class ships displaced 1422 t at standard load and 1747 t at deep load. They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 38500 shp, which would propel the ships at 37.3 kn. During sea trials, the ships comfortably exceeded their designed speeds, reaching 38.7 to 39.2 kn. The ships carried 420 t of fuel oil which gave them a range of 3600 nmi at 14 kn. Their crew consisted of 148 officers and crewmen.

The main armament of the Kamikaze-class ships consisted of four 12 cm Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure, one between the two funnels and the last pair back to back atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. The ships carried three above-water twin sets of 53.3 cm torpedo tubes; one mount was between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other two were between the aft funnel and aft superstructure. Early in the war, the No. 4 gun and the aft torpedo tubes were removed in exchange for four depth charge throwers and 18 depth charges.

Construction and career
Hayate, built at the Ishikawajima Shipyards in Tokyo, was laid down on 11 November 1922, launched on 24 March 1925 and completed on 21 December 1925. Originally commissioned simply as Destroyer No. 13, the ship was assigned the name Hayate on 1 August 1928.

Pacific War
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Hayate was assigned to Destroyer Division 29 under Destroyer Squadron 6 of the 4th Fleet. She sortied from Kwajalein on 8 December as part of the Wake Island invasion force. This consisted of the light cruisers JAPANESE CRUISER Yūbari, JAPANESE CRUISER Tenryū, and JAPANESE CRUISER Tatsuta, the destroyers JAPANESE DESTROYER Yayoi, JAPANESE DESTROYER Kisaragi, JAPANESE DESTROYER Mutsuki, JAPANESE DESTROYER Mochizuki, Hayate, and JAPANESE DESTROYER Oite, two old Momi-class destroyer vessels converted to patrol boats (Patrol Boat No. 32 and Patrol Boat No. 33), and two troop transports containing 450 Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF) troops.

The Japanese approached the island early on the morning of 11 December, and the warships began to bombard the island at a range of 9000 yd at 05:30. As none of the six 5 in coast-defense guns replied, Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka, commander of the invasion forces, ordered his ships to close the island, believing that the American guns had been destroyed by the earlier aerial attacks. Encouraging this, Major James Devereux, commander of the United States Marine garrison, had ordered his men to hold their fire until he gave the order to do so. After the Japanese ships had closed to a range of 4500 yd, he ordered his guns to open fire. Battery L, based on Peale Islet, engaged their closest target, Hayate, and hit her on the third salvo. After a large explosion aft, she broke in half and sank within two minutes at coordinates 19.26667°N, 166.61667°W, two miles (3 km) southwest of Wake. The location of the explosion makes it probable that the shells struck one of the aft torpedo mounts, or, less likely, the depth charges on the stern. Only one man from the 169 men aboard was rescued. She was the first warship lost by the Japanese during the war. The quick loss of Hayate and the near misses around his flagship, Yūbari, caused Kajioka to order his forces to disengage.

title: Japanese destroyer Hayate (1925)


text:
Port Dickson (town)

Port Dickson (Negeri Sembilan Malay: Podeksen, Jawi: ), colloquially referred to as PD is a beach resort in Port Dickson District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. It is the second largest urban area in Negeri Sembilan after Seremban, its state capital. The town's administration is run by the Port Dickson Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Port Dickson; MPPD), formerly known as the Port Dickson Sanitary Board (Lembaga Kesihatan Port Dickson) from 29 March 1928 until 28 February 1950, Port Dickson Town Board (Lembaga Bandaran Port Dickson) from 1 March 1950 until 30 November 1979, Port Dickson District Council (Majlis Daerah Port Dickson) from 1 December 1979 until 1 February 2002.

History

The town used to produce charcoal and therefore was called Arang (Malay: "charcoal") - there used to be a carbon mine at the first mile of the coast road (hence named Jalan Pantai) - but it was later developed as a small port by the British during the Straits Settlement period. Port Dickson was also known as Tanjung (Malay: "cape"), alluding to the town centre's location on a small peninsula. The oldest shophouses were the four situated presently at Jalan Lama.

Historically what is today Port Dickson and nearby Lukut were then part of the Luak of Kelang, one of the original nine chiefdoms (luak) that form the first iteration of Negeri Sembilan in 1773. By early 1800s, it was then part of Selangor. On 30 July 1880, a meeting was held in Singapore between Sultan Abdul Samad (then Sultan of Selangor), Raja Bot (the ruler of Lukut district), Dato' Kelana of Sungai Ujong as well as the British, in which Selangor cedes the district of Lukut to Sungai Ujong (which later became the modern day Negeri Sembilan). Tin ore was plentiful in Lukut, an area within the Port Dickson district, during the 1820s, and it attracted Chinese immigrant miners. The British considered the area to have great potential as a harbour. It was intended to supersede the port in Pengkalan Kempas. The in-charge officer's name was Dickson, and thereafter the town was named Port Dickson. Others claim that Sir John Frederick Dickson, colonial secretary, a senior official of the Straits Settlements founded Port Dickson and Pulau Arang in 1889.

Port Dickson evolved into a busy trading centre. Railways were constructed to facilitate the growth and development of Port Dickson. Although Port Dickson experienced rapid development, its beaches are fairly well preserved.

Since 1933, Port Dickson is also home to many army camps of the Malaysian Army such as the Army Basic Training Centre (PUSASDA), Sebatang Karah, Segenting, Si Rusa and Sunggala.

Economy
A resort town, Port Dickson thrives primarily on tourism. Nevertheless, there are other sectors that contribute to the town's economic growth. Along with Nilai and Seremban, Port Dickson is part of the Malaysia Vision Valley, a growth corridor initiated by the Negeri Sembilan state government which aims to develop the western half of Negeri Sembilan to complement the existing development in the neighbouring Klang Valley and the Greater Kuala Lumpur area as a whole.

Residential and commercial real estate transactions in Port Dickson have seen notable activity in recent months.

Oil and gas production
Port Dickson has two refineries which make significant contributions to the local economy. Shell Refining Company has been operating since 1962 while Petron (formerly ExxonMobil Malaysia) operates another refinery which began operation in 1963.

In 2016, Shell Refining Company underwent a transition of its major shareholder. Currently, the majority shareholder is Malaysia Hengyuan International Limited (MHIL) as at 22 December 2016 with an equity stake of 51.02 percent. Shell Refining Company is then changed to Hengyuan Refining Company.

Tourism
The 18 km long beach from Tanjung Gemuk to Tanjung Tuan is a holiday destination for local visitors, especially those who come from the Klang Valley. Many Singaporeans have invested in holiday homes in and around Port Dickson. Over the years, many hotels and resorts were opened to capitalize on the tourist draw. In the 1990s, Port Dickson boomed with new hotels and resorts being planned and constructed. Due to the Asian financial crisis of 1997, however, many of these projects stalled, leaving many unfinished buildings scattered along the Port Dickson coastline. While some of these half constructed resorts are still abandoned, with the improving economy of the 2000s, many of the projects were eventually revived and completed.

Lukut
Lukut is the northeastern suburb of the Port Dickson town proper. Overall, it has residential, shop units, shopping mall, hotels and tourism attractions. Some of the attractions in the area include Alive 3D Art Gallery and Wild West Cowboy Indoor Amusement park, 5D cinema, Awake Horror Thrills, Skunk Show, Children Amusement. In 2018, Tasik Villa International Resort, which includes a man-made lake, was launched.

Sailing related
Linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Straits of Malacca is the shortest sea route between three of the world's most populous countries - India, China, and Indonesia. Inspired by the sea trade, ex-pats founded the Royal Port Dickson Yacht Club (RPDYC) in 1927, which still offers dinghy sailing courses and runs regattas. Unknown to most, Malaysia's developmental sailing teams, starting at the Optimist Dinghy level, train in and sail from the RPDYC to the Port Dickson Polytechnic.

The newer five-star Admiral Marina & Leisure Club has good dock facilities for yacht travellers, sailboats and luxury cruisers. It is a transit point for racing sailboats joining the Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta, Royal Langkawi International Regatta and Thailand's Phuket Kings Cup regattas. Admiral Marina also hosted the disabled sailing event of the 2009 ASEAN Para Games and the 2006 FESPIC Games.

Commerce
As of 2016, there around eight shopping centres in the town that serve its population.

One of the largest company originated from Port Dickson is Alpro Pharmacy. It was founded in year 2001 in Port Dickson with its first outlet set up at Oceanic Mall (Currently known as Regina Mall). To date, Alpro Pharmacy has 140 branches in Malaysia and has been awarded by Malaysia Book of Records with ‘The Most Number of Prescription Dispensed by a Community Pharmacy in Malaysia'.

Politics
The town is represented in the Dewan Rakyat of the Malaysian Parliament as the Port Dickson (federal constituency). It is currently represented by Aminuddin Harun of People's Justice Party (PKR).

In turn, Port Dickson contributes five seats to the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly:

 * Lukut;
 * Chuah;
 * Sri Tanjung;
 * Bagan Pinang; and
 * Linggi.

Lukut is currently held by Choo Ken Hwa of the Democratic Action Party (DAP); Chuah and Sri Tanjung are held by PKR, and the remaining two seats, Bagan Pinang and Linggi, are currently controlled by United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

Following a September 2016 re-delineation exercise, the Port Dickson name was used for the whole parliamentary constituency replacing Telok Kemang, while the boundaries remain unchanged.

Car
Port Dickson is easily accessible from most major towns of peninsular Malaysia. The Seremban–Port Dickson Highway (operated by PLUS) or the Federal Route 53 connects Port Dickson to Seremban, the state capital.

Federal Route 5 runs through downtown Port Dickson and links it to Malacca and then Johor Bahru due south, or Kuala Langat, Klang or even Ipoh due north.

Public transportation
There was a 39 km-long branch line of the KTMB network linking Port Dickson to, but operations were ceased in 2008. There were plans to reopen the line for freight and passenger services, but the plan did not see any rebuilding as of 2020. Ultimately, KTMB decided to have the Port Dickson line undergo quiet dismantling works, and in phases starting from July 2022.

title: Port Dickson (town)


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Category:Rock in Opposition

Rock in Opposition or RIO refers a movement representing a collective of bands that appeared at the RIO festivals or bands and musicians related to, derived from or "sounds like" the original RIO bands.

While Rock in Opposition is strictly not a style of music, it is often used to link bands and musicians to the "collective style of music" of the original RIO bands. Bands within this classification may also be described as progressive rock or post-rock.

__NOGALLERY__

title: Category:Rock in Opposition


text:
User:Aramgutang/Gallery

Various photos that I've taken. I'm still in the progress of organising, retouching and uploading my photo collection, and this page should receive quite a bit of growth in the upcoming weeks.

Rocks
Images I took at the Natural History Museum in London, all released into the public domain.

title: User:Aramgutang/Gallery


text:
Sandakan

Sandakan formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of the state in the administrative centre of Sandakan Division and was the former capital of British North Borneo. In 2010, the city had an estimated population of 157,330 while the overall municipal area had a total population of 396,290. The population of the municipal area had increased to 439,050 by the 2020 Census.

Before the founding of Sandakan, Sulu Archipelago was the source of dispute between Spain and the Sultanate of Sulu for economic dominance in the region. By 1864, Spain had blockaded the Sultanate possessions in the Sulu Archipelago. The Sultanate of Sulu awarded a German consular service ex-member a piece of land in the Sandakan Bay to seek protection from Germany. In 1878, the Sultanate sold north-eastern Borneo to an Austro-Hungarian consul who later left the territory to a British colonial merchant. The German presence over the area raised concern among the British. As a result, a protocol was signed between the British, German and the Spanish to recognise Spanish sovereignty over the Sulu Archipelago, in return for the Spanish not intervening in British affairs in northern Borneo.

Sandakan began to prosper when the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) started to build a new settlement in 1879, developing it into an active commercial and trading centre as well as making it the main administrative centre for North Borneo. The British also encouraged the migration of the Chinese from British Hong Kong to develop the economy of Sandakan. However, the prosperity halted when the Japanese occupied the area. As the war continued and Allied bombing started in 1944, the town was totally destroyed. Unable to fund the costs of the reconstruction, the administrative powers of North Borneo were handed over to the Crown Colony government. Subsequently, the administrative capital of North Borneo was moved to Jesselton. As part of the 1948–1955 Colonial Office Reconstruction and Development Plan, the crown colony government began to develop the fishing industry in Sandakan.

Sandakan is one of the main ports for oil, tobacco, coffee, sago, and timber exports. Other economic activities include fishing, ship building, eco-tourism, and manufacturing. Among the tourist attractions in Sandakan are Sandakan Heritage Museum, Sandakan Cultural Festival, Sandakan War Memorial, Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary, Turtle Islands National Park, and Gomantong Caves.

Etymology
A first European settlement was built by a Scottish arms smuggler from Glasgow named William Clark Cowie who named the settlement "Sandakan", (which in the Suluk language means "The place that was pawned"). It was soon renamed Kampong German (Kampung Jerman), due to the presence of several German bases there. When another new settlement was built shortly after the previous Cowie settlement had been destroyed by a fire, it was called as Elopura, meaning "beautiful town". The name was given by the British North Borneo Company but the locals persisted to use the old name and later it was changed back to Sandakan. Besides Elopura, it was also nicknamed Little Hong Kong due to a strong presence of ethnic Chinese migration from Hong Kong (mainly Cantonese and Hakka). It was Pryer who gave the settlement the name Elopura meaning "beautiful town". Several years later the settlement was again renamed Sandakan. The name Elopura, however, is still used for some local government functions of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly, including elections. The town is usually referred as "Sandakan" nowadays instead of "Elopura" or "Little Hong Kong". However, efforts have been made to develop Sandakan so that the town is fitting to have the name of "Little Hong Kong" again.

History
Like most of Borneo, this area was once under the control of the Bruneian Empire in the 15th century before being ceded to the Sultanate of Sulu between the 17th and 18th centuries as a gift for helping the Bruneian forces during the Brunei Civil War. Since the 18th century, Sandakan start to be ruled by the Sultanate of Sulu. In 1855, when Spanish power began to expand in the Philippine archipelago, they began to restrict the trade of foreign nations with Sulu by establishing a port in Zamboanga and issuing a ruling which declared that ships wanting to engage in trade with the Sulu Archipelago must first visit the Spanish port. In 1860, the Sultanate of Sulu became important to the British as their archipelago could allow the British to dominate trade routes from Singapore to Mainland China. But in 1864, William Frederick Schuck, a German ex-member for the German consular service arrived in Sulu and met Sultan Jamal ul-Azam, who encouraged him to remain in Jolo. Schuck associated himself with the Singapore-German trading firm of Schomburg and began working in the interest of the Sultan and Datu Majenji, who was an overlord in the island of Tawi-Tawi. While he continued his voyage to Celebes, he decided to open his first headquarters at Jolo. Large quantities of arms, opium, textiles and tobacco from Singapore were shipped to Tawi-Tawi in exchange for slaves from the Sultanate.

In November 1871, Spanish gunboats bombarded Samal villages in Tawi-Tawi islands and blockaded Jolo. As war in the waters of Sulu began to escalate, the Sultanate came to rely on Singapore's market for assistance. When the Sultanate increased their close trade relations with the British trading ports of Labuan and Singapore, this forced the Spanish to take another major step to conquer the Sulu Archipelago. The arrival of German warship Nymph at the Sulu Sea in 1872 to investigate the Sulu-Spanish conflict made the Sultanate believe Schuck was connected with the German government, thus the Sultanate granted Schuck an area of land in the Sandakan Bay to establish a trading port to monopolise the rattan trade in the northeast coast where Schuck could operate freely without the Spanish blockade. The intervention of Germans on the Sulu issue caught the British' attention and made them suspicious, especially when the Sultanate had asked for protection from them. Schuck then established warehouses and residences in the Sandakan Bay, along with the arrival of two steamers under the German flag and it served as a base for the running of gunpowder and firearms. When another German warship Hertha visited Sandakan Bay, its commander described the activity in Kampung Jerman:

"... during our stay, two small steamers under German flag, ostensibly coming from Labuan, ran in; also third, of about the same size, with a flag of all yellow, the property and flag, as I was told of the Datu Alum. Judging from the stores in the settlement, cotton goods, arms and especially firearms, appears to be the articles of trade with the natives of Sulu."

In 1875, an Austro-Hungarian consul named Baron von Overbeck purchased the rights to a defunct American trading company in Borneo. After efforts by Overbeck to sell northern Borneo to the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy were unsuccessful, he went into business with Alfred Dent in 1877. In 1877 the Sultan of Brunei agreed to lease land to Overbeck, and in 1878 the Sultanate of Sulu similarly ceded their rights to land in north-eastern Borneo. Dent succeeded in obtaining British government backing for his North Borneo Company in 1881. Sandakan became the capital of North Borneo in 1884, replacing Kudat.

As the capital of North Borneo, Sandakan become an active commercial and trading centre. The main trading partners were Hong Kong and Singapore. Many Hong Kong traders eventually settled in Sandakan and in time the town was called the 'Little Hong Kong of North Borneo'. The Cowie settlement was accidentally burnt down on 15 June 1879 and was never thereafter rebuilt. The first British Resident, William B. Pryer then moved the administration to a new settlement on 21 June 1879 to a residence in what is today known as Buli Sim Sim near Sandakan Bay.

During Pryer's tenure of being the first resident of Sandakan, one of his first tasks was to establish law and order. The situation in the nascent colony remained tense, with the Borneans being hostile towards the authority of the British North Borneo Company, and all-out warfare prevented only by the presence of Royal Navy ships offshore. To resolve the situation, Pryer imported policemen from British India and Singapore. His first contingent of police was made up of Indian Sikhs with a large body stature. The Indian police were probably from the Sepoy Company in India and were generally called 'Sipai' by the locals.

Meanwhile, the Spanish continued to strengthen their blockade of trade activities in the Sulu Archipelago, resulting in the blockade's opposition by Germans when many of their trading ships were seized by Spain. Both the German and British governments stated the archipelago should remain open to world trade route. Soon, the British began to co-operate with the Germans when rumours about the seizure of their trading ship by the Spanish began arriving to Great Britain which lead the British to oppose the Spanish action. British and Germans then refused to recognise the Spanish sovereignty over Sulu. But with strong opposition from Germans over the illegal seizures of their ships and the British fear of the German presence (which was stronger than the Spanish during the time), a protocol known as Madrid Protocol was then signed in Madrid to secure Spanish sovereignty over the archipelago, making the Spanish free to wage any war with the Sultanate of Sulu without the fear of other foreign western powers intervening and as a return the Spanish would not intervene in the affairs of British in northern Borneo.

The prosperity of Sandakan as the capital of North Borneo was however ended when the Japanese occupied the town on 19 January 1942. During their occupation, the Japanese restored the town's previous name, Elopura and established a prisoner of war camp to hold their captive enemies. Allied planes started to raid Sandakan in September 1944. As the Japanese feared further retaliation from the Allied forces, they began to move all prisoners and forced them to march to Ranau. Thousands of British and Australian soldiers lost their lives during this forced march in addition to Javanese labourers from the Dutch East Indies. Only six Australian soldiers survived from this camp, all after escaping. Sandakan was completely destroyed both by bombing from Allied forces and by the Japanese occupation.

At the end of the war, the British North Borneo Company returned to administer the town but were unable to finance the costs of reconstruction. They gave control of North Borneo to the British Crown on 15 July 1946. The new colonial government chose to move the capital of North Borneo to Jesselton instead of rebuilding it as the cost of reconstruction was higher due to the damage. Although Sandakan was no longer the administrative capital, it still remained as the "economic capital" with its port activities related to the export of timber and other agricultural products in the east coast. To improve the facilities, the Crown Colony administration designed a plan, later known as the "Colonial Office Reconstruction and Development Plan for North Borneo: 1948–1955”. This plan established the Sandakan Fisheries Department in April 1948. As a first step towards the development of Sandakan's fishing industry, the Crown Colony devised the "Young Working Plan" through the "Colonial Development and Welfare Scheme". Through this plan, the British administration were given the responsibility to import basic materials from Hong Kong for fishermen and distribute the materials at a price lower than the one offered by the capitalists. As a result, Hong Kong towkays (bosses) were involved with the fishing industry in Sandakan.

Government and international relations
The town has twin town arrangements with Burwood, Australia and Zamboanga, Philippines.

The town is administered by the Sandakan Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Sandakan). The current President of Sandakan Municipal Council is Henry Idol, who took over from Benedict Asmat in February 2023. The area under the jurisdiction of the Sandakan District covers the town area (46 square miles), half-town area (56 square miles), rural areas and islands (773 square miles) with all the total area are 875 square miles.

Security
Sandakan is one of the six districts that is involved in the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM), a dusk to dawn sea curfew which had been enforced since 19 July 2014 by the Malaysian government to repel attacks from militant groups in the Southern Philippines.

Geography
Sandakan is located on the eastern coast of Sabah facing the Sulu Sea, with the town is known as one of the port towns in Malaysia. The town is located approximately 1,900 kilometres from the Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, 28 kilometres from the international border with the Philippines and 319 kilometres from Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah. The district itself is surrounded by Beluran (known as Labuk-Sugut District before) and Kinabatangan district. Not far from the town, there are the three Malaysian Turtle Islands, Selingaan, Gulisaan and Bakkungan Kechil. The nearest islands to the town are Berhala, Duyong, Nunuyan Darat, Nunuyan Laut, and Bai island.

Climate
Sandakan has a tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification. The climate is relatively hot and wet with average shade temperature about 32 °C, with around 32 °C at noon falling to around 27 °C at night. The town sees precipitation throughout the year, with a tendency for October to February to be the wettest months, while April is the driest month. Its mean rainfall varies from 2184 mm to 3988 mm.

Ethnicity and religion
According to the Malaysian Census in 2010, the whole town municipality's area had a total population of 396,290. Non-Malaysian citizens form the majority of the town population with 144,840 people followed by other Bumiputras (100,245), Chinese (63,201), Bajau/Suluk (38,897), Malay (Bruneian Malays as well as Kedayans who are migrants from the West Coast and their descendants together with ethnic Cocos Malay internal migrants from the Tawau division, as well as ethnic Malays native to the town originating from these ethnic groups such as the Bugis, Javanese and Banjarese peoples) (22,244), Kadazan-Dusun (16,616), Indian (974), Murut and Lundayeh (519) and others (8,754). The 2020 Census showed a growth in the municipal population to 439,050.

Most of the non-Malaysian citizens are from the southern Philippines. The Chinese population here are equal proportions of mostly Cantonese (descendants of seafaring traders who settled in the East Coast of North Borneo then) and also Hakka (mostly descended from voluntary migrants and Taiping Rebellion refugees), who arrived during the British period and had their original settlements before in the town which is now known as the Chinese Farm River Village. The Bajau, Suluk and Malays are majority Muslims, Kadazan-Dusuns and Muruts mainly practice Christianity with some of them having become Muslims while the Chinese are mainly Buddhists, Taoist and some Christians. There is also a small number of Hindus, Sikhs, Animists, and secularists.

The large group of non-citizens have been identified as a majority Muslim, and there are some Christian Filipino women who converted to Islam to marry Muslim Filipinos here. Like in Kota Kinabalu, the first wave of these immigrants arrived in the late 15th century during the Spanish colonisation, while the others arrived in the early 1970s because of the troubles in southern Philippines. They consist of migrant workers, with many of them being naturalised as Malaysian citizens. However, there are still many who live without proper documentation as illegal immigrants in the town with their own illegal settlement.

Languages
Like the national language, the people of Sandakan mainly speak Malay, with a distinct Sabahan creole. The Malay language in Sandakan are different from the Malay language in the west coast which resembles Brunei Malay. In Sandakan, this language has been influenced by many words from the Suluk language. As Sandakan had also been dominated by the Hakka and Cantonese Chinese, Hakka and Cantonese widely spoken, while today Mandarin, as well as a lesser extent Cantonese dominates as the lingua franca among both dialect subgroups (since both the local ethnic Chinese populations native to this town shares the same ancestral province in China, Guangdong, in the case of the usage of the Cantonese dialect as a lingua franca amongst both the local Cantonese and Hakka populations, while Mandarin is the standardized spoken form of the Chinese language used in the business and education sectors). While for the east coast Bajau, their language has similarities with the Sama language in the Philippines and also borrowed many words from the Suluk language which is different from the west coast Bajau who had been influenced by the Malayic languages of Brunei Malay.

Economy
During the British period, Sandakan grew quickly as one of the largest British settlements on the east coast of North Borneo including having been the former capital of the territory. It grew rapidly due to the export activities as a port town. The port is important for palm oil, tobacco, cocoa, coffee, manila hemp and sago exports. In the mid-1930s, the export of tropical timber from Sandakan recorded a level of 180,000 cubic metres which made the town as the world's largest exporter of hardwood. Many Sandakan wood logs are now found in Beijing's Temple of Heaven. Sandakan also enjoyed modern developments such as telegraph service to London and paved streets before Hong Kong and Singapore.

The overseas Chinese have contributed to the development of the town since their immigration in the late 19th century. The immigrants to Sandakan were farmers and labourers while some of them worked as businessmen and entrepreneurs. In the modern days, Sandakan have been poised to become one of Sabah business hubs. The town itself is one of Sabah's major port, other than in Kota Kinabalu, Sepanggar Bay, Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kudat, Semporna and Kunak. Sandakan district is known for its eco-tourism centres, such as the orangutan rehabilitation station in Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre, the Turtle Islands Park, the Kinabatangan River and the Gomantong Caves which are famous for their edible bird's nest. Due to Sandakan geographical proximity to Southern Philippines, there is also a barter trade connection and Sandakan is considered as a transit point for food entering the Southern Philippines. The state government has been assisting traders to improve their trading system and providing infrastructure facilities.

Sandakan main industrial zones are basically based on three areas such as the Kamunting area known for its oil depots, edible oil refinery and glue factories. In Batu Sapi, a shipyard, fertiliser oxygen gas and wood-based factories are situated. Since 2012, the State Public Works Department (PWD) has undertaking three projects to upgrade roads in Sandakan. A grand specialised industrial park, Majulah Industrial Centre have also started operating in 2015. The proposed Seguntor industrial area consists of 1,950 hectares (4,833 acres) is originally an agricultural area and the area is now in the process to be re-zoning into an industrial area. 2,531 acres will be for wood-based industries while another 2,302 will be used for general industries. At present, 55 wood-based factories have been approved, of which 35 has been into operation. While another total of 340 hectares area for general industries and 30 hectares for service industries are located in various parts of Sandakan.

But in recent years, many businessmen have shifted their operations away from the town centre to other suburbs due to a large presence of illegal immigrants from Mindanao islands in the Philippines which has caused trouble, mostly crime such as theft and vandalism on public facility and also solid waste pollution in marine and coastal areas. But later in January 2003, an urban renewal project, was launched to revive the town centre as a commercial hub in Sandakan and since 2013, the Government of Malaysia has launched a major crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Transportation
All the internal roads linking different parts of the town are generally state roads constructed and maintained by the state's Public Works Department, while the local council (Sandakan Municipal Council) oversees the housing estates roads. Currently, most roads in Sandakan are undergoing major upgrades due to issues like the lack of road networks and overloading. There is only one federal arterial road which links Sandakan to the west coast of Sabah, the Federal Route 22, while other roads including the internal roads are called state roads. Most major internal roads are dual-carriageways. The only highway route from Tawau connects: Sandakan – Telupid – Ranau – Kundasang – Tamparuli – Tuaran – Kota Kinabalu, as well Lahad Datu – Kunak – Semporna – Tawau (part of the Pan Borneo Highway)

Regular bus services with minivans and taxis also can be found. There are three bus terminals operating in the town such as the Buses to Sepilok, Local Bus Terminal and the Long Distance Bus Terminal. The long-distance bus terminal is located about 4 km north of the town while the local bus connects with the centre of the town.

Sandakan Airport (SA) (ICAO Code : WBKS) provides flights linking the town to other domestic destinations. To boost the twin town relationship with Zamboanga City and for the ASEAN spirit in the BIMP-EAGA region, there is an international route from Sandakan to Zamboanga International Airport. Local destinations for the airport including Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Kuala Lumpur and many others. It is also one of the destinations for MASWings, which serves flights to other smaller towns or rural areas in East Malaysia. As of 2014, the airport is being upgraded and expanded to accommodate additional travellers.

There is a ferry terminal which connects the town with some parts in the Southern Philippines such as Zamboanga City, the Sulu Archipelago and Tawi-Tawi. The state government have tried to proposed a new ferry terminal in the town to attract more tourist particularly from the Philippines and also from Indonesia. But the proposal was turned down due to the trouble in the southern Philippines which could spread to the state and there is a call from the former Chief Minister of Sabah and the Current President of Sabah Progressive Party Yong Teck Lee to suspend the ferry service to counter the high level of people migration from the Philippines which now has become the major problem to Sabah as they are overstaying in the state and becoming an illegal immigrants.

Public services
The first court in the city was built in 1957. Due to increasing demand following an expanding population, the Sessions’ court and Magistrates' court were shifted to the Sandakan Municipal Council building (Wisma Warisan) opposite in 1990, while the High Court remained in the old building. The Sandakan War Monument is located near these buildings.

In 2001, a new court complex was built in mile 7. The new court complex was completed and started operating in 2003. It was then being launch in 2005. After the new court complex started operating, the old court was then being left completely abandoned. Another court for the Sharia law was also located in the town.

The district police headquarters is located at Lebuh Empat, along with the town police station located not far from the court beside the Wisma Sandakan. Other police station can be found throughout the district such as in KM52, Ulu Dusun and in Seguntor. Police substations (Pondok Polis) are found in Sg. Manila, Suan Lamba, Sibuga and Kim Fong BT4 areas, and the Sandakan Prison is located in the town centre.

There are one public hospital, eight public health clinics, one child and mother health clinic, eight village clinics, three mobile clinics and two 1Malaysia clinics in Sandakan. The Duchess of Kent Hospital, which is located along North Street (Jalan Utara), is the main and second largest public hospital in Sabah after the Queen Elizabeth Hospital with 400 beds. Built in 1951, it is also become the first modern and one of the important hospital in Sabah.

In 2008, a private hospital was proposed to be built at the North Street. The Fook Kuin Medical Centre would be the largest private hospital in Sabah with 276 beds surpassing the Sabah Medical Centre with 134 beds in Kota Kinabalu once it finished in 2011. The Sandakan Regional Library is located in the town and is one of three regional libraries in Sabah, the other in Keningau and Tawau. All these libraries are operated by the Sabah State Library department.

Education
There are many government or state schools in and around the town. The first primary school in the town was St. Mary Town Primary School which was opened by Rev. Fr. A. Prenger who became the first headmaster along with Rev. Fr. Pundleider, who is a Mill Hill's priests. It is an all boys Catholic Mission School and have been opened since 24 July 1883, making it as the oldest school in Borneo. Notable secondary schools include Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Elopura II St Cecilia's Convent Secondary School, St. Michael's Secondary School, and Sung Siew Secondary School. One independent private school is also present in the town called the Yu Yuan Secondary School.

Culture and leisure
Several cultural venues are located in Sandakan. The Sandakan Heritage Museum, situated at the Lebuh Empat Road, is the main museum of Sandakan. The museum is located on the right-hand side of the ground and on the first floor of the Wisma Warisan Building which is next to the municipal building. Besides that, a cultural festival known as Sandakan Festival is celebrated once a year in the town, after having been introduced in 2000 by the Sandakan Municipal Council.

Another museum in Sandakan is the Agnes Keith House which is located on top of the hill along Istana Street. The house is known as the former home to Harry Keith and his wife Agnes Newton Keith. Other historical attractions include the Chartered Company Memorial, Chong Tain Vun Memorial, Japanese Bunker, Malaysia Fountain, Marian Hill, Mill Hill Dam, North Borneo Scout Movement Memorial, Sandakan Japanese Cemetery, Sandakan Liberation Monument, Sandakan Massacre Memorial, Sandakan Memorial Park, Sandakan War Memorial and the William Pryer Memorial. The oldest religious buildings are the St. Mary's Cathedral, Parish of St. Michael's and All Angels, the Sam Sing Kung Temple and the Jamek Mosque, which was opened by a Muslim cloth merchant from India, known as Damsah, in 1890.

A number of leisure spots and conservation areas are available around Sandakan. The Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary is a place where orphaned or injured orangutans are brought to be rehabilitated to return to forest life. Established in 1964, it is one of only four orangutan sanctuaries in the world. Other conservation areas are the Malaysian Turtle Islands where many turtles lay their eggs on the islands. They cover an area of 1,740 hectares which includes the surrounding reefs and seas. The islands are also ideal for swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving. Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is also another wildlife conservation and research centre here and it aims to improve the animal welfare and rehabilitation of the Malayan sun bear.

Another attraction is the Gomantong Caves, which is home to hundreds of thousands of swifts who build their nests high on cave walls and roofs. Other than swifts, the caves are also inhabited by millions of bats. Furthermore, the Sandakan Orchid House has a collection of rare orchids. Along the Labuk Road from Sandakan, there is a crocodile farm which houses about 1,000 crocodiles of various sizes.

The main shopping area in Sandakan is the Harbour Mall. Launched in 2003, it is located in Sandakan's new central business district and built on a bay of reclaimed land. It is part of the Sandakan Harbour Square and considered as the first modern shopping mall in the town. In 2014, a new mall project with 341 units of store has been launched and will become the second main shopping destination for Sandakan once it gets finished.

Rugby is very popular in Sandakan. Eddie Butler, a former Welsh Rugby Union captain described it as the "Limerick of the tropics". In 2008, the Borneo Eagles-Sabahans (a team which included a few professional Fijians) at the newly built Sandakan Rugby Club hosted a 10-a-side tournament for the eighth and last time. In 2009, the tournament was changed to seven-a-side.

Notable residents

 * Fung Bo Bo: Hong Kong actress
 * Alex Lim: Malaysian swimmer
 * Elvin Chia: Malaysian swimmer

title: Sandakan