Hermano "Nano" da Silva Ramos, a former racing driver of dual French-Brazilian nationality. Da Silva Ramos participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix

Hermano^[1] João "Nano" da Silva Ramos (born 7 December 1925) is a former racing driver of dual French-Brazilian nationality.^[2] He had a French mother and a Brazilian father.^[3]


Da Silva Ramos was born in Paris, France. He first ventured into motor racing, driving an MG TC, in March 1947, when at the age of 21, he competed in the Interlagos Grand Prix in Brazil.^[3] During 1953 he began racing an Aston Martin DB2/4 in sports car races in France. In 1954 at Montlhéry, he crossed the line in second place in the Paris Cup but was winner of the Coupe de Montlehery. In the same year, he also participated in the Le Mans 24 hour race, with Jean-Paul Colas as his co-driver, being forced to retire after 14 hours following a rear axle failure. Also in 1954, he ran out of fuel whilst leading the Tour de France Auto and retired with a damaged engine in the Rally of Morocco. Later in the year in the Salon Cup, in which he also had to retire, he drove a Gordini Type 18.^[3] In 1955 he (with co-driver Lucas) were disqualified for speeding in the Monte Carlo Rally, eventually classified 46th and 4th in class, won the Coupe de Montlhery again, won the Rally Sable-Solesmes and was 5th in the GT class of the Mille Miglia with co-driver Vidille.^[4]
Da Silva Ramos participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 June 1955 and scoring a total of two championship points.


“Nano” , as he is affectionately called, is good company, rarely without a smile, and has a way of standing back and observing things that went on around him. Indeed he was on the sidelines of the “Behra Affair” that eventually saw Jean Behra booted out of the Ferrari team only to die two weeks later in a sports car accident at the Avus track in a Porsche.
Nano’s first race was back in Brazil with an old MG but then he moved to France and in the early 1950s he visited Le Mans as a spectator. He was intrigued by the Aston Martins and ordered a DB2 Coupe.
When we went to collect the car in Paris he met Mike Sparken, a French-born enthusiast who the same Aston as Nano was about to buy so Mike ordered ordered an identical car.
Ironically both of them were eventually to drive and race Ferraris. At that time a number of racing drivers in Paris used to visit “Jimmy’s Club” and early one morning, about 5.00 am, da Silva Ramos and English racing drivers Peter Collins and Lance Macklin decided to have a race round the famous Arc de Triomphe in the middle of Paris. Not only that, they decided to race round it clockwise which is the wrong way round and were lucky not to meet any traffic. As Nano explained “We were lucky, the streets of Paris were quiet and there were no police around!”
French racing car constructor Amedee Gordini saw da Silva Ramos race his street Aston Martin and was impressed and offered him a Gordini sports car and later grand prix drive but this came to an end in 1957. Nano’s best friend was the Marquis de Portago and when he was killed in the Mille Miglia that year Nano decided to quit racing. A year later, however, thanks to his French racing friend Jean Estager, who owned and raced Ferrari 250GT TdF s/n 0749GT, he came back into racing.
In the 1957 Tour de France Estager had shared the car with grand prix driver Harry Schell who comprehensively damaged it when he hit a little Citroen 2CV that had strayed on to a closed special stage. Now repaired, Estager sold 0749GT to da Silva Ramos who took the former owner with him on the 1958 Tour de France. They finished third overall behind winners Olivier Gendebien/Lucien Bianchi ( TdF 1033GT) and Maurice Trintignant/ Francois Picard (TdF 0901GT).

Nano continued to race the Ferrari but in 1959 was invited by Enzo Ferrari to join Ferrari’s sports car squad which led to him being selected to share a TR59 at Le Mans that year with Jean Behra.

Behra was already grumpy because he thought he was team leader at Ferrari . In fact, Enzo Ferrari had not specifically named a team leader but left the drivers to fight it out between themselves. Everything started to come to a head at Le Mans where the relatively calm team manager Romolo Tavoni was driven to distraction by Behra.
First of all, Behra insisted he did not want to be paired with da Silva Ramos and wanted Dan Gurney to race with him; Tavoni aquiesed placing da Silva Ramos with Cliff Allison and assigning Gurney to the Behra car. But that was not enough, for during first practice da Silva Ramos was quickest of the Ferrari’s.

At the French Grand Prix, two weeks later, Behra roundly criticised Ferrari, and the grand prix car he had been given, to one of the French newspapers and this was duly reported back to Enzo Ferrari.
Tavoni received a telephone call in France telling him that Jean Behra must report to Maranello on the Monday after the race and apologise. When Behra and Tavoni arrived in Maranello for the Monday meeting they found Enzo Ferrari had brought along two Italian motoring journalists to witness the apology: Behra refused. At this Enzo Ferrari lifted the telephone and asked his financial director Emelio della Casa to confirm any money that was owed to Behra, to make out a cheque and Behra was fired on the spot.
Meanwhile Behra had built his own grand prix car, the Behra-Porsche that Maria Teresa de Fillipis had raced. Behra then decided to race the car himself in the German Grand Prix at the banked and frighteningly fast Avus circuit. Sadly, in a support race for sports cars, his Porsche Spyder slid up the banking and over the edge; Behra was killed instantly.
As for da Silva Ramos, the Le Mans race in 1959 was also his final race as he was faced with family problems and decided to hang up his helmet for good.  (F1 Grand Prix Drivers Club)

Alexandru Andrieș, cântăreț de blues / jazz / folk, arhitect, scriitor, poet, traducător, pictor și grafician

Alexandru Andrieș (n. 13 octombrie 1954, Brașov) este un cântăreț de blues / jazz / folk, arhitect, scriitor, poet, traducător, pictor și grafician.
Studiile la Institutul de Arhitectură "Ion Mincu" (1980).
Conferențiar Doctor la Institutul de Arhitectură "Ion Mincu".
Debut solistic în 1974 - Club A, scenic în 1979 - Festivalul de jazz & rock Brașov, cu trupa Basorelief. Debut discografic în 1984 la Electrecord (cu albumul "Interioare").
Are la activ peste 3100 concerte până în 2002.

Discografie

• Interioare (1984)
• Interiors (1985)
• Country & Western Greatest Hits III (1986)
• Rock'n Roll (1987)
• Despre distanțe (1988)
• Trei oglinzi (1989)
• Interzis (1990)
• Azi (1991)
• Așteptînd-o pe Maria (1991)
• Pofta vine mîncînd (1992)
• Vecinele mele 1, 2, 3 (1992)
• Cît de departe (1993)
• Nimic nou pe frontul de est (1993)
• Nimic nou pe frontul de est (single 1993)
• Decembrie / Vis cu îngeri (1993)
• Slow Burning Down (1994)
• Alexandru Andrieș (1994)
• Ultima repetiție (1995)
• Hocus Pocus (1995)
• Balaurul verde / Tarom blues (1995)
• La mulți ani 1996 (1995)
• Albumul alb (1996)
• Acasă (1996)
• Tăcerile din piept (1996)
• Ungra (1996)
• În concert (1997)
• Singur, singur, singur, singur... (1997)
• Verde-n față (1998)
• Culori secrete (1998)
• Alb-negru (1999)
• Texterioare (1999)
• Cîntece pentru prințesă (1999)
• Watercolours (1999)
• Vreme rea (2000)
• Bingo România (2000)
• La mulți ani, Bob Dylan (2001)
• Pe viu (2001)
• Fără titlu (2001)
• Muzică de divorț (2001)
• Cîntece de-a gata (2002)
• Blues Expert (2003)
• 50/30/20 (2004)
• 50/30/20 (DVD 2004)
• Comandă specială (2005)
• Tandrețuri (DVD 2005)
• Ediție specială (DVD+CD 2006)
• Nimic nu iese-așa cum vrei (2006)
• Legiunea străină Soundtrack (2007)
• Videoarhiva 1, 2, 3 (DVD 2007)
• Videoarhiva 4, 5 (DVD 2007)
• La Sala Auditorium 04.12.06 (2007)
• Ninge iar... (2007)
• Oficial (2008)
• În sfîrșit la M.I. (DVD 2008)
• Acustic la ACT (DVD 2008)
• Împreună (2008)
• Împreună (DVD 2008)
• Nunta mută Soundtrack (2008)
• Petală (2009)
• Du-mă înapoi (2010)
• Muzică de colecție, Vol. 110 (Jurnalul Național 2010)
• Du-mă înapoi 2 (2010)
• Mia's Children - Concertul (DVD 2010)
• Vechituri (2010)
• Incorekt (2011)
• Incorekt - Live la Excelsior (2011)
• Du-mă înapoi Deluxe (2011)
• JT (2012)
• Excelsior 03.12.2012 (2013)
• Du-mă înapoi 4 (2013)
• Cîntece piraterești (2013)
• Interioare 2014 (2014)
• Interioare 2014 în concert (2015)
• Disc domestic EP (2016)
• Disc domestic (2016)
• Andrieș la Auditorium (2017)

Volume

• Almanah Anticipația 1984 (1983)
• Almanah Anticipația 1985 (1984)
• Așteptând-o pe Maria (1991)
• La mulți ani Dylan (1991)
• Singur acasă (1992)
• Petala (Editura Vellant, 2009)
• Desen și arhitectură (Editura Vellant, 2009)
• Cu mătușa prin România (Editura Vellant, 2012)

Ruslan Chagaev, an Uzbek former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2016. He is a two-time WBA heavyweight champion, having held the full world title from 2007 to 2009, and the Regular title from 2014 to 2016

Ruslan Shamilevich Chagaev (born 19 October 1978) is an Uzbek former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2016. He is a two-time WBA heavyweight champion, having held the full world title from 2007 to 2009, and the Regular title from 2014 to 2016. To date, Chagaev remains the only Asian boxer in the history of the sport to hold a heavyweight world title by any of the four major sanctioning bodies.
In 2007 he defeated then-unbeaten Nikolai Valuev to win the WBA heavyweight title for the first time, and would make two successful defences. Due to injuries and being unable to grant Valuev a rematch in 2009, the WBA stripped Chagaev of the title. He went on to suffer his first professional loss in the same year to unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Chagaev won the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title for a second time by defeating Fres Oquendo in 2014. He made one successful defence, but lost the title to Lucas Browne in 2016. However, after Browne failed a drug test, the WBA reinstated Chagaev as champion, but he was once again stripped of the title in July after failing to pay sanctioning fees. On 28 July 2016 he announced his retirement from boxing due to ongoing eye injuries.^[1]
As an amateur, Chagaev won gold medals at the 2001 World Championships and 1999 Asian Championships, in the heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions respectively.
It was announced on 28 July 2016 by manager Timur Dugashev that Chagaev announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 37 due to problems with his eyes. Dugashev stated: "Ruslan informed us that he would no longer fight. The reason is the state of his eyes. Health is the most important thing."^[55]
There was reports in October 2016 that Chagaev was offered a farewell fight to close his career, potentially a rematch with Lucas Browne. Chagaev chose to stay retired due to health issues.

Clint Hill, former US Secret Service agent who was in the presidential motorcade during the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He is the last surviving passenger of the presidential limousine

Clinton J. Hill (born 1932) is a former United States Secret Service agent who was in the presidential motorcade during the assassination of John F. Kennedy. After Kennedy was shot, Hill ran from the car immediately behind the presidential limousine and leapt onto the back of it, holding on while the car raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital. This action was documented in the famous Zapruder film. Hill is the last surviving passenger of the presidential limousine which arrived at Parkland.
Hill, a native of Washburn, ND, attended Concordia College (Moorhead) in Moorhead, MN where he played football, studied history, and was a 1954 graduate. After college he was assigned to the Denver office of Secret Service in 1958. After John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States, Hill was assigned to protect the First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy. Hill became a nationally-known figure upon the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
Hill remained assigned to Mrs. Kennedy and the children until after the 1964 presidential election. He then was assigned to President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. In 1967, when Johnson was still in office, he became the Special Agent in Charge (SAIC) of Presidential protection. When Richard Nixon came into office, he moved over to SAIC of protection of Vice President Spiro Agnew. Finally, Hill was assigned to headquarters as the Assistant Director of the Secret Service for all protection. He retired in 1975.

President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, during a motorcade through the city while en route to a luncheon at the Dallas Trade Mart. The President and Mrs. Kennedy were riding in an open limousine containing three rows of seats. The Kennedys were in the rear seat of the car, and the Governor of Texas, John Connally, and his wife, Nellie Connally, were in the middle row. Secret Service agent William Greer was driving and the president's bodyguard, Roy Kellerman, was also in the front seat.

Hill was riding in the car that was immediately behind the presidential limousine. As soon as the shooting began, Hill jumped out and began running to overtake the moving car in front of him with the plan to climb on from the rear bumper and crawl over the trunk to the back seat where the President and First Lady were located.
Hill grabbed a small handrail on the left rear of the trunk that was normally used by bodyguards to stabilize themselves while standing on small platforms on the rear bumper. According to the Warren Commission's findings there were no bodyguards stationed on the bumper that day because

...the President had frequently stated that he did not want agents to ride on these steps during a motorcade except when necessary. He had repeated this wish only a few days before, during his visit to Tampa, FL. .

The notion that the President's instructions in Tampa jeopardized his security in Dallas has since been denied by Hill and other agents. Regardless of Kennedy's statement photos taken of the motorcade along earlier segments of the route show Hill riding on the step at the back of the car.
As an alternate explanation fellow agent Gerald Blaine cites the location of the shooting:

We were going into a freeway, and that's where you take the speeds up to 60 and 70 miles an hour. So we would not have had any agents there anyway.

Hill grabbed the handrail less than two seconds after the fatal shot to the President. The driver then accelerated, causing the car to slip away from Hill, who was in the midst of trying to leap on to it. He succeeded in regaining his footing and jumped on to the back of the quickly accelerating vehicle.

As he got on, he saw Mrs. Kennedy, apparently in shock, crawling onto the flat rear trunk of the moving limousine (he later told the Warren Commission that he thought Mrs. Kennedy was reaching for a piece of the President's skull which had been blown off). Agent Hill crawled to her and guided the First Lady back into her seat. Once back in the car, Hill placed his body above the President and Mrs. Kennedy. Meanwhile, in the folding jump seats directly in front of them, Mrs. Connally had pulled her wounded husband, Governor John Connally, to a prone position on her lap.
Agent Kellerman, in the front seat of the car, gave orders over the car's two-way radio to the lead vehicle in the procession "To the nearest hospital, quick!" Hill was shouting as loudly as he could "To the hospital, to the hospital!" Enroute to the hospital, Hill flashed a "thumbs-down" signal and shook his head from side to side at the agents in the followup car, signaling the graveness of the President's condition.

Nicu Covaci, un compozitor, cântăreț, chitarist, pictor și grafician român, cunoscut ca fondator și lider al formației Phoenix

Singurul copil al unei croitorese (Tamara) originară din Basarabia și al unui tată bănățean de lângă granița cu Serbia, Covaci a crescut fără tată până la vârsta de cca. 11 ani, deoarece acesta a fost deținut politic la primul Canal Dunăre-Marea Neagră timp de aproximativ 10 ani.

A început de mic copil să ia lecții particulare de pian, acordeon și limbă franceză, germană și engleză. Mai târziu, după ce a învățat singur să cânte la muzicuță, a luat și lecții de chitară.

A urmat secția germană a școlii primare, secția română a școlii generale, liceul de arte plastice și Institutul de Arte Plastice din Timișoara.

Nicu Covaci a părăsit România în 26 octombrie 1976,^[1], stabilindu-se mai întâi în Olanda, apoi în Germania și în final în Spania.

În 2012, Covaci locuia în Moraira, Spania.^[2]
 
Covaci este și un iubitor al motocicletelor și al sportului, practicând, printre altele, atletismul, canotajul, karate, boxul, înotul și scufundatul sportiv.^[3]

 
Pe 23 noiembrie 2019 este lansată cartea „Nicolae Covaci – Pictorul”. Aceasta prezintă în premieră peste 100 de fotografii cu lucrări de pictură și sculptură realizate de-a lungul timpului de liderul Phoenix.

Albumul este structurat în zece secțiuni și are 116 pagini.

Pe lângă comentariile scrise ale lui Covaci, cartea include și 12 coduri QR, care conectează paginile volumului tipărit cu mediul online, fiind astfel prima carte hibridă (smart-book) din domeniul artelor plastice, publicată în România și, probabil, în lume.

Richard Attwood, a British motor racing driver, from England. During his career he raced for the BRM, Lotus and Cooper Formula One teams. He competed in 17 World Championship Grands Prix

Richard James David "Dickie" Attwood (born 4 April 1940, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire) is a British motor racing driver, from England. During his career he raced for the BRM, Lotus and Cooper Formula One teams. He competed in 17 World Championship Grands Prix, achieved one podium and scored a total of 11 championship points. He was also a successful sports car racing driver and won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driving a Porsche 917, the first of Porsche's record 19 victories at the famous race.
Attwood's performances in Formula Two prompted Alfred Owen, the proprietor of BRM, to offer him an opportunity in his works Formula One team. His first outing for the team was in the non-Championship News of the World Trophy race, at Goodwood, in which he took the BRM P57 to fourth place, the first non-Lotus finisher and the only car to end on the same lap as Colin Chapman's fleet winners. Attwood's second Formula One outing was in the 1964 British Grand Prix, driving BRM's experimental four wheel drive P67 model. Having been the project's test driver Attwood did manage to qualify the overweight car, albeit in last place on the grid. However, as the car was principally intended as a rolling test bed, BRM decided to withdraw the P67 prior to the race itself.


In 1966 Attwood competed in Australia and New Zealand as a part of BRM's Tasman Series squad. His Tasman performances were very promising, including a win at Levin, but despite this – perhaps due to his underwhelming 1965 Formula One performances and growing success in sports cars – Attwood sat out the majority of the 1966 and 1967 Formula One seasons. His only appearance came as a substitute for works-Cooper driver Pedro Rodríguez at the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix, bringing the Cooper-Maserati home in 10th place. During 1966 he maintained his run of form in Formula Two, taking victory in the Rome Grand Prix and a second place at Pau in 1966, but concentrated firmly on sports cars in 1967.


After Mike Spence's death during practice for the 1968 Indianapolis 500 race Attwood rejoined the BRM works team, now run by Parnell, as his replacement. Attwood's first race on his return was perhaps his most spectacular, taking fastest lap in the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, on his way to a strong second-place finish behind Graham Hill's works Lotus. However, results declined through the remainder of the season, and four races from the end Attwood was himself replaced by Bobby Unser.
Always something of a Monaco specialist, it was in the principality that Richard Attwood made his final Formula One start. Colin Chapman brought in the Briton as substitute for the injured Jochen Rindt, driving the Lotus 49B. He finished in a respectable fourth-place. Although this was his last Formula One drive, he did appear at the 1969 German Grand Prix in a Formula Two Brabham for Frank Williams, where he finished sixth overall, and second in the Formula Two class.

Hans Herrmann, a retired Formula One and sports car racing driver from Stuttgart

Hans Herrmann (born 23 February 1928) is a retired Formula One and sports car racing driver from Stuttgart, Germany.
In F1, he participated in 19 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 August 1953. He achieved 1 podium and scored a total of 10 championship points.


In sports car racing, he also scored the first overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Porsche in 1970, in a Porsche 917.

From 1954 to 1955, he was part of the Mercedes-Benz factory team, as a junior driver behind Juan Manuel Fangio, Karl Kling, Hermann Lang and later Stirling Moss. When the Silver Arrows came back for the 1954 French Grand Prix to score a 1–2 win, Herrmann drove the fastest lap but had to retire. A podium finish at the 1954 Swiss Grand Prix was his best result in that year as he had to use older versions of the Mercedes-Benz W196, or the least reliable car.
In the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix his teammates Kling and Moss had to abandon early due to the extremely hot conditions on the southern hemisphere in January. Herrmann was called in to share his car with them for a 4th-place finish, giving one point each. Fangio won with two laps more. Hans was quick in the 1955 Mille Miglia with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, comparably or even faster than Moss, but was less lucky than in 1954, as he had to abandon the race.

A crash in practise for the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix put Herrmann out for the ill-fated 1955 season, even though a comeback in the Targa Florio was intended.

The next years saw Herrmann racing for many marques, in F1 for Cooper, Maserati and BRM. In Berlin's AVUS during the 1959 German Grand Prix the brakes of his BRM failed, he crashed in a spectacular way, being thrown out of the car and sliding along the track with the car somersaulting in the air.
With different versions of the Porsche 718 being used as a sportscar and as a Formula Two car, Herrmann scored some wins for Porsche, mainly both the 1960 12 Hours of Sebring and Targa Florio. When the open wheeled single seater version of the Porsche 718 became eligible for Formula One in 1961 due to the rule changes, the results in F1 were disappointing. Herrmann finished 15th (last) in the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix, which was one of only two races in F1 history to have no retirements. He left Porsche at the beginning of the 1962 season feeling that he as a local from Stuttgart was No Prophet In His Own Land compared to Californian Dan Gurney and 1959 GP-winner Jo Bonnier from Sweden. Gurney scored two F1 wins (one non-championship) with the new Porsche 804, but Porsche retired from F1 anyway at the end of 1962.

In 1966 he returned to Porsche for a comeback in the World Sportscar Championship, as Porsche started a serious effort there. Following several podium finishes with the still underpowered two liter Porsche 906 and later models, he won the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona in a 907 as well as the Sebring 12 Hours again, now together with Swiss Jo Siffert. The overall win of the 1000km Nürburgring always eluded him, even though Herrmann had taken part in each of these races at the Nürburgring since they were introduced in 1953, and had finished second three times in a row from 1968 to 1970, behind teammates Jo Siffert and/or Vic Elford.
Herrmann missed the win in the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Porsche 908 by only 120 meters [1], but it was he who finally scored the long-awaited first overall victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours for Porsche in 1970. He was assigned to Porsche Salzburg, the Austria-based factory-backed team owned by the Porsche family, which mainly entered cars painted red and white, the Austrian colors. In heavy rain, he and his teammate Richard Attwood survived with their Porsche 917K #23 as the best of only seven finishers.


Half-jokingly, Herrmann had promised to his wife before the Le Mans race that he would retire in case of a win there. Having witnessed fatal accidents of colleagues too many times, e.g. before the 1969 German Grand Prix when his teammate and neighbor Gerhard Mitter died, the 42-year-old announced his retirement on TV, after having driven the winning car in a parade through Stuttgart from the factory to the town hall. To get out of his contract with Porsche Salzburg, Herrmann had to recommend a replacement driver to Luise Piech.

Using his contacts, Herrmann built a successful company for automotive supplies. He was kidnapped once in the 1990s and kept in a car trunk for many hours before escaping.
Herrmann has remained engaged in the racing community through his retirement, demonstrating historical cars at events such as the Solitude-Revival.

Ben Johnson, a Jamaican-born Canadian former sprinter, who was disqualified for doping after finishing third in two Olympic races and two consecutive 100 metres finishes under the world record time at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1988 Summer Olympics

Benjamin Sinclair Johnson, CM OOnt (born December 30, 1961) is a Jamaican-born Canadian former sprinter, who was disqualified for doping after finishing third in two Olympic races and two consecutive 100 metres finishes under the world record time at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Benjamin Johnson was born in Falmouth, Jamaica, and immigrated to Canada in 1976, residing in Scarborough, Ontario.
Johnson met coach Charlie Francis and joined the Scarborough Optimists track and field club, training at York University. Francis was a Canadian 100 metres sprint champion himself (1970, 1971 and 1973) and a member of the Canadian team for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Francis was also Canada's national sprint coach for nine years.
Johnson's first international success came when he won 2 silver medals at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia. He finished behind Allan Wells of Scotland in the 100 metres with a time of 10.05 seconds and was a member of the Canadian 4 × 100 metres relay team which finished behind Nigeria. This success was not repeated at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, where he was eliminated in the semi-finals, finishing 6th with a time of 10.44, nor at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas where Johnson placed 5th in the 100 metres final with a time of 10.25.
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he reached the 100 metres final; after a false start, he won the bronze medal behind Carl Lewis and Sam Graddy with a time of 10.22. He also won a bronze medal with the Canadian 4 × 100 m relay team of Johnson, Tony Sharpe, Desai Williams and Sterling Hinds, who ran a time of 38.70. By the end of the 1984 season, Johnson had established himself as Canada's top sprinter, and on August 22 in Zürich, Switzerland, he bettered Williams' Canadian record of 10.17 by running 10.12.
In 1985, after eight consecutive losses, Johnson finally beat Carl Lewis. Other success against Lewis included the 1986 Goodwill Games, where Johnson beat Lewis, running 9.95 for first place, against Lewis' third-place time of 10.06. He broke Houston McTear's seven-year-old world record in the 60 metres in 1986, with a time of 6.50 seconds.[2] He also won Commonwealth gold at the 1986 games in Edinburgh, beating Linford Christie for the 100 metres title with a time of 10.07. Johnson also led the Canadian 4x100 metres relay team to gold, and won a bronze in the 200 metres. Also in 1986, Canadian sprinter Mike Dwyer expressed concern that the use of drugs had reached "epidemic proportions" among Canadian sprinters, particularly among those who trained in the Toronto area. Atlee Mahorn also speculated that many sprinters were on steroids.[3]
On April 29, 1987, Johnson was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. "World record holder for the indoor 60-meter run, this Ontarian has proved himself to be the world's fastest human being and has broken Canadian, Commonwealth and World Cup 100-meter records," it read. "Recipient of the Norton Crowe Award for Male Athlete of the Year for 1985, 'Big Ben' was the winner of the 1986 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete."
By the time of the 1987 World Championships, Johnson had won his four previous races with Lewis and had established himself as the best 100 metres sprinter. At Rome, Johnson gained instant world fame and confirmed this status when he beat Lewis for the title, setting a new world record of 9.83 seconds as well, beating Calvin Smith's former record by a full tenth of a second.
After Rome, Johnson became a lucrative marketing celebrity. According to coach Charlie Francis, after breaking the world record, Johnson earned about $480,000 a month in endorsements.[4] Johnson won both the Lou Marsh Trophy and Lionel Conacher Award, and was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year for 1987.
Following Johnson's defeat of Lewis in Rome, Lewis started trying to explain away his defeat. He first claimed that Johnson had false-started, then he alluded to a stomach virus which had weakened him. Finally, without naming names, Lewis said "There are a lot of people coming out of nowhere. I don't think they are doing it without drugs." This was the start of Lewis' calling on the sport of track and field to be cleaned up in terms of the illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. While cynics noted that the problem had been in the sport for many years, they pointed out that it did not become a cause for Lewis until he was actually defeated, with some also pointing to Lewis's egotistical attitude and lack of humility. During a controversial interview with the BBC, Lewis said:
  There are gold medallists at this meet who are on drugs, that [100 metres] race will be looked at for many years, for more reasons than one.

Johnson's response was:

    When Carl Lewis was winning everything, I never said a word against him. And when the next guy comes along and beats me, I won't complain about that either.

This set up the rivalry leading into the 1988 Olympic Games.
In 1988, Johnson experienced a number of setbacks to his running career. In February of that year he pulled a hamstring, and in May he aggravated the same injury. Meanwhile, in Paris in June, Lewis ran a 9.99. Then in Zurich, Switzerland on August 17, the two faced each other for the first time since the 1987 World Championships; Lewis won in 9.93, while Johnson finished third in 10.00. "The gold medal for the (Olympic) 100 meters is mine," Carl Lewis said. "I will never again lose to Johnson."

Olympic games and subsequent disqualification
On September 24, 1988, Johnson was thought to be the first sprinter from Canada since Percy Williams in 1928 to win the 100 metres final at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, lowering his own world record to 9.79 seconds. Johnson would later remark that he would have been even faster had he not raised his hand in the air just before he hit the tape.[6] However, Park Jong-sei of the Olympic Doping Control Center found that Johnson's urine sample contained stanozolol, and he was disqualified three days later.[7] He later admitted having used steroids when he ran his 1987 world record, which caused the IAAF to rescind that record as well. Johnson and coach Francis complained that they used doping in order to remain on an equal footing with the other top athletes on drugs they had to compete against. In testimony before the Dubin inquiry into drug use, Francis charged that Johnson was only one of many cheaters, and he just happened to get caught. Later, six of the eight finalists of the 100 metres race tested positive for banned drugs or were implicated in a drug scandal at some point in their careers: Carl Lewis, who was given the gold medal; Linford Christie, who was moved up to the silver medal and who went on to win gold at the next Games; Dennis Mitchell, who was moved up to fourth place and finished third to Christie in 1992; and Desai Williams, Johnson's countryman who won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 meters relay at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.

Johnson's coach, Charlie Francis, a vocal critic of the IOC testing procedures, is the author of Speed Trap, which features Johnson heavily. In the book, he freely admits that his athletes were taking anabolic steroids, as he claims all top athletes at the time were, and also claims that Johnson could not possibly have tested positive for that particular steroid since Johnson actually preferred furazabol. He thought stanozolol made his body "feel tight".[9] The numerous athletes using performance-enhancing drugs at the time understood how long before a race, and possible drug test, they should stop using the drugs. Johnson later claimed that André A. Jackson, Lewis' Santa Monica Track Club teammate, who was inside the drug testing room in Seoul, may have placed the stanozolol in one of the beers Johnson drank in order to make urine for his test.[10]

On 28 September 2018, the Toronto Star ran an article on the lab report which was created on Johnson sample during the 1988 Olympic Games. It was produced by the IOC doping control center in Seoul two days after Johnson handed in a urine sample taken after the 100m run. The newspaper concluded that the assumed substance Stanozolol was traceable, but "inconsistencies" are found in the report. The Toronto Star goes on, that no Canadian Olympic team official saw the lab report in Seoul. The lab report was requested by Canada's chief medical officer, Dr. William Stanish. The Canadian team didn't object after the IOC medical commission assured "that its testing methods were unassailable."

Félix Rodríguez, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, known for his involvement in the execution of Leftist revolutionary Che Guevara

Félix Ismael Rodríguez Mendigutia (born 31 May 1941) is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, known for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, in the execution of Leftist revolutionary Che Guevara and his ties to George H. W. Bush during the Iran–Contra affair. He is Cuban American.

In September, 1960 he joined a group of Cuban exiles in Guatemala, supported by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to receive military training. They were called Brigade 2506.

In 1967, the CIA recruited Rodríguez to train and head a team to hunt down Marxist guerrilla fighter Che Guevara, who was attempting to overthrow the US-backed government in Bolivia.

He claims that he and Guevara spoke civilly regarding the failing economy of Cuba and Guevara's tactics in starting a revolution in Bolivia. Rodríguez stated that he wanted to keep Guevara alive for further interrogation, but was thwarted by the order of the Bolivian president that Guevara be summarily executed. Rodríguez, whose cover was that of a Bolivian army major, repeated those orders, later stating that it was a Bolivian decision, and Guevara was killed. Rodríguez has in his possession Guevara's Rolex wristwatch.
The last photograph of Guevara alive includes Rodriguez standing by his side. CIA authenticated the picture of Che Guevara and Félix Rodríguez and recognizes it as original.

Michael Madsen, an American actor, producer, director, writer, poet and photographer

Michael Søren Madsen (born September 25, 1957)^[1][2] is an American actor, producer, director, writer, poet and photographer. He has starred in many feature films and television series.

Madsen began working at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, where he served as an apprentice under John Malkovich and appeared in a production of Of Mice and Men.^[7]
In Quentin Tarantino's directorial debut film Reservoir Dogs, Madsen played Mr. Blonde, a villainous mobster. He did not get the role of Mr. Pink (which went to Steve Buscemi), which he wanted because it had more scenes with Harvey Keitel.^[7] For Pulp Fiction, Madsen declined the role of Vincent Vega, which went to John Travolta. Madsen starred in Mike Newell's gangster film Donnie Brasco (1997). He once said of these films: "Some of them I'm only in for 10 minutes, but they bought my name, and they bought my face to put on the DVD box with a gun. What people don't always understand is that I established a certain lifestyle for my family back in the days of Species and Mulholland Falls and The Getaway. I wasn't about to move my six kids into a trailer park. So when people offered me work, it wasn't always the best, but I had to buy groceries and I had to put gas in the car."^[7]

Madsen in 2006

In Kill Bill, Madsen played assassin Budd, the brother of Bill (David Carradine) The film was released in two parts, Vol. 1 and Vol.2.^[8] In 2004, Tarantino discussed an idea for the film to unite Madsen and Travolta, as The Vega Brothers.^[9] In 2007, Tarantino said the film (which he intended to call Double V Vega) was "kind of unlikely now", because of the age of the actors and the onscreen deaths of both characters.^[10]
Madsen appeared in Uwe Boll's BloodRayne, a film he described as "an abomination... It's a horrifying and preposterous movie".^[11] He won Best Actor awards at the Boston Film Festival and New York International Independent Film and Video Festival for his performance in Strength and Honour. He played himself in the mockumentary Being Michael Madsen. Madsen co-starred in Coma, a Web series on Crackle.^[12]
Madsen played Jim Ricker, the old friend of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), in the final season of 24.^[13] Madsen starred in the comedy film Let the Game Begin.^[14] On January 5, 2012, he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house, where he finished in 4th place in the final. In February 2014, he played Las Vegas casino mogul Ted Binion in Josh Evans' film Death in the Desert.^[15][16] The screenplay was written by John Steppling, based on the book Death in the Desert by crime writer Cathy Scott.^[17] In August 2014, he starred in the Kill Bill-themed music video for the song "Black Widow" by Iggy Azalea featuring Rita Ora.^[18]
Madsen starred in the ensemble western film The Hateful Eight (2015). He was among a number of people rumored to have leaked the film's script, before it was released causing Tarantino to almost not make the film and eventually rewrite it.^[19] In 2016, he played a dramatized role of former Texas Ranger Phil Ryan in Real Detective on the Investigation Discovery network.^[20] In 2017, Madsen signed on as executive producer of the under $5K budget feature crime-thriller The Dirty Kind, written and directed by Vilan Trub. After being screened some footage and the trailer for the film by producer Derek Zuzunaga, Madsen agreed to sign on as EP and make the film citing a need for more quality independent films in the genre.

Florin Piersic, un actor român de film, radio, televiziune, scenă și voce. A jucat dramă, comedie, tragedie, figuri istorice, haiduci

Florin Piersic (n. 27 ianuarie 1936, Cluj, Regatul României) este un actor român de film, radio, televiziune, scenă și voce. A jucat dramă, comedie, tragedie, figuri istorice, haiduci.

Născut din părinți originari din Bucovina (mama originară din Valea Seacă, tatăl, medic veterinar, originar din Corlata), Florin Piersic și-a petrecut copilăria în Corlata, Pojorâta și Cajvana,^[3] apoi în Cernăuți și, ulterior, la Cluj, unde a urmat Liceul de băieți nr. 3 (azi Colegiul Național Emil Racoviță). Florin Piersic a fost descoperit de catre actrita si regizoarea Elena Negreanu. ^[4][5]

A absolvit Institutul de Artă Teatrală și Cinematografică din București (IATC, astăzi UNATC), promoția 1957. La doi ani după absolvire, Florin Piersic a debutat pe scena Teatrului Național din București obținând rolul titular în Discipolul diavolului. Au urmat Tragedia optimistă, Oameni și șoareci și Orfeu în Infern, piese care au scos în evidență geniul, naturalețea și prospețimea actorului. Are o bogată activitate teatrală la Teatrul Național din București).^[6]
În anii '60, Florin Piersic se căsătorește cu actrița Tatiana Iekel^[7], care i-a dăruit și primul copil, pe Florin Jr.^[7] A doua soție a fost tot o actriță, Anna Széles^[7], alături de care a devenit tată pentru a doua oară. În 1985 Anna Széles a cerut și a obținut divorțul și s-a mutat în Ungaria, luându-l cu ea și pe fiul lor, Daniel. În 1993, după o relație de 7 ani, Florin Piersic s-a căsătorit cu Anna Török, de asemenea originară din Cluj.^[7]
În 26 ianuarie 2011 cinematograful „Republica” din Cluj-Napoca a fost redenumit în cinematograful „Florin Piersic”.^[8]
De-a lungul timpului Florin Piersic a primit titlul de „cetățean de onoare” al mai multor orașe precum: Bacău, Cluj-Napoca, Caracal, Sighet, Suceava, Baia Mare, Oradea, București, Galați și Iași.

La 10 decembrie 2012, prin decretul președintelui Republicii Moldova, Nicolae Timofti, actorului i s-a acordat cetățenia Republicii Moldova. Florin Piersic a adresat o scrisoare președintelui moldovean motivând solicitarea prin faptul că acolo este primit foarte bine de oameni și se simte iubit, iar tatăl lui a activat, în calitate de medic veterinar, atât în Bucovina cât și în Basarabia (la Cernăuți, respectiv Soroca).^[9]
În anul 2009 Florin Piersic înregistrează un disc de autor la casa de discuri OVO MUSIC: „Florin Piersic - Hoinărind printre amintiri în lumea muzicii lui Dan Iagnov”. Toate cele 10 melodii sunt compuse de Dan Iagnov: „O poveste de o zi”, „Latino lasciv”, „Anemone mii”, „Femeia e secretul”, „Și ploua...”, „Pe cărările vieții”, „Poveste cu un saxofon”, „Viața este o poveste”, „Cînd ninge” și „Un pas pe zăpadă”. Versurile cântecelor „Latino lasciv” și „Anemone mii” sunt scrise de Dan Iagnov. Versurile celorlalte cântece sunt scrise de Andreea Andrei.


A fost distins cu Ordinul Meritul Cultural clasa a V-a (1967) „pentru merite deosebite în domeniul artei dramatice”.^[10]
Actorul Florin Piersic a fost decorat la 30 mai 2002 cu Ordinul național Steaua României în grad de Cavaler, alături de alți actori, „pentru prestigioasa cariera artistică și talentul deosebit prin care au dat viață personajelor interpretate în filme, dar și pe scenă, cu prilejul celebrării unui veac de film românesc”.[

Elisabeta Lipă, a retired romanian rower. She is the most decorated rower in the history of the Olympics, winning five gold, two silver and one bronze medals

Elisabeta Lipă (Romanian pronunciation: [elisaˈbeta ˈlipə]; née Oleniuc on 26 October 1964) is a retired rower and government official from Romania. She is the most decorated rower in the history of the Olympics, winning five gold, two silver and one bronze medals.^[1] She holds the record amongst rowers for the most years between gold medals, at 20 years.


Since 2004, Lipă has served in various government positions including Minister of Youth and Sport in the current cabinet under Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș. Since 2009, she has also served as the President of the Romanian Rowing Federation and the Dinamo București Sports Club.

Lipă debuted at the age of 19 at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, where she won her first gold medal in the double sculls event. She won her most recent gold medal in the eight at the Athens Summer Olympics in 2004.


She is the only person to win a gold medal in the two premiere rowing events: the single scull and the eight. She is also one of very few women to win a gold medal in both a sculling (two oars per person) and a sweep (one oar per person) event. (Canada's Kathleen Heddle and Marnie McBean accomplished the same, sculling and sweep gold medals, in 1992 and 1996.)
In 2004, she became the first female rower to compete at six Olympics. This was first done by Czech rower Jiří Pták (cox) in 1992 and equalled in 2008 by Canadian Lesley Thompson (cox), Estonian Jüri Jaanson, and Australian James Tomkins.

In 2008 she was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal at the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne^[4] and became an honorary citizen of her native town Siret. As of November 2015, she is the Romanian Minister of Youth and Sport in Cioloș Cabinet.[