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116-656: It is named in honor of Wernher von Braun , the German - American rocket scientist . After von Braun's work for Nazi Germany in World War II , he was brought to the United States Army 's Redstone Arsenal along with many colleagues via Operation Paperclip . Their work laid the foundation for the United States space program. Planning for the facility began in 1965. The original construction included

232-486: A Charlie Chaplin moustache" and that he perceived him as "another Napoleon " who was "wholly without scruples, a godless man who thought himself the only god". Later examination of von Braun's background, conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, suggests that his background check file contained no derogatory information pertaining to his involvement in the party, but it

348-652: A catalyst . Von Braun's engines used direct combustion and created fire, while the Walter devices used hot vapors from a chemical reaction, but both created thrust and provided high speed. The subsequent flights with the He-112 used the Walter-rocket instead of von Braun's; it was more reliable, simpler to operate, and safer for the test pilot, Warsitz. SS General Hans Kammler , who as an engineer had constructed several concentration camps , including Auschwitz , had

464-542: A 60% cut in pay and TNA founder Jeff Jarrett would resign from the company, but remained as minority shareholder until his temporary return on June 24, 2015, with the deal for his return including the transfer of his minority stake to Dixie Carter, making her sole shareholder. The following year Jarrett revealed plans to start a new professional wrestling promotion, Global Force Wrestling . Further departures in 2014 included TNA veterans Sting , Chris Sabin , Hernandez , Christopher Daniels and Kazarian all leaving

580-759: A Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Technische Hochschule Berlin (now Technische Universität Berlin ), Germany. During a period in 1931, von Braun attended the ETH Zürich in Switzerland. During this time in Switzerland, von Braun assisted Professor Hermann Oberth in writing a book concerning the possibilities of creating and manufacturing liquid-propellant rockets. Shortly after this, von Braun founded his own private rocket development business in Berlin, and through which he made

696-486: A French resistance fighter who was a prisoner in Dora, testified in 1995 that, after an apparent sabotage attempt, von Braun ordered a prisoner to be flogged, while Robert Cazabonne, another French prisoner, stated that von Braun stood by as prisoners were hanged by chains suspended by cranes. However, these accounts may have been a case of mistaken identity. Former Buchenwald inmate Adam Cabala stated that von Braun went to

812-476: A Goddard patent". This was independently confirmed. He wrote that statements that he had lifted Goddard's work were the furthest from the truth, noting that Goddard's paper "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes", which was studied by von Braun and Oberth, lacked the specificity of liquid-fuel experimentation with rockets. It was also confirmed that he was responsible for an estimated 20 patentable innovations related to rocketry, as well as receiving U.S. patents after

928-583: A copy of Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (1923, By Rocket into Planetary Space ) by rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth . In 1928, his parents moved him to the Hermann-Lietz-Internat (also a residential school) on the East Frisian North Sea island of Spiekeroog . Space travel had always fascinated him, and from then on he applied himself to physics and mathematics to pursue his interest in rocket engineering. In 1928

1044-512: A creative writer and would assist in the writing and production of the shows. Russo states that he coined the name "Total Nonstop Action", the initials of the company "TNA" being a play on " T&A ". The original intention, as they were exclusive to pay-per-view, was to be viewed as an edgier product than WWE. Initially, TNA's weekly pay-per-view show operated as the company's main source of revenue, in place of monthly pay-per-view events used by other promotions. These shows took place mostly at

1160-709: A deal with Pop TV to air Impact Wrestling , where it premiered on Tuesday, January 5, 2016, in a live special held at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania . With this move to Pop, Impact Wrestling introduced a new HD set, graphics and theme music. This show saw the semi-finals and finals of the TNA World Title Series , which was won by Ethan Carter III . Husband and wife team Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis would debut soon after. Subsequent shows would include episodes taped during

1276-633: A deal with New Motion, Inc. which led to the introduction of TNA Mobile service. TNA has also launched "TNA U TV"; podcasts aired through YouTube to help promote the company. In August 2007, live-events coordinator Craig Jenkins stated that TNA intended to stage eight pay-per-views and 96 house shows outside Orlando, Florida, in 2008. From 2007 to 2008, TNA first toured Europe, hosting two shows at Porto and Lisbon in Portugal , with TNA later conducting its first tour of England , with most shows selling out which later broke TNA's attendance records with

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1392-509: A diploma in mechanical engineering. His early exposure to rocketry convinced him that the exploration of space would require far more than applications of the current engineering technology. Wanting to learn more about physics, chemistry, and astronomy, von Braun entered the Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Berlin for doctoral studies and graduated with a doctorate in physics in 1934. He also studied at ETH Zürich for

1508-401: A lien on TNA for unpaid taxes. Anthem Sports & Entertainment , parent company of Impact Wrestling ' s Canadian broadcaster, Fight Network , offered to help TNA and repay Corgan for the loans, while also offering additional financial assistance to TNA to help keep them from filing for bankruptcy. On October 31, Corgan lost his injunction that kept TNA from selling the company, but TNA

1624-747: A live house show at MCU Park , which also broke the TNA domestic attendance record at the time and being the most attended live TNA house show in the United States, with a capacity crowd of 5,550. During the May 3, 2011, Impact! television tapings, the show would change its name to Impact Wrestling . On November 7, 2011, TNA revealed that Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) would become TNA's official developmental territory . In December 2011, TNA debuted their new India-based subsidiary promotion Ring Ka King . On May 31, 2012, Impact Wrestling began airing live at

1740-570: A loan to Carter. Then on August 12, Billy Corgan became the promotion's new president, while Carter transitioned from president to the company's new chairwoman and chief strategy officer. It was reported on September 16 by the New York Post that Canada's Fight Network, through its parent company, Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corporation, had taken a stake in TNA. On October 13, Corgan sued TNA due to unpaid debt which Corgan claimed TNA had defaulted on. The State of Tennessee also put

1856-485: A majority stake of TNA, re-organizing TNA's parent company with Aroluxe having 10 percent while Carter retaining a five percent minority stake in the company, but resigned as chairwoman after 14 years with the company, while joining the advisory board of Fight Media Group. The promotion's parent company, TNA Entertainment, was changed firstly to Impact Ventures and then to Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions, LLC., with Anthem's Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm becoming President of

1972-751: A master toy license agreement with Toy Biz , with various action figures and playsets releasing between 2005 and 2007. TNA would subsequently discontinue producing weekly pay-per-views in favor of a traditional monthly pay-per-view schedule, beginning with Victory Road in November 2004. TNA's television contract with Fox Sports expired in May 2005. Without television exposure, Impact! would continue to air through webcasts – originally made available via BitTorrent and eventually via RealPlayer  – and replace Xplosion' s timeslot on Urban America Television . On September 11, 2005, TNA held its Unbreakable pay-per-view. Unbreakable

2088-453: A mezzanine level or can be configured with seats on the floor for about 800. Across the hall, Rhythm on Monroe offers a variety of selections from pub grub to upscale dining and features a rooftop bar overlooking Huntsville. Major renovations to the high-end exhibit space, North Hall were completed in 2023. According to The Von Braun Center website, Elvis Presley appeared May 30 through June 1, 1975 for an unprecedented five performances. It

2204-496: A new start time of 8 p.m. EST on Thursday nights. The live schedule would continue throughout 2012. In 2012, Panda Energy divested itself of its stake in TNA. Dixie Carter , the daughter of Panda Energy founder Robert Carter, who had been serving as TNA's president, acquired that stake, making her TNA's majority shareholder. In March 2013, TNA began taping Impact from different venues around the United States and terminated its lease with Universal Studios . On March 14, TNA introduced

2320-514: A new universal HD stage which would be used for all weekly programming. On November 2, TNA ended its relationship with OVW. TNA formed a relationship with Japanese promotion Wrestle-1 beginning in July 2013 with a meeting between TNA founder Jeff Jarrett and Wrestle-1 head Keiji Mutoh . It was arranged for Jarrett to wrestle for W-1 in October 2013. In November, A.J. Styles successfully defended

2436-450: A newly constructed adjacent hotel was added in 2006. The oldest portions of the facility underwent renovation in 2011. The improvements included new seating for the arena, reconstruction of the arena and concert hall lobbies, and a new exterior facade. Another expansion in 2020 created Mars Music Hall and Rhythm on Monroe. Mars Music Hall can be figured with pit-style standing area for about 1,100 with additional night-club style seating on

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2552-543: A partnership where the streaming service will distribute select non-live shows in most countries except the United States, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa . On May 8, 2023, Impact announced their first ever Australian shows named Down Under Tour , a four-day tour with two marquee wrestling shows that took part on June 30 and July 1 in Wagga Wagga , New South Wales . At the conclusion of Bound for Glory on October 21, 2023, Impact announced that it would revive

2668-685: A picture of himself standing behind Himmler, von Braun said that he had only worn the SS uniform that one time, but in 2002 a former SS officer at Peenemünde told the BBC that von Braun had regularly worn the SS uniform to official meetings. He began as an Untersturmführer (Second lieutenant) and was promoted three times by Himmler, the last time in June 1943 to SS- Sturmbannführer (Major). Von Braun later stated that these were simply technical promotions received each year regularly by mail. In 1932, von Braun received

2784-547: A report on August 7, TNA filed a new business name of Impact Ventures, LLC. Destination America gained over 41.94 million viewers over the course of 2015's first quarter, making this the channel's best first quarter ever, followed by their best May ever in prime time. In both cases, Discovery Communications touted Impact Wrestling as one of the reasons for the increase in viewers. Despite this success, Discovery Communications dropped Unlocked and Greatest Matches from their programming in May 2015. On November 19, TNA signed

2900-553: A reputation for brutality and had conceived the idea of using concentration camp prisoners as slave laborers in the rocket program. Arthur Rudolph , chief engineer of the V-2 rocket factory at Peenemünde, endorsed this idea in April 1943 when a labor shortage developed. More people died building the V-2 rockets than were killed by it as a weapon. Von Braun admitted visiting the plant at Mittelwerk on many occasions, and called conditions at

3016-402: A reserve airfield in the event of war), one of these latter aircraft was flown with its piston engine shut down during flight by Warsitz, at which time it was propelled by von Braun's rocket power alone. Despite a wheels-up landing and the fuselage having been on fire, it proved to official circles that an aircraft could be flown satisfactorily with a back-thrust system through the rear. At

3132-551: A series presenting the best matches in the company's history. From December 2014 to March 2015, several employees re-signed with TNA, including Kurt Angle , Jeff Hardy, Gail Kim , Mr. Anderson, Abyss and Matt Hardy . Awesome Kong also re-joined the company following several years of absence. During this period, veteran Samoa Joe and commentator Tazz left the company by mutual consent. On April 27, 2015, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan joined TNA as senior producer of creative and talent development. According to

3248-418: A small area near the ambulance shed, inmates tortured to death by slave labor and the terror of the overseers were piling up daily. But, Prof. Wernher von Braun passed them so close that he was almost touching the corpses. Von Braun later stated that he was aware of the treatment of prisoners, but felt helpless to change the situation. When asked if von Braun could have protested against the brutal treatment of

3364-457: A spaceship and that they felt the war was not going well; this was considered a "defeatist" attitude. A young female dentist who was an SS spy reported their comments. Himmler's unfounded allegations branding von Braun and his colleagues as communist sympathizers and accusing them of sabotaging the V-2 program, coupled with von Braun's regular piloting of a government-provided airplane that could facilitate an escape to Britain, led to their arrest by

3480-471: A term from June to October 1931. In 1930, von Braun attended a presentation given by Auguste Piccard . After the talk, the young student approached the famous pioneer of high-altitude balloon flight, and stated to him: "You know, I plan on traveling to the Moon at some time." Piccard is said to have responded with encouraging words. Von Braun was greatly influenced by Oberth, of whom he said: Hermann Oberth

3596-515: A tour of England, which would be the last TNA appearances for Kurt Angle . TNA returned to taping Impact Wrestling at the Impact Zone at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, beginning with a live Impact Wrestling on March 15. On March 19, longtime TNA wrestlers Eric Young and Bobby Roode left the promotion after 12 years. On April 22, Velvet Sky , another longtime TNA wrestler, left

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3712-526: Is remembered for the three-way match main event for the TNA X Division Championship , between AJ Styles , Christopher Daniels , and Samoa Joe , which received a rare 5   Star match rating from wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer , the first one the company received. Later that year, TNA would secure a television deal with Spike TV ; Impact! debuted on the network on October 1, 2005. The episode saw Team 3D make their TNA debut. TNA would gain attention for

3828-624: The TNA Impact ! video game . On October 23, 2008, TNA began producing its programming in HD . In addition, a new HD set for Impact was introduced, including new lighting, and large high-resolution screens. On June 21, 2009, TNA launched an online video-vault subscription-service where subscribers could watch past pay-per-views by choosing one of three payment options. In October 2009, TNA President Dixie Carter hired Hulk Hogan and former WCW President Eric Bischoff . Hulk Hogan first appeared on

3944-817: The Alabama Vipers arena football team, the UAH Chargers ice hockey team , and the Alabama Hammers of the Professional Indoor Football League . The arena at one time hosted public ice skating, and youth hockey and figure skating programs, but those activities have since been moved to another facility. On February 10, 2007, the Huntsville Havoc beat the Knoxville Ice Bears 7–6, in front of

4060-749: The Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. In 1967, von Braun was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering , and in 1975, he received the National Medal of Science . Von Braun is a highly controversial figure widely seen as escaping justice for his awareness of Nazi war crimes due to the Americans' desire to beat the Soviets in the Cold War . He is also sometimes described by others as

4176-514: The Gestapo . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA ) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee . It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment . Founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, following the end of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001,

4292-462: The Raketenrummel or "Rocket Rumble" fad initiated by Fritz von Opel and Max Valier was highly influential on von Braun as a teenage space enthusiast. He was so enthusiastic after seeing one of the public Opel-RAK rocket car demonstrations, that he constructed his own homemade toy rocket car and caused a disruption in a crowded sidewalk by launching the toy wagon, to which he had attached

4408-582: The TNA World Heavyweight Championship at a Wrestle-1 show in Japan. From the period of 2013 to 2014, many well-known names or veterans of the company left TNA. In October 2013, Hulk Hogan 's contract with TNA expired, ending his time as creative consultant with the company. In December, AJ Styles left TNA after his contract expired. Styles later said that he could not accept TNA's new contract offer, which would see him take

4524-654: The Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena in Nashville , nicknamed the "TNA Asylum". In October 2002, Panda Energy International purchased a controlling interest (72%) of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from Jerry Jarrett. TNA (which originally traded as "J   Sports and Entertainment") was re-organized as "TNA Entertainment", LLC, in the process. Dixie Carter was appointed president of TNA Entertainment in spring 2003. Xplosion launched on November 27, 2002, as TNA's first regular cable show and featured exclusive matches taped at

4640-633: The V-2 . In 1963, von Braun reflected on the history of rocketry, and said of Goddard's work: "His rockets ... may have been rather crude by present-day standards, but they blazed the trail and incorporated many features used in our most modern rockets and space vehicles." Goddard confirmed his work was used by von Braun in 1944, shortly before the Nazis began firing V-2s at England. A V-2 crashed in Sweden and some parts were sent to an Annapolis lab where Goddard

4756-425: The V-2 rocket at Peenemünde during World War II . The V-2 became the first artificial object to travel into space on 20 June 1944. Following the war, he was secretly moved to the United States, along with about 1,600 other German scientists, engineers, and technicians, as part of Operation Paperclip . He worked for the United States Army on an intermediate-range ballistic missile program, and he developed

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4872-415: The "Impact Zone", at Universal Studios Florida and broadcast on Fox Sports Net (FSN). With the show's première, TNA introduced a six-sided wrestling ring, the implementation of the "Fox Box" displaying competitors and timekeeping for the match and a generally more sports-like style than the sports entertainment style exemplified by WWE. In June 2004, TNA issued a press release stating it had signed

4988-427: The "Von Braun Civic Center", opened on March 14, 1975. The VBC's first expansion was a west-side addition to the exhibit hall, opened in 1980 and originally referred to as West Hall (the combined space is now called simply East Hall). Expanded kitchen facilities for catering were added in 1983. Originally this was a standalone building, but it became incorporated into the construction of North Hall in 1987. North Hall

5104-572: The "father of space travel", the "father of rocket science", or the "father of the American lunar program". He advocated a human mission to Mars . Wernher von Braun was born on 23 March 1912, in the small town of Wirsitz in the Province of Posen , Kingdom of Prussia , then German Empire and now Poland. His father, Magnus Freiherr von Braun (1878–1972), was a civil servant and conservative politician; he served as Minister of Agriculture in

5220-406: The $ 2.7   million debt that was owed to him by TNA and, as such, he was considering suing, as well as converting the debt into a 36 percent stake. As the result of a settlement between Corgan and TNA, Anthem Sports & Entertainment acquired the loans Corgan made to Carter in the process. Anthem Sports & Entertainment , a company owned by former Canwest CEO Leonard Asper , purchased

5336-678: The Baltic Sea. In 1933, von Braun was working on his creative doctorate when the Nazi Party came to power in a coalition government in Germany; rocketry was almost immediately moved onto the national agenda. An artillery captain, Walter Dornberger , arranged an Ordnance Department research grant for von Braun, who then worked next to Dornberger's existing solid-fuel rocket test site at Kummersdorf . Von Braun received his doctorate in physics ( aerospace engineering ) on 27 July 1934, from

5452-575: The Foreign Office in the 1970s, and a younger brother, Magnus von Braun , who was a rocket scientist and later a senior executive with Chrysler . The family moved to Berlin , Brandenburg , in 1915, where his father worked at the Ministry of the Interior. After his Confirmation , his mother gave him a telescope , and he developed a passion for astronomy . Von Braun learned to play both

5568-558: The GFW rights; the lawsuit was ultimately settled out of court. Don Callis and Scott D'Amore became executive vice presidents in January 2018, taking charge of Impact Wrestling's day-to-day operations. At the first tapings under their tenure, the company reverted to a traditional four-sided ring, and the show also saw the return of former World Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries , as well

5684-511: The German army until its publication in 1960. By the end of 1934, his group had successfully launched two liquid fuel A2 rockets that rose to heights of 2.2 and 3.5 km (2 mi). Von Braun continued his guided missile work throughout World War Two, and met with Adolf Hitler on several occasions, being formally decorated by Hitler twice, including being awarded the Iron Cross. At

5800-575: The Impact (abbreviated as BTI ), and Xplosion was canceled after 19 years the following month. During No Surrender Impact announced a new partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Don Callis' time as Impact executive vice president and on-air talent ended in May. Slammiversary 2021 marked the return of in-person spectators for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That month, BTI and Impact! would crossover for

5916-470: The January 4, 2010, episode of Impact! . Both obtained a position behind the scenes; with Bischoff part of creative and Hogan as a consultant. Under their tenure, TNA would see several revamps in 2010. Beginning with Genesis in January, TNA returned to using a four-sided ring. That month, Jakks Pacific announced a five-year agreement to produce TNA action figures. Impact! would also begin airing on Monday nights directly opposite of WWE Raw , marking

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6032-657: The National Socialist Party. At this time I was already Technical Director at the Army Rocket Center at Peenemünde (Baltic Sea). The technical work carried out there had, in the meantime, attracted more and more attention in higher levels. Thus, my refusal to join the party would have meant that I would have to abandon the work of my life. Therefore, I decided to join. My membership in the party did not involve any political activity. It has not been ascertained whether von Braun's error with regard to

6148-725: The Nazi regime, Himmler was conspiring to use Kammler to gain control of all German armament programs, including the V-2 program at Peenemünde. He therefore recommended that von Braun work more closely with Kammler to solve the problems of the V-2. Von Braun stated that he replied that the problems were merely technical and he was confident that they would be solved with Dornberger's assistance. Von Braun had been under SD surveillance since October 1943. A secret report stated that he and his colleagues Klaus Riedel and Helmut Gröttrup were said to have expressed regret at an engineer's house one evening in early March 1944 that they were not working on

6264-473: The Nazis using slave labour to manufacture these rockets. In 1936, von Braun's rocketry team working at Kummersdorf investigated installing liquid-fuelled rockets in aircraft. Ernst Heinkel enthusiastically supported their efforts, supplying a He-72 and later two He-112s for the experiments. Later in 1936, Erich Warsitz was seconded by the RLM to von Braun and Heinkel, because he had been recognized as one of

6380-500: The November 19 episode. The final episodes of 2014 were Best of TNA clip shows. On January 7, 2015, Impact Wrestling moved to Destination America , with a live debut from The Manhattan Center 's Grand Ballroom in New York City. In addition to Impact Wrestling , which was now airing on Friday nights, two new shows produced were Impact Wrestling: Unlocked , hosted by Mike Tenay , and TNA Wrestling's Greatest Matches ,

6496-611: The Party on 12 November 1937, and was issued membership number 5,738,692. Michael J. Neufeld , an author of aerospace history and chief of the Space History Division at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum , wrote that ten years after von Braun obtained his Nazi Party membership, he signed an affidavit for the U.S. Army, though he stated the incorrect year: In 1939, I was officially demanded to join

6612-608: The Propst Arena, after the family that donated $ 5M to the city for the expansion. On Friday, February 5, 2010, a groundbreaking ceremony was held marking further renovations to what is now known as the Mark C. Smith Concert Hall. Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( US : / ˈ v ɜːr n ər v ɒ n ˈ b r aʊ n / VUR -nər von BROWN , German: [ˈvɛʁnheːɐ̯ fɔn ˈbʁaʊn] ; 23 March 1912 – 16 June 1977)

6728-525: The TNA Asylum as well as exclusive interviews with TNA wrestlers and the promotion's original weekly pay-per-view shows took place mostly at the Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena in Nashville, Tennessee . The last weekly pay-per-view took place on September 8, 2004, with a total of 111 weekly pay-per-views. In May 2004, TNA introduced its second weekly television program, Impact! (stylized as iMPACT! ), produced at Soundstage 21 , nicknamed

6844-592: The Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) name. From October 26 to 28, Impact held events in Scotland and England , marking their first United Kingdom tour since 2015. In December 2023, the promotion announced it had signed a new toy license with PowerTown, to release its first line of product in August 2024. The name change to TNA took effect in January 2024, with the first event under

6960-666: The University of Berlin for a thesis titled "About Combustion Tests." His doctoral supervisor was Erich Schumann. However, this thesis represented only the public aspect of von Braun's work. His actual thesis, entitled "Construction, Theoretical, and Experimental Solution to the Problem of the Liquid Propellant Rocket" (dated 16 April 1934), detailed the construction and design of the A2 rocket. It remained classified by

7076-580: The V-2 rockets, but there were victims on both sides...A war is a war, and when my country is at war, my duty is to help win that war." The engineer who designed the V2, Wernher von Braun, came to be feted as a hero of the space age . The Allies realised that the V-2 was a machine, unlike anything they had developed themselves. — V-2: The Nazi rocket that launched the space age , BBC, September 2014. In response to Goddard's statements, von Braun said "at no time in Germany did I or any of my associates ever see

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7192-591: The VBC. The VBC provided space for the Huntsville Museum of Art from its opening until 1998, when the museum moved to a nearby facility. The former museum is now used as office space for VBC staff. This place is also hosting to FRC ( FIRST Robotics Competition ) Rocket City Regional event. On October 23, 2008, it was announced that the VBC Arena would undergo a massive $ 15M renovation and would be renamed

7308-564: The WWE such as Kurt Angle , Jeff Hardy , and Mr. Kennedy (who wrestled as Mr. Anderson in TNA), as well as more homegrown wrestlers who had not appeared in WWE yet and mainly performed for the promotion such as AJ Styles and Samoa Joe . (Some of whom would later be signed by WWE during the mid to late 2010s as TNA suffered financial issues). From 2015 to 2017, the promotion was viewed by some to have fallen behind longtime rival Ring of Honor ; with

7424-564: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE ) gaining a monopoly on the industry. While on a fishing trip, Bob Ryder , Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett contemplated their futures in the professional wrestling business under a parent company known as J   Sports & Entertainment, LLC. Ryder suggested a company not reliant on television, but rather one going straight to pay-per-view . In July 2002, Vince Russo joined Jeff and Jerry Jarrett's NWA-TNA promotion as

7540-439: The arena. In 2024, the VBC began hosting the conference tournament for Men's and Women's basketball for Conference USA . The arena has hosted numerous rock, pop, and country music concerts. Three music videos for the band, Kansas promoting the Monolith Album - featuring a Sci-Fi Native American: On the Other Side, Away from you, and People of the South Wind were film in and on the Von Braun Center. The VBC Concert Hall has been

7656-490: The cello and the piano at an early age and at one time wanted to become a composer. He took lessons from the composer Paul Hindemith . The few pieces of von Braun's youthful compositions that exist are reminiscent of Hindemith's style. He could play piano pieces of Beethoven and Bach from memory. Beginning in 1925, he attended a boarding school at Ettersburg Castle near Weimar , Free State of Thuringia , where he did not do well in physics and mathematics. There he acquired

7772-409: The company during this period. In April 2017, it was announced on Impact! that the promotion would "merge" with Jarrett's newer Global Force Wrestling (GFW) promotion. In the lead-up to the Slammiversary XV PPV, Anthem officially announced its intent to acquire GFW to formalize the merger. The company subsequently announced that they were re-branding again and taking the GFW name in June;

7888-514: The company in that year, and the contracts of TNA Hall of Famers Bully Ray and Devon reportedly expired in October 2014, with TNA moving them to the alumni section of their roster in January 2015. In late July, the TMZ website reported that Spike TV was not renewing Impact Wrestling beyond October. TNA would refute the report, stating that negotiations were still ongoing. On August 14, Impact Wrestling moved to Wednesday nights. On August 20, TNA signed an extension with Spike TV until

8004-427: The company. It was reported near the beginning of 2016 that Aroluxe Marketing, a Brentwood, Tennessee–based marketing agency, had taken a stake in TNA at the start of 2016 in return for providing partial funding, as well as taking over TNA's production operations. It was reported in June 2016 that Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan acquired a minority stake in TNA from Dixie Carter, but he had instead provided

8120-412: The concentration camp to pick slave laborers: ... also the German scientists led by Prof. Wernher von Braun were aware of everything daily. As they went along the corridors, they saw the exhaustion of the inmates, their arduous work and their pain. Not one single time did Prof. Wernher von Braun protest against this cruelty during his frequent stays at Dora. Even the aspect of corpses did not touch him: On

8236-446: The debuts of Karl Anderson and Heath Slater . After the events of AEW Winter Is Coming on December 2, 2020, Impact began a partnership with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which lasted until Bound for Glory 2021 . AEW-contracted wrestlers Kenny Omega and Christian Cage held the Impact World Championship during this time; this marked Cage's first in-ring return to the promotion since 2008. In February 2021, Impact launched Before

8352-529: The debuts of new wrestlers such as Kiera Hogan , Su Yung , Pentagón Jr. , Fénix and Brian Cage . The company also announced a partnership with live streaming service Twitch to produce content for their platform, starting with Brace for Impact , which was co-promoted with New Jersey–based promotion WrestlePro. Their first live show was Impact vs. Lucha Underground , a co-promoted show with Lucha Underground . Impact! subsequently moved to Pursuit Channel beginning January 11, 2019. Two months later,

8468-433: The end of 2014. In November 2014, TNA announced a new agreement with Discovery Communications to distribute its programming in the United States on Destination America and to selected international markets. Spike's outreach at the time was estimated to be more than 97 million homes while Destination America was estimated to reach 59 million households. Impact Wrestling ceased airing new televised events on Spike after

8584-530: The federal government during the Weimar Republic . His mother, Emmy von Quistorp (1886–1959), traced her ancestry through both parents to medieval European royalty and was a descendant of Philip III of France , Valdemar I of Denmark , Robert III of Scotland , and Edward III of England . He had an older brother, the West German diplomat Sigismund von Braun , who served as Secretary of State in

8700-526: The field of astronautics. According to historian Norman Davies , von Braun was able to pursue a career as a rocket scientist in Germany due to a "curious oversight" in the Treaty of Versailles which did not include rocketry in its list of weapons forbidden to Germany. Von Braun was an opportunist who joined the Nazi Party to continue his work on rockets for Nazi Germany . He applied for membership in

8816-575: The first rocket fired by gasoline and liquid oxygen. In 1932, having caught wind of von Braun's rocket business, the German Army connected with von Braun to pursue basic missile research and weather data experimentation. Von Braun said that the German government financed the development of test stands and facilities for experimentation in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1939, von Braun was appointed a technical advisor at Peenemünde Army Research Center on

8932-611: The first time that two major professional wrestling promotions would go head to head since the launch of WCW Monday Nitro in 1995. The show would permanently move to Mondays on March 8, 2010, Spike would keep the Thursday night slot open for repeats of the Monday night shows. During this time, Ric Flair , Rob Van Dam , Mr. Anderson would make their debuts, while Jeff Hardy would make his return. Impact! would later return to Thursday nights on May 3. On July 2, 2010, TNA hosted

9048-435: The first time, when Josh Alexander faced T. J. Perkins for the X Division Championship in Impact's first-ever 60-minute Iron man match , which began on BTI and concluded in the opening minutes of Impact! . Impact subsequently announced the end of their partnership with Twitch that August and launched a new YouTube membership program called "Impact Wrestling Insiders". In November 2022, Impact and DAZN signed

9164-503: The following year. In 1940, von Braun joined the SS and was given the rank of Untersturmführer in the Allgemeine-SS and issued membership number 185,068. In 1947, he gave the U.S. War Department this explanation: In spring 1940, one SS-Standartenführer (SS-Colonel) Müller from Greifswald, a bigger town in the vicinity of Peenemünde, looked me up in my office...and told me that Reichsführer-SS Himmler had sent him with

9280-876: The home venue for the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra since the facility opened in 1975. The concert hall also hosts the productions of the Broadway Theater League. The playhouse hosts the productions of Theatre Huntsville, the Fantasy Playhouse Children's Theater, and the Jim Parker Songwriters Series, as well as numerous community events. The yearly Panoply of the Arts outdoor festival takes place in Big Spring Park adjacent to

9396-404: The largest crowd for a sporting event in the VBC's history, with 7,083 fans. It was the site of the first-ever Total Nonstop Action Wrestling card, which featured in-ring cameos by Toby Keith and Sterling Marlin . WWE held its September 8, 2003 episode of WWE Raw at the arena. All Elite Wrestling (AEW) held its February 5, 2020 and February 28, 2024, episodes of AEW Dynamite at

9512-783: The largest firework rockets he could purchase. He was later taken in for questioning by the local police, until released to his father for disciplinary action. The incident highlighted the young von Braun's determination to "dedicate his life to space travel". In 1930, von Braun attended the Technische Hochschule Berlin , where he joined the Spaceflight Society ( Verein für Raumschiffahrt or VfR), co-founded by Valier, and worked with Willy Ley in his liquid-fueled rocket motor tests in conjunction with others such as Rolf Engel , Rudolf Nebel , Hermann Oberth or Paul Ehmayr . In spring 1932, he graduated with

9628-403: The late 1930s and early 1940s was complex. He said that he had been so influenced by the early Nazi promise of release from the post–World War I economic effects , that his patriotic feelings had increased. In a 1952 memoir article he admitted that, at that time, he "fared relatively rather well under totalitarianism ". Yet, he also wrote that "to us, Hitler was still only a pompous fool with

9744-403: The loss of their U.S. television contract with Spike in 2014, as well as monetary and personnel issues, being noted as factors to their decline. By 2019, the promotion was viewed to have recovered through its sustained international distribution, and the purchase by its parent company of AXS TV ; which subsequently began carrying the promotion's programming. TNA is currently viewed as being

9860-600: The many high-profile talent that would join the promotion during the show's run on Spike. From 2005 to 2009, these include Kevin Nash , Rhino , Christian Cage , Sting (who made appearances at previous "Asylum" shows), Scott Steiner , Kurt Angle , Booker T , and Mick Foley . In April 2006, TNA launched a YouTube channel, featuring clips from Impact and exclusive content. Beginning with Bound for Glory in October 2006, TNA began holding select pay-per-view events outside of Orlando, Florida. In January 2007, TNA announced

9976-458: The matter was of highly political significance for the relation between the SS and the Army, I called immediately on my military superior, Dr. Dornberger. He informed me that the SS had for a long time been trying to get their "finger in the pie" of the rocket work. I asked him what to do. He replied on the spot that if I wanted to continue our mutual work, I had no alternative but to join. When shown

10092-503: The most experienced test pilots of the time, and because he also had an extraordinary fund of technical knowledge. After he familiarized Warsitz with a test-stand run, showing him the corresponding apparatus in the aircraft, he asked: "Are you with us and will you test the rocket in the air? Then, Warsitz, you will be a famous man. And later we will fly to the Moon – with you at the helm!" In June 1937, at Neuhardenberg (a large field about 70 km (43 mi) east of Berlin, listed as

10208-494: The new parent company. Shortly after Anthem's acquisition of TNA, it was re-branded to Impact Wrestling. On January 5, 2017 Jeff Jarrett was brought back by Anthem to serve as a consultant and later promoted to executive producer and chief creative officer. Anthem re-branded the promotion as Impact Wrestling, after its primary television series two months later. Wrestlers Drew Galloway , Matt Hardy , Jeff Hardy , Jade , Crazzy Steve , Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis left

10324-457: The order to urge me to join the SS. I told him I was so busy with my rocket work that I had no time to spare for any political activity. He then told me, that...the SS would cost me no time at all. I would be awarded the rank of a[n] "Untersturmfuehrer" (lieutenant) and it were [ sic ] a very definite desire of Himmler that I attend his invitation to join. I asked Müller to give me some time for reflection. He agreed. Realizing that

10440-404: The pandemic, the promotion cancelled its planned TNA: There's No Place Like Home event, and Tessa Blanchard , who became the first woman to win the promotion's World Championship earlier that year at Hard to Kill , was fired and stripped of the championship after a long absence. Slammiversary saw the returns of The Motor City Machine Guns , Eric Young , Doc Gallows and EC3 , as well as

10556-487: The plant "repulsive", but stated that he had never personally witnessed any deaths or beatings, although it had become clear to him by 1944 that deaths had occurred. He denied ever having visited the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, where 20,000 died from illness, beatings, hangings, and intolerable working conditions. Some prisoners state that von Braun engaged in brutal treatment or approved of it. Guy Morand,

10672-624: The promotion announced that Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) would serve as its developmental territory once again. In May, Impact Plus replaced the Global Wrestling Network as the official streaming app for the promotion. Impact! began airing on Anthem-owned AXS TV after Bound for Glory in October. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , Impact would hold events behind closed doors at Skyway Studios in Nashville. During

10788-613: The promotion later touring in Germany , Scotland and Ireland in 2009, France , Wales and the United Arab Emirates in 2010 and Belgium in 2012. In February 2008, Jakks Pacific announced it had signed a multi-year master toy license agreement with TNA, to release products starting in 2010. In March 2008, Tristar Productions acquired an exclusive license deal to produce and distribute TNA trading cards and memorabilia. On September 9, 2008, Midway Games released

10904-646: The promotion was initially known as NWA: Total Nonstop Action ( NWA-TNA ) and was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) governing body. The promotion dropped the "NWA" brand from its name in 2004, becoming Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . TNA continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships until this agreement ended in 2007; after which, the company would create its own World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships. The promotion

11020-562: The re-branding was short-lived as they severed ties with Jarrett that October and the deal for Anthem to acquire GFW was never completed. During that time, Anthem launched the Global Wrestling Network , a new streaming service which featured content from to their tape library and other sources. Jarrett subsequently filed a lawsuit against Anthem in the District Court of Tennessee for copyright infringement over

11136-467: The reinstated TNA banner being Hard To Kill . On February 7, Anthem Sports & Entertainment announced that Scott D'Amore's contract with TNA was terminated , with D'Amore being removed from his position as President of TNA, later being replaced by Anthony Cicione. From June 2002 until September 2004, the promotion's original weekly pay-per-view shows took place mostly at the Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena in Nashville, Tennessee , nicknamed

11252-506: The rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1 in 1958. He worked with Walt Disney on a series of films, which popularized the idea of human space travel in the U.S. and beyond from 1955 to 1957. In 1960, his group was assimilated into NASA , where he served as director of the newly formed Marshall Space Flight Center and as the chief architect of the Saturn V super heavy-lift launch vehicle that propelled

11368-557: The same time, Hellmuth Walter 's experiments into hydrogen peroxide based rockets were leading toward light and simple rockets that appeared well-suited for aircraft installation. Also, the firm of Hellmuth Walter at Kiel had been commissioned by the RLM to build a rocket engine for the He-112, so there were two different new rocket motor designs at Neuhardenberg: whereas von Braun's engines were powered by alcohol and liquid oxygen, Walter engines had hydrogen peroxide and calcium permanganate as

11484-635: The slave laborers, von Braun team member Konrad Dannenberg (a member of the Nazi party since 1932) told The Huntsville Times : "If he had done it, in my opinion, he would have been shot on the spot." According to André Sellier, a French historian and survivor of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, Heinrich Himmler had von Braun come to his Feldkommandostelle Hochwald HQ in East Prussia in February 1944. To increase his power-base within

11600-485: The space, the city agreed to the construction of South Hall, which opened in 1997. Around that same time, the word "Civic" was dropped from the facility's name. South Hall is the VBC's largest exhibit space at 100,800 sq ft (9,365 m); it includes a large lobby area, a partitionable ballroom, and an underground parking garage. Its construction involved eliminating a portion of Williams Avenue and re-routing part of Monroe Street. A sky walk connecting South Hall to

11716-429: The sports arena, an exhibit hall space now known as East Hall, a concert hall, a playhouse, and museum space for the Huntsville Museum of Art . The arena as originally built seated about 8,000 for concerts, and included scoreboards and a refrigerated floor for ice events. The concert hall included an orchestra rehearsal room, dressing space for performers, and a lounge for patrons. The facility, originally referred to as

11832-468: The third-largest wrestling promotion in the United States; following the establishment of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2019, and its current television deals with Warner Bros. Discovery 's TNT and TBS (both of which are seen in more households than AXS). Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s The concept of TNA originated shortly after World Championship Wrestling (WCW) ended in 2001, with

11948-485: The time, Germany was highly interested in American physicist Robert H. Goddard 's research. Before 1939, German scientists occasionally contacted Goddard directly with technical questions. Von Braun used Goddard's plans from various journals and incorporated them into the building of the Aggregat (A) series of rockets. The first successful launch of an A-4 took place on 3 October 1942. The A-4 rocket became well known as

12064-529: The war concerning the advancement of rocketry. Documented accounts also stated he provided solutions to a host of aerospace engineering problems in the 1950s and 1960s. On 22 December 1942, Adolf Hitler ordered the production of the A-4 as a "vengeance weapon", and the Peenemünde group developed it to target London. Following von Braun's 7 July 1943 presentation of a color movie showing an A-4 taking off, Hitler

12180-467: The year was deliberate or a simple mistake. Neufeld wrote: Von Braun, like other Peenemünders, was assigned to the local group in Karlshagen; there is no evidence that he did more than send in his monthly dues. But he is seen in some photographs with the party's swastika pin in his lapel – it was politically useful to demonstrate his membership. Von Braun's later attitude toward the Nazi regime of

12296-522: Was a German-American aerospace engineer and space architect . He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS , the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany , and later a pioneer of rocket and space technology in the United States . As a young man, von Braun worked in Nazi Germany's rocket development program. He helped design and co-developed

12412-482: Was constructed as a high-end exhibit and ballroom space, with carpeting and decorative lighting. A second-floor gallery can be opened to the main space or closed off, and it has a variety of meeting rooms and salons attached. In 1993 the city was bidding to host a meeting of the American Bowling Congress , which would require space for bowling lanes and exhibits for six months. In order to supply

12528-507: Was doing research for the Navy. If this was the so-called Bäckebo Bomb , it had been procured by the British in exchange for Spitfires ; Annapolis would have received some parts from them. Goddard is reported to have recognized components he had invented and inferred that his brainchild had been turned into a weapon. Later, von Braun said: "I have very deep and sincere regret for the victims of

12644-417: Was found that he had numerous letters of commendation for outstanding performance of duties during his time working under the Nazi party. Overall FBI conclusions point to von Braun's involvement in the Nazi Party to be purely for the advancement of his academic career, or out of fear of imprisonment or execution. Von Braun joined the SS horseback riding school on 1 November 1933 as an SS- Anwärter . He left

12760-496: Was launched toward England on 7 September 1944, only 21 months after the project had been officially commissioned. Doug Millard of the Science Museum, London states: The V-2 was a quantum leap of technological change. We got to the Moon using V-2 technology but this was technology that was developed with massive resources, including some particularly grim ones. The V-2 programme was hugely expensive in terms of lives, with

12876-537: Was purchased by Anthem at the beginning of 2017. In March of that year, it was rebranded to Impact Wrestling after its weekly flagship television show , but returned to the TNA branding in January 2024. From its inception, TNA had been considered the second-largest in the United States behind WWE a position it would hold for most of the 2000s and early 2010s. The promotion was known for featuring former top talent from WCW, WWE, and ECW , such as Raven , Jeff Jarrett , and Sting , free agents that were released from

12992-463: Was required to pay Corgan back by November 1. It was possible that one of the other minority owners could pay Corgan, effectively making them the majority owner of TNA. On November 3, the company revealed that Anthem Sports & Entertainment provided a credit facility to fund operations for TNA and that Corgan was removed as the promotion's president. However, Corgan himself stated that neither TNA nor Anthem Sports & Entertainment had yet repaid

13108-525: Was salvaged and most of the engineering team remained unharmed; however, the raids killed von Braun's engine designer Walter Thiel and Chief Engineer Walther, and the rocket program was delayed. The V-2 became the first artificial object to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line with the vertical launch of MW 18014 on 20 June 1944. The first combat A-4, renamed the V-2 ( Vergeltungswaffe 2 "Retaliation/Vengeance Weapon 2") for propaganda purposes,

13224-544: Was so enthusiastic that he personally made von Braun a professor shortly thereafter. By that time, the British and Soviet intelligence agencies were aware of the rocket program and von Braun's team at Peenemünde, based on the intelligence provided by the Polish underground Home Army . Over the nights of 17–18 August 1943, RAF Bomber Command 's Operation Hydra dispatched raids on the Peenemünde camp consisting of 596 aircraft, and dropped 1,800 tons of explosives. The facility

13340-679: Was the first time Elvis had played that many consecutive performances in a venue outside of Las Vegas or Stateline, Nevada . The VBC is the home of the Huntsville Havoc of the SPHL . Former sports teams at the VBC include the Huntsville Lasers and Huntsville Flight basketball teams, the Huntsville Blast , Huntsville Tornado and Huntsville Channel Cats ice hockey teams, the Huntsville Fire ( EISL ) soccer team,

13456-429: Was the first who, when thinking about the possibility of spaceships, grabbed a slide-rule and presented mathematically analyzed concepts and designs... I, myself, owe to him not only the guiding-star of my life, but also my first contact with the theoretical and practical aspects of rocketry and space travel. A place of honor should be reserved in the history of science and technology for his ground-breaking contributions in

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