Casino Royale (1953) is a James Bond novel, the first of twelve featuring the British secret agent by Ian Fleming. At a casino in Royale-les-Eaux, Bond beats Le Chiffre, the treasurer of a French trade union and a member of the Russian secret service, in a high-stakes baccarat game; Bond wins 80 million francs belonging to SMERSH, the Sovietcounterintelligence agency. He is supported by Vesper Lynd, a member of his own service, as well as Felix Leiter of the CIA and René Mathis of the French Deuxième Bureau. Fleming took plot elements from his wartime experiences in the Naval Intelligence Division and based some characters on people he met during the war; the character of Bond also reflected many of Fleming's personal tastes. Looking for distraction in advance of his forthcoming wedding, Fleming wrote the draft in early 1952 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. The book was given broadly positive reviews by critics at the time and sold out in less than a month after its UK release, although US sales upon release a year later were much slower. The story has been adapted several times, including in a daily comic strip and twice on film, a 1967 adaptation starring David Niven and a 2006 version starring Daniel Craig. (Full article...)
In September 2011, The New 52 imprint publications initiative was organized in a relaunch of the DC Comics line. The relaunch saw DC introduce same-day release of physical comics with digital platforms, as well as characters from the former WildStorm and Vertigo imprints being absorbed into a rebooted DC Universe. The intent was to publish 52 ongoing titles each month across the DC Universe. However, DC has also counted one-shots, miniseries and maxiseries in that number. In subsequent Septembers following the launch, DC has featured unique publishing initiatives to commemorate the relaunch. DC released a total of 93 ongoing titles across multiple "wave" releases, to "constantly refresh the line". To expand The New 52 universe, DC has also released 21 one-shots, 17 miniseries and 3 maxiseries. The New 52 titles are organized under seven different "families," grouping similar characters or themes within the books together. (Full list...)
A Gynaephora selenitica caterpillar on a meadow vetchling. The larvae of this moth species can feed on a variety of plants, mostly Fabaceae species but also including shrubs and some other plants. In the species' range, from central Europe to the Urals, larvae can be found from July to April.
This Wikipedia is written in English. Started in 2001 (2001), it currently contains 4,852,346 articles.
Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.
