View allAll Photos Tagged linkup
#125
Head:
Genus - Classic Face W001 @Mainstore
Body:
Inithium - Kupra Meshbody @Mainstore
Outfit:
Top - Mug *NEW* - Eliza Tee @AccessEvent
Joggers - Mug *NEW* - Eliza Pants @AccessEvent
Shoes:
Sneakers - Flite *NEW* - Air Blitz @TMDEvent
Hair:
Hairbase - Revoul - Dumb Blonde Hairbase @Mainstore
Hair - Doux - Seulgi Hairstyle @Mainstore
Accessories:
Headband - Lifonti *NEW* - The Diamond Headband @Mainstore
Nails - Rosary - Dark Knight Nails @Mainstore
Nose ring - Rossi - Diamond Swirl Nose ring @Mainstore
Necklaces - Rossi *NEW* - Don’t Cross Me Necklace @TheDiamondDistrict
Joint - Tredente - Bento Interactive Joint @Equal10Event
Watch - November *NEW* - Bloodrose Diamond Watch @CakeDayEvent
Backdrop:
Paleto *NEW* - Einfarht @AccessEvent
Excerpt from www.mtr.com.hk/en/customer/community/art_archi_link.html:
Art in station architecture
Artwork Title:
Link
Artist Name:
Freeman Lau (Hong Kong)
Artwork Location:
Tung Chung Station - Concourse Level
Form of Artwork:
8 suspended sculptures 2.4m in diameter each
Artwork Completion Date:
December 2003
Artist's Concept:
MTR as a tool to linkup different places and brings people out from urban city to nature. The Artwork as a link between people and nature, lead them to enjoy and appreciate the green environment.
Something blur, out of focus, and abstract for today's post because that's exactly how I've been feeling lately.
Processed with Serendipity texture by Kim Klassen. Put the texture on Screen mode at 41% then I did some level and curve adjustments. Kim is hosting Tuesday Texture Linkup challenge on her blog and I've been having so much fun. She is also giving away her latest texture set for this week's texture. You'll definitely want to check it out ... a lot beauties there! ;)
Ironlak fam Berst and his homey Serge connected with us for this relaxed afternoon wall.
Was definitely good to catch up, linkups and detail flicks at the blog.
AC16 221a approaches the Bridge St level Crossing Toowoomba having said goodbye to 2472 and moving toward the station where it will linkup with DH45 for the run south to Warwick.
So I havent been uploading many photos lately, but its not because I havent been busy, I've painted 5 pieces in the last 5 days alone, its more that I'm going thru a little period of experimentation, painting different styles and occassionaly different words.
Some hit, some miss. This is one I am pretty happy with.
More flicks of recent stuff to come soon. Promise.
Linkup and new flicks at www.theessentialshit.com
City view from a tourist stop above the city.
In 1848, Chile set up a penal colony that grew into Punta Arenas – positioned so that the fledging state could control the Strait of Magellan.
Swelled by European immigrants, it rode the 19th-century Patagonian sheep-farming boom to become a wool-production centre – perfectly placed on maritime export routes.
Local coal reserves, funded the European-style splendour of the city’s mansions. It was renamed Magallanes from 1927 to 1938, but the Panama canal had robbed the strait of its importance.
The slump was arrested with the 1945 discovery of oil, and now the Antarctic linkup.
This was build for the Shadows, it's coincidence it came out at the same time as Charles similar build, I didn't know what he was planning.
I handed out a couple of copies to friend but this is likely to be a build nly I use, its basically a composite helmet shapes into a skull, incormprating a comms unit, HUD, targetting, cybernetic linkup and multi spectral imaging... It also hides who you are and has a spikey metal mohawk and sharp teeth...
Gotta keep it moving, part of a linkup with crewmate Apples, and Beza TBK.
Once I was at a point where I felt like I was finished, I started again, adding more, taking risks I wouldnt usually take and I feel like it payed off.
Hopefully a sign of things to come.
Shouts to my crewmate Vans the Omega, hope youre enjoying your tip brother!
Took the new Ironlak colours out for a test drive with the homies Ghetos, Reals and Beas for a casual Sunday afternoon smashout.
linkup on the blog:
Here we see Joni seemingly strolling down a cobblestone roadway as she approaches her car with keys in her hand. This photo was also taken by a somewhat older gentleman who saw Joni pose for a photo-timer photo and volunteered to take a couple of photos for Joni with her camera. Joni was acknowledging with a smile a couple of young guys who were calling out to her while she was posing for the photos.
The illuminated clock face on a tower in the background is actually part of Savannah's City Hall. Savannah is, of course, a great tourist venue because so many of its buildings and statues date back to the Antebellum period prior to the Civil War and beyond, including its famous public squares.
After General Sherman burned the City of Atlanta to the ground in the fall of 1864, he set out on his infamous 300 mile "March to the Sea" with Savannah as his next target. Sherman's army marched deep into and through the hostile South without a supply line for his army of approximately 65,000 troops against what turned out to be only token opposition. The army lived off the land during its march, foraging (another term for stealing) liberally from Confederate citizens, while destroying railroads, factories, and other important infra structures along the way, all of which accelerated the South's inevitable downfall. It was Sherman's intent to lay siege and destroy Savannah in the same manner as he had done in Atlanta. Once his army had surrounded the city and his artillery was in place on the outskirts of Savannah, he sent word to the Confederate commander of the garrison in Savannah, demanding his and its surrender so as to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, or else he would reduce the city to ashes. The Confederate commander never responded to Sherman's ultimatum, but instead took his full garrison of approximately 2,000 troops and escaped into South Carolina across the Savannah River to fight another day, but leaving the City of Savannah defenseless and at the mercy of Sherman.
It was at this time with Christmas only days away that the Mayor of Savannah, a guy by the name of Arnold, saved the City of Savannah for posterity by riding out to Sherman's headquarters and advising him that the entire Confederate garrison had fled the city, and he offered (begged) Sherman to allow him to surrender the city on the condition that Sherman not destroy it, He further guaranteed Sherman that there would be no acts of resistance by the citizens of Savannah against Sherman's army, Sherman accepted the Mayor's terms of surrender and wasted no time in occupying the city for approximately a month, during which his army rested up from its march to the sea and then ramped up for its subsequent invasion of the Carolinas and a planned linkup with General Grant's Army of the Potomac which was laying siege to General Lee's army at Petersburg in Virginia. Sherman famously telegraphed President Lincoln that he was presenting the City of Savannah to him as a Christmas present. Lincoln and Grant as well were only too happy to hear that news as Savannah was still a strategic port for blockade runners to smuggle supplies into the Confederacy and to export cotton abroad as one of the Confederacy's last life lines. Additionally, Lincoln and Grant were relieved to hear that Sherman's army had reached Savannah relatively unscathed, because Sherman and his army had been incommunicado with Lincoln and Grant during the march.
Docked with Russia's Mir Space Station, the space shuttle Atlantis' aft cargo bay and Spacelab science module are visible through a window on the Mir Space Station in this photo from July of 1995. The linkup enabled the seven STS-71 crew members to visit Mir and allowed the three Mir-18 crew members, in space since March of 1995, access to Spacelab. The science module was quite busy with tests and data collection until the end of the STS-71 mission. Atlantis touched down at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on July 7, 1995.
STS-71 marked a number of historic firsts in human spaceflight: It was the 100th U.S. human space launch conducted from the Cape; first U.S. space shuttle-Russian Space Station Mir docking and joint on-orbit operations; largest spacecraft ever in orbit up to that point; and first on-orbit changeout of a shuttle crew.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: STS071-741-057
Date: July 2, 1995
Fredrick ‘Mickey’ Hill said killed by masked policemen
www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/McNeill--JFJ-call-for-invest...
A very sad but common story in Jamaica, about the killing of a young man name Sonnieko Williams by the Jamaican Police. The article was written by someone making a concern appeal for help on Facebook.
The last time we spoke, Sonnieko told me that he wanted to go down to Pulse and see if he could become a model. He asked me if i had a link.
He had been doing menial jobs to send himself to school since he was 9 years old. At 20, we were having our final conversation as we both walked off the hill. He had been heading to Heart Trust NTA to register for school which was to begin for him in January where he was to pursue his talent in the culinary arts.
The first few times i encountered Sonnieko, it was because he would hail me by name long before I knew his. "Wahgwaan (My Name)" he would say to me and i would acknowledge him, but i remember asking few people around me repeatedly' "Who is that youth; he always calls me by name and i dont even know him." Eventually i came to understand that he worked for a prominent family on the hill, doing odd jobs in the yard.
Other than his vibrant smile and his consistent hail, Sonnieko never had much to say. He was a great listener; a young man who was only a few steps from greatness. There is not one member of the community of Skyline Drive who did not love him; including those who did not know him well.
Skyline Drive is divided by a chasm which was created in heavy rains many years ago. As a result, through way traffic has come to a halt on this hill. The only vehicles that drive here belong to persons that live here or visitors of persons that live here.
A half hour before his death, his friends who were on my side of the chasm called him and told him to forward and linkup. He had told them he was stewing a pot; indulging in the one thing which would have freed him in life; his desire to feed people. His friends on his side of the chasm told me that he had then finished making breakfast, from which some of them had eaten.
There is a wanted man who lives in Jacks Hill. I will not disclose his alias. Apparently the police received intelligence that this particular wanted man had ventured out and was headed toward the chasm. Whomever called the police also stated that the wanted man had been dressed in a grey hoodie.
Hoodie's are commonplace dress on Skyline Drive. Not only because of threat of Tomas, but because the weather here on any normal day is a bit chilly. Sonnieko ventured out of his house to go meet up with his friends. He passed a crowd of people by the corner shop who he greeted cheerfully. He had a small comb in the front of his hair as he usually did, and was wearing a grey hoodie.
Having left the shop he continued down the road.
Maybe thirty seconds later persons at the shop saw one police van come hurtling around the corner skidding in the mud as they went. On the other side of the chasm, two police vans parked and officers dressed completely in blue with knee guards on scampered into Rita Marley's front garden, which is the only way to get to the other side.
Unawares, Sonnieko kept walking toward the chasm.
Sitting in my house, on my side of the chasm, I heard four gunshots. I wondered to myself who could possibly be shooting on the hill. As soon as that thought was completed i heard six more shots fired, and then another five, the last five sounding like that of a heavier firearm and the first ten sounding like those of smaller arms.
I called a friend of mine who lives across the chasm, and he told me that he had been further up the road, but that he had seen some police vehicles pass him. He said when they passed him they slowed beside him and he heard one of them say, " No anno him dat"
I put on my shoes and went next door to the music studio where I spoke with the producer who said he had heard nothing. Continuing outside i reached up onto the road to see a police van speeding down the road. The other was sitting at the edge of the chasm, still throttling, with no-one in it. A policeman shouted: "We kill one a dem, and we not makin the rest of them get weh!" A group of police then walked out of Rita's garden into their vehicles and drove away.
I walked through the garden.
The last time i saw Sonnieko, I was walking through the garden. My head was down as i was carefully observing the (treacherous when wet) terrain. Hearing footsteps i lifted my head to see Sonnieko walking toward me. He broke into a smile. With an outstretched hand he said' "Wah Gwaan (My Name)!" I replied, "Big up youself mi yout" He said, "Dont say a word" and continued along as i went on my way.
When i got to the other side of the garden, I walked around the first bend in the road and saw a group of people up ahead. They were gathering around a particular area. As i got closer, i saw a small pink comb with blood and brain marrow spattered across and around it. There were two feet of blue slippers as well with blood dribbled across them.
I got there just in time to see his mother come running out of her house and down the road from the other direction headed toward the crowd. She screamed at the crowd asking them: "Who see dem!" Who see!" "Nobody dont see mama", was the reply. She crumbled into a heaving heap, with a cry that cut the sky open.
The rain began to fall. The people wished Tomas had come. If Tomas had come, someone said; this would never happen.
The friend i called who had seen the police pass up the road was there, dressed also in a hoodie. His hoodie though was black.
After shooting the innocent 20 yr old whom they had mistaken for someone who did not even slightly fit his description, they scooped up his remains and drove hastily out of the community, pointing their guns in the direction of persons who stuck their heads out of their homes hoping to figure out what had just happened.
I gave my tv away one month before World Cup. I do not own a radio. Some persons wonder why and have asked me. Hopefully the following paragraph will tell why.
Four new police vehicles arrived on the scene of the crime, cordoned off the area and began to take pictures. They told the community members that they received a report that the team who had been there earlier were doing a patrol through the hill, came upon a group of men and came under heavy gunfire. Does this sound too familiar? When i found myself speaking to these new officers, their response to me was to ask me if it does not seem illogical that the highly trained police would just drive up and shoot an innocent man; i told them that was exactly the point of what took place. They told me not to swear his innocence. They told me that I am not with this young man every minute of the day and therefore can not state that he did not have a gun on him. I told them that in as much as they were asking me to be objective in my assesment, they should be objective enough in theirs to also accept the possibility that my friend, Sonnieko was killed in cold blood..
CVM arrived on the scene but not on the side of the chasm where the people were. The police had cordoned off the road and would not allow the media to cross the crime scene. I wonder what the news report on CVM will say tonight.
Even more so, i wonder if justice will come to this humble family of the hills who have done nothing but respect each other and their community, and occasionally wear grey hoodie's when going to look for a friend.
It could very well have been me, coming home from a trip to the corner shop. I too own a hoodie. But that day, maybe my life would have been saved as my hoodie is brown. But maybe if I had seen Sonnieko at the shop, as is typical I would have told him to wait on me, and together we would have been walking back around. And I am sure the story would have been that two cronies were killed. I almost wish I was among the dead, so persons could clearly see that someone they knew well had been killed as well. Someone who more persons of in positions of power could vouch for in a personal way. Some have been heard to be saying that my story is one side of the story. I know Sonnieko. Maybe if they killed me too, some of you would take another look at this case.
After a trip to Maddens Funeral Home, Sonnieko's mother found that he had recieved three shots. Two to his back, and one to his head. The shot that hit him in the head from the back pushed his forehead out of his body just above his eye.
The family needs a lawyer to represent their case. They CAN NOT afford one. If anyone in such capacity has read this letter and is moved to acting, whether through funding the process or giving legal aid pro-bono. Please. Contact me.
Let it not be said that this is a moving story. Let it be said that this was a spark, and that cumulatively we began a fire that forever changed the course of our nation’s history. Without that, this story would not have been moving, nor would it have moved anything or anyone into action.
I WRITE THESE NOTES FULLY COGNIZANT THAT MY ACTIONS COULD MAKE ME A TARGET. I HOWEVER AM WILLING TO STAND FOR CHANGE.
The bigger issue is that, by law, when the police shoot someone, they are supposed to carry them to hospital immediately. There was no crime scene cordoned off immediately with police left on scene. Due to this, considering the fact that when the investigating officers arrived on scene they told the community that they were informed that the unit had been fired upon, i surmise a gun will be produced. I also surmise that the gun will have Sonnieko's fingerprints on it, probably placed there on the journey from the hill to KPH, by putting his dead hands on to the gun.
Sonnieko died for a reason. He died because he has the right friends, in the right positions of power, and with the ability to make things happen. The bigger issue is that the system is designed to accomodate the possiblity of corruption in the JCF. This system is the (My Name)e system which has caused the unlawful deaths for numerous youths across the island, none of whom had the voice to speak for them after their passing.
Sonnieko's death was not just an isolated unlawful act. It is the product of a flawed system of justice, or might i say a perfected system of injustice, which allows officers of the (law) to cover their tracks when they make poor judgement and without accosting their victims, murder them from many metres away.
Sonnieko's death is a spark. We are the fire. We must be the change that will affect the history of our island going forward. I knew Sonnieko was destined for greatness. There could be no greater outcome than this, for Sonnieko's passing. Let us unite to achieve this end.
Join the group for updates at the following link:
Wicked day out back in the manor at Streetfest 18, Dalston, Hackney, Thankyou JEBA for the linkup, good vibes and people all day long, really enjoyed taking ages to paint something simple whilst chatting, drinking and eating in the Autumn sunshine!!! It’s been 8 years since I painted at this event, such a pukka day out, keep ‘em peeled for next years date !!!
3.
“Dig that crazy cab! Linkup between Astronaut Cernan and Gemini will be reminiscent of a man hailing a taxi. Flight plans call for Stafford to fly the 8,000 pound Gemini close enough to Cernan for the latter to come aboard.”
4.
“”Space Rescue” assignment completed. When Cernan grabs the docking indicator bar on Gemini’s nose, this part of the GT-9 mission will be judged successful by NASA flight controllers. During this maneuver Cernan will be secured at all times by a nylon rope. After the rescue maneuver the AMU will be jettisoned.”
In no way pejoratively, but the images have a wonderful "Silver Age" comic book appeal to them, especially with the panels & "dot matrix" sort of look.
A momentary flight of fancy: Wouldn't it have been the coolest thing - if Stan Lee or any of the Marvel artist superstars - teamed up with NASA to produce these?!
“The 100th U.S. human space launch is under way with an on-time liftoff at 3:32:19.044 p.m. EDT, June 27, [1995] from Launch Pad 39A. The flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis on Mission STS-71 will be historic for another reason as well: It will feature the first docking between the U.S. Shuttle and the Russian Space Station Mir. Linkup with Mir is set for June 29 at 9:05 a.m. EDT, and will be followed by about 100 hours of docked operations between the crews on board Mir and Atlantis. Atlantis is carrying an American-Russian Crew: STS-71 Mission Commander Robert L. “Hoot” Gibson; STS-71 Pilot Charles J. Precourt; STS-71 Payload Commander Dr. Ellen S. Baker, STS-71 Mission Specialists Gregory J. Harbaugh and Bonnie J. Dunbar, and two Russian cosmonauts, Mir 19 Mission Commander Anatoly Y. Solovyev and Mir 19 Flight Engineer Nilolai M. Budarin. Joint scientific investigations will be conducted while the two spacecraft are docked, and a changeout of the crew on Mir will be completed. Budarin and Solovyev will transfer to the space station and remain there, and the three crew members currently on Mir, U.S. astronaut Dr. Norm Thagard, Mir 18 Mission Commander Vladimir N. Dezhurov and Mir 18 Flight Engineer Gennadiy M. Strekalov, will return to Earth in Atlantis.”
Reliving historic moments at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, former Russian cosmonaut Alexey Leonov (top row, 2nd from the left) and former NASA astronaut Thomas Stafford (top row, 3rd from the left) join other members of the Stafford-Utkin Advisory Commission visiting Russia during a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz mission that opened a new era of space cooperation between the U.S. and Russia. Stafford commanded the Apollo spacecraft and Leonov commanded the Soyuz 19 spacecraft that docked on July 17, 1975 in the first-ever linkup of American and Russian space vehicles. At the lower left is cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov, the Director of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
Credit: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
REMASTERED by Dan Beaumont.
Eugene Dorr (NASA Patch) WEB SITE INFO: genedorr.com/patches/Intro.html
The painting by Robert McCall which clearly served as the inspiration for the central image of the final ASTP patch. The cross-like rays from the sun were eliminated, due to concern that they might be misinterpreted as having religious overtones.
NASA INFO: S74-24913 (August 1973) --- An artist's concept illustrating an Apollo-type spacecraft (left) about to dock with a Soviet Soyuz-type spacecraft. A recent agreement between the United States (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) provides for the docking in space of the Soyuz and Apollo-type spacecraft in Earth orbit in 1975. The joint space venture is called the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP).
Launch: March 22, 1996
Landing: March 31, 1996 Edwards Air Force Base, Cal.
Astronauts: Kevin P. Chilton, Richard A. Searfoss, Shannon W. Lucid, Linda M. Godwin, Michael R. Clifford, and Ronald M. Sega
Space Shuttle: Atlantis
Third linkup between U.S. space shuttle and Russian Space Station Mir highlighted by transfer of veteran astronaut Shannon Lucid to Mir to become first American woman to live on station.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: sts076-s-001
Date: November 1995
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Hanauer
"Nick Hanauer critiqued what he called "an article of faith for Republicans:" the assertion that "if taxes on the rich go up, job creation will go down." Businesses and the rich do not create jobs, he said. Jobs are created by a feedback loop between customers and businesses that is set in motion by consumers increasing their demand. Thus he proposed the necessity for higher median incomes for workers rather than tax breaks for the wealthy, stating that if lower income tax rates for the wealthy really worked "we would be drowning in jobs, and yet unemployment and underemployment is at record highs."
TED refused to post his talk.
Thanks to minions & myrmidons
for the linkup.
This was Classic Space forces secret weapon against any uprisings of any alien, robot, or human race in the Galactic Space Congress. I say WAS because it's (non-lethal) ion-super laser was never fired due to a planted Blacktron bomb sending the laser and it's final adjustments crew hurtling through hyperspace toward a black-hole in early 1988 during the early hours of the attempted Blacktron coup. The station was never recovered and almost all of the crew was presumed killed by the black hole except for Benny, who fell off the station before it reached full light speed.
(He survived a day floating out of conciseness in orbit off Jupiter II before being found by retreating Congressional forces. Benny still wears the broken helmet and smudged suit from that day as a reminder of the eternal sacrifice of his fellow two crew members that were lost.)
Anyway, the smaller ship that is shown docked with the station is for the engineering / maintenance crews to keep an eye on the satellite's systems until final boot-up was preformed. Their were two such linkup stations on the station, opposite each other on the middle ring segment of the central core. The satellite featured both a dual fusion reactor system and solar panels in twelve moving segments as a backup in case of emergency. This was to keep the communication / trajectory equipment's backup batteries charged for several hundred-thousand years.... you never know how long this station would have been needed!
Port en Bessin was the actual linkup point between the American and British forces on June 7, 1944. The American 16th Infantry Regiment had landed on the Easy Red Sector on Omaha Beach and fought its way along the coastal towns to link up with the 47th Royal Marine Commandos, which had struggled its way from Gold Beach. The Royal Marines fought a difficult battle to take the town and its eastern and western fortifications. The Royal Marines finally took the town after fighting house-to-house and knocking out the harbour defenses, which included pillboxes and a flak boat of the German Navy. The 16th Infantry Regiment took the part of town called Huppain and liberated the area now known as the Omaha Beach Golf Club.
After the town’s liberation, Port en Bessin/Huppain became a minor PLUTO Port. Large oil storage facilities were built near where the golf club is now located and tankers would offload their oil through pipelines at the harbour. In addition the port was expanded to handle 1,000 tons of cargo daily and was vital to the Allied effort until the Mulberry Harbours were built at Arromanches and Omaha Beach.
Details:
Nikon D300
Nikkor 12-24 mm @ 12 mm
10 sec @ f11, ISO 100
Lee .9 Hard GND Filter / Lee .9 ND Filter
Please press "L" to view large on black.
© Leeninga Photography 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Please do not use without my written permission.
Visit also www.leeningaphotography.com for more photos.
At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, former NASA astronaut Thomas Stafford (left) and former Russian cosmonaut Alexey Leonov (right) answer reporters’ questions July 16 during a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz mission that opened a new era of space cooperation between the U.S. and Russia. Stafford commanded the Apollo spacecraft and Leonov commanded the Soyuz 19 spacecraft that docked on July 17, 1975 in the first-ever linkup of American and Russian space vehicles.
Credit: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
ift.tt/1Uv5ctw Its finally here!!!!! My boy RenZa - Living for the moment Big shout out to @linkuptv everyone click the link in the bio for the full video like, share comment #linkuptv #linkup #kyliejenner #nines #kimkardashian #drake #pussyfuck #sexybeast #beef #worldstarhiphop #worldstar #music #money #girls #pussy #skepta #grime #hiphop #trap #rap #tonymontana #boybetterknow #instasize #desiigner #kanyewest #breast #panda
77 years later, in 1898, Spain is again defeated, this time in Cuba, surrendering on this day in Santiago, Cuba.
In 180 - Christenen Cittinus/Donatus/Natzalus/Secunda/Speratus/Vestia sentenced to death in Carthago
180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
561 - John III begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding Pelagius I
855 - St Leo IV ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1054 - Emperor Henry III crowns his son Henry IV king
1070 - Arnulf III the Hapless becomes earl of Flanders
1203 - Venetianen conquer Constantinople, emperor Alexius III flees
1245 - Pope bans emperor Frederik II Hohenstaufen for 3rd time
1393 - Osmanen occupy Turnovo, Bulgaria
1429 - Dauphin crowned king of France
1453 - 1st battle at Castillon: French beat English troops
1473 - Charles the Stout conquerors Nijmegen
1509 - Venice recaptures Padua
1549 - Jews are expelled from Ghent Belgium
1552 - Siena drives Spanish troops out of Verdun
1583 - Spanish & Walloon troops conquer Dunkerk
1585 - English secret service discovers Anthony Babingtons murder plot against queen Elizabeth I
1596 - At 10:30AM Dutch explorer Willem Barents arrives at Novaya Zemlya
1603 - Sir Walter Ralegh arrested
1686 - A meeting takes place at Lüneburg between several Protestant powers in order to discuss the formation of an 'evangelical' league of defence, called the 'Confederatio Militiae Evangelicae', against the Catholic League.
1712 - England, Portugal & France sign ceasefire [or 19th]
1727 - Simon van Slingelandt appointed Dutch pension advisor
1740 - Prospero Lambertini chosen Pope Benedictus XIV
1762 - Catherine II becomes tsar of Russia upon the murder of Peter III of Russia.
1774 - Capt Cook arrives at New Hebrides (Vanuata)
1775 - 1st military hospital approved
1788 - Russian fleet destroys Swedish
1791 - Members of the French National Guard under the command of General Lafayette open fire on a crowd of radical Jacobins at the Champ de Mars, Paris, during the French Revolution, killing as many as 50 people.
1794 - African Church of St Thomas in Philadelphia, dedicated
1794 - Richard Allen organizes Phila's Bethel African Meth Episcopal Church
1815 - Napoleonic Wars: In France, Napoleon surrenders at Rochefort, Charente-Maritime to British forces.
1821 - Spain cedes Florida to US
1841 - British humor magazine "Punch" 1st published
1850 - Harvard Observatory takes 1st photograph of a star (Vega)
1856 - Sunday school excursion train collides killing 46 children (Phila)
1856 - The Great Train Wreck of 1856 occurs in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania killing over 60 people.
1861 - Congress authorizes paper money
1861 - Manassas, VA Gen Beauregard requests reinforcements for his 22,000 men, Gen Johnston is ordered to Manassas
1862 - Naval Engagement at Pascagoula River MS: USS Potomac Expedition
1862 - US army authorized to accept blacks as laborers
1862 - United army officially divides corps
1862 - R John Hunt Morgan:Cynthiana, KY CS24 US17 Skirmish at Columbia, TN
1863 - Battle of Honey Springs - largest battle in Indian Territory
1864 - CSA President Davis replaces Gen Joe Johnston with John Bell Hood
1866 - Italian fleet under adm Persano capture Austrian Fort Lissa
1867 - 1st US dental school, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, established
1879 - 1st railroad opens in Hawaii
1890 - Cecil Rhodes becomes premier of Cape colony
1893 - Arthur Shrewsbury is 1st to score 1,000 runs in Test Cricket
1897 - 1st ship arrives in Seattle carrying gold from Yukon
1898 - Spanish American War-Spaniards surrender to US at Santiago Cuba
1900 - NY Giant Christy Mathewson begins career losing to Bkln Superbas
1902 - Orioles forfeit to St Louis having only 5 players available to play they then forfeit their franchise back to the AL
1911 - Overthrown shah of Persia Mohammed Ali lands on Astrabad with army
1912 - IAF (Intl Amateur Athletic Federation) forms in Sweden
1914 - Giants outfielder Red Murray is knocked unconscious by lightning after catching a flyball, ending 21 inning game, Giants win 3-1
1915 - Italian offensive at Isonzo
1917 - British Royal family changes its name from Hanover to Windsor
1918 - Longest errorless game, Cubs beat Phillies 2-1 in 21 innings
1919 - Finland adopts constitution
1919 - Yanks 21 hits, Browns 17 hits Browns win 7-6 in 17, on squeeze play
1922 - Curacao harbor workers begin strike under Felix Chacuto
1922 - Ty Cobb gets 5 hits in a game for record 4th time in a year
1923 - Carl Mays gave up 13 runs & 20 hits in 13-0 lose to Indians
1924 - St Louis Card Jesse Haines no-hits Boston Braves, 5-0
1925 - Tris Speaker, is 5th to get 3,000 hits
1926 - Paavo Nurmi walks world record 4x1500m (16:11.4)
1929 - USSR drops diplomatic relations with China
1933 - After successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Lithuanian research aircraft Lituanica crashes in Europe under mysterious circumstances.
1934 - Babe Ruth draws his 2,000th base on balls at Cleveland
1935 - Variety's famous headline "Sticks Nix Hick Pix"
1936 - Carl Hubbell begins winning streak, beating Pittsburgh 6-0
1936 - Military uprising under Gen Franco/begins Spanish civil war
1938 - Douglas (Wrong Way) Corrigan leaves NY for LA, wound up in Ireland
1939 - 22nd PGA Championship: Henry Picard at Pomonok CC Flushing NY
1941 - NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak ends in Cleveland
1942 - 3' of rain falls on Pennsylvania, flooding kills 15
1942 - Estimated 34.5" (87.5 cm) of rainfall, Smethport, Pa (state record)
1942 - Transport nr 6 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
1943 - RAF bombs Germany rocket base Peenemunde
1944 - 2 ammunition ships explodes at Port Chicago, California kills 322
1944 - Russian troops cross river Bug/march into Poland
1945 - Potsdam Conference (FDR, Stalin, Churchill) holds 1st meeting
1948 - Israeli army captures Nazareth
1948 - Proclamation of constitution of Republic of (South) Korea
1950 - Indonesian troops land on Buru, South-Molukka
1951 - King Leopold II of Belgium gives up throne to son Boudouin I
1951 - Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts is chartered.
1952 - Shah of Persia named Ghavam Sultaneh premier
1954 - 1st major league game where majority of team is black (Dodgers)
1954 - Construction begins on Disneyland. . .
1954 - Theodor Heuss re-elected president of West Germany
1955 - Disneyland opens its doors in rural Orange County
1955 - Arco Idaho becomes 1st US city lit by nuclear power
1955 - Disneyland televises its grand opening in Anaheim, California.
1958 - King Hussein declares himself head of Jordan/Iraqi federation
1958 - Peter Shaffer's "Five Finger Exercise," premieres in London
1958 - US performs atmospheric nuclear Test at Enwetak
1959 - 2,000 ft long by 1,300 foot wide section of ridge falls into Madis
1959 - Dr Leakey discovers oldest human skull (600,000 years old)
1959 - Tibet abolishes serfdom
1959 - River Canyon extending man-made Lake Hebgen by 5 miles. (Montana)
1961 - John Chancellor becomes news anchor of Today Show
1961 - Roger Maris loses a HR (of his 61) due to a rain-out in 5th
1961 - Ford Frick rules that if anyone breaks Babe Ruth 60 HR record, it must be done in 1st 154 games
1962 - East Berliner Peter Fechter flees over Berlin Wall
1962 - Robert White in X-15 sets altitude record of 108 km (354,300 ft)
1962 - Senate rejects medicare for aged
1962 - US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
1963 - Telstar soccer team forms in Ijmuiden
1964 - Don Campbell sets record for turbine vehicle, 690.91 kph (429.31 mph)
1964 - Great Britain performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
1965 - WLCY (now WTSP) TV channel 10 in St Petersburg-Tampa, FL (ABC) begins
1966 - "It's a Bird... It's Superman" closes at Alvin NYC after 129 perfs
1966 - Clifford Ann Creed wins LPGA Lady Carling Golf Open
1966 - Indians set club record by hitting 7 HR in 15-2 win over Detroit
1966 - Jim Ryun sets mile record (3m51s3)
1966 - Pioneer 7 launched
1967 - Monkees perform at Forest Hills NY, Jimi Hendrix is opening act
1967 - Race riots in Cairo Illinois
1968 - Beatle's animated film "Yellow Submarine" premieres in London
1968 - Revolt in Iraq
1970 - 30,000 attend Randall's Island Rock Festival, NYC
1971 - Kathy Whitworth/Judy Kimball wins LPGA Four-Ball Golf Championship
1972 - 1st 2 women begin training as FBI agents at Quantico
1973 - Military coup in Afghanistan; King Mohammad Zahir Shah flees
1974 - 1st quadrophonic studio in UK is open by Moody Blues
1974 - Bob Gibson becomes 2nd pitcher to strike-out 3,000 (Cesar Geronimo)
1974 - France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island
1974 - John Lennon is ordered to leave US in 60 days
1975 - Apollo 18 & Soyuz 19 make 1st US/USSR linkup in space
1975 - Ringo Starr & Maureen Cox divorce
1976 - 21st modern Olympic games opens in Montreal
1976 - Indonesian president Suharto annexes East Timor
1976 - The opening of the Summer Olympics is marred by 25 African teams boycotting the New Zealand team.
1977 - Joanne Carner wins LPGA Borden Golf Classic
1978 - NY Yank manager Billy Martin & Reggie Jackson fight in dug out
1978 - Reggie Jackson refusal to bunt causes mgr Billy Martin to suspend him
1979 - 50th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 7-6 at Kingdome, Seattle
1979 - All star MVP: Dave Parker (Pitts Pirates)
1979 - David Gower 200* in England score of 5-633 v India at Edgbaston
1979 - Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza flees to Miami
1979 - Sebastian Coe runs world record 3:49 mile in Oslo
1979 - Simone Veil becomes chairman of European Parliament
1980 - Bolivian military coup; general Garcia Meza becomes president
1980 - Ronald Reagan formally accepts Republican nomination for president
1980 - Zenko Suzuki becomes premier of Japan
1981 - "This is Burlesque" closes at Princess Theater NYC after 28 perfs
1981 - Humbar Estuary Bridge, UK, world's longest span (1.4 km), opens
1981 - Israeli bombers destroy PLO/al-Fatah headquarters in Beirut
1981 - Lobby Walkways at KC's Hyatt Regency collapse 114 die, 200 injured
1981 - USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1981 - Fulton County (Atlanta) grand jury indicts Wayne B William 23 year old photographers, for murder of 2 of 28 blacks killed in Atlanta
1983 - 112th British Golf Open: Tom Watson shoots a 275 at Royal Birkdale
1983 - 1st USFL championship (Mich Panthers beats Phila Stars 24-22)
1983 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA McDonald's Kids Golf Classic
1984 - Pierre Mauroy resigns as premier of France
1984 - Soyuz T-12 carries 3 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 7
1986 - Emmy 13th Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 7th time
1987 - "Les Miserables," opens at Imperial Theatre, Tokyo
1987 - 10 teens die in Guadalupe River flood (Comfort, Tx)
1987 - Don Mattingly is 2nd to hit HRs in 7 straight AL games (en route to 8)
1987 - Dow Jones closes above 2,500 (2,510.04) for 1st time
1987 - Iran & France breaks diplomatic relations
1988 - 117th British Golf Open: Seve Ballesteros shoots 273 at Royal Lytham
1988 - 4 Billion tv-viewers watch Mandela's 70th Birthday Tribute
1988 - Colleen Walker wins LPGA Boston Five Golf Classic
1988 - Florence Griffith Joyner of USA sets 100m woman's record (10.49)
1988 - Highest temperature ever recorded in San Francisco, 103°F (39°C)
1989 - 1st Test flight of US stealth-bomber
1989 - Paul McCartney releases "This One"
1989 - Reds reliever Kent Tekulve retires after 1,070 appearances
1990 - Hussein's Revolutionary Day speech claims Kuwait stole oil from Iraq
1990 - NY Yankee Deion Sanders hits an inside park homer
1990 - PLO-leader Jasser Arrafat marries Soha Tawil in Tunis
1990 - Minn Twins become 1st team to turn 2 triple plays in a game but lose to Boston Red Sox 1-0
1992 - Slovak parliament asks for self rule
1993 - Graeme Obree bicycles world record time, 51,596 km
1994 - 123rd British Golf Open: Nick Price shoots a 268 at Turnberry Scotland
1994 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA JAL Big Apple Golf Classic
1994 - Brazil beats Italy in a shoot out, for their 4th soccer world cup
1994 - French youngster (4) becomes Buddhist Lama Tulkou Kalou Rinpoche
1994 - Hulk Hogan beats Ric Flair to win WCW wrestling championship
1995 - Forbes Mag announces Bill Gates is the richest man in world ($12.9B)
1996 - 230 people die when TWA 800 crashes outside of NYC
1996 - Yank John Weteland blows save after record 24 consecutive saves
1996 - TWA Flight 800: Off the coast of Long Island, New York, a Paris-bound TWA Boeing 747 explodes, killing all 230 on board.
1997 - STS 94 (Columbia 23), lands
1998 - Russia buries tsar Nicholas II & family, 80 years after they died
2005 - Tiger Woods wins his 10th major winning The British Open Championship by 5 strokes. Woods becomes only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to win each major more than once
2007 - TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) Flight 3054 crashes upon landing during rain in São Paulo. This is Brazil's deadliest aviation accident to date with an estimated 199 deaths.
2009 - Jakarta double bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels killed 9 people including 4 foreigners.
ift.tt/1SbIa7C Its finally here!!!!! My boy @renzaboy RenZa - Living for the moment Big shout out to @linkuptv everyone click the link in his bio and watch the full video its mad!! Also like, share comment and gollow him next to blow #linkuptv #linkup #kyliejenner #nines #kimkardashian #drake #pussyfuck #sexybeast #beef #worldstarhiphop #worldstar #music #money #girls #pussy #skepta #grime #hiphop #trap #rap #tonymontana #boybetterknow #instasize #desiigner #kanyewest #breast #panda #uk #zaynmalik #justinbeiber
ift.tt/1Uv5f8K Its finally here!!!!! My boy RenZa - Living for the moment Big shout out to @linkuptv everyone click the link in the bio for the full video like, share comment #linkuptv #linkup #kyliejenner #nines #kimkardashian #drake #pussyfuck #sexybeast #beef #worldstarhiphop #worldstar #music #money #girls #pussy #skepta #grime #hiphop #trap #rap #tonymontana #boybetterknow #instasize #desiigner #kanyewest #breast #panda
This Panther tank was part of the German offensive in the Battle of the Bulge, and it was knocked out and found by Allied troops upside down near the Ourthe river. This Panther, a G model, had a 75 mm gun
This picture was taken in Houffalize, which is about 10 miles north of Foy.
Belgian Residents Thank Battle of Bulge Vets
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
HOUFFALIZE, Belgium, Dec. 17, 2004 -- Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge got a hero's welcome today from local residents who endured some of the most brutal fighting of the battle between U.S. and German troops here 60 years ago.
Schoolchildren from Houffalize, Belgium, join veterans of the Battle of the Bulge during 60th anniversary ceremonies in their town Dec. 17. Photo by Donna Miles
(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.
Memorial ceremonies and a special Mass here commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge and civilians as well as troops who died here during the fighting.
Houffalize, on the banks of the Meuse River north of Bastogne, was a highly strategic crossroads during World War II. German troops fought bitterly to maintain their hold on the town, which was virtually destroyed during the battle and endured the deaths of some 200 of its citizens within just a few hours.
However, the U.S. 2nd, 3rd and 11th Armored divisions finally were able to break the Nazi stronghold here, after which Houffalize became a linkup point for the 1st and 3rd Armies as they forced the Germans to retreat to the east.
Sixty years later, residents here clapped as American veterans returned to the city to attend a church service and waved U.S. and Belgian flags during wreath- laying ceremonies at memorials to local citizens killed here and to their American liberators.
Local schoolchildren presented the veterans certificates declaring them honorary citizens of the town and expressed personal thanks on behalf of their townspeople.
"We salute you and pay respect to our American friends," Mayor Jose Lutgen told the veterans during a reception following the ceremonies. He recalled "those terrible days" when Houffalize had reached what seemed like rock bottom, then to be freed "by young soldiers who landed in the midst of enemy fire."
"You all were heroes," Lutgen said. "And today, 60 years later, we welcome you again as the heroes who helped us retrieve our lost freedoms."
Daniel Denning, principal deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, whose father was among the soldiers who fought at Houffalize, praised the veterans for overcoming severe hardships as they continued the fight in the Ardennes.
"You fought for freedom and for the people of Belgium and Luxembourg," Denning said. "But you also fought for each other." He likened the Battle of the Bulge soldiers to the 101st Airborne Division's Easy Company, popularized in the "Band of Brothers" book and television miniseries.
Denning called the 60th anniversary observances a fitting time "to commemorate the valor and sacrifice of those who fought here" and particularly to remember those who paid the ultimate price. Their sacrifices, he said, "will never be forgotten."
"I, like you, will never forget," agreed U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Tom Korologos. "And I assure you that the American people will also never forget."
Herbert Ridyard, who fought here as a private first class with the 94th Infantry Division during the battle, said he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of appreciation the veterans have received throughout their visit to Luxembourg and Belgium.
"The love of these people is what I'm going home with," he said. "It's been absolutely incredible."
"I'm very humbled and honored and overwhelmed by the Belgian people," agreed Charles Nelson, who 60 years ago was a private first class with the 87th Infantry Division. "This has truly been a mountaintop experience."
Nelson received a big hug during a reception here from Josiane Pelzer, a Luxembourger whose family was part of the resistance movement against their German occupiers during the war.
"My family was on the list to go to a concentration camp," Pelzer said. "I owe so very much to these soldiers. If it hadn't been for them and what they did for us, I would never have been born!"
Nelson said it's been an enlightening experience to return to the Ardennes with the fellow soldiers he served with six decades ago "to reconstruct what happened here and to see it through the eyes of the local people."
Reliving his person history, he said, "has been very emotional."
Army Maj. Gen. David Zabecki, commander of Task Force Ardennes 60, said he wants to ensure the 60th anniversary commemoration activities are "as meaningful as possible" to the returning veterans.
"This is the last major milestone when we will be able to thank many of these heroes face to face," he said.
In addition to helping the U.S. ambassadors to Belgium and Luxembourg maintain strong, positive relations between their host countries and the United States, Zabecki said he has his own personal agenda for the 60th anniversary activities.
"I want to expose as many young soldiers to these old soldiers as I can," he said. "The old guys love it, and the young guys need to be exposed to their heritage as soldiers."
Zabecki said it tickles him to watch the interaction between local children and the Battle of the Bulge veterans. "These young guys treat them like rock stars," he said. "It's really wonderful to see."
French postcard, no. AA3.
French singer and songwriter Matthieu Tota (1985) is commonly known as M. Pokora or Matt Pokora. In 2016, he became a coach for The Voice Kids France and The Voice: la plus belle voix.
Matthieu Tota was born in Strasbourg, France, in 1985. He is the son of professional footballer André Tota and Brigitte Tota. His parents divorced in 1998 when he was 13 years old. Pokora was troubled by the divorce of his parents and remained greatly attached to his mother after the divorce. He lived with her in Strasbourg before renting a personal flat in Paris. As a child, he studied in an elementary school in Hohberg, and later at Collège Paul-Émile Victor in Mundolsheim, and Lycée Aristide Briand in Schiltigheim near Strasbourg. When he was younger, football was his first ambition and he wanted to become a professional player. However, he later opted for music. Tota explained the origin of his stage name Matt Pokora in an interview during the TV documentary Mise à jour (2010). He was searching for an artistic name and happened to be talking to his grandmother of Polish origin and the importance of humility came up. He asked her "how do we say 'humility' in Polish language," and she said "pokora". Tota immediately decided to adopt the word as his stage name, and shortened his first name to Matt. He earned some public attention as a member of French R&B group Mic Unity. In fall 2003, Pokora participated in the third season of Popstars, a French talent reality television show. The concept was to present possible candidates the winners of which would take part in the formation of a boy band or girl band. He was a crowd and jury favourite, and became a member of a boy band called Linkup formed with Lionel and Otis, two other winners in 2003 Popstars. The female winners were formed into another group Diadems formed of Marylore, Angel, Pookie, Ophélie and Alexandra. In the final showdown, the boy band including Matthieu Tota won the series over the girl band Diadems, who ended up runners-up. Their first Linkup single 'Mon Étoile' was very successful topping French charts, and the debut album 'Notre Étoile' was moderately successful. However the second single release 'Une seconde d'éternité' was much less successful despite good sales. The band tried again their hand in a collaboration with the British boy band Blue making a bilingual English/French version with Blue based on the latter's song 'Bubblin''. The bilingual English/French Blue/Linkup version was entitled 'You & Me Bubblin'. Soon afterwards, Linkup disbanded due to poor performance of sales on releases.
In 2004, soon after the break-up of Linkup, Matt Pokora started working preparing for a solo career collaborating with the producers Kore & Skalp. Under the stage name Matt Pokora, he released his first eponymous solo album originally entitled 'Matt Pokora'. In 2005, he was forced to change his chosen name after a lawsuit from French R&B singer Matt Houston. As a result, he changed his stage name to M. Pokora and re-released the album as M. Pokora. The debut single from M. Pokora was the very successful 'Showbiz (The Battle). It was a Top 10 hit in France, and also charted in Belgium and Switzerland. The second single 'Elle me contrôle' featuring Sweety reached #6 in France and Pokora received two NRJ Music Awards for the single. Yet a third successful single was released called 'Pas sans toi'. The album released on Universal was certified gold. He also started collaborating with Hakim Ghorab who became his long-time choreographer and took part in many of his music videos. Pokora also developed a close collaboration with music video director Karim Ouaret who directed most of his successful videos. In January 2006, his second album 'Player' was released topping the French chart. For producing the new album, he collaborated with Belgian producers Bionix, Rachid Mir and Christian Dessart mixing R & B with pop and crunk'n b, and artists Red Rat and Zoxea and geared toward the younger and feminine fan brackets. He also enjoyed great popularity with gay audiences. The first single from his second album was the very successful 'De retour' featuring Tyron Carter. That was followed with single 'Oh la la la (Sexy Miss)' with Red Rat. During a concert organized by NRJ Radio in France, he met Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin and Martin asked M. Pokora to make a collaboration on Martin's hit 'It's Alright'. The result was a bilingual French/English Ricky Martin/M. Pokora release also entitled 'It's Alright' that sold more than 100,000 copies. Finally, a last single from the Player album followed called 'Mal de guerre', which was a relative success. M. Pokora released Player in a second edition in March 2006 with the bonus track added of the duet with Ricky Martin. To promote the album and capitalise on its success, M. Pokora engaged in a tour of more than 30 French venues under the title 'Player Tour' that culminated in a big sold-out concert at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. At the end of the tour, a DVD containing materials from the shows was marketed under the name 'Player Tour Live'. The DVD also included a photo book and memories from the tour. Pokora also created his own label M2theP Entertainment, signing his protégé, the rapper Tyron Carter. In addition to being featured on 'De retour', Tyron Carter released 'Ne me dis pas' that featured M. Pokora, a Top 30 hit, followed by an album 'Mon hold-up'. His song 'Get Down On It' appeared on the soundtrack of the animation film Astérix et les Vikings/Asterix and the Vikings (Stefan Fjeldmark, Jesper Møller, 2006).
After the Player Tour, M. Pokora left Universal and signed with EMI France. Also desiring a more international profile, he went to New York and created contacts most importantly with R&B producers Ryan Leslie and J. R. Rotem. The result was his third album 'MP3' (2008), containing 14 tracks, including 12 in English. The title of the album was a play on his name Matt Pokora (MP) and the number 3 (his third album) but also referring to the popular gadget MP3, the audio format for consumer audio storage. Pokora promoted the launching of the album with a prerelease of single 'Dangerous' featuring American hip hop artist Timbaland and Sebastian, Timbaland's brother and the timing of the release was picked to coincide with the NRJ Music Awards of 2008. The album reached #7 with estimated physical sales of 200,000 copies and additional downloads of 151,000. The album was certified gold. The album also did well internationally charting in Finland, Germany, Mexico, Belgium and in Poland where he won the Polish Eska Music Awards as the 'International Pop Artist of the Year'. After the success of 'Dangerous', Pokora released a second single 'They Talk Sh#t About Me' that features the young English rapper Natalia Kills credited on the release by her stage name Verse. The single unlike 'Dangerous' (that had reached #1) was not played heavily on French radio because of English language content and managed to reach only #24. A third release from MP3, 'Catch Me If You Can' failed to make it to the French charts, but was successful in Poland reaching #11. The follow up "Through The Eyes" was also a relative success in Poland reaching #31 in the Polish charts. To coincide with MP3 release, M. Pokora launched his Catch Me Tour 2008. He also toured Belgium and Switzerland. A fourth studio album titled 'Mise à jour' was released in 2010. The lead single 'Juste une photo de toi' was a big hit. The album includes collaborations with Wayne Beckford, Gee Futuristic, X-Plosive, Astro Boyz, Tarz, STX and Bionix. During the NRJ Music Awards 2011, the song was chosen as "Song of the Year" in addition to M. Pokora being chosen "French Male Artist of the Year". An English version titled 'Updated' was launched in 2011, containing 11 songs, mostly adaptations of the French language hits on 'Mise à jour'. His cover of Jean-Jacques Goldman, Carole Fredericks and Michael Jones classic 'À nos actes manqués' became the number one physical single sales and reached the Top 10. It was followed by the albums 'Mise à jour Version 2.0' (2011) and 'À la poursuite du bonheur' (2012). The latter album entered the French albums chart at number two. In 2011 he won season 1 of the TV show Danse avec les stars (the French version of 'Dancing with the Stars') with his partner Katrina Patchett. M. Pokora's next studio albums were 'R.E.D. / Rythmes Extrêmement Dangereux' (2015) and 'My Way' (2016). The latter topped the French Album Charts in its initial week of release. Pokora also has an acting career. In 2011 Pokora voiced Duncan Rosenblatt, the main character of Firebreather, in the French dub of the Cartoon Network movie. M. Pokora also appeared in the lead role of Robin Hood in the French stage musical Robin des Bois (2013), with musical mise en scène by Michel Laprise and text and music by Patrice Guirao and Lionel Florence. The soundtrack for the musical was released on Capitol Records / EMI and reached number 3 in the French album charts and number 4 in the Belgian (Wallonia) francophone Singles Chart. He also appeared in the film Robin des Bois, la véritable histoire (Anthony Marciano, 2015). In 2016, he became a coach for The Voice Kids France and The Voice: la plus belle voix/The Voice: the Most Beautiful Voice (2016). In 2019, he acted the lead role in the TV film Le premier oublié/The First Forgotten (Christophe Lamotte, 2019) with Muriel Robin. Since 2017, Pokora has been in a relationship with Christina Milian. Their son Isaiah was born in 2020. From the start, and over many years, M. Pokora has been a great supporter of charity causes particularly HIV/AIDS and children charities.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
More, more, more? Take a look at our postcard albums Vintage Pop Stars, French Pop Stars, British Pop Stars, and American Pop Stars!
This Panther tank was part of the German offensive in the Battle of the Bulge, and it was knocked out and found by Allied troops upside down near the Ourthe river. This Panther, a G model, had a 75 mm gun
This picture was taken in Houffalize, which is about 10 miles north of Foy.
Belgian Residents Thank Battle of Bulge Vets
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
HOUFFALIZE, Belgium, Dec. 17, 2004 -- Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge got a hero's welcome today from local residents who endured some of the most brutal fighting of the battle between U.S. and German troops here 60 years ago.
Schoolchildren from Houffalize, Belgium, join veterans of the Battle of the Bulge during 60th anniversary ceremonies in their town Dec. 17. Photo by Donna Miles
(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.
Memorial ceremonies and a special Mass here commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge and civilians as well as troops who died here during the fighting.
Houffalize, on the banks of the Meuse River north of Bastogne, was a highly strategic crossroads during World War II. German troops fought bitterly to maintain their hold on the town, which was virtually destroyed during the battle and endured the deaths of some 200 of its citizens within just a few hours.
However, the U.S. 2nd, 3rd and 11th Armored divisions finally were able to break the Nazi stronghold here, after which Houffalize became a linkup point for the 1st and 3rd Armies as they forced the Germans to retreat to the east.
Sixty years later, residents here clapped as American veterans returned to the city to attend a church service and waved U.S. and Belgian flags during wreath- laying ceremonies at memorials to local citizens killed here and to their American liberators.
Local schoolchildren presented the veterans certificates declaring them honorary citizens of the town and expressed personal thanks on behalf of their townspeople.
"We salute you and pay respect to our American friends," Mayor Jose Lutgen told the veterans during a reception following the ceremonies. He recalled "those terrible days" when Houffalize had reached what seemed like rock bottom, then to be freed "by young soldiers who landed in the midst of enemy fire."
"You all were heroes," Lutgen said. "And today, 60 years later, we welcome you again as the heroes who helped us retrieve our lost freedoms."
Daniel Denning, principal deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, whose father was among the soldiers who fought at Houffalize, praised the veterans for overcoming severe hardships as they continued the fight in the Ardennes.
"You fought for freedom and for the people of Belgium and Luxembourg," Denning said. "But you also fought for each other." He likened the Battle of the Bulge soldiers to the 101st Airborne Division's Easy Company, popularized in the "Band of Brothers" book and television miniseries.
Denning called the 60th anniversary observances a fitting time "to commemorate the valor and sacrifice of those who fought here" and particularly to remember those who paid the ultimate price. Their sacrifices, he said, "will never be forgotten."
"I, like you, will never forget," agreed U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Tom Korologos. "And I assure you that the American people will also never forget."
Herbert Ridyard, who fought here as a private first class with the 94th Infantry Division during the battle, said he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of appreciation the veterans have received throughout their visit to Luxembourg and Belgium.
"The love of these people is what I'm going home with," he said. "It's been absolutely incredible."
"I'm very humbled and honored and overwhelmed by the Belgian people," agreed Charles Nelson, who 60 years ago was a private first class with the 87th Infantry Division. "This has truly been a mountaintop experience."
Nelson received a big hug during a reception here from Josiane Pelzer, a Luxembourger whose family was part of the resistance movement against their German occupiers during the war.
"My family was on the list to go to a concentration camp," Pelzer said. "I owe so very much to these soldiers. If it hadn't been for them and what they did for us, I would never have been born!"
Nelson said it's been an enlightening experience to return to the Ardennes with the fellow soldiers he served with six decades ago "to reconstruct what happened here and to see it through the eyes of the local people."
Reliving his person history, he said, "has been very emotional."
Army Maj. Gen. David Zabecki, commander of Task Force Ardennes 60, said he wants to ensure the 60th anniversary commemoration activities are "as meaningful as possible" to the returning veterans.
"This is the last major milestone when we will be able to thank many of these heroes face to face," he said.
In addition to helping the U.S. ambassadors to Belgium and Luxembourg maintain strong, positive relations between their host countries and the United States, Zabecki said he has his own personal agenda for the 60th anniversary activities.
"I want to expose as many young soldiers to these old soldiers as I can," he said. "The old guys love it, and the young guys need to be exposed to their heritage as soldiers."
Zabecki said it tickles him to watch the interaction between local children and the Battle of the Bulge veterans. "These young guys treat them like rock stars," he said. "It's really wonderful to see."