Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Sales Records - 2012

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a  video game, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision (Square Enix for Japan). It was released on November 13, 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360

Black Ops II is the ninth game in the Call of Duty franchise of video games and a sequel to the 2010 game Call of Duty: Black Ops. The game was launched at 16,000 stores worldwide at midnight on November 13, 2012.

Black Ops II is the first game in the Call of Duty franchise to feature future warfare technology. It also offers a 3D display option.  Within 24 hours of going on sale, the game grossed over $500 million. The announcement of the record sale was made on 16 November 2012 by Activision. It went on to sell 7.5 million copies in the U.S. in November 2012, making it the highest grossing game of the month.  As of November 5, 2013, the game has sold 24.2 million copies.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops II" crossed more than $1 billion in retail sales by Nov. 27, its 15th day on sale. That's a day faster than last year's installment "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" reached the same mark. Analyst Evan Wilson at Pacific Crest Securities estimated that "Black Ops II" will sell 27.5 million units in the current fiscal quarter, up from 27 million for "Modern Warfare 3."

It has beaten theatrical box office, book, and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell-through in dollars.



In September 2013, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto Video game had grossed $800 million in its first day of release.


http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/16/entertainment/la-et-ct-new-call-of-duty-grosses-500-million-on-first-day-20121116

http://mashable.com/2012/11/18/black-ops-2/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty:_Black_Ops_II

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/05/entertainment/la-et-ct-call-duty-black-ops-billion-20121205

1864 Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field.

The convention lasted from 8 to 22 August 1864. 16 states were represented.


Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in
the Field. Geneva, 22 August 1864

10 articles were proposed and accepted at the end of the convention on 22 August 1864

Article 1. Ambulances and military hospitals shall be recognized as neutral, and as such,
protected and respected by the belligerents as long as they accommodate wounded and sick.
Neutrality shall end if the said ambulances or hospitals should be held by a military force.

Art. 2. Hospital and ambulance personnel, including the quarter-master's staff, the medical,
administrative and transport services, and the chaplains, shall have the benefit of the same
neutrality when on duty, and while there remain any wounded to be brought in or assisted.

Art. 3. The persons designated in the preceding Article may, even after enemy occupation,
continue to discharge their functions in the hospital or ambulance with which they serve, or may
withdraw to rejoin the units to which they belong.
When in these circumstances they cease from their functions, such persons shall be
delivered to the enemy outposts by the occupying forces.

Art. 4. The material of military hospitals being subject to the laws of war, the persons attached to
such hospitals may take with them, on withdrawing, only the articles which are their own
personal property.

Ambulances, on the contrary, under similar circumstances, shall retain their equipment.

Art. 5. Inhabitants of the country who bring help to the wounded shall be respected and shall
remain free. Generals of the belligerent Powers shall make it their duty to notify the inhabitants
of the appeal made to their humanity, and of the neutrality which humane conduct will confer.
The presence of any wounded combatant receiving shelter and care in a house shall ensure
its protection. An inhabitant who has given shelter to the wounded shall be exempted from
billeting and from a portion of such war contributions as may be levied.

Art. 6. Wounded or sick combatants, to whatever nation they may belong, shall be collected and
cared for.
Commanders-in-Chief may hand over immediately to the enemy outposts enemy combatants
wounded during an engagement, when circumstances allow and subject to the agreement of
both parties.
Those who, after their recovery, are recognized as being unfit for further service, shall be
repatriated.
The others may likewise be sent back, on condition that they shall not again, for the duration
of hostilities, take up arms.
Evacuation parties, and the personnel conducting them, shall be considered as being
absolutely neutral.

Art. 7. A distinctive and uniform flag shall be adopted for hospitals, ambulances and evacuation
parties. It should in all circumstances be accompanied by the national flag.
An armlet may also be worn by personnel enjoying neutrality but its issue shall be left to the
military authorities.
Both flag and armlet shall bear a red cross on a white ground.

Art. 8. The implementing of the present Convention shall be arranged by the
Commanders-in-Chief of the belligerent armies following the instructions of their respective
Governments and in accordance with the general principles set forth in this Convention.

Art. 9. The High Contracting Parties have agreed to communicate the present Convention with
an invitation to accede thereto to Governments unable to appoint Plenipotentiaries to the
International Conference at Geneva. The Protocol has accordingly been left open.

Art. 10. The present Convention shall be ratified and the ratifications exchanged at Berne, within
the next four months, or sooner if possible.

Reference
http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/INTRO/120?OpenDocument

http://www.redcross.org.au/geneva-conventions-150.aspx
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/war/overview/rules.shtml

The First Council of Nicaea - 325 AD

The First Council of Nicaea was convened by Emperor Constantine the Great upon the recommendations of a synod led by Hosius of Córdoba in the Eastertide of 325. To most bishops, the teachings of Arius were heretical and dangerous to the salvation of souls. In the summer of 325, the bishops of all provinces were summoned to Nicaea, as a convenient place accessible to delegates of many countries, particularly those of Asia Minor, Georgia, Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Thrace.

This was the first general council in the history of the Church since the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem. The Apostolic council established the conditions upon which Gentiles could join the Church. The Council of Nicaea  has to define revealed doctrine more precisely in response to a challenge from the teachings of Arius.


1800 bishops of the Christian church (about 1000 in the east and 800 in the west) were invited but a smaller number attended. Many writers mentioned the number as 318. This number 318 is preserved in the liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.


In the people who attended, there were some  supporters of Arius including Secundus of Ptolemais, Theonus of Marmarica, Zphyrius, and Dathes, all of whom hailed from the Libyan Pentapolis,  Eusebius of Nicomedia, Paulinus of Tyrus, Actius of Lydda, Menophantus of Ephesus, and Theognus of Nicaea.

The agenda included:

The Arian question regarding the relationship between God the Father and the Son (not only in his incarnate form as Jesus, but also in his nature before the creation of the world); i.e., are the Father and Son one in divine purpose only or also one in being?
The date of celebration of Pascha/Easter
The Meletian schism
Various matters of church discipline, which resulted in twenty canons
Church structures: focused on the ordering of the episcopacy
Dignity of the clergy: issues of ordination at all levels and of suitability of behavior and background for clergy
Reconciliation of the lapsed: establishing norms for public repentance and penance
Readmission to the Church of heretics and schismatics: including issues of when reordination and/or rebaptism were to be required
Liturgical practice: including the place of deacons, and the practice of standing at prayer during liturgy


The council was formally opened May 20, in the central structure of the imperial palace at Nicaea.

Eusebius of Caesarea called to mind the baptismal creed of his own diocese at Caesarea at Palestine, as a form of reconciliation. The majority of the bishops agreed. For some time, scholars thought that the original Nicene Creed was based on this statement of Eusebius. Today, most scholars think that the Creed is derived from the baptismal creed of Jerusalem, as Hans Lietzmann proposed.

The orthodox bishops won approval of every one of their proposals regarding the Creed. After being in session for an entire month, the council promulgated on June 19 the original Nicene Creed.

The Creed was amended to a new version by the First Council of Constantinople in 381.


https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/nicea/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum01.htm

Magna Carta - 15 June 1215

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The Relevance of Magna Carta to the 21st Century - Sir Robert Worcester - 29 November 2012
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6 June 1944 - Allies Landing on Normandy

6 June 1944

June 6: In an awesome show of military force, the Allies landed on the coast of France. By the end of the day, German positions in Normandy will be bombarded with more than 175,000 troops, 600 warships, and nearly 10,000 bombers and other warplanes.


http://history.howstuffworks.com/world-war-ii/d-day-invasion15.htm


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