query: Joseph Stalin's birth took place before 1917.

pos: Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin ( -LSB- ˈstɑːlɪn -RSB- 18 December 1878 -- 5 March 1953 ) was a Soviet revolutionary , politician and political theorist . He governed the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953 . In this capacity , he served as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1953 and as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1952 . Ideologically a Marxist and a Leninist , he helped to formalise these ideas as Marxism-Leninism while his own policies and theories became known as Stalinism .   Stalin was born to a poor Georgian family in Gori , Russian Empire . After an education at Tiflis Spiritual Seminary , he joined the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party . Affiliated with Vladimir Lenin 's Bolshevik faction , he raised funds via underground activities such as the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery . After the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917 and established a one-party state , Stalin sat on the Politburo during the Russian Civil War . In 1922 Stalin became General Secretary and established the Soviet Union . Despite Lenin 's objection , power consolidated around Stalin and opposition removed following Lenin 's death in 1924 . During Stalin 's tenure the concept of `` Socialism in One Country '' became a central tenet of Soviet society , and a cult of personality developed around Stalin . Lenin 's New Economic Policy was replaced with a centralised command economy , industrialisation and collectivisation . These rapidly transformed the country from an agrarian society into an industrial power , but disrupted food production and contributed to the famine of 1933 -- 34 . Between 1934 and 1939 , Stalin organised the `` Great Purge '' , in which millions of so-called `` enemies of the working class '' , including senior political and military figures , were interned in Gulag-run prisons , exiled or executed , often without due process .   In August 1939 Stalin entered a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany , resulting in their invasion of Poland in September of that year . Germany ended the pact by invading the Soviet Union in 1941 . Despite initial setbacks , the Soviet Red Army halted the German incursion and captured Berlin in May 1945 , ending World War II in Europe . The Soviet Union annexed the Baltic states and backed the establishment of pro-Soviet Marxist governments both throughout Eastern Europe and in China , North Korea , and North Vietnam . The Soviet Union and United States emerged as the two world superpowers , and a period of tensions began between the Soviet-backed Eastern Bloc and U.S.-backed Western Bloc known as the Cold War . Stalin led the Soviet Union through its post-war reconstruction phase , during which it became the second country to develop a nuclear weapon , as well as launching the Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature in response to another major famine and the Great Construction Projects of Communism . Stalin died in 1953 and was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev , who denounced Stalin and initiated a de-Stalinisation process .   Stalin is widely considered one of the most significant and influential figures of the 20th century . Stalinism influenced various Marxist-Leninist groups and governments across the world , for whom Stalin was a champion of socialism and the working class . After the fall of the Soviet Union , Stalin has been praised by supporters for his role in defeating Nazi Germany and establishing the Soviet Union as a major world power . Critics emphasise his role in causing millions of deaths and numerous political , religious and ethnic repressions .

neg: Iona Nikitchenko Major-General Iona Timofeevich Nikitchenko ( Russian : Иона Тимофеевич Никитченко ) ( June 28 , 1895 , Don Voisko Oblast , Russian Empire -- April 22 , 1967 , Moscow , Russian SFSR ) was a judge of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union .   Iona was born to a peasant family in khutor Tuzlukov ( now Rostov Oblast ) . He studied at his local Agricultural Institute and from 1916 was a Bolshevik . His court experience started in May 1920 when he was appointed as the chairman-deputy of the Military Court of Semirechye Army Group during the Civil War . During the Civil War he participated on the frontlines in the Middle Asia . In 1924 was appointed as the member of the Military Court Collegiate of the Moscow Military District .   Nikitchenko presided over some of the most notorious of Joseph Stalin 's show trials during the Great Purges of 1936 to 1938 , where he among other things sentenced Kamenev and Zinoviev .

neg: Alexander Sirotkin Alexader Sirotkin ( August 6 , 1890 -- January 17 , 1965 ) was a Soviet lieutenant general and division commander . He fought for the Imperial Russian Army in World War I . He received the Cross of St. George , the Order of St. Vladimir , the Order of St. Anna and the Order of Saint Stanislaus ( Russian ) . After the October Revolution in November 1917 , he went over to the Bolsheviks and fought for them in the subsequent civil war . He was awarded the Order of Lenin , the Order of the Red Banner , the Order of the Red Star and for his participation in the Great Patriotic War , the Order of Suvorov .   Category :1890 births  Category :1965 deaths  Category : Russian military personnel of World War I  Category : People of the Russian Civil War  Category : Soviet military personnel of World War II  Category : Soviet lieutenant generals  Category : Recipients of the Cross of St. George  Category : Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir , 4th class  Category : Recipients of the Order of St. Anna , 2nd class  Category : Recipients of the Order of St. Anna , 3rd class  Category : Recipients of the Order of St. Anna , 4th class  Category : Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus ( Russian ) , 2nd class  Category : Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus ( Russian ) , 3rd class  Category : Recipients of the Order of Lenin  Category : Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner  Category : Recipients of the Order of Suvorov , 2nd class  Category : Recipients of the Order of the Red Star

neg: Nadezhda Joffe Nadezhda Adolfovna Joffe ( 1906 -- March 18 , 1999 ) was a Soviet Trotskyist and daughter of early Soviet leader Adolph Joffe .   Joffe joined the Trotskyist Left Opposition within the Soviet Communist Party shortly after it was formed in 1923 and was first exiled from Moscow in 1929 . She was re-arrested at the beginning of the Great Purge in 1936 and sent to Kolyma labor camps in Siberia , where her first husband , Trotskyist Pavel Kossakovsky , was killed in 1938 . She was the last person to see Leon Trotsky 's first wife , Aleksandra Sokolovskaya , alive in Kolyma in 1938 .   After Joseph Stalin 's death in 1953 , Joffe 's sentence was annulled and she returned to Moscow in 1956 . She wrote a book of memoirs , Back in Time : My Life , My Fate , My Epoch in 1971-1972 , which was first published in Moscow after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992 . Her family emigrated to the United States at the end of her life and she settled in Brooklyn , New York City . She worked on her father 's biography and his letters until her death in 1999 at the age of 92 , collaborating with Iskra Research publishing house .

neg: Sergey Lapin (diplomat) Sergey Georgiyevich Lapin ( -- 4 October 1990 ) was a Soviet apparatchik , newspaper editor and diplomat .   Lapin was born in Saint Petersburg . From 1930 to 1932 he studied at the Leningrad Historical Language Institute , and after graduating he went on to work in various positions , including deputy editor , of various Leningrad newspapers until 1940 . From 1940 to 1942 he was a student at the Higher Party School of the All-Union Communist Party ( bolsheviks ) .   From 1945 to 1953 he was Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Broadcasting , when in 1953 he began a career in diplomacy as Counsellor at the Embassy of the Soviet Union in East Germany . In 1955 he returned to Moscow to work in the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , whilst also holding the position of Secretary of the CPSU at the MFA .   From 19 October 1956 until 16 June 1960 he was located in Vienna , as Ambassador of the Soviet Union to Austria , and then relocated back to Moscow as 1st Deputy Chairman of the USSR State Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries , whilst also holding the position of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic .   In 1962 he was promoted as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR , and held this position until 6 April 1965 . From 13 April 1965 until 12 April 1967 he was Ambassador of the Soviet Union to the People 's Republic of China .   After the completion of his mission to Beijing , he returned once again to Moscow as Director-General of TASS , and held that position until 24 April 1970 . For a short period of time , until 12 July 1970 he was Chairman of the Committee for Broadcasting , when he was appointed as Chairman of the State Committee for Television and Radiobroadcasting , and held this position until his retirement on 16 December 1985 . Lapin 's time is known as a period of strikingly manifested antisemitism at the Central Television and Radio of the USSR . Many popular Soviet artists of Jewish descent , such as Nina Brodskaya , Emil Gorovets , Maya Kristalinskaya , Larisa Mondrus , Vadim Mulerman , and Aida Vedishcheva , met numerous obstacles in their careers . They were gradually banned from TV , their names were not making into movies ' credits , they faced cancellation of concerts and prohibition of concert tours abroad , and tapes with their recordings on the radio were erased .   Lapin died in 1990 in Moscow .

neg: Nikolai Demchenko Nikolai Demchenko ( May 21 , 1896 -- October 30 , 1937 ) was a Ukrainian communist Soviet politician . He was born in Kharkov Governorate . He received the Order of Lenin on December 20 , 1935 . During the Great Purge , he was arrested on July 22 , 1937 , sentenced to death by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR on October 29 , 1937 and executed by firing squad the next day . After the death of Joseph Stalin , he was rehabilitated .

neg: Liubashivka Liubashivka is an urban-type settlement in Odessa Oblast ( region ) , Ukraine , located of south-western Ukraine . It serves as the administrative center of Liubashivka Raion ( district ) . Population :   Town was founded in the 18th century . Liubashivka is primarily Ukrainophone .   Liubashivka is an important transport center and located approximately 160 kilometers from the region capital , Odessa . The town lies on a route Highway05/European route 95 : Saint Petersburg -- Kiev -- Odessa -- Merzifon .   Through the territory of the Liubashivka pass the railroad routes . A railway from Odessa to Elisavetgrad ( Kropyvnytskyi ) and a railway station were built here in 1868 .   Many armies passed through town in the period from 1917 to 1920 , when Ukraine gained its independence from Russia for a short period of time . They represented different powers : Russian Bolsheviks , Ukrainian Central Council ( Tsentralna Rada ) , Mahno movement and the White movement . With the end of the war , the Communist Party assumed complete control of the country . The Bolsheviks leader Joseph Stalin launched a command economy , rapid industrialization and collectivization of its agriculture .  The Stalin 's Ukrainian famine ( 1932 -- 1933 ) , or Holodomor was one of the largest national catastrophes in the modern history of Liubashivka .   Until World War II the town had a Jewish community . In 1940 Jewish population was 2500 . In 1990 Jewish population was only 5 persons .   During World War II Liubashivka was occupied by Romanian and German forces ( 1941 -- 1944 ) .  In 1991 , after the collapse of Communism , the city became part of newly independent Ukraine .   There are two schools , one hospital , a railway station , and a hotel .

neg: Avel Enukidze Avel Safronovich Enukidze ( Georgian : აბელ ენუქიძე , Abel Enukiʒe , -LSB- ˈɑbɛl.ˈɛnukʰid͜zɛ -RSB- ; Russian : А́вель Сафронович Енуки́дзе ; -- October 30 , 1937 ) was a prominent `` Old Bolshevik '' and , at one point , a member of the Soviet Central Committee in Moscow . In 1932 , along with Mikhail Kalinin and Vyacheslav Molotov , Enukidze co-signed the infamous `` Law of Spikelets '' .   Enukidze had written a book on the history of a famous Bolshevik printing press in the Caucasus which had distributed , throughout Russia , Vladimir Lenin 's revolutionary theses during the Czarist period . Soon he was accused of having deliberately diminished Joseph Stalin 's contributions to the printing press and the Bolshevik movement in Baku . In fact , Stalin had little to do with these things ; it was Enukidze himself who had played the major role . But revolutionary contributions were important to a Bolshevik 's prestige , and Stalin did not like Enukidze outshining him . In July 1935 , after suggesting to Stalin that he give up power , Enukidze was called to account before a Central Committee Plenum in Moscow , expelled from the Party immediately , and two years later , arrested , tried , and shot .   Enukidze was rehabilitated as a victim of Stalin 's purges .   NB . His family name in Russian is transliterated incorrectly as Ienukidze ( should be Enukidze ) , and his given name as Avel ( should be Abel ) in Alan Bullock 's Hitler and Stalin : Parallel Lives ( 1993 ) . Bullock also transliterates Enukidze as Yenukidze ( since it is pronounced Ienukidze in Russian ) .

neg: Johannes Raudmets Johannes Raudmets ( also known as Ivan Ivanovich Raudmets ) ( January 1 , 1892 -- September 9 , 1937 ) was an Estonian Soviet Komdiv ( division commander ) . He fought in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks in the subsequent civil war . He was a recipient of the Order of the Red Banner . During the Great Purge , he was arrested on June 11 , 1937 and later executed . Some sources give the date of his execution as August 25 , 1937 . After the death of Joseph Stalin , he was rehabilitated in 1966 .

neg: Anton Luckievich Anton Ivanavich Lutskyevich ( Антон Іванавіч Луцкевіч , ; 1884 -- 1942 ? ) was a Belarusian publisher , journalist , literary critic , historian and politician . He served as the Prime Minister of Belarus in 1918 .   He was born on 29 January 1884 in Šiauliai , Lithuania to a Belarusian family . His brother Ivan Lutskyevich was also a politician . He began working in journalism , such as history , publishing and critics . He was raised as a Roman Catholic .   After the Belarusian People 's Republic was proclaimed on 25 March 1918 , Lutskyevich was appointed prime minister . His predecessor was Raman Skirmunt and he was replaced by Vaclau Lastouski .   The Belarusian People 's Republic was short-lived . In 1920 , Lutskyevich settled in Vilnius , then in Poland , where he worked as a secondary school teacher and newspaper publisher . He remained active politically until 1933 .   He was arrested by the Soviet authorities in September 1939 , and officially died in Kazakhstan in 1946 . He is however said to have died near Saratov on 23 March 1942 .

neg: Miron Merzhanov Miron Ivanovich Merzhanov , born Meran Merzhanyantz ( Мирон Иванович Мержанов , Меран Оганесович Мержанянц , September 23 , 1895 -- December 1975 ) , was a Soviet architect of Armenian descent , notable for being the de facto personal architect of Joseph Stalin in 1933 -- 1941 . Arrested in 1942 on political charges , Merzhanov continued professional work as a sharashka architect , designing numerous public buildings in the Black Sea region , Krasnoyarsk and Komsomolsk-na-Amure .

neg: Ruth Bonner Ruf Grigorjewna Bonner ( 1900 -- 25 December 1987 , Moscow ) , also known as Ruth Bonner , was a Soviet Communist activist and a victim of Joseph Stalin 's Great Purge . She was the mother of the human rights activist Yelena Bonner and the mother-in-law of physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov .   In the 1930s , Ruth ( originally spelled `` Ruf '' ) Bonner was a health official in the Communist Party committee of Moscow while her husband , Gevork Alikhanyan , aka Georgy Alikhanov , was a director at the Comintern . As part of Stalin 's mass purges in 1937 , her husband was arrested on charges of espionage and sentenced to death .   Bonner was arrested a few days after her husband and spent the next eight years in the Gulag near Karaganda , Kazakhstan . After her release she spent another nine years in internal exile . In 1954 she was one of the first of Stalin 's victims to be rehabilitated under the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev . Her husband was rehabilitated posthumously .   When her daughter Yelena and her son-in-law Andrei Sakharov were exiled to Gorky in 1980 , she was allowed to move to the United States to be with her grandchildren . She returned to Moscow in June 1987 to live with her daughter , whose exile had been lifted by Mikhail Gorbachev in December 1986 . She died in Moscow on 25 December 1987 , aged 87 .

neg: The Red Decade The Red Decade is a term coined by journalist and historian Eugene Lyons to describe a period in American history in the 1930s characterized by a widespread infatuation with communism in general and Stalinism in particular . Lyons believed this idolization of Joseph Stalin and exultation of Bolshevik achievements to have reached its high point in 1938 , running deepest amongst liberals , intellectuals , and journalists and even some government and federal officials .   Lyons argues that American intellectuals gave the then-Stalinist Soviet Union ( and by extension , Stalinism ) a certain international goodwill and respectability that it did not deserve .

neg: Mosfilmovskaya Street Mosfilmovskaya Street ( Мосфи́льмовская у́лица , romanised : Mosfílmovskaya úlitsa ) , formerly also Potylikha Street , is a street in Ramenki District , West Administrative District , Moscow , where the Mosfilm Studios and many foreign embassies are located .   The name Mosfilmovskaya was officially adopted in 1939 . Being outside the Garden Ring , which encircles central Moscow , the street runs south-west across a residential area between the Moskva River and its tributary Setun River . Moscow 's Sparrow Hills ( known as Lenin Hills during the Soviet era ) are quite close here .   Around the 17th century the area was known as the estate of Troitskoye-Golenishchevo ( another name being Golenishchevo-Kutuzovo ) , a country seat of the Kutuzov family , whose prominent descendant , Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov ( 1745-1813 ) fought Napoleon I of France during Patriotic War of 1812 . A major landmark surviving from that time is the Trinity Church ( 1644 -- 45 ) .

neg: Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union Throughout the history of the Soviet Union ( 1922 -- 1991 ) , there were periods where Soviet authorities suppressed and persecuted various forms of Christianity to different extents depending on State interests . Soviet Marxist-Leninism policy consistently advocated the control , suppression , and ultimately , the elimination of religious beliefs , and actively encouraged atheism in the Soviet Union . Most religions were never outlawed .   The state advocated the destruction of religion , and it officially pronounced religious beliefs to be superstitious and backward . The Communist Party destroyed churches , mosques and temples , ridiculed , harassed , incarcerated and executed religious leaders , flooded the schools and media with anti-religious teachings , and it introduced a belief system called `` scientific atheism , '' with its own rituals , promises and proselytizers . In 1925 the government founded the League of Militant Atheists to intensify the persecution . The total number of Christian victims under the Soviet regime has been estimated to range between 12-20 million .   Religious beliefs and practices persisted among the majority of the population , in the domestic and private spheres but also in the scattered public spaces allowed by a state that recognized its failure to eradicate religion and the political dangers of an unrelenting culture war .

neg: Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror was a campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union which occurred from 1936 to 1938 . It involved a large-scale purge of the Communist Party and government officials , repression of peasants and the Red Army leadership , and widespread police surveillance , suspicion of `` saboteurs '' , `` counter-revolutionaries '' , imprisonment , and arbitrary executions . In Russian historiography , the period of the most intense purge , 1937 -- 1938 , is called Yezhovshchina ( Ежовщина literally , `` Yezhov phenomenon '' , According to the dictionary , the suffix - shchina in this case produces a word which refers to some kind of phenomenon associated with the word to which the suffix is attached . Quote : `` 1 . Словообразовательная единица , образующая имена существительные женского рода , которые обозначают бытовое или общественное явление , идейное или политическое течение , характеризующееся признаком , названным < ... > ''  Juraj Sipko ( Sipko J. Etnopsyholingvisticke predpoklady slovensko-ruskych a rusko-slovenskych porovnavani , Presov , 2003 ) comparing Russian and Slovak languages , points out that in Russian the suffix - shchina ( in meaning 1 given by Efremova ) most commonly bears openly negative or derisive connotations . commonly translated as `` times of Yezhov '' or `` doings of Yezhov '' ) , after Nikolai Yezhov , the head of the Soviet secret police , NKVD . Mobile gas vans were invented to kill people . It has been estimated between 600,000 and 3 million people died at the hands of the Soviet government during the Purge .   In the Western world , Robert Conquest 's 1968 book The Great Terror popularized that phrase . Conquest 's title was in turn an allusion to the period called the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution ( French : la Terreur , and , from June to July 1794 , la Grande Terreur , the Great Terror ) .

neg: Stalin Line The Stalin Line was a line of fortifications along the western border of the Soviet Union . Work began on the system in the 1920s to protect the USSR against attacks from the West . The line was made up of concrete bunkers and gun emplacements , somewhat similar to , but less elaborate than the Maginot Line . It was not a continuous line of defense along the entire border , but rather a network of fortified districts , meant to channel potential invaders along certain corridors .   In the aftermath of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact , with the westward expansion of the USSR in 1939 and 1940 into Poland , the Baltic , and Bessarabia , the decision was made to abandon the line in favour of constructing the Molotov Line further west , along the new border of the USSR . A number of Soviet generals felt that it would be better to keep both lines and to have a defence in depth , but this conflicted with the pre-World War II Soviet military doctrine .   Thus , the guns were removed , but were mostly in storage as the new line began construction . The 1941 Axis invasion caught the Soviets with the new line unfinished and the Stalin Line largely abandoned and in disrepair . Neither was thus of much use in stopping the onslaught , though parts of the Stalin Line were manned in time and contributed to the defense of the USSR .   Following World War II , the line was not maintained , in part due to its wide dispersal across the USSR . Unlike Western Europe , where similar fortifications were demolished for development and safety reasons , much of the line survived beyond the breakup of the USSR in 1991 due to being ignored . Today , the remains of the Stalin Line fortifications are located in Belarus , Russia , and Ukraine ( plus possibly the eastern parts of Moldova ) .

neg: Terentii Shtykov Terentii Fomich Shtykov ( Russian : Терентий Штыков ; Korean : 테렌티 스티코프 ; -- 25 October 1964 ) was effectively the first supreme leader of North Korea , as the de facto head of its 1945-1951 military occupation and the first Soviet Ambassador to North Korea from 1948 until 1950 . Shtykov 's support for Kim Il-sung was crucial in Kim 's rise to power , and the two persuaded Stalin to allow the Korean War to begin in June 1950 .   A protégé of the influential politician Andrei Zhdanov , General Shtykov served as a political commissar during World War II , ending up on the Military Council of the Primorskiy Military District . Through direct access to Joseph Stalin , Shtykov became the `` real supreme ruler of North Korea , the principal supervisor of both the Soviet military and the local authorities . '' Shtykov conceived of the Soviet Civil Administration , supported Kim 's appointment as head of the North Korean provisional government , and assisted Stalin with editing the first North Korean constitution .   As the preeminent representative of the Soviet Union 's political authority over the nascent North Korea from October 1945 until December 1950 , Shtykov 's legacy was to aid the Kim family 's rise to power . The war they started freed Kim from Soviet domination ; China intervened following North Korea 's poor military performance in the early autumn . Shtykov was fired as ambassador in December and demoted to major general the following month . He later served as the Soviet ambassador to Hungary from 1959 to 1960 .   Andrei Lankov asserts that Shtykov made more impact on Korean history than any foreigner other than Japanese colonial politicians , and that he was `` the actual architect of the North Korean state as it emerged in 1945-50 . '' Several of Shtykov 's policies , most notably North Korean land reform , are today credited to Kim Il-sung by official North Korean media .

neg: All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets The All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets was the supreme governing body of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1917 -- 22 . From 1922 to 1938 the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR designated after the 1918 Russian Constitution mandated that Congress to be convened at least twice a year . The 1926 Constitution ( in correspondence to all Soviet constitutions ) lowered the minimum to once a year .   In total there were 14 Congresses of Soviets that for the most of the time took place in Kharkiv . Importance in conducting the congress of Soviets advised the People 's Commissar in Affairs of Nationalities of the Russian Sovnarkom Joseph Stalin in his recommendations to a representative of Central Committee of Ukrainian Social Democratic Labour Party Mykola Porsh and a member of the Kiev regional committee of RSDLP ( b ) Sergei Bakinsky on November 30 , 1917 . The congress was intended to replace the Central Council of Ukraine .

neg: 1910s The 1910s ( pronounced `` nineteen-tens '' , also abbreviated as the `` teens '' ) was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1 , 1910 , and ended on December 31 , 1919 . The 1910s represented the culmination of European militarism which had its beginnings during the second half of the 19th century . The conservative lifestyles during the first half of the decade , as well as the legacy of military alliances , was forever changed by the assassination , on June 28 , 1914 , of Archduke Franz Ferdinand , the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne . The murder triggered a chain of events in which , within 33 days , World War I broke out in Europe on August 1 , 1914 . The conflict dragged on until a truce was declared on November 11 , 1918 , leading to the controversial , one-sided Treaty of Versailles , which was signed on June 28 , 1919 .   The war 's end triggered the abdication of various monarchies and the collapse of five of the last modern empires of Russia , Germany , China , Ottoman Turkey and Austria-Hungary , with the latter splintered into Austria , Hungary , southern Poland ( who acquired most of their land in a war with Soviet Russia ) , Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia , as well as the unification of Romania with Transylvania and Moldavia . However , each of these states ( with the possible exception of Yugoslavia ) had large German and Hungarian minorities , there creating some unexpected problems that would be brought to light in the next two decades . ( See Dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Empire : Successor States for better description of composition of names of successor countries/states following the splinter . )   The decade was also a period of revolution in a number of countries . The Mexican Revolution spearheaded the trend in November 1910 , which led to the ousting of dictator Porfirio Diaz , developing into a violent civil war that dragged on until mid-1920 , not long after a new Mexican Constitution was signed and ratified . Russia also had a similar fate , since World War I led to a collapse in morale as well as to economic chaos . This atmosphere encouraged the establishment of Bolshevism , which was later renamed as communism . Like the Mexican Revolution , the Russian Revolution of 1917 , known as the October Revolution , immediately turned to Russian Civil War that dragged until approximately late 1922 .   Much of the music in these years was ballroom-themed . Many of the fashionable restaurants were equipped with dance floors . Prohibition in the United States began January 16 , 1919 , with the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution .

neg: Mikhail Tarkhanov (actor) Mikhail Mikhaylovich Moskvin ( Михаил Михайлович Москвин , 19 September 1877 , Moscow , Imperial Russia , -- 18 August 1948 , Moscow , USSR ) was a Russian and Soviet stage actor and theatre director , better known by his stage name Mikhail Tarkhanov .   Having made his stage debut in 1898 on stage the Ryazan Theatre , he performed in numerous troupes ( including those led by Nikolai Sinelnikov and Vasily Kachalov ) before joining the Moscow Art Theatre in 1922 where he soon became one of the leading actors and , in the late 1920s , a stage director . In 1935 he started to teach drama and in 1942-1948 was the head of Russian Academy of Theatre Arts .   In 1937 Tarkhanov was awarded the prestigious People 's Artist of the USSR title . He was the recipient on numerous high-profile Soviet state awards , including the Order of Lenin ( 1838 , 1947 ) and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour ( 1937 ) as well as the Stalin Prize laureate ( 1943 , 1st Grade ) .   In 1923-1937 he was cast in 9 films , most of them the Russian classics adaptations , including Raskolnikow , The Storm ( 1933 ) , The Youth of Maxim ( 1934 ) , Dubrovsky ( 1936 ) and Pyotr Pervyy ( 1937 ) .   The actor Ivan Moskvin was his younger brother .


query: Heather Watson's competitor for the WTA singles title was Chang Kai-Chen.

pos: Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson ( born 19 May 1992 ) is a British tennis player and a Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Champion . She is a former British No. 1 and current British No. 2 behind Johanna Konta .   She holds the Mixed Doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships with Henri Kontinen .   On 14 October 2012 , Watson won her first WTA singles title with a win over Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan in the final of the Japan Open , becoming the first British female to win a WTA singles title since Sara Gomer in 1988 .   In her junior career , Watson won the US Open and gold at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games . She had been as high as No. 3 in the world on the ITF Junior Circuit .

neg: 2015 J&T Banka Prague Open – Singles Heather Watson was the defending champion , but lost to Polona Hercog in the first round .   Karolína Plíšková won the title , defeating Lucie Hradecká in the final , 4 -- 6 , 7 -- 5 , 6 -- 3 .

neg: 2011 Guangzhou International Women's Open – Singles Jarmila Gajdošová was the defending champion , but lost to eventual finalist Magdaléna Rybáriková in the quarterfinals .   Chanelle Scheepers won her first WTA singles title , defeating Rybáriková 6 -- 2 , 6 -- 2 in the final .

neg: 2007 Tennis Channel Open and the Mirage Cup The 2007 Tennis Channel Open was a tennis event on the 2007 ATP Tour . Lleyton Hewitt , who was the 2006 runner-up , was the singles champion , while Bob and Mike Bryan were the doubles champions . The event was held in Las Vegas , Nevada at the Darling Tennis Center . It was the twentieth Tennis Channel Open , but just the second to be held in Las Vegas . The ITF women 's competition was won by Caroline Wozniacki in singles and by Victoria Azarenka and Tatiana Poutchek for doubles .

neg: 2012 OEC Taipei WTA Ladies Open – Doubles Chan Yung-jan and Zheng Jie were the defending champions , but both decided not to participate .  Chan Hao-ching and Kristina Mladenovic defeated Chang Kai-chen and Olga Govortsova 5 -- 7 , 6 -- 2 , -LSB- 10 -- 8 -RSB- in the final .

neg: Tian Ran Tian Ran ( ; born 8 January 1994 in Henan ) is a Chinese tennis player .   Tian has a WTA singles career high ranking of 425 achieved on 27 May 2013 . She also has a WTA doubles career high ranking of 212 achieved on 10 June 2013 .   Tian made her WTA tour main draw doubles debut at the 2011 Guangzhou International Women 's Open partnering Liang Chen . In the first round they defeated Alona Bondarenko and Mariya Koryttseva 4 -- 6 , 6 -- 3 , -LSB- 12 -- 10 -RSB- before losing to the second seeds Alberta Brianti and Petra Martić in the quarterfinals .

neg: 2017 Zhuhai Open The 2017 Zhuhai Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts . It was the second ( ATP ) and third ( ITF ) editions of the tournament and was part of the 2017 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2017 ITF Women 's Circuit , offering $ 50,000 + H ( ATP ) and $ 60,000 ( ITF ) in prize money . It took place in Zhuhai , China , from 6 -- 12 March 2017 .

neg: 2013 Australian Open The 2013 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne , Australia , from 14 to 27 January 2013 . It was the 101st edition of the Australian Open , and the first Grand Slam event of the year . The tournament consisted of events for professional players in singles , doubles and mixed doubles play . Junior and wheelchair players competed in singles and doubles tournaments .   All four of the main events in singles and same-sex doubles were won by the top seeds -- Novak Djokovic in men 's singles , Victoria Azarenka in women 's singles , Bob and Mike Bryan in men 's doubles , and Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in women 's doubles . This year 's Australian Open was the first Grand Slam event since that tournament 's 2004 edition in which the women 's singles and doubles were won by the top seeds , and the first Grand Slam event since the 1997 Wimbledon Championships in which the men 's and women 's singles and doubles were all won by the top seeds .

neg: Hua Hin Championships The Hua Hin Championships is a tournament for professional male and female tennis players played on outdoor hard courts . The event is classified as a $ 125,000 ATP Challenger Tour and WTA 125K series tournament and has been held in Hua Hin District , Thailand , since 2015 .

neg: 2009 Sony Ericsson Open The 2009 Sony Ericsson Open ( also known as 2009 Miami Masters ) was a men 's and women 's tennis tournament held from March 23 to April 5 , 2009 . It was the 25th edition of the Miami Masters event and was played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne , Florida , located near Miami . The tournament was part of 2009 ATP World Tour and 2009 WTA Tour , classified as ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and Premier Mandatory event respectively .   The men 's singles event was won by British player Andy Murray , who defeated Novak Djokovic in the final . Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won the women 's singles event by defeating defending champion Serena Williams . Both Murray and Azarenka were first-time winners at the tournament and also the first to win from their respective countries . In the doubles events , Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram won the men 's title by defeating the team of Ashley Fisher and Stephen Huss . The women 's doubles title was won by Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amélie Mauresmo who overcame Květa Peschke and Lisa Raymond in the final match .

neg: Laura Robson Laura Robson ( born 21 January 1994 ) is a British tennis player and an Olympic Mixed Doubles silver medalist .   She debuted on the International Tennis Federation ( ITF ) junior tour in 2007 , and a year later won the Wimbledon Junior Girls ' Championship at the age of 14 . As a junior , she also twice reached the final of the girls ' singles tournament at the Australian Open , in 2009 and 2010 . She won her first professional tournament in November 2008 .   Robson was the first British woman since Samantha Smith at Wimbledon in 1998 to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament , doing so at the 2012 US Open and the 2013 Wimbledon Championships . She won a silver medal in the mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics playing with Andy Murray , with whom she also reached the 2010 Hopman Cup final . At the 2012 Guangzhou Women 's Open , Robson became the first British woman since Jo Durie in 1990 to reach a WTA main-tour final , where she lost to Hsieh Su-wei . Robson was named WTA Newcomer of the Year for 2012 and reached a career high singles ranking of world number 27 on 8 July 2013 .   Since then , Robson has suffered from various injuries which have caused a prolonged absence from the WTA tour . After losing in the first round of the 2013 HP Open on 7 October 2013 , she has played just 33 matches : two in 2014 , 11 in 2015 and 20 in 2016 , winning just eight of them . She dropped out of the world rankings in early 2015 , returning at 906 in July 2015 , and is currently ranked at 173 . She has a career-high doubles ranking of number 82 and is currently ranked 344 .

neg: 2009 ASB Classic The 2009 ASB Classic is a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts . It is the 24th edition of the ASB Classic , and was part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2009 WTA Tour . It took place at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland , New Zealand , from 5 through 10 January 2009 .   The singles draw is led by WTA No. 4 , Luxembourg , Dubai winner , Olympics gold medalist Elena Dementieva , Tokyo , New Haven , Stockholm titlist Caroline Wozniacki and Strasbourg champion , Fes , Portorož runner-up Anabel Medina Garrigues . Also competing are Stanford champion Aleksandra Wozniak , Prague quarter-finalist Shahar Pe'er , Nicole Vaidišová , Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Carla Suárez Navarro .

neg: 2005 China Open (tennis) The 2005 China Open was an ATP International Series and WTA Tour Tier II tennis tournament held in Beijing , China .

neg: 2013 WTA Tour Championships – Doubles Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova were the defending champions , but chose not to pair up this year . Petrova paired up and qualified with Katarina Srebotnik , but they lost in the semifinals to Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai .  Hsieh and Peng went on to win the title , defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the final , 6 -- 4 , 7 -- 5 .

neg: Advanta Championships of Philadelphia The Advanta Championships of Philadelphia ( also long known as the Virginia Slims of Philadelphia ) was a WTA Tour professional tennis tournament for women played from 1971 through 2005 in Philadelphia , United States . The tournament was classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I event from 1993 through 1995 . It was classified as a Tier II event in 1991 , 1992 , and from 1996 through 2005 . The tournament was played indoors , on carpet from 1991 through 2000 and on hard courts from 1971 through 1979 and from 2003 through 2005 .   Past singles champions include Conchita Martínez , Margaret Court , Chris Evert , Monica Seles , Steffi Graf , Martina Hingis , Lindsay Davenport , and Amélie Mauresmo .

neg: 2017 Australian Open The 2017 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 16 -- 29 January 2017 . It was the 105th edition of the Australian Open , and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year . The tournament consisted of events for professional players in singles , doubles and mixed doubles play . Junior and wheelchair players competed in singles and doubles tournaments . As in previous years , the tournament 's title sponsor was Kia .   Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber were the defending champions and both were unsuccessful in their title defense ; they lost to Denis Istomin and Coco Vandeweghe in the second and fourth rounds , respectively . For the first time since the 2004 French Open , both No. 1 seeds lost before the quarterfinals , with both Andy Murray and Kerber defeated in the fourth round .   Roger Federer won his eighteenth men 's singles Grand Slam title by defeating Rafael Nadal in a five-set final . It was his first major title since 2012 Wimbledon and a rematch of the 2009 Australian Open final , which Nadal won in five sets . Serena Williams overcame her sister Venus in the women 's singles final , surpassing Steffi Graf to become the player with the most major wins in the women 's game in the Open Era .

neg: Li Na Li Na ( born 26 February 1982 ) is a retired Chinese professional tennis player , who achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 2 on the WTA Tour on 17 February 2014 . Over the course of her career , Li won nine WTA singles titles , including two Grand Slam singles titles at the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open . Li 's rise to prominence came after those victories , which made her the first and only Grand Slam singles champion from East Asia and Asia as a whole . Prior to this , she had already become the first player representing an East Asian and Asian country to appear in a Grand Slam singles final , a milestone she achieved at the 2011 Australian Open . Li was also the runner-up at the 2013 Australian Open and 2013 WTA Tour Championships , a three-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon and a semifinalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and 2013 US Open . Among her other most notable accolades , she was the first Chinese player to win a WTA tour title at the Guangzhou International Women 's Open in 2004 , the first to reach a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships , and the first to break into the world 's top 10 . Her feats have sparked a major population growth of tennis players in East Asia , earning her the reputation as the region 's tennis pioneer and trailblazer .   Li retired from professional tennis on 19 September 2014 .

neg: Chuang Chia-jung Chuang Chia-jung ( ; born 10 January 1985 ) is a Taiwanese professional female tennis player .   Chuang has won twenty four doubles titles on the WTA tour ( including two WTA 125K series ) , as well as ten singles and 33 doubles titles on the ITF circuit in her career . On 13 November 2006 , she reached her best singles ranking of world number 177 . On 18 August 2008 , she peaked at world number 5 in the doubles rankings .

neg: 2001 WTA Tour Championships The 2001 WTA Tour Championships , also known by its sponsored name Sanex Championships , was a women 's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts at the Olympiahalle in Munich , Germany . It was the 31st edition of the year-end singles championships , the 26th edition of the year-end doubles championships , and was part of the 2001 WTA Tour . The tournament was held between 30 October and 4 November 2001 . Seventh-seeded Serena Williams won the singles event after Lindsay Davenport defaulted the final due to a knee injury she sustained in her semifinal match . Davenport 's semifinal win ensured her the No. 1 year-end ranking . Williams earned $ 500,000 first-prize money as well as 390 ranking points .   Venus Williams and Martina Hingis had qualified for the tournament but withdrew due to injuries while Monica Seles refused to play in Germany , the country where she was stabbed in 1993 .

neg: 2012 Qatar Airways Tournament of Champions The 2012 Qatar Airways Tournament of Champions was a singles-only tennis tournament that was played on indoor hard courts in Sofia . It was the fourth edition of the tournament and was part of the 2012 WTA Tour . The 2012 edition was the first held in Sofia , having been relocated from Bali , where the tournament was held for the previous three years and called the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions . The tournament was played between October 30 and November 4 . Ana Ivanovic did not defend her title this year for two reasons : She did not win , or reach , a single final this year in order to gain direct acceptance , and she did not receive a wild card due to her participation in the 2012 Fed Cup finals .

neg: 2017 WTA Finals The 2017 WTA Finals is a women 's tennis tournament that will be held Kallang , Singapore . It will be the 47th edition of the singles event and the 42nd edition of the doubles competition . The tournament will be contested by eight singles players and eight doubles teams .


query: Friends with Benefits features actors.

pos: Patricia Clarkson Patricia Davies Clarkson ( born December 29 , 1959 ) is an American actress . She has starred in many leading and supporting roles in films such as The Station Agent , The Pledge , The Green Mile , Far from Heaven , High Art , Dogville , Good Night , and Good Luck , Easy A , and Cairo Time . She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe for her performance in Pieces of April ( 2003 ) . She twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her recurring role in Six Feet Under . In 2015 , she was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in The Elephant Man .

pos: Bryan Greenberg Bryan Greenberg ( born May 24 , 1978 ) is an American actor and singer , known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the WB series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road . His film work includes The Perfect Score , Prime , Nobel Son , Bride Wars , The Good Guy , Friends with Benefits , and A Short History of Decay .

pos: Friends with Benefits (film) Friends with Benefits is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Will Gluck , and starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis in the lead roles . The film features Patricia Clarkson , Jenna Elfman , Bryan Greenberg , Nolan Gould , Richard Jenkins , and Woody Harrelson in supporting roles . The plot revolves around Dylan Harper ( Timberlake ) and Jamie Rellis ( Kunis ) , who meet in New York City , and naively believe adding sex to their friendship will not lead to complications . Over time , they begin to develop deep mutual feelings for each other , only to deny it each time they are together .   Principal casting for Friends with Benefits took place over a three-month period from April to July 2010 . Gluck reworked the original script and plot shortly after casting Timberlake and Kunis . Filming began in New York City on July 20 , 2010 , and concluded in Los Angeles in September 2010 . The film was distributed by Screen Gems and was released in North America on July 22 , 2011 . Friends with Benefits was generally well received by film critics , most of whom praised the chemistry between the lead actors . The film became a commercial success at the box office , grossing over $ 150.4 million worldwide , against a budget of $ 35 million . It was nominated for two People 's Choice Awards -- Favorite Comedy Movie , and Favorite Comedic Movie Actress ( Kunis ) -- and two Teen Choice Awards for Timberlake and Kunis .

neg: Robert Hardy Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy , CBE , FSA ( born 29 October 1925 ) is an English actor with a long career in the theatre , film and television .

neg: Andy Dick Andrew Roane Dick ( born December 21 , 1965 ) is an American comedian , actor , musician , and television and film producer . Best known as a comic , he is also known for his eccentric and controversial behavior . His first regular television role was on the short-lived but influential The Ben Stiller Show . In the mid-1990s , he had a long-running stint on NBC 's NewsRadio and was a supporting character on Less than Perfect . He briefly had his own program , The Andy Dick Show on MTV . He is noted for his outlandish behavior from a number of Comedy Central Roasts . He landed in 7th place on the 16th season of Dancing with the Stars .

neg: Patrick Cavanaugh Patrick Cavanaugh is an American television actor .

neg: Charlie O'Connell Charles `` Charlie '' O'Connell ( born April 21 , 1975 ) is an American actor and reality television personality . He is known for his appearance on The Bachelor , as well as appearing in several of his older brother , Jerry O'Connell 's projects , including a starring role as Colin Mallory in Season 4 of the science fiction television series Sliders .

neg: Peter Greene Peter Greene ( born Peter Green ; October 8 , 1965 ) is an American character actor , generally known for playing villains .

neg: Lukas Haas Lukas Daniel Haas ( born April 16 , 1976 ) is an American actor and musician . His acting career has spanned three decades , during which he has appeared in more than 50 feature films and a number of television shows and stage productions .

neg: Bill Raymond William Joseph `` Bill '' Raymond ( born September 9 , 1938 ) is an American actor who has appeared in film , television and theatre since the 1960s .

neg: Friends with benefits Friends with benefits refers to friends who carry on a casual sexual relationship .   It can also refer to :  Friends with Benefits ( film ) , a 2011 film directed by Will Gluck  `` Friends with Benefits '' ( song ) , a 2016 song by English rapper KSI  Friends with Benefits ( TV series ) , a 2011 American television sitcom  Friends ( With Benefits ) , a 2009 independent comedy-drama film  Friends with Benefit , a 2006 CD soundtrack from the TV series One Tree Hill  Friends with Benefits ( telenovela ) , a telenovela planned for 2007 but canceled  `` Friends with Benefits '' , episode 108 of the telenova Fashion House  Friends with Benefits , the working title of the film No Strings Attached

neg: Peter Ford (actor) Peter Ford ( born February 5 , 1945 ) is a retired American actor , singer and former President and Co-Founder of Blackoak Development Company .

neg: James R. Black James Richard Black ( born April 3 , 1962 ) is an American actor and former professional football player .

neg: Randy Spelling Randall Gene `` Randy '' Spelling ( born October 9 , 1978 ) is an American former actor and currently a life coach . He is the brother of Tori Spelling and the son of Candy and Aaron Spelling .

neg: Bryan Dattilo Bryan Ronald Dattilo ( born July 29 , 1971 ) is an American actor . He is best known for his role as Lucas Horton on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives .

neg: Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan ( -LSB- məˈglɒklən -RSB- born February 22 , 1959 ) is an American actor . MacLachlan is best known for his role as Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks ( 1990 -- 1991 ; 2017 ) and its subsequent film continuation Twin Peaks : Fire Walk with Me ( 1992 ) , as well as in cult films such as two of David Lynch 's films : Paul Atreides in Dune ( 1984 ) and Jeffrey Beaumont in Blue Velvet ( 1986 ) . MacLachlan 's other film roles include Lloyd Gallagher in the science fiction action film The Hidden ( 1987 ) , Ray Manzarek in The Doors ( 1991 ) , Clifford Vandercave in The Flintstones ( 1994 ) , and the voice of Riley 's dad in Inside Out ( 2015 ) . He has also had prominent roles in television shows including appearing as Trey MacDougal in Sex and the City ( 2000 -- 2002 ) , Orson Hodge in Desperate Housewives ( 2006 -- 2012 ) , The Captain in How I Met Your Mother ( 2010 -- 14 ) , the Mayor of Portland in Portlandia ( 2011 -- 2017 ) , and Calvin Zabo in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ( 2014 -- 2015 ) .   MacLachlan has won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor -- Television Series Drama and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards , all for Twin Peaks .

neg: Scott Elrod Scott Michael Elrod ( born February 10 , 1975 ) is an American actor .

neg: Golden Boot Awards The Golden Boot Awards is an American acknowledgment of achievement honoring actors , actresses , and crew members who have made significant contributions to the genre of Western television and movies . The award is sponsored and presented by the Motion Picture & Television Fund . Money raised at the award banquet is used to help finance various services offered by the Fund to those in the entertainment industry .   Actor Pat Buttram conceived the idea of the Golden Boot Award , and the first ones were presented in 1983 . The awards appear to have been discontinued since 2007 .

neg: PJ DeBoy Paul J. `` PJ '' DeBoy ( born June 7 , 1971 ) is an American actor and talk show host .

neg: Mike O'Brien (actor) Michael Patrick O'Brien ( born June 22 , 1976 ) , is an American actor , writer , and comedian , best known for his work as a writer and short filmmaker on Saturday Night Live .

neg: Michael Landon Jr. Michael Graham Landon Jr. ( born June 20 , 1964 ) is an American actor , director , writer , and producer .

neg: Christian Clark Christian Clark ( born 15 September 1978 ) is an Australian actor and business owner . Christian appeared in the role of Will Griggs in the Network Ten soap opera Neighbours from 2006 to 2007 and played Penn Graham in Home and Away in 2010 .

neg: Elya Baskin Ilya Zalmanovich Baskin ( Iļja Baskins , Илья́ За́лманович Ба́скин born 11 August 1950 ) , known as Elya Baskin , is an American actor .


query: The Sopranos had seven seasons.

pos: The Sopranos The Sopranos is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase . The story revolves around the fictional character , New Jersey-based Italian American mobster Tony Soprano ( James Gandolfini ) . The series portrays the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and his criminal organization . These are often highlighted during his therapy sessions with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi ( Lorraine Bracco ) . The series features Tony 's family members , mafia colleagues and rivals , in prominent roles and story arcs , most notably his wife Carmela ( Edie Falco ) and protégé Christopher Moltisanti ( Michael Imperioli ) .   After the pilot was ordered in 1997 , the show premiered on the premium cable network HBO in the United States on January 10 , 1999 , and ran its six seasons with 86 episodes to June 10 , 2007 . The series then went through syndication and has been broadcast on A&E in the United States and internationally . The Sopranos was produced by HBO , Chase Films , and Brad Grey Television . It was primarily filmed at Silvercup Studios , New York City , and on location in New Jersey . The executive producers throughout the show 's run were David Chase , Brad Grey , Robin Green , Mitchell Burgess , Ilene S. Landress , Terence Winter , and Matthew Weiner .   The Sopranos is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time . The series also won a multitude of awards , including Peabody Awards for its first two seasons , 21 Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards . A staple of 2000s American popular culture , the series has been the subject of critical analysis , controversy , and parody . It has spawned books , a video game , high-charting soundtrack albums , and a large amount of assorted merchandise . Several members of the show 's cast and crew who were previously largely unknown to the public have had successful careers after The Sopranos . In 2013 , the Writers Guild of America named The Sopranos the best-written TV series of all time , while TV Guide ranked it the best television series of all time .

neg: List of Mad About You episodes The following is an episode list for the NBC series , Mad About You . In total , there were 164 episodes broadcast during seven seasons .

neg: L.A. Law L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC , from September 15 , 1986 , to May 19 , 1994 .   Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher , it contained many of Bochco 's trademark features including an ensemble cast , large number of parallel storylines , social drama , and off-the-wall humor . It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s , and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as capital punishment , abortion , racism , gay rights , homophobia , sexual harassment , AIDS , and domestic violence . The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff .   In addition to its main cast , L.A. Law was also well known for featuring then relatively unknown actors and actresses in guest starring roles , who later went on to greater success in film and television including : Don Cheadle , Jeffrey Tambor , Kathy Bates , David Schwimmer , Jay O. Sanders , James Avery , Gates McFadden , Bryan Cranston , C.C.H. Pounder , Kevin Spacey , Richard Schiff , Carrie-Anne Moss , William H. Macy , Stephen Root , Christian Slater , and Lucy Liu . Several episodes of the show also included celebrities such as Vanna White , Buddy Hackett and Mamie Van Doren appearing as themselves in cameo roles .   The show was popular with audiences and critics , and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run , four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series .

neg: Seven Times Seven Seven Times Seven ( Sette volte sette ) is a 1968 Italian crime comedy caper directed by Michele Lupo and starring Gastone Moschin .

neg: David Chase David Chase ( born August 22 , 1945 ) is an American writer , director and television producer . Chase has worked in television for 40 years ; he has produced and written for such shows as The Rockford Files , I 'll Fly Away , and Northern Exposure . He has created two original series ; the first , Almost Grown , aired for 10 episodes in 1988 and 1989 . Chase is best known for his second original series , the influential and critically acclaimed HBO drama The Sopranos , which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007 . A prominent figure in American television , Chase has won seven Emmy Awards .

neg: Everybody Loves Raymond (season 7) This is a list of episodes for the seventh season of Everybody Loves Raymond .

neg: Subway (Homicide: Life on the Street) `` Subway '' ( sometimes referred to as `` The Accident '' ) is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the American police television drama Homicide : Life on the Street , and the 84th episode overall . It first aired on NBC in the United States on December 5 , 1997 . In the episode , John Lange ( Vincent D'Onofrio ) becomes pinned between a Baltimore Metro Subway train and the station platform . The Baltimore homicide department is informed that Lange will be dead within an hour and Pembleton tries to solve the case while comforting Lange in his final minutes .   `` Subway '' featured guest star Bruce MacVittie as a man suspected of pushing Lange into the path of the train . The episode was written by James Yoshimura , who co-produced with David Simon . It was directed by Gary Fleder and was the only episode of Homicide : Life on the Street helmed by the feature film director . Yoshimura based `` Subway '' on an episode of the HBO hidden-camera documentary show Taxicab Confessions , in which a New York City detective described a real-life instance of a man trapped between a subway train and platform .   `` Subway '' was filmed on location in a Baltimore Metropolitan Transit Authority ( MTA ) station . Fleder included cinematic elements that were uncommon in the traditionally naturalistic show . This led to conflicts between Fleder and director of photography Alex Zakrzewski . `` Subway '' received overwhelmingly positive reviews but ranked number three in its time-slot during its original broadcast , capturing 10.3 million viewers but falling behind ABC 's 20/20 and CBS 's Nash Bridges .   The episode won a Peabody Award for excellence in television broadcasting and was nominated for two Emmy Awards , one for Yoshimura 's script and one for D'Onofrio 's guest performance . `` Subway '' was the subject of a two-hour PBS television documentary , Anatomy of a `` Homicide : Life on the Street '' , which originally aired on the network on November 4 , 1998 . Screenwriter Vince Gilligan said `` Subway '' directly influenced an episode of The X-Files that he wrote , which in turn helped inspire the casting of Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad .

neg: Dramatic soprano A dramatic soprano is a type of operatic soprano with a powerful , rich , emotive voice that can sing over , or cut through , a full orchestra . Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually ( but not always ) mean less agility than lighter voices but a sustained , fuller sound . Usually this voice has a lower tessitura than other sopranos , and a darker timbre . They are often used for heroic , often long-suffering , tragic women of opera . Dramatic sopranos have a range from approximately low A ( A3 ) to `` high C '' ( C6 ) . Some dramatic sopranos , known as Wagnerian sopranos , have an exceptionally big voice that can assert itself over a large orchestra ( of more than 80 or even 100 pieces ) . These voices are substantial , often denser in tone , extremely powerful and , ideally , evenly balanced throughout the vocal registers . Wagnerian sopranos usually play mythic heroines . Successful Wagnerian sopranos are rare and often Wagnerian roles are performed by Italianate dramatic sopranos .

neg: Luxury Lounge `` Luxury Lounge '' is the seventy-second episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the seventh of the show 's sixth season . It was written by Matthew Weiner , directed by Danny Leiner and originally aired on April 23 , 2006 .

neg: Mitchell Burgess Mitchell Burgess is an American writer and producer . He was the writer and an executive producer on The Sopranos . He was a creator and executive producer for Blue Bloods . He frequently works with his wife Robin Green .

neg: Sixth Family Sixth Family is a term used to refer to a ( usually Italian-American or Italian-Canadian ) crime family or criminal organization that has become powerful or notable enough to rise to a level comparable or close to that of the Five Families of the New York City Italian-American Mafia . The implications of the term may vary depending on context ; a criminal organization deemed a `` Sixth Family '' may rival the Five Families or , alternatively , work closely enough with the Five Families that it appears to be a peer or near coequal of the families .

neg: Tony Blundetto Anthony `` Tony '' Blundetto , played by Steve Buscemi , is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos . He is Tony Soprano 's cousin who is released from prison at the beginning of the show 's fifth season . Upon release , Tony Blundetto begins to pursue a straight , non-criminal life . However , he is eventually overpowered by the challenges of civilian life and turns back to crime , dragging the DiMeo Crime Family into the Lupertazzi Crime Family 's power struggle .   For his work in season 5 , Buscemi received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series .

neg: Seven Days (newspaper) Seven Days is an alternative weekly newspaper that is distributed every Wednesday in Vermont . Seven Days is published by Da Capo Publishing , Inc. , and owned by Pamela Polston and Paula Routly . It is distributed free of charge throughout the following areas : Burlington , Middlebury , Montpelier , Stowe , the Mad River Valley , Rutland , St. Albans , Vermont , and Plattsburgh , New York .   Seven Days deals with many aspects of life in Vermont . Columns and stories in the newspaper often concern such topics as state and local politics , Vermont organizations and charities , and general human interest stories . It also features local music listings ; an alternative style comics section ; art , movie and theater reviews ; event listings , local dining , classified advertisements , and personals . Each year Seven Days asks their readers to place votes for the `` Seven Daysies '' which is a compilation of favorite people and places to visit throughout the state .

neg: Light Opera of Manhattan Light Opera of Manhattan , known as LOOM , was an Off-Broadway repertory theatre company that produced light operas , including the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and European and American operettas , 52 weeks per year , in New York City between 1968 and 1989 .   Founded by William Mount-Burke , LOOM 's first long-term home was in the Jan Hus theatre from the late 1960s to 1975 , where it succeeded another small light opera company , the American Savoyards . At the Jan Hus , LOOM performed predominantly the Savoy operas of Gilbert and Sullivan , such as The Pirates of Penzance , The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore . Led by conductor-director Mount-Burke , principal comedian Raymond Allen and choreographer/stage manager Jerry Gotham , the company mentored many young actors and singers who went on to careers on Broadway or elsewhere in theatre or music .   In 1975 , the company moved across the street to a legitimate Off-Broadway theatre , the Eastside Playhouse . There it expanded its repertoire beyond Gilbert and Sullivan to American and continental operettas , such as those of Victor Herbert , Rudolph Friml , Franz Lehár , Sigmund Romberg , Jacques Offenbach and Johann Strauss II . LOOM was often featured on WQXR radio .   By 1979 , diabetes had blinded William Mount-Burke , but he continued to conduct and even to direct new productions . The company remained strong until 1984 , when Mount-Burke died and the company 's playhouse was closed and subsequently demolished . After this , led by Allen and Gotham , with music director Todd Ellison , the company played in a series of theatres around New York that challenged its ability to keep its Upper East Side audience , and it was forced constantly to raise funds . In 1986 , the company closed , opening for its final seasons from 1987 to 1989 .

neg: The Four Seasons (Vivaldi) The Four Seasons ( Le quattro stagioni ) is a group of four violin concerti by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi , each of which gives a musical expression to a season of the year . They were written around 1721 and were published in 1725 in Amsterdam , together with eight additional violin concerti , as Il cimento dell ` armonia e dell ` inventione ( `` The Contest Between Harmony and Invention '' ) .   The Four Seasons is the best known of Vivaldi 's works . Unusually for the time , Vivaldi published the concerti with accompanying poems ( possibly written by Vivaldi himself ) that elucidated what it was about those seasons that his music was intended to evoke . It provides one of the earliest and most-detailed examples of what was later called program music -- music with a narrative element .   Vivaldi took great pains to relate his music to the texts of the poems , translating the poetic lines themselves directly into the music on the page . In the middle section of the Spring concerto , where the goatherd sleeps , his barking dog can be marked in the viola section . Other natural occurrences are similarly evoked . Vivaldi separated each concerto into three movements , fast-slow-fast , and likewise each linked sonnet into three sections .

neg: List of White Collar episodes White Collar is a crime/mystery television series that premiered on October 23 , 2009 , on the USA Network . The series stars Matt Bomer as Neal Caffrey , a former conman , forger and thief , and Tim DeKay as FBI Special Agent Peter Burke . The pair form an unlikely partnership as they work together to apprehend white collar criminals . The series also stars Willie Garson as Mozzie , an old friend of Neal 's who occasionally aids the FBI in their investigations ; Tiffani Thiessen as Elizabeth Burke , Peter 's wife ; and Marsha Thomason and Sharif Atkins as agents Diana Berrigan and Clinton Jones , respectively . Natalie Morales appeared in the first season as agent Lauren Cruz . Hilarie Burton was introduced in the second season as Sara Ellis , a love interest for Neal . She joined the main cast at the beginning of the third season .   White Collar aired its first season of 14 episodes in two parts , which premiered in 2009 and 2010 . This was followed by a second season , comprising 16 episodes . The first group of nine episodes aired in summer 2010 , while the remaining seven aired in spring 2011 . The third season began airing in 2011 and ended in 2012 . The first 10 episodes of the season aired in summer 2011 , while the remaining six began airing in winter 2012 . The series was renewed for a fourth season comprising 16 episodes , which began airing in July 2012 . A fifth season which was renewed for 16 episodes , later reduced to 13 , started airing in October 2013 . On March 2014 , the series was renewed for a sixth season , which was confirmed to be its final season the following September . The season premiered on November 6 , 2014 . On December 18 , after the airing of the last episode of the sixth season , White Collar ended its run . The first three seasons are available on DVD in regions 1 , 2 , and 4 , while the first season is also available on Blu-ray .

neg: Squillo Squillo is a technical term for the resonant , trumpet-like sound in the voices of opera singers . It is also commonly called `` singer 's formant '' , `` ring '' , `` ping '' , `` core '' , and other terms . Squillo enables an essentially lyric tone to be heard over thick orchestrations , e.g. in late Verdi , Puccini and Strauss operas . Achieving a proper amount of squillo in any performing context is imperative : too much and the tone veers towards the shrill ; too little and the purpose of the squillo can not be achieved .   Squillo is easily recognizable by a distinctive brilliant , ringing quality in the timbre of the voice . This perception is caused by the presence of a peak in the 2 - 5 kHz frequency range , to which the human ear is particularly sensitive . The amplification of these particular harmonics is believed to be a result of a narrowing of the Aryepiglottic fold just above the larynx . Voices with naturally acquired squillo , i.e. having naturally strong higher formants , are especially prized in opera because they allow a singer to maintain certain lyric qualities e.g. limpid high notes , and consistency of tone throughout the range etc. even in dramatic singing . Voices with squillo are also easier to record .   Uses of the squillo includes :  projecting a small timbre e.g. Alfredo Kraus , Juan Diego Flórez  underscoring a dramatically important passage e.g. No , non voglio morir in Sola , perduta abbandonata from Puccini 's Manon Lescaut  singing through a thickly textured orchestration , e.g. the final bars of Libera me from Verdi 's Requiem , in which a soprano has to compete against a tutti orchestra and full chorus  supporting a pianissimo note floated over an orchestra ( which also demands a secure breath control ) e.g. Montserrat Caballé  supporting a long trill  simulating a scream without compromising the timbre , especially in a verismic opera ; however it is not unheard that a bona fide scream be used in operatic setting , e.g. Tosca 's final jump in Tosca  giving an impression of ` youth ' to an aged voice , mainly via a cultivation of the head register , ref . Section IX Meine Gesangskunst , by Lilli Lehmann ; best exemplified vocally by Mirella Freni   Famous singers who personify this technique include Leontyne Price , Mariella Devia , Renata Tebaldi , Giuseppe di Stefano , Jussi Björling and Luciano Pavarotti . Certain dramatic singers may also employ squillo as opposed to volume over the course of a performance , for example Birgit Nilsson .   Squillo may also refer , in current Italian :  when the grammatical gender is masculine ( uno squillo ) word for `` ring '' ( as in `` telephone ring '' ) , currently a slang term for missed call  to form a verb a word `` squillare '' which means `` to ring '' or `` to blare ''

neg: Dexter (season 1) The first season of Dexter is an adaptation of Jeff Lindsay 's first novel in the Dexter series , Darkly Dreaming Dexter . Subsequent seasons have featured original storylines . This season aired from October 1 , 2006 to December 17 , 2006 , and follows Dexter 's investigation of `` The Ice Truck Killer '' . Introduced in the first episode , `` Dexter '' , this serial killer targets prostitutes and leaves their bodies severed and bloodless . At the same time , Dexter 's foster sister , Debra Morgan ( Jennifer Carpenter ) , a vice squad officer , aspires to work in the homicide department , and Dexter 's girlfriend , Rita Bennett ( Julie Benz ) , wants their relationship to be more intimate . Christian Camargo appears as Rudy Cooper and is a recurring character until the end of the season .   The show 's first season received generally favorable reviews from critics ; it was praised as `` bold , different and exciting , with a central character and performance that take your breath away '' by the New York Daily News . The Wall Street Journal saw `` the grotesqueries of Dexter '' as `` not something that can easily be dismissed with the old '' ` you do n't have to watch ' line '' , and concluded that `` We do have to live among the viewers who will be desensitized , or aroused , by this show '' . The aggregate site Metacritic scored the show 's first season at 77 out of 100 based on 27 critics reviews .   The season received high ratings for Showtime ; the pilot episode attracted more than a million viewers , giving the channel its highest ratings in nearly two years , while the finale `` Born Free '' drew an audience of 1.1 million viewers in the U.S. On average , the season was watched by two million viewers per episode during its original run when factoring in DVR viewers . Due to the 2007 -- 2008 Writers Guild strike and encouraged by the show 's critical success and high ratings on Showtime , CBS , a national terrestrial broadcast network , announced in December 2007 that it was considering airing an edited version of the first season of Dexter for free-to-air broadcast . It began to broadcast it on February 17 , 2008 , and thus , Dexter became the first program in 20 years to air on a broadcast network after being shown on a premium cable channel . During the show 's rerun on the CBS network in 2008 , the ratings were much higher , reaching 8.2 million viewers during its premiere February , giving the network its best rating in the 10 p.m. timeslot since December the previous year . During its 12-week run , it dropped to 7.1 million in early April , and to 6.6 million during the season 's finale on May 6 .

neg: Cold Stones `` Cold Stones '' is the seventy-sixth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the eleventh of the show 's sixth season . It was written by Diane Frolov , Andrew Schneider and David Chase , directed by Tim Van Patten and originally aired on May 21 , 2006 .

neg: 1977–78 United States network television schedule This was the television schedule on all three United States television networks for the fall season beginning in September 1977 . All times are Eastern and Pacific .   New fall series are highlighted in bold . Series ending their original runs are in italics .   Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research .   Yellow indicates the programs in the top 10 for the season .  Cyan indicates the programs in the top 20 for the season .  Magenta indicates the programs in the top 30 for the season .   PBS , the Public Broadcasting Service , was in operation , but the schedule was set by each local station . On ABC , debuting news brief , airs all seven nights at 9:58 , pm .

neg: The Walking Dead (season 7) The seventh season of The Walking Dead , an American post-apocalyptic horror television series on AMC , premiered on October 23 , 2016 , and concluded on April 2 , 2017 , consisting of 16 episodes . Developed for television by Frank Darabont , the series is based on the eponymous series of comic books by Robert Kirkman , Tony Moore , and Charlie Adlard . The executive producers are Kirkman , David Alpert , Scott M. Gimple , Greg Nicotero , Tom Luse , and Gale Anne Hurd , with Gimple as showrunner for the fourth consecutive season . The seventh season received generally positive reviews by critics . It is currently nominated for multiple awards , including Best Horror Television Series , at the 43rd Saturn Awards .   This season adapts material from issues # 100 -- 114 of the comic book series and introduces notable comic characters Ezekiel ( Khary Payton ) and his pet Bengal tiger , Shiva , including more survivor communities : the Kingdom , the Sanctuary , Oceanside , and the Scavengers . Immediately continuing the events of last season 's cliffhanger , the season continues the story of Rick Grimes ( Andrew Lincoln ) and his group of survivors , who now find themselves brutally overpowered and kneeling helplessly before Negan ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan ) and the Saviors , as they experience a daunting and life-changing confrontation . What Negan does will haunt and change the lives of those who survive forever .   The first half of the season focuses on the group , after suffering a heavy loss , gradually coming to terms under the rule of Negan and their struggle to obey his orders . The second half of the season focuses on the group building an army with like-minded communities to prepare for all-out war against the Saviors .