Peanut

Peanut, also known as groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), is a crop of global importance. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, being important to both smallholder and large commercial producers. It is classified as both a grain legume, and, because of its high oil content, an oil crop. World annual production is about 46 million tonnes per year. Very unusual among crop plants, peanut pods develop under the ground.

As a legume, peanut belongs to the botanical family Fabaceae (also known as Leguminosae, and commonly known as the bean or pea family). Like most other legumes, peanuts harbor symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules. This capacity to fix nitrogen means peanuts require less nitrogen-containing fertilizer and improve soil fertility, making them valuable in crop rotations.

Peanuts are similar in taste and nutritional profile to tree nuts such as walnuts and almonds, and are often served in similar ways in Western cuisines. The botanical definition of a "nut" is a fruit whose ovary wall becomes very hard at maturity. Using this criterion, the peanut is not a nut, but rather a legume. However, for culinary purposes and in common English language usage, peanuts are usually referred to as nuts.

Pinochle

Pinochle (English pronunciation: /ˈpiːnʌkəl/) or binocle (sometimes pinocle, or penuchle) is a trick-taking card game typically for two to four players and played with a 48-card deck. It is derived from the card game bezique; players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category which also includes a cousin, belote. Each hand is played in three phases: bidding, melds, and tricks. The standard game today is called "partnership auction pinochle."

History

Pinochle derives from the game bezique. The French word binocle also meant "eyeglasses". The word is also possibly derived from the French word, binage, for the combination of cards called "binocle". This latter pronunciation of the game was adopted by German speakers. German immigrants brought the game to America, where it was later mispronounced and misspelled "pinochle."

Auction pinochle for three players has some similarities with the German game skat, although the bidding is more similar to that of bid whist.

Peanut (disambiguation)

Peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a species in the pea family Fabaceae, native to South America.

Peanut or Peanuts may also refer to:

Places

In music

Entertainment

Other uses

SOS

SOS is the international Morse code distress signal (· · · – – – · · ·). This distress signal was first adopted by the German government in radio regulations effective April 1, 1905, and became the worldwide standard under the second International Radiotelegraphic Convention, which was signed on November 3, 1906, and became effective on July 1, 1908. SOS remained the maritime radio distress signal until 1999, when it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. SOS is still recognized as a visual distress signal.

The SOS distress signal is a continuous sequence of three dits, three dahs, and three dits, all run together without letter spacing. In International Morse Code, three dits form the letter S, and three dahs make the letter O, so "SOS" became an easy way to remember the order of the dits and dahs. In modern terminology, SOS is a Morse "procedural signal" or "prosign", and the formal way to write it is with a bar above the letters: SOS.

In popular usage, SOS became associated with such phrases as "Save Our Ship" or "Save Our Souls" or "Send Out Succour". SOS is only one of several ways that the combination could have been written; VTB, for example, would produce exactly the same sound, but SOS was chosen to describe this combination. SOS is the only nine-element signal in Morse code, making it more easily recognizable, as no other symbol uses more than eight elements.

21st Special Operations Squadron

The 21st Special Operations Squadron is a unit within the 352d Special Operations Group (352 SOG), United States Air Force, United States European Command, and was based at Royal Air Force base RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, eastern England.

Mission

The 21st Special Operations Squadron, which fell under the 352nd Special Operations Group, RAF Mildenhall, UK, was inactivated on 31 October 2007 with the inactivation ceremony taking place at RAF Mildenhall, UK on 9 October temporarily ending the Air Force Special Operations vertical lift mission in Europe.

The inactivation of the Dust Devils was the first step in preparation for the arrival of the CV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft.

The 21st Special Operations Squadron's mission consisted of day or night, all-weather, low-level penetration of denied territory to provide infiltration, exfiltration, resupply, or fire support for elite air, ground, and naval forces. The unique capabilities of the MH-53J permitted the squadron to operate from unprepared landing zones.

16th Special Operations Squadron

The 16th Special Operations Squadron (16 SOS) is part of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon AFB, New Mexico. It operates AC-130H Spectre aircraft in support of special operations.

Mission

Train and maintain its combat-ready force to provide highly accurate firepower in support of both conventional and unconventional forces.

History

The 16th ferried aircraft from factories to units in US and Canada and conducted pilot training from April 1942 – April 1944. It flew combat aerial transportation missions from India into Burma and China from December 1944 – October 1945.

The 16th flew combat missions in Southeast Asia where it was charged with attacking convoys on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the defense of hamlets and fire bases, providing close air support to troops in contact with the enemy, providing convoy escort, and battlefield illumination, November 1968 – July 1974. As the war drew to a close the squadron supported Operation Eagle Pull, the evacuation of Phnom Penh, Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon and figured prominently in the rescue of the Mayagüez. In all 53 members of the 16 SOS were killed in action during the Vietnam War.