Parks and Recreation (season 1)

Parks and Recreation (season 1).
The six episodes of the first season of Parks and Recreation originally aired in the United States on the NBC television networks on Thursdays between April 9 and May 14, 2009. The comedy series was created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, who served as executive producers with Howard Klein. The season stars Amy Poehler (pictured), Rashida Jones, Paul Schneider, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, and Aubrey Plaza, and focuses on Leslie Knope (Poehler), the deputy director of the parks and recreation department of the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. Early test screenings were poor, and many critics and industry observers were skeptical about the show's chances of success. The premiere episode was watched by 6.77 million households, but the ratings declined to a season low of 4.25 million households for the final episode, "Rock Show". Even so, "Rock Show" received the best reviews of the season and convinced some critics that the series had found the right tone.

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Antiochus XII Dionysus

Antiochus XII Dionysus.
Antiochus XII Dionysus (died 82 BC) was a Seleucid ruler who reigned as King of Syria during the Hellenistic period from 87 BC until his death. He was the youngest son of Antiochus VIII, who was assassinated in 96 BC. Antiochus XII's four brothers laid claim to the throne. His brother Philip I defeated his brother Demetrius III in 87 BC and remained in the Syrian capital Antioch. Ignoring the territories of Philip I, Antiochus XII gained control of Damascus and consolidated his territory within inner Syria. He focused his attention on Syria's southern reaches into which the Judaeans and Nabataeans sought to expand, reinforced his southern frontier, and fought two campaigns against Nabataea and Judea. After winning several victories, he was killed by the Nabateans at the Battle of Cana in 82 BC. The Nabatean king Aretas III captured Damascus, and the Syrian throne was claimed by Cleopatra Selene and her son Antiochus XIII.

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République-class battleship

République-class battleship.
The République class consisted of a pair of pre-dreadnought battleships—République and Patrie (pictured)—built for the French Navy in the early 1900s. They were a significant improvement over previous French battleships, with the same four 305 mm (12 in) guns and eighteen 164 mm (6.5 in) guns, but with most of the 164 mm guns mounted in gun turrets rather than in casemates. They also had more effective armored protection. Both ships entered service in January 1907, shortly after the British HMS Dreadnought made all existing battleships obsolescent. During World War I, both ships operated in the Mediterranean. Patrie supported the Gallipoli campaign from May 1915 and République joined her in January 1916. Both ships then became involved in Greece, where they assisted a coup against the neutral but pro-German government that ultimately led to Greece's entry into the war on the side of the Allies. Neither ship saw any further action. République was decommissioned in 1921, and Patrie not until 1937.

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The Rite of Spring

The Rite of Spring.
The Rite of Spring is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company, with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky and stage designs and costumes (pictured) by Nicholas Roerich. The ballet caused a near-riot in the audience when first performed, on 29 May 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, but rapidly achieved success, and later became recognised as one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century. The score has many novel features, including experiments in tonality, metre, rhythm, stress and dissonance. The scenario is the celebration of spring by various primitive rituals, at the end of which a sacrificial victim dances herself to death. After its explosive premiere the ballet was not performed until the 1920s, when Léonide Massine's rechoreographed version was the first of many innovative productions directed by the world's leading choreographers. Providing "endless stimulation for performers and listeners" alike, The Rite is among the most recorded works in the classical repertoire.