Marwan I

Marwan I.
Marwan I (c. 625 – 685) was the fourth Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He was the secretary of his cousin Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656). During the rebel siege of Uthman's house, Marwan was wounded and the caliph was slain. Marwan considered Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, a companion of the prophet Muhammad, culpable in the death of Uthman, and killed him in the Battle of the Camel in 656. Marwan later served as governor of Medina under his distant kinsman Caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), founder of the Umayyad Caliphate. After the reigns of Yazid I (r. 680–683) and Mu'awiya II (r. 683–684), the tribal nobility of Syria, led by Ibn Bahdal of the Banu Kalb, elected Marwan caliph. He reasserted Umayyad rule over Egypt, Palestine and northern Syria, and dispatched an expedition to reconquer Iraq, but died while it was underway. His son Abd al-Malik was his designated successor, and the Umayyads continued to rule until 750.

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A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding

A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding.
"A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American television comedy-drama Ugly Betty and the series's 30th episode overall. It was written by Silvio Horta and Marco Pennette, and directed by James Hayman. The episode was originally broadcast on ABC in the United States on November 8, 2007. Ugly Betty centers on Betty Suarez's job at the fashion magazine MODE, and in this episode MODE's creative director Wilhelmina Slater attempts to marry the magazine's publisher Bradford Meade. Victoria Beckham (pictured) guest-stars as herself in the episode, appearing as Wilhelmina's maid of honor who steals attention from the wedding. Vanessa Williams's ex-husband Rick Fox appears as Wilhelmina's bodyguard and lover. Vera Wang makes a cameo appearance, and designed Wilhelmina's wedding dress and Beckham's bridesmaid dress. The episode received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award.

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French battleship Iéna

French battleship Iéna.
Iéna was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale). Laid down at Brest in January 1898, the vessel was launched on 1 September and completed on 14 April 1902. The ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and remained there for the duration of her career. Iéna frequently served as a flagship, participated in the annual fleet manoeuvres and made many visits to French ports in the Mediterranean. On 4 March 1907, while docked for repairs in Toulon, the battleship was badly damaged and 120 people were killed by a magazine explosion that was probably caused by the decomposition of old propellant, known as Poudre B. Multiple investigations were launched and the ensuing scandal forced the naval minister to resign. While repairs were possible, Iéna was not considered worth the expense. The salvaged hulk was used as a gunnery target in 1909 before it was sold for scrap in 1912.

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James Humphreys (pornographer)

James Humphreys (pornographer).
James Humphreys (1930–2003) was an English businessman and criminal who owned a chain of adult book shops and strip clubs in London in the 1960s and 1970s. In March 1958 he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment after using explosives to open a safe and steal £8,260 in money and postal orders. On his release he opened a strip club in Soho (pictured in 2008), the centre of London's sex industry. When Humphreys expanded his business and opened sex shops and book shops selling obscene material, he could only operate by paying large bribes to policemen, particularly those from the Obscene Publications Branch of the Metropolitan Police. In the late 1970s his diaries detailing his meetings with police officers and the bribes he paid were used as evidence against twelve policemen imprisoned for corruption. The character Benny Barrett, played by Malcolm McDowell in the 1996 BBC television series Our Friends in the North, was based on Humphreys.