The Joker is a playing card found in most modern card decks, as an addition to the standard four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades). Originating in the United States during its civil war, the card is unique in that it lacks an industry-wide standard appearance. Created as a trump card for Euchre, it has since been adopted into many other card games where it may function as a wild card.
In the game of Euchre, the highest trump card is the Jack of the trump suit, called the right bower (from the German Bauer); the second-highest trump, the left bower, is the Jack of the suit of the same color as trumps. Around 1860, American Euchre players may have devised a higher trump, the "Best Bower", out of a blank card.
Samuel Hart is credited with printing the first illustrated "Best Bower" card in 1863 with his "Imperial Bower". Best Bower-type jokers continued to be produced well into the 20th-century. Cards labelled "Joker" began appearing around the late 1860s with some depicting clowns and jesters. It is believed that the term "Joker" comes from Juker or Juckerspiel, the original German spelling of Euchre. One British manufacturer, Charles Goodall, was manufacturing packs with Jokers for the American market in 1871. The first joker for the domestic British market was sold in 1874.
Martha Wayne (née Martha Kane) is a fictional character of the Batman series of comic books, published by DC Comics. She is Bruce Wayne's mother and Dr. Thomas Wayne's wife. When she and her husband are murdered during a holdup, her son swears to avenge their deaths by fighting crime and fulfills this as Batman.
Martha Wayne first appeared in Detective Comics #33 (November 1939) in a story by Bob Kane and Bill Finger which detailed the origin of Batman. Initially little more than a cipher whose death inspired her heroic son, later comics would expand upon her history.
Born Martha Kane (a maiden name given in homage to co-creator Bob Kane), Martha was the heir to the Kane Chemical fortune and a member of one of Gotham City's wealthiest families. It has not been revealed whether she has any connection to the other prominent Kanes of Gotham, Kathy Kane (Batwoman) or Bette Kane (Flamebird). Despite her Irish-Catholic background, in her youth, Martha had a reputation as a notorious party girl, socialite, and debutante, frequenting all the most prestigious country clubs, night clubs, and soirees. She also had a developed social conscience and often used her family's wealth and status to champion causes and charities.
The following is a list of characters that have appeared in the television series The Batman, which ran from September 11, 2004 to March 22, 2008.
Europa commonly refers to:
Europa may also refer to:
Europa, also known as Residence Palace, is a complex of buildings between the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat and the Chaussée d'Etterbeek/Etterbeeksesteenweg in the European Quarter of Brussels, the capital city of Belgium. It is formed of three buildings, a press centre and a building currently being renovated (estimated completion: 2016) for use by the European Council, mainly, and even also (for some occasions) by the Council of the European Union as a summit building. To the west lies the main Council building, Justus Lipsius and across the road lie the Berlaymont and Charlemagne buildings of the European Commission.
Walloon businessman Lucien Kaisin planned the building following the end of the First World War. It was to be a luxurious apartment block for the bourgeoisie and aristocracy of Brussels following a housing shortage caused by the war. It was also intended to address the shortage of domestic workers at the time by having them available to all residents. Kaisin described the building as "a small town within a city".
Europa is the fourth studio album from English singer-songwriter Holly Johnson, released in 2014.
As Johnson's first album in 15 years, the last being 1999's Soulstream, Europa was announced in mid-2014, to be released on Johnson's own label Pleasuredome. Over the last few years Johnson had announced plans for an album of new material, particularly when speaking to Absolute Radio at the Q Awards in 2009. Since 2011 Johnson began to perform live at the occasional summer festival, mainly in the UK, and in May 2014 Johnson announced his first UK solo tour in October, named after what Johnson described as "the most upbeat song on the Europa album"; "Dancing with No Fear". The album was to precede the seven date tour, set for release on 15 September, but was later pushed back to 29 September. The tour, which was Johnson's first since the final Frankie Goes to Hollywood shows in 1987, marked the 30th anniversary of the release of the band's debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Speaking of the tour, Johnson revealed: "Since performing at festivals each summer here in the UK, I realised how enjoyable it is to sing the songs that I have written, and look forward to performing material from my new album. I'm really excited to be able to play songs that written throughout my career. Being able to tour as a solo artist in the 21st Century with a back catalogue and new material is a very privileged position to be in."