The phrase deus ex machina (Latin IPA: [ˈdeːus eks ˈmaːkʰina] (literally "god out of a machine") describes an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot (e.g. an angel suddenly appearing to solve problems).

Linguistic considerations
The phrase has been extended to refer to any resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, allowing the author to conclude the story with an unlikely, though more palatable, ending.
In modern terms the deus ex machina has also come to describe a being, object or event that suddenly appears and solves a seemingly insoluble difficulty, where the author has "painted the characters into a corner" that they can't easily be extricated from (e.g. the cavalry unexpectedly coming to the rescue, or James Bond using a gadget that just so happens to be perfectly suited to the needs of the situation).
Other examples are seen in Dante Alighieri's Inferno when a mysterious personage (variously identified) "sent from Heaven" clears the path of fallen angels and opens the gates of Dis for Dante and Virgil to pass; in H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds where the Martians suddenly succumb to common viruses. The device is a type of twist ending.
The notion of deus ex machina can also be applied to a revelation within a story that causes seemingly unrelated sequences of events to be joined together. Thus the unexpected and timely intervention is aimed at the meaning of the story rather than a physical event in the plot. This may more accurately be described as a plot twist.

For the film by Peter Brook, see The Mahabharata (1989 film).
The Mahābhārata (Devanagari: महाभारत) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayana.
With more than 74,000 verses, long prose passages, and about 1.8 million words in total, it is one of the longest epic poems in the world. The epic is part of the Hindu itihāsa, literally "that which happened", which includes with the Ramayana and the Purāṇas.
Traditionally, Hindus ascribe the Mahabharata to Vyasa. Due to its immense length, its philological study has a long history of attempts to unravel its historical growth and composition layers. Its earliest layers date back to the late Vedic period and it probably reached its final form in the early Gupta period.

Influence
It is undisputed that the full length of the Mahabharata has accreted over a long period. The Mahabharata itself (1.1.61) distinguishes a core portion of 24,000 verses, the Bharata proper, as opposed to additional secondary material, while the Ashvalayana Grhyasutra (3.4.4) makes a similar distinction. According to the Adi-parva of the Mahabharata (shlokas 81, 101-102), the text was originally 8,800 verses when it was composed by Vyasa and was known as the Jaya (Victory), which later became 24,000 verses in the Bharata recited by Vaisampayana, and finally over 90,000 verses in the Mahabharata recited by Ugrasravas. and 12. The addition of the latest parts may be dated by the absence of the Anushasana-parva from MS Spitzer, the oldest surviving Sanskrit philosophical manuscript dated to the first century, that contains among other things a list of the books in the Mahabharata. From this evidence, it is likely that the redaction into 18 books took place in the first century. An alternative division into 20 parvas appears to have co-existed for some time. The division into 100 sub-parvas (mentioned in Mbh. 1.2.70) is older, and most parvas are named after one of their constituent sub-parvas. The Harivamsa consists of the final two of the 100 sub-parvas, and was considered an appendix (khila) to the Mahabharata proper by the redactors of the 18 parvas.
The division into 18 parvas is as follows:
The Adi-parva is dedicated to the snake sacrifice (sarpasattra) of Janamejaya, explaining its motivation, detailing why all snakes in existence were intended to be destroyed, and why in spite of this, there are still snakes in existence. This sarpasattra material was often considered an independent tale added to a version of the Mahabharata by "thematic attraction" (Minkowski 1991), and considered to have particularly close connection to Vedic (Brahmana literature), in particular the Panchavimsha Brahmana which describes the Sarpasattra as originally performed by snakes, among which are snakes named Dhrtarashtra and Janamejaya, two main characters of the Mahabharata's sarpasattra, and Takshaka, the name of a snake also in the Mahabharata. The Shatapatha Brahmana gives an account of an Ashvamedha performed by Janamejaya Parikshita.
According to Mbh. 1.1.50, there were three versions of the epic, beginning with Manu (1.1.27), Astika (1.3, sub-parva 5) or Vasu (1.57), respectively. These versions probably correspond to the addition of one and then another 'frame' settings of dialogues. The Vasu version corresponds to the oldest, without frame settings, beginning with the account of the birth of Vyasa. The Astika version adds the Sarpasattra and Ashvamedha material from Brahmanical literature, and introduces the name Mahabharata and identifies Vyasa as the work's author. The redactors of these additions were probably Pancharatrin scholars who according to Oberlies (1998) likely retained control over the text until its final redaction. Mention of the Huna in the Bhishma-parva however appears to imply that this parva may have been edited around the 4th century.

Textual history and organization
For historical context of the tale, see Kingdoms of Ancient India
Some people believe that "The epic's setting certainly has a historical precedent in Vedic India, where the Kuru kingdom was the center of political power in the late 2nd and early 1st millennia BCE. A dynastic conflict of the period could very well have been the inspiration for the Jaya, the core on which the Mahabharata corpus was built, and eventually the climactic battle came to be viewed as an epochal event. Dating this conflict relies almost exclusively on textual materials in the Mahabaharata itself and associated genealogical lists in the later Puranic literature."

Historicity
The epic employs the story within a story structure, otherwise known as frametales, popular in many Indian religious and secular works. It is recited to the King Janamejaya by Vaisampayana, a disciple of Vyasa.
The epic is traditionally ascribed to Vyasa, who is also one of the major dynastic characters within the epic. The first section of the Mahabharata states that it was Ganesha who, at the behest of Vyasa, wrote down the text to Vyasa's dictation. Ganesha is said to have agreed to write it only on condition that Vyasa never pause in his recitation. Vyasa agreed, providing that Ganesha took the time to understand what was said before writing it down. This also serves as a popular variation on the stories of how Ganesha's right tusk was broken (a traditional part of Ganesha imagery). This version attributes it to the fact that, in the rush of writing, his pen failed, and he snapped off his tusk as a replacement in order that the transcription not be interrupted.

Structure and authorship
The core story of the work is that of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura, the kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan. The two collateral branches of the family that participate in the struggle are the Kaurava, the elder branch of the family, and the Pandava, the younger branch, with the situation where Kaurava's elder brother Duryodhana is younger than eldest brother of Pandava's i.e. Yudhisthir, leading to conflict where both have the claims to the throne, citing themselves elder.
The struggle culminates in the great battle of Kurukshetra, in which the Pandavas are ultimately victorious. The battle produces complex conflicts of kinship and friendship, instances of family loyalty and duty taking precedence over what is right, as well as the converse.
The Mahabharata itself ends with the death of Krishna, and the subsequent end of his dynasty, and ascent of the Pandava brothers to heaven. It also marks the beginning of the Hindu age of Kali (Kali Yuga), the fourth and final age of mankind, where the great values and noble ideas have crumbled, and man is heading toward the complete dissolution of right action, morality and virtue.

Synopsis
Janamejaya's ancestor Shantanu, the king of Hastinapura has a short-lived marriage with the goddess Ganga and has a son, Devavrata (later to be called Bhishma), who becomes the heir apparent.
Satyavati is the daughter of a fisherman in the kingdom, and she already has a son, Vyasa. Many years later, when the king goes hunting, he see her and asks to marry her. Her father refuses to consent to the marriage unless Shantanu promises to make any future son of Satyavati the king upon his death. To solve the king's dilemma, Devavrata agrees not to take the throne. As the fisherman is not sure about the prince's children honouring the promise, Devavrata also takes a vow of lifelong celibacy to guarantee his father's promise.
Shantanu has two sons by Satyavati, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Upon Shantanu's death, Chitrangada becomes king. After his death Vichitravirya rules Hastinapura. In order to arrange the marriage of the young Vichitravirya, Bhishma goes to Kashi for a swayamvara of the three princesses Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. He wins them, and Ambika and Ambalika are married to Vichtravirya.

The elder generations
Vichitravirya died young without any heirs. Satyavati then asked her first son Vyasa to go to Vichitravirya's widows and give them the divine vision of giving birth to son's without losing their chastity. Vyasa fathered the royal children Dhritarashtra, who is born blind, and Pandu, who is born pale. Through a maid of the widows, he also fathers their commoner half-brother Vidura.
Pandu marries twice, to Kunti and Madri. Dhritarashtra is married to Gandhari, who blindfolds herself when she finds she has been married to a blind man. Pandu takes the throne because of Dhritarashtra's blindness. Pandu while out hunting deer, is however cursed that if he engages in a sexual act, he will die. He then retires to the forest along with his two wives, and his brother rules thereafter, despite his blindness.
Pandu's elder queen Kunti however, asks the gods Dharma, Vayu, and Indra for sons, by using a boon granted by Durvasa. She gives birth to three sons Yudhishtira, Bhima, and Arjuna through these gods. Kunti shares her boon with the younger queen Madri, who bears the twins Nakula and Sahadeva through the Ashwini twins. However Pandu and Madri, unable to resist temptation, indulge in sex and die in the forest, and Kunti returns to Hastinapura to raise her sons, who are then usually referred to as the Pandava brothers.
Dhritarashtra has a hundred sons through Gandhari, the Kaurava brothers, the eldest being Duryodhana, and the second Dushasana. There is rivalry between the sets of cousins, from their youth and into manhood.

The Pandava and Kaurava princes
Duryodhana plots to get rid of the Pandavas and tries to kill the Pandavas secretly by setting fire to their palace which he had made of lac. However, the Pandavas are warned by their uncle, Vidura, who sends them a miner to dig a tunnel. They are able to escape to safety and go into hiding, but after leaving others behind, whose bodies are mistaken for them. Bhishma goes to the river Ganga to perform the last rites of the people found dead in the burned palace, understood to be Pandavas. Vidura then informs him that the Pandavas are alive and to keep the secret to himself.

Laakshagriha (The House of Wax)
In course of this exile the Pandavas are informed of a swayamvara, a marriage competition, which is taking place for the hand of the Panchala princess Draupadi. The Pandavas enter the competition in disguise as Brahmins. The task is to string a mighty steel bow and shoot a target on the ceiling while looking at its reflection in water below. Most of the princes fail, being unable to lift the bow. Arjuna, however, succeeds. When he returns with his bride, Arjuna goes to his mother, saying, "Mother, I have brought you a present!". Kunti, not noticing the princess, tells Arjuna that whatever he has won must be shared with his brothers. To ensure that their mother never utters a falsehood, the brothers take her as a common wife. In some interpretations, Draupadi alternates months or years with each brother. At this juncture they also meet Krishna, who would become their lifelong ally and guide.

Draupadi
After the wedding, the Pandava brothers are invited back to Hastinapura. The Kuru family elders and relatives negotiate and broker a split of the kingdom, with the Pandavas obtaining a new territory. Yudhishtira has a new capital built for this territory at Indraprastha. Neither the Pandava nor Kaurava sides are happy with the arrangement however.
Shortly after this, Arjuna marries Subhadra. Yudhishtira wishes to establish his position; he seeks Krishna's advice. Krishna advises him, and after due preparation and the elimination of some opposition, Yudhishthira carries out a Rajasuya Yagna ceremony; he is thus recognised as pre-eminent among kings.
The Pandavas have a new palace built for them, by Maya the Danava. They invite their Kaurava cousins to Indraprastha. Duryodhana walks round the palace, and mistakes a glossy floor for water, and will not step in. After being told of his error, he then sees a pond, and assumes it is not water and falls in. Draupadi laughs at him, and he is humiliated.

Indraprastha
Sakuni, Duryodhana's uncle, now arranges a dice game, playing against Yudhishtira with loaded dice. Yudhishtira loses all his wealth, then his kingdom. He then even gambles his brothers, then his wife, and finally himself, into servitude. The jubilant Kauravas insult the Pandavas in their helpless state and even try to disrobe Draupadi in front of the entire court.
Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, and the other elders are aghast at the situation, and negotiate a compromise. The Pandavas are required to go into exile for 13 years, and for the 13th year must remain hidden. If discovered by the Kauravas, they will be forced into exile for another 12 years.

The dice game
The Pandavas spend twelve years in exile. Many adventures occur during this time. They also prepare alliances for a possible future conflict. They spend their final year in disguise in the court of Virata, and are discovered at or after the end of the year.
At the end of their exile, they try to negotiate a return to Indraprastha. However, this fails, as Duryodhana objects that they were discovered while in hiding, and that no return of their kingdom was agreed. War becomes inevitable.

Exile and return

Main article: Kurukshetra war The battle at Kurukshetra
After seeing the carnage, Gandhari who had lost all her sons, curses Krishna to be a witness to a similar annihilation of his family, for though divine and capable of stopping the war, he had not done so. Krishna accepts the curse, which bears fruit 36 years later.
The Pandavas who had ruled their kingdom meanwhile, decide to renounce everything. Clad in skins and rags they retire to the Himalaya and climb towards heaven in their bodily form. A stray dog travels with them. One by one the brothers and Draupadi fall on their way. As each one stumbles, Yudhishitra gives the rest the reason for their fall (Draupadi was partial to Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva were vain and proud of their looks, Bhima and Arjuna were proud of their strength and archery skills, respectively). Only the virtuous Yudhisthira who had tried everything to prevent the carnage and the dog remain. The dog reveals himself to be the god Dharma, who reveals the nature of the test and assures Yudhishtra that his fallen siblings and wife are in heaven. Yudhisthira alone reaches heaven in his bodily form for being just and humble.
Arjuna's grandson Parikshita rules after them and dies bitten by a snake. His furious son, Janamejaya, decides to perform a snake sacrifice (sarpasattra) in order to destroy the snakes. It is at this sacrifice that the tale of his ancestors is narrated to him.

Versions, translations, and derivative works
Between 1919 and 1966, the scholars at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, compared the various manuscripts of the epic from India and abroad and produced the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, on 13,000 pages in 19 volumes, followed by the Harivamsha in another 2 volumes and 6 index volumes. This is the text that is usually used in current Mahabharata studies for reference. This work is sometimes called the 'Pune' or 'Poona' edition of the Mahabharata.

Critical Edition
The acclaimed Kannada novelist S.L. Bhyrappa wrote a novel in Kannada (Translated to most of the Indian languages and English) titled Parva, giving new interpretation to the story of Mahabharata. He carried years of research where Mahabharata happened, in the plains of North India, Uttarakhand and Garwal region in particular. He tried to understand the social and ethical practices in these regions and correlating with the story of Mahabharata. He gave a realistic, rational explanation of the characters and events of Mahabharata.
In the late 1980s, the Mahabharata TV series
Western interpretations of the Mahabharata include William Buck's Mahabharata and Elizabeth Seeger's Five Sons of King Pandu.

Modern Interpretations
A poetic translation of the full epic into English, done by the poet P. Lal is complete, and in 2005 began being published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta. The P. Lal translation is a non-rhyming verse-by-verse rendering, and is the only edition in any language to include all slokas in all recensions of the work (not just those in the Critical Edition). It is both poetic and swift to read, and is oriented to the oral/musical tradition in which the work was originally created. The completion of the publishing project is scheduled for 2008. Six of the eighteen volumes are now available:
Vol 1: Adi Parva, 1232 pages, 2005, ISBN 81-8157-370-6
Vol 2: Sabha Parva, 520 pages, 2005, ISBN 81-8157-382-X
Vol 3: Vana Parva, 1580 pages, 2005, ISBN 81-8157-448-6
Vol 4: Virata Parva, 400 pages, 2006
Vol 5: Udyoga Parva, 970 pages, 2006, ISBN 81-8157-530-X
Vol 17: Mahaprasthana Parva, 30 pages, 2006 ISBN 81-8157-552-0
A project to translate the full epic into English prose, translated by various hands, began to appear in 2005 from the Clay Sanskrit Library, published by New York University Press. Currently available are portions of Parvas two, three, four, seven, eight, and nine.
Another English prose translation of the full epic is also in progress, published by University Of Chicago Press, initiated by Chicago Indologist J. A. B. van Buitenen (Parvas 1-5) and, following a 20-year hiatus caused by the death of van Buitenen, is being continued by D. Gitomer of DePaul University (Parvas 6-10), J. L. Fitzgerald of The University of Tennessee (Parvas 11-13) and W. Doniger of Chicago University (Parvas 14-18):
Vol. 1: Parva 1, 545 pages, 1980, ISBN 0-226-84663-6
Vol. 2: Parvas 2-3, 871 pages, 1981, ISBN 0-226-84664-4
Vol. 3: Parvas 4-5, 582 pages, 1983, ISBN 0-226-84665-2
Vol. 4: Parva 6 (forthcoming)
Vol. 7: Parva 11, first half of parva 12, 848 pages, 2003, ISBN 0-226-25250-7
Vol. 8: Second half of Parva 12 (forthcoming)
Until these three projects are available in full, the only available complete English translations remain the Victorian prose versions by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, published between 1883 and 1896 (Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers) and by M. N. Dutt (Motilal Banarasidoss Publishers). Most critics consider the translation by Ganguli to be faithful to the original text. The complete text of Ganguli's translation is available online (see External Links).
Several editions of the Kisari Mohan Ganguli translation of the Mahabharata incorrectly cite Pratap Chandra Roy as translator and this error has been perpetuated into secondary citations. See the publishers preface to the current Munshiram Manoharlal edition for an explanation.

English Translations
Key to Symbols Notes
Male: blue border
Female: red border
Pandavas: green box
Kauravas: red box
a: Pandu and Dhritarashtra were fathered; by Veda Vyasa after Vichitravirya's death.
b: The Pandavas were acknowledged sons of Pandu but were beget by Kunti's invocation of various deities. In particular:

• Dharma, for Yudhishtira
  Vayu, for Bhima
  Indra, for Arjuna
  The twins, Nakula and Sahadeva were born to Madri through her invocation of the The Ashvins
  c: Karna was born to Kunti through her invocation of Surya, before her marriage to Pandu. See also
  
  

Pope Joan is the name of a female pope (also La Papessa) who supposedly reigned for less than two years in the 850s, based on a legend that circulated in the Middle Ages. Pope Joan is regarded by most modern historians and religious scholars as fictitious, possibly originating as an anti-papal satire.

The legend of Pope Joan
In 1587 Florimond de Raemond, a magistrate in the parlement de Bordeaux and an antiquary published his first deconstruction of the legend, Erreur populaire de Pape Jane, which he followed with expanded editions the following year and in 1594. The tract applied humanist techniques of textual criticism to the Pope Joan legend, with the broader intent of supplying sound historical principles to ecclesiastical history, and the legend began to come apart, detail by detail. Raemond's Erreur populaire went through fifteen editions, as late as 1691.)
Since the 14th century, the figure of Pope Joan has taken on a somewhat "Saintly" figure. There are stories of her figure appearing and performing miracles. Francesco Petrarch (1304-74) wrote in his Chronica de le Vite de Pontefici et Imperadori Romani that after Pope Joan had been revealed as a woman:
"...in Brescia it rained blood for three days and nights. In France there appeared marvelous locusts which had six wings and very powerful teeth. They flew miraculously through the air, and all drowned in the British Sea. The golden bodies were rejected by the waves of the sea and corrupted the air, so that a great many people died." (Francesco Petrarch Chronica de le Vite de Pontefici et Imperadori Romani).
In 1675 a book appeared in English entitled A Present for a Papist: or the Life and Death of Pope Joan, Plainly Proving Out of the Printed Copies, and Manscriptes of Popish Writers and Others, that a Woman called JOAN, was really POPE of ROME, and was there Deliver'd of a Bastard Son in the open Street as She went in Solemn Procession. The book describes among other stories, an account of the purported Pope Joan giving birth to a son in plain view of all those around, accompanied by a detailed engraving showing a rather surprised looking baby peeking out from under the pope's robes. The book was penned "By a LOVER of TRUTH, Denying Human Infallibility." According to the preface the author had been "many years since deceased" and was "highly preferred in the Church of Rome." Furthermore, the preface indicates that the book was first printed in 1602.
The legend was also propagated in Chris Kuzneski's book Sign of the Cross which repeats the legend that Pope Joan died giving birth on the Roman streets.

Deconstructing the legend
Most scholars dismiss Pope Joan as a medieval legend.
This is all in agreement with the earliest known version of the legend, by Jean de Mailly, as he places the story in the year 1099. De Mailly's story was also acknowledged by his companion Stephen of Bourbon.
It has been argued that manuscripts and historical records were tampered with in the seventeenth century, when Pope Clement VIII decreed that there had never been a Pope Joan. But this claim is highly unlikely. It would have required an immense effort to remove her name from all documents, in every library and monastery across Europe. Such a vast conspiracy would have been almost impossible to carry out. Protestants would have assuredly protected evidence in their possession that disparaged the papacy. Moreover, any such tampering would be easily detectable by modern scholars. Either passages would have to be physically erased from manuscripts - something that obviously leaves marks - or the manuscripts would have to be completely destroyed and replaced with forgeries. However, scholars can date manuscripts quite accurately on the basis of the materials used, handwriting styles, and so on. There was no mass destruction, forgery or alteration of manuscripts in the seventeenth century.
Against the weight of historical evidence to the contrary, then, why has the Pope Joan story been so often believed, and so often revisited? Some, such as writer Philip Jenkins (The New Anti-Catholicism, 2005, ISBN 0-19-515480-0), have suggested that the periodic revival of what Jenkins calls this "anti-papal legend" has more to do with feminist and anti-Catholic wishful thinking than historical accuracy (pg. 89).
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

Analysis
The sedes stercoraria, the thrones with holes in it at St John Lateran's did indeed exist, and were used in the elevation of Pope Pascal II in 1099 (Boureau 1988). In fact, one is still in the Vatican Museums another at the Musée du Louvre. They do indeed have a hole in the seat. The reason for the hole is disputed, but as both the seats and their holes predated the Pope Joan story, and indeed Catholicism by centuries, they clearly have nothing to do with a need to check the sex of a pope. It has been speculated that they originally were Roman bidets or imperial birthing stools, which because of their age and imperial links were used in ceremonies by popes intent on highlighting their own imperial claims (as they did also with their Latin title, Pontifex Maximus).
Alain Boureau (Boureau 1988:23) quotes the humanist Jacopo d'Angelo de Scarparia who visited Rome in 1406 for the enthronement of Gregory XII in which the pope sat briefly on two "pierced chairs" at the Lateran: "the vulgar tell the insane fable that he is touched to verify that he is indeed a man" a sign that this corollary of the Pope Joan legend was still current in the Roman street.
Medieval Popes, from the thirteenth century onwards, did indeed avoid the direct route between the Lateran and St Peter's, as Martin of Opava claimed. However, there is no evidence that this practice dated back any earlier, let alone that it originated in the ninth century as a deliberate rebuff to the memory of the female Pope. The origin of the practice is uncertain, but it is quite likely that it was maintained because of widespread belief in the Joan legend and that it was thought genuinely to date back to that period.
Although some medieval writers referred to the female Pope as "John VIII", the real Pope John VIII reigned between 872 and 882, and his life does not resemble that of the fictional female Pope in any way.
A problem sometimes connected to the Pope Joan legend is the fact that there is no Pope John XX in any official list. It is sometimes said that this reflects a renumbering of the Popes to exclude the woman from history. Yet as historians have known since Louis Duchesne's critical edition of the Liber Pontificalis, this renumbering was actually due to a misunderstanding in the textual transmission of the official papal lists, where in the course of the 11th century, in the time after John XIX, the entry on John XIV had been misread as being referring to two different popes of this name, who then came to be distinguished as Iohannes XIV. and Iohannes XIV. bis ("John XIV the second"). The existence of a "second" pope John XIV was widely accepted in the 13th century, and by consequence the numbering of popes John XV through XIX was regarded as being erroneous. When Petrus Hispanus was elected pope in 1276 and decided for the papal name John, he meant to correct this error in enumeration by skipping the number XX and having himself counted as John XXI, thus acknowledging the presumed existence of John XIV "bis" in the 10th century who had nothing to do with the alleged existence of a pope John (Joan) VIII in the 9th century.

In popular culture

Legends surrounding the Papacy
Marozia Bibliography

Lake Geneva or Lake Léman (French Lac Léman, le Léman, or Lac de Genève) is the second largest freshwater lake in Central Europe (after Lake Balaton). 60% of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland (cantons of Vaud, Geneva, and Valais), and 40% under France (Haute-Savoie).
The crescent-shaped lake, formed by a withdrawing glacier, narrows around Yvoire on the southern shore, the lake can thus be divided into the "Grand Lac" (Large Lake) to the east and the "Petit Lac" (Small Lake) to the west.
It lies on the course of the Rhône River. The river has its source at the Rhone Glacier near the Grimsel Pass to the east of the lake and flows down through the Canton of Valais, entering the lake between Villeneuve and St. Gingolph, before flowing slowly towards its egress at Geneva. Other tributaries are La Dranse, L'Aubonne, La Morges, Venoge, and Veveyse.
By the 1960s, the lake had ceased being a transport artery for commercial and construction materials. In the late 1960s pollution made it dangerous to swim at some beaches of the lake; indeed, tourists taking a ride in the local submarine had near zero visibility (it was eventually sold). By the 1980s intense environmental pollution (eutrophication) had almost wiped out all the fish. Today, pollution levels have been dramatically cut back, and it is perfectly safe to swim in the lake. Today, the main leisure activities are sailing, wind surfing, boating (including water skiing and wakeboarding), rowing, scuba diving and bathing.
The shore between Nyon and Lausanne is called La Côte, and between Lausanne and Vevey it is called Lavaux.

Miscellaneous

Le Bouveret, Valais
St-Gingolph in Valais and Haute-Savoie
Bret, Haute-Savoie
Locum
Meillerie
Lugrin
Évian-les-Bains
Amphion-les-Bains
Thonon-les-Bains
Anthy-sur-Léman
Séchex
Sciez
Excenevex
Yvoire
Villeneuve, Vaud
Château Chillion
Territet
Montreux
Clarens
La Tour-de-Peilz
Vevey
Corseaux
St-Saphorin
Rivaz
Cully
Lutry
Paudex
Pully
Lausanne with Ouchy and Vidy
St-Sulpice
Morges
Tolochenaz
St-Prex
Buchillon
Allaman
Perroy
Rolle
Bursinel
Dully
Gland
Promenthoux
Nernier, Haute-Savoie
Messery
Chens-sur-Léman
Tougues, Haute-Savoie
Hermance, Geneva
Chevrens
Anières
Corsier
Collonge-Bellerive
Vésenaz
Cologny
Prangins
Nyon, Vaud
Crans-près-Céligny, Vaud
Céligny, Geneva
Coppet, Vaud
Tannay, Vaud
Mies, Vaud
Versoix, Geneva
Bellevue
Genthod
Chambésy
Geneva

Joseph Steve Sakic (IPA: /ˈsɑːkɨk/

Early life

NHL career
Sakic was drafted 15th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. Rather than make the immediate jump, he told the Nordiques management he would prefer to spend the 1987-88 season in Swift Current to prepare for the NHL. During the first four seasons with Joe Sakic, the Nordiques always finished last place in the Northeast Division and last in the entire league three straight years, from 1989 to 1991.
Starting with the 1992-93 NHL season, Sakic became the sole captain of the franchise. Under his leadership, the Nordiques made the playoffs for the first time in six years, and set a franchise record for wins and points in the process. Sakic scored 105 points in the regular season and six points in the playoffs. He managed to reach the 100 point plateau again in 1993-94 with forty-eight goals and 105 points, but the Nordiques failed to make the playoffs. After missing part of the 1994-95 season due to a lockout, Sakic had the best finish of his career as he finished fourth in overall points, and helped the Nordiques win the division title.

Quebec Nordiques
In June of 1995, the Quebec Nordiques announced that they had been sold and were leaving Quebec. At the start of the 1995-96 NHL season, the franchise moved to Denver, Colorado and was renamed the Colorado Avalanche. Sakic led the team to its first Stanley Cup championship, scoring 120 points in 82 regular season games and 34 points in 22 playoff games. He was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 1996 NHL playoffs. During the run for the cup, Sakic again proved himself to be an effective team leader. Although he had missed the playoffs in five of his first seven years in the NHL, and lacked any postseason experience, he scored eighteen goals, including six game-winners, and thirty-four points. He was one goal off from the record for goals in a playoff year, and his game-winning goals established a new record.

Colorado Avalanche
Sakic has been voted into the NHL All-Star Game thirteen times and has played in twelve of them and was captain for two of them, most recently in 2007. He has at least one point in eleven of them.

All-Star Games
Sakic has had an extensive international hockey career, having represented Canada at seven international competitions. After being drafted by the Nordiques in 1987, he went on and helped Canada win the 1988 World Junior Championship. as the Canadian squad failed to meet expectations and finished in fourth. Sakic's second Olympic appearance came in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Led by his strong play, the Canadian team dominated all the way to the gold medal match against Team USA, where Sakic had four points and helped the team win its first gold medal in 50 years. He was later named MVP of the tournament with a cumulative tally of four goals and six assists. Sakic also played a part in Canada's triumph in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, where he scored six points in six games.
On December 21, 2005, Sakic was named captain of Team Canada for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Once again, Team Canada was heavily favored and given high expectations, but they failed to medal, finishing seventh overall. Sakic finished the tournament with three points.

International play
Sakic and his wife Debbie have three children: Mitchell and twins Chase and Kamryn.

Personal life

Career statistics

Legacy
Sakic recorded his 1000th career point on December 27, 1999 against the St. Louis Blues,

Milestones
In his 18-year career with the Nordiques and Avalanche, Sakic has obtained nearly all of the franchise scoring records, including most all-time goals (610), assists (979), and points (1579). He also holds the franchise record for most games played (1319) and most minutes played,

WebCrawler is a metasearch engine that blends the top search results from Google, Yahoo!, Live Search (formerly MSN Search), Ask.com, About.com, MIVA, LookSmart and other popular search engines. WebCrawler also provides users the option to search for images, audio, video, news, yellow pages and white pages. WebCrawler is a registered trademark of InfoSpace, Inc.
WebCrawler was the first full text search engine. It went live on April 20, 1994 and was created by Brian Pinkerton at the University of Washington. It was bought by America Online on June 1, 1995 and sold to Excite on April 1, 1997. WebCrawler was acquired by InfoSpace in 2001 after Excite, then called Excite@Home, went bankrupt. InfoSpace also owns and operates the metasearch engines Dogpile, MetaCrawler and Excite.
WebCrawler was originally a separate search engine with its own database, and displayed advertising results in separate areas of the page. More recently it has been repositioned as a metasearch engine, providing a composite of separately identified sponsored and non-sponsored search results from most of the popular search engines.

Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani (Arabic: الشيخ تميم بن حمد آل ثاني) is the current Heir Apparent of Qatar. He was born on 3 July 1980. He is the son of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, and his second wife, Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned.
He was educated in Sherborne High School, UK (and Harrow School, UK, for one year, 1995-6) in 1997 receiving his A Levels. He then went on to Sandhurst Military Academy, UK, graduating in 1998. He has a number of posts including:
He has also participated in a number of regional and international conferences and accompanied HH the Emir to a number of official visits to countries.
He became Crown Prince on August 8, 2003, after his older brother Sheikh Jasim bin Hamad Al-Thani renounced his rights in his favour. On January 8, 2005, he married Sheikha Jawahar bint Hamad al-Thani, daughter of Sheikh Hamad bin Suhaim al-Thani.
Head of the Qatari National Olympic Committee.
Member of the International Olympic Committee.
Head of the Upper Council of the Environment and Natural Sanctuaries.

This article is about the opera house. For other uses, see Scala.
The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known), in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous opera houses. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778, under the name Nuovo Regio Ducal Teatro alla Scala with Salieri's Europa riconosciuta.
A fire destroyed the previous theatre, the ancient Teatro Ducale, on 25 February 1776, after a carnival gala. A group of ninety wealthy Milanese, who owned palchi (private boxes) in the theater, wrote to Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria asking for a new theatre and a provisional one to be used while completing the new one. The neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini produced an initial design but it was rejected by Count Firmian (an Austrian governor).
A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa. The new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theater was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. This theatre had a total over 3,000 seats organized into 678 pit-stalls, arranged in six tiers of boxes above which is the 'loggione' or two galleries. Now the stage is one of the largest in Italy (16.15m d x 20.4m w x 26m h.
Building expenses were covered by the sale of palchi, which were lavishly decorated by their owners, impressing observers such as Stendhal. La Scala (as it soon became to be known) soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people. In the tradition of the times, the platea (the main floor) had no chairs and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in full sight, as the golfo mistico (orchestra pit) had not yet been built.
Above the boxes, La Scala has always had a gallery where the less wealthy can watch the performances. It is called the loggione. The loggione is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers' perceived successes or failures. La Scala's loggione is considered a baptism of fire in the opera world, and fiascos are long remembered. One recent incident occurred in 2006 when tenor Roberto Alagna was booed off-stage during his performance, forcing a non-wardrobed understudy to replace him mid-concert. As with most of the theaters at that time, La Scala was also a casino, with gamblers sitting in the foyer.
La Scala was originally illuminated with eighty-four oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico and another thousand in the rest of theater. To prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets. In time, oil lamps were replaced by gas lamps, these in turn were replaced by electric lights in 1883.
The original structure was renovated in 1907, when it was given its current layout with 2,800 seats. In 1943, during WWII, La Scala was severely damaged by bombing. It was rebuilt and reopened on May 11, 1946, with a memorable concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini, with a soprano solo by Renata Tebaldi, which created a sensation.
La Scala hosted the prima (first production) of many famous operas, and had a special relationship with Giuseppe Verdi. For several years, however, Verdi did not allow his work to be played here, as some of his music had been modified (he said "corrupted") by the orchestra. This dispute originated in a disagreement over the production of his Giovanna d'Arco in 1845; however the composer later conducted his Requiem there on May 25, 1874, and in 1886 announced that La Scala would host the premiere of his opera Otello. The premiere of his last opera, Falstaff was also given in the theatre.
La Scala's season traditionally opens on 7 December, Saint Ambrose's Day, Milan's patron saint. All performances must end before midnight; long operas start earlier in the evening if need be. Ticketholders are not allowed to enter after the performance has begun. No exceptions are made, as Richard Burton once discovered.
The La Scala Museum (Museo Teatrale alla Scala), accessible from the theatre's foyer and a part of the house, contains an extraordinary collection of paintings, drafts, statues, costumes, and other documents regarding opera and La Scala's history.
La Scala also hosts the Accademia d'Arti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo (Academy for the Performing Arts). Its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers (at the Scuola di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala, one of the Academy's divisions).

Recent developments
Following the traditional 7 December 2001 season opening performances of Otello, which ran through December, the theatre was closed for renovation

Major renovation, 2002 to 2004
Carlo Fontana, the general manager of La Scala since 1990, was dismissed in February 2005 by the board of governors over differences with the music director, Riccardo Muti. The resulting staff backlash has caused serious disruptions and staff strikes. In a statement, the theater's board said it was "urgent to unify the theatre's management". On March 16, 2005, the La Scala orchestra and other staff voted overwhelmingly in no confidence motion against Muti, and demanded the resignation of Fontana's replacement, Mauro Meli. Muti had already been forced to cancel a concert a few days earlier because of the disagreements. Italy's culture minister, Giuliano Urbani, supported the conductor, but called for urgent action by management to safeguard the smooth operation and prestige of La Scala. On April 2, 2005, Muti resigned from La Scala, citing "hostility" from staff members.
In May 2005 Stéphane Lissner, who came from the Aix-en-Provence Festival, was appointed as General Manager and Artistic Director of La Scala and on May 15th, 2006, Daniel Barenboim was named Principal Guest Conductor.

Management controversies and changes, 2005 onward

Daniel Barenboim, (2006 -) (as Principal Guest Conductor)
Riccardo Muti, (1986 - 2005)
Claudio Abbado, (1968 - 1986)
No music director between 1956 and 1968
Guido Cantelli, (1956) (Died in an airplane crash one week after his appointment)
Carlo Maria Giulini, (1953 - 1956)
Victor de Sabata, (1930 - 1953)
Arturo Toscanini, (1921 - 1929)
La Scala closed from 1918 to 1920
Tullio Serafin, (1917 - 1918)
Tullio Serafin, (1909 - 1914)
Arturo Toscanini, (1898 - 1908)
Franco Faccio, (1871 - 1889) Principal conductors/Music directors of La Scala

2007: Teneke by Fabio Vacchi
1988: Montag aus Licht by Karlheinz Stockhausen
1984: Samstag aus Licht by Karlheinz Stockhausen
1926: Turandot by Giacomo Puccini
1924: Nerone by Arrigo Boito
1904: Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
1893: Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi
1892: La Wally by Alfredo Catalani
1889: Edgar by Giacomo Puccini
1887: Otello by Giuseppe Verdi
1885: Marion Delorme by Amilcare Ponchielli
1876: La Gioconda by Amilcare Ponchielli
1870: Il Guarany by Carlos Gomes
1868: Mefistofele by Arrigo Boito
1845: Giovanna d'Arco by Giuseppe Verdi
1843: I Lombardi alla prima crociata by Giuseppe Verdi
1842: Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi
1840: Un giorno di regno by Giuseppe Verdi
1839: Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio by Giuseppe Verdi
1835: Maria Stuarda by Gaetano Donizetti
1833: Lucrezia Borgia by Gaetano Donizetti
1831: Norma by Vincenzo Bellini
1829: La straniera by Vincenzo Bellini
1827: Il pirata by Vincenzo Bellini
1814: Il turco in Italia by Gioachino Rossini
1812: La pietra del paragone by Gioachino Rossini
1778: Europa riconosciuta by Antonio Salieri

Milton Stover Eisenhower (September 15, 1899 – May 2, 1985) served as president of three major American universities: Kansas State University, the Pennsylvania State University, and the Johns Hopkins University. He was the younger brother of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1930 he had a son, Milton Stover "Bud" Eisenhower, Jr. and in 1937, a daughter, Ruth Eisenhower.
Born in Abilene, Kansas, he graduated from Kansas State University in 1923 with a BS in industrial journalism. Eisenhower served as Director of Information for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1928 to 1941. He was director of the War Relocation Authority in 1942 and associate director of the Office of War Information from 1942 to 1943.
Robert W. Welch Jr., founder of the John Birch Society, in the 1960s, accused Eisenhower of being a secret member (and leader of) the US Communist party and of giving communist orders to US president Dwight D. Eisenhower, his older brother.
President, The Pennsylvania State University (1950-56)
President, The Johns Hopkins University (1956-1967, and 1971-72)
President Emeritus, The Johns Hopkins University (1967-1971, 1972)

Mount Mazama is a destroyed stratovolcano in the Oregon part of the Cascade Volcanic Belt and the Cascade Range. The volcano's collapsed caldera holds Crater Lake, and the entire mountain is located in Crater Lake National Park.
Mazama is most famous for a catastrophic volcanic eruption that occurred around 5,677 (± 150) BC. The eruption, estimated to have been 42 times more powerful than Mount St. Helens' 1980 blast, reduced Mazama's approximate 11,000 foot (c.3,350 m) height by around half a mile (about 1 km) when much of the volcano fell into the volcano's partially emptied neck and magma chamber. At 8,159 feet (2,487 m), Hillman Peak is now the highest point on the rim.

History
For a summary see: Geology of Crater Lake

Geology
Mazama started to grow around 400,000 years ago in the Pleistocene, mainly from lava flows interbeded with some pyroclastic material. These early flows averaged 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 m) thick and appear to have been emplaced over a few years to a few centuries. Several shield volcanoes were created by these flows and numerous cinder cones grew in the immediate area (these may or may not be parasitic vents). More explosive eruptions started around 75,000 years ago and built a westward-trending line of composite cones.
Cone building eruptions lasted until around 50,000 years ago when andesite lava flowed down Mazama's north and southwest slopes. Relatively few of the cone building eruptions issued from the same vent, resulting in a highly complex approximately 11,000 foot (c.3,350 m) structure made of overlapping composite cones and shield volcanoes. Consequently, Mazama's base was broader and its side not as steep as today's Mount Shasta or Mount Rainier.

Growth phase
After its cone building phase, Mazama lavas became increasingly silica-rich and viscous - two conditions that tend to trap explosive gases. The first major eruption in this new cycle of Mazama's life occurred about 10,000 years later, when dacite flows high on the volcano's southwest face formed a series of domes. These structures were subsequently destroyed by either collapse or steam explosions (see phreatic eruption). Either way, their destruction created large landslides that left deposits at the head of Munsen Valley and as far away as Devils Backbone.
Mazama's next major eruptive period occurred between 25,000 and 30,000 years ago and extruded rhyodacite lava (which has a higher silica content than dacite). These thick, slow moving, pasty flows erupted from a vent on Mazama's northeast flank and solidified to form 600 foot (180 m) high Redcloud Cliff (later cut in two by caldera subsidence) and a dome above what today is Steel Bay.
The volcano then went dormant for roughly the next 20,000 years, while successive ice age glaciers (probably as thick as 1,000 feet (300 m) in troughs) cut large valleys into the mountain's sides. One of the largest glaciers flowed down Munson Valley near the present location of park headquarters, down Annie Creek Valley, and perhaps as far as Fort Klamath. When the last ice age ended 12,000 years ago, those glaciers retreated upslope past the elevation of the current caldera's rim. While Mazama slept, its magma chamber was going through some differentiation, with lighter, more gas- and silica-rich rocks collecting closer to the surface.

Silica enrichment
Around 5000 BC Mazama awoke from its slumber with explosive rhyodacite eruptions on the northern part of the main summit where Llao Rock now resides. Great quantities of pumice and ash were ejected as a large crater was excavated by the explosions. The tephra was carried by prevailing winds to the east and southeast. Associated with this was a pyroclastic flow that was 1.25 miles (2 km) wide, 1,200 feet (about 360 m) thick at its deepest point, and contained 0.25 mi³ (1 km³) of material (later, caldera forming subsidence cut the partially filled crater in two, exposing it in cross section - today this is called Llao Rock).
One to two hundred years later (based on radiocarbon dating) the last major eruption before the caldera was formed, the Cleetwood flow, occurred. This rhyodacite lava flow erupted from a vent near what is now the north caldera rim. The Cleetwood flow was still fluid when the caldera was formed, so it must have erupted just weeks to months beforehand. When Mazama later collapsed into itself, some of the Cleetwood lava backflowed into the caldera.
Mazama's final act started with a large eruption that sent a mile (1.6 km) wide column of hot tephra 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 km) into the sky at almost twice the speed of sound. The column collapsed in a series of pyroclastic flows that covered much of the area between and downslope of Llao Rock and Redcloud Cliff. This flow, the first of many, was so hot that it solidified as a welded tuff called the Windglass Welded Tuff. Flow after flow followed in rapid succession, stressing the ability of Mazama's magma chamber to recharge. The mountain started to sag under its own weight. Concentric ring fractures started to form around the volcano, creating convenient conduits for additional volcanic vents.
The eruption entered its final and most destructive cycle with very large and erosive pyroclastic flows erupting from ring fractures all around the volcano. These flows moved out in all directions from Mazama, following river valleys and in some cases not coming to rest for 40 miles (65 km). As the eruptions were occurring Mazama was imploding.
The collapse and the erosive ring eruptions fed each other - the sinking volcano pushed magma upward and the erupting material both lubricated the downward subsidence and eroded the sides, making it easier for much of Mazama to sink into the earth. Also, the sudden and dramatic reduction in overpressure on the remaining gas charged molten rock in the magma chamber caused it to react by immediately exploding into a super-heated mix of liberated gases and various grades of pulverized and often frothy lava known as a pyroclastic flow. The force of the explosion pulverized previously solidified rock that happened to be nearby or that recently fell into the caldera from the collapse.
Half of 70,000 year old Hillman Peak was blown away, exposing the cone in cross section. Many glacier-cut canyons were beheaded and now stand as notches in the caldera rim. Notable among these are Kerr Notch, Munson Valley, and Sun Notch.
The last pyroclastic flow of this stage was andestic scoria, indicating that Mazama was drawing on material deep from within its magma chamber. This layer of material now forms a dark band in ash layers associated with this eruption cycle (it also created the Pumice Desert). A last few dying gasps in the form of a series of relatively weak explosions then deposited a well-bedded layer of pumice lapilli and crystal-rich ash up to 50 feet (15 m) thick on the newly formed caldera rim.
In the end an estimated 11 to 14 mi³ (46 to 58 km³) of magma escaped from Mazama's magma chamber during this eruptive cycle as approximately 25 mi³ (104 km³) of tephra (magma is compact due to high pressure surrounding it). The magma was replaced by about the same volume of material when most of Mazama fell into its caldera.

Explosive phase
Hundreds of square kilometres of the surrounding countryside were destroyed by material ejected from the collapse and associated eruptions. One pyroclastic flow traveled 40 miles (64 km) from Mazama down Rogue River Valley while another moved north in-between Mount Bailey and Mount Thielsen, moving over Diamond Lake (it finally came to rest in North Umpqua River valley). Winds carried tephra (ash and pumice) from Mazama northeast, where it covered over 500,000 square miles including nearly all of Oregon, Washington, northern California, Idaho, western Montana, and parts of Nevada, Wyoming, Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.
Geologists know the exact chemical composition of this tephra (which they call Mazama ash) and both geologists and archeologists use the distinctive layer it formed in relative dating. As with all tephra layers, Mazama ash is thickest near its source (20 feet (6 m)) and becomes thinner with increasing distance from its source (70 miles, 110 km northwest it is 1 foot (0.3 m) thick).
Pyroclastic flow material near Mazama remained extremely hot for months, and in some places they were more than 250 feet (76 m) deep. Hot gases escaping from the cooling deposits tended to follow vertical channels and emerged at the surface as fumaroles. Over time these gases cemented the channels, which are now exposed as very tall vertical columns and spires of tuff (good examples are along the upper walls of Sand Creek Canyon and Annie Canyon).

Post-collapse phase
Assuming no large eruptions destroy it first, Crater Lake will eventually be destroyed when erosion breaches the caldera rim and the lake escapes as a massive flood. Future eruptions will probably continue to follow the post-collapse pattern of being confined to the caldera. Additional cinder cones and lava flows will likely issue from fissures on the lakebed; some will be totally under water, while others may reach the surface to create new islands and peninsulas. Lava flows may build-up over time, reducing the lake's depth and may eventually divide it into more than one body of water (this happened to Newberry Caldera).
Less likely would be the resumption of cone-building activity and the creation of a coalescing chain of small stratovolcanoes. These could, in time, merge to reform Mazama to an approximation of its former glory. Even less likely would be a repeat of the cataclysmic eruption that formed the caldera (however, recent Mazama lavas do show an increase in silica content, so this still is a possibility).

See also