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[Creeperopolis]

Sanford Koufax (/ˈkoʊfæks/; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. After joining the major leagues at age 19, having never pitched a game in the minor leagues, the first half of his career was marred with inconsistency and control problems, posting a win–loss record of just 36–40 with a 4.10 earned run average. He was a member of World Series champions in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles, though he did not appear in any of the team's Series wins despite pitching brilliantly in the 1959 series. After making adjustments prior to the 1961 season to improve his control and getting more regular playing time, Koufax quickly rose to become the most dominant pitcher in MLB before arthritis in his left elbow ended his career prematurely at age 30.[1]

Koufax was an All-Star in each of his last six seasons,[2] leading the National League (NL) in earned run average each of his last five years, in strikeouts four times, in wins and shutouts three times each, and in winning percentage, innings pitched and complete games twice each; he was the first NL pitcher in 20 years to post an earned run average below 2.00, doing so three times. After setting the modern NL record in 1961 with 269 strikeouts, he became the first pitcher in 17 years and the first left-hander since 1904 to strike out 300 batters, with 306 in 1963. In 1965, he set a then-major league record with 382 strikeouts (it was broken by Nolan Ryan in 1973, but remains the top mark for NL pitchers and left-handers). He was the first pitcher to record a 300-strikeout season three times, and twice tied a modern record by striking out 18 batters in a game.

He won the Cy Young Award in 1963, 1965, and 1966 by unanimous votes, winning the Triple Crown[3][4][5] and leading the Dodgers to a pennant in each of those years; he was the first three-time winner of the award, and the only pitcher to do so when a single award was given instead of one for each league. He was also named the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1963, and was runner-up in 1965 and 1966, behind Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, respectively.[6]

Koufax was the first major league pitcher to throw four no-hitters and, in 1965, became the sixth pitcher and the first left-hander in the modern era (post-1900) to pitch a perfect game. He was named the World Series MVP, leading the Dodgers to titles in 1963 and 1965. He is also notable for being one of the outstanding Jewish athletes in American sports; Koufax's decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, like Hank Greenberg before him, garnered national attention as a conflict between religion and society, and remains a notable event in American Jewish history.[7][8]

At the time of his retirement, Koufax's career earned run average of 2.76 trailed only Whitey Ford among pitchers with at least 2,000 innings pitched since 1925; his .655 winning percentage ranked third among both left-handers and modern NL pitchers. Despite his comparatively short career, his 2,396 career strikeouts ranked seventh in Major League history at the time, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers; his 40 shutouts were tied for ninth in modern NL history. He was the first pitcher in history to average more than nine strikeouts per nine innings pitched, and the first to allow fewer than seven hits per nine innings pitched.[9] At age 36, Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1972, becoming the youngest player ever elected.[2]

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Martinus (Greek: Μαρτίνος, translit. Martínos) or Marinus (Greek: Μαρίνος, romanized: Marínos; possibly died in 641) was caesar of the Byzantine Empire from c. 639 to 641. Martinus was the fifth son of Emperor Heraclius and Empress Martina, who was his second wife and niece. Martinus was elevated to caesar, a junior imperial title that placed him on the line of succession, at some point between 638 and 640 by his father. Heraclius died on 11 February 641, leaving the Byzantine Empire to Martinus's half-brother Constantine III and his elder full brother Heraclonas; Constantine III soon died of tuberculosis, though some of his partisans alleged that Martina poisoned him. One such partisan, Valentinus, led troops to Chalcedon, across the Bosporus strait from the imperial capital, Constantinople, to force Martina to install Constans II, the son of Constantine III, as co-emperor. Valentinus seized Constantinople and forced Martina to install Constans II in September or October 641, and deposed Martina, Heraclonas, and Martinus. Martinus was mutilated and exiled to Rhodes. He died soon after, possibly during or immediately after the surgeries.

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British logistics played a key role in the success of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France in June 1944. The objective of the campaign was to secure a lodgement on the mainland of Europe for further operations. The Allies had to land sufficient forces to overcome the initial opposition and build it up faster than the Germans could respond. Planning for this operation had begun in 1942. The Anglo-Canadian force, the 21st Army Group, consisted of the British Second Army and Canadian First Army. Between them, they had six armoured divisions (including the Polish 1st Armoured Division), ten infantry divisions, two airborne divisions, nine independent armoured brigades and two commando brigades. Logistical units included six supply unit headquarters, 25 Base Supply Depots (BSDs), 83 Detail Issue Depots (DIDs), 25 field bakeries, 14 field butcheries and 18 port detachments. The army group was supported over the beaches and through the Mulberry artificial port specially constructed for the purpose.

During the first seven weeks after the British and Canadian landings in Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944, the advance was much slower than anticipated, and the lodgement area was much smaller. The short lines of communication provided an opportunity to accumulate reserves of supplies. Two army road heads were created, No. 1 Army Roadhead for I Corps and No. 2 Army Roadhead for XXX Corps, these being the two corps ashore at the time. When the Canadian First Army assumed control of the British I Corps on 21 June, No. 1 Army Roadhead also passed to its control. No. 2 Army Roadhead formed the nucleus of what became the Rear Maintenance Area (RMA) of the 21st Army Group. By 26 July, 675,000 personnel, 150,000 vehicles and 690,000 tonnes (680,000 long tons) of stores and 69,000 tonnes (68,000 long tons) of bulk petrol had been landed. Ammunition usage was high, exceeding the daily allocation for the 25-pounder field guns by 8 per cent and for the 5.5-inch medium guns by 24 per cent. Greater priority was given to ammunition shipments, with petrol, oil and lubricant (POL) shipments cut to compensate.

On 25 July, the US First Army began Operation Cobra, the break-out from Normandy. On 26 August, the 21st Army Group issued orders for an advance to the north to capture Antwerp, Belgium. After a rapid advance, the British Guards Armoured Division liberated Brussels, the Belgian capital, on 3 September and the 11th Armoured Division captured Antwerp the following day. The advance was much faster than expected and the rapid increase in the length of the line of communications threw up logistical challenges that, together with increased German resistance, threatened to stall the Allied armies. By mid-September, the Allies had liberated most of France and Belgium. The success of the 21st Army Group was in large part due to its logistics, which provided the operational commanders with enormous capacity and tremendous flexibility.

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Tropical Storm Vicente was an unusually small tropical cyclone that made landfall as a tropical depression in the Mexican state of Michoacán on October 23, 2018, causing deadly mudslides. The 21st named storm of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season,[2] Vicente originated from a tropical wave that departed from Africa's western coast on October 6. The wave traveled westward across the Atlantic and entered the Eastern Pacific on October 17. The disturbance became better defined over the next couple of days, forming into a tropical depression early on October 19. Located in an environment favorable for further development, the system organized into Tropical Storm Vicente later that day.

The small cyclone traveled northwestward along the Guatemalan coast before later shifting to a more westerly track. Vicente peaked late on October 20 with winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 1,002 mbar (29.59 inHg). At its peak, Vicente displayed a sporadic eye feature in its central dense overcast. The storm maintained this intensity for about eighteen hours as it turned towards the southwest. Dry air caused Vicente to weaken on October 21. A brief break from the dry air during the next day allowed the storm to recuperate and slightly strengthen. However, outflow from the nearby Hurricane Willa caused Vicente to weaken into a tropical depression early on October 23. After making landfall near Playa Azul at 13:30 UTC, Vicente quickly lost organization and dissipated a few hours later.

Vicente caused torrential rainfall in the Mexican states of Michoacán, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Guerrero, and Colima; the highest total exceeded 12 in (300 mm) in Oaxaca. In some states, the effects of Vicente compounded those from the nearby Hurricane Willa. The storm left a total of 16 people dead throughout 2 states: 13 in Oaxaca and 3 in Veracruz. The heavy rainfall caused numerous rivers to spill their banks, dozens of landslides to occur, and severe flooding to ensue elsewhere. This resulted in hundreds of homes being inundated, dozens of road closures, and agricultural damage amongst an array of other effects. Plan DN-III-E was activated in multiple states to provide aid to affected individuals. The federal and state governments mobilized to help with relief efforts and repairs.

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Metabolism (/məˈtæbəlɪzəm/, from Greek: μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the conversion of food to building blocks for proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the elimination of metabolic wastes. These enzyme-catalyzed reactions allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. The word metabolism can also refer to the sum of all chemical reactions that occur in living organisms, including digestion and the transportation of substances into and between different cells, in which case the above described set of reactions within the cells is called intermediary (or intermediate) metabolism.

Metabolic reactions may be categorized as catabolic – the breaking down of compounds (for example, of glucose to pyruvate by cellular respiration); or anabolic – the building up (synthesis) of compounds (such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids). Usually, catabolism releases energy, and anabolism consumes energy.

The chemical reactions of metabolism are organized into metabolic pathways, in which one chemical is transformed through a series of steps into another chemical, each step being facilitated by a specific enzyme. Enzymes are crucial to metabolism because they allow organisms to drive desirable reactions that require energy and will not occur by themselves, by coupling them to spontaneous reactions that release energy. Enzymes act as catalysts – they allow a reaction to proceed more rapidly – and they also allow the regulation of the rate of a metabolic reaction, for example in response to changes in the cell's environment or to signals from other cells.

The metabolic system of a particular organism determines which substances it will find nutritious and which poisonous. For example, some prokaryotes use hydrogen sulfide as a nutrient, yet this gas is poisonous to animals.[1] The basal metabolic rate of an organism is the measure of the amount of energy consumed by all of these chemical reactions.

A striking feature of metabolism is the similarity of the basic metabolic pathways among vastly different species.[2] For example, the set of carboxylic acids that are best known as the intermediates in the citric acid cycle are present in all known organisms, being found in species as diverse as the unicellular bacterium Escherichia coli and huge multicellular organisms like elephants.[3] These similarities in metabolic pathways are likely due to their early appearance in evolutionary history, and their retention is likely due to their efficacy.[4][5] In various diseases, such as type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cancer, normal metabolism is disrupted.[6] The metabolism of cancer cells is also different from the metabolism of normal cells, and these differences can be used to find targets for therapeutic intervention in cancer.[7]

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Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis, with a screenplay by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. Starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis, the film tells the story of an upper-class commodities broker (Aykroyd) and a poor street hustler (Murphy) whose lives cross when they are unwittingly made the subject of an elaborate bet to test how each man will perform when their life circumstances are swapped.

Harris conceived the outline for Trading Places in the early 1980s after encountering two wealthy brothers who were engaged in an ongoing rivalry with each other. He and his writing partner Weingrod developed the idea as a project to star Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. When they were unable to participate, Landis cast Aykroyd—with whom he had worked previously—and a young but increasingly popular Murphy in his second feature-film role. Landis also cast Curtis, against the intent of the studio, Paramount Pictures; she was famous mainly for her roles in horror films, which were looked down upon at the time. Principal photography took place from December 1982 to March 1983, entirely on location in Philadelphia and New York City. Elmer Bernstein scored the film, using Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera buffa The Marriage of Figaro as an underlying theme.

Trading Places was considered a box-office success on its release, earning over $90.4 million to become the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1983 in the United States and Canada, and $120.6 million worldwide. It also received generally positive reviews, with critics praising both the central cast and the film's revival of the screwball comedy genre prevalent in the 1930s and 1940s while criticizing Trading Places for lacking the same moral message of the genre while promoting the accumulation of wealth. It received multiple award nominations including an Academy Award for Bernstein's score and won two BAFTA awards for Elliott and Curtis. The film also launched or revitalized the careers of its main cast, who each appeared in several other films throughout the 1980s. In particular, Murphy became one of the highest-paid and most sought after comedians in Hollywood.

In the years since its release, the film has been reassessed both positively and negatively. It has been praised as one of the greatest comedy films and Christmas films ever made, but retrospective assessments have criticized its use of racial jokes and language. In 2010, the film was referenced in Congressional testimony concerning the reform of the commodities trading market designed to prevent the insider trading demonstrated in Trading Places. In 1988, Bellamy and Ameche reprised their characters for Murphy's comedy film Coming to America.

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are you just posting the featured wikipedia article every day

[Avigilon]

On this day, June 8th, in 1783, the Laki volcano in Iceland began a massive eruption, releasing a vast amount of toxic gases and causing a significant environmental impact. The eruption lasted for eight months, resulting in one of the most catastrophic volcanic events in recorded history.

The eruption of the Laki volcano emitted an estimated 122 million metric tons of sulfur dioxide and released ash that covered vast areas of Iceland. The toxic gases and ash had devastating effects on the environment and had far-reaching consequences around the world.

In Iceland, the eruption led to the death of approximately 20-25% of the population due to famine and the direct effects of the eruption, such as respiratory issues. The volcanic ash caused a significant reduction in sunlight, leading to crop failures and a decline in food production.

The effects of the Laki eruption were not limited to Iceland alone. The release of sulfur dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere had a global impact. The aerosols and gases formed a haze layer that spread across the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in unusual weather patterns and adverse effects on agriculture.

Furthermore, the Laki eruption is believed to have influenced weather conditions in Europe and contributed to extreme climatic events. It has been associated with a prolonged period of cold weather in Europe in the years that followed, leading to crop failures and economic hardships.

The environmental impact of the Laki eruption highlighted the interconnectedness of our planet's ecosystems and the potential for volcanic events to have global consequences. It serves as a reminder of the power and significance of Earth's natural forces.

[Triangopolis]

Tropical Storm Vicente was a small tropical cyclone that made landfall as a tropical depression in the Mexican state of Michoacán on October 23, 2018, causing deadly mudslides. The 21st named storm of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season, it originated from a tropical wave that traveled westward from Africa's western coast across the Atlantic and entered the Eastern Pacific on October 17. The disturbance formed into a tropical depression early on October 19 and became Tropical Storm Vicente later that day. It peaked on October 20 with winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 1,002 mbar (29.59 inHg). After making landfall near Playa Azul on October 23, Vicente quickly lost organization and dissipated a few hours later. The storm caused torrential rainfall in the Mexican states of Michoacán, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Guerrero, and Colima; the rainfall exceeded 12 inches (300 mm) in Oaxaca. The storm left 16 people dead

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The 1880 Greenback Party National Convention convened in Chicago from June 9 to 11, 1880, to select presidential and vice presidential nominees and write a party platform for the Greenback Party in the United States presidential election of 1880. Delegates chose James B. Weaver of Iowa for President and Barzillai J. Chambers of Texas for Vice President.

The Greenback Party was a newcomer to the political scene in 1880 having arisen, mostly in the nation's West and South, as a response to the economic depression that followed the Panic of 1873. During the Civil War, Congress had authorized "greenbacks", a form of money redeemable in government bonds, rather than in gold as was traditional. After the war, many Democrats and Republicans in the East sought to return to the gold standard, and the government began to withdraw greenbacks from circulation. The reduction of the money supply, combined with the economic depression, made life harder for debtors, farmers, and industrial laborers; the Greenback Party hoped to draw support from these groups.

Six men were candidates for the presidential nomination. Weaver, an Iowa congressman and Civil War general, was the clear favorite, but two other congressmen, Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts and Hendrick B. Wright of Pennsylvania, also commanded considerable followings. Weaver triumphed quickly, winning a majority of the 850 delegates' votes on the first ballot. Chambers, a Texas businessman and Confederate veteran, was likewise nominated on the initial vote. More tumultuous was the fight over the platform, as delegates from disparate factions of the left-wing movement clashed over women's suffrage, Chinese immigration, and the extent to which the government should regulate working conditions. Votes for women was the most contentious of these, with the party ultimately endorsing the suffragists' cause, despite a vocal minority's opposition.

Weaver and Chambers left the convention with high hopes for the third party's cause, but in the end they were disappointed. The election was a close contest between the Republican, James A. Garfield, and the Democrat, Winfield Scott Hancock, with Garfield being the narrow victor. The Greenback ticket placed a distant third, netting just over three percent of the popular vote.