- published: 09 Apr 2016
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Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō?, "Eastern Capital") [toːkʲoː], English /ˈtoʊki.oʊ/; officially Tokyo Metropolis (東京都, Tōkyō-to?), is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of the world. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family. Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture (東京府, Tōkyō-fu?) and the city of Tokyo (東京市, Tōkyō-shi?).
The Tokyo Metropolitan government administers the 23 special wards of Tokyo (each governed as a city), which cover the area that was the city of Tokyo, as well as 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the special wards is over 8 million people, with the total population of the prefecture exceeding 13 million. The prefecture is part of the world's most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 35 million people and the world's largest urban agglomeration economy with a GDP of US$1.479 trillion at purchasing power parity in 2008, ahead of New York City metropolitan area, which ranks second on the list. The city hosts 47 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest amount of any city.
Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (/ˈɪŋveɪ ˈmɑːlmstiːn/ ING-vay MAHLM-steen; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck on 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Malmsteen became known for his neo-classical playing style in heavy metal. Steve Huey of Allmusic stated that, "Yngwie Malmsteen is arguably the most technically accomplished hard rock guitarist to emerge during the '80s."
Malmsteen was born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck in Stockholm, Sweden, as the second child of a musically-talented family. At age seven, he saw a television news report on the death of Jimi Hendrix, an event which had a profound impact on his musical path. Malmsteen, however, has stated that Hendrix had no musical impact on him, but on 18 September 1970 he saw a TV special of Hendrix, where he smashed and burned his guitar, and Malmsteen thought: "this is really cool". To quote his official website, "The day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Yngwie was born".
At the age of 10 he took his mother's maiden name Malmsten as his surname, slightly changed it to Malmsteen, and Anglicised his third given name Yngve to "Yngwie". Malmsteen created his first band "Track On Earth" at the age of 10, consisting of himself and a friend from school on drums (Armin). Malmsteen was a teenager when he first encountered the music of the 19th century violinist composer Niccolò Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest classical music influence. Ritchie Blackmore and Uli Jon Roth are also cited as being significant influences, as is Brian May of Queen.
Frank Erickson (1896 – March 2, 1968) was born in New York in to parents of Swedish and Irish descent. After the death of his father, he grew up in an orphanage.
Frank Erickson was Arnold Rothstein's right hand man and New York's largest bookmaker during the 1930s and 40's. Eventually, Erickson became very well known among bookmakers nationwide for handling "lay-off" bets. With Chicago's Moses Annenberg, Erickson developed a country wide wire service, making possible for the first time nationwide synchronized betting. Erickson never saw any of these profits because soon after, bookmaking became illegal and the government took over. In Robert Lacey's book on Meyer Lanksy, Erickson was named "the largest book maker on the East Coast, if not in all America." Additionally, it is a little known fact that many of Erickson's profits went to charity. Along with many other ventures, he was a major contributor to the construction of a children's hospital in NYC. His image was bashed by the media because of supposed connections with the mob. These allegations were never proven.