Master Chief (Halo)

Master Chief (Halo).
Master Chief is a major character in the Halo multimedia franchise. First appearing in the 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved, he is the playable character and protagonist of many of the games in the franchise, and makes additional appearances in spin-offs, novels, and comics. In the story, Master Chief is abducted as a child and raised by the military to fight against human rebels. He and his fellow Spartan supersoldiers instead become humanity's best weapon in the fight against a genocidal collective of alien races known as the Covenant. The character is voiced by Steve Downes. Master Chief was originally designed to be a faceless avatar whom players could inhabit while playing the games, but the relationship between him and his artificial intelligence companion Cortana has become a central part of the franchise. Master Chief serves as a mascot for the Xbox brand, and is an iconic character in gaming culture.

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Eastern green mamba

Eastern green mamba.
The eastern green mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps) is a highly venomous snake native to the coastal regions of southern East Africa. First described by Scottish surgeon and zoologist Andrew Smith in 1849, the mamba has a slender build with bright green upperparts and yellow-green underparts. The adult female averages around 2.0 metres (6.6 ft) in length, and the male is slightly smaller. A shy and elusive species, it is rarely seen; its green colouration blends with its arboreal environment. It has been observed to lie in wait like many vipers instead of actively foraging. The eastern green mamba preys on birds, eggs, bats, and rodents such as mice, rats, and gerbils. Its venom consists of both neurotoxins and cardiotoxins. Symptoms in humans can include swelling of the bite site, dizziness and nausea, accompanied by difficulty breathing and swallowing, irregular heartbeat and convulsions. The most severe bites can quickly be fatal.

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Mike Capel

Mike Capel.
Mike Capel (born October 13, 1961) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played for the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and Houston Astros. In 49 career games, Capel pitched 62.1 innings, struck out 43 batters, and had a career win–loss record of 3–4 with a 4.62 earned run average. A starting pitcher in college and parts of his Minor League Baseball career, he converted to relief pitching while in Chicago's minor league system. The Philadelphia Phillies chose Capel in the 24th round of the 1980 Major League Baseball draft, but instead of signing with the team, he opted to attend the University of Texas. He played on the 1982 USA College All-Star Team, which placed third in the Amateur World Series in Seoul. The next year, Capel and the Texas Longhorns won the College World Series. After he was drafted by the Cubs, Capel left Texas and played in six seasons of the minor leagues before he made his major league debut in 1988.

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Hurricane Gonzalo

Hurricane Gonzalo.
Hurricane Gonzalo formed on October 12, 2014, and became the first Category 4 Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Ophelia in 2011. It made landfall on Antigua, Saint Martin, and Anguilla as a Category 1 hurricane. Antigua and Barbuda sustained US$40 million in losses, and three people died on Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy. Gonzalo intensified into a major hurricane, peaking on October 16 with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 km/h). It struck Bermuda less than a week after the surprisingly fierce Hurricane Fay; the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season was the first in recorded history with two hurricane landfalls in Bermuda. Gonzalo battered the island with wind gusts as high as 144 mph (232 km/h), downing hundreds of trees and causing widespread roof damage and power outages, but no deaths or serious injuries were reported. A large storm system from the remnants of Gonzalo battered the British Isles and central Europe on October 21, killing three people in the United Kingdom.