YKK Group

The YKK Group (YKK, Waikeikei Gurūpu) is a Japanese group of manufacturing companies. As the world's largest zipper/zip manufacturer, YKK Group is most famous for making zippers; however, it also manufactures other fastening products, architectural products and industrial machinery.

The initials YKK stand for Yoshida Kōgyō Kabushiki gaisha (Japanese: 吉田工業株式会社), meaning "Yoshida Manufacturing Shareholding Company". YKK produces fasteners and architectural products at 109 YKK companies in 71 countries around the world.

History

Pre World War II

What would later become YKK operated initially as San-es Shokai and was founded by Tadao Yoshida in Higashi Nihonbashi, Tokyo in January 1934. The company specialized in marketing of fastening products. In February 1938 San-es Shokai was renamed to Yoshida Kogyosho. WWII was underway by 1939 and the next major corporate event would not take place until February 1942.

After World War II

In January 1946 the company registered the YKK trademark. A major technological change came in 1950, when the company purchased a chain machine from the U.S. that allowed the automation of the zipper making process. Previously, YKK zippers were made by hand, and hence had an inferior quality compared to automated zippers from abroad.

YKK

YKK may refer to:

Fluke

A fluke is a lucky or improbable occurrence, with the implication that the occurrence could not be repeated.

Fluke may also refer to:

Biology

People

Arts and entertainment

Other uses

Luke Spencer

Lucas Lorenzo "Luke" Spencer, Sr. is a fictional character in the American television soap opera General Hospital, and has been played by Anthony Geary from 1978 until his on-screen exit in July 2015. Geary holds the record for most Daytime Emmy wins for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work as Luke. He is currently the show's fifth most tenured character after Monica Quartermaine, Laura Spencer, Scott Baldwin, and Bobbie Spencer.

Casting

Anthony Geary was originally hired for a 13-week stint on General Hospital in November 1978, which eventually grew into a full contract role. Geary received Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1980, 1981, and had his first win in 1982. Geary was nominated again in 1983, before leaving the show on December 27, 1983. Geary later reprised the role from October 26 to December 10, 1984.

In 1991, Geary returned to General Hospital as Luke's cousin and look-alike Bill Eckert, due to the actor's desire to play something other than Luke. However, due to audience feedback and demand, the character was killed off and Geary resumed the role of Luke on October 29, 1993. Geary was nominated in 1997 and 1998 for Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor, and had his second win in 1999, and his third in 2000. He received another nomination in 2003, and had his fourth win in 2004. When Geary won for the fifth time in 2006, he set the record for most lead actor wins.

Summer flounder

The summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) is a marine flatfish that is found in the Atlantic Ocean off the East coast of the United States and Canada. It is especially abundant in waters from North Carolina to Massachusetts.

Description

Paralichthys dentatus (Linnaeus, 1766), also called a fluke, is a member of the large-tooth flounder family Paralichthyidae. There are typically 5 to 14 ocellated (eye-like) spots on the body. Like most members of the left-eye flounders, they can change the color and pattern of their dark side to match the surrounding bottom, and are also capable of rapidly burrowing into muddy or sandy bottoms. The teeth are quite sharp and well developed on both upper and lower jaws. The average summer flounder reaches sexual maturity at 2 years and weighs 1 to 3 pounds, typically 15 to 20 inches in length, though they may grow as large as 26 pounds and live up to 20 years with females making up the largest and oldest specimens. Adults are highly predatory and considered mostly piscivorous, often lying buried with only their head exposed to ambush prey which includes sand lance, menhaden, atlantic silverside, mummichog killifish, small bluefish, porgies, squid, shrimp, and crabs. While primarily considered a bottom fish, they are rapid swimmers over short distances and can become very aggressive, feeding actively at middepths, even chasing prey to the surface.