12 Trivia Facts About Natalia Poklonskaya

1. Natalia Poklonskaya was born 18 March 1980 in the village of Mikhailovka, Voroshilovgrad Oblast (today Luhansk Oblast); later in 1990, her family moved to Yevpatoria in Crimea.
2. Poklonskaya graduated from the University of Internal Affairs in Yevpatoria in 2002.
3. Poklonskaya has a daughter, Anastasia, from her first marriage. 
4. Both of her parents live in Crimea where they moved from the Lugansk Region in 1990, when Natalia was 10-years old, and both her grandfathers died during the Second World War, with only her grandmother surviving the German occupation.
5. Natalia Poklonskaya became the chief prosecutor of the annexed region of Crimea on 25 March 2014, after the Republic of Crimea seceded from Ukraine and joined the Russian Federation in 2014. 
6. Poklonskaya immediately became an icon for many Japanese cartoonist and animators who were struck by her beauty and Russian anime fans nicknamed Poklonskaya "nyasha" (a cute, adorable person). Within one week of her appointment as prosecutor, many fan illustrations of Poklonskaya had been submitted to both Pixiv and DeviantArt, a sample is shown below. 



Source: Daily Express website

7. Despite her popularity on the Internet, the Crimean Prosecutor said she'd "rather be appreciated for [her] work" than her good-looks. A subsequent interview, taken by НТВ Channel on March 24 2014 regarding Natalia’s opinion on her unusual Internet-fame and her nickname she replied: “I am the prosecutor here and therefore won’t tollerate any nyashas-myashas!”.
8. After Poklonskaya returned to Crimea she harshly criticized the Euromaidain protests and the new coup-installed Ukrainian government, which resulted in a criminal case against her in Ukraine and she was stripped of the rank of Counsellor of Justice.
9. Poklonskaya is fond of sports and likes to keep active whenever she can. "Prosecutors should be fit and in good shape — she's an officer," Poklonskaya said after passing the all-Russian physical culture training program, abbreviated as GTO ("Ready for Labour and Defense").
10. She is dubbed as the “Iron Princess of Crimea” and in 2015 Poklonskaya announced that she would be running as an MP in the State Duma for the United Russia party; Poklonskaya was elected during the 2016 Russian legislative election. 
11. Poklonskaya resigned as Prosecutor General on 27 September 2016 due to her election as MP in the State Duma during the 2016 Russian legislative election. 
12. Prior to her resignation she was the youngest female general in Russia, at age 36.

Sources:

https://sputniknews.com/art_living/201603181036535793-natalia-poklonskaya-birthday-crimea/

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/704431/Natalia-Poklonskaya-Crimea-Chief-Prosecutor-Vladimir-Putin-anime

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalia_Poklonskaya

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/natalia-poklonskaya

Ninoy 31st Death Anniversary

Today, 21 August 2014, is the 31st death anniversary of Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr.

1. Ninoy Aquino Day is a national non-working holiday in the Philippines observed annually on August 21, commemorating the assassination of former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. Unlike other dates reserved for national heroes of the Philippines (like Bonifacio Day, Rizal Day, Araw ng Kagitingan, and National Heroes Day), the date is not a "regular holiday" but only a "non-working holiday".
2. Ninoy Aquino Day was formally instituted upon the passage of Republic Act No. 9256 and was to be observed every August 21 (the anniversary of Aquino's death). However, upon the prerogative of then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the observance of this holiday became day-dependent (like non-official celebrations such as Mother's Day and Father's Day)—to be celebrated on the "Monday nearest August 21" every year—as part of her controversial 'holiday economics' philosophy as reflected in Republic Act No. 9492. The celebration has since been reverted to August 21 by orders of incumbent President Benigno Aquino III.
3. He was the husband of Corazon Aquino, who was later to become Philippine President; they are treated as two of the heroes of democracy in the country. His assassination led to the downfall of Ferdinand Marcos on February 25, 1986, through the People Power Revolution. 
4. While no Filipino president has ever been assassinated, Benigno Aquino is one of three presidential spouses who have been murdered. Aurora Quezon was killed along with her daughter and son-in-law in a Hukbalahap ambush in 1949, while Alicia Syquia-Quirino was murdered by the Japanese along with three of her children during the Battle of Manila in 1945.
5. In 1987, Manila International Airport, where the assassination occurred, was renamed "Ninoy Aquino International Airport" in Aquino's honor.
6. "For one Aquino, who passed away, who got assassinated, they produced two presidents." (Jose Ampeso who played a role in that epochal juncture of Philippine history but kept it a secret for 20 years. Ampeso, then the Vice Consul at the Philippine Consulate in New Orleans, would disclose his closely-guarded secret two decades after, when it could no longer threaten his life: He was the US-based Filipino diplomat who issued two passports to Ninoy and enabled the then anti-Marcos opposition leader to return to the country.) Ninoy actually had two passports—one was fake and it contained his real name, and other one was a real passport containing the pseudonym “Marcial Bonifacio.”  “Marcial” was for martial law and “Bonifacio” is the name of the place where he was imprisoned.
7. Ninoy Aquino was aboard China Airlines Flight 811 (CAL flight 811) when it touched down at what was then the Manila International Airport hours before he was assassinated.
8. Aquino’s security group was composed of five men: Technical Sgt. Claro Lat, Corporal Rogelio Moreno, Sgt. Arnulfo de Mesa, Corporal Lazaga, and Lieutenant Castro. They were the officers who were supposed to escort Ninoy from the plane to Fort Bonifacio, where he would be detained. Eleven seconds had elapsed from the moment Ninoy stepped out of the airplane door to the sound of the first gunshot (at 01:15 p.m.). As Ninoy and the 5 men walked out of the door, numerous voices were heard as saying, “Ako na! Ako na! Ako na!” and “Pusila!” (Pusila, in a southern Filipino dialect is an order to shoot). The voices reportedly came from Ninoy’s security team, which they later denied. Cpl. Moreno, who walked a few feet behind Aquino as he descended the stairs, was later convicted as the person who shot Ninoy. This group would later be called the “The 5 Wise Monkeys” because in the investigation, they “Saw nothing, heard nothing, said nothing.”
9. A .357 Magnum was allegedly used to murder Ninoy Aquino. He was shot at a distance of about  18 inches.  The bullet entered Ninoy’s nape and exited his chin. Investigations later showed that the shooter was directly a few feet above Ninoy and not level as was earlier suggested. Reportedly, there were two .357 with the same serial numbers. Interestingly, one was owned by  Col. Octavio Alvarez, the former chief of the Metrocom Intelligence Group—it was reportedly stolen from him.
10. The man who supposedly shot Ninoy had the word “Rolly” embroidered on the waistband of his underpants and an “R” engraved inside his gold wedding ring. Nine days after the assassination, “Rolly” was finally revealed to be Rolando Galman. He was officially described as a “notorious killer and gun for hire.” It was later reported that Galman had been supposedly taken from his home four days before Aquino’s murder. Two days after Aquino’s murder, Galman’s common-law wife Lina was taken by several armed men. She was never heard of again.
11. Roberto Olaguer, a chaplain who visited the inmates at the New Bilibid Prison would later reveal details about what he learned from Sgt. Pablo Martinez, one of the men convicted of Ninoy’s murder. Martinez reportedly was recruited by Col. Romeo Ochoco, then deputy head of AVSECOM (Aviation Security Command). Martinez was introduced to Rolando Galman and was told to make sure Galman kills Ninoy, otherwise, kill Ninoy and shoot Galman as well. Since Martinez had access to the airport, it was easy for him to smuggle Galman into the tarmac. Sgt. Martinez would later implicate Ninoy’s cousin-in-law Danding Cojuangco, but it was never proven. Martinez was later killed in a hit-and-run incident this year, 2014. He was hit by an SUV.
12. Vice President Jejomar Binay on Thursday received the Ninoy Aquino Memorial Medal of Valor award from the Ninoy Aquino Movement (NAM). On the 31st death anniversary of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., Binay urged “comrades in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship” to fight moves to amend the 1987 Constitution.

References:

Ninoy Aquino: Fight for Freedom

Ninoy Aquino remains ‘shining example’

Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center

Binay receives Ninoy Aquino medal of valor

A look back at Ninoy Aquino’s murder

Ninoy Aquino

Ninoy Aquino’s consul ‘bittersweet’ about ‘little’ place in history

Palace posts Ninoy Aquino's undelivered arrival speech

The undelivered speech of Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. upon his return from the U.S., August 21, 1983

31ST DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF NINOY AQUINO

Ninoy Aquino Day

Benigno Aquino, Jr.

Assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr.
Imelda Marcos comments on NINOY AQUINO's Assassination

12 Members of EGOT Club

Twelve people have won all four major annual American entertainment awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Doing so may be abbreviated EGOT, or sometimes GATE ("A" for "Academy"). These awards honor outstanding achievements in, respectively, television, music (or other audio recording), film, and theater. Winning all four awards has been referred to as winning the Grand Slam of Show Business. The acronym EGOT was coined by actor Philip Michael Thomas.

1. Richard Rodgers -

   

   http://richardrodgerstheatre.com/about.php

   (28 June 1902 – 30 December 1979) Richard Rodgers was the first person to win what are considered the top show business awards in television, recording, movies and Broadway—an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony—now known collectively as an EGOT. He has also won a Pulitzer Prize, making him one of two people (Marvin Hamlisch is the other) to receive each award.
2. Helen Hayes -

   

   http://www.helenhayes.com/shopping/library.html

   (10 October 1900 – 17 March 1993) Helen Hayes was an American actress whose career spanned almost 80 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award (an EGOT). Hayes also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, from President Ronald Reagan in 1986. In 1988, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. The annual Helen Hayes Awards, which have recognized excellence in professional theatre in the greater Washington, D.C. area since 1984, are her namesake. In 1955 the former Fulton Theatre on 46th Street in New York City's Broadway Theater District was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre. When that venue was torn down in 1982, the nearby Little Theatre was renamed in her honor.
3. Rita Moreno -

   

   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2280004/Marlon-Brando-left-suicidal-mess-Claims-actress-Rita-Moreno-carried-8-year-affair-actor-career-took-starring-role-West-Side-Story.html

   (born 11 December 1931) Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican actress and singer. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers to have won all four major annual American entertainment awards, which include an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award.
   
4. Sir John Gielgud -

   

   http://liambluett.com/tag/john-gielgud/

   (14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) John Gielgud was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. The Independent described him as one of a great trinity of actors, together with Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, that dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He was a member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty and gained his first paid acting work as a junior member of his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terry's company in 1922. After study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre and in the West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic as an exponent of Shakespeare in 1929–31. Although largely indifferent to awards, Gielgud had the rare distinction of winning an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and a Tony. He was famous from the start of his career for his voice and his mastery of Shakespearean verse. He broadcast more than a hundred radio and television dramas, between 1929 and 1994, and made commercial recordings of many plays, including ten of Shakespeare's. Among his honours, he was knighted in 1953 and the Gielgud Theatre was named for him. From 1977 to 1989, he was president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
   
5. Audrey Hepburn -

   

   http://www.hdwallpaper4all.com/audrey-hepburn-full-hd-image.html/audrey-hepburn-full-hd-image-17

   (4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) Audrey Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston. She was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, Hepburn was active during Hollywood's Golden Age. She was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third greatest female screen legend in the history of American cinema and has been placed in the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. She is also regarded by some to be the most naturally beautiful woman of all time. After appearing in several British films and starring in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi, Hepburn played the lead role in Roman Holiday (1953), for which she was the first actress to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for a single performance. The same year, she won a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for Ondine. She went on to star in a number of successful films, such as Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967), for which she received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Hepburn remains one of few people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards. She won a record three BAFTA Awards for Best British Actress in a Leading Role. She appeared in fewer films as her life went on, devoting much of her later life to UNICEF. Although contributing to the organisation since 1954, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia between 1988 and 1992. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in December 1992. A month later, Hepburn died of appendiceal cancer at her home in Switzerland at the age of 63. She was not related to actress Katharine Hepburn.
6. Marvin Hamlisch -

   

   http://marvinhamlisch.us/biography/

   (2 June 1944 – 6 August 2012) Marvin Hamlisch was an American composer and conductor. He is one of only twelve people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (also known as an EGOT). He is one of ten people to win three or more Oscars in one night and the only one other than a director or screenwriter to do so. He is one of only two people to have won those four prizes and a Pulitzer Prize (Richard Rodgers is the other). Hamlisch also won two Golden Globes.
   
7. Jonathan Tunick -

   

   http://www.playbill.com/features/article/95131-A-Life-in-the-Theatre-Orchestrator-Composer-and-Music-Director-Jonathan-Tunick

   (born 19 April 1938) Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, one of twelve people to have won all four major American show business awards: the Tony Awards, Academy Awards, Emmy Awards and Grammy Awards. He is best known for his work with Stephen Sondheim, starting in 1970 with Company and continuing to the present day.
   
8. Mel Brooks -

   

   http://www.nndb.com/people/542/000022476/

   (born 28 June 1926) Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows. He became well known as part of the comedy duo with Carl Reiner, The 2000 Year Old Man. In middle age he became one of the most successful film directors of the 1970s, with many of his films being among the top ten money makers of the year that they were released. His most well known films include The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History of the World, Part I, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. More recently he has had a smash hit on Broadway with the musical adaptation of his first film, The Producers. He was married to the actress Anne Bancroft from 1964 until her death in 2005. Brooks is on the short list of entertainers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. He received the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award in June 2013. Three of his films ranked in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 comedy films of all-time, all of which ranked in the top 20 of the list: Blazing Saddles at number 6, The Producers at number 11, and Young Frankenstein at number 13.
9. Mike Nichols -

   

   http://movienut14.blogspot.com/2011/02/visions-i-love-20-favorite-directors.html

   (born 6 November 1931) Mike Nichols was born Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky. He is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s with the improv troupe, the Compass Players, predecessor of the Second City in Chicago and as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. May was also in the Compass. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate. His other noteworthy films include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Carnal Knowledge, Silkwood, Working Girl, Closer and the TV mini-series Angels in America. He also staged the original theatrical productions of Barefoot in the Park, Luv, The Odd Couple and Spamalot. Nichols is one of a small group of people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. His other honors include the Lincoln Center Gala Tribute in 1999, the National Medal of Arts in 2001,[1] the Kennedy Center Honors in 2003 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2010.
   
10. Whoopi Goldberg -

    

    http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/whoopi_goldberg/pictures/3634479/

    (born 13 November 1955) Whoopi Goldberg was born Caryn Elaine Johnson. She is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host. Although Goldberg made her film debut in the avant-garde ensemble film Citizen: I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away (1982), her breakthrough role was playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South in the period drama film The Color Purple (1985). She played Oda Mae Brown – a wacky psychic helping a slain man (Patrick Swayze) save his lover (Demi Moore) – in the romantic fantasy film Ghost (1990), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Goldberg was the second black woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win an acting Oscar (the first being Hattie McDaniel, who won for Gone with the Wind in 1939). She was co-producer of the television game show Hollywood Squares from 1998 to 2004. She has been the moderator of the daytime television talk show The View since 2007. Goldberg has been nominated for 13 Emmy Awards for her work in television. She is one of the few entertainers who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. In the 1990s, Goldberg was rumored to be the highest paid actress for her appearances in film.
    
11. Scott Rudin -

    

    http://www.philshowbiz.com/2014/03/03/hollywoods-real-power-brokers-photos/

    (born 14 July 1958) Scott Rudin is an American film producer and a theatrical producer. In 2012, Rudin became one of the few people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award, and the first producer to do so.
12. Robert Lopez -

    

    http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/robert-lopez

    (born February 23, 1975) Robert Lopez is a Filipino-American songwriter of musicals, best known for co-creating The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q, and for penning the songs featured in the Disney film Frozen. He is one of only twelve people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award, and the only person to win all four within a decade, hence, he is considered the youngest member of the EGOT club.

References:

List of people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards
12 Members of the EGOT Winner’s Circle
EGOT Winners
Richard Rodgers
RICHARD RODGERS Honors and Awards
The Richard Rodgers Theatre
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Biography
The Official Site of Helen Hayes First Lady of the American Theater
Rita Moreno
'Marlon Brando left me a suicidal mess': New Rita Moreno memoir reveals how affair with 'sensual' actor - who made her have an abortion - drove her to the point of madness
John Gielgud
John Gielgud was born in 1904 in South Kensington, London.
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn's Official Site
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Hamlisch June 2nd, 1944 – Aug 6th, 2012
Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick Masterworks Broadway
A Life in the Theatre: Orchestrator, Composer and Music Director Jonathan Tunick
Mel Brooks
10 Things Everyone Should Know About Mel Brooks
The Official Site of Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks AKA Melvin Kaminsky
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols (Director)
Visions I Love: 20 Favorite Directors 
Whoopi Goldberg
THE ONE-WOMAN SHOW
Celebrities » Whoopi Goldberg
Scott Rudin
New York's Worst Bosses: Scott Rudin
Hollywood’s Real Power Brokers (Photos)
Robert Lopez
Fil-Am Robert Lopez wins Oscar for 'Let It Go'
Frozen Composer Robert Lopez Is Crowned the 12th Member of the EGOT Club! Check Out His Grand Prize 
Oscars: Robert Lopez breaks an EGOT record with best song win
Oscars: Philippines Celebrates Robert Lopez's 'Let It Go' Win
Robert Lopez Masterworks Broadway

12 Children Who Made History

In celebration of the International Children's Day, below are 12 children who made history for being child prodigies.

1. Kim Ung-Yong - Korean; attended Hanyang University from the age of 3 until he was 6; invited to America by NASA at the age of 7; earned his Ph.D in physics at Colorado State University at age 15; world's highest IQ and recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
2. Gregory Smith - American; nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize at age 12; founder of International Youth Advocates which is an organization that promotes principles of peace and understanding among young people throughout the world.
3. Akrit Jaswal - Indian; has been called "the world's smartest boy"; also known as the "Seven Year-Old Surgeon"; performed his first medical procedure at his family home in 2000; the youngest student ever accepted by an Indian University, Chandigarh College, at the age of seven.
4. Cleopatra Stratan - Moldovan-Romanian; a 3-year old singer who earns 1000€ per song; youngest person ever to score commercial success as a singer with her 2006 album La vârsta de trei ani.
5. Aelita Andre - Australian; the 2-year-old artist who showed her paintings in a famous Gallery, the Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne's Fitzroy.
6. Saul Aaron Kripke - Jewish American; invited to apply for a teaching post at Harvard while still in high school; awarded the Schock Prize, philosophy's equivalent of the Nobel; considered to be the world's greatest living philosopher.
7. Michael Kevin Kearney - American; earned his first degree at age 10 and became a reality show Millionaire in 2008 by winning $1,000,000 on the television game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?".
8. Fabiano Luigi Caruana - Italian-American; a chess prodigy who became the youngest Grandmaster at age 14 in 2007.
9. Willie Mosconi - American; nicknamed "Mr. Pocket Billiards"; played professional Billiards at age 6; the juvenile straight pool champion and was regularly holding trick shot exhibitions at the tender age of eleven in 1924; still holds the officially recognized straight pool high run record of 526 consecutive balls.
10. Elaina Smith - British; youngest local radio adviser at Mercia FM in Coventry, West Midlands at aged 7.
11. Ainan Celeste Cawley – Malaysian; was just six years old when he gave a Science lecture about acid and alkaloids at a Singapore school; was only seven years old when he passed the Chemistry O level exam which is a test meant for teens aged 16 and up; enrolled in the Singapore Polytechnic and became the world’s youngest student ever to take up a third-year tertiary module.
12. Elise Tan Roberts – British; Mensa Master at the age of 2 by scoring 141 at the Stanford-Binet IQ test beating the record previously held by a three-year-old boy.

 A little background about today's celebration, International Children's Day.

• 1 June 1925 was proclaimed as the International Children's Day by the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland.
• A major variant is the Universal Children's Day established in 20 November 1954 by the United Nations.
• On 22 November 1949, the Moscow congress on Women's International Democratic Federation established 1 June 1950 as the International Day for Protection of Children.
• The exact date of Children's Day varies in many places around the world.

Screenshot of Google's Doodle for Children's Day, doodle with blocks, a doll and other toys, with the blocks spelling out the word "Google."

References:

Child prodigy becomes youngest member of British Mensa aged just TWO… and he is already smarter than Barack Obama and David Cameron
The Top 10 Child Prodigies of Our Time
10 Extraordinary Child Prodigies
Top 10 Exceptional Gifted Children and Teenagers
Elaina Smith: World’s Youngest Agony Aunt
Google fetes kids on International Children's Day
Google Celebrates Children's Day 2014
Children's Day 
International Children's Day - 1 June