Datasets:
cfli
/
ssss

Dataset card Data Studio Files Community
2
question
stringlengths
18
1.2k
facts
stringlengths
44
500k
answer
stringlengths
1
147
Which familiar word is derived from the Greek for “mother city”?
mother - alphaDictionary * Free English On-line Dictionary Meaning: The female parent, a woman who bears and/or primarily raises a child. Notes: Mother, the word, has borne a large and happy family of derivational offspring. The adjective and adverb of this noun are both motherly, which has a noun, motherliness, that expresses the affection and nurturing of good mothers. The status of being a mother is, of course, motherhood, as a woman who enjoys motherhood. The new term for "baby talk" is motherese since we discovered that it is an affectation of mothers and not childish speech. Just as mothers often must handle two jobs, so does today's Good Word, which doubles as a verb. "She mothers him too much," means that she is too attentive to his needs. In Play: Mothers are the central part of our lives and often of other things as well: the central part of a computer is the motherboard and Mother Earth and Mother Nature completely enfold us. The mother of all sales would be the biggest imaginable sale and the one imitated by all others. Our mothers are the critical part of our lives and of things that are bigger than life; they are the creators of life. Word History: It is most appropriate that the word for "mother" in Proto-Indo-European originated in the first recognizable syllable uttered by babies: ma. This syllable was attached to a kinship suffix, -ter, which also turns up in brother, father, and sister. The original form, mater-, later evolved into the current words for "mother" that we now find in all the Indo-European languages: Latin mater, Greek meter (as in metropolis, the mother city), German Mutter, French mère, Serbian majka, Russian mat', materi, Italian and Spanish madre, Portuguese mãe, Danish moder, Dutch and Afrikaans moeder, Norwegian and Swedish mor, Icelandic móðir, Irish máthair, Hindi mataji, Gujarati maataa, Farsi (Persian) madar, and Pashto (Afghanistan) mor. If you are a mother, may this day be as beautiful and exciting as your name in all these languages. P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today! Come visit our website at <http://www.alphadictionary.com> for more Good Words and other language resources!
Metropolis
The name of which musical instrument is German for “bell play”?
Metropolis | Define Metropolis at Dictionary.com metropolis the chief, and sometimes capital, city of a country, state, or region. 3. a central or principal place, as of some activity: the music metropolis of France. 4. the mother city or parent state of a colony, especially of an ancient Greek colony. 5. the chief see of an ecclesiastical province. Origin of metropolis Greek 1350-1400 1350-1400; Middle English < Late Latin mētropolis < Greek mētrópolis a mother state or city, equivalent to mētro-, combining form of mḗtēr mother 1 + pólis -polis , polis Dictionary.com Unabridged Examples from the Web for metropolis Expand Contemporary Examples The town of Liqian sits on the edge of the Gobi desert, 200 miles from any metropolis, and 4,500 miles from Rome. The Chinese Town Descended From Romans? Nina Strochlic December 3, 2014 The co-owner of metropolis Collectables, Vincent has Wolverine mutton chops, a Tony Stark goatee, and Lex Luthor swagger. How the Circus Got a Social Conscience Justin Jones November 6, 2014 Historical Examples You know that I kept a boarding-school in the metropolis for many years after my return from the Continent. The Blue Wall Richard Washburn Child I sprang the fence, and waited in the road to enquire the last news from the metropolis. British Dictionary definitions for metropolis Expand the main city, esp of a country or region; capital 2. the chief see in an ecclesiastical province Word Origin C16: from Late Latin from Greek: mother city or state, from mētēr mother + polis city Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for metropolis Expand n. "seat of a metropolitan bishop," 1530s, from Late Latin metropolis; see metropolitan . Meaning "chief town or capital city of a province" is first attested 1580s, earlier metropol (late 14c.). Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
i don't know
Which fictional detective married author Harriet Vane?
Lord Peter Wimsey marries Harriet Vane - Oct 08, 1937 - HISTORY.com Lord Peter Wimsey marries Harriet Vane Share this: Lord Peter Wimsey marries Harriet Vane Author Lord Peter Wimsey marries Harriet Vane URL Publisher A+E Networks Fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey finally marries Harriet Vane, a prickly mystery writer he has pursued through several novels, on this day in 1937 in the novel Busman’s Honeymoon. The novel, by Dorothy Sayers, was one of the last featuring the two English sleuths. Sayers, whose father was an Oxford teacher and minister, became one of the first women to receive a degree from Oxford. Although the family moved to the country when Sayers was 4, she received an excellent education in Latin, French, history, and mathematics from her father and won a scholarship to Oxford. She received highest honors on her final exams in 1915. Although women at the time were not granted degrees, the rules changed retroactively in 1920. After Oxford, Sayers worked as a poetry editor in Oxford and a teacher in France. She returned to London to work as a freelance editor and advertising copywriter for England’s largest ad agency. She later turned her experiences at the agency to comic fodder in Murder Must Advertise (1933). She began writing detective fiction in the early 1920s, and her first novel, Whose Body?, was published in 1923. It introduced the educated and fanciful Lord Peter Wimsey, who over the course of some dozen novels and many short stories emerged as a complex, intriguing character, comic and lighthearted at times but plagued with nightmares and nervous disorders from his service in World War I. In Strong Poison (1930), Wimsey solves a mysterious poisoning and wins freedom for the wrongly accused mystery novelist Harriet Vane, with whom he falls in love. In Gaudy Night (1935), set at an Oxford reunion, Vane finally accepts Wimsey. The pair are married and set off on a comical honeymoon, accompanied by Wimsey’s faithful butler, Bunter, in Busman’s Honeymoon (1937). Sayers herself had an unhappy romance in the early 1920s and had a child in 1924. Two years later, she married Scottish journalist Oswald Atherton Fleming, who became an invalid soon afterward. She spent the next 25 years caring for him, until his death in 1950. With G.K. Chesterton, Sayers founded the Detection Club, a group of mystery writers. She edited an important anthology called Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horrors from 1928 to 1934. After the late 1930s, she wearied of detective fiction, and having won enough financial independence to write what she liked, she returned to her academic roots and wrote scholarly treatises on aesthetics and theology, as well as translations of Dante and others. Related Videos
Lord Peter Wimsey
The parish church of Ambridge is dedicated to which saint?
9780061043512: Busman's Honeymoon - AbeBooks - Sayers, Dorothy L.: 0061043516 Sayers, Dorothy L. ISBN 10: 0061043516 ISBN 13: 9780061043512 Publisher: HarTorch, 1995 “Busman’s Honeymoon has everything—mystery, comedy, love, and drama—all served up in Dorothy Sayers’s best style.” —New York Times The great Dorothy L. Sayers is considered by many to be the premier detective novelist of the Golden Age, and her dashing sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, one of mystery fiction’s most enduring and endearing protagonists. Acclaimed author Ruth Rendell has expressed her admiration for Sayers’s work, praising her “great fertility of invention, ingenuity, and wonderful eye for detail.” The fourth Dorothy L. Sayers classic to feature mystery writer Harriet Vane, Busman’s Honeymoon is now back in print with an introduction by Elizabeth George, herself a crime fiction master. Harriet and her love, Lord Peter, have finally tied the knot but begin their married life together on an expectedly sour note when a body is discovered in the cellar of their romantic country estate. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. Product Description: Murder is hardly the best way for Lord Peter and his bride, the famous mystery writer Harriet Vane, to start their honeymoon. It all begins when the former owner of their newly acquired estate is found quite nastily dead in the cellar. All too quickly, what Lord Peter had hoped would be a very private and romantic stay in the country has turned into a most baffling case, with a misspelled "notise" to the milkman at its center and a dead man who's been discovered in a most intriguing condition: with not a spot of blood on his smashed skull and not a penny less than six hundred pounds in his pocket. From the Publisher: What Lord Peter and his bride, the famous mystery writer Harriet Vane, hoped would be a quiet and romantic honeymoon turns into a baffling case of murder when the former owner of their newly acquired estate is found dead in the cellar. "About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
i don't know
What does an ethologist study?
What Does an Ethologist Do? (with pictures) What Does an Ethologist Do? Last Modified Date: 10 January 2017 Copyright Protected: These 10 facts about space will blow your mind An ethologist studies the behavior of animals. While there are other types of careers in which a person may study animals, this one has a specific primary focus: An ethologist studies animal behavior that seems to come naturally and appears to be pre-programmed into the animal despite its environment. In other words, ethologists are particularly interested in the types of behavior animals do not learn but instead inherit. They do take into account, however, that pre-programmed behavior can be affected by outside factors as well. When a person is referred to as an ethologist, this means he studies animal behavior, and there are a lot of different reasons a scientist might do so. For example, people with this type of job study animals to learn about the causes of their behaviors, how their behaviors develop and evolve, and how animal behavior effects other animals and the environment. The information ethologists learn through their studies helps satisfy curiosity about animal life and makes it easier for scientists to understand a range of biology processes. The results of animal studies can also help explain and solve issues with animal and human interactions. The focus of ethologists' studies differs from other types of scientists who study animals. Other scientists, such as animal behaviorists, are often more concerned with animal behaviors that are learned rather than those that are naturally present in the animal and considered pre-programmed. For example, an animal behaviorist might focus on the behavior of rats that learn to navigate their way through a manmade maze . An ethologist does not usually disregard such learned behaviors, but often proves more interested innate behaviors, such as the communication sounds an animal makes. One example of a behavior an ethologist might study is referred to as imprinting, which is demonstrated in the way some animals identify and learn to follow their mothers. Some animals, for example, recognize their mothers based on hearing a specific call. Then, when the animal they have identified as their mother moves, the young animals follow. Interestingly, many animals exhibit this behavior even if the sound is not produced by another animal or comes from an object that couldn't possibly be its mother. Additionally, imprinting is sometimes time dependent, and some animals won't exhibit this type of behavior unless exposed to the trigger, such as a specific sound and movement, early on in life. Ad
Ethology
Which scientific endeavour is frequently abbreviated as SETI*?
What does ethology mean? the science of the formation of character, national and collective as well as individual Origin: [Gr. a depicting of character; custom, moral nature + to speak.] Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Ethology Ethology is the scientific and objective study of animal behaviour, and is a sub-topic of zoology. The focus of ethology is on animal behaviour under natural conditions, as opposed to behaviourism, which focuses on behavioural response studies in a laboratory setting. Many naturalists have studied aspects of animal behaviour throughout history. The modern discipline of ethology is generally considered to have begun during the 1930s with the work of Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen and by Austrian biologists Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch, joint winners of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Ethology is a combination of laboratory and field science, with a strong relation to certain other disciplines such as neuroanatomy, ecology, and evolution. Ethologists are typically interested in a behavioural process rather than in a particular animal group, and often study one type of behaviour, such as aggression, in a number of unrelated animals. The desire to understand animals has made ethology a rapidly growing field. Since the turn of the 21st century, many aspects of animal communication, animal emotions, animal culture, learning, and even sexual conduct that experts long thought they understood, have been re-examined, and new conclusions reached. New fields have developed, such as neuroethology. Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Ethology ē-thol′o-ji, n. a discourse on ethics: the science of character.—adjs. Etholog′ic, -al, relating to ethology: treating of morality.—ns. Ethol′ogist, one versed in ethology or ethics; Ē′thos, habitual character and disposition: the quality of a work of art which produces a high moral impression. [Gr. ēthos, custom, logia, a discourse.] U.S. National Library of Medicine(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: Ethology The numerical value of ethology in Chaldean Numerology is: 8 Pythagorean Numerology
i don't know
The Rutshire Chronicles is a series of romantic novels by which author?
Order of Rutshire Chronicles Books - OrderOfBooks.com Home | Characters | Authors Order of Rutshire Chronicles Books The Rutshire Chronicles is a series of romance novels by British author Jilly Cooper . The series is about the British upper class, including the crowds involved with show-jumping and polo. As it is romance, the situations do get steamy as well as scandalous. One of the central characters is Rupert Campbell-Black, who ties many of the characters together. Jilly Cooper began her Rutshire Chronicles series in 1986 with the novel Riders. The series can be read in order or as standalone novels. Below is a list of Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles in order of when they were originally published (which is the same as their chronological order): Publication Order of Rutshire Chronicles Books Riders
Jilly Cooper
What venue links the first FA Cup final and the first cricket test in England?
Riders : Jilly Cooper : 9780552156172 Try AbeBooks Description Set against the glorious Cotswold countryside and the playgrounds of the world, Jilly Cooper's `Rutshire Chronicles`, `Riders`, `Rivals`, `Polo`, `The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous`, `Appassionata` and `Score`!, offer an intoxicating blend of skulduggery, swooning romance, sexual adventure and hilarious high jinks. `Riders`, the first and steamiest in the series, takes the lid off international showjumping, a sport where the brave horses are almost human, but the humans behave like animals. The brooding hero, gypsy Jake Lovell, under whose magic hands the most difficult horse or woman becomes biddable, is driven to the top by his loathing of the beautiful bounder and darling of the show ring, Rupert Campbell-Black. Having filched each other's horses, and fought and fornicated their way around the capitals of Europe, the feud between the two men finally erupts with devastating consequences during the Los Angeles Olympics. show more Product details 127 x 198 x 40mm | 643g Publication date 9780552156172
i don't know
Which singer was the first black person to host his own US TV series?
TV ACRES: Broadcast Firsts > African-Americans on Television   Broadcast Firsts African-Americans - The earliest example of an African-American performing on television was blues singer Ethel Waters who starred in a one-time NBC variety program on June 14, 1939. The first African-American television performers to have a regular network series was the popular vocal group The Three Flames (Tiger Haynes, Roy Testamark & Bill Pollard) who hosted the live summer musical series THE THREE FLAMES/NBC/1949. One of their hits was a novelty song recorded in 1947 entitled "Open the Door, Richard." Lightfoot Solomon Michaux was the first black evangelist to regularly appear on network television on the religion program ELDER MICHAUX/DUM/1948-49. The program HAPPY PAPPY was the first variety talent show to feature an all-black cast. Telecast over WENR-TV Chicago, Illinois on April 1, 1949, the show starred Master of Ceremonies, Ray Grant and his guests the Four Vagabonds and the Modern Modes. The sitcom AMOS 'N' ANDY/CBS/1951-53 was the first television series to feature an all-Negro cast which included Spencer Williams, Jr. as Andrew "Andy" Hogg Brown and Alvin Chidress as Amos Jones. The program was later condemned by the NAACP for its stereotypical characterizations of blacks. Subsequently, the program was pulled off the air and has since rarely been released for syndication. In 1955 Terry Carter from the sitcom YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH/CBS/1955-59 (which became THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW) played Pvt. Sugarman, a black member of Bilko's otherwise all-white platoon who later was well known as Dennis Weaver's sidekick Sgt. Joe Broadhurst, on MCCLOUD/NBC/1970-77. THE NAT "KING" COLE SHOW/NBC/1956-57 was the first variety program to be hosted by a black performer. Unfortunately, the lack of interest by sponsors to underwrite the program and the prejudiced position of many southern affiliates forced the program to fail, despite the help of many top stars in the industry who offered to appear on the program without pay. Newscaster Mel Goode was the first African-American news journalist seen on TV when he broadcast from the United Nations for ABC in August, 1962. Max Robinson later became the first black anchorman for a major network when he joined ABC news in 1978. In 1963, the New York chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality persuades Lever Bros. to air a network commercial featuring an African-American, a spot for Wisk detergent that shows a black boy and white boy at play. Cicely Tyson was the first black actress to have a continuing role in a dramatic series. She was chosen by George C. Scott to be his social worker assistant on the program EAST SIDE/WEST SIDE/CBS/1963-64. Raymond St. Jacques became the first black actor to become a regular on a western series. During the 1965-66 season of the RAWHIDE/CBS/1959-66, he was featured as cattle drover Solomon King, who chased those little doggies along the trails from San Antonio, Texas to Sedalia, Kansas in 1860s. Bill Cosby was the first black actor to star in a continuing dramatic role on a television show. He costarred with Robert Culp as espionage agents who posed as globetrotting tennis players on the spy drama I SPY/NBC/1965-68. AMOS 'N' ANDY was a forerunner who claimed this distinction, however there character were portrayed in a negative stereotypical manner, whereas Bill Cosby was a positive role model devoid of any shuffling, submissive, loudmouth, lazy or low IQ characteristics which pervaded many portrayals in the past. Singer Diahann Carroll became the first black actress to star in her own comedy series as a widowed nurse, Julia Baker on JULIA/NBC/1968-71. Ethel Waters/Louise Beavers actually held this title, however, that role was of a second banana, stereotypical domestic helper Beulah, TVs favorite black maid on the sitcom BEULAH/ABC/1950-53. In 1984, Diahann Carroll accomplished another first in her career, she became the first black "Bitch" in the role of Dominique Deveraux on DYNASTY/ABC/1981-89 beginning with the 1984-87 seasons. In 1970 Gail Fisher, in her role as Peggy Fair, a girl-Friday on the detective drama MANNIX/CBS/1967-75 was the first black woman to receive an Emmy award (Outstanding Performance by an actress in a supporting role in a drama). Flip Wilson was the first black performer to achieve status as host of his own successful comedy variety hour THE FLIP WILSON SHOW/NBC/1970-74. Teresa Graves, former LAUGH-IN comedienne (1969-70) starred as TVs first black policewoman Christie Love, an undercover officer working for the Special Investigations Divisions of the L.A.P.D. on the police drama GET CHRISTIE LOVE/ABC/1974-75. The game show MUSICAL CHAIRS/CBS/1975 was the first time a black man emceed a network game show. Adam Wade had contestants trying to identify missing lyrics in a song. The miniseries ROOTS (January 23-30, 1977) adapted from the best selling novel written by black author Alex Haley followed several generations of a black family in America from slavery to freedom. It attracted the largest audience in television history. The sequel miniseries ROOTS: THE NEXT GENERATION (1979) traced the progress of family members into the 20th century. Max Robinson, hired by ABC in 1978 was the first black network news anchor. He died December 20, 1988 (age of 49) in Washington, D.C. hospital from complication of AIDS. Charlayne Hunter Gault was one of the first black women to anchor a national newscast. She has been with the PBS news program MACNEIL-LEHRER since 1978. The first black-owned UHF television station was WGPR-Detroit. The first black-owned VHF station was WAEO-Rhinelander, Wisconsin, later purchased in 1979 by Jasper Williams (of Seaway Corporation) and a consortium of black businessmen. Black TV executive Clara McLaughlin was the first black woman to own a television station. Mother of two and wife of Richard McLauglin, an Ob-Gyn physician, Clara controlled 53% of East Texas Television network which was 80% minority controlled. In 1982, she purchased the CBS affiliate station KLMG-TV (valued at 12 million) in Longview which went on the air in fall of 1984. Other properties included stations KLNL-TV in Nacogdoches, KLPH-TV in Paris and KLDS-TV in Denison. Lola Falana was the first major black star to sign a long term contract for a daytime soap opera series CAPITOL in December 1984. The first black actress to play a major daytime role was Ellen Holly who played Carla Hall Scott on ONE LIFE TO LIVE/ABC/1968+.  The SOUL TRAIN MUSIC AWARDS was the first televised awards ceremony to pay exclusive homage to black producers, songwriters and recording artists in the musical industry. It debuted March 23, 1987. The SOUL TRAIN music program hosted by Don Cornelius first aired in 1971. Arsenio Hall was the first black to host a successful late-night show THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW/SYN/1989-94. The sitcom THE PJs/FOX/1999 starring Eddie Murphy was the first black animated puppet series to air on primetime television. FORTUNE DANE/ABC/1986 starring Carl Weathers as Fortune Dane, a black police detective turned troubleshooter for the lady mayor of a West Coast metropolis was the first dramatic series with a black man in an independent lead role. Avery Brooks later starred in the detective drama A MAN CALLED HAWK/ABC/1989 about Hawk, an enigmatic man with espionage connections (Avery Brooks later starred in the lead role of the science fiction series STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE/SYN/1993-97 as Benjamin Sisko, the Commander of space station Deep Space Nine). See also - ETHNIC GROUPS: " African-Americans " External Links
Nat King Cole
Created in 1872, what was the name of the world’s First National Park?
The Golden Age Of Blacks In Television: The Late 1960s The Golden Age Of Blacks In Television: The Late 1960s "Golden Age" is a term to label that period in the history of a nation, movement, artistic medium or the like during which its greatest achievements were realized. It is not an absolute term since it does not intend to describe the best possible epoch. That being the case, there can be no doubt that for African Americans in television, the last half of the 1960s was a Golden Age. Speaking in July 1964, Frank Stanton, president of CBS, called upon broadcasters to launch a "mighty and continuing editorial crusade" in support of civil rights. In an address to the National Broadcast Editorial Conference of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Stanton called for commitment and advocacy. President Lyndon B. Johnson having recently signed the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1964, Stanton spoke now of the "pivotal point in our history" and of the need for television to utilize its "editorial strength boldly, imaginatively and with insight and wisdom." This was a significant speech for it revealed the sensitivity and involvement many TV executives felt toward the civil rights movement, and toward the fact that the government and the nation supported racial reform. Stanton suggested this when he directed broadcasters to "use their 5,000 voices heard on 156 million radio sets and 61 million television sets, in a mighty continuing editorial crusade to make this new law work." In part, the changing complexion of TV in the late 1960s was a reflection within the industry of the changes wrought by the great social and legal movement that was the push for civil rights. Until this date there had been few sponsored network shows headed by black actors. Serious entertainers such as Billy Daniels in 1952 and Nat King Cole in 1956-1957 had failed to gain or maintain popularity. The only successful programs, Beulah and Amos ‘n’ Andy, may have amused enough people to keep them viable for several seasons, but they resurrected minstrel-show stereotypes thought by many to have been abandoned following World War II. 1960s Series Featuring Blacks as Stars, Co-Stars, or Continuing Characters Sing-Along with Mitch (1961-1966) The Lawrence Welk Show (1964-1971) Rawhide (1965) The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1973) The Silent Force (1970-1971) Now, in the second half of the 1960s, there were more than two dozen programs featuring black actors as leading characters, or in prominent, regular supporting roles. As in most of commercial TV, many of the series achieved limited success and were quickly canceled. Several programs, however, were ratings favorites and lasted for years. It is important, too, that relative to their counterparts in earlier decades, the shows in this period were practically free of racial stereotyping. The above list indicates the scope of network programming featuring African-American stars in this Golden Age. As it affected the history of blacks in American television, the most crucial series in the latter half of the 1960s was I Spy. The program premiered in 1965 and co-starred Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. It was clearly intended to capitalize on the popular interest in espionage dramas created by Sean Connery's success in several James Bond feature films, and by The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a successful TV series of the previous season. I Spy related the exploits of two secret agents operating around the world to protect U.S. national interests. But unlike other spy shows on network TV—Honey West, The Avengers, Secret Agent, as well as The Man from U.N.C.L.E.—this program mixed its international intrigue with a slight touch of American wit. This was because of the presence of Bill Cosby. I Spy was the first network dramatic series to star a minority actor. Not since the demise of Harlem Detective in 1954 had television attempted to feature a black detective hero. And Harlem Detective, of course, was a local show in New York City, not a network production. When I Spy premiered, NBC officials seemed pleased that only three stations—in Savannah and Albany, Georgia, and Daytona Beach, Florida—refused to carry the show. It was seen, however, on 180 other stations covering 96 percent of the country. The casting of Bill Cosby was a bold decision by producer Sheldon Leonard. While Culp came to the series as a veteran television actor who had starred in a Western program of moderate success, Trackdown, Cosby was a story-telling comedian whose greatest exposure on TV had been on Johnny Carson's Tonight program. Cosby was not only an unknown dramatic quantity, his role could have been played by a white man. Casting Cosby as Alexander Scott, the tennis trainer and traveling companion of Culp's character, fellow agent Kelly Robinson, broke the color line as had no series in TV history. Cosby proved uniquely qualified for the part. His talent for subtle comedy was matched by a dramatic skill which allowed him to range with apparent ease between emotions of patriotism and self-doubt, romance and intrigue. Cosby was successful in the series. During the three seasons I Spy was on the air, he won three Emmy awards as the most outstanding actor in a continuing dramatic role. And he was popular with audiences. According to a TVQ performer-study by the Home Testing Institute in 1966, Cosby was one of the most popular stars in video—ranking first with children twelve to seventeen years of age, third with those eighteen to thirty-four years of age, and tying for eighth with the total audience. Ironically, the program's ratings did not match Cosby's triumphs. Credit must go to NBC for maintaining the series for three years when its highest seasonal rating was twenty-ninth place, a position attained in its second year. During the other two seasons, it failed to finish among the top thirty-five. As well as being the first network drama with an African-American star, I Spy was a landmark program for blacks in other respects. Alexander Scott was placed solidly beyond the borders of the United States, swept up in the dynamics of world affairs. Often filmed in foreign locations, the weekly drama unfolded in places like Hong Kong, Kyoto, and Mexico City—and in countries like Morocco, Greece, and Italy. In one program shot in Greece, the picture of Bill Cosby walking amid the ruins of the Parthenon, symbol of the Western democracy first nurtured in ancient Athens, was a powerful testimony to the nature of the entire series. For black and white viewers, it was an educational experience to see an African-American hero operating constructively abroad in the service of the United States. Cosby's character was always equal to his encounters with foreign agents, heads of state, beautiful women, and would-be-murderers. He was unlike Shaft, Superfly, and other exaggerated "superspade" characters developed in the so-called "blaxploita­tion" films of the early 1970s. Alexander Scott was a real, mature human character—able to feel and express emotions historically forbidden to black characters in mainstream entertainment media. In an early episode, Cosby actually kissed a Japanese woman, a revolutionary act that was well beyond the historic perimeters established for blacks in television. More intimate still was Cosby's part in the episode, "Laya," aired September 25, 1967. Here Alexander Scott fell in love with an enemy agent portrayed by Janet MacLachlan. While mainstream film, radio, and TV traditionally ruled out physical expressions of interracial romance, embracing, kissing and other demonstrations of affection were also proscribed between black men and women. Thus, when Scott ro­manced Laya, touching, caressing, and kissing her, another barrier to black social and artistic expression was shattered. I Spy was also an important program for other black actors. Many African-American performers played dramatic roles in the series. Among them were Eartha Kitt, Barbara McNair, Greg Morris, and Nancy Wilson. These guest stars often appeared in nontraditional parts. Diana Sands, for example, portrayed an Israeli agronomist. Ivan Dixon and Cicely Tyson played African royalty caught up in the propaganda war between East and West. And Leslie Uggams was an active part of a Communist conspiracy in Italy. Directions in TV programming tend to relate to the values popular in American political life. To a great degree the slow but inexorable folding of blacks into television in the early 1960s was a reflection of President Kennedy's activist and reformist mentality. And as Kennedy found support in public opinion, out of their need to placate government and please audiences, network and production executives began to respond with relevant programming. During the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson the cause of civil rights gained further governmental support. Succeeding the assassinated East Coast liberal Kennedy, Johnson was the first American president from a Confederate state (Texas) since An­drew Johnson a century earlier. Yet, LBJ was even more supportive of civil rights than his predecessor. Johnson envisioned a "Great Society," a reordering of social values to ensure minority rights and economic opportunity through the massive intervention of the federal government. New bureaus were created, and new programs were enacted in Johnson's "War on Poverty." New measures to protect black voting rights in the South were passed by a Congress that the president seemed to control. As an heir to the legacy of American Progressivism, Johnson was forging his Great Society with the same fervor and vision with which Franklin D. Roosevelt had shaped the New Deal. This was a time of intense reevaluation of racial attitudes. From the outpouring of white support for civil rights legislation to the self-realization experienced by many African Americans, the late 1960s was a time of "black is beautiful." There were aca­demic expressions of the new era, from black studies curricula and the rewriting of history to include strategic African-American personalities, to the training and employment of great numbers of black instructors. Culturally, the reevaluation was noticeable in such matters as the new sense of brother- and sisterhood among blacks, increased participation by blacks in inter­collegiate and professional sports, the creation of a "black hand­shake," and the disuse of the terms "Negro" and "colored" and the substitution of "black" and "Afro-American" and, eventually, “African American.” It was in this atmosphere that the Golden Age was achieved by blacks in television. Not all productions featuring African Americans were successful in TV. Unlike I Spy, for instance, The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show was a disaster. As innovative as was Bill Cosby's dramatic series, Davis’ series was the first musical variety program hosted by a black entertainer since The Nat King Cole Show was canceled a decade earlier. Certainly, headliners such as Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte had hosted specials since then, but in January 1966, Davis fronted his own program on the NBC network. And although it lasted only four months before being dropped, it established a model for programming later filled with varying degrees of success by Flip Wilson, Redd Foxx, Pearl Bailey, George Kirby, Bill Cosby, Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen, The Jackson Five, and Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. In critical terms, Davis' program was a failure. From the beginning Davis was hampered by contractual problems emanating from a previous arrangement with ABC. The rival network allowed him to host the premier show, but then compelled him to miss the next four telecasts. The show also lacked a national sponsor and was scheduled on Friday nights opposite such hit series as Gomer Pyle, USMC (the second most popular show of the season); Hogan's Heroes (ranked number nine that year); and The Addams Family. Although the program later improved its presentation, reviews of its premier telecast on January 7 were less than complimentary. Variety panned the program for its "shoddy production values—ranging from dull, cheap sets to sloppy editing and dubbing—or unimaginative scripting, feeble scoring and a weak song catalogue." And Cleveland Amory in TV Guide later criticized the program for its undistinguished production values, adding that "though there were many things wrong with this show, there are many more things right with it—and it is getting better every week."' In its short run The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show opened the door for many black entertainers to gain national exposure. Some, like Diana Ross and the Supremes, Nancy Wilson, Leslie Uggams, and Diahann Carroll, were already well known because of TV and phonograph records. Others, such as the Nicholas Brothers and the Will Mastin Trio, were vintage performers seldom seen on television. And Davis introduced new talents—Lola Falana, Johnny Brown, George Kirby—whose careers would later flourish. Ultimately, The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show failed because of the inadequate ratings it received. In the ratings and share-of­audience figures—the guideposts by which television achievement is measured—Davis' program was unimpressive. While the show did attract millions of viewers, it did not appeal to sufficient millions to remain viable. This is not to suggest, however, that such measurements were accurate indicators. Various minorities and social groups often criticized A. C. Nielsen, Arbitron, Pulse, and the other market research companies which supplied the ratings. Among other charges, it was frequently suggested that these companies did not measure African-American viewers adequately, since an insufficient number of minority households was included in the measurement. While companies were quick to defend their figures and methods, by the end of the 1960s they did take steps to insure a broader representation by blacks and other racial minorities. Whatever the shortcomings of the industry ratings figures, they remained the criteria by which popularity and continuance were decided. And in the case of several programs with black stars, they revealed an unprecedented popular approval. Never in video history had three shows with black central characters en­joyed success simultaneously. But by the end of the decade the ratings showed this to be the case with Julia, The Bill Cosby Show, and The Flip Wilson Show. There is an aspect to most black performance in popular culture which is unique. Because there is comparatively little minority representation in radio, film, and television, and because each performance by an African American is regarded as a chance to make a statement about black social realities, each appearance takes on added weight. Since few African Americans have as yet enjoyed the recurring exposure granted to the stars of hit TV series, when the black actor does achieve such success he or she is vulnerable to special criticism. If a role seems too accepting of white social dominance, the star as well as the character he or she portrays may be attacked as too acquiescent. If the role is one of a middle-class suburban black, it may be assailed as too bourgeois and unsympathetic to inner-city "brothers" and "sisters." If the role involves no racial politics, it may be censured as not "black" enough. And if it is critical of social injustice, it may be assailed as hostile, radical, or heavy-handed. In effect, whenever a black entertainer appeared in the late 1960s, he or she was expected to represent all African Americans, embodying the panorama of black life from ghetto to suburb. Because of its patent failure to do this, no successful black series was more controversial than Julia. As played by Diahann Carroll, Julia Baker was the most assimilated black character ever to appear in the U.S. mass media. Beyond the stereotyped mammies and maids of early TV, Julia was everything that Beulah, Sapphire Stevens, Madame Queen, and Oriole were not. She was middle-class and beautiful. She spoke English perfectly. She was a liberated woman, a self-supporting professional nurse living in a racially integrated apartment building. As a war widow, moreover, she was responsibly raising a wholesome "little man" son in a homey environment. Julia made no pretense of dealing with contemporary social issues. Indeed, it studiously avoided them. A weekly visit with the Bakers involved the same simple problems encountered for decades on such shows as I Love Lucy, Family Affair, and The Donna Reed Show. Although Julia eventually coiffed her hair in an Afro and had black boyfriends played by Paul Winfield and Fred Williamson, the series refused to be topical. If there were racial references, they were one-line gags such as the question by her employer, a white doctor: "Have you always been a Negro, or are you just trying to be fashionable?" More typical of the series was the following telephone dialogue between Julia and her seven-year-old son, Corey, played by Marc Copage: Corey: It's me, Mom. Julia: And just who are you, sir? Corey: Your son. Corey: He's the only son you've got, aren't I? Julia: Can you prove you're Corey Baker? Corey: Just a minute, I'll go check in the mirror. [musical interlude] It's me all right. Julia: Are you sure this is the very same Corey Baker who's going to get on a plane tonight with his mother and fly all the way to Kansas for a vacation? Corey: Yeh, and I just wanted to know if Earl J. Wagedorn can come with us. Julia: Oh, Corey. Julia could not have emerged at a less fortuitous time. With racial frustrations at a peak and with urban police often in a veri­table state of war with inner-city rioters, the comfortable image of black success on Julia was in stark juxtaposition to the images seen on local and national newscasts. There was no H. Rap Brown, or SNCC, or Poor People's March in the world of nurse Baker. Instead, in the words of Carroll, Julia Baker was a "white Negro," the overly good, overly integrated fantasy projection of white writers acting, they felt, in a manner sensitive to decades of TV prejudice. Carroll best summarized this situation when in 1968 she told an interviewer: With black people right now, we are all terribly bigger than life and more wonderful than life and smarter and better—because we are still proving. For a hundred years we have been prevented from seeing ourselves and we're all overconcerned and overreacting. The needs of the white writer go to the su­perhuman being. At the moment we're presenting the white Negro. And he has very little Negroness.' From the time it premiered in the Fall of 1968 until it was canceled in mid-1971, Julia was the focal point of criticism. Blacks ascribed a range of negatives to the series. Because the central character was female and husbandless, some felt it con­tinued the matriarchal stereotype—the emasculating anti-male pattern of traditional prejudice. Others felt it was unrepresentative of social reality and, therefore, subversive to the aims and methods of the civil rights movement. To others the program was a sellout intended, now that Richard M. Nixon was President of the United States, to assuage white consciences and make the curtailment of social programs and the repression of riotous ghetto dwellers palatable to white society. Many whites also felt uncomfortable with Julia. Because it was produced by whites, the series seemed patronizing to blacks—a saccharine projection of the "good life" to be achieved by those blacks who did not riot, who acted properly, and worked within the system. Producer-creator Hal Kanter might protest that "this is not a civil rights show. What we're driving at is escapist entertainment, not a sociological document." But the fact remained that given the added social implications present in all black performance, Julia could not be just another situation comedy. Despite all these conflicting pressures, Julia was well received by viewers. It was the first black-starred series since Amos n' Andy seventeen years earlier to score well in the Nielsen rat­ings. It was the seventh most popular show in its premier season. In its second season it was ranked twenty-eighth. During its best year, Julia weekly reached an average of more than 14 million homes. Sharing much of the same formula as Julia was The Bill Cosby Show, which ran for two years, 1969-1971. It, too, featured a unmarried black character as its lead, as Cosby portrayed Chet Kincaid, a high school track coach and a bachelor. Similar to Julia Baker, Kincaid was middle-class, professional, and educated. Like Julia, moreover, The Bill Cosby Show placed its central character in an integrated environment. Nonetheless, Cosby’s series was obviously different. From the opening credits which featured Quincy Jones' earthy rhythms as background to Cosby's own soulful groans and jive lyrics, viewers were assured that although the show projected life in racial harmony, this program was extracted from the black experience, and possessed an esoteric quality African Americans alone could understand. On the surface Chet Kincaid handled the problems faced by other heroes of situation comedy: helping a friend to quit smoking, trying to settle an argument between an aunt and uncle, helping an intoxicated magician rearrange his life, dealing with personal jealousy over a coy girlfriend, trying to recruit a promising athlete to join the track team. Kincaid shook hands in a traditional way, never spoke in slang terms, and seemed equally at ease with wealthy whites and poor blacks. But there was a black ambiance to The Bill Cosby Show that was missing in Julia. Rather than a "white Negro," Kincaid was black and self-confident. He might be pictured with a Ray Charles record album, or with a photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the wall of his apartment. He courted attractive black women and worked with underprivileged children. White characters on the program were frequently stereotyped, as were his teaching colleagues—the sloppy and absent-minded Mr. Cutter and the intractable Mrs. Drucker, a shrewish woman hostile to male assertiveness. From the jazz musical score which occurred throughout the show, to the Afro coiffure and casual dress which typified Kincaid's appearance, the series was a statement about black life, an endorsement of the middle-class, educated black man who has not deserted the inner-city but moves gracefully be­tween both worlds. Through his character, Cosby served to defang the contemporary familiar image of riotous blacks. He also suggested to minority viewers still in poverty that they were not forgotten by those who had obtained an education and credentials to operate in the wider, primarily white society. The Bill Cosby Show was not a "black" show in the sense of attempting to project the harsh realities of African-American life. During its first season, while Cosby did much to bring minority workers into the craft and labor unions servicing the program, only one episode was written by a black writer. Further, because it was necessary to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, the program could not hope to show a discomfiting image to its viewers. So, with a cast integrated with blacks, whites, Asians, and Latinos, Cosby told an interviewer that the series sought to tell "an American story." According to Cosby, who was also executive producer of the series: "I'm aware that the show will have a negative meaning for people who are really militant about any story with a black person in it—black viewers included. But you can still pick a guy's pocket while he's laughing, and that's what I hope to do." Despite the pattern of success established by I Spy, Julia, and The Bill Cosby Show, not all series featuring black stars were widely accepted. Barefoot in the Park was a black situation comedy which lasted only thirteen weeks in the fall of 1969. It starred Scoey Mitchlll and Tracy Reed as a young middle-class couple living in a New York City apartment and struggling through the first years of marriage. The series had adequate supporting characters played by Thelma Carpenter and Nipsey Russell, and it was based on Neil Simon's hit Broadway play and motion picture. Nevertheless, Barefoot in the Park was a TV failure. Even before it premiered, trade papers reported dissension on the set between actors, directors, and producers. Further, the comedy in the series was uninspired, and the image of an attractive young couple kissing and joking their way through married life was already an overused format. Equally ill-fated was The Leslie Uggams Show, a musical vari­ety program that failed in the fall of 1969. The show featured Uggams as a singer, dancer, and host to guest stars. She also appeared weekly in a running skit called "Sugar Hill," in which she and Lincoln Kilpatrick played a middle-class black couple putting up with each other—as well as with her mother, brother, and sister. Intended by CBS as a replacement for the controversial and canceled Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, the variety show lasted only three months. Its demise was due in part to Uggams' limited experience. As a singer on Sing-Along with Mitch for several years she was a creditable performer, but she was neither a compelling comedy actress nor a variety show host. Further, resentment generated by the cancellation of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour practically guaranteed failure for whatever program replaced it. As well as those programs featuring African-American stars as central characters, by the late 1960s there were several important series with blacks in co-starring or supporting roles. Clearly responding to the political, social, and economic dynamics of the time, the networks and production companies in unprecedented fashion brought black talents into highly visible roles in television. These roles covered a broad range of characterizations, some familiar, some inventive. One of the major developments of the period was a return to the African locale as a setting for continuing series. Not since the days of Ramar of the Jungle and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle—both children's shows from the early 1950s—had a program set its white champions in the jungles and savannahs of Africa. Daktari concerned the activities of a white veterinarian working in East Africa to protect indigenous animal life. During the three-year history of the series, Hari Rhodes played a zoologist and assistant to the central character. Cowboy in Africa dealt with a white American rodeo star hired to bring modern ranching techniques to a large ranch in Kenya. The only black recurring character in this program was a ten-year-old native boy portrayed by Gerald Edwards. These programs shared a familiar theme: the superiority of technological Western civilization over the backwardness of African society. Since the imperialistic nations took up the "white man's burden" in the nineteenth century, the image of civilized white people encountering black "heathens" who were "half-devil and half-child" was familiar in literature—and later in film and radio. In TV in the late 1960s, it reached its greatest realization in Tarzan. Tarzan was an anachronism. In the midst of the African-American movement toward fuller civil rights, here was a picture of a Caucasian hero single-handedly bringing peace and justice to the "dark continent." At a time when former African colonies were independent and influential nations, the picture of actor Ron Ely in a loin cloth walking as the white champion among dark-skinned natives was racially disparaging and patronizing. Certainly, the program gave employment to talented but rarely utilized black actors, including William Marshall, Roy Glenn, Woody Strode, Brock Peters, Raymond St. Jacques, and Yaphet Kotto. But there was something unsettling about distinguished African-American actors speaking in broken English or wearing Hollywood conceptions of native African clothing. Nowhere was this misuse of talent more visible than in "The Convert," a Tarzan episode that aired January 12, 1968. The story concerned three Roman Catholic nuns, played by Diana Ross and the Supremes (Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong), who attempted to persuade a stubborn village leader, portrayed by James Earl Jones, to allow construction of a hospital to serve his jungle tribesmen. The plot allowed the popular rock-and-roll group to sing two songs—"The Lord Helps Those Who Help Themselves" and "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore." Predictably, the story ended on a happy note. In the final scenes Jones announced that he had changed his mind and would allow the hospital to be built. Then, Ross and the Supremes joyfully began to teach him and his tribesmen to sing "Michael." Knowing that another African problem had been solved, Tarzan walked off into the jungle with a smile of satisfaction. Ironically, even in its fictional entertainment network TV could present a more accurate image of Africa. "The Third Choice," an episode of The Name of the Game telecast March 7, 1968, exemplified this. The program depicted Ossie Davis, Janet MacLachlan, and Roscoe Lee Browne as deeply involved in African revolutionary politics, caught between the West and the East in an emerging new nation. From the opening scenes filmed in Lagos, Nigeria, this program was at odds with the simplicity of Tarzan. Viewers saw a modern Africa epitomized in a large coastal city with high-rise buildings, factories pouring out smoke, large ships in the harbor, modern bridges, railroads, and automobiles. The political dimension of the story also projected a more authentic interpretation of African society than that seen in the struggle between the Supremes and James Earl Jones. Stories like this—and others seen intermittently on adventure series such as Mission: Impossible and It Takes a Thief—suggest that U.S. television was capable of escaping outmoded stereotypes when dealing with third world nations and peoples. There may have been examples of network and producer insensitivity, but the fact remains that in this Golden Age blacks were used frequently—often in roles unfamiliar to African-American actors. In the wake of Bill Cosby's success in a dra­matic series, several blacks appeared in police and private-detective series. Where in the past they might have been portrayed as victims or perpetrators of crime, blacks were now part of the law enforcement process. Whether it was Clarence Williams III as Linc Hayes, the reformed Watts rioter, now an undercover police officer on The Mod Squad, or Gail Fisher as Peggy Fair, the secretary and helper on the private detective series, Mannix, audiences rarely had seen blacks in so flattering a light. And African-American heroes worked for all types of legal agencies. On Mission: Impossible, Greg Morris portrayed Barney Collier, an electronics expert and member of the team of CIA-like agents who roamed the world thwarting evil developments in foreign governments. In N.Y.P.D., Robert Hooks was a police detective operating in New York City. In Hawk the location was also New York City, but here Wayne Grice played Detective Carter, the partner on the night beat of a police lieutenant of Iroquois ancestry, John Hawk (Burt Reynolds). Hari Rhodes abandoned his lab gown and zoologist's role on Daktari, and appeared now as a big-city district attorney on The Protectors, one of three programs composing NBC's The Bold Ones series. Related to this format also was Don Mitchell's characterization of Mark Sanger, the assistant and bodyguard to Raymond Burr's police consultant heroics on Ironside. By the late 1960s, it was apparent that to be representative and appealing to a wide audience, TV series required black characters. This was most obvious in programs which spotlighted groups of Americans confronting various types of conflict and misunderstandings. Ivan Dixon played Sgt. Kinchloe, one of the soldiers held humorously in Stalag 13 on Hogan's Heroes. The New People—a short-lived series about a group of young American men and women stranded on a deserted island and forced to establish a new social order based on their 1960s values —featured David Moses as one of those struggling to make reality out of theory. The evening soap opera Peyton Place was integrated during the 1968-1969 season, when Percy Rodrigues and Ruby Dee, as Dr. and Mrs. Harry Miles, and Glynn Turman as their son joined the cast. And the ill-fated Matt Lincoln program, starring Vince Edwards as a psychiatrist, featured two blacks, Felton Perry and Chelsea Brown, as his assistants. Blacks also entered genres traditionally closed to them. Angelo Rutherford's role as the young black friend, Willie, on Gentle Ben took blacks into family-oriented adventure programming. In the science fiction series Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols was the only recurring female and black member of the cast. Her role as the attractive Lt. Uhura, the communications officer of the starship Enterprise, was a sexual as well as racial breakthrough. Similarly, a black character was included in the science fantasy series, Land of the Giants. Struggling to survive in a world where everything except the crew of an American spaceship was twelve times larger than on earth, Don Marshall played the copilot of the aircraft which had crash-landed on a foreign planet in the year 1983. During the flowering of the Western in the late 1950s and early 1960s, blacks seldom appeared on the scores of series on television. In less than a decade, however, matters began to change. During the fall of 1965, Raymond St. Jacques appeared as Simon Blake, a drover on the faltering Rawhide series. St. Jacques appeared for only four months before the seven-year-old program was canceled. Between 1967 and 1970, however, Frank Silvera portrayed Don Sebastian Montoya, a distinguished Mexican nobleman and father-in-law of John Cannon, the central character on High Chaparral. In 1969, moreover, Roosevelt Grier, the former football star for the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams, became a regular on the last season of Daniel Boone. Cast as Gabe Cooper, Grier portrayed a runaway slave who lived with the Tuscarora Indians and was accepted by them as Chief Canawahchaquaoo. Considerably more significant, however, was the co-starring role of Otis Young on The Outcasts. During the 1968-1969 season, Young played Jemal David who, with a white partner, Earl Corey, played by Don Murray, was a bounty hunter in the post-Civil War wild West. Of all TV series featuring African-American actors, The Outcasts was the most intense and explosive. David was no socially adapted Chet Kincaid or patriotic Barney Collier. Bitter about the slavery experience and hostile to racism and the brutalization of blacks, he was sensitive and combative. While the series was set in the frontier days of the nineteenth century, its attitudes were clearly reflective of racial sensibilities in the late 1960s. David's distrust of whites occasionally included even his partner Corey. In an episode entitled "Gid­eon," aired February 24, 1969, those feelings exploded after Corey met and reminisced with an old ex-slave, Gideon (played by Roscoe Lee Browne), who was once owned by Corey's father. The shuffling and servility shown by Gideon was offensive to David. And Corey's apparent pleasure in meeting the old man triggered a hostile scene between the partners. David: Listen, Corey, I don't need you to stand up for me. I can fight my own fights. Corey: What's the matter with you today? You're touchier than a lizard with sunburn. First you start pickin' on old Gideon, then you start callin' me "Massa Earl," like some endman in a riverboat show. David: It wasn't meant to be funny. I just ain't interested in hearin' about him or any of your other used -to-be darkies. Corey: And I'm not responsible for what a man calls me. David: Oh, is that a fact? He just dreamed it up all by himself one day, decided that "Massa Earl" sounded better than "Mr. Corey" or "Earl" or any other way a man talks to a man. In many respects The Outcasts was revolutionary. It challenged the traditional formula of the TV Western, treating innovative themes such as the place of black cavalry units—the so-called "Buffalo Soldiers—in the history of the West; the brotherhood between two oppressed racial minorities, blacks and Indians; racial prejudice on the frontier; and life on a chain gang controlled by brutal and bigoted guards. Furthermore, never had TV projected a tough black champion in the Old West. But as such, David was forced to face such soul-searching issues as being falsely accused of having killed a white woman; coping with a hooded night rider intent on pillaging the countryside in revenge for the Confederate loss in the Civil War; and temporar­ily becoming the sheriff of a racially prejudiced town. The series also broadened the expression of black manhood on television. In one episode, David risked his life to save a white child from death. In another, he fell in love with a black woman, only to discover she was involved in a robbery scheme master­minded by a white man. In still another episode, he was compelled to deal with an old black servant who became angry when David ate at the table with whites and "acted like a white man." The old man later explained that his own son had been murdered for acting like a white man. One of the most revolutionary scenes in the entire series occurred in "Gideon." It showed a black man unwrapping a long hunting knife and calmly plunging it into the chest of a white bounty hunter. Several years later a black writer, James Oliver Killens, recalled the impact of this incident upon one black viewer: One of the best shows I used to like was The Outcasts, and it wasn't too long before they cast it out and off the air. It had a feeling of truth to it somehow or other. I especially liked that time when Roscoe Lee Browne was on that show and killed that White man. That was beautiful. While film historians have spent much energy pointing out the emergence of the strong, macho black character so crucial to the blaxploitation films of the 1970s, Otis Young as Jemal David was clearly the first modern black hero to lash out at white society when he felt it to be oppressive or unjust. Long before the aggressive feature films like Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song (1971) and Shaft (1971), David as a central character in The Outcasts projected an image that was self-sufficient, virile, and threatening. Personally, Otis Young seems to have harbored as much distrust of white society as his character. TV Guide in 1969 reported that his refusal to cooperate with his producers—in one case, refusing to say the line, "Ain't nothin' like darkies for prayin' "—led to considerable tension on the set of The Outcasts. Young defended his editing of the script, noting that "the line is an insult to Negroes." In language reminiscent of Paul Robeson's defiance, Young continued: If this line went through, the next thing they'd have up there is Stepin Fetchit. If I compromised myself on this script, it would be a little easier next time, and in three or four years I'd wake up one morning and be a wealthy Negro who forgot who he was.... The thing that affected my decision about this line was my responsibility to Negroes in this country. White people think there's nothing like darkies for dancing, there's nothing like darkies for singing, and there's nothing like darkies for praying. Well, that's a lie. The segment of Negroes that is pray­ing instead of doing is dying off. We have a new Negro that hasn't even been to church. One of the things that has hung the Negro up is that he's been too busy praying in the white man's church. This has kept him under the hand of the white Establishment. Any Negro today who is praying instead of do­ing is a damn fool."' The Outcasts failed for several reasons, among them its poor scheduling opposite feature films on NBC and Mayberry, R.F.D. on CBS. Westerns, too, were no longer popular with TV viewers by the late 1960s. The program also failed because of the hostile quality of its black characterization. Although the product of white script writers, Jemal David was one of the most threatening black characters since director D. W. Griffith in 1915 introduced a black would-be rapist lusting after a white girl in the motion picture, Birth of a Nation. The image of a strong and assertive black male, which film historian Don Bogle has termed "the brutal black buck," had been absent from the mainstream of American popular culture until the appearance of the brooding, quick-tempered bounty hunter created by Otis Young. The Outcasts and Jemal David anticipated by three years the violent and intensely angry black males in feature films in the following decade. The rage apparent in the words and actions of Otis Young’s character suggests a militancy traditionally proscribed from network television. The pattern of excluding black anger had been established early in TV history with the banning of Paul Robeson from the medium. While the participatory perimeters of video had expanded since the days of Nat King Cole, the ideological boundaries remained intact. TV could adopt moderate per­formers like Diahann Carroll, Bill Cosby, and Sammy Davis, Jr. But there was still little place for those entertainers or characters, real or fictional, who brought strongly political perspectives to their performances. This is not to disparage those African-American talents who found success in television. It is to suggest, however, that American mass culture continued to operate as a conservative, assimilative force, seeking to maintain social stability while gradually merging people of differing backgrounds into the cultural main­stream. The process had worked effectively with the waves of immi­grants who had come to the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While they maintained vestiges of their ethnic cultures—dress, food, dance, music, secondary language skills, and observance of holidays—they eventually were Americanized and became socially indistinguishable from other citizens. American blacks, the offspring of reluctant immigrants who in earlier centuries were brought forcefully to the New World to be slaves, faced a different set of circumstances in the process of assimilation. Hampered by an institutional racism that stripped them of their African culture while disallowing their absorption into the mainstream of American social life, blacks had been kept historically rootless. To ensure their servility after the laws of slavery were abolished in the mid-nineteenth century, blacks were isolated, culturally circumscribed, and made objects of derision within the dominant white culture. In this way, American popular culture ensured second-class political status for the offspring of exslaves. The significance of the civil rights movement which flowered in the mid-1960s was that for legal, economic, political, and moral reasons, the dominant culture began to reevaluate its proscription against full participation by blacks. As never before in history, African Americans now had a chance to enter the social mainstream, to find educational and professional opportunity, and to achieve personal and familial satisfaction working within the system. Given this situation, it is obvious that an immoderate series such as The Outcasts could not survive on television. It is amazing that ABC even telecast the series. Beyond the limits of popular acceptability, its anger was out of harmony with the cultural process. Much more congruent with American cultural dynamics was the successful ABC series, Room 222. Better than any other program focusing on blacks in the Golden Age, Room 222 mirrored the ambiance of social change that was a part of the late 1960s, while operating within the boundaries of cultural possibility. In this regard, Room 222, and not The Outcasts, stands as the "best possible" black-starred show to emerge in the late 1960s. Room 222 was a schoolroom dramatic series set in urban Walt Whitman High School. It featured Lloyd Haynes as a compassionate teacher whose lessons in black history were often interrupted by the real-life problems of a racially-integrated student body. Stories dealt with issues affecting contemporary American teenagers: drug addiction, cheating on exams, sexual attitudes, recalcitrant and nonconformist students, insensitive teachers, limitations on student rights, as well as social issues such as women's liberation, consumerism, and the environmental crisis. Fre­quently, the program dealt specifically with racial themes: President Lincoln's racial views, tutoring a ghetto youngster, the varieties of prejudice, and the like. The program, however, did not have to approach racial problems directly to deliver its egalitarian point. The fact that Haynes, the main actor, was black, and that the prominently-displayed school counselor played by Denise Nicholas was also African American, made Room 222 a series with a reformist message. The sympathetic characters portrayed by Haynes and Nicholas delivered a positive statement about black middle-class success. In charge of young lives, here were responsible adults making all the right moves. The basic integrity and law-abiding nature of the African-American students in class also communicated a hopeful lesson about those struggling to leave the urban ghetto and enter the flow of American life. There was no rage here. The professionals in Room 222 had achieved. They were laboring now so that black youngsters could follow them to the American Dream. The black heroes were allowed vestiges of African-American culture—Afros, colorful clothing, and a sensitivity toward younger "brothers" and "sisters" seeking equal opportunity. But the same central characters were well adjusted to the suit-and-tie regimentation of their careers and identities within the mainstream. Not simply principals in a TV series, these were role models of what "the good life"—a world of rational thought, attractive people, and financial sufficiency—offered for those who would abandon bitterness and work to overcome within the system. Despite the cancellation of The Outcasts and the success of Room 222 and Julia, and the others, anger was an integral part of black reality in the late 1960s. If the intensity of that anger were to be encountered authentically on television, it would not appear on entertainment shows. It would have to be seen in nonfiction TV, in that realm of news, documentary, and public service programming which—despite boundaries established early in the case of Paul Robeson—still had helped make the civil rights issue a problem of national scope.
i don't know
LM The first film Oscar winner to have both parents who both also won film Oscars?
Oscars fast facts Home » fastfacts » Oscars fast facts Oscars fast facts The shortest Oscar ceremony ever was the first, held in 1929; it lasted only about 15 minutes as all the winners had been announced three months earlier. The longest Oscar awards ceremony was in 2000, running for 4 hours and 16 minutes – beating a previous record by 16 minutes. Bob Hope has hosted the Oscars 18 times; Billy Crystal is in second place with 8 times. Tom Hanks is the youngest recipient of the Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received in 2002 at age 45. Kate Winslet received four Oscar nominations before reaching the age of 30. Elizabeth Taylor received four Oscar nominations before reaching the age of 28. Gone with the Wind, at 3 hours and 56 minutes, was the longest film to have won a Best Picture Oscar; it was also the first film in color to win Best Picture. The 1968 movie, War and Peace, was the longest film (431 minutes) to an Academy Award – for best Foreign picture. Julia Phillips was the first female producer to win Best Picture award, for The Sting (1973). The first female to win the Best Director award was Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008). Henry Fonda was first nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in 1941 for his role in The Grapes of Wrath but had to wait 41 years before he finally achieved a win in 1982 for his role in On Golden Pond. At 76, he is the oldest actor yet to have received the Best Actor award. The oldest actress to win an Oscar is Jessica Tandy – at 81 she won the Best Actress Oscar in 1990 for her performance in Driving Miss Daisy. Anthony Quinn’s performance as painter Paul Gaugin in Lust for Life (1956) is the shortest ever to win a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, his second Oscar. He was on screen for only 8 minutes. (He won a similar award in 1952 playing opposite Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan’s Viva Zapata!) The shortest-ever winning performance for Best Supporting Actress belongs to Beatrice Straight, who won an Oscar in 1976 for her 5 minutes 40 seconds appearance as devastated wife Louise Schumacher in Network. Dame Judi Dench won an Oscar in 1998 for less than 8 minutes of screen time playing Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love. The shortest-ever Best Actor Oscar-winning performance was awarded to David Niven in 1958, having appeared for only 15 minutes and 38 seconds in Separate Tables. The second-shortest winning appearance was made by Anthony Hopkins in 1992, for less than 16 minutes of screen time as Dr Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. In 1948, Jane Wyman won Best Actress award without uttering a word; she played the role of a deaf -mute person in the movie Johnny Belinda. The fewest lines actually spoken by an Oscar-winning actress won Patty Duke a Best Actress in a Supporting Role portraying the deaf and blind Helen Keller in the 1962 film The Miracle Worker. In the role she speaks only one word in the last scene: “Wah-wah” (for “water”). In 1993, Holly Hunter won a Best Actress Oscar for her role as a deaf person in the movie The Piano but she narrated a few scenes and does speak (although her face is covered) in the last scene of the film. The films with the most Oscar wins are Ben-Hur, Titanic and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, each winning 11 Oscars from 12, 14 and 11 nominations respectively. See more in the  lists of Oscar winners . In total, the Middle-earth series (The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003) – and the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) won 17 Oscars out of 33 nominations. William Wyler has directed more actors to Academy Award success than any other, with 34 nominations and 14 wins. Jack Nicholson leads the Best Actor Academy Award category with wins from 11 nominations, followed by Laurence Olivier, nominated 10 times and receiving one Best Actor award, and then Spencer Tracy with nine nominations resulting in two awards. Daniel Day-Lewis has won the most Best Actor awards, with 3 awards (1989, 2007, 2012). Meryl Streep had more Best Actress nominations than any other actress; 14 in total, leading to 3 awards. Katharine Hepburn received 12 nominations for Best Actress and won 4 Academy Awards. Shirley Temple is the youngest performer to receive an Academy Award; in 1934 she received a Special Award when she was only five years old. Groucho Marx was the oldest Academy Award winner – in 1973 he received a Honorary Award at the age of 83. The first posthumous Oscar winner was Sidney Howard, for the screenplay of Gone with the Wind. Mutiny on The Bounty (1935) was the only film to have had three nominees for Best Actor Oscars (Charles Laughton, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone) but won only the Best Picture award. The only tie for Best Actor was between Wallace Beery for The Champ and Fredric March for Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, in 1932. The only films to win Best Picture and Best Song are Gigi, Going My Way and Titanic. The first animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar was Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, in 1991. The award went to Silence of the Lambs but Beauty and the Beast won 2 Oscars: Best Original Score and Best Original Song. In 1937 Disney won a special Oscar for the first full-length animation: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Oscar families: Two families have three generations of Oscar winners in their ranks: The Huston family: Walter Huston won Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Treasure of Sierra Madre); John Huston won Best Director, The Treasure of Sierra Madre in 1948, and Anjlica Huston won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Prizzi’sHonorin 1985. The Hustons and the Coppolas are two families where the grandfather, father and daughter won Oscars. The Coppola family: Carmine Coppola won Best Original Dramatic Score, The Godfather in 1974; Francis Ford Coppola won Best Original Screenplay for Patron (1970), Best Adapted Screenplay, The Godfather (1970), Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, The Godfather: Part II (1974), and Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation won for Best Original Screenplay in 2004; Nicholas Cage, Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew, won Best Actor for his role in Leaving Las Vegas, in 1995. The Minnelli family: Liza Minnelli is the only Oscar winner with two Oscar winning parents: her mother Judy Garland, received a honorary Oscar as Outstanding Juvenile Performer for The Wizard of Oz and her father, Vincente Minnelli, won Best Director for Best Picture, Gigi (1958). The Epstein family: The only twins to win Oscars are Julius J Epstein and Philip G Epstein, who shared the Best Screenplay award s with Howard Koch for Casablanca (1942). 12 actors to win an Oscar for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Awards ceremony: Patty Duke playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962) Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938) Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941) Jason Robards for playing Benjamin Bradlee in All the President’s Men (1976) Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980) Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995) Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine (1996) Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000) Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001) Jennifer Connelly for playing Alicia Nash in Beautiful Mind (2001) Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006) The Academy Awards and Oscars are trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Updated: March 2013
Liza Minnelli
LS What is the name of the famous Opera House in Milan, opened in 1778?
1972 Academy Awards® Winners and History "The Godfather" Supporting Actress: EILEEN HECKART in "Butterflies Are Free", Jeannie Berlin in "The Heartbreak Kid", Geraldine Page in "Pete 'n' Tillie", Susan Tyrrell in "Fat City", Shelley Winters in "The Poseidon Adventure" Director: BOB FOSSE for "Cabaret", John Boorman for "Deliverance" , Francis Ford Coppola for "The Godfather" , Joseph L. Mankiewicz for "Sleuth", Jan Troell for "The Emigrants" There was a tremendous incongruity in the 1972 awards between the top two, front-running films: The Godfather (with ten nominations and only three wins) - Best Picture for producer Albert S. Ruddy, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Screenplay Adaptation (for Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola's brilliant re-working of Puzo's novel). Paramount's The Godfather told the epic story of the patriarchal, aging figurehead of a 'Mafia' dynasty who also served as 'godfather' to the New York Sicilian immigrants in the late 1940s - one of The Godfather's eleven nominations was removed, Best Music (Original Dramatic Score), when it was determined that Nino Rota's score had been used for a previous film Cabaret (with ten nominations and eight wins) - this film won many more Oscars - but not Best Picture. Cabaret's Oscars were for Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Actress (Minnelli), Best Supporting Actor (Grey), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Sound, and Best Scoring. It was a real surprise that The Godfather lost both the Best Director and Best Supporting Actor awards to Cabaret [Cabaret set a record - it had the most Oscar wins of any film without winning the Best Picture award. A Place in the Sun (1951) and Star Wars (1977) hold second place with six Oscar wins while failing to win Best Picture.] The classic musical-drama that revised the Broadway stage musical Cabaret (based on John Kander's hit musical taken from the Christopher Isherwood stories) was set in 1931 Germany - it used the cabaret night-club in Berlin as a cinematic device to tell the story of two young lovers and the political horrors of the encroaching, surrounding Nazi regime in the pre-World War II era The other three Best Picture nominees included: the English-dubbed The Emigrants (with four nominations and no wins) - the sad tale of impoverished farmers leaving Sweden in the mid 1880s to come to Minnesota for the promise of a better life in America. [The film was also nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film award in 1971. It was the third non-English language film to be nominated for Best Picture. It also set a record - 1972 was the only year in which a film, The Emigrants (1972) (a Best Picture nominee) and its sequel, The New Land (1972) (Best Foreign Language film nominee) were both nominated] director Martin Ritt's film of William Armstrong's adapted novel, Sounder (with four nominations and no wins) about the struggles of a rural, black sharecropper family in Depression-era Louisiana the exciting action film based on James Dickey's novel, Deliverance (with the fewest number of nominations - only three - and no wins) about a horrific, holiday weekend canoe trip down a southern river for four civilized professional men from Atlanta, who discover primal fear and alienation - and most remembered for its "Dueling Banjos" sequence. Four of the five directors of Best Picture nominees were also nominated for Best Director. The director of Best Picture-nominated Sounder was replaced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz who was nominated as director for Sleuth (with four nominations and no wins). Mankiewicz' last directed film, an adaptation of Anthony Shaffer's Tony-winning 1970 drama, was an intelligent, twisting, theatrical stage play/mystery and actor's showcase brought to the screen, a rivalry between a wealthy mystery novelist and his wife's hairdresser/lover, his romantic rival. Dancer/choreographer/ and director Bob Fosse (with his first of three career nominations) won the Best Director Oscar (his only Best Director win) for his exquisitely-directed Cabaret - it was his second film as director following his first musical Sweet Charity (1969). His film updated the Kurt Weill-Brecht world of The Threepenny Opera (and Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel), as well as borrowed from Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories. [As an interesting sidenote, Bob Fosse would be nominated two more times as Best Director - in 1974 (for Lenny) and 1979 (for All That Jazz), and both times, Fosse found himself in direct competition against the same Best Director nominee Francis Ford Coppola (for The Godfather, Part II (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979) ).] The other nominated directors were: John Boorman (with his first of two unsuccessful nominations) for his gripping, breath-taking direction of the shockingly-violent Deliverance Jan Troell for the first part of a two-part epic, The Emigrants (followed by The New Land) Francis Ford Coppola, a representative of the next generation of movie-makers, failed to win in the Best Director category. His three-hour Best Picture epic The Godfather skillfully and artfully brought Mario Puzo's novel to life. One of the film's most oft-quoted lines was: "Luca Brazzi sleeps with the fishes" -- referring to the fate of one of the Corleone family enforcers. [The film soon became the biggest box-office hit of all time, even surpassing Gone With The Wind (1939) and The Sound of Music (1965) .] For the first time in Academy history, three of the Best Actor and Best Actress nominees were black performers - Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson in Sounder, and Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues. (However, none of the trio of black 'actors' won.) Marlon Brando (with his sixth of eight career nominations) won his second Best Actor Oscar for his definitive screen role as the aged 'Mafia' chief Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather . [Robert DeNiro won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar two years later for playing the same character in a different film - The Godfather, Part II (1974) .] As George C. Scott had done two years earlier, Brando protested the on/off-screen treatment of Native Americans (through alleged American Indian spokeswoman and half native-American Sacheen Littlefeather, president of the Native American Affirmative Image Committee, who was dressed in feathers and buckskin) and declined the award. [Note: Her birth name was Maria Cruz, a B-film Mexican actress, and she had been named Miss American Vampire 1970. And she would soon afterwards appear in a pictorial in the October 1973 issue of Playboy Magazine.] The two major cast members of Sleuth were also nominated for Best Actor awards: Laurence Olivier (with his eighth of ten career nominations) as the snobbish detective-mystery novelist Andrew Wyke Michael Caine (with his second nomination) as his game-playing adversary Milo Tindle - a hair-salon chain owner who is having an affair with Wyke's estranged wife. [This is only one of three instances when a film's entire cast has been nominated - the other instances were Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1975).] Other Best Actor nominees were: Peter O'Toole (with his fifth of eight career nominations) as Jack - the insane 14th Earl of Gurney who believes he's either Jesus Christ or Jack the Ripper in director Peter Medak's satirical, British tragi-comedy cult film, The Ruling Class (the film's sole nomination) Paul Winfield (with his sole nomination) as black sharecropper Nathan Lee Morgan (Cicely Tyson's husband) who is sentenced to jail for stealing food for his family in Sounder Liza Minnelli (with her second and last career nomination) in her fourth adult film role won the Best Actress award for her star-making role in Cabaret as the free-spirited ex-patriate American Sally Bowles - a wild, starry-eyed and 'divinely decadent' singer/dancer in the Kit Kat Club, made memorable with a black bowler, mascara, and suspenders. Some interpreted her win as 'compensation' for the many Oscar losses that her mother, Judy Garland, experienced. The other Best Actress competitors included two black actresses (a first): Cicely Tyson (with her sole nomination) as sharecropper Rebecca Morgan in Sounder Diana Ross (with her sole nomination for her screen debut) as drug-addicted singing great Billie Holliday in director Sidney Furie's biopic Lady Sings the Blues (with five nominations and no wins) Also nominated were Maggie Smith (with her third nomination) as overbearing Aunt Augusta who travels across Europe in George Cukor's screen version of Graham Greene's comedy novel Travels With My Aunt (with four nominations and one win - Best Costume Design), and Liv Ullmann (with her first of two unsuccessful career nominations) as Swedish emigrant Kristina in The Emigrants. Both winners in the supporting categories were repeating their stage roles on the screen. The winner in the Best Supporting Actor category was the sinister, lewd, sexually-ambiguous and androgynous, sardonic, untrustworthy and impish emcee Joel Grey (with his sole career nomination!) as 'The Master of Ceremonies' in Cabaret - a personification of the decadence and decay in Nazi Germany. [Grey was reprising his Broadway role in his first film in eleven years.] Three of the co-stars of The Godfather were also nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category - all of them for the first time. [This was record-tying! - this was the first time since On The Waterfront (1954) that three performers from the same film were nominated together]: James Caan (with his first and sole nomination in a break-through role) as the Don's hot-headed, sexy and volatile son Sonny Corleone Al Pacino (with his first of eight career nominations and in his first major film) as intense Michael Corleone - the second son [Coincidentally, Pacino had more on-screen time than Best Actor winner Marlon Brando, and should have been nominated in the Best Actor category instead.] Robert Duvall (with his first of five career nominations and in his break-through role) as Tom Hagen, the Corleone's family's lawyer The last nominee was Eddie Albert (with his second and last unsuccessful career nomination) as Mr. Corcoran (Cybill Shepherd's father) in director Elaine May's version of Neil Simon's marital comedy, The Heartbreak Kid (with two nominations and no wins). The Best Supporting Actress category included nominees in films which were not major prize winners. The winner in the category was veteran Broadway actress Eileen Heckart (with her second of two career nominations) who recreated her stage role as Mrs. Baker - the concerned, over-possessive, domineering and overbearing San Francisco mother of blind, song-writing son Eddie Albert (who opposes her son's relationship with funky, next-door-neighbor Goldie Hawn) in director Milton Katselas' Butterflies are Free (with three nominations and one win - Best Supporting Actress). The other Best Supporting Actress nominees were: Jeannie Berlin (with her sole nomination) as Lila Kolodny - the nice Jewish girl (director Elaine May's real-life daughter) who faces abandonment on her honeymoon by husband Charles Grodin in The Heartbreak Kid Geraldine Page (with her fifth of eight career nominations) as Tillie's (Carol Burnett) bitchy friend and matchmaker Gertrude in director Martin Ritt's Pete 'n' Tillie (with two nominations and no wins) Susan Tyrell (with her sole nomination) as Oma - the alcoholic, temporary girlfriend of a boxing contender (Stacey Keach) in director John Huston's Fat City (the film's sole nomination) Shelley Winters (with her fourth and last career nomination) as Belle Rosen - a Jewish grandmother-passenger who saves Gene Hackman's life (and loses her own) in Irwin Allen's all-star cast/disaster film epic The Poseidon Adventure (with eight nominations and two wins - Best Song ('The Morning After') and a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects!) Never-nominated actor Edward G. Robinson (1893-1973) received an Honorary statuette posthumously, although he knew of the honor. He had died two months prior to the Oscars show. His widow, Jane Adler, accepted the award for Robinson ("who achieved greatness as a player, a patron of the arts and a dedicated citizen...in sum, a Renaissance man. From his friends in the industry he loves"), and read a speech that Robinson had written upon hearing of his honor a week before his death. He had experienced a memorable film career, in such films as Little Caesar (1930) , Double Indemnity (1944) , and Key Largo (1948). The most unlikely Oscar nomination in the history of the Academy Awards was this year's Best Original Song nomination of "Ben" from the grade-Z horror film Ben about killer rats. The title song was sung by 14 year-old child star Michael Jackson during the end credits and for the Oscar ceremony. The song, which won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, lost the Oscar to "The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure. Charlie Chaplin's film Limelight (1952) , made twenty years earlier, finally became eligible for Oscar consideration this year. According to the Academy's rules at the time, a movie could not be considered for an Academy Award until it had played in Los Angeles. When Limelight finally played at a theater in Los Angeles in 1972, it became eligible for an award. Chaplin was co-awarded the film's sole Oscar nomination and win - for Best Original Dramatic Score. It was Chaplin's ONLY competitive Academy Award win. Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Like Edward G. Robinson, win-less Rosalind Russell (after four unsuccessful Best Actress nominations in 1942, 1946, 1947, and 1958), accepted the Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Cinematographer Gordon Willis' work on the Best Picture winner, The Godfather , was completely overlooked. His first career nomination occurred almost a decade later for Zelig (1983), and he wasn't honored again until the Academy nominated him a third time - for one of his weakest efforts, The Godfather, Part III (1990) . Writer/star Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam and his performance as klutsy Bogey-film buff Allan Felix were overlooked in 1972, and so was Jon Voight's performance as Ed and Ned Beatty's role as chubby and assaulted Bobby Trippe in director John Boorman's exciting adventure film Deliverance . Never-nominated Howard Da Silva was ignored for his role as Benjamin Franklin in 1776, as were Alastair Sim (as apoplectic Bishop Lampton) and Arthur Lowe (as drinking butler Daniel Tucker) in The Ruling Class. And two actresses were un-nominated in Peter Bogdanovich's screwball comedy What's Up, Doc?: Madeline Kahn in her film debut as Ryan O'Neal's fiancee Eunice Burns and Barbra Streisand as Judy Maxwell. Stacy Keach should have been nominated for his role as come-back boxer Billy Tully in director John Huston's Fat City. And Robert Redford missed out on nominations for his early roles as political candidate Bill McKay in Michael Ritchie's political satire The Candidate, and as a wilderness mountain man - the title role - in Sydney Pollack's Jeremiah Johnson. First-rate Michael York was overlooked for his underappreciated role as bisexual British writer and Cambridge doctoral candidate Brian Roberts in Cabaret - a role that enhanced Liza Minnelli's Oscar-winning performance. John Cazale was denied nominations for his two roles as Fredo in
i don't know
SE Which London Institution is based at 10 Paternoster Sq.?
Paternoster Row (Pepys' Diary) Paternoster Row City of London wall and Great Fire damage – Hollar's 1666 map after the Fire Wikipedia This text was copied from Wikipedia on 19 January 2017 at 3:24AM. A mounted officer of the City of London Police entering Paternoster Row in November 2004. Paternoster Row was a street in the City of London that is supposed to have received its name from the fact that, when the monks and clergy of St Paul's Cathedral would go in procession chanting the great litany , they would recite the Lord's Prayer (Pater Noster being its opening line in Latin ) in the litany along this part of the route. The prayers said at these processions may have also given the names to nearby Ave Maria Lane and Amen Corner . An alternative etymology is the early traders who sold a type of prayer bead known as a "pater noster". The area was a centre of the London publishing trade, [1] [2] with booksellers operating from the street. [3] In 1819 Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade. [4] Trübner & Co . was one of the publishing companies on Paternoster Row. The street was devastated by aerial bombardment during the Blitz of World War II , suffering particularly heavy damage in the night raid of 29–30 December 1940, later characterised as the Second Great Fire of London , during which an estimated 5 million books were lost in the fires caused by tens of thousands of incendiary bombs. [5] The street was replaced with Paternoster Square , the modern home of the London Stock Exchange , although a City of London Corporation road sign remains in the square near where Paternoster Row once stood. Contents Coordinates : 51°30′53″N 0°5′53″W / 51.51472°N 0.09806°W / 51.51472; -0.09806 1893 text Paternoster Row, now famous as the headquarters of the publishing houses, was at this time chiefly inhabited by mercers. “This street, before the Fire of London, was taken up by eminent Mercers, Silkmen and Lacemen; and their shops were so resorted to by the nobility and gentry in their coaches, that oft times the street was so stop’d up that there was no passage for foot passengers” (Strype’s “Stow,” book iii., p. 195) This text comes from a footnote on a diary entry in the 1893 edition edited by Henry B. Wheatley. 8 Annotations
Stock exchange
WB An apparatus used to measure electrical resistance?
London/City of London – Travel guide at Wikivoyage Understand[ edit ] A dragon marking the boundary of the City Although greater London grew from this area, the official City of London itself has barely changed its borders in centuries and still follows the line of the old city walls to a great degree. The walls around the city, originally built by the Romans, have largely disappeared but several vestiges are still visible (notably outside the Museum of London; just near the Tower of London; and running part of the way down Noble Street) and various place names and streets hint at their prior existence. Locations such as Aldgate, Bishopsgate, Ludgate and Moorgate are the sites of old gates in the city walls. The City of London is not a London borough (laws applying to London must define the city as "all London boroughs and the City of London") and has an ancient and unusual local governance, with rights and privileges greater than those of anywhere else in the United Kingdom . The local authority is the City of London Corporation and the chief position is the Lord Mayor. Whilst the rest of London has the Metropolitan Police, the City of London has its own police force. The City of London does not technically include Tower Bridge or the Tower of London (they are in the London borough of Tower Hamlets ), but Tower Bridge is owned and operated by the City Corporation. A number of bridges over the River Thames connect the City with Southwark and the two oldest of them, London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge, are unusual in that the City of London's boundaries include the whole span of the bridge (the border otherwise runs along the middle of the Thames). Small statues of Dragons (sometimes described as Griffins), symbols of the City Corporation, mark the boundary of the City on several roads. The Tower of London The City is the world's leading centre of international finance. In British parlance, The City often refers to the financial sector, just as Americans might refer to Wall Street. This area contains 255 foreign banks, which is more than any other financial centre. It also is home to the Bank of England and houses other institutions such as Lloyd's and the London Stock Exchange. Every weekday approximately 300,000 workers come into the City to work in small and large business and financial institutions. The City has a very small resident population of approximately 10,000 people. This means the City is very different on a weekend compared to a weekday. Time your visit. The City is at its busiest during the week thanks to the large influx of workers. On the weekend the City is quieter with pockets of bustling activity – such as the areas around the Tower of London, Liverpool Street and St Paul’s, including the new shopping centre "One New Change" – and not all shops and restaurants are open. This means the weekend is a good time to visit if you want to walk at your own pace, admiring the architecture and character of the streets and buildings. You may also come across the filming of a TV advert, TV programme or even a film at this time. Tourist Information Centre[ edit ] 51.5130293 -0.098893 1 City Information Centre , St. Paul's Churchyard, EC4M 8BX (tube: St Paul's),  ☎ +44 20 7332-1456 . M-Sa 9:30-17:30, Su 10:00-16:00.  (updated Nov 2015) The City Information Centre is London's only official tourist information venue. It offers brochures, guides, tickets, maps and more for visitors to the City, and is staffed by a multilingual team. The City Corporation's 'Visiting the City' pages also contain information for visitors, including lists of attractions, events, and walking tours. Tower Bridge From the airport[ edit ] Underground services are connected to all major London airports, as well as express train services that take you directly to some of the main stations in the centre of London. By tube[ edit ] Bank (Central, Northern, Waterloo & City lines and the DLR) and Monument (Circle and District lines) stations – linked by an underground walkway. Bank, near the Bank of England, is perhaps the station closest to the centre of the City of London. Barbican (Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines), Moorgate (Circle, Hammersmith and City, Northern and Metropolitan lines) and Liverpool Street (Central, Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines) – for the north and north east of The City. Old Street (Northern line) – for the north west of The City. St Paul's (Central line) – for the west of The City. Blackfriars, Mansion House, Cannon Street (closed Su), Tower Hill (for Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and Fenchurch Street National Rail station) (all Circle and District lines) and Aldgate (Circle, District and Metropolitan lines) – for the south of The City. On foot[ edit ] The City's small and compact nature means travelling on foot is a great way to get around – most attractions are within a short walk of each other. Walking can also help you find many of the City's hidden gems as long as you deviate from the main roads and explore the many alleys and courtyards. The street pattern can be quite chaotic in some parts (being medieval and unplanned) and there are many fun shortcuts and routes that take you away from main roads. However, you can quite easily get lost and miss out interesting features if you're new to the City. Buy and bring a detailed map, or pick up a free one from the City Information Centre! By train[ edit ] Barbican, Blackfriars (to/from Gatwick and Luton airports), Cannon Street (closed Sa, Su and public holidays), City Thameslink (to/from Gatwick and Luton airports, no tube), Fenchurch Street (tube: Tower Hill), Liverpool Street (to/from Stansted Airport) and Moorgate. All are also tube stations except City Thameslink and Fenchurch Street. By boat[ edit ] An increasingly popular way of travelling through London, by both tourists and residents, is by boat on the Thames itself. The City has two piers from which regular services operate to and from: Blackfriars Millennium Pier (in the west) and Tower Millennium Pier (in the east). (Edit GPX) As with the rest of central London, the City is served by a dense network of underground lines and bus routes. The tube lines that run through the City are the Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Northern Lines as well as the Docklands Light Railway. The heritage bus route 15 has most of its route in the City. You can ride aboard a vintage Routemaster bus from the Tower of London, west up Cheapside to St Paul's Cathedral, and then down Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street towards the West End , where the route terminates at Trafalgar Square. This can be a very rewarding way to see the City, as the route passes a number of sites of interest. This service functions as a shorter version of the standard bus route 15 and the usual TfL fares are used on it. However, since the City is only around a square mile in area, it is often quicker, easier and cheaper to walk. The Thames Path passes through the City, following the River Thames from the Temple in the west to the Tower of London in the east. Bank of England See[ edit ] The City sustained a great deal of damage from German bombing during the 'Blitz' of World War II, so there are far fewer older buildings than one might expect from so ancient a settlement. The Great Fire of London in 1666 also fairly comprehensively destroyed the City's medieval building stock. Nonetheless, many interesting older buildings remain, including the domed St. Paul's Cathedral (heroically saved by firefighters when it was bombed during the Second World War), nineteenth-century buildings at Leadenhall, Smithfield, and Spitalfields, the Gothic -style Guildhall, many monuments (including one built to remember the Great Fire of London), and the Temple Inns of Court. Remarkably, the City also retains its medieval street pattern, which you do not find so clearly preserved in other large British city centres. You will find many narrow streets, passages, alleys and courtyards between the main thoroughfares. Landmarks[ edit ] West portico of St Paul's Cathedral 51.5143 -0.0889 1 Bank of England (The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street) (tube: Bank). See also: Bank of England Museum .  51.5129 -0.0895 2 Mansion House (tube: Mansion House),  ☎ +44 20 7397 9306 . Tuesday 2pm only, groups may book at other times. Official residence of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, completed in 1753. £7.  (updated Apr 2016) 51.5237 -0.0872 3 Wesley's Chapel and Leysian Mission , 49 City Rd, EC1Y 1AU,  ☎ +44 20 7253-2262 , fax: +44 20 7608-3825, e-mail: [email protected] . Museum: M–Sa 10:00–16:00, Su noon–13:45. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, laid the foundation stone, preached here and is buried behind the chapel. The site also contains the Museum of Methodism. Free (donations welcome).   51.5101 -0.0860 4 Monument (tube: Monument),  ☎ +44 20 7626-2717 , e-mail: [email protected] . 9:30AM-5:30PM daily (last admission 5PM). Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, this tall column (which can be ascended to get a great view) marks the alleged site where the Great Fire of London broke out in September 1666. £3/£1.   51.5187 -0.0940 5 St Giles-without-Cripplegate , Fore St, Cripplegate, EC2Y 8DA (part of the Barbican Estate, across the lake from the Arts Centre),  ☎ +44 20 7638-1997 , e-mail: [email protected] . Medieval Grade I listed church. This church played a key role in the English Revolution and was the parish church of some of the most decisive Puritans: Oliver Cromwell was married and this where John Milton was buried. It was the home of the Morning Exercises The tower remains from the original building; the rest was destroyed in the Blitz but rebuilt based on the original plans.   51.5166210 -0.102321 6 St Sepulchre-without-Newgate (Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Holborn)), Holborn Viaduct, London. Open Wed noon - 3pm, services Sun 10:30am, Tue 1pm & 6.30pm. Grade I listed Saxon church founded before the 12th century. The exterior was mostly constructed in the 15th century, and the interior in the 19th. The north side of te church houses a musician's chapel opened in 1955. In addition to the services there are often evening (chargeable) concerts.  (updated May 2016) 51.5155 -0.1018 7 Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court) (between Holborn Circus and St Paul's Cathedral, tube: St Paul's then follow signs),  ☎ +44 20 7248-3277 . M–F 10:00–13:00, 14:00–17:00. This is the probably the most famous criminal court in the world, and has been London's principal criminal court for centuries. It hears cases remitted to it from all over England and Wales as well as the Greater London area. The present building dates largely from 1907 (a new block was added from 1970 for more modern facilities) and stands on the site of the infamous medieval Newgate Gaol. The Central Criminal Court is of course best known today for its association with John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey character, novels and television series. Daily case listings are available at hmcourts-service.gov.uk . No bags, cameras, drink, food or mobile phones—no facilities for safekeeping. Children under 14 not admitted.   Tower of London and Tower Bridge 51.5137 -0.0982 8 St Paul's Cathedral , Ludgate Hill (tube: St Pauls),  ☎ +44 20 7246-8357 , e-mail: [email protected] . M–Sa 08:30–16:00. The great domed cathedral of St Paul's, designed by Sir Christopher Wren to replace the Gothic medieval cathedral destroyed in 1666 in the Great Fire of London, was built between 1675–1710. Of the most famous London sights, St Paul's is the one most conveniently located for the Barbican. It's a significant building in British history, having been the site of the funerals of several British military leaders (Nelson, Wellington, Churchill), and significantly held peace services marking the end of the two world wars. The cathedral is also famous for its Whispering Wall, as well as its stunning view over the city. The crypt is also open to the public, holding the tombs of Nelson, Wellington and Christopher Wren. It is possible to sidestep the admission charge by entering for one of the midday services, even if you don't take part; however you'd still need a ticket to get to the top. Photography not allowed. £16.50, £14.50 concession, £7.50 child (6–17), £40 family.   51.5058 -0.0752 9 Tower Bridge (technically not in the City) (tube: Tower Hill),  ☎ +44 20 7403-3761 , e-mail: [email protected] . Exhibition 10AM-5PM. Magnificent 19th century bridge, decorated with high towers and featuring a drawbridge. The bridge opens several times each day to permit ships to pass through – timings are dependent on demand, and are not regularly scheduled. When Tower Bridge was built, the area to the west of it was a bustling port – necessitating a bridge that could permit tall boats to pass. Now the South Bank area sits to its west, and the regenerated Butler's Wharf area of shops, reasonably-priced riverside restaurants and the London Design Museum lie to its east. For a small charge you can get the lift to the top level of the bridge and admire the view: this includes a visit to a museum dedicated to the bridge's history and engineering, and photographic exhibitions along the Walkways between the towers. Bridge free, exhibition £6.   51.5081 -0.0762 10 Tower of London (technically not in the City) (tube: Tower Hill),  ☎ +44 8444 827777 , e-mail: [email protected] . Tu-Sa 9AM-5PM, Su M 10AM-5PM Mar-Oct; Tu-Sa 9AM-4PM, Su-M 10AM-4PM Nov-Feb. Founded by William the Conqueror in 1066, enlarged and modified by successive sovereigns, the Tower is today one of the world's most famous and spectacular fortresses and a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Discover its 900-year history as a royal palace and fortress, prison and place of execution, mint, arsenal, menagerie and jewel house. In the winter you can skate on the dry moat. The Tower contains enough buildings and exhibits to keep a family busy for a full day, with plenty of both warlike and domestic contents. Some areas, such as the St John's Chapel in the White Tower, do not allow photography, but these are clearly signposted. Beefeaters, who are all retired sergeant majors from the British Army, provide guided tours for free as well as ceremonial security. See history come alive – go to the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. This ceremony, the locking up of the Tower, has been performed every night at 10PM for 800 years. Tickets for the ceremony are free but MUST be prearranged. £24.50, aged 5-16 £11.00, concession £18.70, family (2A+3C) £60.70. Note: If visiting multiple times or also visiting other Historic Royal Palaces it can be cheaper to buy an HRP annual membership.   Churches, graveyards and open spaces[ edit ] The City of London, considering its small size, has a huge number of churches in its area. Some, but by no means all, are listed below. 51.509 -0.0793 11 All Hallows by the Tower , Byward St, EC3R 5BJ (tube: Tower Hill),  ☎ +44 20 7481-2928 . The oldest church in The City founded by Saxon Abbotts in 675 AD.   51.5189 -0.0997 12 St Bartholomew-the-Great , West Smithfield, EC1A 9DS,  ☎ +44 20 7600-0440 . M–T 08:30–17:00, W–F 08:30–21:00, Sa 10:30–16:00, Su 08:30–20:00. Founded in 1123, by jester-turned-monk Rahere, this Norman church is one of the oldest in London. It was damaged in the Dissolution but managed to escape both the Great Fire and the Blitz. This is a Grade I listed building. Tourists are welcome when services are not in progress and are charged an admission fee (which does not apply to those coming to pray or use the café). £4 admission for Adults, £1 for photography.   51.5236 -0.0888 13 Bunhill Fields , 38 City Road, EC1Y 1AU (tube: Old Street; bus: 55, 205, 243 (among others)). Dawn-dusk. This small graveyard is a rarity in central London, and seems oddly tranquil in comparison to the nearby bustling streets of the City. Some 120,000 bodies are believed to be buried here: as the inscription reads, it is a burial ground for 'nonconformists'. Notably, Bunhill Fields contains the graves of William Blake, Daniel Defoe and John Bunyan. The watchful eye will notice that the paved way across the field is actually made up of tombstones. Free.   51.5191 -0.0736 14 Christ Church , Fournier St (tube: Liverpool St),  ☎ +44 20 7859-3035 . The restoration of the nave was completed in September 2004, and this church is still a striking building designed by Sir Nicholas Hawksmoor with a particularly tall, pointed spire. Hawksmoor's design was significantly altered in the 19th century, and present continuing restoration is intended to restore it to Hawksmoor's original vision. Christ Church was built as part of the 50 Churches for London project   51.5170 -0.0969 15 St Botolph's Aldersgate, Aldersgate St, EC1A 4EU,  ☎ +44 20 7606-0684 . A medieval church that was rebuilt in the late 18th Century, noted for its well preserved interior. The former churchyard was converted into a public space in 1880, called Postman's Park as it was frequented by workers from the nearby Post Office headquarters. Church opened Tuesday 5 August 1:45pm to 4pm and Friday 8 August 11am to 3pm by architectural heritage charity The Friends of the City Churches, admission free.   51.5168 -0.097643 16 Postman's Park, Little Britain, City of London (tube: St. Pauls). 8AM–7PM or dusk (whichever is earlier). Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Postman's Park is actually three combined parks, bringing together the gardens of St Botolph's Aldersgate, Christ Church Greyfriars and St Leonard, Foster Lane. One of the largest parks in the City of London, Postman's Park contains the Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice; a memorial to ordinary people who died saving the lives of others and might otherwise have been forgotten. Free.   51.5126 -0.0898 21 St Stephen Walbrook , 39 Walbrook, EC4N 8BN (tube: Bank),  ☎ +44 20 7283-4444 .   51.5132 -0.1102 22 Temple , Inner Temple Ln, EC4Y 7BB (tube: Temple or Blackfriars),  ☎ +44 20 7353-8559 . Varies, but approx.: M–Tu 11:00–16:00; W 14:00–16:00; Th–F 11:00–16:00; Sa–Su closed. A small realm of serenity in the midst of the typical turmoil. It used to be the court of the Knights Templar. You can still visit the beautiful Romanesque church, which is one of the oldest ones in London (opened in 1185). £4 general; £2 senior citizens; children free.   Museums and Galleries[ edit ] 51.5178 -0.0963 23 Museum of London , London Wall (NB: this is a street!) (tube: Barbican (walk S) or St Pauls (walk N)),  ☎ +44 870 444-3852 . M–Sa 10:00–17:30; Su noon–17:30. Established in 1975, the Museum of London explores the various threads of London's archaeology, history and culture throughout its more than 2,000 year old existence. Free and, like the City, endlessly fascinating! (The Museum now also has an offshoot in East End .) Cafe, gift shop and disabled access. Photography allowed. Permanent and temporary exhibitions: free. Special exhibitions: £5, concession £3, child 0-15 free.   51.5155 -0.0914 24 Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheatre , Guildhall Yard (off Gresham St) (tube: Bank or St Paul's),  ☎ +44 20 7332-3700 , e-mail: [email protected] . M-Sa 10AM-5PM Su noon-4PM. The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the City Corporation's art collection, and also runs special exhibitions throughout the year. During construction of the modern gallery, workers discovered the ruins of London's Roman amphitheatre. The gallery was redesigned, and now the Amphitheatre is open to the public within the Guildhall Art Gallery itself and also free of charge. free.  (updated Apr 2016) 51.51489 -0.10837 25 Dr Johnson's House , 17 Gough Square, EC4A 3DE,  ☎ +44 20 7353-3745 . (October-April) M-Sa 11AM-5PM; (May-September) M-Sa 11AM-5:30PM; closed Sundays, Bank Holidays. Dr Samuel Johnson was the highly distinguished 18th century "man of letters", best known for his comprehensive English Dictionary of 1755, but also for his prolific output of poems, essays and novels. Something of a "hidden gem", this small, independent museum is dedicated to him—and, with its historic interiors, paintings and prints, personal effects and other exhibits—gives an impression of what it might have been like during his occupancy from 1748-1759. Built in 1700, this impressive period building—a rare example of its kind in the area—survived the brutal onslaught of the Blitz during World War II and is now maintained in excellent condition. adult £4.50, concession £3.50 (over 60, student or registered unemployed), child £1.50 (ages 5-17), family £10 (two adults and accompanying children), under 5s free. No debit / credit cards. National Trust Partner..   51.5142 -0.0876 26 Bank of England Museum , Threadneedle St (tube: Bank),  ☎ +44 20 7601-5545 , e-mail: [email protected] . M–F 10:00–17:00. Charts the history of the bank from 1694 to the present day. A highlight is the opportunity to handle a genuine bar of gold. Photography allowed, but no flash. Free.   51.5173 -0.1009 27 Barts Pathology Museum , 3F, Robin Brook Centre, EC1A 7BE. Quirky medical museum. Only open to the public for scheduled evening events.  Other points of interest[ edit ] Lloyd's of London and The Gherkin Thanks to the City's association with banking and finance, the City offers some of the most fascinating modern architecture in London. A tour of London's financial institutions and markets is very worthwhile, even if you're not an investment banker. The bad news is that very few of the buildings are open to the public, although some do have "open weekends" at certain times of the year. The annual Open House Weekend – usually held on the third weekend in September, is when many London's most famous buildings (including many of those in the City) are open for public tours. 51.5199978 -0.093188 31 Barbican Conservatory , Silk St, EC2Y 8DS (top floor of the Barbican Centre),  ☎ +44 845 120-7500 . 11:00–17:00. The second biggest greenhouse in London, containing over 2,000 species of tropical plants as well as birds and fish. Free.   51.51836 -0.09293 32 Blitz Plaque, Fore St (set in the wall of Roman House). The first of tens of thousands of bombs to hit London in World War II fell here in 1940. (NB obscured by building work, as of 22 June)  51.5149 -0.0802 33 Baltic Exchange , St. Mary Axe (next to the Swiss Re Tower). The world's main marketplace for ship broking.   51.5177 -0.0952 34 London Wall (Near the street called "London Wall"). Remains of the wall that surrounded the City of London for almost two thousand years. The parts around the Barbican are mostly Tudor due to maintenance (Roman remains can be seen in and around the Tower of London). Other local remains are the 51.5169 -0.0958 35 Noble St wall fragment and the 51.5177 -0.0922 36 St Alphage Gdns wall fragment.   51.5142 -0.1161 37 International Petroleum Exchange , St. Katherines Dock (tube: Tower Hill). One of the world's largest energy futures and options exchanges. The Brent Crude marker which represents an important benchmark for global oil prices is traded here. It also houses the European Climate Exchange, where emissions trading takes place.  51.5129 -0.0825 38 Lloyds of London , 1 Lime St. The headquarters of world's most famous insurance market, housed in a revolutionary (at the time) bizarre, Matrix-like glass-and-steel building designed by Richard Rogers, with all support services (lifts, ventilation, etc) suspended outside. Recognised as a masterpiece of exoskeleton architecture.   51.5151 -0.0991 39 London Stock Exchange , Paternoster Sq. After leaving its brutalist skyscraper on Old Broad St, the London Stock Exchange now resides on Paternoster Sq. Dating back to 1698, it is one of the world's oldest and largest stock markets.  51.5157 -0.0908 40 London Bullion Market Association , 13-14 Basinghall St. This is where the world gold price is 'fixed' twice a day.  51.5131 -0.0789 41 London Metal Exchange , 56 Leadenhall St. The LME is the leading centre for non-ferrous metals trading. It is also the last financial market in London which still retains open outcry trading.  51.5116 -0.0898 42 London Stone, Cannon St (tube: Cannon St). A little known and arguably little cared for yet intriguing item.  51.5138 -0.1054 43 St Bride Printing Library , Bride Ln, EC4Y 8EE,  ☎ +44 20 7353-4660 . Tu noon-5:30PM, W noon-9PM, Th noon-5:30PM. This specialist small library houses an impressive range of books on graphic design, typography, bookbinding and papermaking. The books cannot be borrowed but can be photocopied or photographed (with permission). An essential visit for any graphic design student.  51.5143 -0.0804 44 Swiss Re (the Gherkin), 30 St. Mary Axe. Designed by one of Britain's leading architects, Sir Norman Foster, and recipient in 2004 of the Stirling Architectural Prize for Best Building.  51.5128 -0.0815 45 Willis Building, 51 Lime St. A recent addition to the City's skyline, and right opposite Lloyd's of London.   51.5139 -0.0823 46 Leadenhall Building, 122 Leadenhall. Another Richard Rogers creation, due to be the tallest building by roof height in the City. Under construction as of 2013. Also opposite Lloyd's.   51.5113 -0.0835 47 20 Fenchurch Street , 20 Fenchurch St. The unusual "walkie talkie" profile of this under-construction skyscraper by Rafael Vinoly has seen it grab the headlines. Visitors can access the "sky garden" by booking online, free during the day or by visiting one of the restaurants in the evening.   Do[ edit ] Climb to the top of St Paul's Cathedral or The Monument to get excellent views over the financial heart of London. Barbican Architecture Tour (starts at the Advance Ticket desk, Silk St entrance). Tu 14:00; W 16:00; Th 19:00; Sa-Su 14:00 & 16:00. 90-minute tour of the beautifully ugly brutalist site. £10.50.  Digital Revolution , Barbican Centre,  ☎ +44 20 7638-8891 . Th 11:00–22:00; F–W 11:00–20:00. An exhibition of digital art and creativity, including film, music and games, and the effect of technology on the arts. Runs until 14 September. £12.50 standard admission; £10.50 concessions; £8.50 students.  The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier , Art Gallery (Level three of the Barbican Centre),  ☎ +44 20 7638-8891 . Sa–W 10:00–18:00; Th–F 10:00–21:00. An exhibition devoted to the French couturier featuring over a hundred garments and costumes. Runs until 25 August. £14.50 standard admission; £12.50 concessions; £9 students.  51.51911 -0.07768 1 Shoreditch Street Art Tour , Spitalfields Market, E1 6EG (Meet at the Goat Statue), e-mail: [email protected] . Tours start 11:15 (morning) & 14:45 (afternoon). A tour of the constantly changing street art around this part of the East End. Saturday times may vary. Adult £15, child £10.  Gresham College , Barnard's Inn Hall, Holborn (tube: Chancery Lane. Between Fetter Ln and Furnival St),  ☎ +44 20 7831-0575 . Founded in 1597 as London's alternative higher education institution to Oxford and Cambridge, Gresham College continues to provide free public lectures every week during term time. Most lectures require no booking, with wonderful speakers delivering lectures on wide range of interesting topics.  John Stuttard, Lord Mayor 2006-07, at the Lord Mayor's show Lord Mayor's Show . Annual, normally November. The ceremony celebrates the appointment of the new Lord Mayor of the City of London. It is one of the great annual processions held in all London.  London Walks . Consider going along on one of the many excellent guided tours of the City, often with an evocative theme for example ghosts or Jack the Ripper.  London Film Locations Bus Tour . The City of London is hugely popular with film makers so consider going on a bus tour of famous film locations.  Buy[ edit ] One New Change Although not known for the best shopping opportunities in London (these are securely held by the West End), the City nonetheless has an above average shopping offer, with plenty of high-street names and many smaller independent shops. Lunchtime hours can be very busy, as this is the time when workers shop in their thousands, so it's worth considering avoiding the crowds by visiting at a quieter time. Again, at weekends many outlets may be closed. A number of retail venues stand out: 51.5138 -0.0955 1 One New Change (off Cheapside, tube: St Paul's). 7 days a week. The City's only modern shopping centre, which opened in October 2010. Includes around 60 shops and restaurants. It is situated right by St Paul's Cathedral and is in a small area of retailing, including Cheapside and the cobbled, old-fashioned Bow Lane. Both the freely accessible roof terrace, and the lifts to get there, offer excellent views of St Paul's.  51.5127 -0.0835 2 Leadenhall Market (off Gracechurch St, tube: Monument). M-F 10AM-6PM. Worth visiting for its architecture and old-fashioned cobbled streets. It was used as a location in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  51.5135 -0.0871 3 Royal Exchange (tube: Bank). Situated opposite the Bank of England, the Exchange houses a number of upmarket outlets. Part of the exterior was recently featured in the film Bridget Jones' Diary (at the end, when Bridget runs after Mark along a snowy street).  51.5186 -0.1034 4 [dead link]Spitalfields Market (Just outside the City and owned by the City of London Corporation), 225 Central Markets, EC1A 9LH (off Bishopsgate, tube: Liverpool Street). M–F 10:00–17:00; Sa 11:00–17:00; Su 09:00–17:00. Once a large thriving market, it has slowly been shrunk to a third of its size by development in the area. It features a good variety of clothing, crafts and food stalls/shops. Rather promisingly sellers have set up another market in a new space off Hanbury St nearby.  51.525 -0.109 5 Exmouth Market , EC1R 4QA. M–Sa 09:00–18:00. Trendy independent shops on a pedestrianised street.  Places to buy food and any general household goods you may need: 51.5205 -0.0975 6 Tesco Express, 131 Aldersgate St, EC1A 4JQ. Small, local branch of the supermarket  51.5153 -0.0971 7 Tesco Express, Unit 5, Cheapside, EC2V 6BJ. Small, local branch of the supermarket  51.5228 -0.0871 8 Tesco Express, 1-23 City Rd, EC1Y 1AG. Small, local branch of the supermarket. Starbucks and Eat next door.  51.5147 -0.0992 9 Sainsbury's Local, 10 Paternoster Square, EC4M 7DX. Small, local branch of the supermarket. In a pedestrian square near St. Paul's Cathedral.  51.5223 -0.0922 10 Waitrose, Cherry Tree Walk Centre, Whitecross St, EC1Y 8NX. Slightly more upmarket supermarket.  Eat[ edit ] There are a great many bars, coffee houses, cafes, restaurants and pubs, mainly catering for City workers during the week (and therefore possibly closed at the weekend). Sit down restaurants in this district tend to be expensive and aimed towards business lunches. The vast number of take-away places though are reasonably priced. During the week (in good weather) you can find some outdoor eating areas in places, such as on Walbrook. Budget[ edit ] 51.5222 -0.0973 1 Coffee Aroma, 12 Goswell Rd, EC1M 7AA,  ☎ +44 20 7251-3919 . M–Sa 07:00–17:00; Su closed.   51.5181 -0.0894 2 Moorgate Buttery, 5–6 Fore St, EC2Y 9DT (alley between Fore St and Moorgate),  ☎ +44 20 7628-7473 . M–F 07:00–16:00. Café and sandwich shop.  51.52098 -0.10168 3 Tinseltown , 44-46 St John St, EC1M 4DF (tube: Farringdon or Barbican),  ☎ +44 20 7689-2424 . M–Th 12:00–05:00; F–Sa 12:00–04:00; Su 12:00–03:00. Halal American-style diner, serving burgers, steaks, and grilled meat. Good for Muslims on a budget and hungry, early-morning clubbers. Burger and side dish from £6.99.  Splurge[ edit ] 51.5190 -0.1004 22 Apulia , 50 Long Lane, EC1A 9EJ,  ☎ +44 20 7600-8107 . M–F 12:00–14:45 / 18:00–22:30; Sa 18:00–22:30; Su closed. Italian restaurant.  Drink[ edit ] If you're spending more than a few days in London, visiting the area at night (especially around 10PM-11PM) can provide a decidedly un-touristy atmosphere. You'll see part of London life that few people who do not live or work in the City experience, and if you have the confidence to introduce yourself you may even get into conversation with local workers out for a late drink – the area is enough off the tourist route that you will be something of a novelty. Thursday and Friday are naturally busier but at the same time a bit less friendly; earlier in the week is quieter and you have more chance of meeting locals just out for a drink. Note that some pubs in the City are not open on Saturday or Sunday. The City has some of the oldest traditional pubs in London, and a host of newer pubs and bars. This list is by no means exhaustive, but there are plenty of online guides available to search for somewhere specific to your tastes. Pubs[ edit ] 51.5232 -0.1052 1 Crown Tavern , 43 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0EG,  ☎ +44 20 7253-4973 . M–F 12:00–23:00; Sa–Su 10:00–23:00. A large, traditional pub, rebuilt in 1815 but claiming a history on this site back to 1641. In good weather, outdoor tables in the square can be pleasant. London legend claims that Stalin and Lenin first met in this pub, in a back room (under the "Conspirators' Clock") in 1903.  51.5181 -0.0798 2 Dirty Dick's , 202 Bishopsgate (tube: Liverpool St),  ☎ +44 20 7283-5888 . M-Th 11AM-midnight, F Sa 11AM-1AM, Su 11AM-10:30PM. One of the better known pubs (although definitely no tourist trap) near Liverpool St, supposedly named after a Georgian dandy who let himself go on the death of his fiancée. £3.20 pint.  51.5180 -0.0774 3 Eat & Drink, 11 Artillery Passage (tube: Liverpool St),  ☎ +44 20 7377-8964 . M-F 'til 2AM. A small and fairly ordinary Chinese restaurant by day, this turns into a heaving karaoke bar in the evenings. One of the most reliable places near Liverpool St to get a drink after midnight! £3.40 small can lager.  51.5126 -0.0833 4 Lamb Tavern , 10-12 Leadenhall Market (tube: Bank/Liverpool St),  ☎ +44 20 7626-2454 . M-F 10AM-11PM. One of several pubs in Leadenhall Market where you can listen to insurance brokers from nearby Lloyd's talk business. £3.60 pint.  51.5232 -0.1038 5 The Dovetail , 9-10 Jerusalem Passage, EC1V 4JP,  ☎ +44 20 7490-7321 , e-mail: [email protected] . M–Sa 12:00–23:00; Su closed. Small Belgian bar serving Belgian beer and Belgian food.  51.5127 -0.0846 6 The Crosse Keys , 9 Gracechurch Street, EC3V 0DR (tube: Bank or Monument),  ☎ +44 20 7623-4824 . M-Th 9AM-11PM, F 9AM-midnight, Sa 9AM-7PM, Su closed. Part of the JD Wetherspoons chain in a converted bank. As is usual for the chain, it is fairly cheap with decent food and drink. The ex-bank building makes this pub a little grander and more spacious than most.  The Sterling , 30 Saint Mary Axe, EC3A 8BF (tube: Liverpool Street),  ☎ +44 20 7929-3641 , e-mail: [email protected] . M-TU 8AM - 11PM W-F 8AM - 1AM. A central bar that resides in the heart of The Gherkin. Catch your breath from the bustle of the city and enjoy a bit of Al Fresco dining. Food and drink available.  51.51423 -0.10734 7 Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, 145 Fleet Street, EC4A 2BU (tube: Blackfriars, Temple or Chancery Lane). An old City pub establishment, rebuilt shortly after the Great Fire of 1666. All the monarchs who have reigned in England during the pub's time are written by the main door.  51.5169 -0.0810 8 White Hart, 121 Bishopsgate (tube: Liverpool St). An unpretentious City pub, slightly cheaper than most. Unusually for the area, has a few tables outside where you can watch the world go by in summer or cower under a heat lamp while smoking in winter. £2.80 pint.  51.5204 -0.1007 9 Fox & Anchor , 115 Charterhouse St, EC1M 6AA,  ☎ +44 20 7250-1300 , e-mail: [email protected] . M–Th 07:00–23:00; F 07:00–00:00; Sa 08:30–00:00; Su 08:30–22:00. Independent traditional pub quite close to the Barbican. Beers are often served in pewter tankards for the extra traditional touch. Six rooms are available as well for those who want to sleep where they drink (or just near the Barbican). Great atmosphere but it can be a little more expensive than average, especially the food and lodging.  51.5217 -0.1041 10 Jerusalem Tavern , 55 Britton St, EC1M 5UQ,  ☎ +44 20 7490-4281 . A converted Georgian coffee shop, which sells the Norfolk beer, St. Peters. The building is from the 1700s, remodelled in 1810, and it was converted in the 1990s, making this both a new and an old pub. The interior is a little small so, while well worth a visit, after 17:00 on weekdays it gets quickly flooded with City workers.  51.5209 -0.0922 11 The Jugged Hare , 49 Chiswell St, EC1Y 4SA (tube: Barbican),  ☎ +44 20 7614-0134 , e-mail: [email protected] . M–W 11:00–23:00; Th–Sa 11:00–00:00; Su 11:00–22:30. A recently re-opened gastropub modelled on a traditional countryside drinking establishment, with a hunting theme. The tables are actually old whisky barrels and the decor features several stuffed animals and trophies. Completing the pattern, the food is heavily game-based, with some seafood.  51.5157 -0.0903 12 The Old Doctor Butler's Head , 2 Masons Ave, EC2V 5BY (tube: Moorgate and Bank),  ☎ +44 20 7606-3504 , e-mail: [email protected] . M–F 11:00–23:00; Sa–Su closed. This claims to be one of London's oldest pubs, tracing it history to 1610, although it has been rebuilt since then. The eponymous Doctor Butler was a purveyor of "medicinal ale" who was appointed court physician to James I. Pubs selling his beer were allowed to display his portrait, hence the name of the establishment.  51.5270 -0.0890 13 Old Fountain , 31 Baldwin St, EC1V 9NU (tube: Old Street),  ☎ +44 20 7253-2970 . M–F 11:00–23:00; Sa–Su 12:00–23:00. Local CAMRA Pub of the Year 2011. This traditional pub is best known for its large and varied beer selection, often from local and micro-breweries, both cask and bottled.  51.5195 -0.0992 14 Old Red Cow , 71-72 Long Lane, EC1A 9EJ (tube: Barbican),  ☎ +44 20 7726-2595 , e-mail: [email protected] . M–Th 12:00–23:00; F–Sa 12:00–00:00; Su 12:00–22:30. Small pub that serves real ale and craft beer from both major and local breweries.  51.5253 -0.0838 15 The Princess of Shoreditch , 76-78 Paul St, EC2A 4NE (tube: Old Street),  ☎ +44 20 7729-9270 , e-mail: [email protected] . M–Sa 12:00–23:00; Su 12:00–22:30. Gastropub.  Bars[ edit ] 51.5176 -0.0938 19 El Vino, 3 Bastion Highwalk (125 London Wall), EC2Y 5AP (along one of the raised walkways, not at ground level),  ☎ +44 20 7600-6377 . Wine bar.  51.52010 -0.10190 20 Vinoteca , 7 St John St, EC1M 4AA,  ☎ +44 20 7253-8786 , e-mail: [email protected] . M–Sa 12:00–23:00. Wine bar and shop.  Clubs[ edit ] 51.51947 -0.10254 21 Fabric , 77a Charterhouse St,  ☎ +44 20 7336-8898 . Th–Sa times vary (check listings). A massive club (think cathedral scale) that provides a more underground version of Ministry of Sound and hosts some of the biggest names in dance music, from Goldie to David Holmes to the Scratch Perverts. There are always big queues, so get down early if you can. Entry £12-18, discount for NUS.  51.5265 -0.0878 22 The Nightjar , 129 City Rd, EC1V 1JB (tube: Old Street),  ☎ +44 20 7253-4101 , e-mail: [email protected] . Su–W 18:00–01:00; Th 18:00–02:00; F-Sa 18:00–03:00. Speakeasy-style cocktail bar. Regular live music fitting the prohibition era theme. Entry W-Th £5, F-Sa £7. Cocktails from £9.  51.5229 -0.1035 23 The Zetter Townhouse , 49-50 St John's Square, EC1V 4JJ,  ☎ +44 20 7324-4545 , e-mail: [email protected] . Su-W 07:00–00:00; Th–Sa 07:00–01:00. Cocktail lounge in a Georgian townhouse. Also offers some accommodation with thirteen rooms available for hire. cocktails from £8.50.  Mid-range[ edit ] Apex City of London Hotel , 1 Seething Lane, EC3N 4AX,  ☎ +44 131 441-0440 , e-mail: [email protected] . Located in the City close to the Tower of London. 179 luxury bedrooms and suites, restaurant, bar and gym. Free fast speed Wi-fi From £129.  Apex Temple Court Hotel , 1-2 Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street, EC4Y 1LL,  ☎ +44 131 441-0440 , e-mail: [email protected] . 184 spacious luxury bedrooms and suites, bar, restaurant, executive lounge and gym. Free fast speed Wi-fi From £151.  Citybase Apartments - St Paul's Apartments , Queen Street, EC4R 1BR,  ☎ +44 20 3701-4966 , e-mail: [email protected] . These serviced apartments are situated in the centre of The City area of London, with Walbrook, Bank and Monument being a short walk away. The neighbouring streets are filled with cafes, restaurants and local shops, ensuring your stay is both enjoyable and convenient. From £120.  Apex London Wall Hotel , 7-9 Copthall Avenue, EC2R 7NJ,  ☎ +44 131 441-0440 , e-mail: [email protected] . Close to the Bank of England and Liverpool Street Station. 89 luxury bedrooms and suites, bar, restaurant and gym. Free fast speed Wi-fi From £151.  Andaz Liverpool Street London Hotel , 40 Liverpool St,  ☎ +44 20 7961-1234 , fax: +44 20 7961-1235, e-mail: [email protected] . A concept casual luxury hotel. No two bedrooms the same. Features iPod rentals and 5 restaurants From £120.  SACO Apartments – Aldgate , 99 Leman St,  ☎ +44 20 7269-9930 , e-mail: [email protected] . A grade II listed Victorian building in perfect walking distance to the main city centre. A great alternative to hotels for those travelling on business. From £120.  Connect[ edit ] As the Barbican is part of the City of London, it is covered by The Cloud’s City WiFi Network . Search for _The Cloud in the available networks. FastConnect App available for smartphones and tablets. Free and unlimited access for all users. The Barbican's WiFi is also provided by The Cloud and operates in the same way. 51.5245 -0.0875 11 Maplin , 26-27 Eldon Street, London EC2M 7LA,  ☎ +44 3334009689 . 08:00 - 19:00 (Sat 09:00 - 17:00; Sun 11:00 - 17:00). For IT kit (chargers, leads, batteries, media) but not phones.  51.5245 -0.0875 12 Maplin , 150 Cheapside, St Paul's, London EC2V 6ET,  ☎ +44 3334009663 . 08:00 - 19:00 (Sat 09:00 - 17:00; Sun 11:00 - 17:00). For IT kit (chargers, leads, batteries, media) but not phones.  Health[ edit ] Visitors to the UK are entitled to free emergency treatment on the NHS. However, you may be charged for further hospital care, depending on the nature of the care and your country of origin. Check the NHS website if you need to know more. The nearest medical services are, in ascending order of severity: Local pharmacies, for basic medicines and healthcare products: 51.5218 -0.0923 2 Portmans Pharmacy, 5 Cherry Tree Walk, Whitecross St, EC1Y 8NX,  ☎ +44 20 7638-0067 . M–F 09:00–18:30, Sa 09:00–17:00, Su closed. Closest pharmacy to the venue.  51.5185 -0.0882 3 Boots , 143 Moorgate, EC2M 6XQ,  ☎ +44 20 7920-9347 . M–F 07:00–20:00, Sa–Su closed.   51.5228 -0.0977 4 S Chauhan Chemist, 36 Goswell Road, EC1M 7AA,  ☎ +44 20 7253-9691 . M–F 08:00–18:00, Sa–Su closed.   51.5141 -0.0933 5 Boots , 104 Cheapside, EC2V 6DN,  ☎ +44 20 7248-9340 . M–F 07:00–19:00; Sa 09:00–18:00, Su closed.   51.5037 -0.0871 6 Guy's Hospital Urgent Care Centre , Tabard Annexe, Great Maze Pond, SE1 9RT,  ☎ +44 20 3049-8970 . M–Su 08:00–20:00 (last patient arrival at 19:00). For treatment of minor injuries like sprains, broken bones and bites.  51.5185 -0.0582 7 Royal London Hospital Accident & Emergency , Whitechapel, E1 1BB,  ☎ +44 20 3416-5000 . For serious, life-threatening injuries.  As anywhere in the UK, 999 is a multi-purpose emergency phone number. See United_Kingdom#Connect for additional numbers. Go next[ edit ] Go south, crossing the River Thames via the Millennium Bridge, to access the central part of South Bank , home to the Tate Modern gallery and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Or head west down Fleet Street then Strand towards Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square or to Westminster , home of the British government and royal family. Routes through City of London
i don't know
AM Which fashion designer committed suicide in 2010?
Alexander McQueen Commits Suicide | Fashion Week 2010 | Mediaite Alexander McQueen, 40, Reportedly Commits Suicide (Updated) by Ruthie Friedlander | 10:27 am, February 11th, 2010   According to the Daily Mail , British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has committed suicide. The Gucci Group confirmed his death releasing the following statement, “‘It is a tragic loss. We are not making a comment at this time out of respect for the McQueen family.” From the Daily Mail : British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has been found dead after taking his own life. The 40-year-old committed suicide just three years after his close friend, Isabella Blow – who plucked him from obscurity and helped him become a star – killed herself. A source at McQueen’s office this afternoon confirmed his death, saying: ‘It is a tragic loss. We are not making a comment at this time out of respect for the McQueen family.’ His death comes just days before the start of London Fashion Week and weeks before he was due to unveil his new collection at Paris Fashion Week on March 9. It’s a strange, and terrible, way to begin New York Fashion Week, which will undoubtedly be overshadowed by this tragedy. What was to be remembered as a farewell to Bryant Park, 2010’s first New York Fashion Week will now be remembered as the day a fashion icon was lost. McQueen is credited as being one of the youngest designers to ever receive “British Designer of the Year” award, winning it four times in just seven years. He has historically been known for his one of a kind imagination and edge factor. What walks down McQueen’s runway can be seen no where else and thought up by no other designer. Shock tactics wear thin in today’s fashion world. There is only so much that can be considered truly original or groundbreaking. Many times it feels as though it has all already been done. McQueen, especially in the past few years with his much gawked about 12-inch alien shoes and jaw dropping runway collections, turned fashion on its head, made us think and more importantly, made fashion lovers imagine. The world has lost one of this generation’s most important and forward thinking designers. Have a tip we should know? [email protected] Follow Mediaite
Alexander McQueen
Which cartoon title family live in Orbit City?
Breaking: Designer Alexander McQueen found dead | All The Rage | Los Angeles Times The Image staff muses on the culture of keeping up appearances Breaking: Designer Alexander McQueen found dead February 11, 2010 |  7:45 am Fashion designer Alexander McQueen, 40, has been found dead in his home in London. His press representatives at KCD Worldwide told All the Rage that the cause of death was suicide.   [FOR THE RECORD, 8:09 a.m.: An earlier headline on this post said McQueen had committed suicide. Authorities have not released an official cause of death.] The following press release was issued: On behalf of Lee McQueen’s family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand has been found dead at his home.  At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee’s family.   Lee’s family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this. -- Adam Tschorn Photo: Fashion designer Alexander McQueen walks down the catwalk after his ready-to-wear fall/winter 2009 fashion show during Paris Fashion Week on March 10, 2009. McQueen was found dead in his London home earlier today. Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images. RELATED:
i don't know
Where in the body is the Malleus bone?
Malleus Bone Definition, Function & Anatomy | Body Maps Your message has been sent. OK We're sorry, an error occurred. We are unable to collect your feedback at this time. However, your feedback is important to us. Please try again later. Close Malleus The malleus is the outermost and largest of the three small bones in the middle ear, and reaches an average length of about eight millimeters in the typical adult. It is informally referred to as a hammer, owing to it being a hammer-shaped ossicle or small bone that is connected to the ear. It is composed of the head, neck, anterior process, lateral process, and manubrium. When sound reaches the tympanic membrane (eardrum), the malleus transmits these sound vibrations from the eardrum to the incus, and then to the stapes, which is connected to the oval window. Because the malleus is directly connected to the eardrum, it is unlikely that it will be the cause of hearing loss. In cases of atticoantral disease, an inflammatory disease of the middle ear, the ossicular chain (malleus, incus, and stapes) is often affected by abnormal skin growth, called cholesteatoma. This can cause loss of hearing. The malleus and or incus may have to be removed in order to remove all of the cholesteatomas. In cases like these, there may be a second surgery needed for reconstruction purposes.
Ear (disambiguation)
In which country is the ‘Van’ a large Salt Lake?
Incus | Define Incus at Dictionary.com incus [in-kyoo-deez] /ɪnˈkyu diz/ (Show IPA), for 1; incus for 2. 1. Anatomy. the middle one of a chain of three small bones in the middle ear of humans and other mammals. Compare malleus , stapes . 2. Also called anvil , anvil cloud, anvil top, thunderhead . the spreading, anvil-shaped, upper portion of a mature cumulonimbus cloud, smooth or slightly fibrous in appearance. Origin of incus Latin 1660-1670 1660-70; < New Latin, Latin incūs anvil, equivalent to incūd- (stem of incūdere to hammer, beat upon) + -s nominative singular ending; see incuse Related forms
i don't know
According to Oscar Wilde what is the curse of the drinking class?
Work is the curse of the drinking classes. - Oscar Wilde - BrainyQuote Work is the curse of the drinking classes. Find on Amazon: Oscar Wilde Cite this Page: Citation
The Work
Who was the first President of the Royal Academy in 1768?
Drinking Habits Of Famous Authors | ShortList Magazine Drinking Habits Of Famous Authors To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, drink is the curse of the writing classes. Few occupations are as synonymous with hard-boozing and 9-5 inebriation as that of the author. And not without reason. Name a famous author and, chances are, they found themselves emptying a bourbon bottle faster than an ink bottle at one time or another. Some chalking it off to the trappings of fame, others the dreaded curse of writer's block, and then those who simply loved the sauce. Here are the literary geniuses who, for better or worse, enjoyed a drink or two... ___________________________________________________________ Ian Fleming 007 is more reckless than you might imagine. Yes, he checks into hotels using his own name, making him arguably the least secretive secret agent of all time, and yes, he's slept with enough women to warrant his own sexual health clinic, but possibly putting him at more peril than a Walther PPK to the back of the head, a 2013 university study of Ian Fleming’s works found that the spy drank on average between 65 and 92 units a week, working out to around four times the recommended limit. This over-consumption was on par with that of his pen-father Fleming - a man also plagued by demons of war, loss and geopolitical secrets, who on occasion polished off a bottle of gin a day. Well, until Fleming’s doctor suggested bourbon was narrowly better for his health. You only live twice, after all. Drink of choice - Gin Martini Shaken, not – oh you know the rest... ___________________________________________________________ William Faulkner “A man shouldn’t fool with booze until he’s fifty, and then he’s a damn fool if he doesn’t,” once counselled William Faulkner, who fooled with the stuff well before his tender years. Keeping a bottle of whiskey within reaching distance was a key part of the author’s writing process (he also claimed he liked to work at night when he'd get some many ideas he wouldn't remember them all in the morning) with Jack Daniels the usual label of choice. Take a trip to his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi, and you might even spot a bottle of the stuff on his gravestone. Drink of choice – Mint Julep Faulkner was partial to a Mint Julep, serving it with whiskey, sugar, ice and some crushed mint, all in a metal cup. The recipe was left at his Rowan Oak estate. ___________________________________________________________ F. Scott Fitzgerald Just like as his intoxicating description of high-society's excess left readers breathless, F. Scott Fitzgerald demanded the same of his boozing, favouring gin because he believed it could not be detected on the breath. Gin, among other drinks, provided the lubricant for much of the social antics displayed by he and his prankish wife Zelda (also pictured) during their years together. Fatefully, it was also alcohol that led to the couple’s implosion. Not that they weren’t toxic without booze, with Scott once writing a letter to Zelda saying, “We ruined each other”. Drink of choice – Gin Rickey Through the roaring Twenties and massively depressing Thirties there were any number of Rickeys available (scotch, rum, applejack), but gin was the one that endured. Particularly for Fitzgerald, who would’ve taken it with 80ml gin, 2tbsp lime juice, club soda and fat lime garnish in a tall glass. ___________________________________________________________ Stephen King Beer. Depression. Cocaine. Typewriting. Suicidal musings. The late-seventies and early-eighties must have been one nightmarish smog for Stephen King, relying on his vices to keep the real horror at bay during a period where he it got so bad that he's since claimed he can't remember writing Cujo. Textbook alcoholic author, one of King's biggest anxieties was the prospect of losing his creative spark if sobriety were ever to win out, which of course, following an intervention at the end of the decade, it did, not sullying his fearsome literary output one bit. He later admitted, “I always drank, from when it was legal for me to drink. And there was never a time for me when the goal wasn’t to get as hammered as I could possibly afford to. I never understood social drinking, that’s always seemed to me like kissing your sister.” Drink of choice - Beer Beer - his biggest vice of all - was almost always consumed at home. “I didn't go out and drink in bars, because they were full of assholes like me,” he told The Guardian recently. ___________________________________________________________ Hunter S. Thompson Never one averse to standing out from the crowd, Thompson liked his drink liked he liked his journalism: strong, in-your-face and not always neat. It was once noted, at his first meeting with a major publisher, that he downed 20 glass of double Wild Turkey then ‘walked out as if he’d been drinking tea’. In fact, Wild Turkey became such a staple for the writer that he even cajoled the brand into Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas among other landmark works. Drink of choice - Wild Turkey Bourbon and Dry As we say, Thompson, one of the most famous livewire celebrities to court that famous Kentucky bourbon, didn't always want it neat. He’d often take his Wild Turkey with ginger beer. ___________________________________________________________ Truman Capote No one can accuse Truman Capote of failing to mix business with pleasure. The man himself even went so far as to describe his writing process as such: “As the afternoon wears on, I shift from coffee to mint tea to sherry to martinis - I don’t use a typewriter. Not in the beginning. I write my first version in longhand”. Ever the extrovert, when not working, the schmoozer’s social activities tended to revolve around some type of upmarket watering holes like the revolving carousel bar inside New Orlean’s Hotel Monteleone - a favourite. Drink of choice - Large Vodka and Orange A screwdriver, essentially, despite the fact he referred to is as his 'Orange drink’. ___________________________________________________________ Raymond Chandler “There is no bad whiskey - there are only some whiskeys that aren't as good as others.” Treating the stuff like a modern day blogger would Red Bull, Raymond Chandler would have been the first to admit that he didn’t control his drink, it controlled him. When he was commissioned to whip up the screenplay for The Blue Dahlia in 1945, he got writer's block, forcing him to tell his new studio employers that the only way he could finish the script was to do so while blind drunk, which he duly did. The story goes that Paramount honcho John Houseman, who was earlier invited over for a lunch by Chandler (and by lunch we mean a small meal which involved three double martinis, three brandies and a crème de menthe), was the one who found Chandlder passed out at his desk having finished the script, all neatly stacked next to some empty bottles. Drink of choice – Gimlet "Half gin and half Rose's lime juice and nothing else”, as described in Chandler’s 1953 classic The Long Goodbye. ___________________________________________________________ Edgar Allan Poe Conjuring up excruciatingly grim poetry and bloody literature fit for a Tarantino flick was not the only thing Edgar Allan Poe was partial to. The literary icon also favoured Brandy at a bottle at a time. Having moved to West Point in 1830, Poe’s roommate Thomas Gibson recalled Poe as ‘seldom without a bottle of Benny Haven’s best brandy' - Benny Haven being Poe’s local watering hole. Couple this with his bizarre taste for Eggnog – yes, that drink vile enough to warrant its own torturous use in The Pit And The Pendulum - and it’s surprising that his most-speculated demise came from rabies, rather than the constant battering he gave his pickled liver. Drink of choice - Eggnog Poe's eggnog was a family specialty. The recipe was passed down through generations and comprised of seven eggs, sugar milk, whipping cream, brandy and nutmeg. ___________________________________________________________ Oscar Wilde How could we forget old Oscar? The playwright’s charming one-liners on the subject of alcohol were only matched by his love for quaffing it. After reportedly developing a habit for drinking it during a stay in Paris, one of his big loves was absinthe; putting up with its mule-kick aftertaste to reap the rewards of its hallucinatory-like nature. His other love? Fully befitting his stature of a man who had a taste for the finer things in life, it was champagne, even in his darkest hour. Morphine lacking the appropriate effect, he eased the pain of his final few days with a melange of opium, chloral and champagne, causing him to quip the bittersweet line, “And now I am dying beyond my means.” Drink of choice - Iced Champagne Served as dry as his wit we’d imagine. [Images: Rex Features, Wiki Commons, Hunter S. Thompson Archive] Read more on:
i don't know
Which character fell asleep in The Catskills for 20 years?
Rip Van Winkle – The Catskills Mountain Legendary Tale Rip Van Winkle Gather 'round for a tale of magic and mystery in the Great Northern Catskills One day, a man, harried by the nagging of his wife, wandered into the Catskills near his home. The adventure that follows is one of America's most cherished folktales – Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle. For nearly two centuries, the myth of Henry Hudson's ghost and Rip's lengthy slumber have endured, adding to the delightful enchantment the Great Northern Catskills hold for many contemporary visitors. Rip is one of the Great Northern Catskills best-loved figureheads – a link to the past, as well as a present reminder of the region's unique place in American history. His tale goes something like this: Set in pre-Revolutionary New York, Rip Van Winkle lives a life of ease – much to the chagrin of his wife, Dame Van Winkle. Rip's passions include wandering through the Catskill Mountains and old-growth forests, being idle and enjoying life. He doesn't work for long however, and though itinerant, he is well loved by all in town. The children especially love the fanciful stories he tells. One day, Rip wanders off into the woods to escape his nagging wife. Hearing thunder, he unwittingly follows the ghosts of Henry Hudson's men deep into the wilderness. As the men play nine-pins, Rip imbibes a "magic potion" - quietly falling into a deep sleep. He wakens 20 years later, his beard grown long and his beloved dog, Wolf, nowhere to be found. Rip makes his way back into the village and discovers that the American Revolution has taken place. He is no longer recognizable, nor does he know any of the townspeople who greet him. Rip's luck holds out and it isn't long before he finds his place among his grown children – though much of his family has passed on – and resumes his habitual idleness. His tale is repeated and solemnly taken to heart by hen-pecked husbands who wish they could have shared in Rip's good fortune and slept through the atrocities of war. From the pages of Irving's cautionary tale, the sense of adventure and intrigue have taken on a life of their own. Even now, the lush mountains, verdant valleys, rivers and streams of the Great Northern Catskills have the enduring power to enchant, delight and rejuvenate. Rip Van Winkle Today In the Great Northern Catskills of New York – Rip is everywhere. His legend is almost as big as Hudson's. From celebratory events and commemorative statues, to numerous business names and wonderful paintings at many of the historic lodges and resorts – Rip lives. The Rip Van Winkle Wine and Cheese Festival kicks off each year in May – celebrating the bounty of regional cheese-makers, wineries and much more. Play the "Catskill Nine," a series of golf courses along the Rip Van Winkle Golf Trail offering incredible views of the mountains and valleys. Explore the attractions such as the legendary "cloves" where Rip took his marathon nap. View the colorfully painted statues placed around the mountain-top region or hike to the top of Hunter Mountain and discover a larger-than-life sculpture of Rip Van Winkle. Envisioned by David Slutzky and carved by sculptor Kevin Van Hentenryck, the blue sandstone carving is meant to depict Rip as he awakens to discover his curious predicament. Discover the Great Northern Catskills of Greene County – a land steeped in lore, mythologized by history and loved by visitors and literary legends alike. What to Do
Rip Van Winkle
Which European peak has the nickname ’meanest mountain on earth’?
Mountain Madness: The Catskills Are Back - Hudson Valley Magazine - August 2014 - Poughkeepsie, NY Mountain Madness: The Catskills Are Back Mountain Madness: The Catskills Are Back A word from Hudson Valley Editor in Chief, Olivia J. Abel By Olivia J. Abel 07/27/2014 Photograph by Michael Nelson So it turns out that the Catskills are not really mountains after all. I know, I know, that sounds ridiculous, and I dare you to tell that to someone who has just spent the day climbing one of the high peaks — those towering masses of land all reaching higher than 3,500 feet. Still, according to geologists at the Department of Environmental Conservation, they are actually plateaus that have been eroded (by rivers, etc.), so that they look like mountains. Well, whatever they are exactly, the Catskills have been luring generations of New Yorkers to frolic in their beauty for hundreds of years now. As famed painter Thomas Cole wrote, “Must I tell you that neither the Alps nor the Apennines, no, nor even Etna itself, have dimmed, in my eyes, the beauty of our Catskills.” So when we sat down to write about the Catskills for this issue, we knew that we had a big job ahead of us. After all, there is so much to talk about. There’s the legend of Rip Van Winkle, the Borscht Belt hotels of the mid-20th century (and their equally famous decline during the end of that century), one-of-a-kind hikes — the stunning twin Kaaterskill Falls, for example, is the stuff of legend at this point — as well as camping, biking, and a host of other outdoor activities. But the big story of the day is that the Catskills have seemingly overnight transformed from a sleepy, somewhat rundown region to a hip ’n happening hangout for all types of urban culture vultures and — dare we say it — hipsters.  What is this we hear? It seems that every season, at least one new boutique hotel throws open its doors — and more and more city folk flee upstate to the forest. Cultural offerings abound, gastropubs serve up farm-to-table fare, you can even stay in a luxury yurt. Yes, glamping has come to the Catskills. So, we couldn’t cover everything about the Catskills in these pages — not even close. And for the purpose of inclusion in this issue, we basically considered the Catskills to be west of Woodstock. So while this is in no way a complete guide, I hope that we’ve filled you in on some really interesting people, places, and things that you may not have been aware of.    And we also have lots more cool Catskills stuff at www.hvmag.com . A while back we put out a call on Facebook for readers to share their favorite Catskills memories with us. So many of you wrote to tell us your magical childhood memories. Whitney Druker, who now lives in the state of Washington, wrote this: “I grew up in a small town called Krumville. It’s now part of Olivebridge. People laugh when they hear the name, but it was the best place on earth to grow up. What I loved best was the seasons. You could smell each season coming. There was no best season either, each one had its uniqueness. Spring would bring the water rushing in the creeks from the melting snow and the geese flying back home. Warm summer nights would bring out the whippoorwills and beautiful sunsets over the mountains. Fall would bring the smell of leaves and cold crisp air. Huge snow walls to get to the mailbox, sledding down empty fields, ice skating on ponds — all are happy winter memories. I can’t imagine growing up any other way.” I hope you’re inspired to create some Catskill memories of your own. Cheers,
i don't know
Tom, Tom the piper’s son could only play which tune?
Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son (Learnt to Play) - English Children's Songs - England - Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son (Learnt to Play) Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son (Learnt to Play) Nursery Rhyme Tom, Tom, the piper's son, He learnt to play when he was young, He with his pipe made such a noise, That he pleased all the girls and boys. Tom, Tom, The Piper's Son (Learnt to Play) Nursery Rhyme Tom, Tom, the piper's son, He learnt to play when he was young, He with his pipe made such a noise, That he pleased all the girls and boys. Here's the version in the mp3: Tom, he was a piper's son, He learned to play when he was young, And all the tune that he could play Was, "Over the hills and far away," Over the hills, and a great way off, The wind will blow my top-knot off. Now, Tom with his pipe made such a noise That he well pleased both the girls and boys, And they always stopped to hear him play "Over the hills and far away." ***** Here's another version from The Baby's Opera by Walter Crane (1877): Tom he was a piper's son, He learnt to play when he was young; But all the tunes that he could play Was "Over the hills and far away." Over the hills and a great way off, The wind shall blow my top-knot* off. Tom with his pipe made such a noise That he pleased both the girls and boys, And they stopped to hear him play, "Over the hills and far away." Over the hills and a great way off, The wind shall blow my top-knot off. *A topknot was a bow of ribbon worn on top of the head by ladies in the late 17th century and the 18th century (later they wore them in their lace caps). ***** I found this longer version of Tom, Tom the Piper's Son in A History of Nursery Rhymes (1899) by Percy B. Green: Tom, he was a piper's son, He learned to play when he was young; But the only tune that he could play Was "Over the hills and far away." Over the hills and a great way off, And the wind will blow my top-knot off. Now Tom with his pipe made such a noise That he pleased both the girls and boys, And they stopped to hear him play "Over the hills and far away." Tom on his pipe did play with such skill That those who heard him could never keep still; Whenever they heard him they began to dance, Even pigs on their hind legs would after him prance. As Dolly was milking the cows one day Tom took out his pipe and began to play; So Doll and the cows danced the Cheshire cheese round, Till the pail was broke and the milk spilt on the ground. He met old Dame Trot with a basket of eggs, He used his pipe, she used her legs. She danced, he piped, the eggs were all broke; Dame Trot began to fret, Tom laughed at his joke. He saw a cross fellow beating an ass Laden with pots, pans, dishes, and glass; Tom took out his pipe and played a tune, And the jackass's load was lightened full soon.
Over the Hills and Far Away
Which 1993 film saw Sly Stallone battle against John Lythgoe?
O'er the Hills (and Far Away) (Roud 3098, 8460) > Tim Hart and Friends > Songs > Over the Hills and Far Away O'er the Hills (and Far Away) There are basically two related songs called Over the Hills and Far Away sharing the same tune, though the first is also known with other titles. The first song (Roud 3098) is about being recruited to go a-soldiering. One version from D'Urfey's Wit & Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy (1719-20) has the title The Recruiting Officer, or The Merry Volunteers and starts with the line “Hark! now the drums beat up again”. John Strachan of Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, sang this song as List, Bonny Laddie in a Peter Kennedy recording on the anthology Landfall . He commented in his sleeve notes: The Bold Poachers and Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries come from roughly the same time in history, being early 19th century transportation songs from Norfolk and Sussex respectively. They convey, along with O'er the Hills (which hails from the late 17th century), something within the simple factual almost journalistic framework of the writing, more than simple resentment at being forced to leave home, proving for me the truth of the maxim, that it's not what a song says, necessarily, but what it does that counts. Thousands of songs have very little apparent, but layers and layers underneath. O'er the Hills was taught to me by Geoff Harris at the Brentwood Folk Club. Jon Boden sang Over the Hills and Far Away as the February 18, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day . He noted in his blog: Popularised by John Tams in Sharpe , which I loved. But I heard this first from Carthy so it will always be Queen Anne for me. This YouTube video show John Tams with Barry Coope singing Over the Hills and Far Away at East Grinstead's Chequer Mead Theatre on November 16, 2010: The second song (Roud 8460) is about Tom the piper's son who only could play the tune Over the Hills and Far Away. Today the tune and title is mostly known as this children's song that cites the original song and has taken over its name. Shirley Collins sang it in the duet version from The Beggar's Opera . She commented in the album notes: Tom the Piper. who supplied John Gay with such a super tune for The Beggar's Opera is more than a nursery rhyme figure. For Tom has been the Fool in mummer's plays for many centuries, and description show him traditionally in “a bonnet, red-faced, or turned up with yellow, something like red muffettees at his wrists. Over his doublet is a red garment, like a short cloak with armholes and with a yellow cape, his hose red, and garnished across and perpendicularly on the thighs with a narrow yellow lace.” The Beggar's Opera song is a duet between dashing highwayman MacHeath and winsome, trusting Polly Peachum (“Polly his passion requited”). They take one verse each in the hayloft, and in the duet the chorus should be superimposed over a reprise of the verse. Dolly's hurdy-gurdy arrangement with the melody “upside down” gives a hint of this. Martin Carthy sang this version too, this time with Isla St Clair and chorus, on the 1979 video
i don't know
From which mountain did Moses descend with the Ten Commandments?
The Story of Moses and the 10 commandments DLTK's Bible Activities for Kids The Story of Moses and the 10 Commandments by Sharla Guenther Children's Version The Israelites had been traveling in the desert for about 3 months (which is a little longer than regular summer holidays) when they came to Mount Sinai.  They were going to stay there for a while plus they had excellent shelter from the mountain. Moses got unpacked and decided to walk up the mountain to talk to God.  Remember that this wasn't very easy for Moses, he was already over 80 years old. God knew that Moses was coming so He spoke to Moses and told him to tell the Israelites to get ready.  Moses came down to tell the people to have a bath and to clean all their clothes. By doing this the people were getting prepared to hear important words from God.  That is why we sometimes dress up or make sure we have clean clothes on when we go to church.  It makes us hopefully behave a little nicer and shows respect to God. On the third morning after Moses had talked to God, the Israelites where busy making their breakfast when all of a sudden there was a large rumble and a flash of light over the mountain.  Anyone who was still sleeping were startled and woke up suddenly. Everyone went out to look and just over the mountain there was lightning and thunder, and a very thick cloud hung over the mountain so you couldn't see the top.  Even the mountain shook and the sound of trumpets could be heard getting louder and louder. So Moses went up the mountain to hear from God once again.  This time God told Moses, "Go down to the people and tell them not to follow you up the mountain, the mountain is a special place because I am here."  So Moses warned the people not to touch or go to close to the mountain. After that Moses went back up the mountain.  But this time he stayed there for a long time (40 days and 40 nights), God sure had a lot to tell him.  God wanted to instruct the people on how to live.  By following His rules they would have less sadness in their lives.  God just wanted to protect them. It's just like when our parents give us rules to protect us: to look both ways before we cross the street, to not hit our brother or sister...  They give us rules because they love us and know what's best for us. We'll just talk about the first ten commandments God told Moses, otherwise we might be here for 40 days and we don't have time for that.  Besides, the 10 commandments are the most important for us right now.   Remember as you hear each commandment that they are all equally important, one is not more important than the other. The first commandment is to put God first.  This means that nothing should be more important than God - a hobby you enjoy, tv or video games, even your friends and family should not be more important than God. The second command is to worship only God.  This is like the first commandment in that God wants our love, and He doesn't want us to bow down and worship a statue just because we can't see Him.  In other words God is the only one that we should pray to. The third commandment is broken all the time.  God commands us to use His name with respect.  Many people use God's name like a swear word, or say it when they're upset.  God wants us to use His name when we're talking to Him, or telling others about Him in a nice way.  To use His name in these other ways is very disrespectful and hurts God to hear it. The forth commandment should be easy, we are to remember God's Sabbath.  God wants us to take one day of the week and rest.  When God made the world in six days, He rested on the seventh day.  This gets harder when you get older, there always seems to be something to do, but remember God commands us to take a day off. The fifth commandment might be a little tricky for some of you, but its very important (like all the other commandments) that you follow it.  He tells us to respect our parents.  Sometimes you might think you know what's best, or you get frustrated because your parents won't let you do something.  Remember your parents were once kids just like you, and they are trying to keep you safe and from making the same mistakes they've already made. Which commandment is next...oh right, it's the sixth commandment.  This commandment says don't hurt others.  Now imagine for a minute if everyone in the whole world obeyed this rule like God wants us to.  We probably wouldn't have any jails and we would all get along with one another. The seventh commandment is for those who are married.  God tells us to be faithful in marriage.  He wants us to love our wife or husband someday (even if they get on your nerves once and a while) and treat them with respect. The eighth commandment is don't steal.  This means that we shouldn't take something that doesn't belong to us. We are almost done, the next commandment is don't lie.  It is always better to tell the truth, and while you're at it don't do anything that would make you want to lie.  Usually parents know when you're lying anyway, and if you don't get caught God sees and hears everything and He knows. The last commandment is don't be envious of others.  This means that we shouldn't wish to have things that someone else has.  I know there is always a new toy or game - there is always something that we want to get.  It's important to remember that these things aren't really important.  God is the most important (if you remember the first commandment). Now I know this list might seem impossible to follow all the time.  I know that I don't follow all these commands all the time, and I'm going to pray to God and ask His forgiveness and try to do my very best to not do it again. Another thing to remember is that if you disobey a commandment God sees the smallest lie just the same as if someone hurt someone really bad.  I know sometimes we think if we just told a little lie it wouldn't matter or God wouldn't notice, but it does matter and God does notice.  It makes Him sad when we disobey Him, so when we make a mistake we need to say sorry to God and to the person you've wronged and try to be a better person next time.  
Sinai Peninsula
Near which city did Julie Andrews sing ‘The Hills are alive to the sound of music’?
Judaism Sernitic Religions Exodus The Story of Moses and the Ten Commandments Exodus: The Story of Moses and the Ten Commandments One of the most important chapters of Jewish history is told in Exodus, the second book of the Torah. It is the story of how God freed the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and led them back to the land of Canaan. The word exodus actually means a mass departure. As you will see, God chooses Moses to go before Pharoah, the king of the Egyptians, and demand freedom for the Hebrew slaves. After Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt, he takes them to Mount Sinai where they receive the 10 commandments and the rest of the Torah. The Torah forms the bedrock of Judaism, containing detailed instructions on day-to-day living, rules by which Jews still live today. Thus, Moses is revered as the most significant Hebrew prophet, and the Exodus as the most significant event in Jewish history. Many scholars think the Exodus took place around 1250 BCE. According to the traditional Biblical story, the Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt four hundred years before the "going out." The Birth of Moses Before the time of Moses' birth, Hebrew tribes had lived and prospered in Egypt. But the new Pharoah of Egypt felt threatened by the strength and influence of the Israelites. Pharaoh ordered his soldiers to enslave the Hebrew people. He set cruel taskmasters over them. Without a moment's rest, the Hebrews were forced to build the stone-cities of Pithom and Raamses. Now, though they were oppressed, the Israelites continued to multiply. They remained a proud and spirited people. The king of Egypt, sensing their resilience, grew determined and finally commanded his people to cast every newborn Hebrew son into the Nile. He allowed the daughters to live. During this time, in the tribe of Levi, a son was born to a couple named Arnram and Jochebed. Just then, Pharaoh's daughter, with her maidens beside her, came down to bathe at the river. She saw the basket in the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it. When she saw the crying child, the Princess felt great pity and compassion. "This is one of the Hebrews' children," she said. Seeing this, the baby's sister, Miriam, came forward and asked if the Princess would need a nurse to care for the child. She agreed, and so Miriam went to fetch her mother. "Take this child," Pharoah's daughter said to Jochebed, "and nurse him for me. I will give you wages." Unknowingly, the princess had asked the baby's own mother to raise him! So the mother took her child and nursed him. The child grew and was brought to Pharoah's daughter and became her son. She named him Moses, which means drawn out, because she drew him out of the Nile. Moses grew up as an Egyptian prince in the luxury of Pharaoh's court. Moses in Midian Moses was now grown. Fortunately, his mother, Jochebed, was at his side, teaching him compassion and justice. One morning, he came upon an Egyptian taskmaster mercilessly whipping a Hebrew, one of his own people. Making certain none of Pharaoh's men were watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day, Moses attempted to settle a dispute between two Hebrews who were arguing. When he asked one of them why he hit the other, the first responded, "Will you kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Soon after, Pharoah learned of the murder and ordered the death of Moses. Fearing for his life, Moses escaped to the land of Midian. Traveling one day, Moses came upon a well where seven women were filling troughs. These were the daughters of the priest of Midian. When some shepherds tried to drive the women away, Moses protected them. The priest heard of the Egyptian's kindness and invited him to share his home. Soon, Moses married Zipporah, one of the seven daughters. Together they had a son, Gershom, which means a stranger there. Moses chose that name because he, too, felt like "a stranger in a strange land." In time, the king of Egypt died, but the oppression of the Israelites continued. The Burning Bush One day when Moses was tending his father-in-law's flock, he came to Mount Sinai deep in the desert. Suddenly, he saw a bush on fire. Strangely, though the bush burned, it was not being destroyed. When Moses came forward, God spoke to him from inside the bush. "I have seen the misery of my people who are in Egypt. I have come to deliver them out of that land, into a land flowing with milk and honey. Come now, I will send you to Pharaoh. Lead my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." Moses wondered why he should be the one to free the Hebrews, but God reassured him. Then, God told him to gather the Hebrew elders and to beg Pharaoh to allow them three day's journey in the desert to worship the Lord God. Then God added, "I am sure the king of Egypt will not let you go, but I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders. After that he will let you go." "But they will not believe me," answered Moses. Then, God asked Moses to cast his shepherd's rod to the ground. And when he did, the rod became a snake. But when Moses retrieved the rod, it returned to its original form. Next, God had Moses place his hand to his breast. When he removed it, his hand was white and decayed like a leper's. Again he put his hand against his breast, and it became normal. "If they believe neither of these signs," instructed the Lord, "pour water from the river on the land. The water will become blood." Because Moses had difficulty speaking, God told him that his brother, Aaron, would speak on his behalf. Moses Returns to Egypt And so Moses returned to Egypt with his family and his brother, Aaron. Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh and said to him, "These are the words of the God of Israel: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness."' But Pharaoh did not believe them and sent them away. His heart hardened, and that same day he gave these orders to the taskmakers: "No longer give the people straw to make bricks. Let them gather straw for themselves. But demand the same number of bricks they made before, for they have grown lazy" After Pharaoh's command, the misery of the slaves was multiplied. Though they worked relentlessly, they could not make enough bricks. For this they were beaten and even killed. The Hebrews felt great resentment toward Moses and Aaron, for the brothers had made their plight even worse. Moses returned to the Lord and asked him why his people had been treated so badly. Why had they not been saved? God assured Moses that the people of Israel would be freed and instructed him to return to Pharoah. "Tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. Pharaoh will not listen, so I will perform many miracles and bring my people out of Egypt. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." The Ten Plagues Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they went before Pharaoh. Upon instruction from God, Moses handed his shepherd's rod to Aaron. Aaron cast it on the ground, and the rod became a snake. But Pharaoh was not impressed. He sent for his wise men and magicians who turned their rods into snakes. But Aaron's rod swallowed up all the others. Because Pharaoh would not listen, God told Moses to go out in the morning to the river Nile. There, in the presence of Pharaoh, Moses handed his rod to Aaron, who struck the water. The water turned to blood. The fish died, the river smelled foul, and the Egyptians could not drink. But again Pharaoh called upon his wise men and magicians. They, too, could turn the water to blood, and his heart remained unmoved. Seven days later, God sent another plague. This time, when Aaron struck the river, thousands of frogs came from its banks. They swarmed Egypt, entering every corner of every house and covering the land. Seeing this, Pharaoh called upon Moses: "Pray to the Lord to take the frogs from my people, and I will let your people go worship in the wilderness." Moses prayed to God accordingly, and God answered his prayer. The frogs died. But when Pharoah saw the plague had ended, he changed his mind. He would not let the people go. So God sent a plague of lice to infest the animals and people. Yet Pharaoh remained unmoved. The plague of flies came next. Swarms descended upon the land and the houses. Only this time, the land of Goshen, where the Hebrews lived, was untouched. Seeing this, Pharoah agreed to let the Hebrews go into the wilderness. Again Moses prayed that the plague be lifted and the flies disappeared. And once more, Pharaoh did not let the Hebrews go. Even after witnessing the next plague�the death of all Egyptian cattle�Pharaoh would not budge. The sixth punishment was the plague of sores. Sores appeared upon the bodies of all people and beasts of Egypt. Still, Pharoah did not set the captives free. The next plague caused terrible hail, the worst ever in Egypt. Many witnessed the death of their livestock Pharoah agreed he had sinned and that he would let the people go. But again, he broke his promlse. When swarms of locusts invaded households and fields, the same process took place. The ninth plague caused three days' darkness to fall upon Egypt; yet still Pharoah did not listen. Although warned of the tenth plague, Pharaoh responded only with anger. All the first-born in Egypt will die, Moses told him, including the first-born cattle. But none of the children of Israel would die. The Night of Passover That night, Moses instructed his people to wipe lamb's blood upon the doorways of their houses. He told them to eat the lamb and be ready to depart thereafter. The Lord, Moses said, would not bring death to their houses. Seeing the lamb's blood, God would pass over their homes. Pharoah woke that evening to the sounds of great cries. There was not a home in Egypt where someone was not dead. Even his own son died. Finally, after ten plagues, Pharoah set the Hebrews free. That very night, after over four hundred years captivity, the Hebrew people journeyed on foot from Raameses to Succoth. Crossing the Sea of Reeds God guided the Israelites as they traveled. By day, the Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud. By night, a pillar of fire protected them. But it was not long before Pharoah's anger rose against his former captives. He took his army and his best armored chariots to retrieve the Hebrews. Camping beside theSea of Reeds, the Israelites saw the Egyptians marching upon them. Frightened and bitter, they asked their leader if they had escaped to the wilderness only to die. But Moses reassured them. Moses turned in prayer to God, and God answered: "Why do you cry to me? Tell your people to go forward. Lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel will go through the middle of the sea." So Moses stretched out his hand and a strong wind blew all night. The sea divided, and the Israelites walked into the middle of it, a wall of water on either side. The Egyptians followed, but God made the wheels of the chariots get stuck in the muddy sea bottom, slowing them down. And when the Hebrews had crossed the Sea, God told Moses to stretch his hand over the waters again. As he did, the Sea collapsed on the pursuing Egyptians, drowning them all. The Ten Commandments For three months they traveled the desert. They passed through the wilderness of Shur, through Marah and Elim, the wilderness of Zin, and Rephidim. Though they were weary and the land was parched, God always provided. Finally, they came to Sinai and camped before the mountain. Moses went up Mt. Sinai to talk with the Lord. God told him to prepare his people for a special treasure. Moses told his followers to prepare themselves with prayer, that in three days the Lord would appear on the mountain. When the third day came, a thick cloud with thunder and lightning lay on the mountain. A trumpet called so loudly that the people trembled. Moses led them to the foot of the mountain. Then, God called the prophet to the top and delivered to him the Ten Commandments: "I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me, you shall not make for yourself a graven image . . . you shall not bow down to them and worship them. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and mother. You shall not murder.
i don't know
Dr. Who’s companion as played by Billie Piper?
David Tennant & Billie Piper Return for Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary - ComingSoon.net March 30, 2013 SHARE The new season of BBC America’s “Doctor Who” premieres tonight, Saturday March 30, but the long-running science fiction show is also celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year and BBC America announced a couple very special guests will be returning to help celebrate: David Tennant, the previous (tenth) Doctor Who and his companion Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper. They will be returning to join the current Doctor and his companion, played by Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman, for the special 50th Anniversary show, along with Oscar-nominated actor John Hurt. It’s been over three years since Tennant appeared as the Doctor, a role he played for three seasons of the popular show, and this will be the first time he’s portrayed the Tenth Doctor since then. Piper appeared on Tennant’s first two seasons and returned for his final episode in 2010. The 50th Anniversary show written by Steven Moffat and directed by Nick Hurran will start filming in the UK this week. Below is BBC America’s official announcement: David Tennant and Billie Piper to return for blockbuster celebrations with John Hurt also confirmed Ahead of tonight’s premiere, Doctor Who revealed some of the all-star cast that will mark the 50th anniversary. David Tennant and Billie Piper will join current Doctor and companion, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman, while John Hurt (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alien, Harry Potter) will also co-star. Last seen as the Doctor on January 1, 2010, this will be the first time Tennant has reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor. During his reign as the Time Lord, Tennant appeared in three series as well as several specials. He was first revealed as the Doctor in the 2005 series finale, The Parting of the Ways. Meanwhile Billie Piper, who played companion Rose Tyler for two series following the reboot in 2005, will appear in the show for the first time since featuring in Tennant’s last episode, The End of Time in 2010. Also confirmed to join the cast is John Hurt who will also co-star in the anniversary special that will form part of blockbuster celebrations. Produced by BBC Cymru Wales for BBC One, the 50th anniversary will be written by Steven Moffat and Directed by Nick Hurran. Filming for the 50th anniversary begins this week in the UK. Meanwhile, Doctor Who returns to BBC America tonight, March 30, 8:00pm ET/PT with eight epic episodes, which officially introduces the Doctor’s newest companion, Clara Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. Doctor Who will be immediately followed by the world-premiere of new original series Orphan Black at 9:00pm ET/PT and Chris Hardwick’s The Nerdist at 10:00pm ET/PT as part of BBC America’s Supernatural Saturday. All-new special, Doctor Who: The Companions, premieres Sunday, March 31, 7:00pm ET/PT. As the Doctor’s newest companion, Clara Oswald, steps into the TARDIS, take a look back at previous companions that have won over the Doctor’s heart in Doctor Who: The Companions. Along the way, companions old and new talk about how the show has changed their lives, and how they’ve never quite managed to leave the TARDIS behind. Matt Smith and David Tennant are joined by fellow contributors including John Barrowman (Captain Jack), Arthur Darvill (Rory) and Noel Clarke (Mickey). Additionally, David Tennant’s two-part special Spies of Warsaw premieres on Wednesday, April 3, 9:00pm ET as part of BBC AMERICA’s Dramaville programming block. Adapted by renowned Emmy®-winning writing team Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (Across the Universe, Tracey Takes On…) and executive produced by Richard Fell (Outcasts), Spies of Warsaw is based on The New York Times Bestselling author Alan Furst’s acclaimed novel. David Tennant and Janet Montgomery (Made in Jersey, Black Swan, Entourage) star in the thrilling spy story set in Poland, Paris and London in the years leading up to the Second World War.
Rose Tyler
What was the top selling musical album of the 1960’s?
Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) - Quotes & Bio | Doctor Who Friend Will you be friends with this companion?340Friends Billie Piper Trapped by Autons in the basement of Henrik's department store, shop assistant Rose Tyler’s life is saved by a chance encounter with the Doctor. When her heroism leads to the defeat of the Nestene, he invites her to travel with him – taking her from Victorian Cardiff to the day the Earth died. And although travelling with the Doctor was often dangerous, she told him she’d stay with him forever. Witnessing the Ninth Doctor’s regeneration only made that bond stronger. However, during the Battle of Canary Wharf they were separated – trapped on parallel worlds. Using a Dimension Cannon she attempted to make contact with the Doctor (and new companion Donna) several times, eventually encountering him as he was exterminated by a Dalek. Once healed and the Daleks defeated, he returned Rose to the parallel world with her family and the half-human version of himself, to live the rest of their lives together. Doctors
i don't know
In the musical “The King and I”, who is or was “I”?
The King and I - Broadway | Tickets | Broadway | Broadway.com The King and I Browse more shows you may also be interested in. Theater The Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's beautiful and classic musical. Video Read More Set in the 1860s, The King and I is based on the true story of Anna Leonowens, a widowed schoolteacher from Wales who travels to Siam to teach the King's many children. Her effect on the kingdom and the kingdom's effect on her are the basis of this beautiful and classic musical. Critics’ Reviews
Anna Leonowens
Which major domestic trophy eluded Brian Clough as both player and manager?
The King and I, musical | Details | AllMusic The King and I, musical Share this page google+ Description by Wayne Reisig The King and I was the fifth of Rodgers and Hammerstein's collaborations for the Broadway stage. This 1951 musical was their first to tap into a fact-based story for the libretto, being based on the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, the Victorian Englishwoman who was governess to the royal court of Siam. In 1944, the story (with some embellishment) had received widespread renown through Margaret Landon's book Anna and the King of Siam. This popularity was further bolstered by the 1946 film of the same name, starring Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison. Two catalysts spurred Rodgers and Hammerstein to mold the intriguing tale into musical theatre, one being the urging of their wives who were both enamored of the book. The other was the commission of Gertrude Lawrence . Feeling that an adaptation of the role of Anna would be ideal for her comeback to the musical stage, she had approached Cole Porter who passively declined. Rodgers and Hammerstein in turn produced what was to be one of their undisputed masterpieces, a mammoth hit which also garnered critical acclaim. Always at his best in delineating a love story, Hammerstein expanded upon the relationship between Anna and King Mongkut. The widow Anna arrives in 1862 Siam to take up the position of governess to the children of the royal household. The strong-willed King who, although tradition-entrenched, is forward-looking and cosmopolitan in his desire to establish ties with the British. Anna develops a mutual friendship with her young wards, as well as the King. A tragic schism occurs when one of the King's young concubines elopes with her lover, a peasant. The latter is apprehended and executed, and the former commits suicide. Horrified and disillusioned, Anna resigns and prepares to leave Siam. The King grieves to the point of death, although Anna arrives at the monarch's bedside for his final moments, providing one of the most intensely emotional finales to a Broadway production. The first run commenced at the St. James Theatre on March 29, 1951 for 1,246 performances. The entire score bristled with hits, including "I Whistle a Happy Tune," "Hello Young Lovers," "Getting to Know You," "I Have Dreamed," and "Shall We Dance." The original cast album appeared on Decca Records. A highly successful film version was made in 1956 with Brynner reprising his role opposite Deborah Kerr . Appears On
i don't know
What is the world’s largest natural harbour?
Which is the largest natural harbor in the world? | Reference.com Which is the largest natural harbor in the world? A: Quick Answer Sydney Harbour in Australia is the largest natural harbor in the world. It is also the location of many of the city's main attractions, including the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Aquarium and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Full Answer Over 11 miles long and covering an area 21 square miles in size, Sydney Harbour, in Sydney, Australia, is also called Port Jackson. The harbor is home to several islands, many of historical significance. It also houses a large variety of fish — totaling over 580 species. The harbor's large volume, approximately 500 gigalitres, is the base of the Sydharb, an official Australian unit of volume.
Port Jackson
Germans called it the Earth Berry, what do we call it?
Sydney Harbour - World�s Largest Natural Harbour Sydney Harbour Sydney Harbour - World�s Largest Natural Harbour Sydney Harbour is contained within Port Jackson in Sydney, Australia. The world�s largest natural harbour, Sydney Harbour is the home of most of Sydney�s main attractions. Sydney Harbour in History: 1770 � Although he and his crew did not land at Port Jackson, Lt. James Cook was the first European to discover the natural harbour and named it after the Judge Advocate of the Fleet, Sir George Jackson. At the time, the following Aboriginal tribes occupied the area are The Gadigal, The Cammeraygal, The Eora and The Wanegal.   These Aborigines were soon driven away from their ancestral habitat by the following factors:   The clearing of land to make homes for the colonial settlers and convicts effectively eradicated traditional hunting grounds and camp sites forcing the natives to go further inland. Colonial diseases such as smallpox proved to be deadly for the natives. Many natives were killed by the colonizers. Some were shot, others were poisoned.  The mid-19th century saw the almost total wipe-out of the Aborigines in Sydney. 1788 � British colonizers under Capt. Arthur Phillip dropped anchor at Port Jackson and established the first Australian colony at Sydney Cove, which later became Sydney City. 1942 � An anti-submarine boom net was built to protect Sydney Harbour during WWII from foreign invasion. True enough, three Japanese submarines attempted to get through and one of them got entangled in the net. Rather than be captured, the Japanese crew blew up their submarine effectively destroying both their vessel and themselves. The net was removed after the war. Islands within Sydney Harbour: Shark Island � Originally called �Boambilly� by the natives, it was so named because its shape closely resembles that of a shark. Clark Island � Named after the First Fleet�s Lt. Ralph Clark who kept a vegetable patch on the island. Fort Denison � Named after Sir William Thomas Dennison, then governor of New South Wales. Goat Island � Was used as sandstone quarry. Cockatoo Island � Was used as a prison for convicts. Spectacle Island � Was used to store naval ammunitions. Snapper Island � Increased land mass over the years due to reclamation. Rodd Island � Also known as Rabbit Island, Rhode Island, Snake Island, and Jack Island. Some of the attractions on Sydney Harbour: Sydney Opera House
i don't know
In which castle did Edward II receive his final and fatal treatment?
Edward II: Edward II's Death (?) 21 September, 2006 Edward II's Death (?) Today marks the 679th anniversary of Edward II's death...allegedly. I suppose most people know, or think they know, the story of Edward's terrible death - the 'red-hot poker' narrative that's passed into legend. After Edward II's forced abdication in January 1327, he was first 'imprisoned' at Kenilworth Castle, under the care of his cousin Henry of Lancaster, who treated him with respect and honour. In April, he was transferred to Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, where his jailor was Thomas, Lord Berkeley - the son-in-law of Roger Mortimer. Berkeley had been imprisoned for several years by Edward, and his father had died during his own imprisonment, so he had little reason to like the king. The chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker, written about thirty years later, mentions Edward's ill-treatment. He was held in a cell above the rotting corpses of animals, in an attempt to kill him indirectly. But Edward was extremely strong, fit and healthy, and survived the treatment, until on the night of 21 September 1327, he was held down and a red-hot poker pushed into his anus through a drenching-horn. His screams could be heard for miles around. This has become the standard narrative of Edward's death, but there are problems with taking it at face value. Baker hated Queen Isabella (the 'iron virago') and was constructing a narrative of 'Edward as martyr'. The chronicles written shortly after Edward's death (Anonimalle Chronicle, a shorter continuation of the Brut, Lichfield Chronicle, Adam Murimith) variously state only that he died (with no explanation given), that he died of a 'grief-induced illness', or that he was strangled or suffocated. The official pronouncement of Edward's death, in September 1327, claimed that he died of 'natural causes'. It wasn't described as murder until November 1330, when Roger Mortimer was accused of 'having [Edward] murdered at Berkeley' during his show trial. The earliest reference to the 'red-hot poker' method is found in a longer continuation of the Brut, written in the 1330s. However, many other fourteenth-century chronicles do not repeat this allegation. None of the men who killed Edward - for the purposes of this post, I'm assuming that he really was murdered in 1327 - ever spoke about it publicly. Therefore, we're dealing with rumour and hearsay, how the chroniclers thought he'd been murdered. Admittedly, I find it very hard to view Edward's death objectively - I'm very fond of him, and would rather believe that he didn't die in such a vile way. However, the red-hot poker story does seem implausible. The idea was to kill him in such a fashion that no marks of violence would be visible on his body. However, why then kill him in such an agonising fashion that his screams could be heard for miles around? Why torture him, so that his (dead) face wore an expression of agony, if you were trying to pretend that his death was natural? Surely strangling or smothering, or even poison, would have been more effective. These methods would also have left physical traces on Edward's body, but if his eyes were closed and his body covered up, they would have been missed by the people viewing his body. Here are some other ideas on the story: - Mary Saaler, in her 1997 biography of Edward II, quotes Adam Murimith's comment that Edward was killed per cautelam, by a trick, and wonders if this phrase became corrupted to per cauterium, a branding-iron. - Pierre Chaplais and Ian Mortimer have commented on the death of King Edmund Ironside in 1016, said to have been murdered in a similar way to Edward, while sitting on the privy. The story was often repeated in thirteeth-century chronicles. - And finally, Edward's brother-in-law the earl of Hereford was killed at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322 when he was skewered through the anus by a spear pushed up through the bridge. It's my belief that the grotesque 'anal rape' narrative of Edward's death ( Dr Ian Mortimer's phrase) is nothing more than a reflection of the popular belief that Edward was the passive partner in sexual acts with men, and that this means of death represented Edward receiving his 'just desserts'. The deaths of the earl of Hereford and Edmund Ironside may have provided the inspiration for this. Similarly, the castration (or emasculation) of Edward's favourite, the younger Despenser, in November 1326, was said by the chronicler Jean Froissart to be a punishment for his sexual relations with Edward. Whether this is true or not is impossible to say, but I think the narratives of both men's deaths reflect the widespread belief that they had sexual relations and were punished for them. Often, a story that begins as a joke or a rumour takes on the aura of 'truth' - such as the death of Edward's descendant George, Duke of Clarence, who died in the Tower of London in 1478. He is supposed to have drowned in a 'butt of malmsey'. It's difficult to ascertain whether this is the truth, or merely reflects his reputation as a drunkard. Perhaps the story also represents a general human willingness to believe the most gruesome story - after all, being murdered with a red-hot piece of metal in the anus is far more 'interesting' than being smothered. And perhaps we shouldn't discount the early account of Edward's death from 'grief-induced illness', the accusation against Mortimer notwithstanding. At first sight it's not very plausible, but it is possible - given that Edward had lost his throne, his friends were dead, his family had turned against him, and he never saw his children again. If Edward was murdered in 1327, I'm far more inclined to believe that he was suffocated or strangled. He was a strong man and would have resisted, but of course he could have been murdered while he was asleep, or drugged. But a far more fascinating question is - was Edward really murdered in 1327? Some modern historians incline to the view that he wasn't - which will be the subject of a further post shortly! Until then, I'm going to raise a glass to King Edward II, who may or may not have died exactly 679 years ago. Cheers, Your Grace! Posted by
Berkeley Castle
Hephaestion was the very close, personal friend & companion of which King?
Edward II of England Edward II of England By the Grace of God, King of England Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine Image:Edward2.JPG 7 July 1307 - 20 January 1327 Coronation Isabella of France (c. 1295- 1358) Issue John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall ( 1316- 1336) Eleanor of Woodstock ( 1318- 1355) Joanna ( 1321- 1362) Mother Eleanor of Castile ( 1246- 1290) Edward II, ( 25 April 1284 – 21 September? 1327), of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until deposed in January, 1327. His tendency to ignore his nobility, in favour of low-born favourites, led to constant political unrest and eventually to his deposition. Edward was the first monarch to establish colleges in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge , he founded Cambridge's King's Hall in 1317 and gave Oxford's Oriel College its royal charter in 1326. Both colleges were to have the favour of Edward's son, Edward III , who confirmed Oriel's charter in 1327 and refounded King's Hall in 1337. Prince of Wales The fourth son of Edward I of England by his first wife Eleanor of Castile, Edward II was born at Caernarfon Castle. He was the first English prince to hold the title of the Prince of Wales, which was formalized by the Lincoln Parliament of 7 February 1301. (The story that his father presented Edward II as a newborn to the Welsh as their future native prince is unfounded; the story first appeared in the work of 16th century Welsh " antiquary" David Powel.) Edward became heir to the throne when he was just a few months old, upon the death of his elder brother Alfonso. His father, a notable military leader, made a point of training young Edward in warfare and statecraft starting in his childhood. Edward however preferred boating and craftsman work, things thought beneath kings at the time. It has been hypothesized that Edward's love for "low brow" activities was developed because of his overbearing and ruthless father. The prince took part in several Scots campaigns, but "all his father's efforts could not prevent his acquiring the habits of extravagance and frivolity which he retained all through his life". The king attributed his son’s problems to Piers Gaveston, a Gascon knight some believe to have been the prince's lover. Gaveston was exiled by the king after the then Prince Edward attempted to bestow upon him a title reserved for royalty. Ironically it was the king who had originally chosen Gaveston to be a suitable friend for his son, in 1298. When Edward I died, on July 7, 1307, the first act of the prince, now King Edward II, was to recall Gaveston. His next was to abandon the Scots campaign on which his father had set his heart. King of England Image:Edward II of England - Cassell's History of England - published 1902.jpg Edward II, depicted in Cassell's History of England, published circa 1902 The new king was physically as impressive as his father. He was, however, lacking in drive and ambition and was "the first king after the Conquest who was not a man of business" (Dr Stubbs). His main interest was in entertainment, though he also took pleasure in athletics and in the practice of mechanical crafts. He had been so dominated by his father that he had little confidence in himself, and was always in the hands of some favourite with a stronger will than his own.     Eleanor, Duchess of Gueldres and Zutphen     Joan, Queen of Scots In the early years of his reign Gaveston held this role, acting as regent when Edward went to Boulogne in northern France, where, on 25 January 1308, he married Isabella of France, the daughter of King Philip IV of France, "Philip the Fair"; she was the sister of three French kings. The marriage was doomed to failure almost from the beginning. Isabella was neglected by her husband, who spent much of his time with the few friends he shared power with, conspiring on how to limit the powers of the Peerage in order to consolidate his father's legacy for himself. Their marriage nevertheless produced two sons, Edward ( 1312– 1377), who would succeed his father on the throne as Edward III, and John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall ( 1316– 1336), and two daughters, Eleanor ( 1318– 1355) and Joanna ( 1321– 1362), wife of David II of Scotland. Edward had also fathered at least one illegitimate son, Adam FitzRoy, who accompanied his father in the Scottish campaigns of 1312, and who died shortly after on 18 September 1322. Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall Gaveston received the earldom of Cornwall with the hand of the king's niece, Margaret of Gloucester. The honour of marriage with a close relative of the King was generally reserved for more senior or proven nobles; the Earldom of Cornwall, at £4000 p.a. being one of the richest earldoms in the Kingdom, was viewed as belonging rightfully only to a son of the King, and had indeed been intended by Edward I for his second son, Thomas of Brotherton. The barons grew resentful of Gaveston and twice insisted on his banishment. On each occasion Edward recalled his friend, whereupon the barons, headed by the king's cousin Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, went to war against king and favourite and in 1312 Gaveston was executed as a traitor by the Earl of Lancaster and his allies, claiming that Gaveston led the King to folly. Gaveston was run through and beheaded on Blacklow Hill, outside the small village of Leek Wootton, where a monument (Gaveston's Cross) still stands today. Edward, appalled by the death of his friend, swore, "He acted as a fool. If he had taken my advice, he would never have fallen into the hands of the earls...I guessed that what has now happened would occur." He immediately became focused on the destruction of those earls who had betrayed him, resulting in him temporarily becoming more clear in thought and deed; this coincided with the rebels losing impetus (with Gaveston dead, they saw little need to continue). As a result, the earls were prevented from marching on London, and instead loitered at Ware in Herefordshire, steadily weakening, whilst the King gained advice, money and arms from others. By mid-July, the Earl of Pembroke was advising the King to make war on the rebels; the rebels, unwilling to risk their lives, entered negotiations in the September of 1312. Eventually, in October, the Earls of Lancaster, Warwick, Arundel and Hereford begged Edward's pardon. Conflict with Scotland During the quarrels between Edward and the "ordainers", Robert the Bruce was steadily re-conquering Scotland . His progress was so great that he had occupied all the fortresses save Stirling, which he besieged. The danger of losing Stirling shamed Edward and the barons into an attempt to retrieve their lost ground. In addition, Edward saw a chance for his sworn revenge against Lancaster, if he were to return home in front of a large, victorious army. Lancaster, his greatest Magnate, however refused to join the campaign. In June 1314 Edward led a huge army into Scotland in the hope of relieving Stirling. On 24 June, his ill-disciplined and poorly led force was completely defeated by Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn. Henceforth Bruce was sure of his position as King of Scots, and took vengeance for Edward I's activities by devastating the northern counties of England. Political factions With the English disaster at Bannockburn, the advantage passed to Lancaster's party. Lancaster had shown some ability as a leader of opposition, but lacked creativity or the leadership ability of previous baronial leaders like Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. He was the de facto leader because he was the wealthiest of the barons, not because of his skills. The perception was not that he wanted Edward to be more equitable with his distribution of gifts, but that he wanted Edward to give everything to him instead. He also was suspected of having made a secret understanding with Bruce, in hopes of keeping the king weak. Lancaster and Lord Warwick demanded changes to be made to the royal household, claiming that the King had ignored the Ordinances since Gaveston's death, had wrongfully appointed men to offices they did not deserve, and had wrongfully forgiven debts. The Bannockburn humiliation was explained as Divine punishment for Edward's flouting of the Ordinances, since the Archbishop of Canterbury had threatened all who disobeyed them with Excommunication. Accordingly, Parliament met in York in the September of 1314, to discuss this matter. Edward was saved from excessive humiliation in this Parliament by a phenomenon typical of all politics, namely division of the opposition: in this case, the division of the Barons into fiercely contending factions. In this case, the King had the support of the powerful Aymer of Valence, Earl of Pembroke, and also that of Pembroke's kinsman (and Edward's childhood friend), Sir Roger Mortimer of Wigmore, both of whom, together with others, were sympathetic to the King due to their hatred of Lancaster, and commanded enough political authority to make their sympathy effective. This 'middle party' dreaded the overweening power of the Earl of Lancaster, and feared a return to England as it had stood under Simon de Montfort. Accordingly, the replacement Chancellor and Treasurer were both sympathetic to the King (and one was also a friend of Lord Mortimer), and other allies of the King whom Lancaster wished removed were kept in place. Most of these were allies or friends of the Mortimer and the de Valence (Pembroke) family. Hugh le Despenser, the husband of one of the Gloucester sisters (Edward's nieces) was not. The result of this was that the dramatic curtailment of the King's power envisioned by Lancaster and his followers (with the associated benefits for themselves) failed to emerge; instead, Edward emerged from the crisis with a bruised ego, a fading grief for Gaveston, an all but lost Scotland, but little loss of real power. However, he was already breeding new troubles with his favouring of the Despenser family. The Favourites Since the death of Gaveston, the King had been showing increasing favour to his nephew-by-marriage (who was also Gaveston's brother-in-law), Hugh the Younger Despenser. Although the King listened to and trusted the advice given by Lords such as Pembroke and Hereford, he had little personal liking for them, in large part due to their involvement in the murder of Gaveston. He also had a large amount of trust and liking for Roger Mortimer of Wigmore, but that man was more valuable to Edward far away in Ireland, quelling revolts and the Scottish Invasion, than he could be as a court favourite. Accordingly, it was Despenser, of Edward's own age, who rose in the affections of the King, becoming as close to and favoured by the King as Gaveston had been. Initially with Despenser rose also William de Montagu, Roger Damory, and Hugh Audley. If the hatred the Barons had borne Gaveston had been very great, that which they would eventually bear these four, in particular the Despenser family, would prove even greater. "Worse than Gaveston," was how chroniclers described their effect upon the King. Since Damory, Audley and Despenser were married to the three de Clare sisters, heiresses to the rich Gloucester estates, they accordingly were placed in a high position in the realm, and were a real threat to the influence and power of Lancaster. The Barons were especially indignant at the privileges Edward lavished upon the Despenser father and son, especially when the younger Despenser began in 1318 to strive to procure for himself the earldom of Gloucester, and the lands associated with it, in right of his wife Eleanor de Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford and Joan of Acre and niece of Edward II. Accordingly, Lancaster yet again accused the King of disobeying the Ordinances, and demanded that all four favourites be banished - a demand which was predictably ignored. By late 1316, tension in England was so great that it appeared to be at the point of breaking into full-scale conflict. The King, ignoring Lancaster's demands and fearing war, mustered an army at York, in preparation for any conflict beginning whilst Parliament met there in October. Pembroke and Bartholemew de Badlesmere (head of a particularly rich and influential family, whose daughter was married to Roger Mortimer's heir), as two particularly respected and senior politicians, urged the supporters of both the King and Lancaster to come to an agreement between them; Lancaster, fearing that he would be murdered, refused to attend any conference, or go to Court. He finally agreed to attend Court in September 1317; at this point, Edward very foolishly was persuaded by his favourites to attack Pontefract Castle, a possession of the Earl, in retaliation to Lancaster's occupation of two royal castles under the jurisdiction of Damory. Pembroke and Badlesmere managed to prevent any bloodshed; however, when they were left despairing by Lancaster's withdrawal from negotiations, they decided to take a new line of behavour - they would aim to influence the King's favourites. Accordingly, by Spring 1318, the two had enlisted the cooperation of Roger Damory (who promised to advise the King only according to the wishes of Pembroke and Badlesmere), and were in a position of real influence. Accordingly, by August 1318, agreement was secured - gifts contrary to the Ordinances would be revoked, and Damory, Montagu and Audley would be banished from Court. The Despensers, however, would remain near to the King. Accordingly, the King, having lost three of his favourites, vested his affections entirely in Hugh the Younger Despenser; at the same time, Roger Mortimer, a long valued and respected, yet not entirely trusted, vassal of the King, began to slide in the King's regard, due to both Mortimer's behaviour (he was very independent minded), and due to the old rivalry between the Mortimer and the Despenser families. Rule of the Despensers By 1320, the Despensers were extraordinarily powerful in England. The younger Despenser had already been responsible for the killing of the Welsh rebel Llywellyn Bren, and had suffered no punishment. He had attempted to seize lands once associated with the County of Gloucester, for example Gwennllwg from Hugh Audley in 1317 (having already been granted the Lordship of Glamorgan, the richest part of the Gloucester inheritance, in that same year). He had also been made King's Chamberlain in 1318, granting him control over access to the King. And by 1320, it was evident that he was attempting to lay claim to the Earldom of Gloucester itself, whose rightful disposition was unclear. This attitude earned him the enmity of Hugh Audley and Roger Damory, the two former favourites and husbands of the other two Gloucester heiresses, whose marital inheritances were threatened by Despenser's ambitions. It also angered the Earl of Hereford and Roger Mortimer, both of whom had been angered by Despenser's murder of Llywellyn, and whose lands were also threatened by Despenser. By 1320, though, the situation in England was becoming dangerously unstable. The King, desiring to please the voracious Despenser, had granted to him Gwennllwg, a former Gloucester possession but inherited by Audley in his wife's name; Edward's new grant went against all law and right. Not even in Gaveston's day had the King so blatantly treated England as a personal fief (which it was in theory only), nor had he then granted Gaveston the lands of another at a whim, an action which went against all moral and legal justification. Edward followed this by ignoring laws of the land in favour of Despenser: when Lord de Braose of Gower sold his Lordship to his son-in-law (an action entirely lawful in the Welsh Marches), Despenser demanded that the King grant Gower to him instead. The King, against all laws, confiscated Gower from the purchaser, de Mowbray; in doing this, he invoked the fury of most of England, and brought armed resistance to himself. At the same time, Despenser served as his 'right-hand man', preventing the King from being exposed to duties which Edward found tedious, and taking many features of his administration onto his own shoulders. This led to the opposition even of the Earl of Pembroke. In 1321, the Earl of Hereford and Roger Mortimer took up the leadership of the Marcher Lords, and took up arms, along with the Earl of Lancaster and his allies, against the Despenser family. The Marchers had on their side some of the best fighters in the realm, in particular the battle-hardened Mortimer, whose conduct in Ireland had so recently earned him great praise. The Despensers had very few military knights. The rebel force then proceeded to ravage Despenser lands, causing massive amounts of damage, and stirring up an almost united national force of hatred against the Despenser family, which Gaveston had never experienced. Indeed, many from all sides now heartily regretted Gaveston's death - where he had not been guilty of more than flamboyance, irreverence, and a worrying closeness to the King, the Despensers were described as "brutal and greedy," having "wronged many"; the elder Despenser was accused of having "accused many of poaching from royal hunting grounds, many of these he vilely disinherited, some he forced into exile, from many he extorted unjust sums of money, and collected a thousand librates of land by means of threats...By general judgement, he justly lost what he had accumulated from the losses of others." By the end of July 1321, the forces of Roger Mortimer were outside London, awaiting a break of the deadlock. In 1321, under the mediation of Lord Pembroke, an agreement between the King and the rebels was hammered out. On the 14 August at Westminster Hall, in the presence of the rebels, and accompanied by the Earls of Pembroke and Richmond, the King declared the Despenser father and son both banished. Further legal manoueverings affixed the blame rightfully due to the Despensers (and some which was not) to the two men, and absolved the rebels of any blame. The Despensers retired from England in a spiteful and vicious mood: whilst the elder retired to Bordeaux, fulminating against the greed of his son which had led to their downfall, the younger became an undiscriminating pirate, "a sea monster", whose actions greatly damaged England's international relations and trade. Edward Victorious The victory of the rebels, however, proved their undoing. With the removal of the Despensers, many nobles in England, regardless of previous affiliation, now attempted to move into the vacuum left by the two. Hoping to win Edward's favour, these nobles were willing to aid the King in his revenge against the rebels, and thus increase their own wealth and power. Edward himself therefore not only desired revenge; he also had the means to attain it. The excuse for the opening of hostilities came when Lady Badlesmere of Leeds Castle, Kent, refused to give Queen Isabella - returning to London from Canterbury - lodging for the night, having been ordered by her husband Bartholemew de Badlesmere to grant access to no-one. Accordingly, the furious Queen ordered her men to force the gate. Ill-equipped to attack a well-defended castle, nine of the men perished, and the shamed Queen was forced to return to her husband - who used the incident as an excuse to raise an army, and attack Leeds Castle. The result was the division of the rebel alliance: the Marcher Lords, led by Mortimer and Hereford, chose to support Badlesmere, expecting all those who had hated the Despensers to aid them. They did not. Instead, the Earl of Lancaster - who detested Badlesmere - broadcasted his disapproval of the march to aid Badlesmere. As a result, the rebels failed to send troops to Leeds, which was captured by the King. Twelve of its garrison were hanged; the Badlesmere womenfolk and children were imprisoned in the Tower of London. In the following campaigns, Lancaster offered his support, but failed to give force of arms to the Marcher forces - his excuse being their protection of de Badlesmere. The Mortimers therefore sued for peace. Having been lied to by a desperate Lord Pembroke - who claimed that the King would spare their lives and pardon them - Lords Roger Mortimer de Chirk and de Wigmore submitted to the King, and were imprisoned in the Tower of London. Soon after this, the Despenser father and son returned to England. Lancaster, viewed with disdain for his abandonment of the Marcher Lords, abandoned by his vassals, attempted to flee to Dunstanburgh Castle. They were caught at Boroughbridge near York, however, between two royal armies. The Earl of Hereford was there murdered gruesomely: he was stabbed from below in the intestines with a pike. Lord Damory, the former favourite of the King, also perished. The Earl of Lancaster was caught by Sir Andrew de Harclay, the Sheriff of Carlisle, along with the other rebellious Lords, and led to gaol in York. From there, six northern barons were immediately hanged, drawn and quartered at Pontefract Castle. Lancaster, due to his royal blood, was given a show trial, at which he was allowed no defence; he was then dressed in an old surcoat and led a mile from Pontefract on an ass, at which point he was beheaded in the presence of the King. The death of Lancaster was followed by further harsh reprisals from the King and the Despensers. More than a dozen lords were killed or executed, and many knights died or were imprisoned. Property was confiscated, and women and children of rebels imprisoned. Only a few, such as the Lords Mortimer, were spared - the two Roger Mortimers, despite their crimes against the King, were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment rather than death. With all opposition crushed, the King and the Despensers were left the unquestionable masters of England. At the York Parliament of 1322, Edward issued a Statute which revoked all previous Ordinances designed to limit his power and to prevent any further encroachment upon it. The King would no longer be subject to the will of Parliament, and the Lords, Prelates and Commons were to suffer his will in silence. Parliament degenerated into a mere advisory council. The younger Despenser, meanwhile, took on the guise of both first minister and national bully. He demanded that the King gather a large Treasury, taking money from whoever he could and paying as little as possible. He threatened anyone he wished to constrain with fines so crippling that they could not pay, thereby ensuring their obedience to himself. He seized any lands he wished: thus, he was given lands by the King which rightfully belonged to Roger Mortimer of Chirk and Alice de Lacy, dowager Countess of Lancaster; and the King's brother, the Earl of Kent, was forced to rent out lands to Despenser for a nominal amount, before later being forced to sell them for a farcically small sum. He also seized the inheritance of his sister in law, Elizabeth de Clare, the widow of Lord Damory. Says Ian Mortimer of Despenser: "It would be tedious and depressing to list all of Despenser's misdealings. Through extraordinary connivance, intrigue, extortion, oppression and royal nepotism, he acquired whatever he wanted. Lands, money, influence, and prestige all flooded his way...what Despenser requested, the King invariably agreed." Queen Isabella's Resistance It was unfortunate in the extreme for the Despensers that they should have engaged the hatred of the Queen so vigourously. She had never cared for any of the King's favourites; for the Despensers, she reserved a particular detestation, due to their ruthlessness and their manipulation of the King. She also hated the tyranny they were inflicting upon England, especially the imprisonment of noblewomen, and their treatment of the people of London (for whom Isabella cared - they had welcomed her upon her arrival to England), whom they subjected to unbearable taxation; and she detested the separation of children from their families, and the undermining of her respect and authority by the younger Despenser. Isabella's patience finally snapped during the Summer of 1322, during yet another Scottish Campaign. Isabella had, for the first time, accompanied the King to the border as part of the campaign, during which she stayed at Tynemouth Abbey. The Scots surprised Edward and Despenser at Blackhow Moor, causing them to flee. Isabella, the King abandoned to the mercy of Robert Bruce, who still remembered the treatment of his women by Edward I. Isabella, however, managed to escape - although two of her ladies in waiting died - in a boat willing to take her to England, despite the control of the coastal routes by the Fleming allies of the Scots. Upon her return to England, the Queen began drifting towards active opposition to her husband. She began to complain of the mistreatment of Joan Mortimer, wife of Sir Roger Mortimer de Wigmore. She also may have had a hand in the escape of Mortimer from the Tower. This escape pitched the King into further dread of insurrection, and he expended great efforts upon seeking out Mortimer. He failed to discover more than that Mortimer was staying with his cousins, the de Fiennes family, which led many of those who hated the Despensers to gather hope, and begin making sporadic attacks upon Despenser property. At the same time, dispute between France and England broke out over the thorny subject of Gascony. Edward had refused to pay homage to the French King for the territory upon his succession, and had failed to stamp out various insurrections in the territory. This legally obliged the French King to confiscate the territory. When a disagreement arose between England and France over the building of a fortified town in English territory, during which a French official was murdered by the Gascon Lord Raymond Bernard, and when Edward (on Despenser's advice) refused yet again to do homage for Gascony, Isabella's brother, Charles IV of France, declared the territory forfeit. This incurred the King's wrath against his wife, Isabella. It was further stirred when she declared her support for the Bishops of Hereford and Lincoln, both accused of aiding Mortimer's escape. She was ordered to write to the French King with a request for peace, which Edward claimed to have been the purpose of their marriage. He refused, however, to allow her to mediate with her brother in person, as the Pope suggested be done - Edward feared that she would ally with Mortimer. Instead, he kept her under strict control, refused to repay his debts to her, and set his niece Eleanor - wife of the younger Despenser - to watch over the Queen and to read her letters. In September 1324, all her property was confiscated following rumours of Mortimer invading from Hainault, and Despenser reputedly requested a divorce for the King from the Pope. The Queen then lost most of her living expenses, all French people in England, including her servants, were arrested, and her children were removed from her care and given into that of Eleanor de Clare. Edward then proceeded to bungle attempts to regain Gascony, sending his half-brother the Earl of Kent to lead the campaign. Kent was young and inexperienced; he won the hostility of the Gascons by attempting to extort money from them, and by abducting a young girl from Agen, before losing large amounts of territory to his uncle, Charles of Valois, and being forced to call a truce. The King then attempted to conscript large numbers of men from England into the army, threatening to hang without trial any who returned to their homes. The army then proved to be ill-funded and ill-provisioned, and failed to make any headway in Gascony. Charles, in secret alliance with Mortimer, then made Edward an offer: if the King sent Isabella and his heir, Prince Edward of Windsor, to France to pay homage to the French King, all Edward's French lands would be returned. This was clearly a trap: the Queen and the heir could easily be used against Edward. However, it would also allow Edward to regain his lost French possessions with little trouble. Edward accordingly sent Isabella, promising to send Prince Edward when further concessions were made. Isabella was sent to France in March 1325 in the company of spies and chaperones - her women were all married to loyal retainers of Edward, and her male retainers were all staunchly royalist. Nonetheless, the Queen was visibly overjoyed to be leaving England, which would not only allow her to visit her family and native land, but also allow her to escape the Despensers and the King, all of whom she by now detested. Isabella initially acted in a manner designed to allay suspicions - she toured the country briefly, met her sister-in-law the Queen of France, and negotiated with her brother over the future of Gascony. She even wrote to Edward, after a bad start to negotiations, claiming that she was considering returning to England, but that if he agreed, she would remain in France. Edward agreed to the latter, and sent her some money. On 31 May 1325, Isabella agreed to a Peace Treaty. It favoured France: Gascony would be entirely surrendered to Charles, and then partially returned. France would also retain a measure of power in the region, thereby limiting that of England there, and would retain a military presence there. Nonetheless, Edward had no choice but to agree to it: the King of France would make no further concessions, England was not able at that time to secure Gascony militarily, and the Treaty was considered better than the complete loss of the region. He therefore did so on 13 June, and announced that he, rather than his son, would pay homage to the King. Edward initially intended to go to France and pay homage himself: if he were to send his son, the Prince would almost inevitably be used as a bargaining chip. The younger Despenser, however - recalling the fate of Piers Gaveston when divided from the King - knew full well that, were he left alone in England without the King, his downfall would be swift and implacable. Accordingly, he desperately attempted to persuade members of the royal council to persuade the King to remain in England. Given that the council was not fond of him, it was hardly surprising that they largely spoke in favour of the King going to France. Nor that Henry of Lancaster, brother of the deceased Earl Thomas, proved the deciding voice in urging the King to go. Despenser, unable to persuade the King in public, made clear in private to the King the extent to which the Despenser family would be endangered should Edward leave the realm. Edward gave in to Despenser, and feigned illness. He then sent the Bishop of Winchester to France to make an alternative arrangement: and to order Isabella back to England. Isabella, however, bluffed him, promising to return when her son had paid homage to her brother. And Edward invested his son with the title of Duke of Aquitaine, and sent him to Isabella in France. It is perhaps unsurprising that in his handling of the matter, Edward proved right the fears his father had so long ago had regarding the friendship between Edward and Gaveston. Edward I had dreaded that the binding of the King to a commoner would restrict the King and bring his ruin. Now he was proved right: for, instead of going to France himself, which would have no doubt doomed le Despenser but preserved himself, Edward II chose to send his heir - knowing full well the dangers of doing so - into the hands of France and his wife, in order to preserve the life of his favourite. This would prove a gross tactical error, and bring about the ruin of himself and le Despenser. The signal that Edward had miscalculated came after Prince Edward had performed his homage to the King of France. The Bishop of Exeter, Isabella's enemy, demanded on King Edward's behalf, and in front of the French King and court, that she must now immediately return home - claiming in front of all that Edward would tolerate no excuse for her intransigence. Isabella's expenses, the Bishop continued, would be paid only if she returned to England, as was her moral and legal duty. He finished by insisting that she had no choice in the matter. Isabella, however, thought otherwise, and - now that she had her son with her - declared (to the amazement, and ill-concealed delight, of the court) that she would not return to England until Despenser was removed. Her brother, to the Bishop's horror, supported her, vowing that as her brother he would let her reside in France for as long as she wished. The Bishop they sent packing to England, disguised as a hermit, where he reported the events to the outraged King. Invasion by Isabella and Mortimer The King did not immediately give up hope of persuading the Queen to return to England. In reply to an earlier statement from her that she would not return "for fear and doubt of Hugh Despenser", he wrote to her in December, saying that he did not believe her to dislike Despenser, and claiming that Despenser had always done his utmost to advance the Queen (a statement which no doubt flabbergasted Isabella, considering that she was the daughter of a King and Queen, and Hugh le Despenser a mere Baron's son). He also flatly refused to her complaints. He then proceeded to order all of the Bishops in England to write to her in the guise of disapproving fathers, ordering her to return home - he even dictated the text of their letters. However, when Isabella's retinue (loyal to Edward, and ordered back to England by Isabella) returned to the English Court on 23 December, they brought shocking news for the King: Isabella had formed a liaison with Roger Mortimer in Paris. Furthermore, they were now plotting an invasion of England. Edward had already been driven to hatred of Mortimer by his rebellion and escape; now, appalled at being cuckolded by his enemy, he not only prepared for invasion, but continued his revenge against Mortimer, sending soldiers to arrest the man's mother, Margaret de Fiennes (who, like her son, managed to evade capture by the King). He was then left betrayed by others close to him: his son refused to leave his mother (claiming that he wanted to remain with her during her unease and unhappiness); his brother, the Earl of Kent, married Mortimer's cousin, Margaret Wake; and other nobles, such as John de Cromwell and the Earl of Richmond, also chose to remain with Mortimer. In February 1326, the Pope wrote to Despenser, ordering him to leave court to avert civil war. Despenser however responded by claiming that the Queen had no right to demand his withdrawal. He also claimed that Isabella was refusing to leave France because Mortimer was threatening to kill her, and that she was sharing her bed with Mortimer. Despenser then attempted to have the Queen assassinated. In September 1326, Mortimer and Isabella invaded England from Hainault, landing in Suffolk, on the north bank of the Orwell, in the lands of the Earl of Norfolk (the King's half-brother, who detested Despenser). Edward was amazed by their small numbers of soldiers, and immediately attempted to levy an immense army to crush them. However, a large number of men refused to fight Mortimer and the Queen; Henry of Lancaster, for example, was not even summoned by the King, and he showed his loyalties by raising an army, seizing a cache of Despenser treasure from Leicester Abbey, and marching south to join Mortimer. Mortimer and the Queen also showed a shrewd understanding of popular thought processes - they made clear that Prince Edward supported their invasion (since many people would refuse to fight the future monarch), and were careful to minimise Mortimer's role (to avoid people looking askance at his connection to the Queen). They claimed that their goal was only to rid England of the tyrannical Despenser. Isabella, for her part, played the role of a wife in distress, winning the support of the commoners, and behaved as though on pilgrimage (to emphasise their campaign as Divinely Ordained). She also, importantly, made recompense to any whose property was damaged by her army. Swiftly, the invasion had too much force and support (from, for example, the Bishops of Hereford, Ely, Lincoln, Durham and Norwich, and the Archbishop of Dublin) to be easily stemmed. The King and Despenser further damaged themselves by showing a complete inability to effectively spend the Treasury in fighting the invaders, whilst Mortimer easily spent to his best advantage. As a result, the army the King had ordered failed to emerge - his Sheriffs either gave excuses, or simply stayed silent, due to the unwillingness of their men to fight - and the King, with Despenser, was left isolated in the Tower of London. They abandoned London on 1 October, leaving the city to fall into disorder, many Despenser agents suffering persecution. The King first took refuge in Gloucester, from where he ordered all soldiers still loyal to him to join him there. He then fled to South Wales, to make a defence in Despenser's misbegotten lands there, following receivement of Lancaster's treachery on 10 October. Isabella, on 15 October, certain now of victory, declared that she had come to free Kingdom, Crown and Church from the abuses of Despenser and his followers, including Robert Baldock the Chancellor and Walter de Stapledon the Treasurer. The London mob, inspired by this, promptly murdered de Stapledon and various men they considered spies of Despenser, stealing much of de Stapledon's wealth in the process. His head was presented to Mortimer and Isabella, and the city of London continued to slide into anarchy, nominally presided over by Prince John, the younger son of Edward and Isabella. Mortimer and the Queen however chose to leave London in riot for that time, instead moving on Bristol and capturing the Earl of Winchester (the elder Despenser) at Bristol on 26 October. The King, in Glamorgan, was unable to rally an army - many of the Welshmen, for all their loyalty to the King, refused to fight to defend Despenser, whom they hated due to his murder of Llywellen Bren. Deciding to abandon England, Despenser and Edward took ship on 21 October from Chepstow with a small force of soldiers. The weather being contrary, they attempted for five days to make headway (even paying a friar to pray for a change in weather) before finally putting into Cardiff. From there, they moved to Caerphilly Castle. On 31 October, Edward was abandoned by his servants, leaving him with only Despenser, Baldock, and a few retainers. On 26 October, Roger and Isabella had appointed Prince Edward as governor of the realm in the stead of his father - the boy being just fourteen and largely influenced by his mother and her lover, the de facto leaders of the country were thus the Queen and Roger Mortimer. On 27 October, the elder Despenser was tried by Roger Mortimer, Thomas Wake and Henry Trussel (former retainers of the Earl of Lancaster), Henry of Lancaster, and the King's half-brothers Norfolk and Kent. Isabella pleaded for the old man to be shown clemency, which was denied; instead, in a trial deliberately echoing that of Thomas of Lancaster, Despenser was accused of encouraging the illegal government of his son, enriching himself at the expense of others, despoiling the church, and taking part in the illegal execution of the Earl of Lancaster. He was hanged and beheaded at the Bristol Gallows. Henry of Lancaster was then sent to fetch the King and the younger Despenser from Wales. The two had by now retreated to Neath, from where the King sent its abbot to negotiate with Mortimer. Mortimer, however, refused to accept anything other than complete surrender. Then, on 16 November, Lancaster caught the King, Despenser and their soldiers in the open country near Neath (according to legend, his capture took place at Pant-y-Brâd ("the dell of treachery"), near Llantrisant). The soldiers were released; Despenser and Baldock were sent to Isabella at Hereford. The King was taken by Lancaster himself to Kenilworth. Caerphilly, the last royal castle, promptly surrendered. Reprisals against the King's allies immediately began. The Earl of Arundel, an old enemy of Roger Mortimer, was beheaded. This was followed by a trial against Despenser, presided over by those men who had tried the elder Despenser. The judgement on Despenser was "thorough, extensive and uncompromising." The sentence, however, was problematic. The Lancastrians wanted him beheaded at one of his own castles, to echo the death of Thomas of Lancaster at Pontefract. Mortimer wanted Despenser's death to be as horrible as the death of Llywelyn Bren (who had been drawn by two horses to a gallows, hanged, whose heart and intestines had been cut out before he was dead and burnt, and then dismembered, his limbs being dispersed through Glamorgan). Isabella wanted him executed in London. Therefore, a compromise was reached. On 24 November, Despenser and others were taken to Hereford. There, a huge crowd gathered in anticipation at seeing him die. They dragged him from his horse, stripped him, and scrawled biblical verses against corruption and arrogance on his skin, and then led him into the city, presenting him in the market square to Roger, Isabella, and the Lancastrians. The list of charges was then read out, taking a great time. He was then condemned to hang as a thief, and be drawn and quartered as a traitor, his quarters to be dispersed through England. Despenser was then brutally executed. Abdication With the King imprisoned, Mortimer and the Queen faced the problem of what to do with him. The simplest solution would be execution: his titles would then pass to Edward of Windsor, whom Isabella could control, whilst it would also prevent the possibility of his being restored. However, execution would require the King to be tried and convicted of Treason: and whilst most Lords agreed that Edward had failed to show due attention to his country, several Prelates argued that, appointed by God, the King could not be legally deposed or executed; if this happened, they said, God would punish the country. There were also concerns that a fair trial might find the King innocent of treason and restore him, and that a show trial would evoke dangerous levels of sympathy. Therefore, whilst the Lancastrians demanded that the King die, Mortimer, who recalled the sparing of his own life by the King, and his one-time great loyalty to Edward, and who wanted to maintain the good opinion of Isabella (who believed in the dignity of royalty, and thus shied from execution) and her eldest son (who would naturally detest the murderer of his father), decided to have Edward imprisoned for life instead. The Lancastrians were worn down, the nobles persuaded, and Mortimer's decision was put into effect. However, the fact remained that the legality of power still lay with the King. Isabella had been given the Great Seal, and was using it to rule in the names of the King, herself, and their son as appropriate; and in December 1326, the Chancery was ordered to date writs issued in the King's name as if they came from him at Kenilworth; nonetheless, these actions were illegal, and could at any moment be challenged. Parliament was scheduled to meet on 7th January 1327, and the Queen's party entered London on the 4th to that purpose. Two Bishops were sent to Kenilworth, to accompany the King to Parliament (which required his presence to meet). However, the King did not appear, and Parliament could do nothing until the arrival of the two Bishops - alone - on the 12th. They reported that the King refused to attend, and declared all who did so to be traitors. Furthermore, Bishop Orleton reported, the King reportedly kept a dagger in his clothes, with the intention of killing his wife if the chance ever arose. In these circumstances, Parliament chose to act as an authority above the King. Representatives of the Commons were summoned, and debates began. Initially, Parliament - stunned by this sudden change of affairs - was unwilling to answer the question put by Bishop Orleton ("Did Parliament want the King to rule the country, or did it prefer that his son should rule instead?"); the Archbishop of York and others declared themselves fearful of the London mob, loyal to Roger Mortimer. Others wanted the King to speak in Parliament and openly abdicate, rather than be deposed by the Queen and her General. Mortimer responded by commanding the Mayor of London, Richard de Bethune, to write to Parliament, asking them to go to the Guildhall to swear an oath to protect the Queen and Prince Edward, and to depose the King. Mortimer then called the great lords to a secret meeting that night, at which they gave their unanimous support to the deposition of the King. When Parliament met in Westminster Hall the next day, Roger showed them the letter from the Mayor and citizens calling for the protection of the Queen and Prince, and deposition of the King; he also added that the great lords of the realm had met the night before and all believed that the King should be deposed; although he spoke neither for himself nor for the commons, he had to speak because the great lords had asked him to do so. At this point, Mortimer's cousin, Thomas Wake, loudly declared that the King should not rule any longer; Bishop Orleton then preached a vigourous and rousing sermon beginning "An unwise King destroyeth his people". By the end of that, Parliament was demanding "Away with the King!" After a sermon from Bishop Stratford to the same effect, Wake demanded, "Do you agree? Do the people of the country agree?" Those who agreed, swept away, loudly clamoured that they did so; those who did not, terrified of meeting the Londoners later that day, stayed quiet. Finally, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Walter Reynolds, spoke, saying that 'the people of England had been oppressed for too long, and that, if it were the people's will that the King should be deposed, then it was God's will, and the reign should come to an end.' For the final time, Wake rose, demanding, "Is this the people's will? Is it it the people's will that the king should be deposed and his son made king in his place?" When Parliament screamed, "Let it be done!", the Archbishop pronounced final judgement: "Your voice has been clearly heard here, for Edward has been deprived of the government of the Kingdom, and his son made king as you have unanimously consented." Edward of Windsor was then ushered into the hall to the cry, "Behold your King!" The assembly then proceeded to sing Glory, Laud and Honour; the Bishop of Rochester, one of the few to not sing, was later beaten up. Later that day, a large crowd of nobles, prelates and knights, led by Mortimer, proceeded to swear to the people of London to protect Isabella, her son, and those who fought against Despenser, and to observe the Ordinances and the liberties of the City of London; there was no mention of the Deposition of the King. It did not matter; Parliament had agreed to remove the King, an almost unprecedented event in mediaeval Europe (the only precedent being the deposition of a minor forgettable German prince in the fourteenth century). However, for all that Parliament had agreed that the King should no longer rule, they had not deposed him. Rather, their decision made, Edward was asked to accept it. On 20 January, Edward II was informed at Kenilworth Castle of what had happened by those who had come to announce the decision of Parliament. He fainted upon seeing their faces, and had to be lifted up by Bishop Stratford and Henry of Lancaster. Orleton then read the charges. The King was guilty of: incompetence; allowing others to govern him to the detriment of the people and Church; not listening to good advice and pursuing occupations unbecoming to a monarch; having lost Scotland and lands in Gascony and Ireland through failure of effective governance; damaging the Church, and imprisoning its representatives; allowing nobles to be killed, disinherited, imprisoned and exiled; failing to ensure fair justice, instead governing for profit and allowing others to do likewise; and of fleeing in the company of a notorious enemy of the realm, leaving it without government, and thereby losing the faith and trust of his people. Edward, profoundly shocked by this judgement, wept whilst listening. He was then offered a choice: he might abdicate in favour of his son; or he might resist, and relinquish the throne to one not of royal blood, but experienced in government - this, presumably, being Roger Mortimer. The King, lamenting that his people had so hated his rule, agreed that if the people would accept his son, he would abdicate in his favour. The lords, through the person of Sir William Trussel, then renounced their homage to him, and the reign of Edward II was ended by himself. The abdication was announced and recorded in London on 24 January, and the 25th was proclaimed the first day of the reign of Edward III - who, at 14, was still controlled by Isabella and Mortimer. The former King Edward remained imprisoned. Life in captivity and death Edward II's tomb at Gloucester Cathedral The government of Isabella and Mortimer was so precarious that they dared not leave the deposed king in the hands of their political enemies. On April 3 he was removed from Kenilworth and entrusted to the custody of two dependents of Mortimer. He was imprisoned at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire where he died. Contrary to the polemical chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker, record evidence shows that he was well-treated in captivity. Following the declaration of the king's death, the rule of Isabella and Mortimer did not last long. Mortimer and Isabella made peace with the Scots with the Treaty of Northampton but this was highly unpopular. On 19 March 1330, Edmund of Woodstock, brother of Edward II, was executed for plotting the restoration of Edward II. Some say Mortimer had fed him the information that Edward was still alive hoping to entrap him. However Mortimer's execution of the Earl lost him his remaining support. Consequently as soon as Edward III came of age in 1330, he executed Roger Mortimer on charges of treason, the most important of which was the murder of Edward II. Edward III spared Isabella and gave her a generous allowance, but he ensured that she retired from public life. She died at Hertford on 23 August 1358. Fictional accounts of Edward II King Edward II of England . The scene on the lower part shows the king being murdered. Ca. 1700 AD The most famous fictional account of Edward II's reign is that of Christopher Marlowe in his play Edward II. In recent years, several acclaimed productions have been staged in the United Kingdom, although the play is seldom performed in the United States outside of large cities and university towns. Derek Jarman's cinematic version of the play has much more to do with twentieth-century sexual politics than it does with Marlowe's drama. Margaret Campbell Barnes' Isabel the Fair, Hilda Lewis' Harlot Queen, Maureen Peters' Isabella, the She-Wolf, and Brenda Honeyman's The Queen and Mortimer all focus on Queen Isabella. Eve Trevaskis' King's Wake starts shortly after the fall of the Despensers and ends with the fall of Mortimer. Jean Plaidy's The Follies of the King is a rather plodding look at the reign, though it livens up when it comes time for the red-hot poker. In A Secret Chronicle by Jane Lane, Edward II's youngest daughter sends a trusted servant to investigate the circumstances of her father's death. Jean Evans' A Brittle Glory is narrated mostly by the king's fool. Chris Hunt's Gaveston is a sexually explicit account of the king's relationship with his first favourite, while Sandra Wilson's Alice breaks tradition with an emphatically heterosexual Gaveston, whose mistress is the title character. In Cashelmara, Susan Howatch updates the story to 19th century Ireland. Shootings, stabbings, and poisonings replace beheadings and red-hot pokers. There has also been a ballet of his story produced by Birmingham Royal Ballet, which adheres to the red hot poker myth. Most recently, Susan Higginbotham in The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II looks at the reign and its aftermath through the eyes of Hugh le Despenser's wife, Eleanor de Clare. Medieval mystery novelists Paul Doherty and Michael Jecks have set a number of their books against the backdrop of Edward II's reign. A Victorian novelist, Emily Sarah Holt, set several historical novels during this period. Holt's appendices to her books show that she researched her novels thoroughly, though her religious prejudices (she appears to have been strongly anti-Catholic) and her strong sense of propriety make her books rather odd reading. She is far harsher on Isabella than on Edward II, and she seems to have had a soft spot for Hugh le Despenser. Edward II appears in Maurice Druon's series of novels The Accursed Kings (in French: Les Rois Maudits). There, his homosexuality is not at all hidden; Queen Isabella describes how she had to endure Hugh the younger Despenser's presence during sex with her husband. Volume 5, La Louve de France (The She-Wolf of France), describes the overthrow and murder of Edward II by Isabella and Roger Mortimer, the executions of the Despensers, and the installation of Edward III. The novel describes these as part of the circumstances leading to the Hundred Years' War and the end of the House of Capet. Cinematically, the Mel Gibson feature, Braveheart, shows Edward II as highly effeminate. This portrayal is inaccurate as Edward II's appearance was similar to his father's, right down to the drooping eyelid. He did not, however, care for warcraft; when he became king, Edward II was just as weak a military leader against the Scots as the film shows him to be. The film implies that William Wallace consummated an affair with Edward II's lonely wife Isabella and was the real father of Edward III. This is total fiction. Wallace was executed in 1305, Edward II married the twelve year old Isabella in 1308 and Edward III was born in 1312. Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_II_of_England" The Schools Wikipedia is sponsored by SOS Children , and is a hand-chosen selection of article versions from the English Wikipedia edited only by deletion (see www.wikipedia.org for details of authors and sources). The articles are available under the
i don't know
Which is the only state of the USA that is named after an American President?
World Capital Named After a U.S. President   The Question: There are two world capitals named for American presidents. One is Washington D.C., but what is the other? The Answer: The other capital city named after a U.S. president is Monrovia , the capital city of the African country Liberia . Monrovia was founded in 1822 during the term of President James Monroe . A port city located at the mouth of the St. Paul River, Monrovia was established by the American Colonization Society as a haven for freed black slaves from America. The ACS thought that the deportation of blacks would be the answer to America's slavery problem. The country was originally called Monrovia, but switched to the Free and Independent Republic of Liberia in 1847. Incidentally there are four U.S. capitals named after presidents: Jackson, Miss., Lincoln, Neb., Jefferson City, Mo. and Madison, Wis. —The Editors
Washington
The Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office?
Milestones: 1830–1860 - Office of the Historian Milestones: 1830–1860 Founding of Liberia, 1847 The founding of Liberia in the early 1800s was motivated by the domestic politics of slavery and race in the United States as well as by U.S. foreign policy interests. In 1816, a group of white Americans founded the American Colonization Society (ACS) to deal with the “problem” of the growing number of free blacks in the United States by resettling them in Africa. The resulting state of Liberia would become the second (after Haiti) black republic in the world at that time. Joseph Jenkins Roberts, First President of Liberia Prominent Americans such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Randolph were among the best known members of ACS. Former President Thomas Jefferson publicly supported the organization’s goals, and President James Madison arranged public funding for the Society. The motives for joining the society were vast as a range of people from abolitionists to slaveholders counted themselves members. On the other hand, many abolitionists, both black and white, ultimately rejected the notion that it was impossible for the races to integrate and therefore did not support the idea of an African-American colony in Africa. Still, the ACS had powerful support and its colonization project gained momentum. In 1818 the Society sent two representatives to West Africa to find a suitable location for the colony, but they were unable to persuade local tribal leaders to sell any territory. In 1820, 88 free black settlers and 3 society members sailed for Sierra Leone. Before departing they had signed a constitution requiring that an agent of the Society administer the settlement under U.S. laws. They found shelter on Scherbo Island off the west coast of Africa, but many died from malaria. In 1821, a U.S. Navy vessel resumed the search for a place of permanent settlement in what is now Liberia. Once again the local leaders resisted American attempts to purchase land. This time, the Navy officer in charge, Lieutenant Robert Stockton, coerced a local ruler to sell a strip of land to the Society. The Scherbo Island group moved to this new location and other blacks from the United States joined them. The local tribes continually attacked the new colony and in 1824, the settlers built fortifications for protection. In that same year, the settlement was named Liberia and its capital Monrovia, in honor of President James Monroe who had procured more U.S. Government money for the project. Lieutenant Robert Stockton Other colonization societies sponsored by individual states purchased land and sent settlers to areas nearMonrovia. Africans removed from slave ships by the U.S. Navy after the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade were also put ashore in Liberia. In 1838 most of these settlements, with up to 20,000 people, combined into one organization. The settlers attempted to retain the culture they had brought from the United States and for the most part did not integrate with the native societies. Today, about 5 percent of the population of Liberia is descended from these settlers. The U.S. Government had provided Liberia some financial support, but Washington expected Monrovia to move toward self-sufficiency. Commerce was the first economic sector to grow in the colony. However, French and British traders continually encroached upon Liberian territory. As it was not a sovereign state, it was hard-pressed to defend its economic interests. The U.S. Government lent some diplomatic support, but Britain and France had territories in West Africa and were better poised to act. As a result, in 1847, Liberia declared independence from the American Colonization Society in order to establish a sovereign state and create its own laws governing commerce. Despite protests by the affected British companies, London was the first to extend recognition to the new republic, signing a treaty of commerce and friendship with Monrovia in 1848. Because of fears of the impact this might have on the issue of slavery in the United States, Washington did not recognize the nation it had played a role in creating. In the meantime, a mass exodus of African-Americans to Liberia never materialized. Though President Abraham Lincoln was open to promoting the idea, several abolitionists in his cabinet opposed it, some for moral considerations and others for the more practical reason of retaining sufficient labor and military forces for the future. The United States finally established diplomatic relations with Liberia in 1862, and continued to maintain strong ties until the 1990s.
i don't know
Known as “la Superba”, which seaport is the capital of Liguria?
Genoa | italytourinitaly administrator Italy tours 0 comments Genoa is the capital of Liguria and the sixth largest city in Italy with a populace of 588, 688 inside its administrative limits on a land area of 243.6 km2 (94 sq mi). The city self-discipline known as Genoa Metropolitan metropolis has an professional populace of 862,885. Over 1.5 million folks are living inside the Genoa Metropolitan self-discipline. Genoa is one amongst Europe’s largest cities on the Mediterranean Sea and the major seaport in Italy. Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba (“the Proud one”) since of its extraordinary earlier and impressive landmarks. A part of the historical city of Genoa used to be inscribed on the arena Heritage record (UNESCO) in 2006 (see below). The city’s rich cultural history in peculiarly its art work, track and cuisine allowed it to become the 2004 European Capital of tradition. It’s the birthplace of Christopher Columbusand Niccolò Paganini. Genoa, which varieties the southern nook of the Milan-Turin-Genoa industrial triangle of north-west Italy, is among the nation’s principal economic centres. The city has hosted gigantic shipyards and steelworks considering the nineteenth century, and its robust fiscal sector dates again to the core a long time. The monetary university of Saint George, headquartered in 1407, is without doubt one of the oldest on this planet and has performed an fundamental role inside the metropolis’s prosperity on the grounds that the core of the fifteenth century. At reward a quantity of fundamental Italian businesses are centered within the metropolis, including Selex ES, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS, Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone, Piaggio Aero and Costa Crociere.
Genoa
What is the largest lake in Italy?
Genoa - Liguria - Discover Italy Discover Italy Shakespeare in Veneto, 400 years after the death of William Shakespeare Between Verona, Venice, Monselice and Torri del Benaco a great event recalls the English playwright and poet. Orlando Furioso 500 years. What Ariosto saw when he closed his eyes Ferrara, The Diamond Palace Video In the castle of Taranto Taranto, overlooking the Gulf of the Ionian Sea, is called “the city of two seas” because it is placed between the Mar Grande and Mar Piccolo. It is... Read more Vicenza, Palladio's Legacy Vicenza and the surrounding province feature ancient history and traditions that are closely tied to the name Andrea Palladio, the architect whose... You are in  Home  /  Discover Italy  /  Liguria  / Genoa Genoa Superb for the story it tells,  Superb for the ancient architecture ennobling the streets,  Superb for the modern architecture that testifies to the will to explore,  Superb for the gardens and parks that decorate it,  Superb for the artwork it offers, and Superb for the nature it fosters.  Such is Genoa (from the Latin Ianua), a portal  between land and sea . A crossroads of cultures and people since ancient times, Genoa has always been a land that lives and breathes the sea air. Its history speaks grandly of this magnificent city, displaying its richness and beauty in every corner of the old town. The narrow and characteristic carruggi snake between the tall buildings along the medieval street plan, apparently inhomogeneous yet well-defined by the main streets that meander towards both the sea and inland.  Beautiful buildings, gorgeous churches, façades decorated by stuccoes and frescoes, invaluable art collections - all bring the "Century of the Genovesi" to mind, the most important moment in the city's cultural development.  A walk through the streets, squares and alleys of  Genoa  is a constant surprise. Behind every corner is a treasure waiting to be discovered.  The hinterland tells its story through this prodigious work of Man.  A sequence of varying landscapes rapidly transition from sheer cliffs to smooth hills that eventually rise toward the sky in the Apennine and Alpine ranges. A wild nature that only the determination and love of its people has managed to tame, finding the right balance between environmental conservation and the needs of the people. Terraced olive groves and vineyards break up the thick inland vegetation, with vast expanses of chestnuts bordering green valleys and fields.  An especially mild climate, an impervious terrain and the passion of the people of Genoa: these are the three key elements, ingredients for the excellent local products that distinguish this land (above all - the extra virgin olive oil). Steep and rocky, interspersed with graceful coves and bays, covered with pines, Holm oak, palm trees and agave, painted with a rainbow of flowers, caressed by a sea that absorbs its magic, dotted with picturesque villages to brighten up a landscape so gorgeous it seems unreal. A land of contrasts that are so harmoniously linked to one another, the coast of Genoa is a marvel with which few places in the world can compete. Arriving from  La Spezia , one meets the Gulf of Tigullio, enclosed between Moneglia to the east and the  Portofino  promontory to the west: embedded gems in every extremity of one of the most beautiful places that nature and man could create. Tigullio is a succession of extraordinary environmental beauties, little bays and enchanted beaches - think  Sestri Levante's famous Bay of Silence , in addition to breathtaking sebeds. Past the  Portofino  promontory, one enters Paradise Gulf, extending to Grand Genoa. The Riviera di Ponente is now also considered a marine holiday resort, with places like Arenzano and Cogoleto offering quality touristic reception and services. The great Petrarch once defined it as "The Lady of the Sea," and rightly so. Considering that its history revolves around the sea, let us introduce you to  Genoa beginning with its main entrance:  the harbor .  Easily seen from the distance and from any direction, with its height of 76 meters stands the Lighthouse Tower, also known as the Lanterna. Originally built for military purposes, it is now the symbol of the city. 720 steps lead to the top of the tower, but the view is worth the climb. Yet for those who do not feel like taking the challenge, a small elevator that will also take them to the top. Genoa is one of the  most important international ports .  For this reason, the whole area has recently been renovated by the great architect Renzo Piano, who had already designed the Bolla (Bubble) near the famous  Aquarium .  Once having accessed Genoa via its "portal," the visitor enters the heart of this city known as La Superba, which holds many of its masterpieces inside elegant buildings. Located in the  Strade Nuove  district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2006, The Rolli buildings are famous for their architectonic beauty and the precious materials employed. Among them are Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Doria Tursi, together forming a museum complex. In fact, Caravaggio, Veronese, Guercino, Van Dyck and Canova are only some of the artists whose work is exhibited here, where the elegance and prestige of these buildings meet the beauty of their masterpieces in a unique itinerary.   Nearby is the Palazzo Reale, whose magnificence strikes visitors immediately upon entering through its gates. Frescos, sculptures, paintings and stuccoes decorate the sophisticated halls, which are outfitted with elegant furniture. The building houses the National Gallery, which displays a highly-regarded collection of paintings by Luca Giordano, Veronese, Tintoretto, Piola, Vassallo, Jan Roos, Borgognone, Grechetto, Strozzi, Carlo Bonomi, Guercino and Van Dyck through a tour of the 23 rooms.  The Cathedral of San Lorenzo, located in the homonymous square, was originally built in the 9th Century and was significantly modified through time. The façade, decorated with black and white horizontal lines, presents double-lancet and multiple-lancet windows on the upper section, and three portals with a large rose window above the central portal. The interior, divided into three naves, exhibits precious paintings and sculptures and is home to the Museo del Tesoro, interesting both because for its setting and its show of artistic and cultural heritage. The same black-and-white motif can be found on the façade of Sant'Agostino, a deconsecrated church, now location for the homonymous Museum: a rich collection narrates the historical relationship between Genoa and art, from the 10th to the 18th Centuries. An interesting multicoloured majolica also adorns the bell tower.  Leaving the historical district and going east, you will arrive at Nervi, a wealthy residential suburb favored by the aristocracy since the 19th Century. Shining with all its art and history, and set on a delightful stretch of coast, a gorgeous seafront unfolds with splendid views of the Gulf of Tigullio. Gardens and blossoming fields harmoniously intertwine with the elegant villas that serve as museums: the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Villa Saluzzo Serra, the Raccolte Frugone in Villa Grimaldi Fassio, and the Museo Luxoro in the villa of the same name.  Westward, more precisely in Pegli, one can visit the Naval Museum housed in Villa Doria, an aristocratic residence surrounded by a vast park. On display here is Genoa's maritime history, from its foundation until the early Middle Ages. Villa Durazzo Pallavicini holds two great attractions: the Botanical Garden, set in the park of the villa and filled with rarities, and the Museo Civico di Archeologia Ligure. In addition to finds from the Greco-Roman age, the museum displays a collection of finds from throughout Liguria that date back to pre-history. Stunning is the romantic park that surrounds the villa, known for the water effects created by ponds, caves, streams and falls, artfully placed among the lush vegetation.  The architecture of Riviera di Levante (at Genoa's east) is famous for the characteristic buildings almost clinging to the rock, and for its pastel walls.  The same style can be found along the Tigullio coast, with  Portofino ,  Rapallo ,  Santa Margherita Ligure  and  Sestri Levante  following one after another on the coast and surrounded by the green of the maquis and the sea reflecting the the beauty of the terrain. Trails, bays, coves, cliffs, the sea and its depths - here nature has painted one of many Italian masterpieces.  In Golfo del Paradiso is Camogli, another gem of the Riviera is an old town characterized by steep streets that meander through houses stacked on top of one another. However, the true heart of the town is the characteristic port, enlivened by the glee of the festive atmosphere and where the crystal-clear water reflects the colors of the boats. The hinterland of Genoa also offers interesting itineraries, featuring many nature reserves: the Beigua Park, the largest protected area of the region; the Aveto Park, one of the most beautiful areas of the Ligurian Apennines; Antola Park, a mosaic of wonderful natural environments overlooking the Ligurian Sea near  Portofino , a town whose beauty is renowned worldwide.  When in Genoa, one cannot miss a visit to the  Aquarium , the largest in Europe, and a fun and educational destination for the whole family.  The careful and accurate recreation of the habitats and boats of the Galata Museo del Mare, with its three travel-themed floors, is simply stunning. The museum allows visitors the possibility of boarding a real submarine, the S518 Nazario Sauro. After the Aquarium and the Museum, it is highly recommended to book a trip in the Marine Sanctuary for Cetaceans, following the routes of the marine mammals that live and thrive in this protected area. Along the coast are beautiful beaches tucked between palisades or under picturesque homes, making for the ideal opportunity to relax in the sun and feel the gentle sea breeze that wards off the heat. Among the most popular, Baia del Silenzio and Baia delle Favole are tiny jewels that face the "two seas" of  Sestri Levante , with the old village sitting on the Punta Manara promontory.  Crystal-clear waters reflecting the green of the maquis and the colors of the lush gardens, lap the  Baia di Paraggi  and Baia di San Fruttuoso near  Portofino . But the beauty of Tigullio is also hidden - that is, found underwater.  The seabeds surrounding the Portofino promontory are particularly suggestive. Of variable depth, rocky reefs alternate with sandy bottoms. Sea fans, sponges, madrepore and red coral are among the many species that live in this underwater world, where many scuba divers pay a visit to the famous Cristo degli Abissi or the Christ of the Depths, dedicated to those who lost their life at sea.  On dry land many trails for horseback riding, mountain biking or hiking in order to experience the remotest corners of the area. It is a chance to leave behind the noise of the quotidian, and enter that oft-forgotten world of sensations and emotins. Cinema, theatre, dance, music and poetry liven up the schedule of events.  The Genovafilmfestival, the most important festival of the area; the Festival Internazionale della Poesia with national and international artists; and the Goa Boa Festival with both up-and-coming and established singers, are among the main events held in Genoa.  The artistic soul of Genoa expresses itself through Artegenova, a fair dedicated to modern and contemporary art, photography and video art.  A classic historical reenactment is the Regata of the Old Marine Republics, which is held annually in the waters of (by turns) Amalfi, Pisa, Venice and Genoa since 1955. The rest of the province is also rich in several cultural rendezvous. In May, Sestri Levante becomes a capital of "fables" with shows, meetings and conferences revolving around the “Hans Christian Andersen - Baia delle Favole” prize. It is the most important Italian award for children's stories.  In spring, in the suggestive Tigullio, Cartoons on the Bay is held, one of the most prestigious international events for animation, one of the youngest and most enticing forms of entertainment. Lavagna also hosts a historical reenactment of the marriage between Bianca de’ Bianchi and Opizzo Fieschi. These celebrations culminate a weel after the August 14th celebration of the “Torta dei Fieschi”: a gigantic wedding cake made for the occasion by local patisseries and  distribuited to all participants.  Basil, cheese, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and salt are carefully ground and mixed with a wooden pestle in a marble mortar. This is pesto, the symbol of Ligurian cuisine, and a simple recipe with a supremely-unique taste. As long as it is prepared with Genovese basil from Prà, it is truly excellent; recently it was awarded the DOP label. It is perfect with the handmade trofie or trenette, especially those from Recco; the texture of these pastas is ideal to soak up pesto's rich flavor.  Recco is also renown for its cheese focaccias. Attention to detail and the gastronomic creativity of the Genovese people are also exemplified by the pansotti, a kind of ravioli filled with chard in a walnut sauce; the minestrone alla genovese made with pesto; the cima, a richly stuffed veal; the stockfish accomodato, served with Taggiasche olives; the cappon magro, a salad made with vegetables, shellfish and fish that has evolved from a frugal meal to a delicacy; the ciuppin, a long-standing fish-based soup recipe (claimed by Riva Trigoso); the fugassa, a focaccia served with local olive oil; and the torta pasqualina, made with the local vegetables. For dessert, canestrelli are crisp almond-based pastries, while the pandolce goes served on a laurel branch.  A variety of flavors and colors are enriched by the quality of the wines, both red and white, that only the land of the Lanterna could offer. Those who want to learn more about Genoa must experience the flavors of its superb and generous cuisine (which also belies the reputation of its people as penny-pinchers)! Liguria
i don't know
Which strait separates Sicily from mainland Italy?
FRONTLINE/WORLD Fellows . Sicily - A Bridge Too Far? . Introduction | PBS For nearly 3,000 years -- probably longer -- the Strait of Messina, which separates Sicily from mainland Italy, has been notorious as one of the more volatile places on Earth. In the Odyssey, bloodthirsty sea monsters devoured those who tried to cross the passage. And over the millennia, it has been the site of ship-swallowing whirlpools and catastrophes like earthquakes, not to mention Mafia scandals. But Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vows that the strait will soon be the home of a new legend -- the world's longest suspension bridge. As the Italian government prepares to begin construction next year, FRONTLINE/World Fellow Mary Spicuzza traveled to Sicily to explore the storm building over the plans for a bridge across the Strait of Messina. Mary Spicuzza was selected as a FRONTLINE/World Fellow in 2003. She will finish dual master's degrees in journalism and international studies at the University of California at Berkeley in 2004.
Strait of Messina
Corundum, widely used as an abrasive, is a crystalline form of an oxide of which metal?
SicilyToday.net SicilyToday.net prompt EU pledge of support Survivors say 73 Eritreans died at sea on boat headed for Lampedusa Aug. 25, 2009 -- The European Union has pledged to ask all of its member nations to share the burden of coping with the thousands of mostly African immigrants entering Europe illegally every year through Sicily and Italy. An EU official made the pledge following the discovery Aug. 20 that 73 migrants from Eritrea died onboard a boat en route from Libya to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa after the boat became stranded at sea for at least 20 days and ran out of food and drinking water. The immigrant deaths triggered expressions of shock and outrage by human rights organizations, members of the Italian Parliament, and an Italian Catholic bishops� group after news surfaced that commercial ships may have spotted the stranded boat but made no effort to rescue its passengers. Italy�s Catholic bishops� daily newspaper Avvenire published an editorial condemning what it said was a lack of compassion and response by Italy and other European countries to the plight of thousands of desperate immigrants fleeing sub-Saharan Africa and seeking refuge in Europe. The newspaper and other critics pointed to a new immigration policy by the Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi called �push-back,� which calls for stopping immigrant boats at sea and forcing their return to Libya. United Nations experts on immigration have said that Libya for years has served as the main point of disembarkation for undocumented immigrants fleeing Africa. Most of the immigrants use what little financial resources they have to pay human traffickers to take them from their home countries to Libyan ports, where the traffickers arrange for them to cross the Mediterranean in small, poorly maintained boats, U.N. refugee officials have said. The Sicilian island of Lampedusa, which is located half way between the North African coast and Sicily, is the favorite landing site for the immigrant boats because it�s Europe�s closest outpost to Africa. Many of the immigrant boats bypass Lampedusa, however, and head for Sicily proper. Italian coast guard ships and Italian fishing boats often rescue immigrants after their boats capsize or sink in waters near Sicily. The immigrants consider Sicily a gateway to the rest of Europe, where they hope to start a new life free from the harsh conditions, including civil war and poverty, they face in their home countries. Local governmental officials in Lampedusa and other Sicilian provinces and towns have said their communities were taking the brunt of the burden as thousands of immigrants pass through their towns each year. Lampedusa is home to one of Italy�s major immigrant processing centers. Sicily is �paying too high a price just for being the gateway to Europe,� said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini in a statement praising the EU for promising to take steps to help ease the immigrant burden on Sicily and Italy. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that the EU�s duty president, Carl Bildt, the premier of Sweden, announced that EU ministers would bring up the immigrant question at a meeting in late October. The hoped for action by the EU could be �a first but important turning point,� ANSA quoted Frattini as saying. The number of immigrant boat landings in Lampedusa and other parts of Sicily dropped dramatically beginning this spring as a result of the �push-back� immigration policy, Italian authorities have said. Human rights groups have criticized the policy, saying it violates international agreements on allowing refugees to seek political asylum. Critics have said sending the immigrants back to Libya results in Libyan authorities forcing them back to their country of origin, where they could be subjected to imprisonment or death due to persecution. Italy�s interior minister, Roberto Maroni, has said a recent agreement between Italy and Libya calls for Libya to take into consideration asylum requests at the time the immigrants return to Libya after Italian authorities intercept their boats in Italian territorial waters. New energy projects Wind and solar �farms,� liquid natural gas plant set to begin construction Aug. 21, 2009 -- Industry and government officials in August announced plans for building more wind turbines, a solar �park,� and a large liquid natural gas terminal in Sicily over the next several years. Enel, one of Italy�s largest energy companies, plans to build the biggest of the three projects -- a $934.7 million liquefied natural gas import terminal in Sicily�s southern coastal city of Porto Empedocle. According to a statement released by the company on Aug. 6, Sicilian Regional President Raffaele Lombardo and Enel CEO and general manager Fulvio Conti signed a �protocol of understanding� calling for the development of environment-friendly energy projects, including the liquefied gas terminal and wind and solar energy fields in Sicily. Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is liquid form of natural gas produced as a means of transporting the gas in tanks when it�s not possible or it�s too expensive to transport it through pipelines. Italy generates most of its electricity from burning natural gas and it plans to obtain most of the gas for the new terminal in Porto Empedocle from Nigeria. Head of prominent Sicilian American group opposes Sicily bridge Arba Sicula leader calls for using funds for other infrastructure projects Aug. 3, 2009 -- The president of Arba Sicula, the U.S. based international group that promotes the language and culture of Sicily, has come out against a multi-billion dollar plan by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to build a bridge connecting Sicily to mainland Italy. Gaetano Cipolla, a Sicilian native and professor of language and literature at St. John�s University in New York, announced in an Arba Sicula publication that the money designated for the bridge could better �improve the lives of Sicilians� if it were used for more urgently needed infrastructure projects, such as roads, highways, and train service. Cipolla�s opposition to the bridge is considered significant  because he's one of North America's most prominent promoters of Sicily as an important cultural and historic region of Italy and Europe. He and  Arba Sicula, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, usually avoid taking positions on controversial political issues in Italy. The two largest Italian American groups -- the National Italian American Foundation and The Order Sons of Italy in America -- have not taken a public position on the Sicily bridge. The founder and former director of the Sicilian Confederation of North America, Vincenzo Arcobelli, supports the bridge project, saying it�s needed to boost economic development in Sicily. Berlusconi and other supporters of the bridge say it would boost Sicily�s economy by making it easier to deliver products and services to and from Sicily. Currently, trains and cars must embark and disembark on ferry boats that cross the Straits of Messina, the body of water that separates Sicily from Reggio di Calabria. Opponents, including many of Italy�s environmental organizations, say the bridge would create severe ecological damage to the Straits and the shore areas of both Sicily and Calabria. Opponents also cite warnings from some engineering experts who say the bridge could be weakened or damaged by high winds, earthquakes, and tidal waves that have struck Messina and Calabria in years past. Berlusconi and his cabinet ministers in charge of public works projects dispute these claims. They say extensive engineering studies have shown that a well-built bridge could withstand high winds and an earthquake greater in magnitude than any that has hit the region, including the devastating 1908 earthquake and tidal wave that destroyed much of Messina. If built, the bridge would be the world�s longest suspension span and would accommodate both cars and trains. �Many point out that the money would be better spent in providing better rail service in Sicily; more urgent highways such as the Catania-Syracuse [route] that forces travelers to spend an hour and a half or two for thirty five miles of road; better hospitals and better schools,� Cipolla wrote in the current issue of Arba Sicula�s bi-annual newsletter, Sicilia Parra. In addition to the financial and environmental issues associated with the bridge, Cipolla said there�s a cultural and human aspect to traveling to and from Sicily by ferry. �Personally, I just drove from Taormina to Rome, and the most pleasurable part of the trip was crossing the Straits of Messina on a ferry boat; the worst was driving on a single lane behind large trucks at 40 km an hour,� he wrote. �I like the idea of looking at Messina and the coast line of Sicily as the ferry moves toward Calabria or approaching Sicily from Calabria. It is a visual confirmation that you are entering another world, a special place. Surely that would not be the feeling you would get by driving across a bridge.� Italy�s minister of infrastructure, Altero Matteoli, and the minister of the economy, Giulio Tremonti, issued a joint statement July 24 saying the bridge project is moving ahead and is scheduled to be completed by 2016. The two said work on the project could begin as soon as this year. Sicily �rebellion� prompts Changes come after U.S. approves Fiat-Chryslers deal The Italian automaker Fiat announced it plans to end the production of cars at its plant in Termini Imerese on the northern coast of Sicily in 2011, a development that will result in worker lay-offs. The announcement came shortly after a deal was reached between Fiat and U.S. automaker Chrysler giving Fiat a 20 percent ownership stake in Chrysler. Workers staged a two-hour strike in June to protest the announcement, despite claims by Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne that the company was doing all it could to preserve jobs in the midst of a worldwide crisis in the auto industry caused by an international economic downturn. The Italian government responded by making $418 million available to help areas surrounding Fiat�s plants in Termini Imerese and the City of Pomigliano near Naples, where plant layoffs were also expected. Marchionne called on the government and unions to support its efforts to maintain jobs while it reduced the production of cars due to sluggish demand, according to Reuters news service.   Undocumented immigrants from Africa arriving last year in Lampedus, the Sicilian island where thousands of illegal immigrants have arrived in recent years. Illegal immigrant arrivals in Italy-Libya �repatriation� agreement cited as key factor July 11, 2009 -- The number of illegal immigrants arriving in Sicily by boat has fallen by 54 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, according to Frontex, the European Union�s border agency. A Frontex official told the Italian news agency ANSA that the drop in illegal immigrant arrivals in both Sicily and Sardinia was mostly due to greater cooperation between Libya and Italy in efforts to intercept boats carrying the immigrants to Southern Italian shores. Italian authorities have said small boats operated by human traffickers who belong to organized crime groups have transported thousands of immigrants mostly from sub-Saharan African nations over the past decade to Sicily. Most of the boats have disembarked from Libya, with Libyan authorities in the past spurning Italy�s requests that they take steps to stop the departures, Italian officials have said. Many of the immigrants have drowned at sea after the small boats capsized in the Mediteranean, despite efforts by the Italian navy and Italian fishing vessels to rescue them. In past years, Italy allowed the immigrants to remain in resettlement camps in various locations throughout the country while determining whether they were eligible for legal immigration status in Italy or other European countries. But Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi, who called for a more restrictive stand on  immigration in his election campaign last year, has pushed through a policy of �repatriation.� The policy calls for sending most illegal immigrants -- referred to in the Italian press as "clandestini -- back to their country of origin. After months of negotiations, the Berlusconi government and Libya reached an agreement this spring in which Libya was to intercept the immigrant boats in Libyan waters and hold the immigrants in Libya until their country of origin can be determined. The agreement calls for Italy to intercept immigrant boats in Italian waters and return the illegal immigrants to Libya, which, in turn, would take steps to repatriate them to their home countries. Human rights organizations in Italy and other European nation�s have denounced the repatriation policy, saying it denies the immigrants procedural rights under international agreements to determine whether they are seeking asylum from political persecution and possible death if forced to return to their country of origin. Many of the immigrants arriving in Sicily are believed to be from war-turn countries like Somalia and Sudan, where they could face death upon their return, human rights groups have said. Arias-Fernandez told ANSA July 11 that the number of illegal immigrants arriving by boat to Sicily, mostly on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, dropped from 14,806 last year to 6,760 this year for the period of Jan. 1 to July 5. �From May 15 on, that is from when the agreements [with Libya] became effective, our agents noticed even more of a decrease,� he told ANSA. �The decrease in this last month and a half may have even reached 70 percent,� he said. �Based on our statistics, we are able to say that the agreements have had a positive impact,� ANSA quoted him as saying. �On the humanitarian level, fewer human lives have been put at risk due to fewer departures. But our agency does not have the ability to confirm if the right to request asylum as well as other human rights are being respected in Libya.� Human rights groups say Libya is holding the returned immigrants in detention camps and Libyan authorities are not providing them access to information and assistance about seeking asylum. A spokesperson for the Libyan Embassy in Washington could not be immediately reached for comment.   Leaders of the historic town of Salemi in Western Sicily are selling earthquake damaged houses for under $2 to buyers who agree to renovate them. Buy a house in Offer by mayor of Salemi creates sensation in Europe May 10, 2009 -- The mayor of the Sicilian town of Salemi has captured the attention of prospective home buyers and investors in Europe by offering to sell as many as 3,700 houses and villas in the hillside town�s historic center for just one Euro, which comes to about $1.35. Mayor Vittorio Sgarbi, an art historian and Italy�s former deputy cultural minister, has been upfront about a few conditions he has placed on his eye-catching deal. Buyers have two years to restore the centuries old homes, which were abandoned 40 years ago after sustaining structural damage from a 1968 earthquake. Buyers must also use local builders, architects, decorators, and other workers in an effort to boost the local economy. And the restoration work must meet standards set by the town so that the renovated homes respect the original character and architecture of Salemi. Sgarbi�s offer has nevertheless drawn interest from prospective buyers in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the United States, to say nothing of Italy itself, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera. With a population of about 11,800, the town for years has struggled to recover from the devastating 1968 earthquake that destroyed or damaged more than half of its homes and other buildings, including a 12th Century castle. Salemi is in Trapani Province about 45 miles southwest of Palermo. Located on a hill overlooking surrounding farms and vineyards, many the houses being offered for sale in Sgarbi�s revitalization program provide great views of a tranquil countryside, according to town officials. �We want to try and attract people back to the town or at least make some form of donation to try and help save an architectural environment that we are rapidly losing,� Olivero Toscani, the town�s counselor for creativity and human rights, told the newspaper. Toscani established an international reputation as a fashion photographer for the Italian clothing company Benetton, which used Toscani�s controversial photos of frail AIDS patients. Mayor Vittorio Sgarbi Sgarbi, 56, himself a highly controversial figure and frequent guest on television talk shows, attained celebrity status in Italy before becoming Salemi's mayor. He hired Toscani and other unconventional advisors from the fields of art and entertainment to help him transform Salemi into what he envisions as a cultural and artistic center in Sicily. In poking fun at Italy�s reputation for overly bureaucratic government agencies, Sgarbi created the positions of �Advisor for Nothing� and �Advisor for Hands in Pasta,� which is understood among Italians to mean someone who has his hands �in every pie.� He has homes in Milan and Rome and has never been a resident of Salemi, although he said he admires its historic architecture and art work dating back to the 9th century when Arabs founded the town. It was not until just a few days before the town�s June 2008 election that Sgarbi announced his candidacy for mayor. At the urging of Toscani, he consulted a number of Salemi�s political leaders. They quickly agreed that his reputation as a mover and shaker in Italian politics could help draw national  attention to the town�s needs as well as its picturesque setting. Sgarbi�s victory in the election amazed many political observers. A Los Angeles Times correspondent who recently visited Salemi wrote in an article that the sudden emergence of Sgarbi and his new mayoral advisors as the town�s new leaders was �comparable to a bunch of celebrities from New York taking over a town in South Texas.�  Since taking office last year, Sgarbi has been credited with pulling off a major coup when he and his supporters persuaded the owner of a popular video rental store in New York�s East Village to donate about 55,000 VHS and DVD movies for a planned video arts center set to open in Salemi. The center is also being proposed as the site of an international film festival. The decision by Korean immigrant Yongman Kim of Kim�s Video to donate his collection  of eclectic movies to an obscure town in Sicily stunned his loyal customers, who wanted the collection to remain in New York. Kim, who was closing his video business, said he selected Salemi after the town provided the best proposal in a competitive process open to anyone willing to develop a plan for making the movies available to the public, according to the New York Times. The Salemi proposal for obtaining the collection included providing a 17th century Jesuit college building now used as a museum as the location where many of the films would be shown on a projection screen for public viewing, the Times reported.  The newspaper said the University of Palermo and a translation company was to be retained to add subtitles in several languages for many of the films. Sgarbi said the acquisition of the movies was part of his plan to convert the town into a destination for VIP visitors and vacationers similar to Pantelleria, a tiny island off Sicily�s southern coast that serves as an upscale vacation spot that regularly attracts celebrities like Madonna and fashion designer Giorgio Armani. The current configuration of the town�s historic center was built during the Arab conquest of Sicily in the 9th century and includes narrow and twisting streets and alleys characteristic of the Arab period. Salemi has the distinction of having served briefly as the first capital of Italy when Giuseppe Garibaldi set up camp there in May 1860 after invading Sicily in his quest to create an independent and unified Italy. The cost of renovating the homes being offered at one euro is estimated to be between $165,000 for smaller houses to as much as $600,000 for mansion-size villas. More information about the home purchase application process can be obtained through Mayor Sgarbi�s website, www.vittoriosgarbi.it . Gela Mayor Rosario Crocetta Rosario Crocetta of Gela is targeted for anti-Mafia campaign April 25 -- Italian police foiled a plot by Mafia bosses to kill the mayor of the Sicilian City of Gela, Rosario Crocetta, who won election in 2003 as an outspoken advocate for fighting organized crime. Police announced April 24 that they arrested two suspects in the plot who had links to a Mafia crime family. The suspects allegedly had been involved in extortion schemes targeting businesses in Sicily and Italy's northern region of Lombardy, police said. The Italian news service ANSA reported that police believe the plot to kill Crocetta was in an advanced stage and that an attempt on the mayor�s life because of his antii-Mafia work was �imminent.� Crocetta, 58, is a former Communist who is now a prominent member of Italy�s center-left Democratic Party. He also holds the status of being Sicily's and Italy�s first openly gay mayor. His long record as a champion of government reform and his role as a leader among Sicily�s anti-Mafia activists attracted strong support among voters in a region that usually elects candidates from the center-right parties. Anti-Mafia investigators charged Maurizio La Rosa and Maurizio Trubia with Mafia association, extortion against Sicily based businesses, and membership in an armed association in connection with the alleged plot to kill Crocetta. The investigators described La Rosa as the �mastermind� behind the plot. �I have been living under a police escort for six years,� Crocetta told the Turkish news service AKI. �The Mafia death threats are not a novelty for me. Paradoxically, I am angry now, not afraid,� AKI quoted him as saying. Crocetta, who is fluent in Arabic, French, and English, began his career in the field of computer science. He served as Gela�s minister of culture from 1996 to 1998 and was elected to the Gela city council in 1998. He later served as Sicily�s cultural liaison to Middle Eastern countries, including Tunisia, Yemen, and Lebanon, before winning election as mayor.  Gela, which has a population of about 80,000, is located on Sicily's south coast.     The Casle of Maniace, located on Ortygia Island, a picturesque section of Syracuse, Sicily, was the site of the April 22-24 G8 Environment Ministers Meeting. Sicily hosts G8 environment EPA chief leads U.S. delegation in Syracuse April 24 -- Environment ministers from the world�s eight largest industrialized countries as well as several developing nations met in Syracuse, Sicily April 22-24, where issues of biodiversity and climate change were at the top of their agenda. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson led the U.S. delegation to the gathering, which was officially known as the Group of Eight Environment Ministers Meeting. Jackson arrived in Syracuse on April 23 during the second day of the meeting, according to an EPA spokesperson. A statement released by G8 officials said the summit was being held at the Castle of Maniace, an 11th Century structure located at the tip of a picturesque promontory in Syracuse�s historic Ortigia section. �The Syracuse meeting�s mission is to send out an important political message on biodiversity and to ease dialogue on climate change,� the G8 statement says. �The meeting will provide an opportunity for an international exchange of views on issues including the balanced use of natural resources and the investments that might be made in new technologies,� the statement says. The Catania based newspaper La Sicilia reported that officials with the Sicilian regional government and a car rental company organized an environment-friendly car sharing arrangement to facilitate travel for meeting participants. The arrangement was to help reduce traffic congestion and gasoline consumption in transporting participants between Sicily�s major airports in Palermo and Catania and the Syracuse meeting site. The G8 member countries participating in the meeting were Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Other countries invited to participate in the Syracuse meeting included China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, South Korea, Egypt, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. Jackson of the U.S. EPA was expected to make a presentation on President Barack Obama�s recently announced U.S. commitment to more aggressively address global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020. Sicilian Film Festival founder Emanuele Viscuso Sicilian Film Festival Palermo native hosts fourth annual display of �Sicilian cinematography� April 13 -- The fourth annual Sicilian Film Festival, which opened Easter Sunday in Miami Beach, included six days of feature films and documentaries created, directed or promoted by Sicilians involved in the arts or motion picture industry. The 30 films listed on the festival�s program were shown April 13-19 at the Miami Beach Cinematheque at 512 Espanola Way, Miami Beach. Sicilian sculptor, musician, furniture designer, and cultural promoter Emanuele Viscuso created the Sicilian Film Festival in Miami in 2006 as a showcase for what he has called the genre of Sicilian cinematography, according to literature about the festival published on its website. Viscuso, 56, is a native of Palermo who has lived in Miami Beach since 2000. Viscuso hosted the festival�s closing party and fundraising dinner at his Miami Beach home on April 19th. �This year Franco Nero has decided to return to the Sicilian Film Festival, where his film Diceria dell�Untore, taken from the novel Bufalino, will be shown,� an advance statement released by the festival says. �Nero shot his film with his wife Vanessa Redgrave,� the statement says. �As various critics have reported, the Sicilian Film Festival is worthy of the top spotlight in all the world regarding the existence of a real and true �Sicilian Cinema� and international recognition,� the statement says. The filmmakers or producers of a number of the films shown at the festival spoke during sessions before or after the showings. Among those listed as speakers were Franco Nero and Sicilian filmmaker Augusto Allegra. The cost of admission for most of the films was listed at $10. A full schedule and description of the films at the festival can be viewed on the festival�s website, www.sicilianfilmfestival.com   Sicilian Regional President Raffaele Lombardo Sicily morns L�Aquila Sicilian president spends Easter at camps for families displaced by quake April 12 -- Mindful of their own history of earthquake devastation, residents of Sicily joined all Italians this week in morning the nearly 300 people who died in the destruction caused by the April 6 earthquake that hit the City of A�quila and nearby cities and towns in Italy�s mountainous Abruzzo region. Raffaele Lombardo, president of the Sicilian regional government, traveled to Tornimparte, an earthquake damaged city near L�Aquila, where he visited Sicilian civil protection workers who participated in emergency rescue efforts.  Civil protection crews from all over Italy, including Sicily, rushed to the L�Aquila area to help save the lives of residents trapped beneath the rubble of fallen buildings. Lombardo was scheduled to join workers from Sicily�s Department of Civil Protection along with L�Aquila area earthquake survivors for the celebration of an Easter Mass and a dinner in Tornimparte. Civil authorities arranged the dinner for several thousand people staying in camps set up for those displaced by the earthquake. Similar to other regions in Italy, newspapers and television stations in Sicily provided extensive coverage of the developments following the L�Aquila quake, including emotional scenes of an April 10 mass funeral for those who died in the quake. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that authorities lined up the coffins of 205 of the victims in four rows in a piazza in L�Aquila. ANSA reported that coffins of at least 20 children who died in the devastation, including a five-month-old  baby named Antonio, were placed on top of the coffins of their parents or family members. Among those attending the funeral were Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Italy�s president, Giorgio Napolitano. Pope Benedict XVI�s private secretary, Fr. George Gaenswin, and a large number of bishops and priests from the Abruzzo region participated in the funeral mass. Members of the civic activist group Dialogos from Corleone, Sicily traveled to Naples for the March 22 Day of Remembrance. Photo courtesy of Dialogos. Anti-Mafia march in Naples Group from Corleone �proud� to join Sicilian contingent in annual protest March 22 -- More than 100,000 people from all regions of Italy, including Sicily, marched through the streets of Naples on Saturday in a vocal stand against the mafia and other organized crime syndicates in Southern Italy. A group of about 80 mostly young people from Corleone, the town in Western Sicily known in the past as a Mafia stronghold, were part of a large Sicilian contingent in the march, saying they were proud to represent a community they believe has broken free from crime bosses made famous by the Hollywood film The Godfather. The march and a rally, held near Naples� picturesque coastline, were part of a series of events billed by organizers as the 14th annual Day of Remembrance, which commemorates the victims of organized crime. Among those participating in the march were widows, children and grandchildren of some of the more than 900 law enforcement officials and civic activists killed since the 1970s by Italy�s main organized crime groups -- the Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, in Sicily; the Camora of Naples; the �Ndrangheta of Calabria, and the Sacra Corona Unita of Puglia. . �A day like today is meaningful only if we keep fighting the other 364 days of the year,� Reuters news service quoted Father Luigi Ciotti as saying. Ciotti is president of Libera (Free), an association of civic groups, including anti-mafia groups, that organizes the annual Day of Remembrance.   Libera has worked with civic activists and government leaders in Corleone and other parts of Sicily to help manage farms and other lands and buildings that Italian authorities confiscated from the Mafia in recent years as part of Italy�s stepped-up crackdown against organized crime. Leaders of the Day of Remembrance said the turnout was closer to 150,000. They noted that participants came from as many as 30 countries as well as from cities and towns throughout Italy. Police put the crowd estimate at about 100,000. Among the speakers at the rally was Italian journalist Roberto Saviano, author of the best-selling book Gomorra, an expose on the pervasive role the Camora plays in everyday life in Naples. Saviano�s book recently became a highly acclaimed film, and the spin-off of the book and film has resulted in his receiving death threats. Authorities in Naples are providing Saviano, 29, with 24-hour police protection. Also participating in the march and rally was Rita Borsellino, sister of Judge Paolo Borsellino, an anti-mafia magistrate who was slain in July 1992 in Palermo. Paolo Borsellino�s murder came two months after another prominent Sicilian magistrate, Giovanni Falcone, was killed by a bomb attack near the Palermo airport. The murders by the Mafia of Borsellino and Falcone triggered expressions of outrage throughout Sicily and Italy and prompted Italian authorities to launch an unprecedented crackdown on organized crime. Although experts say the effort by authorities to fight the Mafia in Sicily has had its ups and downs, most agree that initiatives begun in 1992 have resulted in significant progress. Sicilian law enforcement officials and reformist groups point to Corleone as an example of some of the dramatic changes taking place related to the Mafia. Corleone, with a population of about 12,000, is located in Palermo Province in Sicily�s interior, about half way between Palermo and the southern coastal city of Agrigento. Known since the 1960s as home to some of Sicily�s most powerful Mafia bosses, the town became a symbol of Mafia domination with the portrayal of fictional Mafia boss Vito Corleone in Mario Puzo�s best-selling novel The Godfather and the subsequent movie trilogy of the Puzo novel. Since the early 2000s, anti-mafia laws enacted by the Italian government made it possible for the government to confiscate Mafia owned property, including large farms and villas. In Corleone and its surrounding countryside, authorities turned over confiscated lands to newly formed cooperatives set up by Corleone citizens and reformist groups. One of the groups, Dialogos Corleone, is working on a number of projects to promote the economic development of the town.  Members of Dialogos Corleone, including a sizable number of students and young civic activists, were part of the Sicilian contingent that traveled to Naples to participate in the Day of Remembrance march and rally. Vincenzo D�Agostino, the father of a police officer killed by the Mafia, pointed to the young people working through groups like Dialogos Corleone when he spoke at the Day of Remembrance rally on March 21. �Today is a day of celebration because we remember our dead with all these young people gathered here today,� Reuters quoted him as saying. �They are the future of Italy.� Rita Borsellino, while acknowledging the progress in the fight against the Mafia, told the Naples rally the battle was a long way from being over. �I am angry and less optimistic than 17 years ago, when my brother was slain,� BBC News quoted her as saying. �The Mafia have changed, they have become more dangerous, better inserted into the web of power,� BBC quoted her as saying. Sicily facing �dramatic� Lack of applicants could jeopardize fight against Mafia March 13 -- An association representing state prosecutors in Italy warned government officials Friday that Sicily faces an alarming shortage of prosecutors that could seriously jeopardize its fight against the Mafia. The National Judicial Association, which represents most of Italy�s 9,000 magistrates, said that an announcement of 55 job openings for prosecutors in Sicily resulted in just four candidates applying for the prosecutorial positions. The association called the situation �a very serious emergency.� Under the Italian judicial system, magistrates serve as prosecutors. �The situation today appears dramatic: there are many judicial offices which risk being paralyzed or destined for closure,� the association stated in an open letter to Italy�s Superior Judicial Council, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The newspaper reported that each of the four applicants responding to the announcement of 55 job openings were already working in Sicilain law enforcement related jobs. Italian authorities have pointed to a large number of arrests in recent years of high-level Mafia leaders in Sicily, including the arrest of �boss of bosses� Bernard Provenzano in 2006. One year later, authorities arrested Salvatore Lo Piccolo, the person believed to have been designated by mob leaders as Provenzano�s successor. According to the National Judicial Association, qualified applicants most likely were reluctant to apply for the prosecutorial positions due to low pay and poor working conditions as well as the rural location of most prosecutors� offices in Sicily. Threats of retaliation and violence, including death threats, also play a role in deterring people from applying for the prosecutors� jobs, the association said. The assassination of internationally recognized anti-Mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in bomb attacks in Sicily in 1992 triggered expressions of outrage among Sicilians and Italians and prompted the government to step up its anti-Mafia campaign in an unprecedented way. A memorial marker commemorating the life of Falcone has been installed at the FBI�s national training academy in Quantico, Va. Silvio Berlusconi of Italy�s economic stimulus Italian cabinet approves bridge in large public works package March 9, 2009 -- The Italian government gave its approval on March 6 to fund construction of the world�s largest suspension bridge linking Sicily to mainland Italy. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the project is a major component of a 17.8 billion euro ($22.5 billion) public works stimulus program aimed at helping Italy recover from a world-wide recession. Officials said about 49 percent of the total funds allocated to the program, which were to come from government and private sector sources, would go toward the bridge and other infrastructure projects in southern Italy. Funds from the program are also slated to go to public transit projects in Palermo and Catania, a new subway rail line in Rome, and infrastructure development linked to the planned 2015 World�s Fair in Milan, officials said. Berlusconi said the massive public works program was part of his government�s plan to create jobs to help lift Italy out of its worse recession in more than 25 years. He said the economic stimulus package was also intended to reassure the Italian people. �Our greatest fear is that people will change their lifestyles just because they�re afraid, and thus worsen the crisis,� the International Herald Tribune quoted Berlusconi as saying after a March 6 cabinet meeting. �Some in the media continue to paint this crisis as a tragedy, which is an exaggeration,� the paper quoted him as saying. Other projects funded in the public works program include new highway construction in southern Italy to help funnel traffic into the Sicily bridge and the ongoing flood control project in Venice that includes building a movable, underwater system of dykes. Altero Matteoli, Italy�s public works minister, said work on the Sicily bridge could begin late this year, with the goal of completing it in 2016. Critics of the bridge say high winds and seismic activity on both sides of the Strait of Messina, where the two-mile-long bridge will cross, could create safety issues. Critics have also said organized crime groups in Sicily and Calabria, including the Sicilian Mafia, could siphon off larges sums of money from the project through construction companies believed to be controlled by the crime groups. Matteoli has said the bridge has been designed to withstand earthquakes and high winds and that government authorities will take steps to safeguard against corruption in the construction contracting process.   An engineers' rendering of the proposed suspension bridge connecting Sicily and mainland Ialy. No 'going  back' on Sicily-mainland bridge World's largest suspension span to cost $7.6 billion March 2, 2009 -- Italy�s public works minister Altero Matteoli says the Italian government is moving ahead with plans to build the world�s largest suspension bridge connecting Sicily to mainland Italy and that work on the project could begin this year. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi indicated he would resume plans to build the controversial bridge after his political coalition won election to office last April. But opponents of the bridge, citing a price tag of 6 billion Euros ($7.6 billion) and potential problems due to its location within an earthquake zone, promised to do all they could to block the project. �It�s true that it costs six billion euros but this is the project and we�re not going back,�  Matteoli said in a Feb. 25 radio interview. Berlusconi and supporters of the bridge argue that the project will create thousands of jobs and greatly improve Sicily�s economy by attracting more tourists and making it easier to ship materials to and from the island. Currently, cars, trucks, and trains must rely on ferry boats, which take far longer to cross the Strait of Messina separating Sicily and Calabria, supporters point out. Engineers retained by the government during Berlusconi�s earlier term as prime minister between 2001-2006 developed a design for a two-and-a-half mile long suspension bridge, the longest in the world. The design calls for six traffic lanes, with two driving lanes and one emergency service lane in each direction. The bridge is also designed to accommodate two railway tracks and two pedestrian lanes. Former Prime Minister Romano Prodi, whose center-left coalition defeated Berlusconi�s center right grouping in Italy�s 2006 elections, put a halt to the project, calling it �the most useless and harmful plan of the past 100 years.� Prodi and other opponents cited concerns raised by some engineers that a suspension bridge more than two miles long could be damaged by seismic activity in a region devastated by an earthquake that struck Messina in 1908. Other critics have pointed to experts who claim that high winds might damage the bridge�s huge towers supporting its cables. Berlusconi and his center-right coalition returned to office last year after winning the April 2008 national elections, and Berlusconi quickly announced plans to reinstate the Sicily bridge project. Berlusconi and Matteoli have said the engineers who developed the current design for the bridge have taken into account all possible contingencies, including earthquakes and high winds. The structure is said to be able to withstand without any damage winds of up to 134 miles per hour and an earthquake of the magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale, which is of a greater magnitude than the 1908 earthquake that destroyed Messina. Matteoli said in his Feb. 25 radio interview that his main concern is the need to improve roads and rail lines leading into the bridge in Sicily and Calabria. �The bridge will oblige us to improve railway and motorway infrastructure as well as the ports,� he said in the interview. �It�s an enormous amount of work.� Among those supporting the bridge is Vincenzo Arcobelli, founder of the North American Sicilian Confederation, a group that promotes the interests of Sicilians living in the United States and Canada. Arcobelli has said the bridge is needed to boost Sicily�s economic development, including its tourist industry, which he said is hurt by the inability of tourists to drive to and from Sicily. The idea of building a bridge across the Strait of Messina dates back to the time of the Roman empire and later during the era of King Roger II, Sicily�s Norman ruler in the 1200s.     This elaborately crafted float appeared in the parade during one of the past carnivals in Acireale, Sicily. The image was captured by Italian American photographer Joe Zarba, whose photos of Sicily and Italy can be viewed at www.joezarba.com Carnival in Sicily Sicilian cities, towns revel in �Fat Tuesday� celebrations Feb. 25, 2009 -- The Sicilian towns of Acireale, Misterbianco, and Sciacca -- known for rivaling Venice for some of Italy�s most elaborate and fun-filled carnival celebrations -- held their concluding ceremonies on Feb. 24 following two weeks of carnival related events. According to reports from Acireale, attendance was down compared to past years during the week-day events leading up to the Feb. 24 concluding festivities, most likely because of the economic down-turn hitting Italy and all of Europe. Acireale, located on Sicily�s east coast about ten miles north of Catania, boasts of  hosting the island�s �most beautiful� carnival. Its trademark feature includes parades with giant, intricately crafted floats consisting of depictions of human and fictional characters made of paper mache. Referred to as allegorical floats, the displays often depict politicians and celebrities, including Italy�s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as well as mythical figures like Neptune, the god of the sea. Other floats depict scenes as well as people, but are made with tens of thousands of flowers. Like the paper machete floats, the flower-decorated floats are made by highly skilled artisans who compete with each other in contests for the best and most creative floats in the Acireale carnival. �It�s different from Venice in that it�s more family oriented,� said Giovanni Gallo, a professor at the University of Catania. �Children play an active role in the events,� he said. In addition to the floats and parades, the Acireale carnival includes almost daily entertainment from musical bands and singers, many of whom are big name performers known throughout Italy. Thousands of spectators line the streets to watch the parades, and many of them wear colorful masks. A past tradition of spectators throwing eggs and vegetables at one another has mostly been replaced by the tossing of paper confetti and the spraying of foam, according to literature released by carnival organizers. The carnivals hosted by the towns of Misterbianco and Sciacca -- as well as those in other towns and cities  in Sicily -- are smaller than the one in Acireale but officials who organize them claim their parades and floats compete with the ones in Acireale for artistic design and creativity. Misterbianco is about five miles west of Catania. Its unusual name is said to come from a Benedictine monastery, Monastero Bianco. Sciacca is located on Sicily�s southwestern coast. More information about the three main carnivals in Sicily, including photos of the events, can be obtained by visiting these sites: roots in trip to Italy Speaker of U.S. House given grandparents� birth certificates Feb. 20, 2009 -- U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) talked about her family�s ties to Italy, including Sicily, in an address before Italy�s Chamber of Deputies in Rome on Feb. 16. �My family�s background is as diverse as the map of Italy, with grandparents and great-grandparents born in Abruzzi, Venice, Genoa, Campobasso and Sicily,� Pelosi said. �In the neighborhood in Baltimore I grew up in, all of these regions were represented and many more,� she said. �The same is true of the city I proudly represent today in Congress -- San Francisco.� Pelosi and a delegation of six other U.S. House members spent six days in Italy meeting with Italian government officials, including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and visiting American troops in U.S. military bases in Florence and Naples. She met with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican on Feb. 18. Gianfranco Fini, president of the Chamber of Deputies, surprised Pelosi when he presented her with copies of her grandparents� birth certificates as a gift. �We know how proud you are of your Italian roots,� the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Fini as saying. �For more than six decades, the United States and Italy have worked together successfully to advance security and peace,� Pelosi said in her address to the Chamber of Deputies. �Our bond is uniquely strong because of the vital role daughters and sons of Italy have played in the United States from its discovery to today,� she said. Sicilian workers at center of British storm over foreign labor Sicily president threatens retaliation Feb. 6, 2009 -- Several thousand workers at oil refineries, electric power plants, and other energy producing facilities staged wildcat strikes throughout the United Kingdom during the first week of February to protest the use of Italian workers for a construction project in England. Nearly all of the Italian workers are from Sicily. An agreement to end the illegal strikes was reached on Feb. 5, but not before the British workers defied calls to return to work by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Union leaders said they were fighting what appeared to be growing efforts to replace British employees with foreign laborers at a time of high unemployment in the U.K. The dispute stems from a decision by the giant multi-national energy company Total, based in Paris, to retain an Italian construction and engineering firm in Sicily called IREM to complete a $280 million construction project at Total�s oil refinery in Lincolnshire County, on England�s northeastern coast. IREM, which won the construction contract through competitive bidding, invoked its right under European Union rules to bring in its own workers from Italy and Portugal. IREM is headquartered in Syracuse, Sicily and most of its employees working on the Total contract are from Sicily.  IREM officials said British workers have been employed in other projects in Italy under longstanding European agreements that allow citizens from any European Union country to work in all E.U. countries. But the striking British workers accused Total of violating the spirit of the E.U. rules by not giving them a chance to apply for some of the jobs associated with the Lindsey refinery project in Lincolnshire. Reports of British workers taunting and shouting at the Sicilian workers angered Sicily�s regional president, Raffaele Lombardo, who told Italian newspapers the hostile treatment of the visiting workers appeared to be turning into an ugly form xenophobia against Sicilians. The Sicilian and Portuguese workers are living on a barge docked in a harbor near the construction site that has been converted by IREM into a dormitory. Many of the workers told Italian authorities they feared for their safety when they came on shore after getting off work. According to the Financial Times, a British newspaper, Lombardo threatened to retaliate against British interests by ending ongoing negotiations with Britain�s Shell oil company over Shell�s plans to build a natural gas plant in Sicily. �Since Shell is in a consortium with Erg, Italy�s largest independent refiner, Mr. Lombardo�s threats would seem to be mostly rhetoric,� Financial Times reported. Britain�s ambassador to Italy, Edward Chapin, assured the Italian government on Feb. 2 that Italian workers in the U.K. are not at risk of discrimination or animosity, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. Union officials in Britain said the expressions of anger by the British workers are not directed at the Sicilians and Italians working on the refinery project in Lincolnshire. They said the animosity was instead aimed at what they called unfair corporate decisions made by Total to seek out foreign workers before giving British workers a chance to compete for the jobs. Arba Sicula President Gaetano Cipolla Sicily group vows to make St. Johns University �center for Sicilian culture� in U.S. �Jewish presence in Sicily� is kick-off topic of Arba Sicula lecture series Jan. 30, 2009 -- Arba Sicula, an international organization based in New York City that promotes the language and culture of Sicily, hopes to make St. Johns University the focal point for Sicilian culture in the United States, according to Gaetano Cipolla, a St. Johns professor of Italian who heads Arba Sicula. In the latest edition of the group�s bi-annual newsletter, Sicilia Parra, the group announced the resumption of a lecture series on Sicily that Cipolla initiated in 2006 as a program of Casa Sicilia, a Manhattan based organization sponsored by the Sicilian regional government in Italy. Casa Sicilia ceased operating in late 2007 after losing its funding. �Unfortunately, for reasons beyond our control we had to suspend those lectures that attracted a substantial crowd of interested people to the Empire State Building,� where Casa Sicilia was located, Sicilia Para reports. �So we are happy to announce that on Feb. 24, Professor Gaetano Cipolla will launch a new series with a lecture on �The Jewish Presence in Sicily,'" the newsletter says. Sicilia Para says a full list of �conferences and presentations� on Sicily related subjects will be announced soon for the fall semester of 2009 at St. Johns. �But one thing is clear from the start: Arba Sicula hopes to make St. John�s University the Center for Sicilian Culture in this country,� the newsletter says. �While we can claim such a title already on the basis of all the cultural programs we have offered in the past 25 years, we think it is time to offer our membership some additional food for thought by offering programs that entertain and educate at the same time.� The February 24 lecture on the Jewish presence in Sicily, which will be delivered by Cipolla, will be followed by a March 20 presentation by Sicilian American poet Nino Provenzano, who will read from his new book, Nino Provanzo�s Poetry. The third lecture in the series, �Do Sicilians Have a Sense of Humor?� will be delivered by Cipolla. Cipolla is an internationally recognized expert on the Sicilian language and culture. He has taught courses on the language, civilization, and literature of Italy and has specialized in the study and preservation of the Sicilian language, which he has argued should be treated as a full language rather than a dialect. He has translated numerous literary works, including poetry and plays, from Sicilian into English, and has taught courses on the skills of language translation. In his role as president of Arba Sicula, he has served as editor of Arba Sicula: Journal of Sicilian Folklore and Literature, a bi-annual academic publication. The journal is written in English and Sicilian. The group has also announced that its 15th annual tour of Sicily will be held June 1-13. A preliminary itinerary is available by contacting Cipolla by E-mail at [email protected] .  Arba Sicula�s lecture series is free and open to the public but a reservation is recommended. All lectures are to be held at Bent Hall, Room 277 on the St. John�s campus at 8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, N.Y.  Reservations can be made by calling 778-990-5203. A U.N. photo shows refugees from Africa arriving in Lampedusa on a boat beleived to have departed from Libya. Sicily refugee center raises concern of U.N. agency Migrants from Africa continue to arrive by boat on Lampedusa Jan. 22, 2009 --The Office of the United Nation�s High Commissioner for Refugees has called on the Italian government to take immediate steps to address severe overcrowding at a migrant center on Sicily�s outer island of Lampedusa. A spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency spoke out about the problem on Jan. 21, after another boatload of illegal immigrants landed on the island, bringing the number of people being held at the migrant center to 1,850. The facility has only 850 beds, and officials said most of the occupants are sleeping in tents. ''The overcrowding results above all in the standards of assistance for immigrants being lowered,'' UNHCR regional spokesperson Laura Boldrini told the Italian news agency ANSA. ''But there is a risk that the situation could deteriorate further, putting at risk the safety of the migrants and asylum seekers, humanitarian workers, doctors and people in charge at the center,'' Boldrini told ANSA. Lampedusa is one of three tiny islands belonging to Sicily that are located between Sicily�s southern coast and the coast of North Africa. The picturesque Lampedusa is a popular tourist destination. The longstanding problem of overcrowding at the migrant center mushroomed last month after Italy�s Interior Minister Roberto Maroni put in place a new policy that requires migrants to remain on Lampedusa until arrangements can be made to repatriate them to their country of origin. Critics of the policy, including Lampedusa Mayor Bernardino De Rubeis, point out that in many cases, the country of origin can�t immediately be determined. They also note that Italy is bound by international agreements on refugees, which call for providing legal recourse for migrants seeking asylum. Before the new policy took effect, Italian authorities transferred the migrants arriving on Lampedusa to other facilities on Sicily proper or on the Italian mainland.  ''Until now we've been able to cope with the emergency by inventing temporary solutions like the use of tents, but if there are any more landings we won't know where to put them,'' the Lampedusa migrant center�s director, Cono Galipo, told ANSA. Boldrini said the U.N. refugee agency is aware of protests against the migrants by Lampedusa�s residents, who are bearing the brunt of the refugee problem. ''Their concerns are understandable, but migrants and asylum seekers cannot be made the scapegoats in this situation,'' she said. According to lnformation released by the U.N. refugee agency, more than 36,000 illegal immigrants arrived on the shores of Italy and its islands in 2008. The agency says most of the migrants were from Somalia and Eritrea and about 75 percent of them applied for asylum. About 50 percent of them were granted refugee status or protection on humanitarian grounds, according to the U.N. agency. Francesco Cafiso on the cover of his album 'Happy Time' Sicilian jazz musician performs Saxophone prodigy joins American jazz greats at Kennedy Center concert Jan. 20, 2009 -- Nineteen-year-old Francesco Cafiso, the alto saxophone player from Vittoria, Sicily, whose talent has been hailed by internationally recognized jazz musicians in the United States and Europe, performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 19. Cafiso joined American jazz musician and composer Wynton Marsalis and other jazz greats in a concert celebrating both the inauguration of Barack Obama as U.S. president and the life of civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr. The concert, called Let Freedom Swing, was organized by Marsalis and other officials with Jazz at Lincoln Center, a New York City jazz orchestra that Marsalis directs. Cafiso's part in the concert included playing with veteran jazz pianest and composer Dave Brubeck and the Foxborough, Mass., High School Jazz Ensemble. Although he only recently completed high school himself, Cafiso has already collaborated extensively with many of the most prominent American jazz musicians in New York and New Orleans. Few would disagree that he has strengthened the longstanding ties between jazz musicians and enthusiasts in America and Italy and Sicily, where jazz is a popular music genre. Cafiso began what the jazz world views as an amazing career at the age of 9, when he started playing the saxophone professionally in Italy. At the age of 12, he won the Massimo Urbani National Award, an annual recognition of Italy�s outstanding young jazz musicians. His big break came the following year, in 2002, when he met Marsalis at the Pescara Jazz Festival, an annual event in the City of Pescara on Italy�s Adriatic coast. Marsalis, a trumpet player, band leader and jazz composer, was so impressed with then 13-year-old Cafiso�s playing abilities that he invited him to join his band on its tour of Europe that year. The following year, at Marsalis�s invitation, Cafiso joined Marsalis in performing at Lincoln Center in New York with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. In 2004, he accompanied Marsalis and other American and European musicians in performing at several of Europe�s most prestigious jazz festivals. A biography on Cafiso�s official website says Cafiso went to New Orleans a short time later to study with jazz clarinetist Alvin Baiste. While there he also played with other important American jazz musicians, including pianist Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis�s father. He chose New Orleans as a place to learn and play his beloved saxophone, in part, to give him an opportunity to improve his English-speaking skills, his bio says. In February 2006, at the age of 16, Cafiso received a certificate in classical music at the Bellini Musical Institute in Catania, Sicily, with a specialty in the flute. His first compact disc recording for his performances on the saxophone came out in 2001. Since then he played in at least nine more CD recordings as an accompanist and lead sax player---all on jazz works composed by others. An album released in 2006 called Happy Time was the first to consist of works he composed. Another album released that same year, Seven Steps to Heaven, also consisted of his compositions. His latest album is expected to be released this year. "It was a great pleasure to be here tonight," Cafiso told SicilyToday.net after his performance at the inaugural concert in Washington. "Mr. Marsalis invited me tonight to play for the inauguration of Barack Obama. So for me, it was really a pleasure to play with the orchestra, with all the guys. It�s beautiful to be in America. Every time I come here it�s a wonderful time here. I love America. I love the jazz scene in America. So thanks everybody." A sampling of his performances can be viewed on video through his website, www.francescocafiso.com .  Sicily hit with surge in immigrant landings Casa Sicilia President Gaetano Cipolla January 25, 2008 Casa Sicilia closes office at Empire State Building Future activities unclear; Alitalia was landlord Casa Sicilia, a non-profit association sponsored by the Sicilian regional government to promote the culture and image of Sicily in the United States, has closed its offices in the Empire State Building less than two years after it began a lecture series there on Sicily related topics. The opening of the office in late 2005 was announced with great fanfare by the U.S. based Sicilian cultural group Arba Sicula and its president, St. John�s University professor of Italian Gaetano Cipolla, who serves as president of Casa Sicilia. Arba Sicula made no official announcement about the closing of the Casa Sicilia office or about Casa Sicilia�s plans for future activities. An official with the Empire State Building�s business office said Casa Sicilia moved out of the building �several months ago� and left no forwarding information. In response to an inquiry from SicilyToday.net, Cipolla said the Empire State Building facilities were too expensive and the group is now operating out of the St. John�s University campus until another location can be found. �We had to close that venue,� he said in a brief statement. �The place was too expensive for us. So right now, Casa Sicilia is housed at St. John�s and whatever programs we will conduct we will conduct them here until we find a different place to hold our events.� Stephen K. Eynon, the Empire State Building�s office rental agent, said Casa Sicilia had been subleasing its office on the building�s 36th floor from Alitalia, the Italian national airline, which holds the lease for the 36th and 37th floors. An official with Alitalia�s Empire State Building offices, Daniele Landini, declined to comment on Casa Sicilia�s rental agreement with Alitalia, saying such information would have to come from Casa Sicilia. Cipolla could not immediately be reached for comment on the Alitalia rental arrangement. Cipolla is an internationally recognized expert on Sicilian history and culture. He has taught courses on the language, civilization, and literature of Italy and has specialized in the study and preservation of the Sicilian language, which he has argued should be treated as a full language rather than a dialect. He has translated numerous literary works, including poetry and plays, from Sicilian into English and has taught courses on the skills of language translation. In his role as president of Arba Sicula, he has served as editor of that organization�s academic journal and its bi-annual newsletter, Sicilia Parra. Cipolla is credited with playing a key role in persuading Sicily�s regional president, Salvatore Cuffaro, to sign a 2005 agreement with him to provide funding for the creation of Casa Sicilia, whose official name is Associazione Casa Sicilia Stati Uniti. Literature posted on the Casa Sicilia web site says the non-profit association was charged with promoting the �image, culture, and products of Sicily.� In its spring 2006 edition, Sicilia Para announced Casa Sicilia was beginning an ambitious lecture series to be held at the Empire State Building office between May 2006 and May 2007 that would cover a wide range of topics pertaining to Sicily�s history and culture. Cipolla delivered six of the lectures, including one entitled, �What Makes a Sicilian.� Last August, Cipolla told SicilyToday.net that he was about to leave for Palermo in an attempt to resolve a �problem� that Casa Sicilia had encountered, but he said he preferred not to provide further details until he returned to New York. Upon his return, he said he was hopeful the problem could be resolved but again declined to comment further. In its announcement of the 2006-2007 lecture series, Casa Sicilia released a statement describing its mission and objectives. �The aim is to inform and educate and to share our understanding of what Sicily is and is not,� the announcement said. �Sicily is a vast undiscovered treasure that begs to be seen, and Casa Sicilia hopes to become the vehicle for its discovery�These lectures and presentations will go a long way toward erasing the stereotypes that so often color everything Sicilian.� Salvatore Cuffaro Salvatore Cuffaro to appeal verdict, five-year sentence A Palermo court on Jan. 18 found the president of Sicily�s regional government, Salvatore Cuffaro, guilty of having helped the Mafia by allegedly passing confidential law enforcement information to a Mafia figure in Palermo through intermediaries. Cuffaro, 49, a physician and close ally of former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, has insisted he is innocent and strongly denies he has �aided and abetted� the Mafia, as prosecutors charged in an indictment handed down in 2004. A Palermo judge sentenced Cuffaro to five years in prison before staying the sentence until Cuffaro completes an appeal process that comes automatically following the trial that found him guilty. The appeal could take years to complete. The conviction of Sicily�s highest elected official on Mafia related charges comes at a time when experts say the notorious organized crime group is in disarray due to an intense government crackdown and an unprecedented mood of defiance against it by the public and business leaders. Prosecutors charged Cuffaro with supplying a group of �informers� with ties to the Mafia with information about a pending police investigation into one or more Mafia bosses. The informers then allegedly passed the information on to at least one Mafia figure who was the target of the investigation, the prosecutors charged. A panel of judges ruled that while Cuffaro supplied information that helped the Mafia, prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence to prove his actions were part of a conspiracy or that he had a �willful intent� to aid the Mafia. Instead, they found him guilty of a lesser charge of providing confidential information that landed in the wrong hands. Under Italy�s court system, judges render verdicts in criminal trials. �I knew I didn�t do anything to willfully help the Mafia, and tomorrow morning I intend to be back at my desk,� the Italian news agency ANSA quoted him as saying after the court adjourned. �I have always fought against the Mafia, which is a cancer in Sicily,� he said. �I am totally certain that I will be fully acquitted at the end of the appeal,� ANSA quoted him as saying. Since prosecutors first implicated Cuffaro on the Mafia charges, he has refused demands by political rivals that he resign from office, saying he was fully capable of fulfilling his duties while fighting the charges. The law requires that he be removed from office if he loses his appeal. Businesses defying Mafia threats His conviction comes at a time when Sicilian and Italian national law enforcement officials have been credited with wounding the Sicilian Mafia during an intense, two-year crackdown. The law enforcement initiatives have resulted in the capture of �boss of bosses� Bernardo Provenzano and his successor, Salvatore Lo Piccolo, during dramatic police raids that captured the attention of Italians from Sicily to Milan. The two Mafia bosses had been in hiding for more than 20 years. Unlike past crackdowns, which almost always resulted in the resuming of business as usual, the latest enforcement action has been different, police officials have said. Among other things, police confiscated secret ledger books along with slips of paper that Provenzano, Lo Piccolo, and others arrested in the recent raids used to keep track of businesses targeted for extortion. In a development not seen in the past, a growing number of small and medium size business owners have since defied the Mafia code of silence, known as �omerta,� by identifying to police the Mafia lieutenants who extract protection money from the businesses. Once identified, authorities quickly arrested these enforcers of the �pizzo,� or protection money, which businesses have long accepted as a Mafia tax that had to be paid. A number of those arrested have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms. Protection money extorted from Sicilian businesses has been one of the Mafia�s main sources of revenue, according to Tanno Grasso, director of Italy�s Anti-Racket Federation. Grasso told the Italian news media that the courageous action by the businesses was a new and encouraging trend that was helping authorities fight the Mafia. But he said the protection money rackets were �far from collapsing� and the threats and fear instilled by the Mafia in Sicily was still strong. Cuffaro has said he welcomes the anti-Mafia enforcement initiatives and applauds the businesses for standing up against the protection rackets. Supported by voters A popular figure who started his career as a radiologist, Cuffaro first won election as Sicilian regional president in 2001 by defeating Leoluca Orlando, the former Palermo mayor and one of Italy�s most vocal anti-Mafia leaders. In 2006, while under indictment, Cuffaro won two separate elections, confounding his critics, who acknowledged he clearly had retained the confidence of a majority of the voters. He won election to the Italian national Senate in the spring of 2006 as a staunch ally of Berlusconi, who, at the time, was head of the Italian government. A short time later, Cuffaro won election to a second term as Sicilian president, receiving 53.1 percent of the vote. In a development that disappointed reformist and anti-Mafia groups, he did so by defeating challenger Rita Borsellino, sister of the late Judge Paolo Borsellino, who was assassinated by the Mafia in 1992 on a Palermo street. �He has the full backing of Berlesconi, who has tremendous sway in Sicily,� said Justin Vitiello, a former Temple University Professor of Italian and a writer who has collaborated with reformist groups in Sicily and taught courses there since the 1980s. Vitiello said Berlusconi�s center-right coalition of political parties in Italy, and the small, conservative and Catholic oriented party, the UDC, to which Cuffaro is associated, are backed by many Sicilians because they support government funding for large public works projects in Sicily. Such projects provide jobs in a region that has long been faced with high unemployment rates. Friday, December 7, 2007 PR campaign by steamship companies said to trigger mass Sicilian exodus in 1880s A professor from Sicily's University of Messina told a conference at the Ellis Island Museum in New York that a profit-motivated public relelations campaign led by steamship companies may have triggered a 40-year mass migration of Sicilians to the United States that began suddenly in the 1880s. The Nov. 3 conference was held to commemorate the opening of a new exhibit called Sicilian Crossings to America and the Derived Communities. The exhibit is on loan to the U.S. from Italy and will remain open at the Ellis Island Museum through Feb. 3. Government officials from Italy and Sicily joined U.S. officials, including New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and New York State Senator Kenneth La Valle, both of Sicilian heritage, in greeting conference participants. The exhibit consists of 120 panels of photographs that �tell the story of why, when, how and from where masses of Sicilians emigrated to the United States, as well as the story of their developing relationships in the New Word,� according to literature released by the exhibit�s organizers. University of Messina Professor Marcello Saija, the lead organizer of the exhibit, told the conference that harsh economic conditions in Sicily clearly played a role in motivating more than a million peasants, laborers, and others to consider leaving their homeland for a better life in America toward the end of the 19th Century. But he said bad economic conditions, including widespread poverty and tyrannical rulers, had gripped Sicily to varying degrees of severity over the generations. Yet it was not until the 1880s that such a large number of Sicilians chose to leave. What made this period different than the harsh conditions of prior times? Steamship company propaganda According to Saija, a confluence of developments, including new technology that ushered in the era of the passenger steamship, opened the way for the mass emigration. The steamship made it safe to transport large numbers of people across the ocean on a single boat in days rather than weeks, he said. Saija said the steamship companies joined other businesses profiting from emigration by unleashing public relations campaigns, which he called �propaganda by emigration agents,� to promote the notion that everyone could get rich in the new world. Meanwhile, a rapidly expanding U.S. economy at the end of the 19th Century made it relatively easy for the arriving immigrants to find work, Saija said. �In other words, the American dream,� he said. Saija noted that Italian filmmaker Emanuele Crialese said he was inspired to make his highly acclaimed film about a Sicilian immigrant family called Golden Door after spending time visiting the Salina Museum of Emigration, located on Salina Island off Sicily�s north coast. Saija serves as director of the Salina Museum, which shows what life was like for the Sicilian emigrants before they departed their homeland. Golden Door opened in U.S. movie theaters earlier this year. It depicts the experiences of a young Sicilian family traveling from Sicily to Ellis Island onboard a steamship typical of those that carried millions of others on similar journeys. It has been praised for its dramatic cinematography that captures scenes of crowds of immigrants joining the Sicilian family in crammed quarters in the ship�s steerage section. Teddy Roosevelt and 1908 earthquake Professor Salvatore LaGummina, director of the Center for Italian American Studies at New York�s Nassau Community College, told the conference that the devastating earthquake that struck Messina and nearby Regio di Calabria in 1908 also contributed to the Sicilian migration to the U.S. LaGummina has conducted research on the impact of the 1908 quake on the lives of Sicilians. He told of how on Dec. 28, just three days after Christmas, Europe�s most powerful earthquake in modern times hit at about 5:20 a.m., with the epicenter identified as being in the Strait of Messina, which separates Sicily from mainland Italy. The quake caused 40-foot high tsunami-like waves that crashed into dozens of coastal towns and cities, �spreading viscous, impassable mud in the streets, resulting in enormous casualties�perhaps as many as 200,000 perished,� LaGummina said in written remarks. �Survivors faced the bleakest of realities�homes destroyed, family members dead, and nearby cities and villages reduced to rubble,� he said. �There were reports of survivors wandering about dazed, demented and nude, while widespread looting and vandalism required massive deployment of police and troops to keep order.� An untold number of survivors left for the United States during the months and years following the earthquake as the Italian government struggled to put in place a massive relief effort, LaGummina said. In a little remembered episode of U.S.-Italy relations, the United States Navy played a major role in the relief effort, LaGummina said. U.S. Naval ships brought in huge supplies of food and building construction materials, and American naval personnel became �vigorously engaged in actually erecting the homes that became known as �the American village,�� LaGummina told the Ellis Island conference. American involvement in the relief effort was highlighted by a personal visit in April 1909 by then former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, who was greeted upon his arrival by the King of Italy, LaGummina said. Rural peasants left before coastal city dwellers Saija told the conference that the first wave of emigrants leaving Sicily in the 1880s and 1890s mostly were from the rural interior of the island and lived under a �feudal� economy controlled by large landowners. The landowners represented the �old Sicilian aristocracy,� which relied on Mafia enforcers to keep a firm control over the workers, who were consigned to a role of day laborers in the fields, Saija told the conference. �In this society, the workers did not have hope in the future, and when the season of emigration starts, they left soon,� he said. �They brought with them the social culture of their poor zones,� Saija told the conference, which often meant they lacked social and community support networks that helped other immigrants adapt to life in the U.S. �Absolutely different is the culture of solidarity of Sicilian people coming from the east part of the island,� from some of Sicily�s outer islands, and from the coastal communities where more people owned small parcels of land, Saija said. He said people in these areas did not choose to leave until after the turn of the 20th Century. Although they were better off than their rural counterparts, they decided to emigrate to America because of the hope of making greater economic gains, again in response to the lure of the �American dream,� Saija said. The latter group brought with them far better social networking skills and quickly formed Italian American organizations and institutions to help each other integrate into American society, he said. Others speaking at the conference were Professor Gaetano Cipolla of New York�s St. John�s University, who serves as president of the Sicilian American group Arba Sicula; Professor Mario Mignone, Center for Italian American Studies, State University of New York, Stony Brook; Professor Stanislao Pugliese, Hofstra University; Professor Peter Carravetta, Queens College; and Professor Maria Taranto, Nassau Community College. The Italian officials participating in the event included Francesco Talo, Italian General Counsul of New York; Dr. Santi Formica, Sicilian Regional Representative for Job and Emigration Issues; Domenico Nania, member, Italian Senate; and Olga D�Antona, Italian Parliament. Also participating in the conference were Richard Balducci, former Connecticut State Senator; and Paul Di Gaetano, former majority leader of the New Jersey State Senate. 10-30-07 More than 300 attend Atlantic City �congress� Delegates from the United States, Canada, and Sicily met in Atlantic City, N.J., on Oct. 27 to finalize the creation of the North American Sicilian Confederation, which organizers have called an historic new voice for Sicilians. More than 300 people turned out for the Atlantic City meeting, which was billed as the group�s first national congress. An additional 400 people, including family members and guests, attended a gala dinner and celebration of the confederation, held in the evening following the congress. The events took place at the Trump Plaza Hotel. Vincenzo Arcobelli, a dual U.S.-Italian citizen who works as an airline pilot in Dallas, Tex, was elected president of the confederation in January, when organizers created the group as a non-profit corporation. �Our objective is to bring together Sicilians throughout North America to promote our heritage and culture,� Arcobelli told SicilyToday.net. He said the group also would serve as an �umbrella� for dozens of Sicilian-American and Sicilian-Canadian associations already in existence by facilitating better communication and coordination among these groups. �Some of us have dual citizenship,� he said. �Others are American citizens of Sicilian heritage and others are Italian citizens from Sicily who live and work in the U.S. or Canada.� He said no one from Mexico attended the Oct. 27 congress, but Mexicans of Sicilian background would be welcome to join and participate in the confederation�s activities at any time. Arcobelli said the new organization, which also uses the Italian version of its name, Confederazione Siciliani Nord America (CSNA), would serve a number of functions, including promoting the Italian language among the younger generation of Sicilian Americans and Sicilian Canadians. He said the group also would promote the �preservation� of Sicily�s cultural heritage and history among North Americans of Sicilian background. From a political perspective, the group will provide a unified voice for Sicilians living in North America in expressing their views and concerns to their respective governments in the U.S., Canada, and Italy, Arcobelli said. Maintaining and nurturing the longstanding friendly ties between the three countries and boosting economic development in Sicily are also important objectives, he said. One potentially controversial proposal the group plans to pursue is advocacy for a bridge connecting Sicily to the Italian mainland, Arcobelli said. Plans for building what would be the world�s largest suspension bridge have been discussed in Italy for more than 20 years. Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who heads Italy�s coalition of center-right political parties, took steps to move ahead with the bridge during his recent tenure in office. But Italy�s current prime minister, Romano Prodi, cancelled the bridge project after his center-left coalition defeated Berlusconi in Italy�s 2006 national election. Berlusconi and many of Sicily�s regional government leaders have vowed to continue to fight for the bridge. With Prodi�s governing coalition considered weak, Italian political observers have said Berlusconi or other rivals may yet resurrect the bridge project in the near future. Arcobelli said the bridge would promote tourism in Sicily by making it easier for American and Canadian tourists, as well as tourists from other places, to reach Sicily from mainland Italy. It would also boost Sicily�s agricultural sector, which currently must transport farm products by boat to the mainland. He said the confederation would �absolutely not� become involved in partisan politics, either in Italy, the U.S. or Canada. What organizers hope to do, he said, is push for what they believe would be in the best economic interest of all three countries. More information about the North American Sicilian Confederation and announcements of its activities can be obtained from its web site, www.CSNA2007.org . Friday, October 26, 2007
i don't know
Which singer was known as the Brazilian Bombshell?
Carmen Miranda | Portuguese-born singer and actress | Britannica.com Portuguese-born singer and actress Alternative Title: Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha Carmen Miranda Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha born Carmen Miranda, original name Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha (born February 9, 1909, Marco de Canaveses, Portugal —died August 5, 1955, Beverly Hills , California , U.S.), Portuguese-born singer and actress whose alluring and flamboyant image made her internationally famous. Carmen Miranda in That Night in Rio (1941), directed by Irving Cummings. Twentieth Century-Fox Miranda’s family moved to Brazil when she was an infant. In the 1930s she became the most popular recording artist in that country, where she also appeared in five films. Recruited by a Broadway producer, she starred in The Streets of Paris (1939) onstage before making her American film debut in Down Argentine Way (1940). Typecast as the “Brazilian Bombshell” and given such caricatural roles as “The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat” in Busby Berkeley ’s The Gang’s All Here (1943), she became the highest-paid female performer in the United States during World War II . Her final Hollywood film was Scared Stiff (1953). Learn More in these related articles: Brazil country of South America that occupies half the continent’s landmass. It is the fifth largest country in the world, exceeded in size only by Russia, Canada, China, and the United States, though its area is greater than that of the 48 conterminous U.S. states. Brazil faces the Atlantic Ocean... Broadway (street and district, New York City, New York, United States) New York City thoroughfare that traverses the length of Manhattan, near the middle of which are clustered the theatres that have long made it the foremost showcase of commercial stage entertainment in the United States. The term Broadway is virtually synonymous with American theatrical activity. Busby Berkeley November 29, 1895 Los Angeles, California, U.S. March 14, 1976 Palm Springs, California American motion-picture director and choreographer noted for the elaborate dancing-girl extravaganzas he created on film. Using innovative camera techniques, he revolutionized the genre of the musical in the... 1 Reference found in Britannica Articles Assorted Reference association with Cummings (in Irving Cummings ) External Links Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience. You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered. Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.) Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Submit Thank You for Your Contribution! Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Uh Oh There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later. Close Date Published: April 22, 2016 URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carmen-Miranda Access Date: January 18, 2017 Share
Carmen Miranda
Which former Indian test batsman was nicknamed “Very Very Special”?
Carmen Miranda - IMDb IMDb Soundtrack | Actress | Miscellaneous Crew Carmen Miranda was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha on February 9, 1909, near Porto, Portugal, in the town of Marco de Canavezes. Not long after her birth her family moved to Brazil, where her father was involved in the produce business. The family settled in the then-capital city of Rio de Janeiro. After leaving school, Carmen got a job at a ... See full bio » Born: a list of 34 people created 30 Aug 2012 a list of 49 people created 19 Oct 2013 a list of 29 people created 28 Dec 2014 a list of 33 people created 03 Mar 2015 a list of 36 people created 5 months ago Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of Carmen Miranda's work have you seen? User Polls  2015 My First Apartamento: Zoe Bedeaux (Documentary short) (performer: "Adeus Batucada")  2014 Manhattan (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - The Prisoner's Dilemma (2014) ... (performer: "Chica Chica Boom Chic" - uncredited)  2011 Land Girls (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Home to Roost (2011) ... (performer: "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)" - uncredited)  2009 Dzi Croquettes (Documentary) (performer: "Ela Diz Que Tem")  2008 Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (Video) (performer: "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)")  2006 The Lives of the Saints (performer: "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)")  2005 I Remember (performer: "Disseram que Voltei Americanizada")  1997 Il male di questo secolo (Short) (performer: "I like It Very Much")  1997 Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults (TV Movie documentary) (performer: "South American Way" (uncredited), "Chica Chica Boom Chic" (uncredited), "The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat" (uncredited), "Mamãe Eu Quero", "True to the Navy")  1995 Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business (Documentary) (performer: "Aquarela do Brasil", "The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat", "Chica Chica Boom Chic", "A Week-End in Havana", "South American Way")  1994 That's Entertainment! III (Documentary) (performer: "Baião (Ca-Room' Pa Pa)" - uncredited)  1987 Radio Days (performer: "South American Way" (1939))  1973 Class of '44 (performer: "South American Way")  1970 Myra Breckinridge (performer: "Chica Chica Boom Chic" - uncredited)  1968 The Prisoner (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Fall Out (1968) ... (performer: "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)" - uncredited)  1959 Beloved Infidel (performer: "Boa Noite (Good-Night)" - uncredited)  1953 Scared Stiff (performer: "Bongo Bingo", "Enchiladas")  1950 Nancy Goes to Rio (performer: "Yipsee-I-O", "Baião (Ca-Room' Pa Pa)" - uncredited)  1948 A Date with Judy (performer: "Cooking With Gas", "Cuanto La Gusta", "Its a Most Unusual Day" (Reprise #2 - Finale))  1947 Copacabana (performer: "Tico Tico No Fubá", "Je Vous Aime", "He Hasn't Got a Thing to Sell", "To Make a Hit with Fifi", "Let's Do the Copacabana" - uncredited)  1946 If I'm Lucky (performer: "Follow the Band", "Bet Your Bottom Dollar", "Botocudo" - uncredited)  1945 Doll Face (performer: "Chico Chico" - uncredited)  1944 Something for the Boys (performer: "WOULDN'T IT BE NICE?", "BATUCA NEGA", "SAMBA-BOOGIE")  1944 Greenwich Village (performer: "I'm Just Wild About Harry" (uncredited), "I Like to Be Loved by You" (uncredited), "Give Me a Band and a Bandana")  1944 Four Jills in a Jeep (performer: "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)", "Mamãe Eu Quero" - uncredited)  1943 The Gang's All Here (performer: "Brazil (Aquarela Do Brasil)", "You Discover You're in New York", "The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat", "Paducah" - uncredited)  1942 Springtime in the Rockies (performer: "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "O 'Tic-Tac' do Meu Coração", "Pan American Jubilee")  1941 Week-End in Havana (performer: "A Week-End in Havana", "Rebola a Bola (Embolada)", "When I Love, I Love", "The Ñango (Nyango)" - uncredited)  1941 That Night in Rio (performer: "Chica Chica Boom Chic", "Cai Cai", "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)", "Boa Noite (Good-Night)" - uncredited)  1940 Down Argentine Way (performer: "Bambu Bambu", "Mamãe Yo Quero" (1940), "South American Way" (1939) - uncredited)  1940 Laranja-da-China (performer: "O Que é Que a Baiana Tem?")  1939 Banana-da-Terra (performer: "O Que é Que a Baiana Tem?", "Pirulito")  1936 Alô Alô Carnaval (performer: "Cantores do Rádio", "Querido Adão")  1935 Estudantes (performer: "Sonho de Papel", "E Bateu-se a Chapa")
i don't know
Which cyclist is nicknamed “The Manx Missile”?
Cycling history                                        Cycling history The return of ‘The Silent Ones’ The Isle of Man CC is the intellectual property of Greenrock Ltd Top image: Ellan Vannin (Isle of Man) Cycle Club late 19th / early 20th century (© MNH) With huge thanks to Katie King of Manx National Heritage for all the information and images on this page, which are taken from the exhibition ‘Our Sporting Life’ at the Manx Museum, Kingwood Grove, Douglas.  Cycling and the Isle of Man have a history, from the annual Bicycle & Athletic Festivals of the nineteenth century to the excitement of Manx International Cycle Week. The Island’s first Commonwealth Games team contained six cyclists, with a Bronze medal being won by cyclist Stuart Slack. The Island has since gone on to win two further Gold medals in the Commonwealth Games with Peter Buckley in 1966 and Mark Cavendish in 2006, and our cyclists make up a good portion of the Isle of Man team at every Commonwealth Games and also dominates the Island Games. The Beijing 2008 Olympics saw two Manx cyclists competing for Team GB and we have high hopes for Manx success at the London 2012 Olympics. The Isle of Man has been producing talented cyclists since the 1950s, competing on the British, European and world stage with Millie Robinson, Ron Killey, Reg Quayle, Mike O’Hare, Peter Kennaugh Snr, Steve Joughin, Mike Doyle and Marie Purvis being just a few well known names.  The success of these individuals has inspired consecutive generations of young sports men and women to follow in their wheeltracks. The Isle of Man today is punching well above its weight in terms of cycling talent. The question asked by many sport commentators is how a population of just 80,000 can produce so many world class cyclists? The successes of Mark Cavendish, Jonny Bellis, Peter Kennaugh and the many more talented youngsters ready to follow in their wheel tracks is nothing short of remarkable. So great is the Isle of Man’s reputation for cycling that two of the UK’s top cyclists, Rob Holden and Ben Swift, have even moved to live here! So, what is it about the Isle of Man? Is it our roads, our history, our passion, our development scheme – or does success breed success?   Mark Cavendish – The Manx Missile Mark Cavendish MBE, the Manx Missile, is a professional racing cyclist, heralded as the fastest man on two legs. Achieving 11 wins in his first professional road race season, his was the most successful debut in European road racing history. Mark won the points jersey in five major races, and most impressively of all, beat some of the established legends of road sprinting. In the 2008 Tour de France he won four stages, a then unprecedented achievement for a British cyclist.  He now has 20 Tour de France stage wins under his belt and in 2011 made history by becoming the first British rider to win the Tour’s prestigious maillot vert, the green points jersey. ‘Cav’, as he is universally known, started cycling for fun at the National Sports Centre and developed his skills on the challenging Manx roads. His prodigious talent was noticed and he was admitted onto the British Olympic Academy programme. Together with his achievements on the road, Mark is also a double Madison World Champion, won a Gold medal for the Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne 2006 and competed for Team GB in the Beijing Olympics 2008. His phenomenal success on the professional road racing circuit has inspired many hundreds of the Island’s young people to take up the sport. Mark continues to dominate the road racing circuit and has won stages at all the major classics, including winning the Milan-San Remo. He has been described as the fastest sprinter in the world. Now riding for Team Sky Mark is looking forward to achieving more success on the road and has his eyes set on the London 2012 Olympic road race.  Isle of Man Youth Development – The Conveyor Belt of Inspiration “What kept me going was that I wanted to do what Steve Joughin was doing, winning Merseyside titles and National titles – it was like a conveyor belt of inspiration – as it is today with Mark Cavendish.” Mike Doyle, Former Pro Rider and Isle of Man Cycling Youth Coach Former professional rider Mike Doyle has played a pivotal role in coaching the Island’s young riders in recent years as they seek selection for the Great Britain Olympic Development programme. For most talented riders in Britain the Academy is still the best route to a career as a professional cyclist. Mike has been able to share his experiences of the professional road race circuit with the youth talent on the Isle of Man, so that they realise what it takes to commit to cycling. It is this firsthand experience that is so crucial to the success of Manx cyclists. The role of the Isle of Man Sport Aid and Institute is also critical at this stage in allowing elite competitors to secure financial support together with a full range of sports science services for them to fulfil their sporting potential. Cycling in the Blood – the Kennaugh Family For many people on the Isle of Man cycling is not simply an individual passion, but can be traced through consecutive generations of families committed to the sport. One such family is the Kennaughs. Both Peter Kennaugh, and his younger brother Tim, are current professional road and track cyclists with 2012 Olympic aspirations. Their father Peter was also a successful road racer, their mother Jackie a talented cyclist, and their grandparents Roy and Dorothy were early members of the Manx Road Club. Their cycling pedigree can even be traced to their great great great grandfather and uncle who were also influential on the Manx cycling scene – a case of cycling really being in the blood! “We didn’t encourage them into cycling at all. I knew how expensive it was to do and how hard it was…cycling is such a tough sport. Some have likened it to four Man United games being played back to back for three weeks and that’s what riding the Tour de France is like. It is tough, really tough…we told them to stick to the football! But we support them, of course.” Peter Kennaugh Senior, 2011 Peter Kennaugh “I have lost count of the number of times I have seen Peter Kennaugh piling up the miles. In the winter, when it was raining so hard it was bouncing off the road, he was out there. That’s what it took for him to become a pro rider.” Richard Allen, Sports Journalist Peter Kennaugh Junior is currently one of the rising stars of British cycling, on both track and road. He has been riding for British professional Team Sky since 2010. He has received worldwide plaudits for his 2011 season with outstanding performances at his first Giro d’Italia. His ‘all round’ talent has him tipped for Tour de France glory in the future. He is the current British Madison Champion; British Under 23 National Road Race Champion; Junior World and European Track Champion; is a member of the British Cycling Olympic Academy and is one of the Island’s 2012 Olympic hopefuls. Tim Kennaugh “It’s all about balance and doing it because you want to do it and because you enjoy it. If your Mum and Dad are paying for you to go away and train and race, then you’ve got to show a certain amount of commitment to put the yards in.”  Tim Kennaugh At only 20 years of age Tim Kennaugh has already made a name for himself in British cycling, being selected to ride for the British Talent Team in 2007 before entering the British Cycling Olympic Development Programme and Olympic Academy. In 2009, he became one of the youngest riders ever to win the Manx National Road Race Championships. In 2011 Tim signed for Italian/Polish Team MG.K VIS-Norda Whistle along with fellow Manxman Chris Whorrall. In his first professional season Tim is expected to compete in 50 races, including the Baby Giro d’Italia, thereby following in his brother’s footsteps. Ian Sharpe – Paralympian Visually impaired athlete, Ian Sharpe, is the Isle of Man’s most successful Olympian. He has represented Great Britain at the Paralympics on five separate occasions, initially as a swimmer, and more recently as a cyclist. He has won five Silver and five Bronze medals at the Games to date and is hoping to increase his tally in the London Paralympics 2012.  Ian began training seriously as a swimmer at the age of twelve when he joined the national development programme. After achieving success at European and World Championship level he was selected to represent Great Britain at the Seoul Paralympics 1988, where he won a Silver and two Bronze medals, and became the first British disabled athlete to break the one minute barrier for the 100m freestyle. Further Silvers were to follow in the next three Paralympics in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney in 2000.  Ian retired from swimming after the Atlanta Games to focus on his career but decided to have a go at the triathlon while working in Cambridge. Ian unofficially set the second fastest time in the world for a disabled athlete in the Olympic distance event in 1998 with his guide, Toby King. But following the decision not to include the triathlon at the Paralympics in 2000, Ian returned to swimming once again for the Sydney games which became his most successful ever, bringing back two Silver medals and a Bronze.  In 2003 Ian then made the switch to cycling when he met Paul Hunter while looking for a potential tandem pilot. Despite many logistical challenges, funding problems and disagreements with British Cycling they qualified for the Athens Paralympics in 2004 and achieved the remarkable feat of winning a Bronze medal in the Men’s Individual Tandem Pursuit and another in the Men's Tandem Kilo at their first Games together. Even greater success followed in 2005 when Ian and Paul became double world champions in the same events and also picked up a Silver in the road time trial.  Ian is currently training hard and looking for sponsorship to support him in the run up to the London 2012 Paralympic Games. “I would love to do London 2012 – if the games had been anywhere else I think I would have retired by now, I’ve spent most of my life competing at the highest level and I'm not getting any younger. But the only medal I haven't won is a Paralympic Gold and to have the opportunity to compete, let alone win at a home Games is just something I couldn't ignore. Call it blind faith if you will but I still believe there's enough in my legs to achieve this goal. " Manx International Cycle Week – The Silent Ones “The Manx International was a big race in its own right, but for a Manxman it was something special. I was riding in the colours of the Manx Road Club but I was carrying the hopes of the Isle of Man…That day was one of the greatest moments of my life. Things like that stay with you forever; it’s the kind of moment that motivates you to make all the sacrifices you have to make to be a success in a sport a tough as cycling.” Steve Joughin on winning the Manx International Road Race in 1979 The Isle of Man’s hilly terrain makes it ideal for road racing and historically mass start road racing was always popular on the Island. The famous Motorcycle TT Mountain Circuit was perfect for cyclists and cycle racing began seriously on the course with the Bicycle TT in 1936. Competitors were known locally as ‘the silent ones’. The event evolved into Manx International Cycle Week, organised by Manx cycling legend Curwen Clague. The event attracted thousands of enthusiasts to the Island who could get close to their cycling heroes and compete in their own fun rallies during the week. During its illustrious history the event attracted the top racing cyclists of Europe. In 1963 and 1967 England cycling legend Tommy Simpson was a popular winner. The Isle of Man International Road Race Meeting included the Manx International Road race, over three laps of the mountain circuit, the Viking Trophy Road Race over two laps, and high speed town centre Criteriums. The event even had its own ‘King of the Mountain’ sections. In 1979 the Manx International Road Race was won by local hero Steve Joughin, a highlight of his own successful professional cycling career. In 1993 Olympian and World Champion cyclist Chris Boardman set a blistering record time over the mountain of 1 hour 23 minutes and 54 seconds, a record that still stands. Manx International Cycling Week, including events run over the mountain circuit, continued until 2003. Steve Joughin – The Pocket Rocket “Had I really just won the national title only a few hundred yards from where I grew up, and in front of all my family? Winning the pro title was amazing enough, but to do it on the Isle of Man seemed too good to be true”.  Steve Joughin, Pocket Rocket (2010) Steve ‘The Pocket Rocket’ Joughin is a former professional Manx road racing cyclist. He was the first Manxman ever to win the British professional road race title (twice); won stages at the prestigious Milk Race; represented the Isle of Man on two occasions at the Commonwealth Games; and became the first Manxman to win Manx International Cycle Week. He was a popular local hero, at a time when the Island was an important location for British road racing competitions. He was arguably one of the best UK riders of his generation, coming to prominence as a sprinter in the 1980s – the golden age of British cycle racing. His journey from the Isle of Man to popular British cycling success was hard fought, struggling to travel away to compete and to earn a living at the sport. Steve’s journey, like many from his generation, was not one of Olympic training programmes but gritty determination to succeed against the odds: “We didn’t have a World Class Performance Plan – we had what I called the ‘DHSS Performance Plan’. At a time where there was mass unemployment in the UK, myself and many riders signed on the dole at the DHSS and claimed unemployment benefit in order to be able to pay the bills while we trained in the hope of getting a pro-contract…When money was really tight, I would play hide and seek on boats bound for England and stowaway on board to save paying the fare so I could race.” Steve Joughin, Pocket Rocket (2010) Steve, now living in Stoke and running his cycle business, Pro-Vision, is still influential on the British cycling scene. Millie Robinson Millie Robinson took up cycling after moving to the Isle of Man in her late teens and started competitive cycling at local grass track events such as the Andreas Sports. As a member of the Manx Viking Wheelers she won the Women’s National 25 mile time trial championships three years in succession during the mid-1950s and was the British best all-rounder over 25, 50 and 100 miles. She won numerous UK events, both time trials and mass starts, and events during Manx Cycle Week. She was the winner of the first two international races ever promoted for women in France and broke three world records on the track in Milan, including the hour record. She retired from competitive cycling in 1960.   Marie Morgan (formerly Purvis) “Aged 26 I thought, there must be more to life than just vegetating on the sofa, and so I got an old bike out of the shed and went out riding. I was so unfit that I could only do three miles at first, but it was a gradual progression from there.” Marie Morgan (formerly Purvis) is a true inspiration. As a latecomer to cycling she went on to achieve extraordinary success in her eight year career, becoming the Isle of Man’s most successful female cyclist to date. She was the British Women’s Road Race Champion five times; competed at four World Championships; was British National 10mile and 25 mile time trial champion; contested two Olympic Games and represented the Isle of Man at two Commonwealth Games. After disappointment at her first Commonwealth Games at Auckland she went on to lead the road race at the Victoria Games four years later, only to suffer mechanical problems which meant she finished in fourth place. “I’d made the transition from local to national level very quickly, so when it came to my first Commonwealth Games I didn’t really know how good the standard was, and I got the shock of my life…within two laps I was dropped off the back. I didn’t realise how hard the next level was. But I remember thinking I have a starting point now, I know what I have to do to get there. Train harder, race more. It made me more determined…within two years I’d been selected for the Barcelona Olympics.” She made an impressive debut at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Road Race, attacking early and leading the race until a slow puncture and mechanic crew confusion cost her a winning position. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics she finished in an impressive eleventh place. Marie was also the first British woman to win a mountain stage of the Tour de Femmin (the female Tour de France) in 1993 and finished sixth overall at this prestigious event.   Stuart Slack – First Commonwealth Medallist: Stuart Slack was actively involved in Manx cycling for over fifty years, until his death in 1998. The former Ellan Vannin Club rider was well known by many on the Isle of Man for his Commonwealth Games glory. He won the Bronze medal for the 120 mile road race at the 1958 British Empire & Commonwealth Games, becoming the first Manxman to win a medal at any Commonwealth Games competition. “…his amazing finishing spurt after a gruelling race run in terrible weather, heavy rain and a high wind, had his team mates and officials in a frenzy of excitement as he burst through to achieve what seemed the impossible.” Isle of Man Weekly Times, 28 July 1958 The Isle of Man welcomed Stuart, and the team, back to the Island as national heroes and his success has inspired future generations of young cyclists to attempt to follow in his wheeltracks. His success also spurred the Isle of Man to send a team to compete at every subsequent Commonwealth Games, buoyed with confidence that our small nation can achieve at world class level. “Stuart Slack was a local boy, a local hero, his victory did so much to encourage cycling over here. Within a few years of his victory the Onchan Stadium opened with a cycle track around the outside and cycling on the Isle of Man has gone from strength to strength ever since.” Brian Whitehead, Commonwealth Games Athlete   Many thanks to Manx National Heritage (MNH), Peter Kennaugh Senior, Jean Slack, Reg Quayle, Diana Killy and Marie Morgan for giving permission to use their photos above. Curwen Clague Manx sporting hero Curwen Clague can be credited with developing International Cycle Week and founding the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games team. He was a founder member of the Manx Viking Wheelers in 1932 and helped organise the Bicycle TT in 1936. Massed start cycle races were unheard of in the UK at that time, but the event was a great success and continued as International Cycle week until 2003. He was appointed as an official for the Olympic Cycle Road Race at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. Curwen’s contribution to cycling was recognised in 1976 when he was awarded the Gold Badge of Honour by the British Cycling Federation, their highest accolade. Curwen also played a vital role in the formation of the Manx Commonwealth Games Team. After watching the Empire Games in 1954 he drew together the leaders of the various sports on the Island and suggested the Isle of Man could form its own Commonwealth Games team, which went on to compete successfully in the 1958 Games. From 1962 until his death, Curwen was the manager of the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games Team, and was responsible for representing the Isle of Man at the highest level of the Commonwealth Games Association. Cycling Roots The success of Manx cyclists on the world stage has meant that the sport is hugely popular on the Isle of Man, especially on a junior level. The Isle of Man Junior Cycling Summer League sees over 300 under-16’s compete in organised weekly races at the National Sports Centre (NSC) in Douglas and also organises trips to the UK to compete. Dot Tilbury MBE, who organises the junior league, has been admitted to the British Cycling Hall of Fame for her enthusiastic work with junior cyclists over the past 25 years. The ‘Tuesday Night’ sessions are where all our famous cyclists first fell in love with cycling. “One second, two seconds, ready, steady, GO! and two minutes later, I’d finished the course – a single lap of the NSC car park – in last place. Dead last. In my first race.” Mark Cavendish, Boy Racer (2010) At the age of 16 talented young cyclists are further developed by former professional rider Mike Doyle. Both Dot and Mike believe that having the opportunity to compete off Island, at both track and road events, is crucial to the development of our young cyclists. It enables them to improve their performance through competing alongside the best of British talent. The Isle of Man has a highly successful road race league at which amateur cyclists often line up against our professional cyclists who return to the Island to train, another factor in our success at cycling. There is certainly a structure in place on the Isle of Man for young cycling talent to develop their full potential, but it also requires immense dedication from the individuals involved. The Isle of Man may be a unique place with a unique set of circumstances, but without the dedication to get out and train for hours every day in all weather there would be no cycling champions. International Cycle Week ca 1950s (© MNH) Highland Games, Onchan Stadium, 1967 Tom Kennaugh 1912
Mark Cavendish
What is the most commonly used alloy of copper and tin?
Gorillas, scarabs, and pistol: Nicknames in the Tour de France peloton | VeloNews.com Home » News » Road » Gorillas, scarabs, and pistol: Nicknames in the Tour de France peloton Gorillas, scarabs, and pistol: Nicknames in the Tour de France peloton By Benot Noel Published Jul. 20, 2015 Nairo Quintana is known as the "scarab" for his small stature and strong climbing legs. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com BOURG-DE-PAGE, France (AFP) — With a shark, a scarab, and a gorilla amongst its ranks, the Tour de France peloton boasts an eclectic mix of nicknames rather than species. Those nicknames are often a reference to a person’s origins or their physical appearance — although sometimes, they need some explaining. While it’s not hard to imagine where burly German sprinter Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) got his “gorilla of Rostock” moniker, others are less apparent. “It’s a nickname I’ve had since my junior days. I can’t even remember who gave it to me,” said the 33-year-old winner of three sprint stages already this year. From a “gorilla” to a “scarab,” Nairo Quintana’s (Movistar) nickname is no surprise either. The diminutive Colombian is a giant in the mountains, so comparisons to a beetle that can lift many hundreds of times its own body weight is somewhat logical. From the land, the peloton branches out into the sea and the “shark of Messina” — reigning champion Vincenzo Nibali (Astana). Once again, it is a nickname that has followed the 30-year-old Sicilian since his junior days, given for his tenacity in chasing his goals and an insatiable appetite for victory. But not all riders are compared to creatures notable for their strength or ferocity. Dutchman Thomas Dumoulin’s (Giant-Alpecin) unique gift is his grace — the “butterfly of Maastricht.” A Dutch journalist once described him as having “natural elegance,” saying he could “ride a time trial in a dinner jacket and cross the line without his bow tie being out of place.” A bow tie in Dutch, like many languages, is called a butterfly. But while that nickname seems tremendously contrived, others are blindingly obvious. Sky’s Chris Froome, a Briton, is called the “white Kenyan” in reference to his place of birth. Likewise, British sprinter Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quick-Step), “the Manx Missile,” is from the Isle of Man where people are known as Manxmen. The little cigar Of course, as those show, not everyone is named after a creature, even if their strength or valor is being celebrated. Swiss time trial and one-day classics specialist Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) is known as “Spartacus.” Just like the Roman-era gladiator, he is known for his feats of strength on a bike, whether that being the race against the clock or over the back-breaking cobbles at Paris-Roubaix and the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders), both of which he’s won three times. Then there is “Hulk,” Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), although that refers to the similarity in color between the superhero and the Tour’s green jersey the Slovak has owed for the last three years. Superheroes have been a consistent theme with Sagan, who used to be known as “Wolverine,” although that was simply for his haircut at the time. For others, their nickname comes from an even more obscure source, such as Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez (Katusha). “Purito” means little cigar in Spanish and came after a training ride in the mountains soon after he joined the ONCE team, his first squad as a professional. His teammates stepped up the pace on a climb, at which point the upstart neo-pro rode past them making a gesture as if smoking a cigar — suggesting that the climb was too easy for him. His teammates had their revenge, forcing him to smoke an actual cigar later that evening, and ever since the little climber has been “Purito,” the explosive little cigar. He’s not the only Spaniard lauded for his dynamism. Two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) is “El Pistolero” — the pistol — while Ardennes classics specialist Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) is “La Balla” — the bullet. As a junior, Valverde used to be “El Imbatido” — the unbeaten one — after a run of 50 consecutive wins. He’s had great success since, such as winning the 2009 Vuelta a Espana, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and La Fleche Wallonne three times each, and La Clasica de San Sebastian twice. However, it’s Valverde’s near-misses that back up his “bullet” nickname. Valverde has twice finished second and placed third four other times in the world championships, while he has registered 11 top-10 finishes — including one victory — in grand tours.
i don't know
Which actress played Mrs June Monsoon in TV’s 'Absolutely Fabulous'?
BBC - Comedy - June Whitfield Profile Contact Us June Whitfield June Whitfield is the Grandmother of British comedy. Well, she played one of comedy's most famous grandmothers in Absolutely Fabulous . June began life as an actress in London’s West End, then moved to radio in 1953, appearing on Take It From Here. June's career has seen success in theatre, pantomime, film and television. A regular cast member of the Carry On... series through the 1970s, it was in 1979 that June Whitfield found huge popularity alongside Terry Scott in the long-running sit-com Terry and June. This enduring partnership lasted until 1988. TV fame struck twice when she was cast as June Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous in 1992. Playing the scene-stealing ditzy grandmother, June returned to the forefront of British comedy.. June is also a huge hit as a performer in Radio 2’s The News Huddlines. She’s been on the team for over sixteen years. Links:
June Whitfield
Which Benjamin Britten opera is based on a short novel by Herman Melville?
Julia Sawalha (Actress) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Julia Sawalha Female Born Sep 9, 1968 Julia Sawalha is an English actress known for her roles as Saffron Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous; Lynda Day, editor of The Junior Gazette in Press Gang; and Lydia Bennet in the 1995 television miniseries of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She also played Dorcas Lane in the BBC's costume drama Lark Rise to Candleford and Carla Borrego in Jonathan Creek.…  Read More related links Time To Kill? Here Are 130 Riveting Movies You Can Watch On Netflix Right Now Yahoo News - Dec 04, 2015 ' This list is updated monthly to reflect recent availability and to showcase films currently streaming on Netflix, whether talking classics or modern gems. Netflix offers roughly a gazillion different movies available through its streaming platform — well, approximately a gazillion. However, while the landmark service might become surprisingly accurate with its suggestions once you’ve been using it for a while, it’s still often tough to find something worth watching amid the trove of terribl... Steven Moffat’s Other Greatest Hits BBC Blogs- America - May 28, 2012 ' Benedict Cumberbatch, Steven Moffat and Matt Smith tonight (Ian West/PA) \n Last night, Steven Moffat picked up the Dennis Potter special trophy at the BAFTA Television awards, for services to writing extremely good TV shows. We all know about Doctor Who and Sherlock, but what about his other work? What else has he been doing all this time, hmmm? \n Here’s a Top 5, they are ALL recommended: \n Press Gang (1989 – 1993) \n \n See that <mark>Julia Sawalha</mark> in Absolutely Fabulous? You c... Upi News Track Entertainment News Upi.Com Google News - Aug 30, 2011 'The New York Post said all of the show&#39;s original cast members, including co-creator Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, <mark>Julia Sawalha</mark>, June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks, are on board for the fresh run of 30-minute episodes, which are to begin airing on' Why Absolutely Fabulous Now Looks Absolutely Prescient The Guardian Google News - Aug 29, 2011 'But if the characters once looked absurd, in 2011 they are absurdly recognisable A new series of Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley and <mark>Julia Sawalha</mark>, is returning to our screens next year to mark its 20th anniversary. ...&nbsp;-&nbsp;-' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Julia Sawalha. CHILDHOOD 1968 Birth Born on September 9, 1968. TEENAGE 1982 13 Years Old Sawalha made her debut in the 1982 BBC miniseries Fame Is the Spur and in 1988, played a small role in Inspector Morse on the episode "Last Seen Wearing". TWENTIES 1989 20 Years Old She first gained attention for her starring role in the Bafta award-winning ITV teenage comedy-drama Press Gang, which ran from 1989 to 1993. … Read More In 1992 she starred in episode "Parade" (S2 E4) of Bottom as Veronica Head, a beautiful young barmaid at the Lamb and Flag, whom Richie tries to woo by boasting of his false adventures in the Falklands. Read Less 1991 22 Years Old From 1991–94, she starred in the ITV family comedy Second Thoughts and continued with her character, Hannah (Lynda Bellingham's daughter), in the British Comedy Award-winning Faith in the Future (1995–98). … Read More In 1994, she played Mercy (Merry) Pecksniff in the BBC production of Martin Chuzzlewit. Read Less 1992 23 Years Old From 1992 to 2012, Sawalha played straight-laced daughter Saffron Monsoon in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous alongside Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley. 1995 26 Years Old She starred in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as Lydia Bennet, co-starring opposite Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. … Read More She also voiced Ginger in DreamWorks/Aardman's Chicken Run. She also played "Dawn the Wise Man" in The Flint Street Nativity on Christmas Eve. Read Less THIRTIES 2000 31 Years Old In 2000 she appeared as Janet, the Australian barmaid ("Built for bar work; it's instinct... instinct!!") in the first series of the British sitcom Time Gentlemen Please. 2002 33 Years Old She also played the much put-upon PA to "Zak" in Argos TV adverts during 2002–2004, along with Richard E. Grant. … Read More She has also joined actor Ioan Gruffudd in the internationally successful TV adaptations of C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels, as the captain's wife Maria. The following year, she became Alan Davies's co-star in Jonathan Creek after Caroline Quentin left, appearing in a Christmas Special ("Satan's Chimney"). Read Less 2003 34 Years Old She returned for a series between 2003–2004. 2004 35 Years Old On 1 January 2004, it was alleged in the tabloid newspapers that she had married boyfriend Alan Davies, her co-star in the television series Jonathan Creek. … Read More Both she and Davies, who avoided discussing their private lives in public, denied this, and took legal action against the reports.<br /><br /> After she met Rich Annetts at the Glastonbury Festival in 2005, the couple moved to Bath, Somerset, and lived in a flat close to the Royal Crescent. Sawalha started growing her own vegetables, attending yoga lessons and studying for an Open University English degree. Sawalha and Annetts have since split up. Read Less 2006 37 Years Old In 2006, she participated in the third series of the genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? tracing her family's roots, which are Jordanian Bedouin on her father's side, and French Huguenot on her mother's. … Read More She also appeared in the pilot of BBC 1's A Taste of my Life presented by Nigel Slater. Read Less
i don't know
Where in the world are the Pensacola Mountains?
Pensacola Mountains - Peakware.com Pensacola Mountains Show Map Download any of the following KML maps for use in the full screen Google Earth application: Pensacola Mountains , Transantarctic Mountains , or Antarctica . For more information, see our Google Earth page.
Antarctica
Sable is the correct name for which ‘colour’ in heraldry?
Geophysical investigations of the Pensacola Mountains and adjacent glacierized areas of Antarctica (Book, 1974) [WorldCat.org] Find more libraries Librarian? Claim your library to Geophysical investigations of the Pensacola Mountains and adjacent glacierized areas of Antarctica Author: Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1974. Series:  Print book : National government publication : English View all editions and formats Database: WorldCat Summary: Additional title page description: Aeroemagnetic, gravity, and seismic reflection data allow extension of known geology beneath area covered by ice. Rating: You are connected to the University of Washington Libraries network Hide local services for this item OCLC FirstSearch Add library to Favorites Please choose whether or not you want other users to be able to see on your profile that this library is a favorite of yours. Allow this favorite library to be seen by others Keep this favorite library private Find a copy in the library Finding libraries that hold this item... Details Government publication, National government publication Document Type: Part of illustrative matter in pocket. Description: iii, 28 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm. Series Title: by John C. Behrendt ... [and 3 others]. Abstract: Additional title page description: Aeroemagnetic, gravity, and seismic reflection data allow extension of known geology beneath area covered by ice. Reviews Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers. Be the first. Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers. Be the first. Tags Add tags  for "Geophysical investigations of the Pensacola Mountains and adjacent glacierized areas of Antarctica". Be the first. Similar Items
i don't know
In September 2006, which Welshman captained Europe's victorious Ryder Cup team?
Ryder Cup 2006 » Team USA » News Maximilian Kieffer and Laura Gonzales-Escallon congratulate Cassandra Blaney (white shirt) and Tony Mapu Finau (white shirt) after the final match. (Photo: Getty Images) Tight all the way, the Junior Ryder Cup ends in a draw Cassandra Blaney of New York holed a crucial par putt on the final hole Tuesday to win her mixed fourball match with partner Tony Mapu Finau and help the United States to a 6-6 tie with Europe in the two-day contest. PGA.com news services September 19, 2006 NEWPORT, Wales -- Nick Faldo, Europe's Ryder Cup Captain for 2008, was in the gallery at The Celtic Manor Resort on Tuesday to watch a thrilling conclusion to The 2006 Junior Ryder Cup, which ended in a 6-6 tie. New Yorker Cassandra Blaney struck the defining blow, holing for a half at the 18th to deny Europe, captained by Welshman Andy Ingram, a fourth straight victory in the two-day contest. Blaney and her partner, Utah State Amateur champion Tony Mapu Finau, had been involved in a ding-dong battle with Germany's Maximilian Kieffer and Belgium's Laura Gonzales-Escallon in the final of the four mixed fourball matches out on the course. The American pair moved 1-up at the 12th and, despite coming under severe pressure over the closing holes, they hung on gamely. Blaney's par at the last secured the match-leveling point. Earlier in the afternoon, Isabelle Lendl ensured she would leave Wales boasting a 100 percent record after partnering Drew Kittleson to a 3 & 1 victory over the German duo of Sean Einhaus and Saskia Hausladen. Lendl, the daughter of eight-time Grand Slam tennis champion Ivan Lendl, was 2-under-par for 17 holes to add to her impressive showing in Monday's fourball win alongside Vicky Hurst. "It has been fun and a real honor to represent my country in The Junior Ryder Cup. I'm back to school tomorrow but I will leave with some good memories, although we could have won it," said the 15-year-old, whose famous dad was undergoing root canal treatment and had yet to learn of his daughter's second victory. Another of the leading girls on show in the competition, 14-year-old Scottish starlet Carly Booth, partnered Norwegian Are Friestad to a 3 & 2 success over Andrew Yun and Kristen Schelling, which helped to erase her disappointment at losing in the previous day's same-sex fourballs. "I am sure there are some future Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup players here," said Faldo, before presenting each team with a crystal trophy at the closing ceremony. "I think that both teams put on a great spectacle, so hopefully people will realize the impressive standards of these players," said Ingram, who had captained Europe to victory in Ohio two years ago. "There is a slight disappointment at not winning, but hopefully another Welshman in Ian Woosnam can do that later this week." Tuesday Mixed Fourball Results:
Ian Woosnam
What constitutes the sole diet of the Osprey?
BBC SPORT | Golf | Europe clinch Ryder Cup hat-trick BBC Sport at the K Club Clarke's emotional triumph captured hearts at the K Club Sweden's Henrik Stenson robbed Darren Clarke of a fairytale ending but home fans were still in raptures as Europe strolled to a 18�-9� victory over America in the 36th Ryder Cup at the K Club. Europe led 10-6 going into the singles after winning each of the first four sessions 2�-1�, and triumphed in eight matches and halved one to equal the record score of Oakland Hills two years ago. Stenson's win over fellow rookie Vaughn Taylor on the 15th took Europe to 15 points, half a point more than they needed to ensure they lifted the cup for an unprecedented third straight time. Captain Ian Woosnam had sent Northern Ireland's Clarke out in the seventh match with a view to him possibly holing the decisive putt and completing a remarkable comeback from personal tragedy. RYDER CUP BLOG
i don't know
To which particular order of mammals do shrews and moles belong?
SHREWS & MOLES                                   MOLES                               Insectivores are the descendants of the most primitive placental mammals and are the predecessors of all other placental mammals.  Earliest known fossils date back 130 million years ago. Some members of this order seem to have departed less from the form of the generalized, primitive mammalian type than have any other recent placentals.  For this and other reasons, certain insectivores are believed to resemble the basic stock of certain placental lines of descent.  Among the primitive features that many insectivores exhibit are the structure of the ears, the small brain, primitive teeth, testes that are usually inside the abdomen rather than in a scrotum, and the joining of the urinary and reproductive tracts and the intestine into a common channel called a cloaca.  These insect-eating mammals have long-pointed, flexible snouts with a finely developed sense of feel (some are carnivorous). Their sight and hearing are poorly developed, and they all have musk glands, like the weasel family.  They have five clawed toes on all four feet, in contrast to rodents, like mice, that have only four toes on their forefeet.   These very small, non-hibernating mammals have high metabolic rates and may consume up to twice their body weight per day. Most insectivores are ferocious predators with an insatiable appetite, with a constant need to forage. Shrews have a very short life span and high reproductive rate. Many exhibit post-partum estrus, with the female becoming pregnant within hours of giving birth. The pygmy shrew is the smallest mammal in North America. Worldwide, the Insectivora order includes seven families, 68 genera and 440 species (according to Nowak's Walker's Mammals of the World).  Most are found in the palearctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions.  More than 70% of the Insectivora are shrews.  Other members of this order include hedgehogs (Eurasia and Africa), solenodons (West Indies), and tenrecs (Madagascar and Africa). The two largest families of this order are the only representatives in North America and in this Appalachian region; the Soricidae (shrews) and the Talpidae (moles). According to the Checklist of North American Mammals, there are 34 species of shrews and 7 species of moles in North America. There are eight species in the shrew family and three species of the mole family in this Appalachian region.     (Sorex cinereus)  (shrew, ash-colored) Appalachian Region Distribution: A boreal species (northern), found along the Appalachian ridge down to about Springer Mtn. Continental Range: Throughout Canada and northern US.  Only one subspecies exists in the Appalachian region.   Abundance: Common, but with large annual variability. Throughout the Appalachians, especially in moist environments, it is usually the most common shrew. Population Density: W/H reports densities vary greatly from year to year and from place to place. PA Mammals reports 1-10/acre. Size and Molt: Head and body 2 to 2 � inches; 1/10 - 1/4 oz. This one does not have a masked face. One of the smallest shrews.  Two molts. Mammae: Three pair. Habitat: Found in most variable habitats of all shrews. Prefers moist, mature, mixed or deciduous forests.  Often found among rocks and logs in moist woods or marshy meadows and sphagnum bogs.  In WVA, it is most common about beaver dams and alder thickets and in open stands of deciduous and coniferous forests.  In the southern Appalachians, most common above 3000� elevation. Active Period: Active both day and night (like most shrews), but mainly nocturnal. Consumes up to it�s own body weight each day (or more - see diet below). Diet: Insects, earthworms, other shrews, small mice, snails, slugs, and some vegetable matter. In winter, diet is mainly insect eggs and pupae, but is known to eat significant quantities of coniferous tree seeds.  Has been reported to eat three times its weight each day (but its own weight is more reasonable).  Home Range: � acre (1,200 sq. ft.) to 1 � acres. Social Structure: Often gregarious (as many shrews may be), with the male often staying with the female during child-rearing. Life Cycle: About 3 litters per year (April through October) with an average of six per litter. Gestation of 22 days, weaned in three weeks. Young leave the nest at four weeks with sexual maturity in 2 months, three months, or 5 to 6 months, depending on publication. (W/H says they don�t breed the summer of their birth, thus, a life span of 15 months is suggested.)  Life span less than one year. Nest: 3" spherical nests of dry leaves or grass in stumps, logs, or under rocks. Scat: Scats of shrews are the shape of rice grains, only smaller (1/8 � 3/16� x 1/16�).         Tracks: Travels and hunts in subterranean tunnels made by itself or other rodents.  Forsyth says the masked shrew does not make it�s own runways.  Straddle tracks are only 1" wide with a tail track often visible, especially in snow. Remarks: Heartbeats and respiration have been recorded at 1200 per minute. Has been reported to eat three times its weight each day. The young exhibit a "caravaning" habit of following-the-leader in a single file line, each one with its nose in the fur of the one in front of it.  Is known to be a good swimmer.    LONG-TAILED or ROCK SHREW (Sorex dispar) (shrew mouse; dissimilar) Appalachian Region Distribution: Throughout the higher elevations; not in the Shenandoah National Park Continental Range: An Appalachian ridge dweller only found from Nova Scotia and southeastern New Brunswick, through Maine to SW North Carolina and eastern TN.  Two subspecies have been recognized; the separation is about the Maryland border (see remarks). Abundance: Rare in general, but locally abundant where it is found. Population Density: PA Mammals reports < 2 / acre. Size and Molt: Head and body 2.4 - 2.9 inches; 1/5 - 1/4 oz. Of medium size, with a much longer tail than the other species. Two molts. Mammae: Three pair. Habitat: Cool, moist upland rocky habitats of two types: talus slopes, mossy rock piles, or near streams under rotting logs in deciduous or mixed deciduous/coniferous forests. Active Period: Active day and night, year-round. Diet: Feeds among rocks for centipedes, insects and spiders. Home Range: Probably about an acre. Social Structure: Solitary, and not territorial. Life Cycle: One to three litters per year, with two to six per litter are reported.  Breeding occurs between April through August.  Life span of 12 to 18 months. Nest: Nests in the crevasses of rocks. Scat: Scats of shrews are the shape of rice grains, only smaller (1/8 � 3/16� x 1/16�). Tracks: Straddle tracks are only 1" wide with a tail track often visible, especially in snow. Remarks: Aka rock shrew.  Little is known about this species due to its subterranean habit.  It has an exceptionally long tail; about half of the total length, presumably used as a counterbalance.  The long-tailed shrew is significantly smaller in northern latitudes and larger in the southern part of its range. (The reverse of Bergmann�s Rule.)  In this study area, populations in the southern Appalachians (S. dispar blitchii) are the largest, with decreasing size noted from Pennsylvania northward (S. dispar dispar).     MARYLAND SHREW (Sorex fontinalis) (shrew mouse; from a spring or fountain) Appalachian Region Distribution: This species occurs in a limited region centering on central Maryland and SE Pennsylvania.  It has also been found in northern Delaware, NE West Virginia and is probably, but not yet identified, in northern Virginia.  This is the total continental range of this questionable species (see remarks below). Continental Distribution: It is only found in the Appalachian study area as noted above. Abundance: Not known. Population Density: PA Mammals reports 1-10/acre Size and Molt: Head and body 2.1"; 0.08 - 0.16 oz.  Two molts. Mammae:   Three pair. Habitat: In Pennsylvania, habitats tend to be moist, including sedge-grass meadows, woodlands, and hedgerows in early succession. A collection of 296 by Gordon Kirkland on South Mountain, near Shippensburg, PA included mature lowland forest, mid-slope oak forest, ridge forest (oak and blackgum), and oak clearcut 3-4 and 9-10 years old.  Many were also collected in the Cumberland Valley in meadow, hedgerows, and forests. Active Period: Active year-round. Diet: Insects, annelids, and other invertebrates. Home Range: PA Mammals reports 0.5 to 1.5 acres Social Structure: Presumed similar to the masked shrew. Life Cycle: Two to three litters of four to six a year.  Breeding occurs from late February to late September in Pennsylvania.  Gestation period is 18 days.  Lives up to 18 months. Nest: Nests are located below stumps, logs, roots and occasional white-footed mice nests.  Nests are made of grass and leaves and are similar to the masked shrew. Scat: Scats of shrews are the shape of rice grains, only smaller (1/8 � 3/16� x 1/16�). Tracks: Presumed similar to the masked shrew. Remarks: The above information comes from the Mammals of Pennsylvania (1987) and W/H.  Little is known about this species.  The Maryland shrew was originally described as a distinct species, but in 1911, it was relegated to a subspecies of the masked shrew, where it remained until work in the late 1970's and 80's gave it a species status, which it tenuously still maintains now, amid much technical debate.  It may be a hybrid between the masked and southeastern shrew.  The type locality is Cold Spring Swamp, Prince Georges County, MD.   SMOKY SHREW (Sorex fumeus) (shrew mouse; smoky) Appalachian Region Distribution: Throughout. Continental Range: Another mountain boreal species, from southeastern Canada west to Great Lakes and south to the Smokies and Springer Mtn. Two subspecies are recognized in the eastern US with one (S. fumeus fumeus) in this Appalachian region.  Abundance: Locally abundant (in favored habitat). Variable in seasons. Population Density: W/H reports 5-14/ acre, with extremes reaching 57 per acre.  PA Mammals reports 1-6/acre. Size and Molt: Head and body 2 � to 3 inches; 1/5 to 1/3 oz. Two molts. Mammae: Three pair. Habitat: Cool, moist, shady mature birch or hemlock forests with a deep leaf layer and much fern growth. Roadside cuts that expose bare rock faces under moss-covered logs and rocks are good sites. Active Period: Mainly nocturnal, but can be active both day and night under the leaf litter, year-round. They have been trapped at temperatures of -35 degrees. Diet: Leaf litter inhabitants.  A New York study shows (in preference); insects, earthworms, centipedes, millipedes, snails, salamanders, and others. Will travel through tunnels and runways made by moles and voles in search of prey, thus, tend to eat more worms than most shrews.  These have never consumed more than half their weight per day in captivity. Home Range: Probably about an acre. Social Structure: Has been known to be gregarious in captivity.  However, normally considered to be solitary and highly aggressive towards others. Life Cycle: Two or three litters of five to six (2-8) per litter per year, born from April through July. Gestation of 21 days (Forsyth says two weeks), with female coming into heat right after giving birth (post-partum estrus). Young leave the nest after one month and become sexually mature after first winter. Most breeding adults will not survive the winter (their second winter).  Thus, usually only juveniles are found in winter.  Lifespan, thus, is 14 to 17 months.   Den/Nest: Makes small baseball-sized, spherical grass/leaf nests 5 to 20 inches below the ground or in stumps, logs or among rocks. Scat: Scats of shrews are the shape of rice grains, only smaller (1/8 � 3/16� x 1/16�).         Tracks: Often used tunnels made by other small mammals (like moles), especially in the leaf mold, since their feet are not adapted for extensive digging (burrows have openings the size of a dime).  Straddle tracks are only 1" wide with a tail track often visible, especially in snow. Remarks: Molts of different colors: spring molt of dull brown; fall molt of dark gray. Large predator of insects and arthropods.  Known for their echolocation abilities. Known for its propensity to forage in leaf litter.   BACK TO THE TOP OF INSECTIVORES PYGMY SHREW (Sorex hoyi) (shrew mouse; Dr. Philip Hoy) Appalachian Region Distribution: The Appalachian Mountains support disjunct populations from the main Canadian population that follows the higher elevations to the Smokies.  Until recently, pygmy shrews were not known in central PA.  Also known to exist throughout Virginia and west of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Although considered a northern species, they have been found in large numbers in a recently completed eight year study in the Fort Belvoir, VA area. Continental Range: The main range of the pygmy shrew stretches from New England northward throughout Canada, with a disjunct mountain population in the Appalachians and Rockies.  Three subspecies have been described in eastern US, with two recognized in the Appalachian region, the border being Maryland.    Abundance: Most abundant in boreal latitudes.  Little is known since they can avoid being caught by conventional traps; only pitfall traps seem to work. Assumed rare, but may be more common than known. Fewer than two dozen have been found in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina. There are only two records in the Smokies.  First found in PA in 1984.  Has been found at all elevations throughout VA. (In fact, the pygmy shrew has the largest distribution of all shrews in VA.) Population Density: PA Mammals reports < 1/acre.  W/H says similar to masked shrew (W/H reports densities vary greatly from year to year and from place to place.)  This species is found at lower densities than other shrews. Size and Molt: Head and body 1.8 - 2.2 inches; 0.07 - 0.14 oz. By weight, probably the smallest mammal in the world, weighing about the same as a dime.  The smallest subspecies is the S. hoyi winnemana , whose range covers most of the southern Appalachians.  Its type locality is the banks of the Potomac River near Stubblefield Falls, 4 miles below Great Falls.  It's size averages just less than two inches (head and body) and weighs two grams, or somewhat less than a dime.  Two molts. Mammae: Four pair, as opposed to three pair of other Sorex species. Habitat: Diverse habitats, but generally well-drained sites, such as steep rocky slopes (birch-basswood-hemlock woods) with heavy leaf litter, rotting logs, and rhododendron shrub layer.  Also, grassy areas, such as old field and edge situations, as well as mixed forests.  Wet areas, including bogs and wet meadows, must be near. Active Period: Active both day and night, year-round. Diet: Insectivorous, foraging through the soil litter layer, preferring grasshoppers and ants, but often not willing to take on a worm, due to size. Some herbivorous foods and carrion have been recorded in pygmy stomachs. Home Range: � acre Social Structure: Solitary and highly aggressive towards others. Life Cycle: Produces one, occasionally two, summer litters per year with five to eight per litter.  Can give birth any month of the year.  One western Kentucky study found a peak from January to March and a lesser peak from August to December, with the other sympatric southeastern shrew birthing in the late spring/summer period (alternating birthing periods).  Life span of 12 to 18 months. Den/Nests: Dens may be a burrow under a log or in old stumps. Scat: Scats of shrews are the shape of rice grains, only smaller (1/8 � 3/16� x 1/16�).         Tracks: The pygmy shrew makes very small burrows beneath stumps, fallen logs and the leaf litter of the forest floor.  The burrows are the size of a large earthworm hole.  The holes are so small (how small are they?), that the holes are not quite large enough to admit a pencil.  Pygmy shrews have been known to enter dung beetle burrows and eat the contents.  Remarks: The pygmy shrew approaches the theoretical minimum body size possible since mathematically, a smaller body size cannot produce as much heat as is lost by its surface area.  (Note, a recently found fossil was unearthed in some 54 million year old Wyoming limestone, which is by weight the littlest non-flying mammal ever found, in fact, smaller than thought possible.  The Batodonoides vanhouteni dwarfs the previous record holder, the Etruscan shrew, with a total body length of less than an inch long, and a lower jaw measuring less than a third of an inch long, with the largest tooth a mere three-hundredths of an inch long.) Taxonomic classification of the pygmy shrew is still in question, with placement in either the genus Sorex, Microsorex, or other subgenus classifications.     SOUTHEASTERN SHREW (Sorex longirostris) (shrew mouse; ?) Appalachian Region Distribution: A southern species, found from central Virginia west into southern West Virginia and south.  Not a common Appalachian inhabitant ; more common in piedmont and coastal plain.  Only 3 records in the Smokies. Continental Range: Includes most of the southeastern US.  Three subspecies are currently recognized in eastern US.  S longirostris fischeri, found in the Dismal Swamp of VA and NC is designated as threatened by the USDI.   S. longisrostris longirostris is the only subspecies in the Appalachian region. Abundance: Uncommon in the Appalachian Region. With little existing data, it is possible that it may be somewhat common in the preferred piedmont and coastal plain swamplands. Population Density: One Alabama study found a density of 12-18 per acre. Size and Molt: Head and body 1.9 - 2.7 inches; 1/8 - 1/5 oz. One of the smallest long-tailed shrews. Mammae: Three pair. Habitat: Found in moist or mossy habitats and early successional fields, most common in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Will also inhabit drier uplands.   Active Period: Day and night, year-round. Diet: Most invertebrates, including spiders, moth larvae, slugs and snails, daddy long-legs, beetles and centipedes.  They are also known to have munched on some vegetation. Home Range: Similar to the masked shrew. Social Structure: Solitary and highly aggressive towards others. Life Cycle: One or two litters of an average of four per litter per year, born from April to October. Young often are sexually mature by the end of their first season. Shrews probably mature, breed and die on an annual turnover basis. Den/Nest: Burrows are pencil-sized, normally in mossy areas.  Can also be simply shallow depressions made of grasses and leaves, usually within or under decaying logs. Scat: Scats of shrews are the shape of rice grains, only smaller (1/8 � 3/16� x 1/16�).         Track: Spends most of their time under the leaf litter of the forest floor and in subterranean tunnels. Straddle tracks are only 1" wide with a tail track often visible, especially in snow. Remarks:  First described by John Bachman (of Audubon and Bachman fame) in 1837, and is also known as Bachman's shrew, who discovered it in 1837.  Apparently does not overlap range of the masked shrew (the two species exhibit contiguous allopatry, as opposed to sharing common habitat � sympatry).  The short-tailed shrew is sympatric with the pygmy shrew.  The boreal masked shrew is normally found above 1500�, while the southeastern shrew is normally found below 1500�.   Due to large range, often brought home by cats, but not eaten, having strong musk glands, as all shrews.     COMMON WATER SHREW (Sorex palustris) (shrew mouse; marsh) Appalachian Region Distribution: A boreal species, found only in relic populations from the last Ice Age at high altitude along the Appalachian ridge from southern Pennsylvania south to the Smokies. Continental Range: Throughout Canada, and protruding south through the Rockies and Appalachians. Ten subspecies are recognized in North America.  Four subspecies are recognized in the eastern US, with two in the Appalachian region (S. palustris punctulatus; the largest subspecies; whose type locality is 6 miles NW of Durbin, Shavers Fork of Cheat River, WV and S. palustris albibarbis in PA and to the north.). Abundance: Uncommon to rare, due to restrictive habitat needs. May be locally abundant along high mountain streams Population Density: Not known, but not as uncommon as museum collections may indicate. Size and Molt: Head and body 3.0 - 3.8 inches; 1/3 - � oz. The largest of the long-tailed shrews (Sorex genus) in the Appalachians. Two molts. Mammae: Three pair. Habitat: Always found along banks of mountain streams of coniferous or mixed coniferous-hardwood forests (especially sphagnum moss bogs).  It readily takes to water, swimming, diving, floating, running along the bottom of a pond or creek, and actually running upon the surface of the water for some distance.  Active Period: Active day and night, peaking at crepuscular times. Active all year.  Can reduce their metabolic demands in winter allowing them to swim underwater even under ice. Diet: Primarily an aquatic hunter, feeding on small aquatic organisms, larvae and eggs, using its sensitive nose to feel between and under rocks.  Will eat 5 to 10% of their body weight daily. Social Structure: Solitary and highly aggressive towards others. Life Cycle: Breeds from late winter well into early summer. Two or three broods per year with an average of five per brood. Gestation period of 21 days, with female coming into heat right after giving birth (post-partum estrus). Young reaches sexual maturity in three months (early season young can breed in first summer, but most wait till the following spring). Overwintering adults commonly will not survive a second winter. Life span of 18 months. Nests: Four-inch wide nest of dried moss or twigs and leaves has been observed along bankside burrows, in or under hollow logs, under boulders or roots. Scat: Scats of shrews are the shape of rice grains, only smaller (1/8 � 3/16� x 1/16�).         Tracks: Straddle tracks are only 1" wide with a tail track often visible, especially in snow. Remarks: Powerful swimmers, foraging for aquatic invertebrates. Can dive for lengths up to a minute.  It has a fringe of stiff hairs that aids in swimming and diving.  Trapped air in the fur minimizes heat loss, but also makes the shrew buoyant, such that the shrew must paddle vigorously to stay underwater.  Are known to run across the surface of water (documented as much as five feet); its body supported by the water surface tension and trapped air bubbles in the stiff hairs of its feet, thus the vernacular "water walkers".  Since the water shrew spends so much time in the cold water, it is logical that it is the largest of the Sorex genera (a larger size conserves heat better). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering inclusion of the water shrew on their list of endangered species.  It is endangered because of siltation and pollution of the streams on which it depends and numerous other adverse human impacts on its habitat.   NORTHERN SHORT-TAILED SHREW (Blarina brevicauda) (coined word of unknown origin or meaning; short, tail) Appalachian Region Distribution: A widely distributed species, occurring throughout the Appalachians, south to northern Georgia. Continental Range: East of Great Plains, north of Georgia, to southern Canada.  Ten subspecies are recognized in eastern US (one known only on Martha's Vineyard, one only on Nantucket Island, another only in the Dismal Swamp.  Isolating mechanisms are the key here.) Basically, only two exist in the Appalachian region, separated at the VA/NC border.  A third subspecies is found in northeastern PA. Abundance: Very common (averaging 25 per acre in good habitat) Population Density: PA Mammals says averages from 1 to 10/acre, but quite variable, depending on habitat quality; up to 80 per acre. W/H reports a range from 1 to 50 per acre.  Population crashes are occasional. Size and Molt: Head and body 3 � - 4.2"; � - 1 oz. (By weight, the heaviest shrew/ by length; the second largest in the Appalachian region).  Two molts. Mammae: Three pair. Habitat: Diverse, including moist woods with deep litter, particularly along water courses, but found throughout region in fields, thickets, and pine woods.  A semi-fossorial creature.  In fact, the most fossorial of the three genera of shrew. Active Period: Active day and night; most active at night, year-round. Will limit its activities in winter to conserve energy.  More active on cloudy days than sunny or rainy days. Diet: Members of the Blarina genus often feed on the minute subterranean fungus Endogone and fungi of related genera (found to constitute 4.9% of total volume of food in 1973 study).   Normally will feed on prey found in it's burrows.   Diverse, preferring earthworms (eats more earthworms than any other shrew), but also consuming insects, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, slugs, snails, mice, frogs, salamanders, minnow, crayfish, and other shrews. Forsyth states that during some periods, half of the shrew�s diet may consist of meadow voles.  In fact, Forsyth indicates vole and northern short-tailed shrew populations may fluctuate together in cycles.  Also will eat roots, berries and nuts. They also occasionally cache food, including beetles and snails.   Northern short-tailed shrews eat up to half their weight or more daily.  Winter needs are up to 43% greater than summer needs.  Up to 90% population loss in winter is possible.  Because of their energy requirements, this shrew is active for short periods (about 4.5 minutes) separated by periods of inactivity (about 24 minutes). Home Range: �  to 2 acres is common, with individual range overlap in non-breeding period.  Home ranges shift as prey source diminishes.  Social Structure: Solitary and territorial, but can be kept with others of the same species in captivity.  Both resident and transient individuals exist.  Burrows are scented by males that will usually keep other males out.  NAS says mates may form unions that are more or less permanent. Life Cycle: Normally 2 to 3 litters of an average of 6 or 7 per litter per year. Breeding begins in January or February and continues through September.  Estrus lasts 2 � 4 days.  Gestation of 21 days, weaned at three weeks, sexually mature attained at about six weeks in females and 12 weeks in males (Wilson says as early as 47 days for females).  W/H says it is probable that shrews do not breed during the season in which they are born.  Mammals of Virginia says males can breed at seven weeks, and that some early season born can mate by late summer.  Life span of usually less than a year, with captives living up to 33 months.  20 months. Den/Nest: Burrows are less than 1" in diameter.  Two types made: a breeding nest (5"- 8" round nests of dried leaves, grasses and often fur) and a smaller resting nest; both located 6 to 16 inches below the ground in tunnels or under fallen logs and stumps. Each has several exits. Tunnel systems include separate cache rooms and latrine rooms. Tracks: These shrews make runways in the grass or in leaf litter � to �" wide. Straddle tracks are only 1" wide with a tail track often visible, especially in snow.  Tunnels and trails of moles and voles are also used.  Piles of snail shells are notable under logs. Scat: About one inch long, dark green and twisted, and deposited in piles near burrow entrances. Remarks: Note different genus; these known as short-tailed shrews. There are only three species in this genus.  Members of the Blarina genus are the only mammals in North America to have a poisonous bite. (The only other mammals equipped with poison glands are the male duck-billed platypus and the echidna.)  The poison acts on the nerves of its prey, immobilizing it for later consumption, and can cause pain for several days in humans.    Blarina species can use echolocation to locate burrow entrances, determine whether they were open or plugged, and distinguish between the different sorts of material plugging them. (Well-developed olfactory sense probably is key in hunting, not echolocation.)  Known for it�s aggressive behavior, attacking prey larger than itself. This is possible due to the poison in the saliva from a submaxillary gland in the mouth, which enters the prey, slowing the heart rate and breathing, thereby paralyzing it. The poison is both a neurotoxin and hemotoxin, much like a pit viper.  It does not inject the poison, rather, as it chews, the toxins are soaked into the wound.  Thus, insects can be cached and remain fresh for three to five days. Large insect eater due to it�s size. A common cat present, but normally not eaten due to very strong scent gland. This species is well adapted for winter survival, including a thickening of its winter pelt, ability to cache food, and restriction to the subnivean environment (under the snow). Actually hunts only 7 to 16 % of the wintertime, allowing the rest of the time for low-energy consuming activities; such as deep sleeping. Also produces layer of high energy-storing brown fat on shoulders. Recently, this species has been split from the southern short-tailed shrew (Blarina carolinensis), a lower elevation species not found in our Appalachian region. OK, here we go.  While most shrews copulate for only a few seconds, the northern short-tailed shrew pair remain stuck together for almost half an hour.  It seems the males' erect penis bends in an S-shaped curve; fitting the females� vagina.  The tip of the penis has a set of hooked barbs that further secures his hold on her.  Even after dismounting, they remain hooked up.  She then may drag him around backward for as long as 25 minutes.  Perhaps this prevents males from being displaced by other males.  Or, perhaps, since this awkward position makes him somewhat vulnerable to other attacks, only the biggest would subject himself to this compromising situation. Why stop now.  It might be of interest to know that the northern short-tailed shrew�s penis can only be retracted into its storage sheath with the aid of the mouth.  Noting that mating may occur as often as 20 times, the evolutionary reason for this cumbersome arrangement is questionable, especially in light of the danger of certain external extremities getting snagged in the course of running down burrows.  It is speculated that �some form of female choice of male quality� may be operating for her benefit (and at his expense).    LEAST SHREW (Cryptotis parva) (hidden, ear; small) Appalachian Region Distribution: A southern species, found throughout the Appalachian region. Continental Range: East of Great Plains and NOT in Canada or New England. Extends south to Costa Rica.  Nine North American subspecies recognized, with four eastern subspecies recognized, and only one � C. parva parva � found in our Appalachian region. Abundance: Common, with local populations showing large annual fluctuations. Population Density: Nowak reports 12/acre; W/H reports 0.7/acre and 2/acre.  PA Mammals reports 1-2/acre. Size and Molt: Head and body 2 � - 2 �"; 1/10 - 2/10 oz. Two molts. Mammae: Three pair. Home Range: W/H and PA Mammals report about 0.5 acres.  Other studies report a range between 1 - 3 acres. Habitat: Unlike most species, prefers open, dry grassy areas or woods.  Also found in marshy areas (particularly, salt marshes of the coastal regions). Active Period: Day and night (more evening or nocturnal), year-round. Diet: Insects, spiders, snails, lepidoptera larvae, small lizards, frogs, earthworms, and carrion. Occasionally feeds on beehive larvae (thus, the vernacular, bee shrew).   Being more of an open habitat species, more lizards are part of its diet.  Is known to eat its weight in daily food (although this is thought to be uncommon), and is known to cache its food. Social Structure: Species is gregarious and colonial, with both sexes nesting together and sharing parental responsibilities. Nests of 31 have been recorded.  Two in captivity were observed burrowing together, with one digging and the other removing dirt from the burrow and packing the tunnel walls. Life Cycle:  2 or 3 litters per year, between March to November is the main period in the Appalachian study area, with five the average per litter. Up to four or five litters per year, any month of the year, is likely south of the Appalachians.  Gestation period of 21 days.  Weaned in 21 days, sexually mature in four to five weeks (Mammals of Virginia says 12 weeks). Exhibits post-partum estrus.  Life span of 18 months. Den/Nest: Nests are made of grass and leaves in a globular 4-5" size under logs, stumps, flat rocks, or in burrows made by others or itself.  As mentioned above, also known as the "bee shrew" because it has been known to build its nest in beehives.  Scat: Scats of shrews are the shape of rice grains, only smaller (1/8 � 3/16� x 1/16�).         Tracks:  The runways are about the diameter of a pencil.  They use the runways of mice and rate and the tunnels of moles, or they construct their own tunnels, which are characteristically wider than high.  Remarks: 18 species constitute this genus.  However, this is the only member of its genus north of Mexico.  Cryptotis has only 30 teeth, while those of Sorex and Blarina genera have 32 teeth.  Note southern range, dry, sucessional habitat, and gregarious nature that sets this species apart. The smallest of the three short-tailed shrews (including the northern and southern short-tailed shrews).  Winter grouping allows for mutual warmth-sharing, allowing a further northern range. A smaller version of the short-tailed shrew. Takes smaller prey than short-tailed shrews, foraging both day and night.  Respiration rates of 170 per minute have been recorded.    ARTICLES Moles are larger than shrews, usually with  proportionally shorter tails.  They have enlarged forefeet, reduced hind feet and pelvis and short thick fur that can be rubbed backward or forward (as it moves in its tunnels - this is due to a flat segment found near the base of each round hair). The eyes are poorly developed, to the point that they can only detect light from dark. Hearing is excellent, and the sense of smell is well-developed.  Moles are active both day and night and do not hibernate or aestivate, but will spend up to ten hours a day sleeping. Like shrews, they have a voracious appetite, feeding primarily on earthworms and other invertebrates.  Most talpids construct nest and rest chambers. The extremely sensitive snout of the mole is unmatched in the animal kingdom.  It is covered with a dense array of nervous receptors connected to nerve cells supported by a rich supply of blood vessels.  These are organized into structures called Eimer�s organs, most outrageously developed in the star-nosed mole.  In addition, the snout, paws, tail and back of the head have sensitive bristles, like cat whiskers, that aid the mole in detecting objects.  Moles are "fossorial" mammals; they spend practically all their lives underground. They make two types of tunnels. The pushed-up type we see are temporary feeding tubes, normally used for only a few weeks.   Most food is obtained by prey falling into the feeding tunnels, rather than excavating tunnels to find the source.   Tunnels will follow the grubs and worms (shallow in summer, deeper in winter). The second, deeper ones (down to three feet) are more permanent. These are used for sleeping, escaping from most predators and avoiding the cold of winter.  Nesting and resting chambers may be attached to these deep tunnels.  Where food supplies are favorable, generations of moles may inhabit the same tunnels. Moles will occasionally make vertical shafts to the surface to disperse excavated soil, especially in heavier, clay soil, often spreading out the soil to conceal the tunnel. In ideal soils, moles can tunnel at a rate of over 1 and � feet per minute. Moles differ from shrews in several characteristics.  Moles have white teeth; not brown-tipped.  Moles have  enormously enlarged, long-clawed forefeet.  The smelling ability of moles is more limited than shrews. Star-nosed moles can be gregarious, sharing tunnels and paths with other moles (the least shrew - and the northern short-tailed to a lesser extent - is the only shrew known to be sociable).  Because of the protection afforded by the fossorial habit, only one annual litter of two to six offspring occur.  Finally, moles have molt lines, appearing as a sharp line of demarcation between old and new pelage.  Although the eastern moles are generally solitary, the hairy-tailed and star-nosed mole may live as male-female  pairs during the winter.  The receptive period for females is only once a year, usually in early spring.  Males ensure impregnated females are exclusively mated through the formation of a plug that forms a sort of chastity belt in the females� vagina.  From the 17th through the 19th centuries, moleskins were used for caps, purses, tobacco pouches, and trimmings for garments.  American imported as many as 4 million moleskins a year from England.  The demand for moleskins was so great that its extinction in Germany was anticipated.  In 1959, approximately one million skins were still trapped in Britain.  Most moleskins now come from Russia.    Moles are known from the Oligocene in North America (30 million years ago), but European fossils go back to the Eocene (50 million years ago). Worldwide, there are 17 genera and 42 species in this family (Nowak).   There are seven species from five genera in North America (Jones). Three species are found in our region.   HAIRY-TAILED MOLE (Parascalops breweri) (large, rounded forefeet that act as a shield; Dr. T. M. Brewer - zoologist) Appalachian Region Distribution: Throughout. From Maryland south, tends to replace the Eastern Mole above 2,000 feet elevation. Continental Range: In Appalachians, from New England, west to Great Lakes, south to Springer Mountain, GA.  The type locality is supposedly Martha's Vineyard; a place where the mole probably does not occur!  See remarks below.  No subspecies are described. Abundance: Relatively common above 2,000 feet. Tends not to overlap lower elevation range of the eastern mole.  The most common mole of the mountains. Population Density: 1 per acre is common, up to 11 per acre. Size and Molt: The smallest of eastern moles.  Head and body 4 � to 5 �"; 1 � - 2 oz . Females generally smaller than males. Two molts. Mammae: Four pair Habitat: Various habitats of mountains, less wet than star-nosed.  Prefers well-drained areas with sandy loam soil and a good cover of vegetation. Active Period: Day and night, year-round, although most activity is confined to the deep tunnels during the colder season.  Feeds on the forest floor mainly at night, thus preyed upon by nocturnal predators. Diet: Beetle larvae, worms, ants, ground-dwelling wasps and beetles. Like shrews, (and unlike other moles) will eat up to three times it�s weight in a single day.  (Stokes says one third their body weight.) Home Range: PA Mammals reports 0.2 acre. Social Structure:  Solitary lives except when mating time occurs in March/April, when both sexes will inhabit same tunnel systems.  Females remain near their winter ranges while males leave their winter ranges to search for mates.  Females remain solitary after mating while males freely associate in spring and share tunnels in late summer with females and young. Life Cycle: One litter per year (sometimes two) with four to six (up to 8) per litter. Mating occurs in late March and early April.  Gestation period of  4 to 6 weeks. Young are weaned and leave the nest at four weeks. Sexually mature in ten months. Life span of 3 to 5 years. Nest: Makes winter (8x6" dia, 16" deep), breeding (6" dia, 12" deep), and resting nests (3", along tunnels). Nests always have several exits. Winters in deeper tunnels.      Tracks: Mole runs of rounded ridges in dry woodland soils are likely to have been made by this species.  Digs lots of shallow tunnels plus a few to 20" where a grass and leaf nest is made, having several exits. May use same tunnels for many years by successive generations. Mole hills exhibited are smaller than star-nosed mole hills. Hills are more common in fall, as moles dig for winter tunnels/nests.  Tunnels are often interconnected with those made (and used) by other moles, shrew and mice. Scat: Cylindrical, tapered at both ends, about 1" by 1/4".  Often found in piles deposited outside the burrow. Remarks: This is the only species in the genus.   Most tails are black, but some have a white tip. Can damage lawns.   Along with the star-nosed mole, has 44 teeth, second only to the opossum.  Can be found with star-nosed moles, but rarely with eastern moles. Audubon and Bachman named this species after Thomas M. Brewer, an �intelligent naturalist�, who had obtained a collection of small rodentia from New England.  This specific specimen came to Brewer from Dr. Yale, allegedly from Martha�s Vineyard. (see Continental Range comments above)   EASTERN MOLE (Scalopus aquaticus) (dig, foot; water dwelling) Appalachian Region Distribution: Throughout. Continental Range: Eastern US.  The type locality is Philadelphia, PA.  Sixteen subspecies are recognized in North America, with eight subspecies recognized in eastern US.  Two subspecies can be found in the peripheries of the Appalachian region. Abundance: Relatively common below 2,000 feet elevation. Apparently uncommon from western and southern mountains of Appalachian region above 2,000 feet elevation. Tends not to overlap higher elevation range of hairy-tailed Mole (allopatric).   Population Density: Unknown. Size and Molt:  Head and body 4 � - 6 �"; 3 - 5 oz.  Males are larger, on average, than females.  Northern subspecies are larger than southern subspecies.  The eastern mole exhibits the most extensive amount of geographic variation in size among the moles.  Molts twice a year. Habitat: Everywhere, except very wet soils.  Prefers well-drained sandy soil. They spend 99% of their time underground.  Active Period: Day and night (peak time is crepuscular), year-round. Diet: Voracious eaters of earthworms, insects, invertebrates, including underground bees and hornets.  Eastern moles will eat an average from 31 to 55% of their body weight per day. Home Range: 2 acres for males; 1/2 acre for females. There seems to be a great deal of overlap of male range, but not female range. Social Structure: Solitary. Two placed in captivity have been known to fight to the death.  Each mole defends its own exclusive burrow system, although other studies show some tunnels are known to be used by several unrelated moles. Life Cycle: Eastern moles have only one litter per year, with only three or four per litter, born in April or May. Gestation period of four to six weeks. Young are weaned and leave the nest at four weeks and are sexually mature the following spring. Life span of 3 - 4 years. Den/Nest: Most talpids construct nest and rest chambers.  The grass and leaf-lined nest is usually 6-12" underground in a 4 - 8" chamber, with multiple entrances. Rest nests are normally smaller, but similar in construction.  Some moles used two to seven nests.  Several summer nests may be used, but apparently only one winter nest. A separate chamber is used as a latrine site. Tracks: Makes well-known ridges as well as hills of excavated soil.  Foraging tunnels just under the surface (creating well-known surface mounds) can be dug at ten to twenty feet per hour. It has been reported that eastern moles can dig up to 100 feet of tunnel in a day.  The longest recorded tunnel was traced along a fence line for 3,300 feet.  Males construct more extensive tunnel systems than females. Makes two kinds of burrows: shallow feeding tunnels just under the soil line, with many used for foraging only once; others used frequently and may be in use for many years, and deeper (10" to 24�) tunnels that are more permanent retreats during dry or cold periods. Remarks: This is the only species in the genus.  The misnomer species name was given by Linnaeus in 1758 based upon the description on the original collection label indicating that the specimen was found (dead) in the water (and its webbed feet).  Highly specialized for a life underground. These "fossorial" adaptations include broad, shovel-like front paws and sealed eyelids that can only detect light from dark. Skin glands on the belly can stain it orange. Has a sensitive tail for touch. Their reproductive habits would suggest a long life, but data to support this is lacking. Moles are best controlled by trapping, not poisoning. It is important to remember that most surface tunnels are ephemeral in use, so traps must be placed on new tunnels. They have few predators, due to their isolated lifestyle, and due to their strong musk glands, like shrews, although one was found in the stomach of a Smokies copperhead.  It is now believed that moles spend little time in actually digging tunnels.  Noting the energy spent digging tunnels, mole tunnels are used for up to eight years.  This is particularly important in hard, clay soils, which have a high density of worms and soil animals.  In loose, peaty acidic soils which are poor in food, more time is spent searching for food by digging.  Basically, when insufficient food is found, more tunnels are dug. Nowak suggests that putting a bottle in a surface tunnel, with the opening exposed to the wind above ground, will drive away moles, due to the sound of the wind.  Chapman and Feldhamer acknowledge this, use of moth balls, and several other "home remedies" and concludes that results from such efforts are usually non-evident.  Trapping is the most common method of control. In the 1700's and 1800's mole pelts were in demand for linings in hats, purses, pockets and other garments. Color ranges from almost black in the northern range to silver or gold in the southern races.  Have strong scent glands. Despite its undesirable trait of tunneling in turf, this insectivore�s diet of injurious insect larvae makes it exceedingly beneficial.   STAR-NOSED MOLE (Condylura cristata) (three processes of the tail; crested) Appalachian Region Distribution: Throughout. Continental Range: From the Great Lakes south along the Appalachian Mountains to Springer Mountain.  Also, a population lives in a different habitat, along the coastal seaboard into Florida.  Only two subspecies are recognized in eastern US and the Appalachian region. Abundance: Locally abundant, but not found in all apparently suitable areas.   Population Density: Averages about 0.8 per acre, with 16/acre possible in swamplands.   Size and Molt: No significant sexual dimorphism, but with larger individuals typical in the northern range.  Head and body 4 to 5"; 1  - 2 � oz.  Two molts. Mammae: Four pair Habitat: Moist, saturated soils along watercourses. Active Period: Day and night, year-round.  Has been observed swimming under ice in winter.   Are found much more often above ground that eastern mole, especially at night. Home Range: About 1 acre. Diet: Worms, insects, aquatic prey, often found by probing the mud along the stream bottom (One New York study � 1931 � found aquatic annelids and aquatic insects to make up 65% of the total volume of food, with only 9.8% coming from terrestrial annelids. A Wisconsin study �1966- found earthworms to constitute 84%).  Will forage above ground in leaf litter.  In winter, often swims under ice, foraging among the stream bottom.  Due to frozen soil, will forage primarily in the water in winter.  Apparently, a deposit of fatty material is stored in the tail during the winter and spring months, which provides a reservoir of energy during the breeding period.  The highly sensitive tentacles, supplied with nerves and blood vessels �feel� for prey.  See remarks below. Social Structure: Often gregarious, living in small colonies, but this may be more a function of food supply than social habit.  Unlike the other mole species in this Appalachian study area, the male and female may pair up in the fall and mate in the spring. Life Cycle: After a mid-February/March mating, one litter per year (around May) occurs, with an average of five (up to 7) per litter. Gestation period of 45 days. Independent at three to four weeks, mature at ten months. Life span of 3 - 4 years. Den/Nest: 5 - 6" spherical nests of dried leaves and grasses just below the surface, under logs or roots (but always above high water).  Similar, but smaller, resting nests are also made.  Burrow openings surrounded by excavated soil. Tracks: Differing from the other two species of moles, the star-nosed mole alternates between subterranean and surface runways.  Tunnels are irregular and crooked.  Also has tunnels that open directly under water.  Spends more time on the surface than do the other two species.  Will travel on snow in the winter. Remarks: This is the only species of it's genus.   Easy to identify due to the 22 fleshy pink appendages on the nose (containing highly sensitive tactile organs called Eimer�s organs). They are tactile receptacles. Evidence has been presented to support the hypothesis that the star-nosed mole uses an electrical sense to detect prey (presumably in water).  Has 44 teeth, second only to the 50 of the opossum.  This semi-aquatic mole is an excellent swimmer, often foraging underwater (can stay underwater up to three minutes).  It has been seen swimming under the ice and is frequently caught in muskrat and minnow traps set in streams and lakes. Like the hairy-tailed mole, the star-nosed mole pushes up mounds of soil up to 12 inches in diameter on surface, but it pushes the soil up from the bottom, so a central hole is never observed. Very hard to catch by mole traps due to sensitive nose appendages.  Enlargement of the tail with fatty tissues may act as a temporary reservoir for energy useful during the breeding season.  
Insectivora
Which breed of dog takes its name from the Russian word meaning “fast” or “swift”?
Rodentia Lodgepole Chipmunk. Photo by Dr. Lloyd Glenn Ingles © 1999 California Academy of Sciences.   The single largest group of mammals is the Rodentia. Most non-flying mammals are rodents: there are about 1,500 living rodent species (out of about 4,000 living mammals overall). Most people are familiar with mice, rats, hamsters, and guinea pigs, which are commonly kept as pets. The Rodentia also includes beavers, muskrats, porcupines, woodchucks, chipmunks, squirrels, prairie dogs, marmots, chinchillas, voles, lemmings, and many others. (Incidentally, the Rodentia does not include rabbits; rabbits differ from rodents in having an extra pair of incisors and in other skeletal features. Rabbits, hares, and a few other species make up the Lagomorpha. Shrews, moles and hedgehogs are also not rodents; they are classified in the Insectivora.) Rodents are found native on all continents except Antarctica. One particular family of rodents, the Muridae, contains over 1100 species: over a quarter of all mammal species are rats, mice, voles, muskrats, lemmings, hamsters, gerbils, and other members of the Muridae. However, rodents show perhaps their greatest diversity of form in South America, which was an isolated continent for much of the Cenozoic. A few of these distinctive South American rodents include mountain viscachas, rabbit-like forms that inhabit dry mountainous regions; Patagonian cavies, very rabbit-like, fast-running forms with elongated ears and short tails; the coypu or nutria, a large marsh-dwelling rodent that has been introduced into North America and is hunted for its fur; and various burrowing forms such as pacas and tuco-tucos. Other South American rodents include guinea pigs, chinchillas, and New World porcupines (one species of which has dispersed into North America). The capybara (shown at left), yet another South American species, is the largest living rodent. About the size of a pig, and reaching a maximum weight of 50 kg (110 pounds), the capybara is truly a rodent of unusual size. Capybaras live along rivers in the llanos (plains) of South America, and are often hunted or even ranched for their meat. Despite their great species diversity, all rodents share common features. Rodents have a single pair of incisors in each jaw, and the incisors grow continually throughout life. The incisors have thick enamel layers on the front but not on the back; this causes them to retain their chisel shape as they are worn down. Behind the incisors is a large gap in the tooth rows, or diastema; there are no canines, and typically only a few molars at the rear of the jaws. Rodents gnaw with their incisors by pushing the lower jaw forward, and chew with the molars by pulling the lower jaw backwards. In conjunction with these chewing patterns, rodents have large and complex jaw musculature, with modifications to the skull and jaws to accommodate it. Like some other mammal taxa, but unlike rabbits and other lagomorphs, male rodents have a baculum (penis bone). Most rodents are herbivorous, but some are omnivorous, and others prey on insects. Rodents show a wide range of lifestyles, ranging from burrowing forms such as gophers and mole rats to tree-dwelling squirrels and gliding "flying" squirrels, from aquatic capybaras and muskrats to desert specialists such as kangaroo rats and jerboas, and from solitary organisms such as porcupines to highly social organisms living in extensive colonies, such as prairie dogs (left) and naked mole rats. Rodents cost billions of dollars in lost crops each year, and some are carriers of human diseases such as bubonic plague, typhus, and Hanta fever. However, various rodent species are economically important as sources of food or fur in many parts of the world, and others are used extensively in biomedical research. Many early mammal taxa were superficially rodent-like, such as the extinct multituberculates . However, true rodents first appear in the fossil record towards the end of the Paleocene epoch. Their ancestry is probably to be found among a group of small fossil mammals known as anagalids, which may also have given rise to the Lagomorpha. The living rodent with the most archaic characters, most like the common ancestor of the Rodentia, is the sewellel or mountain beaver (which is not a true beaver at all) of the northwestern United States. During the Oligocene , the South American rodents began their great evolutionary radiation. By the Miocene , very modern-looking squirrels had evolved, as had the murids. Murids began their spectacular radiation in the Pliocene . Noteworthy Pleistocene rodents include the extinct giant beaver, Castoroides, which was about the size of a bear. More prosaic rodent fossils from this time period, notably the teeth of voles and mice, have become important in reconstructing global climate patterns as well as in fine-scale studies of evolution. Some rodent links:
i don't know
What is the technical term for a coral island consisting of a reef surrounding a lagoon?
Atoll - definition of atoll by The Free Dictionary Atoll - definition of atoll by The Free Dictionary http://www.thefreedictionary.com/atoll Related to atoll: Midway Atoll atoll An atoll is created as a coral reef builds up around an eroding volcanic island. a·toll  (ăt′ôl′, -ŏl′, ā′tôl′, ā′tŏl′) n. An island or chain of islets connected by a coral reef that nearly or entirely encloses a lagoon. [Dhivehi atholhu; probably akin to Sinhalese ätul, interior (from the interior lagoon), probably from Sanskrit *antala-, interior, variant of antara-; see en in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] atoll (Physical Geography) a circular coral reef or string of coral islands surrounding a lagoon [C17: from atollon, native name in the Maldive Islands] at•oll (ˈæt ɔl, -ɒl, -oʊl) n. a ring-shaped coral reef or a string of closely spaced small coral islands, enclosing or nearly enclosing a shallow lagoon. [1615–25; earlier atollon < French] atoll An atoll develops (from left to right) when a volcanic island erodes and a ring of coral grows up around it. The depression left by the crater of an eroding volcano fills with water, forming a lagoon. a·toll A coral island forming a ring that nearly or entirely encloses a shallow lagoon. atoll A ring-shaped coral reef enclosing a lagoon. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: atoll - an island consisting of a circular coral reef surrounding a lagoon coral reef - a reef consisting of coral consolidated into limestone Translations Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: Kanton Island References in classic literature ? I live on an atoll, a low island, it is a strip of land surrounding a lagoon, and its beauty is the beauty of the sea and sky and the varied colour of the lagoon and the grace of the cocoa-nut trees; but the place where Strickland lived had the beauty of the Garden of Eden. View in context In such way had vanished all the worlds and harbours and roadsteads and atoll lagoons where the Ariel had had lifted her laid anchor and gone on across and over the erasing sea-rim. From Malaita the Ariel steered west of north to Ongtong Java and to Tasman--great atolls that sweltered under the Line not quite awash in the vast waste of the West South Pacific. View in context The atoll of Hikueru lay low on the water, a circle of pounded coral sand a hundred yards wide, twenty miles in circumference, and from three to five feet above high-water mark. Half an hour later, Huru-Huru, watching from the seaward side of the atoll, saw the two boats hoisted in and the Aorai pointing her nose out to sea. Miles in length, carrying tens of thousands of tons in weight, its impact shook the frail atoll like an earthquake. This was the highest spot of land in miles, and already, in many places on either hand, the great seas were making a clean breach of the slender ring of the atoll and surging into the lagoon. Even as Captain Lynch spoke, a great watery mass smote the atoll.
Atoll (disambiguation)
Which mythical beast had the head of a man, body of a lion, and tail of a dragon or scorpion?
What is coral - Sesli Sözlük The ovaries of a cooked lobster; so called from their color A piece of coral, usually fitted with small bells and other appurtenances, used by children as a plaything marine colonial polyp characterized by a calcareous skeleton; masses in a variety of shapes often forming reefs a variable color averaging a deep pink unfertilized lobster roe; reddens in cooking; used as garnish or to color sauces the hard stony skeleton of a Mediterranean coral that has a delicate red or pink color and is used for jewelry of a strong pink to yellowish-pink color a substance found underwater, made up of the skeletons of tiny sea creatures The name coral comes from the Greek, although the meaning is not known Red or pink coral is the calcified skeletons of organisims that live in salt waters along the coasts of the Western Mediterranian, Bay of Biscay, Canary Isles, Malayasian Archepelago and Japan Black coral is found around the waters off northern Australia and also in the Red Sea A R T Precious & Collectible Jewelry unfertilized lobster roe; reddens in cooking; used as garnish or to color sauces marine colonial polyp characterized by a calcareous skeleton; masses in a variety of shapes often forming reefs {s} made of coral; of coral color Coral is a hard substance formed from the bones of very small sea animals. It is often used to make jewellery. The women have elaborate necklaces of turquoise and pink coral Something that is coral is dark orangey-pink in colour. coral lipstick. the coral-colored flower buds. pink or reddish-orange in colour. Any of about 2,300 species of marine cnidarians in the class Anthozoa that are characterized by stonelike, horny, or leathery skeletons (external or internal). The skeletons of these animals are also called coral. Corals are found in warm seas worldwide. The body is of the polyp type. Soft, horny, and blue corals are colonial in habit (i.e., they live in large groups). Stony corals, the most familiar and widely distributed forms, are both colonial and solitary. Atolls and coral reefs, which are composed of stony coral, grow at an average rate of 0.2-1.1 in. (0.5-2.8 cm) per year. See also sea fan. coral reef Coral Sea coral snake the hard stony skeleton of a Mediterranean coral that has a delicate red or pink color and is used for jewelry of a strong pink to yellowish-pink color a general term used to describe a group of cnidarians; indicates the presence of skeletal material that is embedded in the living tissue or encloses the animal altogether {i} hard colored skeleton secreted by certain marine polyps; reef of such skeletons; anything made of coral (jewelry, etc.); deep pink color; unfertilized eggs of lobster Subclass in the Cowardin et al wetland classification referring to widely distributed, well-adapted, highly diverse and productive ecosystems characteristic of shallow waters in warm seas (Cowardin et al 1979) A bottom-dwelling, sessile, marine coelenterate; some are solitary individuals, but the majority grow in colonies; they secret external skeletons of calcium carbonate the precious coral of the jewelry industry, essentially is composed of calcium carbonate, and much of it is fished from sea beds in the Mediterranean, Japan, and some from the Hawaiian Islands It's fairly soft, about 3-4 hardness Coral can come in many colors, from yellow orange, pink, deep salmon pink and rarely amethyst-violet colors The hard, calcareous, white, red or black, skeleton of any or a variety of marine invertebrate animals Collectively they form reefs In the case of Coral Calcium from Okinawa, it is all the Sango variety Formed when small sea animals create living quarters, coral comes in colors ranging from vivid orange to palest pink During the mid-Victorian large brooches of coral finely carved in high-relief floral sprays, or faces were popular At the turn of the century, small natural pieces of branch coral or small cameos of coral were more popular n a group of small crustacean animals that live in shallow salt water seas The shells of these animals build upon old shells forming a large deposit called a coral reef Coral Reefs are erosion resistant and help protect the coastal shores, but are also very fragile Because coral and coral reefs are living things, they are easily killed A group of invertebrate animals related to sea anemones Individual coral animals have soft bodies topped by a ring of stinging tentacles for catching food Some kinds of coral build hard limestone skeletons; when they die, other corals build on top until a great reef is formed Coral Sea {i} area of the Pacific Ocean between Australia New Guinea and the Solomon Islands; scene of the Battle of the Coral Sea, WW II battle in 1942 fought between the USA and Japan in the skies over the Pacific Ocean (resulted in American victory) Coral Sea An arm of the southwest Pacific Ocean bounded by northeast Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It was the scene of a U.S. World War II naval victory in May 1942. Part of the South Pacific Ocean. It is located between Queensland, Australia, on the west and Vanuatu and New Caledonia on the east, and bordered on the north by Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Occupying an area of 1,849,800 sq mi (4,791,000 sq km), it merges with the Tasman Sea and Solomon Sea and is connected to the Arafura Sea via the Torres Strait. It was named for its many coral formations, including the Great Barrier Reef. During World War II it was the scene of a strategic U.S. naval and air victory over the Japanese (1942) coral reef A coral reef is a long narrow mass of coral and other substances, the top of which is usually just above or just below the surface of the sea. An unspoilt coral reef encloses the bay. An erosion-resistant marine ridge or mound consisting chiefly of compacted coral together with algal material and biochemically deposited magnesium and calcium carbonates. a line of hard rocks formed by coral, found in warm sea water that is not very deep. Ridge or hummock formed in shallow ocean areas from the external skeletons of corals. The skeleton consists of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), or limestone. A coral reef may grow into a permanent coral island, or it may take one of four principal forms. Fringing reefs consist of a flat reef area around a nonreef island. Barrier reefs may lie a mile or more offshore, separated from the landmass by a lagoon or channel. Atolls are circular reefs without a central landmass. Patch reefs have irregular tablelike or pinnacle features. Smaller patches occur inside atoll lagoons; larger patches occur as isolated parts of any of the other three reef categories, and they sometimes occur completely separate from other kinds of reefs coral snake Any of various venomous snakes of the genus Micrurus, native to tropical America and the southern United States, characteristically having brilliant red, yellow, and black banded markings. Any of about 90 species of strongly patterned burrowing elapids. "True" forms are limited to the New World, chiefly the tropics, but similar species live in Asia and Africa. Secretive and docile, coral snakes rarely bite when handled, but the venom of some can kill a person. Most prey on other snakes. More than 50 species in the largest genus, Micrurus, range from the southern U.S. to Argentina. They are ringed with red, black, and yellow or white. The eastern coral snake, or harlequin snake (Micrurus fulvius), ranges from North Carolina and Missouri in the U.S. to northeastern Mexico and is about 30 in. (76 cm) long, with wide bands of red and black separated by yellow. The rhyme "Red on yellow, dangerous fellow" distinguishes it from similarly coloured but harmless species
i don't know
Which year 2000 BBC TV reality show was set on the Scottish island of Taransay?
Watch Castaway 2000 (2000) online. Free streaming Hollywood's Most Extreme Physical Transformations Hollywood's Most Extreme Physical Transformations ... More ... http://movies.msn.com/they-lost-how-much-weight/feature/photo/gallery/?photoidx=18 Cast Away 2000 Watch Full Movie We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. http://veehd.com/video/4289583_Cast-Away-2000 Castaway 2000 (TV Series 2000– ) - IMDb Editors' Spotlight IMDb Picks: October. IMDb's editors share the movies and TV shows they are excited to see in October. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244334/ Castaway 2000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Castaway 2000 is a successful British television show that, because it was aired in the same year that Survivor first aired in the United States and Big Brother first aired in Great Britain, is often regarded as a reality show. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castaway_2000 "Castaway 2000" (2000) With Ray Bowyer, Gordon Carey, Liz Cathrine. Visit IMDb for Photos, Showtimes, Cast, Crew, Reviews, Plot Summary, Comments, Discussions, Taglines, Trailers, Posters, Fan Sites http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244334/combined Castaway 2000, 2000 - 2001 Castaway 2000. With Ray Bowyer, Gordon Carey. Captivating, Isolation, Documentary. Visit Jinni for TV overview, trailers, reviews ratings. http://www.jinni.com/tv/castaway-2000/ Watch Castaway 2000 Free Online - OVGuide Watch Castaway 2000 TV Show Free Online. Full Castaway 2000 Episodes Streaming. The daily survival of 36 men, women and children castaway on the remote Hebridean island of Taransay. This social exper... http://www.ovguide.com/tv/castaway_2000.htm Castaway 2000 - TV.com Castaway 2000: Watch full length episodes & video clips. Read the latest Castaway 2000 episode guides & recaps, fan reviews, news, and much more. http://www.tv.com/shows/castaway-2000/ Castaway 2000 : The Full, Inside Story of the Major BBC TV ... Castaway 2000: The Full, Inside Story of the Major BBC TV Series [Mark McCrum] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The book of the televisual experiment Castaway 2000, a 14-part documentary in which 36 people of all ages and backgrounds were sent to live off their wits and the ... http://www.amazon.com/Castaway-2000-Inside-Story-Series/dp/0091875005 Castaway 2000 Taransay - anyone see the update last year ... * Tanya Cheadle, was the official camera person has continued in her carer in TV and teamed up with the Castaway 2000 Director Paul Overton to work on a project in the USA. * Philily Page, Padraigs love interest on Taransay. http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/696393-Castaway-2000-Taransay-anyone-see-the-update-last-year/AllOnOnePage Amazon.com: Castaway 2000: Movies & TV Online shopping from a great selection at Movies & TV Store. ... Watch instantly on your PS3, Xbox, Kindle Fire, iPad, PC and other devices. http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A2625373011%2Ck%3ACastaway%202000 Castaway 2000 - Lion Television . Home Lion Television was founded in 1997 and is one of the most successful independent production companies in the United Kingdom. http://www.liontv.com/Scotland/Productions/Castaway-2000 Castaway 2000 - Kickass TV Series Torrent Download - Kickass ... Castaway 2000 (2000) Documentary. Castaway 2000 was a reality TV programme commissioned by the BBC in 2000. The programme follows a group of thirty-six men, women, and children who are tasked with building a community on a remote Scottish island. http://www.kickassmovies.org/tv/4122/castaway-2000-2000 Castaway 2000 - Watch Free Viooz TV Series Download Online ... Castaway 2000 (2000) Documentary. Castaway 2000 was a reality TV programme commissioned by the BBC in 2000. The programme follows a group of thirty-six men, women, and children who are tasked with building a community on a remote Scottish island. http://www.vioozmoviesonline.com/tv/4122/castaway-2000-2000 Castaway 2000 - Reality TV Shows, Documentary Summary: Castaway 2000 was a reality TV programme commissioned by the BBC in 2000.For Castaway 2000 thirty-six men, women and children from the British public were placed on Taransay island for one year. http://reality-tv.findthebest.com/l/389/Castaway-2000 Castaway 2000 : Wikis (The Full Wiki) The Concept. For Castaway 2000 thirty-six men, women and children from the British public were recruited and placed on Taransay, a remote Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides for a year. http://www.thefullwiki.org/Castaway_2000 See 9 more posts from Castaway (2000) · · ... http://www.groupsof.com/castaway-2000/
The Castaway
In which county is the Prime Minister’s country retreat Chequers?
New owner of Castaway island named - Telegraph Scotland New owner of Castaway island named The man who beat Ben Fogle to buy the island of Taransay has been named as Adam Kelliher, head of a leading pharmaceutical firm. The site on the island of Taransay in the Western Isles of Scotland where the Castaways lived in 2000 Photo: PA By Nick Collins Comments Fogle admitted on Monday he was "bitterly disappointed" to have failed in his bid for the island, on which he previously lived for a year as a contestant on the reality TV series Castaway 2000, the show that launched his career. The man he lost out to is reported to be the chief executive of drugs company Equateq, who is reported to have paid more than £2 million to secure the deal. Mr Kelliher, a New Zealander, is based in London but his family also owns the Borve Lodge and estate in the west of Harris while Equateq owns a factory in Callanish on Lewis. The CEO and joint founder of Equateq has been involved in the lipid sector since the late 1990s, when he started an omega oil nutraceutical company. Fogle has wished the new owners well but said he was "gutted" after being beaten in the race to buy the Hebridean island – at least the fourth Scottish island he has failed to buy. Related Articles Castaway island on sale for £2m 31 May 2011 Selling agents CKD Galbraith declined to name the new owners but said they already owned property on Harris. Mr Kelliher was said to be uncontactable today. It is not clear whether he, or a company or trust that he controls, has made the purchase. CKD Galbraith said the island's owners knew the purchasers and the island was passing into "safe hands". John Bound, representing the firm, added: "There will no doubt be a number of disappointed parties who would have liked to bid but it is fitting that Taransay is now in the new ownership of somebody closely acquainted to the area who will preserve the current management of the island. "Given its exceptional beauty and outstanding setting, it was no surprise that Taransay attracted so much interest and that it has been sold in less than two weeks. "The existing owners know the purchaser and all involved are delighted with the outcome and the island passes into safe hands." Fogle was trying to form a consortium to buy the island. He said that "without doubt" Taransay was "the most beautiful place I have been." The TV presenter, who has always wanted an island home, said he had been "inundated" with pledges and other offers of support to help him turn Taransay into a nature reserve. He said he would like his family – his wife Marina recently gave birth to their second child, Iona, named after the Scottish island – to live on Taransay for part of the year. Fogle once tried to buy the craggy isle of Ailsa Craig off the Ayrshire coast, which is now up for sale again. It is being marketed at offers higher than £2.5 million by Hamburg-based Vladi Private Islands on behalf of Charles Kennedy, the eighth Marquess of Ailsa. The first island Fogle considered buying was Eilean Dubh in the Scottish Summer Isles – but he discovered he didn't have enough money for it. This was followed by Ailsa Craig, for which he was outbid. Then he twice bid unsuccessfully for Eilean Mullagrach, another of the Summer Isles. But it was on Taransay that he made his name in Castaway 2000 when he spent a year on the island at the turn of the millennium. Based on the 1960s series Gilligan's Island, the 36 volunteers agreed to live together as an isolated community in what proved for many to be a life-changing experience. Taransay is made up of two islands connected together by a peninsula of sand with white sandy beaches, rugged cliff faces and heather moorland. The island has been inhabited since about 300 A.D. when it was home to Celtic pagans. Throughout history it has been the site of fierce battles including the Massacre of Taransay in 1544, when the Morrisons of Lewis invaded. At one time there were three villages on Taransay but the population dwindled, with the last remaining family moving to the mainland in 1974 when the island became principally a place for sheep grazing. The island extends to approximately 3,445 acres and was being sold in its entirety by brothers Norman and Angus Mackay.  
i don't know
Barry George spent 8 years behind bars before being cleared in a retrial of the murder of whom?
So...who did kill Jill Dando? | Daily Star Latest News So...who did kill Jill Dando? ODDBALL Barry George was in hiding last night after being cleared of the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando. Published 2nd August 2008 Barry George The 48-year-old had spent eight years behind bars before being found not guilty at a retrial. The verdict means that, nine years after the Crimewatch presenter was shot dead on her doorstep, the police are no closer to finding her killer. And it left Jill’s friends and family demanding to know: “If George did not shoot her, who did?” Her agent Jon Roseman said: “Whoever did it – if it wasn’t Barry George – has got away with it.” The shock verdict left Jill’s former Crimewatch colleague Nick Ross, 60, almost speechless. He said: “There is nothing I can say.” George was smuggled out of the court and driven away to a secret address in a black cab  after the verdict was delivered at the Old Bailey in central London. His sister Michelle Diskin, who had tirelessly protested his innocence, said outside the court: “We are really delighted to finally have justice. “We have been fighting for many years. Now we need time to get back together as a family. We also hope the police will now look again into the murder of Jill Dando.” And his solicitor, Jeremy Moore, said: “This is not a time to celebrate. Barry George, an innocent man, has spent eight years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Those eight years could have been better served by the police in searching for the real killer.” He revealed that George’s first words on hearing the jury’s verdict were: “I can’t believe it.” Mr Moore added: “We are obviously delighted with the outcome today that we feel is the only sensible verdict that the jury could have made on the evidence before them.” Jill, 37, was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, west London, on April 2 1999.  George – an epileptic with an IQ of just 75  – was  arrested a year after the murder and found guilty at his original trial in 2001. It can now be revealed that he has previous convictions for attempted rape, indecent assault and for impersonating a police officer by using a bogus warrant card. George, who had been obsessed with Princess Diana, was also once arrested while trying to scale the walls at Kensington Palace, armed with a knife. But his past offences were never put before the jury, because they bore no relation to the shooting of Jill. Prosecutors based their original case on a tiny particle of dust found in the pocket of his overcoat, which they claimed matched firearms residue recovered from Jill’s hair. But at the retrial, the judge, Mr Justice Griffith Williams, ruled that evidence was inadmissible. He said the amount was so small, it could have been a result of armed police or criminal gunmen on the streets of London. Without it, there was no evidence which linked George directly to the murder. And before the retrial started, one senior detective privately admitted the residue evidence was crucial and  “a wheel had come off” the case without it.  It left detectives open to allegations that they were so desperate for a result in the case, they had simply rounded up “the local nutter” – as his own lawyer, William Clegg, described him. Mr Clegg also argued that George lacked the skills, motive and expertise to have committed such a “meticulously planned” and “thoroughly professional” crime. The prosecution told the court George was a military-obsessed fantasist who had stalked other women near his Fulham home. But, after 13 hours of deliberation, the jury of eight men and four women unanimously found him not guilty. His psychologist Dr Susan Young, who had sat in the dock with him throughout the trial, said: “Mr George feels overwhelmed by the verdict as, throughout the trial, he did not dare get his hopes up. “He said to me continually in the dock that he believed he was going to be convicted. “His eyes filled with tears and he took a deep breath. He now has to come to terms with this and make important adjustments in his life.” Scotland Yard Commander Simon Foy, who heads the murder squad, said: “We are disappointed by the verdict, but especially disappointed for Jill’s family and friends. However, we respect the decision of the court. “The investigation was complex, thorough and professional, with more than 2,500 statements taken and 3,700 exhibits recovered. “We would like to thank the members of the public who came forward to give us information, in particular those that gave evidence in court. “We will be reflecting on the verdict and considering how best to proceed.” However, Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Hilary Bradfield said: “The CPS is disappointed with the acquittal of Barry George. But at no time during the long history of this case has the prosecution been criticised. “My sympathies go out to the family and friends of Miss Dando, for whom this verdict would not have brought the finality they were seeking.” Jill was one of the most popular figures on TV. Thousands of fans turned out to pay their respects at her funeral in her home town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. She was killed just five months before she was due to marry gynaecologist Alan Farthing, 44. He would not comment on the verdict last night.
Jill Dando
Which military force was founded by David Stirling?
Jill Dando - ITV News Jill Dando Barry George, the man who was wrongly jailed and served eight years for Jill Dando's murder. Credit: PA Wire Barry George, the man who was wrongly jailed and served eight years for Jill Dando's murder, has spoken of his hope to see her killer face justice. He told ITV's Daybreak: "First, as strange as it might seem, for her family because obviously they have been wronged and they've not been, I believe although I can't be positive, that they've not been told all the truth of the matter of what's happened. They've probably been deceived a little." Miss Dando was shot dead outside her home in Fulham, west London, in April 1999. After his conviction in July 2001, Mr George, of Fulham, was acquitted of killing the 37-year-old BBC presenter at a retrial in August 2008. Barry George's sister Michelle Diskin has described the High Court's decision to halt her brother's compensation bid was a "travesty of justice". There never was any viable evidence against Barry. This whole case from April 2000 until today has been a smoke and mirrors exercise designed to placate a worried public, and give the impression that justice had been done. Well neither the Dando family, nor our family, has seen any justice in the past 13 years. – Barry George's sister Michelle Diskin Barry George loses bid to claim up to £500,000 Barry George, who spent eight years in prison after being wrongly convicted of the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando, has lost his legal battle for compensation as a victim of a "'miscarriage of justice". The latest legal move at the Court of Appeal followed the dismissal of his claim by two High Court judges in January. TV presenter Jill Dando was killed in 1999. Credit: BBC/PA Archive/Press Association Images Lord Justice Beatson and Mr Justice Irwin had rejected his claim that the Justice Secretary unfairly and unlawfully decided he was "not innocent enough to be compensated". They ruled that the Secretary of State was "entirely justified in the conclusion he reached". Lord Justice Richards, sitting at the Court of Appeal in London, today rejected an application by Mr George for permission to challenge the January decision. He announced that the 53-year-old - who was present in court for the ruling - had "no realistic prospects" of success on appeal. Mr George went to the High Court seeking a reconsideration of his case which could have opened the way for him to claim an award of up to £500,000 for lost earnings and wrongful imprisonment. Jill Dando was shot dead outside her home in Fulham in April 1999. Credit: BBC/PA Archive/Press Association Images The decision to refuse compensation was "defective and contrary to natural justice", according to Ian Glen QC, who was representing Barry George. Despite Mr George's unanimous acquittal by a jury at his retrial, a Ministry of Justice "functionary" had unfairly and unlawfully decided he was "not innocent enough to be compensated". Mr Glen said that for more than 30 years those acquitted on retrials in similar circumstances had been compensated. He said: "We are not sure when the policy was changed or whether it was affected by the Barry George case." The position seemed to have changed in 2008, the year Mr George was acquitted, Mr Glen added. Barry George's solicitor, Nick Baird, said: "We are very disappointed with the judgement and we shall be applying for permission to leapfrog the Court of Appeal to have the matter heard before the Supreme Court." Barry George was cleared of murdering TV presenter Jill Dando. Credit: Lewis Whyld/PA Archive/Press Association Images Mr George, 52, came to court to seek a reconsideration of his case which could have opened the way for him to claim an award of up to £500,000 for lost earnings and wrongful imprisonment. But the judges ruled that he had "failed the legal test" to receive an award.
i don't know
What is the collective name for the writers of the four gospels?
The Four Gospels. Sources and History Sources and History In the writings that come from the early stages of Christianity, the Gospels are not mentioned until long after the works of Paul. It was not until the middle of the Second century A.D., after 140 A.D. to be precise, that accounts began to appear concerning a collection of Evangelic writings, In spite of this, "from the beginning of the Second century A.D., many Christian authors clearly intimate that they knew a. great many of Paul's letters." These observations are set out in the Introduction to the Ecumenical Translation of the Bible, New Testament (Introduction � la Traduction oecum�nique de la Bible, Nouveau Testament) edited 1972 [ Pub. Editions du Cerf et Les Bergers et les Mages, Paris.]. They are worth mentioning from the outset, and it is useful to point out here that the work referred to is the result of a collective effort which brought together more than one hundred Catholic and Protestant specialists. The Gospels, later to become official, i.e. canonic, did not become known until fairly late, even though they were completed at the beginning of the Second century A.D. According to the Ecumenical Translation, stories belonging to them began to be quoted around the middle of the Second century A.D. Nevertheless, "it is nearly always difficult to decide whether the quotations come from written texts that the authors had next to them or if the latter were content to evoke the memory of fragments of the oral tradition." "Before 140 A.D." we read in the commentaries this translation of the Bible contains, "there was, in any case, no account by which one might have recognised a collection of evangelic writings". This statement is the opposite of what A. Tricot writes (1960) in the commentary to his translation of the New Testament: "Very early on, from the beginning of the Second century A.D., it became a habit to say "Gospel' meaning the books that Saint Justin around 150 A.D. had also called "The Memoirs of the Apostles'." Unfortunately, assertions of this kind are sufficiently common for the public to have ideas on the date of the Gospels which are mistaken. The Gospels did not form a complete whole 'very early on'; it did not happen until more than a century after the end of Jesus's mission. The Ecumenical Translation of the Bible estimates the date the four Gospels acquired the status of canonic literature at around 170 A.D. Justin's statement which calls the authors 'Apostles' is not acceptable either, as we shall see. As far as the date the Gospels were written is concerned, A. Tricot states that Matthew's, Mark's and Luke's Gospels were written before 70 A.D.: but this is not acceptable, except perhaps for Mark. Following many others, this commentator goes out of his way to present the authors of the Gospels as the apostles or the companions of Jesus. For this reason he suggests dates of writing that place them very near to the time Jesus lived. As for John, whom A. Tricot has us believe lived until roughly 100 A.D., Christians have always been used to seeing him depicted as being very near to Jesus on ceremonial occasions. It is very difficult however to assert that he is the author of the Gospel that bears his name. For A. Tricot, as for other commentators, the Apostle John (like Matthew) was the officially qualified witness of the facts he recounts, although the majority of critics do not support the hypothesis which says he wrote the fourth Gospel. If however the four Gospels in question cannot reasonably be regarded as the 'Memoirs' of the apostles or companions of Jesus, where do they come from? Culmann, in his book The New Testament (Le Nouveau Testament) [ Pub. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1967], says of this that the evangelists were only the "spokesmen of the early Christian community which wrote down the oral tradition. For thirty or forty years, the Gospel had existed as an almost exclusively oral tradition: the latter only transmitted sayings and isolated narratives. The evangelists strung them together, each in his own way according to his own character and theological preoccupations. They linked up the narrations and sayings handed down by the prevailing tradition. The grouping of Jesus's sayings and likewise the sequence of narratives is made by the use of fairly vague linking phrases such as 'after this', 'when he had' etc. In other words, the 'framework' of the Synoptic Gospels [ The three Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke.] is of a purely literary order and is not based on history." The same author continues as follows: "It must be noted that the needs of preaching, worship and teaching, more than biographical considerations, were what guided the early community when it wrote down the tradition of the life of Jesus. The apostles illustrated the truth of the faith they were preaching by describing the events in the life of Jesus. Their sermons are what caused the descriptions to be written down. The sayings of Jesus were transmitted, in particular, in the teaching of the catechism of the early Church." This is exactly how the commentators of the Ecumenical Translation of the Bible (Traduction oecum�nique de la Bible) describe the writing of the Gospels: the formation of an oral tradition influenced by the preachings of Jesus's disciples and other preachers; the preservation by preaching of this material, which is in actual fact found in the Gospels, by preaching, liturgy, and teaching of the faithful; the slender possibility of a concrete form given by writings to certain confessions of faith, sayings of Jesus, descriptions of the Passion for example; the fact that the evangelists resort to various written forms as well as data contained in the oral tradition. They resort to these to produce texts which "are suitable for various circles, which meet the needs of the Church, explain observations on the Scriptures, correct errors and even, on occasion, answer adversaries' objections. Thus the evangelists, each according to his own outlook, have collected and recorded in writing the material given to them by the oral tradition". This position has been collectively adopted by more than one hundred experts in the exegesis of the New Testament, both Catholic and Protestant. It diverges widely from the line established by the Second Vatican Council in its dogmatic constitution on the Revelation drawn up between 1962 and 1965. This conciliar document has already been referred to once above, when talking of the Old Testament. The Council was able to declare of the latter that the books which compose it "contain material which is imperfect and obsolete", but it has not expressed the same reservations about the Gospels. On the contrary, as we read in the following. "Nobody can overlook the fact that, among all the Scriptures, even those of the New Testament, the Gospels have a well-deserved position of superiority. This is by virtue of the fact that they represent the most pre-eminent witness to the life and teachings of the Incarnate Word, Our Saviour. At all times and in all places the Church has maintained and still maintains the apostolic origin of the four Gospels. What the apostles actually preached on Christ's orders, both they and the men in their following subsequently transmitted, with the divine inspiration of the Spirit, in writings which are the foundation of the faith, i.e. the fourfold Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John." "Our Holy Mother, the Church, has firmly maintained and still maintains with the greatest constancy, that these four Gospels, which it unhesitatingly confirms are historically authentic, faithfully transmit what Jesus, Son Of God, actually did and taught during his life among men for their eternal salvation until the day when He was taken up into the heavens. . . . The sacred authors therefore composed the four Gospels in such a way as to always give us true and frank information on the life of Jesus". This is an unambiguous affirmation of the fidelity with which the Gospels transmit the acts and sayings of Jesus. There is hardly any compatibility between the Council's affirmation and what the authors quoted above claim. In particular the following: The Gospels "are not to be taken literally" they are "writings suited to an occasion" or "combat writings". Their authors "are writing down the traditions of their own community concerning Jesus". (Father Kannengiesser). The Gospels are texts which "are suitable for various circles, meet the needs of the Church, explain observations on the Scriptures, correct errors and even, on occasion, answer adversaries' objections. Thus, the evangelists, each according to his own outlook, have collected and recorded in writing the material given to them by the oral tradition". (Ecumenical Translation of the Bible). It is quite clear that we are here faced with contradictory statements: the declaration of the Council on the one hand, and more recently adopted attitudes on the other. According to the declaration of the Second Vatican Council, a faithful account of the actions and words of Jesus is to be found in the Gospels; but it is impossible to reconcile this with the existence in the text of contradictions, improbabilities, things which are materially impossible or statements which run contrary to firmly established reality. If, on the other hand, one chooses to regard the Gospels as expressing the personal point of view of those who collected the oral traditions that belonged to various communities, or as writings suited to an occasion or combat-writings, it does not come as a surprise to find faults in the Gospels. All these faults are the sign that they were written by men in circumstances such as these. The writers may have been quite sincere, even though they relate facts without doubting their inaccuracy. They provide us with descriptions which contradict other authors' narrations, or are influenced by reasons of religious rivalry between communities. They therefore present stories about the life of Jesus from a completely different angle than their adversaries. It has already been shown how the historical context is in harmony with the second approach to the Gospels. The data we have on the texts themselves definitively confirms it.   THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW Matthew's is the first of the four Gospels as they appear in the New Testament. This position is perfectly justified by the fact that it is a prolongation, as it were, of the Old Testament. It was written to show that "Jesus fulfilled the history of Israel", as the commentators of the Ecumenical Translation of the Bible note and on which we shall be drawing heavily. To do BO, Matthew constantly refers to quotations from the Old Testament which show how Jesus acted as if he were the Messiah the Jews were awaiting. This Gospel begins with a genealogy of Jesus [ The fact that it is in contradiction with Luke's Gospel will be dealt with in a separate chapter.]. Matthew traces it back to Abraham via David. We shall presently see the fault in the text that most commentators silently ignore. Matthew's obvious intention was nevertheless to indicate the general tenor of his work straight away by establishing this line of descendants. The author continues the same line of thought by constantly bringing to the forefront Jesus's attitude toward Jewish law, the main principles of which (praying, fasting, and dispensing charity) are summarized here. Jesus addresses His teachings first and foremost to His own people. This is how He speaks to the twelve Apostles "go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans [ The Samaritans' religious code was the Torah or Pentateuch; they lived in the expectation of the Messiah and were faithful to most Jewish observances, but they had built a rival Temple to the one at Jerusalem.] but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 10, 5-6). "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel". (Matthew 15, 24). At the end of his Gospel, in second place, Matthew extends the apostolic mission of Jesus's first disciples to all nations. He makes Jesus give the following order. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28, 19), but the primary destination must be the 'house of Israel'. Tricot says of this Gospel, "Beneath its Greek garb, the flesh and bones of this book are Jewish, and so is its spirit; it has a Jewish feel and bears its distinctive signs". On the basis of these observations alone, the origins of Matthew's Gospel may be placed in the tradition of a Judeo-Christian community. According to O. Culmann, this community "was trying to break away from Judaism while at the same time preserving the continuity of the Old Testament. The main preoccupations and the general tenor of this Gospel point towards a strained situation." There are also political factors to be found in the text. The Roman occupation of Palestine naturally heightened the desire of this country to see itself liberated. They prayed for God to intervene in favour of the people He had chosen among all others, and as their omnipotent sovereign who could give direct support to the affairs of men, as He had already done many times in the course of history. What sort of person was Matthew? Let us say straight away that he is no longer acknowledged to be one of Jesus's companions. A. Tricot nevertheless presents him as such in his commentary to the translation of the New Testament, 1960: "Matthew alias, Levi, was a customs officer employed at the tollgate or customs house at Capharnaum when Jesus called him to be one of His disciples." This is the opinion of the Fathers of the Church, Origen, Jerome and Epiphanes. This opinion is no longer held today. One point which is uncontested is that the author is writing "for people who speak Greek, but nevertheless know Jewish customs and the Aramaic language." It would seem that for the commentators of the Ecumenical Translation, the origins of this Gospel are as follows: "It is normally considered to have been written in Syria, perhaps at Antioch (. . .), or in Phoenicia, because a great many Jews lived in these countries. [ It has been thought that the Judeo-Christian community that Matthew belonged to might just as easily have been situated at Alexandria. O. Culmann refers to this hypothesis along with many others.] (. . .) we have indications of a polemic against the orthodox Judaism of the Synagogue and the Pharasees such as was manifested at the synagogal assembly at Jamina circa 80 A.D." In such conditions, there are many authors who date the first of the Gospels at about 80-90 A.D., perhaps also a little earlier. it is not possible to be absolutely definite about this . . . since we do not know the author's exact name, we must be satisfied with a few outlines traced in the Gospel itself. the author can be recognized by his profession. He is well-versed in Jewish writings and traditions. He knows, respects, but vigorously challenges the religious leaders of his people. He is a past master in the art of teaching and making Jesus understandable to his listeners. He always insists on the practical consequences of his teachings. He would fit fairly well the description of an educated Jew turned Christian; a householder "who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old" as Matthew says (13,52). This is a long way from the civil servant at Capharnaum, whom Mark and Luke call Levi, and who had become one of the twelve Apostles . . . Everyone agrees in thinking that Matthew wrote his Gospel using the same sources as Mark and Luke. His narration is, as we shall see, different on several essential points. In spite of this, Matthew borrowed heavily from Mark's Gospel although the latter was not one of Jesus's disciples (O. Culmann). Matthew takes very serious liberties with the text. We shall see this when we discuss the Old Testament in relation to the genealogy of Jesus which is placed at the beginning of his Gospel. He inserts into his book descriptions which are quite literally incredible. This is the adjective used in the work mentioned above by Father Kannengiesser referring to an episode in the Resurrection. the episode of the guard. He points out the improbability of the story referring to military guards at the tomb, "these Gentile soldiers" who "report, not to their hierarchical superiors, but to the high priests who pay them to tell lies". He adds however: "One must not laugh at him because Matthew's intention was extremely serious. In his own way he incorporates ancient data from the oral tradition into his written work. The scenario is nevertheless worthy of Jesus Christ Superstar. [ An American film which parodies the life of Jesus.]" Let us not forget that this opinion on Matthew comes from an eminent theologian teaching at the Catholic Institute of Paris (Institut Catholique de Paris). Matthew relates in his narration the events accompanying the death of Jesus. They are another example of his imagination. "And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many." This passage from Matthew (27, 51-53) has no corresponding passage in the other Gospels. It is difficult to see how the bodies of the saints in question could have raised from the dead at the time of Jesus's death (according to the Gospels it was on the eve of the Sabbath) and only emerge from their tombs after his resurrection (according to the same sources on the day after the Sabbath). The most notable improbability is perhaps to be found in Matthew. It is the most difficult to rationalize of all that the Gospel authors claim Jesus said. He relates in chapter 12, 38-40 the episode concerning Jonah's sign: Jesus was among the scribes and pharisees who addressed him in the following terms: "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you. But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Jesus therefore proclaims that he will stay in the earth three days and three nights. So Matthew, along with Luke and Mark, place the death and burial of Jesus on the eve of the Sabbath. This, of course, makes the time spent in the earth three days (treis �meras in the Greek text), but this period can only include two and not three nights (treis nuktas in the Greek text [ In another part of his Gospel Matthew again refers to this episode but without being precise about the time (16, 1-4). The same is true for Luke (11, 29-32). We shall see later on how in Mark, Jesus is said to have declared that no sign would be given to that generation (Mark 8, 11-12).]). Gospel commentators frequently ignore this episode. Father Roguet nevertheless points out this improbability when he notes that Jesus "only stayed in the tomb" three days (one of them complete) and two nights. He adds however that "it is a set expression and really means three days". It is disturbing to see commentators reduced to using arguments that do not contain any positive meaning. It would be much more satisfying intellectually to say that a gross error such as this was the result of a scribe's mistake! Apart from these improbabilities, what mostly distinguishes Matthew's Gospel is that it is the work of a Judeo-Christian community in the process of breaking away from Judaism while remaining in line with the Old Testament. From the point of view of Judeo-Christian history it is very important.   THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK This is the shortest of the four Gospels. It is also the oldest, but in spite of this it is not a book written by an apostle. At best it was written by an apostle's disciple. O. Culmann has written that he does not consider Mark to be a disciple of Jesus. The author nevertheless points out, to those who have misgivings about the ascription of this Gospel to the Apostle Mark, that "Matthew and Luke would not have used this Gospel in the way they did had they not known that it was indeed based on the teachings of an apostle". This argument is in no way decisive. O. Culmann backs up the reservations he expresses by saying that he frequently quotes from the New Testament the sayings of a certain 'John nicknamed Mark'. These quotations. do not however mention the name of a Gospel author, and the text of Mark itself does not name any author. The paucity of information on this point has led commentators to dwell on details that seem rather extravagant: using the pretext, for example, that Mark was the only evangelist to relate in his description of the Passion the story of the young man who had nothing but a linen cloth about his body and, when seized, left the linen cloth and ran away naked (Mark 14, 51-52), they conclude that the young man must have been Mark, "the faithful disciple who tried to follow the teacher" (Ecumenical Translation). Other commentators see in this "personal memory a sign of authenticity, an anonymous signature", which "proves that he was an eyewitness" (O. Culmann). O. Culmann considers that "many turns of phrase corroborate the hypothesis that the author was of Jewish origin," but the presence of Latin expressions might suggest that he had written his Gospel in Rome. "He addresses himself moreover to Christians not living in Palestine and is careful to explain the Aramic expressions he uses." Tradition has indeed tended to see Mark as Peter's companion in Rome. It is founded on the final section of Peter's first letter (always supposing that he was indeed the author) . Peter wrote in his letter. "The community which is at Babylon, which is likewise chosen, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark." "By Babylon, what is probably meant is Rome" we read in the commentary to the Ecumenical Translation. From this, the commentators then imagine themselves authorized to conclude that Mark, who was supposed to have been with Peter in Rome, was the Evangelist . . .One wonders whether it was not the same line of reasoning that led Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis in circa 150 A.D., to ascribe this Gospel to Mark as 'Peter's interpreter' and the possible collaborator of Paul. Seen from this point of view, the composition of Mark's Gospel could be placed after Peter's death, i.e. at between 65 and 70 A.D. for the Ecumenical Translation and circa 70 A.D. for O. Culmann. The text itself unquestionably reveals a major flaw. it is written with a total disregard to chronology. Mark therefore places, at the beginning of his narration (1, 16-20), the episode of the four fishermen whom Jesus leads to follow him by simply saying "I will make you become fishers of men", though they do not even know Him. The evangelist shows, among other things, a complete lack of plausibility. As Father Roguet has said, Mark is 'a clumsy writer', 'the weakest of all the evangelists'; he hardly knows how to write a narrative. The commentator reinforces his observation by quoting a passage about how the twelve Apostles were selected. Here is the literal translation: "And he went up into the hills, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he made that the twelve were to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons; and he made the twelve and imposed the name Simon on Peter" (Mark, 3, 13-16). He contradicts Matthew and Luke, as has already been noted above, with regard to the sign of Jonah. On the subject of signs given by Jesus to men in the course of His mission Mark (8, 11-13) describes an episode that is hardly credible: "The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, 'Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.' And he left them, and getting into the boat again he departed to the other side." There can be no doubt that this is an affirmation coming from Jesus Himself about his intention not to commit any act which might appear supernatural. Therefore the commentators of the Ecumenical Translation, who are surprised that Luke says Jesus will only give one sign (the sign of Jonah; see Matthew's Gospel) , consider it 'paradoxical' that Mark should say "no sign shall be given to this generation" seeing, as they note, the "miracles that Jesus himself gives as a sign" (Luke 7,22 and 11,20). Mark's Gospel as a whole is officially recognised as being canonic. All the same, the final section of Mark's Gospel (16,1920) is considered by modem authors to have been tacked on to the basic work: the Ecumenical Translation is quite explicit about this. This final section is not contained in the two oldest complete manuscripts of the Gospels, the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus that date from the Fourth century A.D. O. Culmann notes on this subject that: "More recent Greek manuscripts and certain versions at this point added a conclusion on appearances which is not drawn from Mark but from the other Gospels." In fact, the versions of this added ending are very numerous. In the texts there are long and short versions (both are reproduced in the Bible, Revised Standard Version, 1952). Sometimes the long version has some additional material. Father Kannengiesser makes the following comments on the ending. "The last verses must have been surpressed when his work was officially received (or the popular version of it) in the community that guaranteed its validity. Neither Matthew, Luke or a fortiori John saw the missing section. Nevertheless, the gap was unacceptable. A long time afterwards, when the writings of Matthew, Luke and John, all of them similar, had been in circulation, a worthy ending to Mark was composed. Its elements were taken from sources throughout the other Gospels. It would be easy to recognise the pieces of the puzzle by enumerating Mark (16,9-20). One would gain a more concrete idea of the free way in which the literary genre of the evangelic narration was handled until the beginnings of the Second century A.D." What a blunt admission is provided for us here, in the thoughts of a great theologian, that human manipulation exists in the texts of the Scriptures!   THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE For O. Culmann, Luke is a 'chronicler', and for Father Kannengiesser he is a 'true novelist'. In his prologue to Theophilus, Luke warns us that he, in his turn, following on from others who have written accounts concerning Jesus, is going to write a narrative of the same facts using the accounts and information of eyewitnesses-implying that he himself is not one-including information from the apostles' preachings. It is therefore to be a methodical piece of work which he introduces in the following terms: "Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having informed myself about all things from their beginnings, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning things of which you have been informed." From the very first line one can see all that separates Luke from the 'scribbler' Mark to whose work we have just referred. Luke's Gospel is incontestably a literary work written in classical Greek free from any barbarisms. Luke was a cultivated Gentile convert to Christianity. His attitude towards the Jews is immediately apparent. As O. Culmann points out, Luke leaves out Mark's most Judaic verses and highlights the Jews' incredulity at Jesus's words, throwing into relief his good relations with the Samaritans, whom the Jews detested. Matthew, on the other hand, has Jesus ask the apostles to flee from them. This is just one of many striking examples of the fact that the evangelists make Jesus say whatever suits their own personal outlook. They probably do so with sincere conviction. They give us the version of Jesus's words that is adapted to the point of view of their own community. How can one deny in the face of such evidence that the Gospels are 'combat writings' or 'writings suited to an occasion', as has been mentioned already? The comparison between the general tone of Luke's Gospel and Matthew's is in this respect a good demonstration. Who was Luke? An attempt has been made to identify him with the physician of the same name referred to by Paul in several of his letters. The Ecumenical Translation notes that "several commentators have found the medical occupation of the author of this Gospel confirmed by the precision with which he describes the sick". This assessment is in fact exaggerated out of all proportion. Luke does not properly speaking 'describe' things of this kind; "the vocabulary he uses is that of a cultivated man of his time". There was a Luke who was Paul's travelling companion, but was he the same person? O. Culmann thinks he was. The date of Luke's Gospel can be estimated according to several factors: Luke used Mark's and Matthew's Gospels. From what we read in the Ecumenical Translation, it seems that he witnessed the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by Titus's armies in 70 A.D. The Gospel probably dates from after this time. Present-day critics situate the time it was written at .circa 80-90 A.D., but several place it at an even earlier date. The various narrations in Luke show important differences when compared to his predecessors. An outline of this has already been given. The Ecumenical Translation indicates them on pages 181 et sec. O. Culmann, in his book, The New Testament (Le Nouveau Testament) page 18, cites descriptions in Luke's Gospel that are not to be found anywhere else. And they are not about minor points of detail. The descriptions of Jesus's childhood are unique to Luke's Gospel. Matthew describes Jesus's childhood differently from Luke, and Mark does not mention it at all. Matthew and Luke both provide different genealogies of Jesus: the contradictions are so large and the improbabilities so great, from a scientific point of view, that a special chapter of this book has been devoted to the subject. It is possible to explain why Matthew, who was addressing himself to Jews, should begin the genealogy at Abraham, and include David in it, and that Luke, as a converted Gentile, should want to go back even farther. We shall see however that the two genealogies contradict each other from David onwards. Jesus's mission is described differently on many points by Luke, Matthew and Mark. An event of such great importance to Christians as the institution of the Eucharist gives rise to variations between Luke and the other two evangelists. [ It is not possible to establish a comparison with John because he does not refer to the institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper prior to the Passion.] Father Roguet notes in his book Initiation to the Gospel (Initiation � l'Evangile) page 75, that the words used to institute the Eucharist are reported by Luke (22,19-24) in a form very different from the wording in Matthew (26,26-29) and in Mark (14,22-24) which is almost identical. "On the contrary" he writes, "the wording transmitted by Luke is very similar to that evoked by Saint Paul" (First Letter to the Corinthians, 11,23-25) . As we have seen, in his Gospel, Luke expresses ideas on the subject of Jesus's Ascension which contradict what he says in the Acts of the Apostles. He is recognized as their author and they form an integral part of the New Testament. In his Gospel he situates the Ascension on Easter Day, and in the Acts forty days later. We already know to what strange commentaries this contradiction has led Christian experts in exegesis. Commentators wishing to be objective, such as those of the Ecumenical Translation of the Bible, have been obliged to recognise as a general rule the fact that for Luke "the main preoccupation was not to write facts corresponding to material accuracy". When Father Kannengiesser compares the descriptions in the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke himself with the description of similar facts on Jesus raised from the dead by Paul, he pronounces the following opinion on Luke: "Luke is the most sensitive and literary of the four evangelists, he has all the qualities of a true novelist".   THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN John's Gospel is radically different from the three others; to such an extent indeed that Father Roguet in his book Initiation to the Gospel (Initiation � l'Evangile), having commented on the other three, immediately evokes a startling image for the fourth. He calls it , different world'. It is indeed a unique book; different in the arrangement and choice of subject, description and speech; different in its style, geography, chronology; there are even differences in theological outlook (O. Culmann). Jesus's words are therefore differently recorded by John from the other evangelists: Father Roguet notes on this that whereas the synoptics record Jesus's words in a style that is "striking, much nearer to the oral style", in John all is meditation; to such an extent indeed that "one sometimes wonders if Jesus is still speaking or whether His ideas have not imperceptibly been extended by the Evangelist's own thoughts". Who was the author? This is a highly debated question and extremely varying opinions have been expressed on this subject. A. Tricot and Father Roguet belong to a camp that does not have the slightest misgivings: John's Gospel is the work of an eyewitness, its author is John, son of Zebedee and brother of James. Many details are known about this apostle and are set out in works for mass publication. Popular iconography puts him near Jesus, as in the Last Supper prior to the Passion. Who could imagine that John's Gospel was not the work of John the Apostle whose figure is so familiar? The fact that the fourth Gospel was written so late is not a serious argument against this opinion. The definitive version was probably written around the end of the First century A.D. To situate the time it was written at sixty years after Jesus would be in keeping with an apostle who was very young at the time of Jesus and who lived to be almost a hundred. Father Kannengiesser, in his study on the Resurrection, arrives at the conclusion that none of the New Testament authors, save Paul, can claim to have been eyewitnesses to Jesus's Resurrection. John nevertheless related the appearance to a number of the assembled apostles, of which he was probably a member, in the absence of Thomas (20,19-24), then eight days later to the full group of apostles (20,25-29). O. Culmann in his work The New Testament does not subscribe to this view. The Ecumenical Translation of the Bible states that the majority of critics do not accept the hypothesis that the Gospel was written by John, although this possibility cannot be entirely ruled out. Everything points however towards the fact that the text we know today had several authors: "It is probable that the Gospel as it stands today was put into circulation by the author's disciples who added chapter 21 and very likely several annotations (i.e. 4,2 and perhaps 4,1; 4,44; 7,37b; 11,2; 19,35). With regard to the story of the adulterous woman (7,53-8,11), everyone agrees that it is a fragment of unknown origin inserted later (but nevertheless belonging to canonic Scripture)". Passage 19,35 appears as a 'signature' of an 'eyewitness' (O. Culmann), the only explicit signature in the whole of John's Gospel; but commentators believe that it was probably added later. O. Culmann thinks that latter additions are obvious in this Gospel; such as chapter 21 which is probably the work of a "disciple who may well have made slight alterations to the main body of the Gospel". It is not necessary to mention all the hypotheses suggested by experts in exegesis. The remarks recorded here made by the most eminent Christian writers on the questions of the authorship of the fourth Gospel are sufficient to show the extent of the confusion reigning on the subject of its authorship. The historical value of John's stories has been contested to a great extent. The discrepancy between them and the other three Gospels is quite blatant. O. Culman offers an explanation for this; he sees in John a different theological point of view from the other evangelists. This aim "directs the choice of stories from the Logia [ Words.] recorded, as well as the way in which they are reproduced . . . Thus the author often prolongs the lines and makes the historical Jesus say what the Holy Spirit Itself revealed to Him". This, for the exegete in question, is the reason for the discrepancies. It is of course quite conceivable that John, who was writing after the other evangelists, should have chosen certain stories suitable for illustrating his own theories. One should not be surprised by the fact that certain descriptions contained in the other Gospels are missing in John. The Ecumenical Translation picks out a certain number of such instances (page 282). Certain gaps hardly seem credible however, like the fact that the Institution of the Eucharist is not described. It is unthinkable that an episode so basic to Christianity, one indeed that was to be the mainstay of its liturgy, i.e. the mass, should not be mentioned by John, the most pre-eminently meditative evangelist. The fact is, he limits himself, in the narrative of the supper prior to the Passion, to simply describing the washing of the disciples' feet, the prediction of Judas's betrayal and Peter's denial. In contrast to this, there are stories which are unique to John and not present in the other three. The Ecumenical Translation mentions these (page 283). Here again, one could infer that the three authors did not see the importance in these episodes that John saw in them. It is difficult however not to be taken aback when one finds in John a description of the appearance of Jesus raised from the dead to his disciples beside the Sea of Tiberias (John 21,1-14). The description is nothing less than the reproduction (with numerous added details) of the miracle catch of fish which Luke (5,1-11) presents as an episode that occurred during Jesus's life. In his description Luke alludes to the presence of the Apostle John who, as tradition has it, was the evangelist, Since this description in John's Gospel forms part of chapter 21, agreed to be a later addition, one can easily imagine that the reference to John's name in Luke could have led to its artificial inclusion in the fourth Gospel. The necessity of transforming a description from Jesus's life to a posthumous description in no way prevented the evangelical text from being manipulated. Another important point on which John's Gospel differs from the other three is in the duration of Jesus's mission. Mark, Matthew and Luke place it over a period of one year. John spreads it over two years. O. Culmann notes this fact. On this subject the Ecumenical Translation expresses the following . "The synoptics describe a long period in Galilee followed by a march that was more or less prolonged towards Judea, and finally a brief stay in Jerusalem. John, on the other hand, describes frequent journeys from one area to another and mentions a long stay in Judea, especially in Jerusalem (1,19-51; 2,13-3,36; 5,1-47; 14,20-31). He mentions several Passover celebrations (2,13; 5,1; 6,4; 11,55) and thus suggests a ministry that lasted more than two years". Which one of them should one believe-Mark, Matthew, Luke or John?   SOURCES OF THE GOSPELS The general outline that has been given here of the Gospels and which emerges from a critical examination of the texts tends to make one think of a literature which is "disjointed, with a plan that lacks continuity" and "seemingly insuperable contradictions". These are the terms used in the judgement passed on them by the commentators of the Ecumenical Translation of the Bible. It is important to refer to their authority because the consequences of an appraisal of this subject are extremely serious. It has already been seen how a few notions concerning the religious history of the time when the Gospels were written helped to explain certain disconcerting aspects of this literature apparent to the thoughtful reader. It is necessary to continue, however, and ascertain what present-day works can tell us about the sources the Evangelists drew on when writing their texts. It is also interesting to see whether the history of the texts once they were established can help to explain certain aspects they present today. The problem of sources was approached in a very simplistic fashion at the time of the Fathers of the Church. In the early centuries of Christianity, the only source available was the Gospel that the complete manuscripts provided first, i.e. Matthew's Gospel. The problem of sources only concerned Mark and Luke because John constituted a quite separate case. Saint Augustine held that Mark, who appears second in the traditional order of presentation, had been inspired by Matthew and had summarized his work. He further considered that Luke, who comes third in the manuscripts, had used data from both; his prologue suggests this, and has already been discussed. The experts in exegesis at this period were as able as we are to estimate the degree of corroboration between the texts and find a large number of verses common to two or three synoptics. Today, the commentators of the Ecumenical Translation of the Bible provide the following figures: verses common to all three synoptics -------------- 330 verses common to Mark and Matthew ------------ 178 verses common to Mark and Luke ----------------100 verses common to Matthew and Luke ------------ 230 The verses unique to each of the first three Gospels are as follows: Matthew 330, Mark 53, and Luke 500. From the Fathers of the Church until the end of the Eighteenth century A.D., one and a half millenia passed without any new problems being raised on the sources of the evangelists: people continued to follow tradition. It was not until modem times that it was realized, on the basis of these data, how each evangelist had taken material found in the others and compiled his own specific narration guided by his own personal views. Great weight was attached to actual collection of material for the narration. It came from the oral traditions of the communities from which it originated on the one hand, and from a common written Aramaic source that has not been rediscovered on the other. This written source could have formed a compact mass or have been composed of many fragments of different narrations used by each evangelist to construct his own original work. More intensive studies in circa the last hundred years have led to theories which are more detailed and in time will become even more complicated. The first of the modem theories is the so-called 'Holtzmann Two Sources Theory', (1863). O. Culmann and the Ecumenical Translation explain that, according to this theory, Matthew and Luke may have been inspired by Mark on the one hand and on the other by a common document which has since been lost. The first two moreover each had his own sources. This leads to the following diagram: Culmann criticises the above on the following points: 1. Mark's work, used by both Luke and Matthew, was probably not the author's Gospel but an earlier version. 2. The diagram does not lay enough emphasis on the oral tradition. This appears to be of paramount importance because it alone preserved Jesus's words and the descriptions of his mission during a period of thirty or forty years, as each of the Evangelists was only the spokesman for the Christian community which wrote down the oral tradition. This is how it is possible to conclude that the Gospels we possess today are a reflection of what the early Christian communities knew of Jesus's life and ministry. They also mirror their beliefs and theological ideas, of which the evangelists were the spokesmen. The latest studies in textual criticism on the sources of the Gospels have clearly shown an even more complicated formation process of the texts. A book by Fathers Benoit and Boismard, both professors at the Biblical School of Jerusalem (1972-1973), called the Synopsis of the Four Gospels (Synopse des quatres Evangiles) stresses the evolution of the text in stages parallel to the evolution of the tradition. This implies the conquences set out by Father Benoit in his introduction to Father Boismard's part of the work. He presents them in the following terms: "(. . .) the wording and form of description that result from a long evolution of tradition are not as authentic as in the original. some readers of this work will perhaps be surprised or embarrassed to learn that certain of Jesus's sayings, parables, or predictions of His destiny were not expressed in the way we read them today, but were altered and adapted by those who transmitted them to us. This may come as a source of amazement and even scandal to those not used to this kind of historical investigation." The alterations and adaptations to the texts made by those transmitting them to us were done in a way that Father Boismard explains by means of a highly complex diagram. It is a development of the so-called 'Two Sources Theory', and is the product of examination and comparison of the texts which it is not possible to summarize here. Those readers who are interested in obtaining further details should consult the original work published by Les Editions du Cerf, Paris. Four basic documents-A, B, C and Q-represent the original sources of the Gospels (see general diagram). Page 76. Document A comes from a Judeo-Christian source. Matthew and Mark were inspired by it. Document B is a reinterpretation of document A, for use in Pagan-cum-Christian churches: all the evangelists were inspired by it except Matthew. Document C inspired Mark, Luke and John. Document Q constitutes the majority of sources common to Matthew and Luke; it is the , Common Document' in the 'Two Sources' theory referred to earlier. None of these basic documents led to the production of the definitive texts we know today. Between them and the final version lay the intermediate versions: Intermediate Matthew, Intermediate Mark, Intermediate Luke and Intermediate John. These four intermediate documents were to lead to the final versions of the four Gospels, as well as to inspire the final corresponding versions of other Gospels. One only has to consult the diagram to see the intricate relationships the author has revealed. The results of this scriptural research are of great importance. They show how the Gospel texts not only have a history (to be discussed later) but also a 'pre-history', to use Father Boismard's expression. What is meant is that before the final versions appeared, they underwent alterations at the Intermediate Document stage. Thus it is possible to explain, for example, how a well-known story from Jesus's life, such as the miracle catch of fish, is shown in Luke to be an event that happened during His life, and in John to be one of His appearances after His Resurrection. The conclusion to be drawn from the above is that when we read the Gospel, we can no longer be at all sure that we are reading Jesus's word. Father Benoit addresses himself to the readers of the Gospel by warning them and giving them the following compensation: "If the reader is obliged in more than one case to give up the notion of hearing Jesus's voice directly, he still hears the voice of the Church and he relies upon it as the divinely appointed interpreter of the Master who long ago spoke to us on earth and who now speaks to us in His glory". How can one reconcile this formal statement of the inauthenticity of certain texts with the phrase used in the dogmatic constitution on Divine Revelation by the Second Vatican Council assuring us to the contrary, i.e. the faithful transmission of Jesus's words: "These four Gospels, which it (the Church) unhesitatingly confirms are historically authentic, faithfully transmit what Jesus, Son of God, actually did and taught during his life among men for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up into the heavens"? It is quite clear that the work of the Biblical School of Jerusalem flatly contradicts the Council's declaration.  
Evangelists
Which is the country of origin of Martha and the Muffins, Crash Test Dummies and Rush?
Highlighted Title Gary Greenberg takes you inside the complex and poorly understood world of modern Gospel text and source criticism and provides a simple easy to follow guide to the many difficult issues faced by New Testament historians. He not only explains why the vast majority of these scholars believe as they do but he provides numerous examples that clearly show why they hold such views. He also shows how scholars go about trying to recover the original text of the Gospels from the contradictory sources. Some of the fascinating topics covered in Who Wrote the Gospels? ● What is the Synoptic Problem and how do scholars resolve it? ● What is the mysterious Q source that influenced Matthew and Luke? ● Is there a literary relationship between the Gospels of Mark and John? ● Did the original Gospel of Mark depict the resurrection of Jesus? ● Did the Gospel of John have more than one author? ● Did the Evangelists agree with each other about important story details? ● Why did orthodox Christian scribes alter the Gospel texts? ● When scholars encounter significant contradictions in ancient Gospel manuscripts, how do they decide which text comes closest to the original? ● What manuscripts stand behind our modern Gospel texts and how accurate are they? Back to top HISTORIAN CHALLENGES TRADITIONAL IDENTITIES OF GOSPEL AUTHORS Matthew, Mark, Luke and John did not write the Gospels says biblical historian Gary Greenberg in his latest book, Who Wrote the Gospels? Why New Testament Scholars Challenge Church Traditions. At least, not the Matthew, Mark, Luke or John of Church tradition, he adds. Controversial as this view is, he notes that it is widely accepted among New Testament scholars. Yet few members of the lay public know about this modern scholarly consensus, let alone why scholars hold these views. According to the prevailing Church tradition the four Gospel authors include Matthew and John, who were two of the Twelve Apostles; Mark, who was a secretary to the Apostle Peter; and Luke, who was a close companion of the Apostle Paul. But the historical evidence suggests otherwise. All four Gospels were written anonymously and, based on the writings of the early church fathers, for close to two centuries after they were written, Christians had no idea who wrote them. Only in this later period did Christian scholars start guessing as to who the authors might have been. As the guesses were repeated and adopted by other Christian writers and thinkers, the guesses became traditions, and traditions became dogma. Furthermore, none of the Gospel authors claims to have been a member of the apostolic group around Jesus or to have actually known any of the original Twelve Apostles. Modern scholarship, based on linguistic and textual analysis, and accompanied by the discovery of many ancient copies of Gospel manuscripts, shows that all four Gospels were written in Greek, outside of Roman Israel, at least thirty to sixty years after the death of Jesus. The evidence also shows that Matthew, the alleged associate of Jesus, actually copied much of his Gospel from Mark and most of the rest from other sources, suggesting he lacked any intimate knowledge of the events surrounding the life of Jesus. Luke also used Mark and other sources to compose his Gospel. John appears to have been written in stages by multiple authors using a variety of written sources, and much of John directly contradicts Matthew, leaving these two alleged Apostles challenging each other’s account of Jesus’ mission at critical points. Not only is there a question of the identity of the authors of the original Gospel texts, the evidence from ancient sources also shows that during the first few centuries of Christianity many Christian scribes deliberately altered the Gospel texts and many of these changes have been erroneously incorporated into our modern Gospel accounts. In one notorious example, the last twelve verses of Mark, the first of the four Gospels to have been written, depict the resurrection of Jesus, but they were not part of Mark’s original Gospel. The verses were added later by an unidentified scribe trying to bring Mark into line with the other Evangelists. The famous story of the adulterous woman in the Gospel of John is also a late addition to the Gospel, absent from all the earliest sources. One scribe placed the story into the Gospel of Luke. In his book, Greenberg guides us through the complicated and little-understood world of Gospel source and text criticism. He provides easy-to-follow explanations of the scholarly arguments and provides numerous examples to illustrate the reasoning process leading to the conclusions adopted by the scholarly community.
i don't know
Who played bongos on the Shadows 1960 No.1 Apache?
Apache by Jorgen Ingmann Songfacts Apache by Jorgen Ingmann Songfacts Songfacts Jorgen Ingmann is a Danish guitarist who had the first American hit with "Apache," which was the top song in the UK the previous year and later made its way into many Hip-Hop songs as a popular sample. The song was written by a British performer named Jerry Lordan, who had three UK Top-40 hits in 1960, but didn't record "Apache." A guitarist named Bert Weedon first recorded it, but it was The Shadows' "Apache" that was first released and became a UK #1 hit for 5 weeks in 1960. The Shadows met Jerry Lordan when they appeared on the same bill of a 1960 tour, and they heard Lordan perform the song on his ukulele. The Shadows version didn't make it in America, where the group had little promotion and a lawsuit from an American R&B group also called The Shadows. It was Ingmann who finally delivered the US hit with this song. Ingmann hadn't been playing this style long - he played Jazz guitar in dance halls before he discovered the style of Les Paul in the 1950s. While his version was the US hit, The Shadows recording with guitar work from Hank Marvin is generally considered the definitive version. UK guitarist Bert Weedon originally recorded this song, but his Top Rank Record Company procrastinated over its release, and Jerry Lordan passed it to The Shadows. Bert Weedon's version was released shortly after The Shadows' came out, but his only reached #24. The Shadows were Cliff Richard's group in the 1960s, and Richard played the Chinese drum that sounded like bongos on The Shadows version. In 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh he says "Jorgen Ingmann put in a few tricky bits, but essentially it was a cover job. If the Shads had made the charts there with 'Apache,' things might have been very different for us." One Ingmann hit with this song, the floodgates opened for cover versions. Sonny James added vocals to the song and took it to #87 later in 1961. The Ventures released their cover in 1963 and included it on albums released '65, '67, '71, '75, '77, '80 and '82. Other charting covers in America were by Davie Allen & The Arrows (#64 1965) and The Sugarhill Gang (#53 1982). The most influential cover was by The Incredible Bongo Band , whose 1973 version included an extended drum break that gave the New York DJ Kool Herc the idea of looping that section of the song, creating the first breakbeat. This "break" became one of the most popular samples in Hip-Hop, appearing in songs by LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, MC Hammer and many others. Three years after recording this, Jorgen Ingmann with his wife Grethe won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Dansevise" (Dancing Tune). They were representing their home country of Denmark. The couple met in 1955, where married in 1956 and got divorced in 1975. This was a rare cover of a UK hit that made it into the US Top 10. Through most of the 1960s, it was usually the other way around, with British bands importing American hits.
Cliff Richard
Which Umberto Eco adaptation won him a British Academy Award?
The Shadows on Apple Music To preview a song, mouse over the title and click Play. Open iTunes to buy and download music. Biography The Shadows are usually thought of as the quintessential British instrumental group and, along with the American band the Ventures and the Swedish group the Spotnicks, one of the most popular instrumental groups in the world. But that barely tells the story of their true significance in the history of British rock & roll -- including the fact that they were the first home-grown British rock & roll band to dominate the U.K. charts; or that they weren't originally an instrumental group, either. The band's roots go back to Chesthunt, Hertfordshire, in early 1958, when a young Indian-born singer/guitarist named Harry Webb joined with drummer Terry Smart and guitarist Norman Mitham to form a group that they ended up calling the Drifters -- at the time, none of the records by the American R&B group of the same name, founded by Clyde McPhatter, had been released in England, so they had no inkling of the name's already being used. The group played their first performance in March of 1958 at a dinner dance and, after a few weeks of local performances, they debuted at the 2I's coffee bar in London's Soho. The 2I's was renowned as the venue where Tommy Steele had been discovered, and was occasionally visited by producers, recording engineers, and managers in search of new talent -- it had, thus, become something of a rock & roll Mecca. The Drifters weren't signed overnight, but they did become immensely popular, playing some very convincingly American-style rock & roll, at least by the standards of the time in London. Indeed, at their shows, audiences were usually packed in too closely to dance, and the ten pounds they made each week between them in the beginning was serious money for three amateur musicians. In the course of their 2I's gigs over the next few weeks, they picked up one fan, John Foster, who became their first manager, and another, Ian Samwell, who joined them as a guitarist -- interestingly, they had no bassist in their lineup and didn't for quite a while, which set them apart from other bands but didn't seem to impede their progress. The first of two name changes came up when they got an outside booking in Derbyshire -- at that point, Foster decided that "the Drifters" wasn't impressive enough as a name by itself, and wanted their vocalist to have lead billing. At that point, as the singer observed 40 years later, "[Harry Webb] didn't sound very rock & roll." And so, after some pondering of the possibilities, he picked up a stage name, Cliff Richards, with Samwell recommending that the "s" be left off. And Cliff Richard & the Drifters were born. A little more than 40 years later, he was Sir Cliff Richard. By that time, the group was a quintet of Richard (who still played guitar as well as singing, in the early days), Mitham, Samwell, Ken Pavey (on third guitar), and Terry Smart -- and still no bassist. This five-man group recorded a demo in June of 1958, of "Breathless" b/w "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," which found its way to Norrie Paramor, a producer at EMI who, after seeing them in an audition, signed Richard to the company's Columbia label. And in July of 1958 the group, augmented by session guitarist Ernie Shaw playing lead and Frank Clarke on bass, backed Richard on his debut single, "Schoolboy Crush" b/w "Move It," credited to "Cliff Richard & the Drifters." The A-side was a pleasant, loping slow-tempo piece of teen pop/rock worthy of Fabian at his wimpiest; but "Move It" -- authored by Ian Samwell, no less -- was a pounding, driving rocker in the best Elvis Presley manner. And fortunately for all concerned, the record was "flipped" and "Move It" became the A-side. The record, released in late August, reached number two on the charts, and as it was climbing the listings, Cliff Richard began a series of appearances on the television show Oh Boy! in mid-September. All of these events -- the recording contract, the single, the chart placement -- ensured Richard's emergence to stardom, but the Drifters, at first, were another matter. Although he was willing to use the group on Richard's recordings, Paramor already felt compelled to use session musicians to enhance their sound in the studio; and as their audience grew along with the demand for shows in bigger and more competitive venues, it was clear that the group would have to adapt. It was John Foster who, in the summer of 1958, went to the 2I's in search of a Liverpool guitarist-and-singer he'd heard about named Tony Sheridan -- he wasn't there, but Foster did find a pair of virtuoso guitarists named Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch; they were already members of a top skiffle group called the Chesternuts, and had made a couple of records. By September of 1958, Mitham and Pavey were gone from the group, replaced by Marvin and Welch. With a lineup of Richard, Marvin, Welch, Samwell, and Smart, they proceeded to play before crowds that were completely unprecedented for a home-grown British rock & roll band. Richard also abandoned his guitar, just as Elvis Presley had, and found the experience liberating, as his stage moves became all the more intense and downright provocative, so much so that they were regarded as highly controversial in the press. And the shows filled up and the bookings and the fees skyrocketed -- their sound was still a bit raw on-stage, but even that worked to their advantage at the time, giving the music still more authenticity than was typical for the time in England. For that first year, the music was pure rock & roll on-stage and in the studio. The group's sound was toughened further in November when Ian Samwell dropped out of performing in favor of further cultivating his songwriting (which served him in good stead, along with producing, for the rest of his life); he was replaced by Jet Harris, who became the first stylistically important and notable rock & roll bassist in England, and almost single-handedly popularized the electric bass in British rock & roll. A second hit, "High Class Baby," made it to number seven in December of 1958, and a follow-up, "Livin' Lovin' Doll" b/w "Mean Streak," reached the Top 20 in January of 1959. And in early 1959, Tony Meehan, a drummer who was already making a good living in his mid-teens as a session musician, replaced Terry Smart, the last of the original Drifters. This was the version of the group that was finally signed in their own right to EMI. An album followed in February of 1959, cut live before an audience of extremely fervent fans at Abbey Road's Studio No. 1, which was issued under the title Cliff. The Drifters name was changed to the Shadows in mid-1959 to avoid a conflict with the American R&B group, which had experienced a resurgence of popularity and whose records -- starting with "There Goes My Baby" -- were getting issued in England. The newly rechristened Cliff Richard & the Shadows dominated British rock & roll for the next four years. And beyond Richard's fame, Marvin, Welch, Harris, and Meehan all became stars in their own right, with Harris and Meehan regarded as one of the best rhythm sections in the business, with a huge fan following of their own, while Marvin and Welch were directly responsible for the sales of tens of thousands of electric guitars to teenagers. A story out of the early history of the Beatles illustrates their dominance -- John Lennon and Paul McCartney, both in their mid-teens at the time, knew that Richard and the Shadows were to appear on television one evening, and both were watching from their respective homes to look at Hank Marvin to see exactly how the intro to "Move It" was played. There was an effort early in 1959 to push Richard as a star in his own right, separate from the band, but it didn't come from the music side of the entertainment business -- rather, he was signed to play an important supporting role in the gritty juvenile delinquency drama Serious Charge. Later that same year, he and the Shadows were all seen in the comedy/drama Expresso Bongo, essentially playing dramatizations of themselves. Practically overnight in the fall of 1958, the Drifters-cum-Shadows had become the top rock & roll band in England, a status they maintain even as Richard's singing career was gradually steered toward more mainstream pop and ballads. The band began to emerge as a recording act on their own while they were still known as the Drifters, in January of 1959, with the single "Feelin' Fine," a group vocal effort, the B-side of which, "Don't Be a Fool with Love," even featured them doing Belmonts-style harmony singing. A second single, "Jet Black" b/w "Driftin'" (still credited to the Drifters), was released in July of that year. And a third record, "Saturday Dance" b/w "Lonesome Fella," credited to the Shadows, and featuring vocals, was released in late 1959. All three were ignored by the public. And then, in June of 1960, they recorded "Apache," an instrumental composed by Jerry Lordan that had previously been done by guitarist Bert Weedon -- and it topped the charts, riding the number one spot for five weeks. Over the next three years, they charted high with the singles "Man of Mystery," "F.B.I.," "The Frightened City," "Wonderful Land," and "Kon Tiki," the latter two reaching number one. All of these records showed phenomenal evolution in the group's sound from their rock & roll origins -- mixing electric and acoustic guitar sounds in a unique meld, they were catchy, memorable, hook-laden pop masterpieces, some with a hard rock edge but more often showing a unique level of precision for the work of a rock & roll outfit. And "Wonderful Land" also demonstrated a special command of orchestral timbres in juxtaposition with electric instruments (one must also ask how much credit producer Norrie Paramor, who had cut his share of instrumentals as a recording artist, deserves for some of these successes). The group's influence during this period can be measured not just by their chart success, but their obvious influence on other artists -- Sweden's Spotnicks, who became stars in their own right, emulated the Shadows' instrumental sound; and the Beatles, in their earliest official recording sessions (backing Tony Sheridan), in Hamburg, Germany during 1961, were allowed to cut a pair of songs of their own and gave one of those slots to a John Lennon/George Harrison-authored instrumental called "Cry for a Shadow," that was both a tribute and a gentle send-up of the Shadows' style. The Shadows had also developed a stage presentation behind Richard in which they did little steps in unison. It seems incredibly hokey in retrospect, but one must remember that in the late '50s and early '60s, rock & roll in England was thought of as just another part of "show business" and entertainment, and the idea of dressing up the act with little contrivances wasn't so bizarre in that context. Other groups of the time, seeking success, emulated them -- and you can see the movie A Hard Day's Night poking fun at the band choreography, when the Beatles are clowning in the TV studio. On a more obscure but equally telling level, in the rock & roll/juvenile delinquency drama Some People (1962), directed by Clive Donner, one can see the members of the Bristol-based rock & roll band at the center of the movie running through the title song and suddenly start to do choreography that parodies the Shadows' stage moves. In the fall of 1961, Tony Meehan left the band, owing to his unhappiness at the constant touring, and was replaced by Brian Bennett, another 2I's veteran, who had previously played with the house band on Oh Boy! and been a member of both Marty Wilde's and Tommy Steele backing bands. And six months later, Jet Harris left the band, to be succeeded by Brian Locking (aka Licorice Locking), another 2I's alumnus. These lineup changes were major events in the British music press at the time, and there was some question as to whether the Shadows could hold on to their audience -- especially when Harris and Meehan teamed together for a recording, "Diamonds," that bumped the Shadows' then current record from its chart position. After a short transition period, however, the band found their popularity just as great as ever, and a string of hits followed across 1962 and beyond: "The Savage," "Guitar Tango," "Dance On," "Foot Tapper," "Atlantis," "Shindig," and "Geronimo." All of those made the Top Ten, with four placing at number one, through the end of 1963, carrying their success into the midst of the rise of the Beatles and the Liverpool sound. The group's first two LPs, The Shadows (1961) and Out of the Shadows (1962), both topped the album charts as well, and their next three long-players, Greatest Hits (1963), Dance with the Shadows (1964), and Shadow Music, all made the Top Five (the first two at number two). They also continued to appear on stage with Cliff Richard and played on most of his biggest hit records of the period. Locking was gone by 1964, replaced by John Rostill, inaugurating the longest-lasting lineup in the group's history, Marvin, Welch, Rostill, and Bennett comprising the Shadows from 1964 until 1973, when Rostill's death eliminated the permanent bassist's spot. From then on, the Shadows would emulate Roxy Music by employing bassists rather than taking them on as ongoing members. Their success was the envy of a lot of musicians, though they were never able to successfully crack the American market as anything more than a cult act -- indeed, on that side of the Atlantic, they tended to be thought of in the same vein as the Ventures, who came along at roughly the same time in the late '50s and have endured at least as long. The Shadows -- often referred to informally as "the Shads" by their fans -- officially disbanded in 1968, on the tenth anniversary of their signing to EMI. Bennett devoted himself to a second career as a producer and arranger, while Marvin and Welch formed a Crosby, Stills & Nash-type trio with John Farrar in the '70s, with harmony vocals to match. But in spite of some gorgeous recordings, they were never able to leave the Shadows legacy behind, and by 1973, the group had been officially reactivated with Farrar as a member. The group remained active throughout the '70s and '80s, switching to the Polydor label with the start of the latter decade and still selling large numbers of records and CDs, as well as concert tickets in England and around the world. Marvin embarked on a solo career in 1990 which left the Shadows inactive for the next decade or so. But they reunited in 2004 for a series of farewell concerts that ended up being extended into the following year, and yielded a live album and a concert DVD. ~ Bruce Eder Top Albums
i don't know
In which movie did Connery play a character called Marko Ramius?
Marko Ramius (Character) - Quotes Marko Ramius (Character) The Hunt for Red October (1990) Capt. Vasili Borodin : I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me. And I will have a pickup truck... maybe even a "recreational vehicle." And drive from state to state. Do they let you do that? Capt. Vasili Borodin : No papers? Captain Ramius : No papers, state to state. Capt. Vasili Borodin : Well then, in winter I will live in... Arizona. Actually, I think I will need two wives. Captain Ramius : Oh, at least. Captain Ramius : We will pass through the American patrols, past their sonar nets, and lay off their largest city, and listen to their rock and roll... while we conduct missile drills. [a torpedo is racing toward them] Jack Ryan : Pardon me? Captain Ramius : What books did you write? Jack Ryan : I wrote a biography of, of Admiral Halsey, called "The Fighting Sailor", about, uh, naval combat tactics... Captain Ramius : ...Halsey acted stupidly. Captain Ramius : You're afraid of our fleet. Well, you should be. Personally, I'd give us one chance in three. More tea anyone? [Shootout in the missile room] Captain Ramius : Hey, Ryan, be careful what you shoot at. Most things in here don't react too well to bullets. [Moves closer to enemy, who fires several shots at him] Jack Ryan : *I* have to be careful what *I* shoot at? [last lines] Captain Ramius : "... and the sea will grant each man new hope, as sleep brings dreams of home." Christopher Columbus. Jack Ryan : Welcome to the New World, Captain. Captain Ramius : When he reached the New World, Cortez burned his ships. As a result his men were well motivated. Captain Ramius : I miss the peace of fishing like when I was a boy. Forty years I've been at sea. A war at sea. A war with no battles, no monuments... only casualties. I widowed her the day I married her. My wife died while I was at sea, you know. Captain Ramius : A great day comrades, we sail into history! Captain Ramius : It reminds me of the heady days of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin when the world trembled at the sound of our rockets. Now they will tremble again - at the sound of our silence. The order is: engage the silent drive. Capt. Bart Mancuso : [Ramius comments in Russian to Borodin that Mancuso is a "buckaroo". Ryan laughs] What's so funny? Jack Ryan : Ah, the Captain seems to think you're some kind of... cowboy. Captain Ramius : [spoken "You parle ruski"] You speak Russian. Jack Ryan : [in Russian] A little. It is wise to study the ways of ones adversary. Don't you think?
The Hunt for Red October
Which footballer gained his 100 England cap in the friendly with Sweden?
The Hunt For Red October - Book Review Complicit: TV Drama Review The Hunt For Red October – Book and Movie Review The Hunt For Red October  was written by Tom Clancy and published in 1984. A huge commercial and critical success, it is often mentioned as one of the best spy novels of all time. It was the basis for a successful movie starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. The Hunt For Red October: Logline When a revolutionary new soviet submarine tries to defect to the USA, the Russians chase it across the Atlantic with everything they have. A CIA analyst who suspects the submarine captain’s true motives has to try to come up with a plan to guide the rogue submarine to safety. The Hunt For Red October: Plot Summary Warning: My plot summaries contain spoilers The major spoilers are blacked out like this secret . To view them, just select/highlight them. It’s 1984. After the death of his wife, Marko Ramius, one of the Soviet Navy’s best submarine captains, decides to defect to the United States in a revolutionary stealth submarine,  Red October. The submarine’s officers are in on the plan but the crew are told they are carrying out a war-game where the Soviet Navy will attempt to locate them. When the Soviet Navy’s leaders receive a letter from Ramius telling them he’s defecting, they immediately send the entire Soviet Northern Fleet to sea with orders to sink the Red October at all costs. The US Navy is unnerved by the sudden sortie of the Northern Fleet and starts making preparations for war. Meanwhile, Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst, learns of Ramius’s letter and the sortie of the Northern Fleet. Ryan guesses Ramius is planning to defect and convinces the CIA that the revolutionary submarine is a prize worth risking a lot for. The CIA assign him to help Ramius escape. Ryan manages to get in contact with Ramius and they arrange a fake reactor meltdown in the Red October to force the enlisted crew to abandon ship. They will then be repatriated and report that the submarine sank. When the crew evacuate the submarine, Ramius and the other officers stay behind, claiming they are going to scuttle the Red October so  it doesn’t fall into American hands. Ryan arranges for an obsolete US submarine, to be blown up at the location to add to the deception. Ryan boards the  Red October  and meets Ramius. They realise that there is a KGB agent on the submarine. The KGB agent wounds Ramius and tries to sink  Red October by igniting a missile inside her, but Ryan manages to kill him before he can complete his plan. A final  Soviet attack submarine discovers the  Red October,  realises the deception and attacks. The  Red October  is damaged but finally manages to ram the attack submarine, sinking it. With the last Soviet submarine sunk, the Americans escort Ramius and the  Red October to safely in the USA. The Hunt For Red October: Analysis Plot The Hunt For Red October has dual protagonists – Jack Ryan and Marko Ramius.  This gives it a relatively unusual Hybrid plot (see spy novel plots ). Ramius is On The Run (in particular the sub-type of the On The Run plot called a Straight Run) – trying to defect with his submarine. The ‘Straight Run’ Plot Is involved in an Inciting Incident with a group of Antagonists. Realises they are not safe from the Antagonists. Is also not safe from the authorities, as they are tricked or controlled by the Antagonists. Goes on the run, pursued by both the Antagonists and the authorities. Involves one or more Allies in their escape (Optionally, there is a romance sub-plot with one of the Allies). Narrowly avoids capture and death (or is captured and escapes) by both the Antagonists and the authorities. Persuades the authorities they should work together to stop the Antagonists. Confronts the Antagonists and stops (or fails to stop) them. Ryan has a Mission – to try and help Ramius defect. The ‘Mission’ Plot Is given a mission to carry out by their Mentor. Will be opposed by the Antagonist as they try to complete the mission. Makes a plan to complete the Mission. Trains and gathers resources for the Mission. Involves one or more Allies in their Mission (Optionally, there is a romance sub-plot with one of the Allies). Attempts to carry out the Mission, dealing with further Allies and Enemies as they meet them. Is betrayed by an Ally or the Mentor (optionally). Narrowly avoids capture by the Antagonist (or is captured and escapes). Has a final confrontation with the Antagonist and completes (or fails to complete) the Mission. The two protagonists come together towards the end of the novel in a final confrontation with the antagonists (the Soviets). Characters Like Alistair Maclean, Tom Clancy is not an author for whom character study is important. With the focus on technology and the details of warfare, Clancy makes use of a large cast of largely faceless naval officers doing their jobs. All the American and British characters are pretty generic ‘good guys’ who work together without much conflict. In many ways this is realistic. Military operations do include a lot of people working together and relatively smoothly. Of the two main characters, Ramius is the one who is somewhat interesting. Ryan himself is an old-fashioned nice guy hero, with very little depth and no characterisation other than being quick-witted and straight-talking. Ramius though is motivated by the loss of his wife and growing hatred of the Soviet system. He also murders the Red October’s  political officer, who is just doing his job, which shows a ruthless streak. Technothriller The Hunt for Red October popularised the technothriller genre. Though books like Firefox had similar focus on sophisticated technology, Clancy presented facts in such minute detail in  The Hunt for Red October  that critics described it as “…containing as much technical information about submarines and undersea warfare as a Naval Academy textbook.” But even the author of a technothriller must use artistic licence, if only because many details are secret. Clancy’s technique in this case, which he called ‘joining the dots’, involved extrapolating from publicly available sources of information. This lead to his being contacted by the FBI who believed he must be in possession of classified information, causing Clancy some amusement. He stated, in a New York Times interview that: “I’ve made up stuff that’s turned out to be real, that’s the spooky part”. Reality: Soviet Naval Defections The Hunt For Red October is very loosely based on two incidents. The first was a Soviet submarine tender captain who sailed his barge to Sweden and succeeded in defecting, possibly with some help from the CIA. The second was a 1975 mutiny aboard the Soviet frigate  Storozhevoy , whose political officer seized control of the ship and tried to sail to Leningrad, and launch a new revolution. The  Storozhevoy was hunted down and boarded by Soviet marines. The mutiny’s ring leader was shot and his second in command sent to prison for eight years. The Hunt For Red October: My Verdict The archetypal technothriller. A must read. The Hunt For Red October: The Movie The Hunt For Red October  was filmed in 1990. The movie starred Sean Connery as Ramius and Alec Baldwin as Ryan. The movie, which follows the plot of the novel faithfully, with a few exceptions, is pretty good, but nowhere near as good as the novel. Sean Connery makes a good Ramius though and a couple of the scenes such as the Red October’s crew singing the Soviet national anthem   are great. The Hunt For Red October: The Game Three video games based on The Hunt For Red October were released in the eighties and nineties, but they are obsolete now. More interesting is the board game, which is really a naval wargame with the Soviet Navy fighting against the US Navy and its NATO allies. The board is a map of the North Atlantic and Arctic, and there are eight scenarios, the hunt for the Red October itself , and various WW3 scenarios, such as escorting a convoy from the USA to Europe. It’s a fun game with relatively simple rules, so if you like board wargames with lots of counters and dice rolling you’ll probably enjoy it. It’s easy enough to find on eBay if you do want to get hold of it. There’s also a companion game based on Clancy’s speculative war novel  Red Storm Rising, and if you want to play the whole of an imaginary 1980s WW3, you can combine the two games. The ‘Ryanverse’: Sequels to The Hunt For Red October So far there have been over a dozen novels featuring Jack Ryan, mostly sequels, but also some prequels. Jack Ryan rises to Deputy Director of the CIA, joins the government as National Security Advisor, becomes Vice President and eventually becomes President of the USA. As Ryan moves into politics, the novels become a vehicle for Clancy’s conservative political views, and the quality drops precipitously. I don’t feel I can recommend them. However, ‘Tom Clancy’ remains very popular. His name has become a brand used on many low quality technothriller novels, not actually written by Clancy. Clancy himself died in 2013, but novels with his name on continue to be published. Want to Read or Watch It? Here’s the trailer: The Hunt For Red October  novel is available on Amazon US  here  and Amazon UK here The Hunt For Red October  movie is available on Amazon US  here  and Amazon UK  here . Agree? Disagree? If you’d like to discuss anything in my  The Hunt For Red October  review, please  email me.  Otherwise, please feel free to share it using the buttons below. Other Articles You Might Like
i don't know
What is the strong material found in the cell walls of plants?
Plant Cell Wall Basics The diffuse layer model The stratified layer model Xyloglucan molecules are hydrogen bonded to and cross-link cellulose microfibrils. The cellulose-xyloglucan network is emeshed in a non-covalently cross-linked pectic network. Xyloglucan molecules are hydrogen bonded to the surface of cellulose microfibrils but do not directly cross link them. The tightly-bound xyloglucan is surrounded by a layer of less-tightly bound polysaccharides. The cellulose and xyloglucan are embedded in a pectic matrix. Xyloglucan molecules are hydrogen bonded to and cross-link cellulose microfibrils. The cellulose-xyloglucan lamellae are separated by strata of pectic polysaccharides. Much research is sitll required to provide a complete description of the primary wall at the molecular level. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that primary walls are dynamic structures whose composition and architecture changes during plant growth and development.   Secondary cell walls Plants form two types of cell wall that differ in function and in composition. Primary walls surround growing and dividing plant cells. These walls provide mechanical strength but must also expand to allow the cell to grow and divide. The much thicker and stronger secondary wall (see figure on right), which accounts for most of the carbohydrate in biomass, is deposited once the cell has ceased to grow. The secondary walls of xylem fibers, tracheids, and sclereids are further strengthened by the incorporation of lignin. The evolution of conducting tissues with rigid secondary cell walls was a critical adaptive event in the history of land plants, as it facilitated the transport of water and nutrients and allowed extensive upright growth. Secondary walls also have a major impact on human life, as they are a major component of wood and are a source of nutrition for livestock. In addition, secondary walls may help to reduce our dependence on petroleum, as they account for the bulk of renewable biomass that can be converted to fuel. Nevertheless, numerous technical challenges must be overcome to enable the efficient utilization of secondary walls for energy production and for agriculture. Primary and secondary walls contain cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin, albeit in different proportions. Approximately equal amounts of pectin and hemicellulose are present in dicot primary walls whereas hemicellulose is more abundant in grasses (e.g., switchgrass). The secondary walls of woody tissue and grasses are composed predominantly of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose (xylan, glucuronoxylan, arabinoxylan, or glucomannan). The cellulose fibrils are embedded in a network of hemicellulose and lignin. Cross-linking of this network is believed to result in the elimination of water from the wall and the formation of a hydrophobic composite that limits accessibility of hydrolytic enzymes and is a major contributor to the structural characterisitics of secondary walls. Xylan, which accounts for up to 30% of the mass of the secondary walls in wood and grasses contributes to the recalcitrance of these walls to enzymic degradation. A high xylan content in wood pulp increases the economic and environmental costs of bleaching in paper manufacturing. Thus, reducing the xylan content of secondary walls and altering xylan structure, molecular weight, ease of extractability, and susceptibility to enzymic fragmentation are key targets for the genetic improvement of plants. However, progress in these areas is limited by our incomplete understanding of the mechanisms of xylan biosynthesis.   Xylans have a backbone of 1,4-linked β-D-xylosyl residues with short [α-D-glucosyluronic acid (GlcA), 4-O-methyl-α-D-glucosyluronic acid (MeGlcA), α-L-arabinosyl, O-acetyl, feruloyl, or coumaroyl] sidechains (see figure). Xylan synthesis requires the coordinated action of numerous enzymes, including glycosyl transferases (GTs) that elongate the backbone and add side chain residues (see left figure on right). None of these GTs have been purified and biochemically characterized, although several candidate genes have been identified. Little is known about the factors that regulate secondary wall polysaccharide biosynthesis and the mechanisms that control the assembly of these polysaccharides into a functional wall. Moreover, the mechanisms required to initiate and terminate xylan synthesis and to control the chain length of the xylan are as yet unidentified. We are interested in several aspects of primary and secondary walls including: The primary structure of wall polysaccharides The conformation and interactions of wall polysaccharides The biosynthesis of wall polysaccharides The molecular and genetic mechanisms involved in wall formation Developmentally-associated changes in wall structure The role of the wall in plant-pathogen interactions We use the following plants and suspension-cultured plants cells as sources of cell walls: Plants
Cellulose
What have types called – continental, mountain and piedmont?
Cell Wall |Function, Cell Wall Structure, Bacterial Cell Wall | [email protected] Protection against infection and mechanical stress. Separates interior of the cell from the outer environment. It enables transport of substances and information from the cell insides to the exterior and vice versa. Also helps in osmotic-regulation. The physiological and biochemical activity of the cell wall helps in cell-cell communication. It prevents the cell from rupturing due to tugor pressure. Aids in diffusion of gases in and out of the cell.  Also provides mechanical protection from insects and pathogens. Cell Wall Structure Back to Top The composition of the cell wall differs from one species to the other. In bacteria the cell wall is made up of peptidoglycans. The Archean cell wall is made of glycoproteins and polysaccharides. In fungi cell walls are made of glucosamine and chitin. In algae it is composed of glycoproteins and polysaccharides. The plant cell wall is mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, glycoproteins, pectins and lignin. Plant Cell Wall Back to Top Presence of Cell wall is the major difference between plant cell and animal cell. Plant cell wall performs essential functions like providing shape, tensile strength and protection and also helps the cell develop tugor pressure to maintain the pressure of the cell contents. Plant cell walls are primarily made up of cellulose. cellulose is the most abundant macro-molecule on Earth. Plant cell wall consists of three layers: the primary cell wall, secondary cell wall and the middle lamella. The middle lamella - It is first layer formed during cell division. This layer  is rich in pectin. It is the outermost layer,  joins together adjacent plant cells and holds them together. The primary cell wall – It is formed after the middle lamella. It is composed of pectin compounds, hemicellulose and glycoproteins. The layer consists of a framework of cellulose micro-fibrils, in a gel-like matrix. It is thin, flexible and extensible layer. The secondary cell wall - It is a thick layer formed inside the primary cell wall. It is extremely rigid and provides strength. It is composed of cellulose,hemicellulose and lignin. Composition of plant cell wall In the growing cell wall the carbohydrates are cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin as well as lignin, proteins and enzymes.  The outer part of the primary cell wall of the plant epidermis usually forms a permeability barrier and is known as the plant cuticle. The secondary cell wall contains cellulose, xylan and lignin. Plant cell walls also contain enzymes such as hydrolases, esterases, peroxidase and transglycolases. also contain structural proteins and silica crystals.  Bacterial Cell Wall
i don't know
What word is used for the process of clarifying beer or wine?
Using Fining Agents: Techniques - WineMaker Magazine Using Fining Agents: Techniques Author:  WineMaker Staff Issue: Dec 02/Jan 03 Pesky cloudy wines! Sediments in the bottle! There is nothing more frustrating to home winemakers than a wine that will not clear or that continues to throw sediments in the bottle. Making crystal-clear wine is an important objective in any type of winemaking. Anything less is considered a serious wine fault — a telltale sign of poor winemaking control — and will probably be shunned by serious wine drinkers. A seemingly clear wine can also throw sediments in the bottle. This is usually not considered a wine fault in older wines that have been aged for many years and that have not been clarified except for periodical rackings. However, sediments in early-drinking, young wines are a sign of insufficient clarification and rushed winemaking. Grape juice and wine contain many naturally occurring particles as well as compounds acquired during winemaking, such as tannins during oak barrel aging, which will affect clarity and may result in sediments in the bottle. Proteins, pectins, phenols (such as color pigments, tannins) and salts are examples of such particles that need to be controlled through racking, use of natural additives (fining agents), and careful filtration. Note: Clear (tartrate) crystal deposits at the bottom of a bottle or on the inside end of the cork are a result of the wine being subjected to cold temperatures. Tartrate crystals are a different beast altogether and should not be confused with other sorts of sediment. Tartaric acid, the most prominent wine acid, will cause some precipitation under cold temperatures; it is not a problem related to clarification. Cold stabilizing the wine prior to bottling prevents tartrate deposits. (Refer to “Fix Your Wine!” in the Winter 2001 issue of WineMaker for more information on cold stabilization.) Many traditional commercial winemakers, many of whom produce some of the best wines in the world, avoid the use of additives or filtration to clarify wine for fear that it might be perceived as unnatural winemaking. These winemakers prefer to rely instead on periodical rackings — for example, they might rack every 3 months over a period of 18–24 months. Home winemakers wanting to produce early-drinking wines without the hassle of multiple rackings or having to age wine should always clarify wine using fining agents and/or filtration. In this article, we will examine fining agents available to home winemakers, and explain how to maximize their effectiveness in clarifying wines. Selecting and using fining agents Early-drinking wines from fresh juice or grapes should always be clarified prior to bottling. The high-protein content in these wines can cause clarity instability, resulting in a cloudy wine or sediments in the bottle. Wines from concentrate or other processed juice (such as semi-concentrate or sterilized juice) are designed for quick production and bottling and therefore should also be clarified. When selecting a fining agent, the main factors to consider are the type of wine you are making (white or red), the tannin concentration of the wine, and desired results relative to color. Fining agents have varying levels of effectiveness in white versus red wines because of different particles present, namely concentration of phenolic compounds. Tannin concentration is the most significant difference in the context of clarification and may cause improper clarification with some fining agents, resulting in a cloudy wine or bottle sedimentation. Grapes and the process used in red winemaking impart a higher concentration of phenolic compounds. As a result, red wines have a significantly higher tannin content compared to white wines. Wines aged in oak barrels will also have higher tannin content because oak is rich in tannin. The primary objective of clarification using fining agents is to produce a clear wine, free of suspended particles that could otherwise affect clarity. Color should be altered only minimally, except in the case where color must be corrected from such problems as browning due to oxidation. Great care must be taken with some fining agents to avoid over-fining, which would strip color compounds from the wine. The table to the right lists common, commercially available fining agents for clarifying white and red wines, along with the recommended rate of addition and the type of wine where it is most effective, and other products used to improve the effectiveness of fining agents. Always start with the lowest rate of addition in the recommended ranges, and increase the rate, as required, if the wine requires further clarification. Fining agents in solid form should always be dissolved in water first, unless specified otherwise, according to instructions before adding to wine. Fining agents lose their effectiveness if dissolved or introduced directly into the wine. Bentonite Bentonite is a natural absorptive clay that binds to and precipitates oppositely charged suspended particles. It is used in clarifying both red and white wines, although it is highly recommended for white wine applications because it inhibits haze caused by naturally occurring proteins in juice. Bentonite’s clarifying effectiveness makes it a popular choice as a fining agent among winemakers, although the heavy deposit translates into more wine loss. One of its advantages over other fining agents is that it minimizes color reduction and therefore provides a safeguard against over-fining. Bentonite is added at a rate of 25–100 g/hL of wine. First, prepare a bentonite solution by adding the required amount of powder to a volume of warm water approximately 15 times the weight of the powder, e.g., 20 g in 300 mL. Shake the solution vigorously for a few minutes, and then let stand for 24 hours while shaking or stirring occasionally. Add to the wine while stirring continuously, and store the wine at a temperature between 59° and 77° F (15° and 25° C) for approximately one week before racking. Bentonite is most effective when added at the end of fermentation, although it can be added prior to start of fermentation to help the clarification process. Double the rate of addition without exceeding the recommended maximum when adding bentonite before start of fermentation. Casein Casein, a phosphoprotein of milk that flocculates to absorb and precipitate suspended particles, is primarily recommended for clarifying white wines, especially for reducing tannin content in over-oaked white wines, and for reducing browning resulting from oxidation. Drawbacks include color stripping if excessive casein is used, and requires a second fining with bentonite to avoid clogging of filter pads if the wine is to be filtered. Casein powder is added at a rate of 50–100 g/hL of wine. Dissolve the powder in a small volume of water — use 100 mL of water for each gram of casein powder — and then quickly add the solution to the wine while stirring vigorously. To avoid over-fining, use the lowest rate of addition and increase if the wine was aged in oak barrels. Rack the wine after a couple of days or within one week. For white wines affected by browning due to oxidation, increase the rate of addition to the maximum depending on the severity of the oxidation problem. Egg white Egg white is a very effective fining agent, long used for clarifying red wines and still widely used in modern winemaking. The rich albumen content in egg white makes it ideal for softening a wine’s astringency by binding and reducing the tannin content, and is therefore most appropriate for highly tannic wines or oak-aged wines. Although there is a small risk of over-fining, color loss in the wine is minimal when fining and racking are properly controlled. Egg whites are added at a rate of 5–10 g/hL of wine, or the white of 1 to 2 eggs per 100 L; be sure to first separate the egg white from the yolk. Alternatively, pure, refrigerated egg white can be used. Typically, approximately 30 mL (6 tsp) of pure egg white is the equivalent of 1 large egg white. Next, prepare a saline solution by dissolving a pinch of salt in 10 mL of water for each egg used, and stir gently into the egg white. Salt is added to prevent the solution from getting cloudy. Add the saline egg-white solution directly into the wine and stir vigorously. Rack the wine within 1–2 weeks, no later. Gelatin Gelatin, derived from animal tissues, is a good fining agent for red wines because of its affinity for binding with phenols in precipitating suspended particles and for reducing tannin content. For this reason, it is usually not recommended for fining white wines, as it will reduce the small amount of tannins — and, in fact, it may not fine adequately if the tannin content is too low. To avoid over-fining in white wines, tannin powder can be added before gelatin fining. Gelatin crystals are added at a rate of 10–25 g/hL of wine. Use the maximum rate for highly tannic wines or wines having a higher-than-normal concentration of suspended particles or pectin. Prepare a gelatin solution by soaking unflavored gelatin crystals in approximately 25 times its weight of warm water. For example, if 10 g/hL of gelatin is desired in 20 L of wine, then dissolve 2 g of gelatin in 50 mL of warm water. Stir the gelatin thoroughly until dissolved completely. Some gelatin manufacturers may recommend soaking the gelatin in cold water and then heating it until it just starts boiling. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the gelatin product you purchase. Mix the warm gelatin solution with a little wine — about twice the amount of water used — and then add it to the rest of the wine while stirring. Rack the wine within 2–3 weeks. Isinglass Isinglass, a very pure gelatin prepared from the air bladders of sturgeons, is a popular fining agent among home winemakers because it strips color to a lesser extent than other protein-based fining agents, such as gelatin or casein. It is most effective in clarifying white wines, particularly oak-aged whites. A drawback is that it throws a heavier deposit that tends to cling to the carboy glass wall, making racking a little tricky. A second fining with bentonite alleviates this problem and avoids clogging of filter pads if the wine is to be filtered. Isinglass powder is added at a rate of 1–3 g/hL of wine by first dissolving it in water at a temperature between 61° and 64° F (16° and 18° C) and stirring the solution thoroughly. Let the solution stand for 15 minutes, stir once again for 2 minutes, and then add it to the wine while stirring vigorously. Rack the wine within 1–2 weeks. Isinglass is also sold as a solution for convenient mixing into wine.  You can find this solution at many winemaking shops. Follow the manufacturer’s recommended rate of addition. Kieselsol Kieselsol, a silicate suspension that electrostatically binds to and precipitates proteins, is an excellent fining agent for both white and red wines and is specifically effective in wines with low tannin content. Kieselsol is therefore recommended for wines produced from concentrate, sterilized or fresh juice, or wines that have not been oak-aged in barrels. Use kieselsol in conjunction with gelatin to increase its effectiveness. Kieselsol is added at a rate of 25–50 mL/hL of wine. Add the kieselsol suspension directly into the wine, and stir gently. After 24 hours, add gelatin at the recommended rate and rack the wine within 1–2 weeks. Pectic enzymes Pectic enzymes are not classified as fining agents, but they greatly improve fining and filtering operations of high-pectin wines by breaking down pectins, which occur naturally in wines but are often the cause of cloudiness. Pectic enzymes are especially beneficial for press-run wines (from grapes), as well as fruit and country wines, because these tend to have much higher pectin content. Pectic enzyme powder is added at a rate of 1–2 g/hL for white wine and 2–4 g/hL for red wine by first dissolving the powder in cool water. It is recommended to add pectic enzymes following the crushing operation (for wines produced from grapes), as a preventive additive, although they can be added during the fining operation. The juice or wine should be at a minimum temperature of 80° F (27° C) for pectic enzymes to be effective. If cloudiness persists after fining, this indicates that the wine may contain excessive pectin. To test for the presence of pectin, add 50 mL of wine to 200 mL of methanol. If heavy, whitish sediments form, the wine contains excessive pectin and should be treated again with pectic enzymes. Filtering is recommended for wine treated with pectic enzymes to further clarify the wine. Pvpp PVPP, short for polyvinylpolypyrolidone, is a synthetic polymer that is effective in absorbing and precipitating polyphenols, responsible for browning in wines as well as excessive bitterness in red wines. PVPP is typically used as a preventive fining agent to avoid such problems. PVPP powder is added directly to wine at a rate of 25–75 g/hL of wine. Settling occurs very fast, as fast as 1–2 hours, depending on the type of PVPP used. Rack the wine immediately after settling, and filter the wine. Note: There are different PVPP formulations requiring different rates of addition and shorter or longer settling periods. The above instructions are provided as guidelines; be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the PVPP product you purchase. Sparkolloid Sparkolloid, a proprietary fining agent derived from alginic acid salt found in brown algae, is very effective in settling finely suspended particles and is therefore recommended for red wines, although it is suitable for white wines also. A benefit of Sparkolloid’s effectiveness is increased filter throughput, if the wine is to be filtered, due to the greater extent of lees compactness. Sparkolloid powder is added at a rate of 10–40 g/hL of wine. First prepare a Sparkolloid solution by boiling water in a saucepan. Add the Sparkolloid powder to the boiling water and stir thoroughly. Let the solution boil for 20 minutes while stirring continuously to dissolve all the powder. Add the hot Sparkolloid solution to the wine while stirring continuously. Although many winemakers recommend letting the wine settle for only a week or two before racking, experience has shown that settling can occur well after bottling. I recommend letting the wine clarify for approximately 3–6 months before racking, particularly when using a rate of addition at the upper end of the range. Tannin Tannin is a key oenological ingredient contributing to a wine’s structure and taste, and a key component of age-worthy wines. Tannins are extracted mainly from grape skins during the maceration process in red winemaking, or from oak wood during barrel aging of whites and reds. The lesser-known application of tannin is in the fining operation. Although tannin is not classified as a fining agent, clarification is often dependent on the presence of tannins, and requires to be added (in the form of oak bark powder, for example) for fining agents such as gelatin to be effective. For fining low-tannin wines with gelatin, tannin powder is added at a rate of 10–30 g/hL of wine. Prepare a tannin solution by dissolving the powder in warm wine and then add it directly to the wine batch, 3–5 days before adding the fining agent. Stir the solution in thoroughly. Conduct bench tests It is always recommended to perform bench tests if you are not familiar with fining agents. Fining can be quite a complex science for the uninitiated. Fining agent effectiveness depends on the rate of addition, pH and composition of the wine (e.g., acids, proteins, phenols), temperature, and other factors that can influence results. In addition, fining agents have varying levels of effect on color, aromas and flavors. So always perform bench tests and learn from your tests and experience.
Fining
In the 1920’s, which French designer created the ‘little black dress’?
Vegetarian Journal Jan/Feb 97 Why is Wine so Fined? -- The Vegetarian Resource Group Why is Wine so Fined? By Caroline Pyevich Although wine usually contains only grapes, yeast, and a small amount of sulfites, which are added and created during fermentation, the processing of wine introduces small amounts of substances which may be of concern to vegetarians and vegans. Every wine is different and no uniform formula exists for producing wine. The taste of a wine is a reflection of where its grapes were grown. The soil gives the wine its flavor, which is why wines produced in certain areas have a distinctive flavor. Winemakers may choose not to extensively process their wine in order to retain some of these natural qualities. A clarifying or fining agent makes wine clear by removing proteins from the wine. The agents eventually settle out of the wine. Different proteins serve as clarifying agents depending upon both the type of wine and the desired flavor. Lab trials determine both the clarifying agent and quantities used. The fining agents have an opposite polarity to that of the wine. Therefore, the agents solidify with the protein and they remain in the wine, although they can be removed. Some clarifiers are animal-based products, while others are earth-based. Common animal-based agents include egg whites, milk, casein, gelatin, and isinglass. Gelatin is an animal protein derived from the skin and connective tissue of pigs and cows. Isinglass is prepared from the bladder of the sturgeon fish. Bentonite, a clay earth product, serves as a popular fining agent. Organic agents are more likely to be used in the clarification of premium wines. Premium wines are typically those which cost more than $7 a bottle and are produced from grapes grown in desirable locations. According to Bouchaine Vineyard, twenty-five percent of the premium wines produced in the United States is clarified with an organic protein. Egg whites from chicken eggs are used for red wine clarification and are removed before the wine is bottled. The egg whites are not specially processed or separately distributed for the wine industry. They are regular, store-bought eggs or farm eggs. Two or three egg whites can clarify a 55-gallon barrel of wine. Winemakers in France (Burgundy) commonly utilize egg whites in their production because they can use the whites of the eggs after the yolks have already been added to their foods. Egg whites generally clarify more expensive wines (above $15 a bottle) or French wines which are expected to age. Large producers of wine in the United States do not usually use egg whites as a fining agent, and they may implement potassium caseinate as a substitute for eggs. Whole milk and casein are two other possible fining agents in some red wines. Gelatin can clarify either white or red wine. Gelatin pulls suspended material out of wine, and less expensive wines may use this material. One ounce of gelatin can clarify 1,000 gallons of wine. Gelatin serves as a finishing agent in some wine and beer. A finishing agent adds a "final touch" to the quality and clarity of the wine without making any radical change in its flavor. Gelatin may also be used in addition to another fining agent and is removed after the clarification process. Although the clarifying agents for red wine are animal products, many producers of red wine do not need to use any clarifying agent to remove tannins. (Tannins are naturally occurring compounds that precipitate proteins from a solution.) By pressing the wine at an early stage of the winemaking process, the tannins can be removed without the additional proteins. Isinglass is used to fine selected white wine. Germany, which initially introduced this method, is one of the main countries that still uses this technique. Some American wineries use isinglass to clarify white wine or chardonnay, but this substance is not commonly incorporated in wine production. Activated carbon or bentonite are alternative clarifiers of white wine. The most popular substance used to remove the proteins of domestically produced white wines is bentonite. It is a silica clay which picks up the organic proteins left by the grapes. If left in the wine, these proteins would denature and form long molecular strands. This process would result in wine that is either hazy or has loose sediment floating in it. Therefore, bentonite acts as an agent to improve the cosmetic appearance of the wine for the consumer. Bentonite is used to fine most inexpensive wines. Two to three pounds of bentonite clarifies 1,000 gallons of wine. Several other fining agents exist. Sparkaloid, a diatomaceous earth, clarifies white and red wine. Italian wine may be fined with either eggs, milk, or blood. Although blood of large mammals may serve as a clarifier in some Old Mediterranean countries, its use is forbidden in wine from either the United States or France. Both the clarifying agents and the removed proteins coagulate on the bottom of the wine tank or barrel. They are then removed through either a settling process or a cellulose fiber filter. The ingredient list of a wine will not state the clarifier as an ingredient because it is removed from the final product. Calling or writing to a particular wine company may be the best way to discover which fining agent they use. Wine may also be filtered to remove impurities. A wine can be filtered and not clarified, or clarified and not filtered. A wine marked "unfiltered" has not passed through a filtering substance, such as a plastic micropore filter. "Unfined" wines have not had a clarifying agent passed through them. Even though a wine label may state it is unfined, this may not always be the case. According to one California winery, some companies may mark a bottle of wine "unfined" as a marketing technique because no one avidly scrutinizes the wine producers to verify these claims. Kosher wines may be more likely to avoid the use of the animal-based clarifying agents, but not all do so. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (OU) stated that all of their Kosher certified American-made wines do not currently use either gelatin, isinglass, or egg whites. They cannot vouch for the status of the international Kosher wines. The Orthodox Union also claimed that a wine could theoretically be certified as Kosher if it contained egg whites or if the gelatin were completely removed from the final product. They did not reveal any general rule for certifying wine as Kosher and claimed that each certification agency may use different criteria for certifying wine. Star-K, another certification organization, also showed no aversion to the use of egg whites. Kof K claimed that Kosher wine is not clarified with either gelatin or isinglass in America. Egg whites, a Kosher item, would be a permissible agent. Kof K mentioned that paper is sometimes used to clarify Kosher wine, as the paper adheres to the impurities. Kosher wine is a specialty item and is produced directly for the Kosher market. Caroline wrote this article while doing an internship with The Vegetarian Resource Group. Other Articles
i don't know
What is the British monarch’s official Scottish residence?
Royal Residences Of The British Monarchy - British Monarchy Family History British Monarchy Family History Royal Residences Of The British Monarchy        As you read about the many monarchs featured on this website you will come across the names of many castles and palaces, some of which are universally recognised and some virtually unheard of. The United Kingdom is awash with palaces, castles and stately homes, but not all of them are owned by royals, in fact Queen Elisabeth II actually owns only five royal residences, two castles, two palaces and one stately home and of those five only two are actually privately owned by herself. These five royal residences have not always been the homes of choice of former monarchs however, with several castles and palaces, some of which are no longer with us, having been used by previous monarchs.  Listed below, in alphabetical order, are thirty one royal residences which have been the official homes or holiday retreats of either the English, British or Scottish monarchs over the past one thousand years.  BALMORAL CASTLE Image courtesy of Stuart Yeates, wikimedia commons  Balmoral Castle is situated in Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire in Scotland and is one of only two privately owned royal residences of the monarch. Originally built in 1390 by Sir William Drummond for Scotland's King Robert II, the castle was formerly rented by and then brought by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a holiday home in 1848 and remodeled into what we see today. Since then the castle, which is now part of a fully working 64,000 acre estate, is one of the royal family's favourite retreats, with the family taking regular annual Summer holidays there.        Beaumont Palace was built around 1130 by England's King Henry 1.  The palace stood in what is today part of the grounds of Blenheim Palace - the country's only non royal, non episcopal country house which is known as a palace - located in Woodstock in Oxfordshire.  The palace was the birthplace of the future King Richard I in 1157 and his younger brother the future King John in 1167.  The palace was dismantled during the years of the dissolution of the monasteries between 1536 and 1541 and it's stone used in the construction of the two great seats of learning, Christ Church University and St John's College, both of which are located in the City of Oxford.    BRIDEWELL PALACE     Bridewell Palace was commissioned by King Henry VIII and became his official residence between 1515 and 1523. It was situated on the banks of the River Fleet in east London and named after a nearby well dedicated to St Bride. In 1553 King Edward VI gave the palace to the City of London for the housing of the poor and homeless. Since then the palace has been a poorhouse, a hospital and a prison before being demolished in 1863. The palace is best remembered for being the site of the papal delegations concerning King Henry VIII’s divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon.     BOLEBROKE CASTLE    Built around 1480 Bolebroke Castle, which is located in Hartfield in Sussex, is actually a red brick manor house set in thirty acres of land. The castle, which has been designated as a Grade II listed building, was used extensively as a hunting lodge by King Henry VIII when he attended shooting parties in nearby Ashdown Forest.  Later Henry would use the castle as his main base for conducting his affair with Anne Boleyn as it is located just five miles from her family home of Hever Castle situated in the nearby village of Edenbridge in Kent.  Today the property is a four star hotel.    BUCKINGHAM PALACE  Image courtesy of Dilif, wikimedia commons  Situated on The Mall in the City of Westminster and known as Buck House throughout the land, Buckingham Palace has been the official royal residence of the British monarchy since the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. Originally built in 1703 from a design by William Winde for the Duke of Buckingham, the house first became a royal residence in 1761 when King George III had architects John Nash and Edward Blore remodel the building for his wife Queen Charlotte. Today the palace is a massive 828,818 sq ft (77,000 sq mt) and the primary official residence of Queen Elisabeth II. The palace is used for royal duties, royal functions, as a residence for visiting heads of state, the world famous changing of the guard ceremony and a rallying point for the British public in times of national rejoicing or crisis.      DUNFERMLINE PALACE    Dunfermline Palace was built in the eleventh century and became a royal house when Scotland's King Malcolm III moved there.  The palace, which is located in Fife and annexed to the former Dunfermline Abbey, was the birthplace of two of Scotland's monarchs, King David II in 1324 and King James I in 1394.  In 1589 the palace was given by King James VI as a wedding present to his new bride Anne of Denmark, who went on to give birth to three of their children there, Elisabeth in 1596, Robert in 1602 and the future King Charles I in 1600.  After the Union of the Crowns in 1603 the palace became little used and went into decline. Today all that is left of the palace are it's former kitchens, some cellars and it's south wall.   The above picture shows the palace's former gatehouse which linked the palace to Dunfermline Abbey.   ELTHAM PALACE     Eltham Palace began life as a moated manor house located in Greenwich, South London. It went on to be used by subsequent royal families well into the sixteenth century, before it fell out of favour owing to it being situated too far away from the River Thames.   The first mention of the house was when it was given to King Edward II in 1305 by the then Bishop of Durham, Antony Bek. In the 1470's the house underwent substantial alterations by King Edward IV, including the building of the Great Hall and gardens. The Palace went on to become a firm  favourite of the Tudor monarchs who were known to hold their annual Christmas festivities in it's baronial Great Hall. It was also a particular favourite of Elisabeth Tudor, the queen consort of King Henry VII, who much preferred the solitude of the grand house to that of the bustling and vibrant Greenwich Palace.    The house and gardens went into a decline for two centuries after it became used as a farm and pastureland, before being given further restorations in 1828. In the early 1930's the house was then purchased by textile magnate, Stephen Courtauld and his wife Virginia, who proceeded to refurbish the house into the masterpiece of Art Deco elegance and sophistication that can be seen today.    In 1944 the house was commissioned by the military and used as an army education facility before being bought by English Heritage in 1995, where they then proceeded major refurbishment works on the house and gardens in 1999.  Today the house and gardens, which are now Grade II listed, are open to the public every Summer between April and September.    FALKLAND PALACE    Falkland Palace is located in Cupar, near Fife, in Scotland and is one of the most important Stuart residences in the land.  The palace dates back to the twelfth century where it was then owned by the Clan MacDuff of Fife.  It was acquired by the Scottish crown during the fourteenth century and underwent several restoration programs by the Scottish monarchs King James IV and King James V, who also died there in 1542.  The palace became a popular haunt of the Stuart monarchs and was regularly visited by King James VI, King Charles I and King Charles II.  The palace went into a decline after Cromwellian troops set it on fire during the civil war.   In 1885 the palace underwent a twenty year restoration program which was funded by John Crichton-Stuart the third Marquess of Bute.  In 1952 the palace was bought by the National Trust For Scotland who now own and maintain it.    Today the palace, along with it's chapel, gardens and tennis courts are all open to the public.      FROGMORE HOUSE     Frogmore House is a Grade I listed building which stands in the grounds of Home Park near Windsor Castle in Buckinghamshire. The house was completed in 1684 and at first was used by Crown tenants of King Charles II but the king would later bestow the house upon one of his thirteen illegitimate children, George Fitzroy the Duke of Northumberland, who was the son of the king's long term mistress Barbara Villiers.  In 1792 King George III purchased the house for his wife Queen Charlotte and their unmarried daughters as a quiet retreat so as they could indulge in their passion of painting.  The house stands in thirty three acres of parkland known as the Frogmore Estate, which since 1928 has been sanctioned as the royal family's official burial ground. The burial ground with it's vast array of impressive mausoleums is the final resting place of thirty six royal family members and the two former monarchs Queen Victoria and King Edward VIII along with their respective spouses Prince Albert and Wallis Simpson.   In 1900 Louis Mountbatten, the grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was born there. Prince Louis as he was known at the time of his birth, would go on to become Britain's first Sea Lord, the last Viceroy of India and the longest serving head of the Armed Forces.  In 2008 the house was used as the venue for the wedding of Queen Elisabeth II's grandson Peter Philips, to the Canadian former model Autumn Kelly.  Today the house, gardens and estate, which are used mainly as a private entertainment venue for the royals, are open to the public over the Easter and August bank holiday periods.    GREENWICH PALACE     Greenwich Palace was built in 1447 by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the brother of King Henry V. Built on the banks of the River Thames it was originally known as Bella Court, before being renamed by King Henry V’s wife Margaret of Anjou, to the Palace of Pleasuance or Palace of Placentia. The palace was the birthplace of King Henry VIII, Queen Mary I and Queen Elisabeth I.   The palace was also where King Henry VIII married his fifth wife, Anne of Cleeves.   The building eventually become part of Greenwich Hospital in 1694 and then the site of the Royal Naval College in 1873. Today the site of the palace houses the buildings of the University of Greenwich and the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.    HAMPTON COURT PALACE Image courtesy of Andreas Tille, wikimedia commons  Hampton Court Palace was built by the friend and advisor to King Henry VIII, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, and was completed in 1514.  When Henry was thwarted by the Catholic Church when he wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon, Wolsey, realising his fate, made a gift of the the palace to the king, whereupon the palace became a royal residence right up until the monarchs of the Royal House of Hanover . The palace, which is located beside the banks of the River Thames in Richmond, Surrey, was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1952 and has been in the ownership of the preservation society Historic Royal Palaces since 1998. The palace, along with it's gardens, maze and deer park are all open to the public and the building it's self is the only former royal palace in the United Kingdom where visitors can rent apartments.       HILLSBOROUGH CASTLE    Hillsborough Castle is a Georgian mansion house which is used as the residence for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the British Royal Family and other visiting dignitaries when they are in Northern Ireland.  Located in Hillsborough, County Down the house, which stands on ninety eight acres of beautifully landscaped gardens, was built in the 1770's and purchased by the British Government after the partition of Ireland in 1922 where it went on to become the official residence of the Governor of Northern Ireland between 1924 and 1973.  Today the house and gardens, which are owned and managed by the charitable organisation Historic Royal Palaces are open to the public between the months of April and September.   The castle, which is the first British royal palace located in Northern Ireland, offers visitors guided tours of the many state and function rooms located there.     HOLYROOD PALACE Image courtesy of Kim Traynor, wikimedia commons  The great Palace at Holyrood, situated on the Royal Mile in Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh, is the monarch's official residence when visiting Scotland. Originally built in 1128 by David King of the Scots, the palace has officially been a royal residence since King James IV in 1501. Today the Queen spends one week a year there on official public duties as well as using it as an official royal residence for other members of the royal family or visiting heads of state.  Throughout the rest of the year the palace is open to the public.     KENSINGTON PALACE Image courtesy of Colin Smith, wikimedia commons  Kensington Palace, situated in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, began life as a Jacobean house known as Nottingham House. It was purchased by King William III of Orange and his wife Queen Mary in 1689, who undertook the architect Christopher Wren to redesign it.  Since then it has been the official royal residence of several members of the royal family, including Queen Anne, King George I, King George II, Princess Margaret, Diana Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. The palace was also the site of the deaths of Queen Mary II, King William III of Orange and King George II. Today the palace is better known for it’s picturesque gardens and stunning state rooms, both of which are open to the general public.    KEW PALACE    There have been three palaces situated in Kew, the first of which was built during the reign of Queen Elisabeth I for her court favourite, Robert Darnley, after the death of his wife in 1560. Historians know little about this residence, other than it was probably known as Leicester House, after Darnley's ducal title, who was the Earl of Leicester.  The second palace, pictured above, is known as the Dutch House due to it's fine Dutch architecture and was built in 1631 by Samuel Fortey for the private secretary to King George II. In 1734 the Dutch House was purchased by his son, King George III, whose wife Queen Charlotte died there in 1818. In 1837 Queen Victoria gave most of the land surrounding the palace, known as Kew Gardens, to the nation followed in 1887 by the palace it's self. The palace, which is no more than a manor house really, is now owned by the preservation society Historic Royal Palaces and is open to the general public as part of Kew Gardens.  The third palace at Kew was a building commissioned by King George III and designed by George Wyatt. That building was demolished by his son King George IV in 1828.       MARLBOROUGH HOUSE    Marlborough House was commissioned in 1711 by Queen Anne as a present for her best friend and confidante Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough.   The mansion, which was designed by the highly acclaimed architect Christopher Wren, is located in the City of Westminster and was bought by the Crown in 1817.  The house was the birthplace of King George V in 1865 and the royal residence of Queen Adelaide - widow of King William IV - between 1831 and 1849. The house was also the first marital home of Prince Edward and Princess Alexander, the future King Edward VII and his queen consort Alexandria.  Today the house is a Grade 1 listed building which is open for private guided tours and an annual open house weekend every September.      MONMOUTH CASTLE     Monmouth Castle is located in the town of Monmouth in South Wales and was one of three early fortifications built by William the Conqueror after he took the British crown in 1066.   The castle, which was completed around 1068, was built in order to guard the crossings on the nearby River Wye and River Morrow and was at first used as a home by King William's cousin and trusted confidante William FitzOsbern, whom the king had made the first Earl of Hereford and one of Wales' first Marcher Lords.  As time went on the castle became the preferred royal residence of King Henry IV and his wife Mary de Bohun where it became the birthplace of their second born son, the future King Henry V, in September 1386.  Although most of the castle stands in ruins the fortification, which has remained one of Britain's oldest, continuously occupied military installations, is now a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument which is now home of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Regimental Museum.     OATLANDS PALACE    Oatlands Palace was located in Weybridge Surrey and was a favourite retreat of the Tudor and the Stuart monarchs. Henry VIII bought the original building in 1539 as a wedding present for his future bride Anne of Cleeves. However, the following year he would marry his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, at the palace.  The palace went on to become the favoured residence of Queen Mary I, Queen Elisabeth I, King James I and King Charles I.  During King James I's reign his wife, Anne of Denmark, employed world renowned garden designer, Inigo Jones, to construct an ornamental garden in the grounds and during the reign of King James II the palace was used as the residence of Edward Herbert, the king's Lord Chief Justice.  The house was extensively destroyed by fire in 1794 and subsequently remodeled into a Gothic style manor house by Fredrick, the Duke of York. His wife Charlotte then sold it to the well known dandy of the day, Edward Ball Hughes, who completely refurbished the building yet again, before letting it to the Conservative politician Lord Wilbraham Egerton, between the years of 1832 and 1839. In 1840 Edward Ball Hughes then had the estate broken up into three lots and sold at public auction.   Today the Surrey village of Oatlands now stands on the site of the former palace and grounds. OSBOURNE HOUSE  Image courtesy of WyrdLight.com, wikimedia commons  Osbourne House was built between 1845 and 1851 by Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. The house was built by Thomas Cubitt from a design by the prince.  Queen Victoria and her family loved the isolation of Osbourne House, built as it was on the Isle of Wight, and spent many family holidays there.   Queen Victoria died there in 1901 and after the house was made surplus to requirements by other royals, it became the Royal Naval College, Osbourne between 1903 and 1921, where future kings Edward VIII and George V studied.  Today the house is now owned by English Heritage, where, along with it's estate, gardens, private beach and woodland, are all open to the general public.     PALACE OF WESTMINSTER     The Palace of Westminster, better known as Britain's Houses of Parliament, was originally constructed during the eleventh century by King Canute the Great, as his place of residence during the years of his reign from 1016 to 1035.  Most of this building was destroyed by fire in 1512, after which it went on to be the seat of England's parliament during the thirteenth century.   The oldest part of the building still remaining from that time is Westminster Hall, a cavernous area with a clearspan roof measuring sixty eight feet by two hundred and forty feet. The hall is best known for being the location of coronation banquets since the time of  King William II.   Another fire in 1834 resulted in the architect, Charles Barry, designing yet another building on the site, the perpendicular Gothic building made of sand coloured limestone, that we see today.  This vast building, which commands eight hundred and seventy three feet of Thames riverfront in London's City of Westminster, contains one thousand, one hundred rooms, one hundred staircases and three miles of passages, housed on four floors.  The palace consists of the Halls of the House of Lords and House of Commons, two libraries, the Prince's Chamber, the Royal Gallery, the Queen's Robing Chamber, the Member's Lobby, the Peer's Lobby and several exits and entrances, including the grand Central Lobby, which measures thirty nine feet by seventy five feet and houses statues of former British monarchs and the four saints of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.  The buildings five iconic towers are St Stephen's Tower, Speaker's Tower, which contains the official residence of the Speaker of the House, the Chancellor's Tower, Central Tower, Victoria Tower, which at two hundred and ninety feet high was once the tallest building in the world, and the three hundred and sixteen foot high, Elisabeth Tower, home of the palace's belfry, which houses Big Ben and four other bells which are synonomous with the Westminster Chimes, and it's four, twenty three feet wide, clock faces.  The palace is surrounded by several green spaces, including the Victoria Tower Gardens, the only public space within the palace, Black Rod's Garden, the Old Palace Yard, the New Palace Yard, Speaker's Green, Cromwell Green and the most famous outside area of them all, College Green, where outside broadcasts and interviews with politicians are televised.  PALACE OF WHITEHALL    The Palace of Whitehall was commissioned during the reign of King Henry VIII and was the largest palace in Europe upon it’s completion, being larger than both The Vatican Palace and the Palace of Versailles. The palace sat on twenty three acres of land and had around one thousand, five hundred rooms. King Henry VIII married two of his wives there, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, and it was also the site where he himself died in 1547. Over the years the palace would be remodeled by both King James I and King Charles I, before it was extensively damaged by fire in 1691 and had to be demolished. The palace gave it’s name to the ashlar stone from which it was built, and it’s name lives on in the area of London known as Whitehall. The only part of the palace which remains today is the Banqueting Hall, built in 1622 by Inigo Jones. The hall is best remembered as being the site of the execution of King Charles I in 1649.     RICHMOND PALACE      Richmond Palace was built on the grounds of the former Sheen Manor on the south bank of the River Thames in Richmond, Surrey by King Henry VII when he was still the Earl of Richmond. The old manor house and future palace has been the official residence of King Henry I, King Edward I, King Richard II and King Henry VII. The palace was the location of the honeymoon of Queen Mary and Prince Philip of Spain after their marriage in 1554, the death of Queen Elisabeth I in 1603  and the home of King James I’s vast art collection. The palace is reported to have been the first royal residence to have flush toilets, installed during the reign of Queen Elisabeth I.     ROYAL PALACE, EDINBURGH CASTLE    Edinburgh's majestic castle, which sits atop the city's Castle Rock, has been around in one form or another since the twelfth century when it became the fortified home of Scotland's King David.  The Royal Palace, which is located in a part of the castle's grounds known as the Royal Square, was commissioned by King James IV during the early part of the fifteenth century.  The palace went on to become the birthplace of King James VI, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, in June 1566.   Today the Royal Palace is open to the public where it is home to Scotland's vaulted Crown Room, the Stone of Scone, the impressive Laich Hall and the Birth Chamber of Mary Room.   SANDRINGHAM HOUSE     This twenty thousand acre estate situated in the coastal village of Sandringham in Norfolk is the Queen's only stately home and is used by both her and other royals as a holiday home. Originally built in 1771 by architect Cornish Henley, the house was brought by Queen Victoria in 1862 as a wedding present for her eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales and his new bride Princess Alexandra.  Queen consort Alexandra died there in 1925 as did her son King George V in 1935 and her grandson King George VI in 1952. The future King Olav V of Norway was born on the Sandringham Estate in 1903 and Diana Spencer, the future Princess of Wales, was also born on the estate in 1961.  The house has received many renovations over the years and is one of only two privately owned royal residences of the British monarch. It is here at Sandringham House that the Royal family gather for their annual Christmas holiday.   ST JAMES PALACE Image courtesy of siegertmarc, wikimedia commons  St James' Palace, situated in Pall Mall, London, was commissioned by King Henry VIII and built between 1531 and 1536 on the site of a former leper hospital which had been dedicated to St James the Less. It has been the official royal residence of several royals and was the birthplace of both Queen Anne and King Charles II.  In 1941 the palace was the location of the establishment and signing of the Charter of the United Nations. Today the palace is also known as the Royal Court of St James as the royal court is formally based there, so the palace is not open to the public as it is a working palace, but it’s chapel and gardens are. Sometimes the palace is used as the London residence of visiting minor royals.      STIRLING CASTLE    Stirling Castle is located in central Scotland and when constructed was the first ever renaissance palace to be built in Britain. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an impressive quartz outcrop, where it can be seen for miles around. The earliest remains of the castle buildings date back to the twelfth century but records show that there has actually been a fortification there since the ninth century when Scotland's first king, Kenneth MacAlpine, is said to have built a fortification there.   During it's turbulent history the castle has been a royal residence, a garrison, a prison and the site of several sieges during the Scottish Wars of Independence in the thirteenth century.  The castle has also been the location of the death of King Alexander I in 1124, the principal residences of King Robert I and King Robert II during the fourteenth century, the principal residences of King James IV, King James V and King James VI during the sixteenth century, the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543 and the baptism of King James VI in 1566.  The castle has received many restoration schemes during it's history including major improvement works that began during the Victorian era which are still ongoing to this day. Today the castle, along with it's outer defenses, chapel royal, great hall, royal palace and gardens, which are all open to the public, are owned and managed by Historic Scotland.     THE ROYAL PAVILION The Royal Pavillion is located in the English seaside town of Brighton. The Pavillion was built in 1789 by George, Prince of Wales, (the future King George IV) as a house for parties and secret liasons with his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert, whom unknown to everyone else, he had actually married in secret in 1785.  The house was extensively redesigned between 1815 and 1822 by architect John Nash into the Indian style building we see today.  The pavilion was also used as a holiday retreat by King William IV, but was so disliked by Queen Victoria, due to it's town centre location, thar she sold it to the city of Brighton in 1850.  Today the pavilion stands pride of place in the south coast resort where it has become the city's most visited tourist attraction.       WINDSOR CASTLE Image courtesy of Dilif, wikimedia commons  Reputed to be the present monarch's favourite home, Windsor Castle situated in Berkshire, is the world's largest inhabited castle and Britain's oldest continually inhabited castle. Originally built between 1066 and 1087 during the reign of William the Conqueror, the castle has been renovated and remodeled by every British monarch since. As one of five official royal residences in Great Britain this four hundred and eighty thousand square foot castle is also home to St Georges Chapel, which houses the tombs of several former British monarchs and other high ranking royals. Since the accession of Queen Elisabeth II in 1952, Windsor Castle has been the official weekend retreat for the royal family. The castle is is open to the public where visitors can visit St Georges Chapel and the Queen Mother's Doll’s House among many other things. In the castle's grounds one can also explore Windsor Great Park with it's Long Walk that leads to the statue of the Copper Horse or visit the popular Royal Farm with it's onsite farm shop. The castle is also situated just minutes from the small town of Eton, home to the world famous public school that has been the seat of learning for many British and foreign royals and other nobility.     
Holyrood Palace
Who stars in the TV NHS black-comedy Getting On and has appeared on QI 29 times?
Royal Residences - British Monarchist League British Monarchist League Contact Royal Residences Throughout the centuries, Britain's kings and queens have built or bought palaces to serve as family homes, workplaces and as centres of government. Some of these are still being used today as official Royal residences and many can be visited by the general public. The residences still standing today can be roughly divided into three categories:  Official Royal residences which are held in trust for future generations. As well as being family homes for members of the Royal Family, these are also working buildings which are used for housing the offices of staff from the Royal Household, entertaining official guests and hosting formal events and ceremonies. The best-known of these residences are probably Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.  Private Estates are owned by The Queen and are often used to generate private income through farming or public access to Royal residences, they also house some well-known private residences such as Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House. Unoccupied Royal residences are all other buildings in Great Britain which once housed members of the Royal Family and are therefore of historical interest. These buildings are owned by numerous bodies and individuals and many are open to the general public. Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace - has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837 and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarch. Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by The Queen, the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are open to visitors every year. Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms. These include 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. In measurements, the building is 108 metres long across the front, 120 metres deep (including the central quadrangle) and 24 metres high. The Palace is very much a working building and the centrepiece of Britain's constitutional monarchy. It houses the offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family. The Palace is also the venue for great Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures, all of which are organised by the Royal Household.  Although Buckingham Palace is furnished and decorated with priceless works of art that form part of the Royal Collection, one of the major art collections in the world today. It is not an art gallery and nor is it a museum. Its State Rooms form the nucleus of the working Palace and are used regularly by The Queen and members of the Royal Family for official and State entertaining. More than 50,000 people visit the Palace each year as guests to banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and the Royal Garden Parties. For those who do receive an invitation to Buckingham Palace, the first step across the threshold is into the Grand Hall and up the curving marble stairs of the Grand Staircase. Portraits are still set in the walls, as they were by Queen Victoria. The Throne Room, sometimes used during Queen Victoria's reign for Court gatherings and as a second dancing room, is dominated by a proscenium arch supported by a pair of winged figures of 'victory' holding garlands above the 'chairs of state'. It is in the Throne Room that The Queen, on very special occasions like Jubilees, receives loyal addresses. Another use of the Throne Room has been for formal wedding photographs. George IV's original palace lacked a large room in which to entertain. Queen Victoria rectified that shortcoming by adding in 1853-5 what was, at the time of its construction, the largest room in London. At 36.6m long, 18m wide and 13.5m high, the Ballroom is the largest multi-purpose room in Buckingham Palace. It was opened in 1856 with a ball to celebrate the end of the Crimean War. It is along the East Gallery that The Queen and her State guests process to the Ballroom for the State Banquet normally held on the first day of the visit. Around 150 guests are invited and include members of the Royal Family, the government and other political leaders, High Commissioners and Ambassadors and prominent people who have trade or other associations with the visiting country. Today, it is used by The Queen for State banquets and other formal occasions such as the annual Diplomatic Reception attended by 1,500 guests. This is a very formal occasion during which The Queen will meet every head of mission accredited to the Court of St James's. For the diplomats it is perhaps the highlight of the annual diplomatic social calendar. The Ballroom has been used variously as a concert hall for memorial concerts and performances of the arts and it is the regular venue for Investitures of which there are usually 21 a year - nine in spring, two in the summer and ten in the autumn. At Investitures, The Queen (or The Prince of Wales as Her Majesty's representative) will meet recipients of British honours and give them their awards, including knighting those who have been awarded knighthoods. From the Ballroom, the West Gallery, with its four Gobelin tapestries, leads into the first of the great rooms that overlook lawn and the formal gardens - setting for the annual Garden Parties introduced by Queen Victoria in 1868. The State Dining Room is one of the principal State Rooms on the West side of the Palace. Many distinguished people have dined in this room including the 24 holders of the Order of Merit as well as presidents and prime ministers. Before the Ballroom was added to the Palace in the 1850s, the first State Ball was held in the Blue Drawing Room in May 1838 as part of the celebrations leading up to Queen Victoria's Coronation. The Music Room was originally known as the Bow Drawing Room and is the centre of the suite of rooms on the Garden Front between the Blue and the White Drawing Rooms. Four Royal babies - The Prince of Wales, The Princess Royal, The Duke of York and Prince William - were all christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Music Room. One of its more formal uses is during a State Visit when guests are presented to The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and the visiting Head of State or for receptions. The last of the suite of rooms overlooking the gardens on the principal floor is the White Drawing Room. Originally called the North Drawing Room, it is perhaps the grandest of all the State Rooms. The Room also serves as a Royal reception room for The Queen and members of the Royal Family to gather before State and official occasions. The Bow Room is familiar to the many thousands of guests to Royal Garden Parties who pass through it on their way to the garden. It was originally intended as a part of George IV's private apartments - to be the King's Library - but it was never fitted up as such. Instead, it has become another room for entertaining and is where The Queen holds the arrival lunch for a visiting Head of State at the start of a State visit. Windsor Castle Windsor Castle - is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world. A Royal home and fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace today. The Queen uses the Castle both as a private home, where she usually spends the weekend, and as a Royal residence at which she undertakes certain formal duties. Every year The Queen takes up official residence in Windsor Castle for a month over Easter (March-April), known as Easter Court. During that time The Queen hosts occasional 'dine and sleeps' events for guests, including politicians and public figures. The Queen is also in residence for a week in June, when she attends the service of the Order of the Garter and the Royal Ascot race meeting. The Order of the Garter ceremony brings together members of the senior order of chivalry for a service in St George's Chapel. Beforehand, The Queen gives a lunch for the Knights of the Garter in the Castle's Waterloo Chamber. Any new Knights of the Garter are invested by The Queen in the Garter Throne Room. On the walls are portraits of monarchs in their Garter Robes, from George I to the present Queen, whose State portrait by Sir James Gunn was painted in 1954. Windsor Castle is often used by The Queen to host State Visits from overseas monarchs and presidents. Foreign Heads of State enter the Castle in horse-drawn carriages through the George IV Gateway into the quadrangle in the Upper Ward, where a military guard of honour is drawn up. The traditional State Banquet is held in St George's Hall (55.5m long and 9m wide), with a table seating up to 160 guests. Recent State visits held at Windsor Castle include those of President and Mrs. Mbeki of South Africa (2001), and King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan (2001), as well as a special visit by President and Madame Chirac of France to mark the centenary of the Entente Cordiale (2004). St George's Chapel remains an active centre for worship, with daily services open to all. The Chapel is a Royal Peculiar, that is, a chapel which is not subject to a bishop or archbishop but which owes its allegiance directly to the Sovereign. The Chapel, together with the remainder of the College of St George (a school for 400 children and St George's House, a consultation centre), is governed by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, who, with their officers and staff, are independent of the Royal Household. Many Royal weddings have been celebrated in St George's Chapel, most recently that of Prince Edward and Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones in June 1999. In 2005 a service of dedication and prayer was held in the Chapel following the marriage of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. Funerals such as those of Princess Margaret and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, have also taken place there. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother lies buried in the Chapel with her husband, King George VI, and Princess Margaret, her younger daughter. Various departments of the Royal Household are based at Windsor Castle. The ancient Round Tower houses the Royal Archives and the Royal Photograph Collection. The Print Room and Royal Library house precious drawings, prints, manuscripts and books in the Royal Collection. These are shown in a programme of changing exhibitions in the Castle's Drawings Gallery. Those who live and work within the Castle include the titular head of the Castle community, the Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle; the Dean of Windsor, Canons and other staff who run the College of St George; the Military Knights of Windsor; the Superintendent of Windsor Castle and his staff, who are responsible for day-to-day administration; the Housekeeper and her staff; and soldiers who mount a permanent military guard in the Castle. Windsor Castle is also a busy visitor attraction. Many parts of the Castle are open to the public, including the precincts, the State Apartments, Queen Mary's famous dolls' house, St George's Chapel, and the Albert Memorial Chapel. When The Queen is in official residence, Changing the Guard provides a colourful spectacle in the quadrangle. Palace of HolyroodHouse Palace of Holyroodhouse - Founded as a monastery in 1128, the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is The Queen's official residence in Scotland. Situated at the end of the Royal Mile, the Palace of Holyroodhouse is closely associated with Scotland's turbulent past, including Mary, Queen of Scots, who lived here between 1561 and 1567. Successive kings and queens have made the Palace of Holyroodhouse the premier royal residence in Scotland.  Today, the Palace is the setting for State ceremonies and official entertaining. During The Queen's Holyrood week, which usually runs from the end of June to the beginning of July, Her Majesty carries out a wide range of official engagements in Scotland.  The Investiture held in the Great Gallery is for Scottish residents whose achievements have been recognised in the twice-yearly Honours List which appears at New Year and on The Queen's Official Birthday in June. King George V and Queen Mary held the first garden party in the grounds of Holyroodhouse and the tradition has been maintained to the present day. Each year, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh entertain around 8,000 guests from all walks of Scottish life during Holyrood week. St James's Palace St. James's Palace is the senior Palace of the Sovereign, with a long history as a Royal residence. As the home of several members of the Royal Family and their household offices, it is often in use for official functions and is not open to the public. St. James's Palace is one of London's oldest palaces. It is situated in Pall Mall, just north of St James's Park. Although no sovereign has resided there for almost two centuries, it has remained the official residence of the Sovereign and the most senior royal palace in the UK. For this reason it gives its name to the Royal Court (the "Court of St James's"). St James's Palace is still a working palace, and the Royal Court is still formally based there – foreign ambassadors are still accredited to the Court of St James's, even though they are received by the monarch at Buckingham Palace. It is also the London residence of the Princess Royal and Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy. The Palace forms part of a sprawling complex of buildings housing Court offices and officials' apartments. The complex includes York House, the former home of the Prince of Wales and his sons, Princes William and Harry, Lancaster House, which is used by HM Government for official receptions, as well as the nearby Clarence House, the home of the late Queen Mother and now the residence of the Prince of Wales. The Queen's Chapel, built by Inigo Jones, adjoins St James's Palace. While the Chapel is open to the public at selected times, the palace is not accessible to the public. St James's Palace is one of the four buildings in London where guards from the Household Division can be seen (the other three are Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Horse Guards). Since the beginning of the 2000s, the Royal Philatelic Collection has been housed at St James's Palace, after spending the entire 20th century at Buckingham Palace. From October 2008 onwards, and officially from 6 January 2009, the staff of Princes William and Harry moved into their own rooms in St James's Palace and began reporting directly to the royal princes for the first time. Until recently the brothers' duties were looked after by Prince Charles's office at Clarence House. Clarence House Clarence House which stands beside St James's Palace, was built between 1825 and 1827 to the designs of John Nash for Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence. He lived there as King William IV from 1830 until 1837. During its history, the house has been altered, reflecting the changes in occupancy over nearly two centuries. It was the London home of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1953 until 2002 and was also the home of The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, and The Duke of Edinburgh following their marriage in 1947. Today Clarence House is the official London residence of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and Princes William and Harry. It is open to the public during the summer months each year.  Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle on the Balmoral Estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland is the private residence of The Queen. Beloved by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Balmoral Castle has remained a favourite residence for The Queen and her family during the summer holiday period in August and September. The Castle is located on the large Balmoral Estate, a working estate which aims to protect the environment while contributing to the local economy. The Estate grounds, gardens and the Castle Ballroom are open to visitors from the beginning of April to the end of July each year, under the management of the Balmoral Estate Office. http://www.balmoralcastle.com/ Sandringham House Sandringham House in Norfolk has been the private home of four generations of Sovereigns since 1862. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family regularly spend Christmas at Sandringham and make it their official base until February each year. Like Balmoral, the Sandringham Estate is a commercial estate managed privately on The Queen's behalf. http://www.sandringhamestate.co.uk/ Kensington Palace Kensington Palace in London is a working Royal residence. Of great historical importance, Kensington Palace was the favourite residence of successive sovereigns until 1760. It was also the birthplace and childhood home of Queen Victoria. Today Kensington Palace accommodates the offices and private apartments of a number of members of the Royal Family. Although managed by Historic Royal Palaces, the Palace is furnished with items from the Royal Collection. British Monarchist League Ltd © 2014. ✕
i don't know
By what name did the Germans call the Polish port of Gdansk?
Port News of the port of Gdansk - vesseltracker.com Port News of the port of Gdansk 33 days ago by arnekiel MAFI delivers 33 terminal tractors to DCT Gdansk Germany-based tractor manufacturer MAFI Transport-Systeme has completed another delivery of 33 terminal tractors type T 230 F to DCT Gdansk in Poland. The T 230 F is equipped with various options for a comfortable and ergonomical working environment. This is in line with DCT’s strong emphasis on health and safety measures, and accordingly, a light has been installed on top of the cabin that indicates whether the driver has fastened the seat belt. - See more at: www.portstrategy.... 85 days ago by arnekiel Opening of Terminal 2 (T2) at Gdansk celebrated. Deepwater Container Terminal (DCT) Gdansk, maritime ports consultant CH2M and Belgian contractor BESIX celebrated the opening of Terminal 2 (T2), expanding Poland's sole deep-sea terminal to become the largest container hub in the Baltic Sea. The new 650-meter-long and 17-meter-deep quay increases DCT's annual handling capacity to up to 3 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit). Additionally, the new terminal berth can now accommodate ultra-large container vessels of capacity exceeding 18,000 TEU, such as the Maersk Triple E class container ships, which enter the Baltic Sea through the Danish Straits. www.prnewswire.co... 145 days ago by arnekiel Yet another regular ocean link between the Port of Gdansk and Asia The Port of Gdansk's network of regular maritime connections was enriched by yet another link, this time of the Ro-Ro type, operated by Bahri, say the Port of Gdansk Authority. Bahri, the national shipping company of Saudi Arabia, specialising in the transport of general cargo, fuels, chemicals, and dry bulk cargo for nearly 40 years now, offers transport services mainly in the area of South Asia, in particular the Arabian Peninsula, North America's east coast and Northern Europe. At the moment, apart from Gdansk, the company's ships also regularly call at European ports such as Hamburg, Antwerp, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, and Bilbao. The company's decision to include the Port of Gdansk in its network of regular shipping links is closely connected, among others, with the performance of a big, several-year contract for the delivery of tanks signed by one of Poland's leading manufacturers of railway cars and a Saudi railway operator. The tanks are delivered from the south of Poland to the Port of Gdansk by rail and then rolled directly onto specialist roll trailers, on which they are loaded onto the ship. The transshipment operations are carried out by the Port Gdanski Eksploatacja (Port of Gdansk Cargo Logistics SA) company, and ship agency services are provided by Wilhelmsen Ships. en.portnews.ru/ne... 179 days ago by arnekiel DCT Gdansk’s state-of-the-art STS cranes already on rails Three STS cranes, which in May had arrived dismantled by sea for the second berth of DCT Gdansk terminal, were erected and the process of transporting them to the crane rails began a few days ago. Now, all three of them are positioned on the crane rails. The second berth of deepwater container terminal will be equipped with five largest and most modern STS cranes in Europe. The components of remaining two cranes will be delivered next month. STS cranes of T2 terminal with a height of 130 m (boom up) and around 89 m (boom down), with the outreach of 25 rows of containers will be able to handle the largest container vessels in the world. The completion of one of the largest investment projects in Pomerania is fast approaching. T2 project is on time and on budget. The infrastructure works will be finished in August and the berth will be fully operational at the end of 2016. 186 days ago by arnekiel EU to inject nearly EUR 1.9bn in several projects at the Port of Gdansk On 8 July 2016, the CEF Transport Coordinating Committee approved a list of transport projects, including as many as three submitted by the Port of Gdansk Authority SA, for funding from the resources of the Connecting Europe Facility funding instrument, the Port Authority says in its news release. According to the European Commission's information, 16 Polish undertakings qualified as recommended projects to a total amount of nearly EUR 1.9 billion. The beneficiaries include transport industry entities such as: the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (administrator of the national road infrastructure), PKP PLK (administrator of the national railway infrastructure), Cargotor, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency, and the Port of Gdansk Authority SA - the only representative of the maritime industry on the recommended list. Two infrastructure projects from the approved list of projects are PGA SA investments, amounting to more than PLN 600 million, involving the modernisation of the fairway along with the expansion of the quays and improvement of navigation conditions in the Inner Port and the modernisation of the road and railway network in the Outer Port. Both undertakings received the highest possible funding available within the programme at a level of as much as 85%. The third of the approved projects is a study involving the preparation of project and environmental documentation for road and railway tasks for a project that will be carried out in cooperation with the Gdansk Municipality. en.portnews.ru/ne... 253 days ago by arnekiel First STS cranes for the new T2 berth arrive to DCT Gdańsk On May the 2nd 2016 the vessel with first STS cranes destined for T2 operations moored at the newly built second berth of DCT Gdańsk terminal. This arrival heralds the forthcoming finalization of one of the largest investment project in Pomeranian history. The second berth of deepwater container terminal will be equipped with five most modern STS cranes with the outreach of 25 rows of containers and will be able to handle the largest container vessels in the world. Cranes arrived dismantled by sea. Currently, the elements of two cranes are being unloaded from the ship, the third crane is expected in DCT May the 12th 2016, and another two in August this year. 315 days ago by arnekiel More investment projects now completed at the Port of Gdansk On March 3, the Port of Gdansk Authority SA presented its latest investment projects aimed at increasing the safety level at the port to a range of eminent guests, including representatives of the local authorities, municipal authorities, the Maritime Office, the State Commission on Maritime Accident Investigation, the uniformed services and port operators. PGA says the initiative included four projects to a total amount of PLN 15 million, which were co-financed under the 2007-2013 Infrastructure and Environmental Operational Programme, Priority 7, Environment-friendly transport, measure 7.2. en.portnews.ru/ne... 343 days ago by arnekiel Transport workers protest across Europe in support of Polish dockers ITF/ETF affiliated union Solidarnosc has members based at Deepwater Container Terminal (DCT) Gdansk. They have faced constant obstruction from their employer over the past two and half years as they have tried to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In particular there is concern over the number of union leaders and activists who have had their contracts of employment terminated during this time like Maciek Konopka. The target of the protests in Frankfurt, Luxembourg and London, has been the offices of Australian financial services and asset management company Macquarie which is the majority owner and manager of DCT Gdansk, ITF said in its press release. Protesters have been calling on senior company representatives to meet with ITF/ETF officials to discuss the role they could play in bringing about a resolution to the ongoing dispute. en.portnews.ru/ne... 392 days ago by arnekiel New Deepwater Port to Transform Gdansk Into Eastern Europe Mega-Hub (The Loadstar) — Poland’s Port of Gdansk Authority is to tender for a new container and general cargo deepwater port able to accommodate the biggest ships in the world. Port of Gdansk president Dorota Raben told The Loadstar tenders on a build, operate, manage concession basis would be invited from companies at the end of next year to develop the Outer Port Construction project. Ms Raben said the project would, ultimately, ensure the continued development of cargo handling capacity at Gdansk and reinforce its importance as the largest container hub on the Baltic. She said the port of Gdansk would handle a record 35m tonnes of cargo this year – 3m tonnes more than in 2014 – and that it was the authority’s duty to have a strategic plan for the continued growth in trade predicted from Poland’s booming economy. The president said there had already been “significant” interest from Chinese investors in the concept of a new mega-port in the Gulf of Gdansk, which she argued would transform it into a major fifth-generation port and a logistics hub for not only Poland, but all of Eastern Europe. https://gcaptain.com/new-deepwater-port-to-transorm-gdansk-into-eastern-europe-mega-hub/#.VnqjRhXNy9I
Gdańsk
What name is given to creatures such as earthworms which are both male and female?
Record throughput at the Port of Gdansk Authority SA Record throughput at the Port of Gdansk Authority SA 15.03.2011 A fairwater of the port's imagination 15.03.2011 The 1978 statistical success i.e. the 27.7 million tonnes throughput - thanks mainly to the transit crude oil from the then Soviet Union and to Polish coal - has long remained an unsurpassable threshold. The 1980 political crisis imposed restraints on our trade exchange and the Port of Gdansk retained its position only due to the long-standing contracts for energy resources. It took the port over 30 years of work to repeat the record throughput. It was not until last year, 2010, with small coal exports but thanks to the significant transit of Russian oil and the rapid growth in container throughput, that the Port of Gdansk reminded us of its potential by reaching 27.2 million tonnes throughput. Does this mean that with this result each consecutive year will see the volume multiply? Has the record throughput come about... by itself? What are the prospects for the biggest port in Poland and what can hinder its growth? The political stability of cooperating national economies, legislative mobility, and a favourable response from national port-related structures are but one basis for analysis. One should not underestimate the role of the team directly involved in the port's management. Three years ago, the new members of the Management Board of the Port of Gdansk Authority SA did not have a favourable opening balance. The President of the Board, Dr Ryszard Strzyzewicz, who has extensive experience in business management solving current problems and at the same time implementing repair and restructuring processes, announced an unusual term in office. Earlier on, he had realised projects for Raiffeisen Atkins SA and, on behalf of the region's Governor, supervised privatisation processes in Pomerania's several dozen companies, where tasks were similar to those required at the port: making forecasts has always called for a reliable economic and financial analysis of the companies, their prospects for growth and investment profitability. Ever since, the thus conceived economic rationale was to become the key to sensible activity. However, the Management Board has emphasised that the specific nature of a port company requires equal treatment of all (over 200) companies operating on its grounds, since they all contribute to the financial results earned by PGA SA. The scale of the burden left over from the previous era, which emerged from a maze of documents analysed on a daily basis, required time in order to avoid any repetition of the previous mistakes. The new Management Board could not expect any praise for the first financial result as every penny of the profit was burdened with past loan liabilities. The task was not helped by the realisation that the former state company's 20-year privatisation process was implemented by the eighth management board. Undermining the predecessors' decision was not the point. The responsibility for the port's management is raised by the rank of the PGA SA Joint Stock Company being shortlisted among those companies having special significance to Poland's economic strategy, and also among even more elite companies crucial to the country's energetic security. The statutory tasks determine the shaping of the port's strategy which, due to usually high costs and lengthy project completion times, requires unwavering actions. Frequent changes in management have in effect hindered or stopped many serious conceptions. The new management board had entered another year determined to quickly close the awkward problem of a failed investment project of the "EuroPort" grain and fodder terminal launched in winter 1995. In consequence, 59 hectares of superbly located port land had been laid idle for over fifteen years. A similar situation occurred with the 14 hectares of land passed over to the "Rudoport" company with the purpose of constructing an ore handling facility. Furthermore, adjacent, there were another 32 hectares of land "reserved" by PERN for the possible development of a fuel terminal, or another 30 hectares "in suspension" awaiting the construction of a power station. Due to the attractive location of the land, many high-profile operating companies came with an investment initiative. However, in the absence of adequate judicial decisions that would restore PGA's actual management over the grounds formally under its administration, no negotiations were possible. The documents clearly indicated that it was necessary to close the disputes immediately. However, based on the provisions, smart lawyers used different legal tricks and loopholes, thus delaying any final settlement. The requirement of closing the privatisation processes, which was imposed by the Act on Sea Ports and Harbours, appeared equally difficult. The previously realised ideas in many cases proved from the perspective of time but ill-conceived populism: they failed to bring the expected benefits to the employees and until today generate losses to the parent company. The management board therefore had to face the problem when some operating companies (such as Rezerwa Ltd) badly craved for jobs from their parent company of PGA SA, others were underinvested and struggling for profit against strong competition from other advanced operators in the European ports (such as Port of Gdansk Cargo Logistics Ltd), and still some proved robust and independent (such as Northern Port Ltd). Last but not least, another set of problems referred to the fact that the Act obligates seaport authorities to maintain operational efficiency and expand the port infrastructure. Until now, the Port of Gdansk still bears the traces of war damage in many places. How can investments be made - besides restoration - if hydrotechnical projects, which amortise over several dozens of years, are very costly and require both determination and continuity of management? For example, in comparison to the repair cost of one current metre of quay usually at 100-200 thousand PLN, the several million annual profit of the company managing the entire port (with almost 24 thousand metres of such quays) appears to be no profit at all. And, indeed, this provides no profit at all. A realistic assessment of the situation coupled with determined sanative actions have finally brought about tangible effects. In the 20th year of the operation of the Port of Gdansk Authority and in the third year - the closing one of the office of the current management board - the Port of Gdansk has successfully achieved its record high throughput, producing at the same time the best financial results in the history of PGA. However, the realisation of what more could be done gave rise to a cautiously optimistic approach on the part of the Port of Gdansk's management. The couple of million opening balance in April 2008 did not bode well for the following months. During the three years' time, a careful analysis was made of the cost structure and more efficient ways of using some one hundred million PLN of annual revenue. The restructuring of the company allowed for cutting both standing and indirect costs. The optimisation of employment or in-house cost cutting helped to adjust the proportion of expenditure in the balance. The 18-million PLN net profit at the end of 2010 gave rise to satisfaction. Even more so as indeed that was the best profit ever earned by PGA. Still, there were a few ideas that failed to be implemented. A proverbial minute short of closing the issue of Europort, PGA restored its management of this attractive land. The court announcement was expected any time of Europort's bankruptcy, which would enable PGA SA to finally terminate the unfortunate contract signed on 18 December 1995 with the Canadian company of EuroPort Inc. Poland. The port recovered the land last year and negotiations are currently coming to a close In May 2010, upon the return of over 9 million PLN of delinquent fees, another 15 hectares of adjacent land, designated since 24 October 1996 for the development of the unrealised ore terminal, were "unfrozen". The company of Rudoport in conjunction with the Northern Port is currently developing the biggest Dry Bulk Terminal on the south Baltic Sea. Financial guarantees have been negotiated for this investment project in agreement with the Belgian Sea-Invest Group (the new owner of the Northern Port) and with the world's steel tycoon, Arcelor Mittal. The year 2010 also saw the close, to both parties' satisfaction, of the issue regarding the formal and financial status quo of the rapidly growing DCT Gdansk SA. This was preceded by the opening in January of the Veterinary Border Inspection Post serving mainly the purposes of the container terminal and required for maintaining the high standard of its services. The contract regarding the construction of the Deepwater Container Terminal in Gdansk provided grounds for the operation of a container hub on the Baltic Sea. It was in the previous year that PGA SA bore the burden of launching shipping connections of such great importance, the financial settlement of the investment, creating a favourable atmosphere around the Port of Gdansk and providing modern tariffs. On 4 January 2010, the first call ever in the port's history of an ocean-going ship inaugurating the regular deep-sea container service from Asia, opened up a broad gateway for the port. The "young" DCT terminal handled over 450 thou. TEUs, which greatly contributed to the Port of Gdansk's last year's throughput success. It greatly supported Gdansk in consolidating its leading position among the Polish ports, even more significant as the port has confirmed its cutting edge as a universal and state-of-the-art port facility. However, for the sake of keeping the balance, it is also necessary to mention the port's "blot on the escutcheon". The investment project of the Westerplatte Ferry-Passenger Terminal conceived in 2005 by the previous management board failed to raise interest among ferry and cruise operators. A year and a half of the DFDS's ferry service operation to Trelleborg, Copenhagen and Gothenburg sharpened Gdansk's appetites for much tourist traffic and goods exchange, which has not been satisfied until this day. It will be hard to take full advantage of this investment without a wide -ranging offer jointly presented by the entire region of Pomerania - for the time being, the full cost of the terminal's operation must be accounted for in the PGA SA annual budget. Efforts are continuing to complete the privatisation process of the Gdansk port's biggest operator, Port of Gdansk Cargo Logistics, which last year was transformed into a joint stock company. This complex task, now entering the phase of preparing a bidding procedure, requires much consideration due to its specific social and economic background. Employing over 600 staff, PGCL has recently shown good financial results despite the challenging months of the global crisis and difficult working conditions, and may soon prove to be a forerunner when it comes to the Baltic goods exchange. The port's management board closely observes the initiative of building a new free access LPG terminal, as well as a fishery base promoted by the North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation. Similarly keen interest has been raised by projects launched by the City of Gdansk, Marshal of the Pomeranian Region and by the Polish government. While PGA SA can support many of these investments as a beneficiary taking advantage thereof, the port authorities have no rights of launching such actions according to the Act on Sea Ports and Harbours. Therefore, the construction of such facilities as a PERN storage and handling base or a power centre, the Sucharski Route with a tunnel under the dead Vistula or the extension of the A1 motorway can only receive passive support from the port management - without any vital financial involvement. Another significant element of the daily efforts involves contracts with companies - also those of secondary importance - leasing land and the port's infrastructure for the purposes of their operations. Half of the PGA SA revenue comes from these tenancy contracts. Faced with the free market conditions and strong competition, companies such as CRIST operating in the ship-building industry, will invariably choose a more profitable offer. Therefore, the port management could not exert any direct influence on this company's decision to relocate its business from Gdansk to the former shipyard grounds in Gdynia. Consequently, filling that gap in the revenue will need an intensified effort on the part of the PGA SA commercial, organisational and legal units. Respect for remains a daily routine at the Port of Gdansk. However, it cannot clash with the special care required of the assets and interest of the State Treasury. The leaders of a company operating at the edge of these two worlds must have at its full disposal the tools that can give a Polish port real competition rights in such specific conditions. The geographical location of the Port of Gdansk alone will not guarantee economic profitability. The port's reality is not about playing games. It is about counting dollars, Euros or roubles - but best of all, Polish zloties. The lack of understanding for this fundamental principle has recently been exemplified by the battle for the VAT, which in western European ports is levied on much more favourable conditions for companies operating in the port industry as compared to the Polish regulations. Hopefully, the common sense shown by the Polish Public Finance Commission on 22 February will continue to prevail in the discussions about this issue and in all other port considerations. The sudden amendment that was recently made in the interpretation of tax regulations by the Gdansk municipality, taking back from the port companies the right to partial tax exemption on real estate, may also result in the Port of Gdansk losing its competitive edge and opportunity for growth. The management board looks forward to finding a positive solution to this problem, as was the case with the VAT issue. The seaport in Gdansk is arguably the oldest economic entity in Poland. This euphemism proves exceptionally justified in relation to the form of management which frequently changed its formal dimension throughout the centuries. The one-thousand-year's history of the Port of Gdansk witnessed both a "golden age" of growth and prosperity, as well as economic stagnation and decline. The most terrifying war time notwithstanding, it has never lost its significance for the region and even for the country. On the contrary - it remained a conquest - like a bridge connecting two river banks. It was of little importance what kind of profits were generated from its operation by its direct shareholders since the main benefits were reaped by those who utilised it with the purpose of achieving their strategic goals. How can this realisation be restored and promoted? The one thousand years' growth of the port town funded at the mouth of the Vistula river serves as the best evidence for the superb location of the Port of Gdansk. Its hydronavigational conditions and the depths of its waterways, the absence of tides and year-round possibility of accommodating ships without the ice class as well as its attractive land for investment and efficient transportation links with its hinterland place Gdansk in an increasingly better position among the major transport and economic centres on the Baltic Sea. The great importance for the future of the Port of Gdansk - almost similar to that represented by the construction of the coal and liquid fuels storage and handling facility of the Northern Port - relies today on the DCT terminal winning the rank of a container hub. This is also a new opportunity for the city which can fully utilize it by developing the Pomeranian Logistics Centre in its foreground, as well as constructing the Sucharski Route with a tunnel under the Dead Vistula and the Southern Ring Road, and by supporting projects aimed at providing better hinterland access to the port. These investments will enable major extension of advanced technologies in cargo handling and will intensify container throughput, thus boosting the rapid growth of the entire Pomeranian region as well as the national economy. Examining the potential represented by the port gives a guarantee a highly successful business organisation. Over the last three years, the Port of Gdansk has seen many visits from representatives of other ports' authorities. Similarly, PGA SA representatives were invited to visit a number of European centres. The communications with Flanders were prevailing due to the currently held negotiations. The Flemish ports of Antwerp, Gent, Zeebrugge or even Ostend have extensive economic hinterlands. Within a radius of 500 kilometres lies the economic heart of Europe, which acts like a magnet attracting carrier companies and their cargos. A similar situation exists for the Dutch seaports as well as the port facilities in western Germany. While it is not difficult to imagine the biggest container ships entering the Port of Gdansk, our economic hinterland is still too weak to fill up those containers. However, adding up Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, western Belarus and north-western Ukraine gives a population of circa 70-80 million people. Although the level of economic development in these countries cannot be compared to that in the countries located along the Rhine river, considering this area as traditionally close to Gdansk allows for drawing a broader perspective for the port. Our more elder readers may remember the saying repeated by comedians: "A Pole may not know about the sea when he is busy ploughing his field". Many years after, the sad truth unfortunately remains valid that Poland is an inland country. More than 500 kilometers of coastline and four major ports fail to convey the meaning of the sea as recognized in the Netherlands, Belgium or in Great Britain. The maritime economy in Poland is rather residual in nature when compared to the overall economy. One of the consequences of this approach is the invariably poor road and rail transport connections with the rest of Poland, not to mention the inland navigation. The developed West has to face increasingly frequent congestions causing major traffic problems on its overland transportation routes. This is the reason why the European Union's transport policy puts more and more emphasis on the sea transport. And sea tourism is also worthwhile mentioning here. For example, while the port in Ostend handles barely half of Gdansk's cargo volume, its passenger traffic is several times larger. This is mainly thanks to its ferry services to Great Britain. There is also an opportunity for the Port of Gdansk to develop its ferry services but the ferry and passenger terminal on Westerplatte lies idle due to problems such as poor transportation to the centre of Gdansk. Although the City is a shareholder in the company managing the port and holds slightly over 2% of its shares, it could theoretically hold up to one-third of its shares. The increase could be possible through e.g. the contribution of land. Yet, the City has no such intention as it can see no immediate profit. According to the Act, the entire profit generated by PGA SA goes to the port's development. However, there are benefits that cannot be directly measured. Investments in port facilities made throughout one thousand years of Gdansk's development attest to this proposition. Each zloty invested in the port's infrastructure will generate several more - for the entire port surroundings. Day by day, PGA SA examines the reasons for spending each earned zloty and analyses the economic efficiency of every quay in order to provide reasonable verification of investment trends and to determine the best possible direction of the port's development. The strategy of making true the slogan: "Gdansk - a port for all ships and cargoes" requires a determined cooperation of all entities and institutions having influence on the port's operation. While this task proves difficult in a time of "global economic setbacks", it can be realised on the condition of mutual trust among the entire Port of Gdansk family. The Port of Gdansk can only succeed in bearing the burden of Poland's return to Europe provided that a common front has been created involving all the port's partners - a kind of a "fairwater of the port's imagination" - which will help recognize how much richer the countries having access to a sea are as compared to those who have to use the ports of other countries. Janusz Kasprowicz
i don't know
Which Neopagan religion is often called ‘witchcraft’ or simply ‘the craft’?
Classifying Witchcrafts (excerpt from Witchcraft: A Concise History) Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca Copyright © 1971, 2005 c.e., Isaac Bonewits As with the words "artist," "doctor," "scientist," or "diviner," the word "witch" is almost meaningless without some sort of qualifying adjective in front of it. Here is a brief review, in alphabetical order, of the classification system I have created to distinguish the various European and American sorts of witches from one another. Note that several of these categories are capable of overlapping and/or of being mixed by living individuals. Anthropologic Witchcraft Anything an anthropologist calls "witchcraft," usually referring to either or both of the following meanings: 1. The practices of independent (real or supposed) magic users who are suspected of at least sometimes using their magic outside of their society's accepted cultural norms 2. A perceived state, often involuntary, of being a monster who can curse people with the "evil eye" Christian Witchcraft, a.k.a. Christo-Wicca The beliefs and practices of those who mix Neoclassic Witchcraft (see below) and/or Neopagan Witchcraft (Wicca) with a liberal form of Christianity, thus creating new Mesopagan versions of Wicca. Those who do primarily the former are often believers that "witchcraft is a craft," not a religion. Those who do primarily the latter are looked at askance by most Wiccans, who are inclined to think of them as "heretics." Naturally, all but the most liberal of Christians consider people doing any flavor whatsoever of witchcraft to be heretics, since Christian priests, preachers, and ministers are supposed to have a complete monopoly on all performances of magic. Classic Witchcraft, a.k.a. Cunning Craft The practices of the people that many modern witches think were the original witches, but who are more properly known as the cunning men and women. These folk were seldom called "witches" (at least to their faces) and could have any or all the following in their bags of tricks: midwifery; healing with magic, herbs, and other folk remedies; providing abortions, love potions, and poisons; divination; and casting of curses and blessings. Classic Witches have continued to exist to this very day, in ever dwindling numbers, mostly in the remotest villages and among the Romany or other traveling peoples. Criminal Witchcraft Witchcraft as originally conceived by those who used the term first: the suspected or real use of magic for negative purposes -in other words, magical malpractice. This is probably what the word "wicce" originally referred to, annoying as that may be to modern Wiccans, and is very similar to the way anthropologists define witchcraft. Diabolic Witchcraft An imaginary cult of Devil worshipers invented by the medieval Church, used as the excuse for raping, torturing, and killing scores of thousands of women, children, and men. The cult was said to consist of people who worshiped the Christian Devil in exchange for magical powers they used to benefit themselves and harm others. I used to call this "Gothic Witchcraft." Dianic Witchcraft 1. A postulated medieval cult of Diana and/or Dianus worshipers (Margaret Mur-ray's idea). 2. Term used by some henotheistic Neopagan Witches to refer to their concentration on the Goddess as more important than the God. 3. Term used by some Feminist Witches, especially those who are separatist, to describe their practices and beliefs. Eclectic Witchcraft The beliefs and practices of those on the liberal/heterodox end of the Wiccan spectrum. See "Traditional Witchcraft." Ethnic Witchcraft The practices of various non-English-speaking people who use magic, religion, and alternative healing methods in their own communities and who are called "witches" by English speakers who don't know any better. Family Tradition or "Fam-Trad" Witchcraft The practices and beliefs of those who claim to belong to (or to have been taught by members of) families that supposedly were "underground" Paleo- or Mesopagans for several centuries in Europe and/or the Americas, using their wealth and power to stay alive and secret. The overwhelming majority of the people you will ever meet who claim to be Fam-Trad Witches are simply lying, or have been lied to by their teachers. Family Tradition Witchcraft is also sometimes called "Hereditary Witchcraft" or even "Genetic Witchcraft." These latter terms are used by those people who think they must claim a witch as an ancestor to be a witch today or who think that such ancestry "proves" them to be better witches than those without such ancestry. Fairy/Faery/Faërie Tradition Witchcraft 1. Any of several different (and sometimes conflicting) Traditions of Meso- and/or Neopagan Witchcraft started by the blind poet and "scoundrel guru" Victor Anderson (1917­2001) during the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. He mixed British and Celtic folklore about the fairies, Gardnerianism, Voodoo, Max Freedom Long's version of Hawaiian Huna, Tantra, Gypsy magic, Native American beliefs, and anything else he was thinking about at the time he was training the founders of each Tradition. 2. Varieties of Neopagan Witchcraft focused around homosexual, bisexual, and/or transexual images and magical methods rather than the heterosexual (and sometimes homophobic) ones used in most Wiccan Traditions. 3. Other sects of Neopagan Witchcraft focused around real or made-up fairy lore, often taken from romantic poems, plays, and novels about the fairies. In most of these Traditions, there is usually an assumption that the medieval assumed associations between fairies and witches were true, and that the fairies were "originally" the Paleopagan nature spirits and/or deities. Feminist Witchcraft Several new monotheistic or henotheistic religions started since the early 1970s by women in the feminist community who belonged to the women's spirituality movement and/or who had contact with Neopagan Witches. It is partially an outgrowth of Neopagan Witchcraft, with male deities booted unceremoniously(!) out of the religion entirely, and partially a conglomeration of independent and eclectic do-it-yourself covens of spiritually inclined feminists. The religions usually involve worshiping only the syncretic Goddess (who is all goddesses) and using Her as a source of inspiration, magical power, and psychological growth. Their scholarship is often abysmal and men are usually not allowed to join or participate. Note, many other varieties of Witches also consider themselves feminists or act like ones whether they use the term or not. Gardnerian Witchcraft The originally Mesopagan source of what has now become Neopagan Witchcraft, founded by Gerald Gardner and his friends in the late 1940s and '50s, based on his alleged contacts with a surviving British coven of underground Pagan Witches. After he finished inventing, expanding, and/or reconstructing the rites, laws, and other materials, copies of his work were stolen by numerous others who then claimed Fam-Trad status and started new religions of their own. (See Ronald Hutton's Triumph of the Moon for most of the messy details or Appendix 7 for an overview.) Though Gardnerians are sometimes called "the scourge of the Craft," together with the Alexandrians and members of some other British Traditions, most of them may be considered simply the orthodox branch of Neopagan Witchcraft. Goth Witchcraft People in the "Goth" subculture who practice one or more varieties of Neoclassic, Neopagan, or sometimes Neodiabolic Witchcraft. Goth Wiccans tend to focus on "dark" gods and goddesses (meaning ones that rule such matters as death and the underworld) and try to look scary. Grandmotherly Witchcraft Refers to the habit common among modern Witches of claiming to have been initiated at an early age by a mother or grandmother who belonged to a Fam-Trad but who is now conveniently dead, doesn't speak English, and/or is otherwise unavailable for questioning. Immigrant Tradition or "Imm-Trad" Witchcraft Refers to the customs and beliefs of postulated Mesopagan peasants and Fam-Trad members who immigrated to the Americas and mingled their magical and religious customs with each other, the Native Americans, enslaved African Americans, and the previous immigrants. Examples of such Traditions might include the dozens of kinds of American Voodoo and Hoodoo (see Voodoo and Afro-Caribbean Paganism , by Lilith Dorsey for details), Pennsylvania "hex" magic, and Appalachian magical lore. I don't use this term much any more since most of these people seem to be just eclectic cunning folk, who don't seem to consider what they do to be mostly religious. Neoclassic Witchcraft The current practices of those who are consciously or unconsciously duplicating some or many of the (real or assumed) activities of the Classic Witches/Cunning Folk and who call themselves (or are called by others) "witches." Neodiabolic Witchcraft The beliefs and practices of some modern Satanists, who work very hard to be everything that the medieval Church and current fundamentalists say they should be. Some of them perform Black Masses, commit blasphemy and sacrilege toward Christian ideas and objects, hold (or long to hold) orgies, and so on. There is some small overlap with the "Goth" subculture of the 1980s, but most Goths are not Satanists. Neopagan Witchcraft or Wicca Many new duotheistic religions founded since the 1960s, most of which are variations of Gardnerian Witchcraft but some of which are independent inventions and/or reconstructions based on real or supposed Fam-Trads, Imm-Trads, literary creations, and so on-just like Gardner's! Most groups who call what they do "Wicca" are Neopagan Witches, though some of the more orthodox may be considered Mesopagan ones. Neoshamanic Witchcraft 1. The beliefs and practices of those modern persons who are attempting to rediscover, duplicate, and/or expand on the practices of (postulated) Shamanic Witches. 2. Neopagan Witchcraft done with feathers, drums, crystals, and other New Age additions of a vaguely shamanic flavor. Most use drums and chanting rather than drugs to achieve their desired trance states. Shamanic Witchcraft 1. Originally, the beliefs and practices of members of postulated independent belladonna/Moon Goddess cults throughout premedieval Europe, remnants of which might have survived into the Middle Ages. 2. Currently, Neoshamanic Witchcraft as done by those who do not use the Neo- prefix. Traditional Witchcraft 1. The beliefs and practices of those on the conservative/orthodox end of the Wiccan spectrum. See "Eclectic Witchcraft." 2. An extremely vague and badly abused term used by Gardner's competitors, supposed Fam-Trads, and other folks trying to make their practices seem older and more authentic than Wicca. witchcraft-with-a-small-w The beliefs and practices of those modern persons following one or more varieties of Neoclassic and/or Neopagan Witchcraft who refuse to admit it, usually while claiming to be Fam-Trad Witches. Witta 1. An imaginary form of Paleo- and Mesopagan Witchcraft, supposedly practiced in ancient and medieval Ireland, yet called by a Germanic term. 2. A modern blend of Anglo-Saxon/Germanic Reconstructionist Paganism with Wicca. Copyright © 1971, 2005 c.e., Isaac Bonewits. Unlike his other sharetext postings, this text file may NOT be freely distributed on the Net, since it is part of a published work—Bonewits's Essential Guide toWitchcraft and Wicca. Click here to buy it from Amazon.com. If you would like to be on one or more of Isaac Bonewits’ emailing lists, click here to get subscription information . Is having access to this material worth a few dollars, punts, pounds, or euros to you? Click the button to make a fast and secure donation to Isaac and Phaedra Bonewits, so they can afford to keep this website going and growing! Or you can suggest to your local Occult/New Age bookstore that they bring him and/or her out for one of his or her colorful presentations, or you could visit their Blatant Hucksterism Page, or you could just send money to them at PO Box 1010, Nyack, NY, USA 10960-8010. Isaac & Phae say: We use PayPal and we recommend it! Back to the T.O.C. of
Wicca
In a Roman house what activity took place in the triclinium?
FAQs about Wicca/Witchcraft What do Wiccan rituals involve? Wiccan rituals take many forms. But they all generally include: The casting of a circle -- the consecration of a sacred space. The invocation of a deity/deities. The body of the ritual, which may involve magick, spell casting, a community meal, dance, readings, singing, etc. Closing or banishing of the circle -- restoration of the space to ordinary usage. What does being a Wiccan involve? Common to almost all Wiccans is the recognition of the existence of the Goddess, and her consort the horned God. These may be viewed as real living personal entities, or as symbols. Wiccans follow the Wiccan Rede "A'in it harm none, do what thou wilt." 2 This means that as long as it harms no one, including yourself, one is free to do what they wish. A Wiccan carefully reviews the implications of each action or non-action in her/his life. Domination, manipulation and control are particularly prohibited by the Rede. Wiccans typically go through a dedication ritual at the start of their training, where they declare their intent to study Wicca. If they choose, they experience an initiation ritual when they complete their initial study of the religion -- often a period of a year and a day. Wiccans engage in rituals, either alone or within a coven of other Wiccans. They are committed to personal spiritual growth. How can I do a spell to make someone love me? There are many "Witchcraft" web sites and booklets that lists spells of all types. However, many of these are forbidden to Wiccans because they involve an attempt to control, dominate or manipulate another person. Using such a spell would conflict with the Wiccan Rede ( see above ). However, a Wiccan could cast a spell to help make themselves more open to love. They could cast a spell to help make another person more open to love, if that person specifically asked for it. More information . How does Wicca differ from Christianity? In many ways, the two are similar. For example, the have similar ethics of reciprocity . The Wiccan Rede and Christianity's Golden Rule both emphasize kindness to and consideration of others. But there are many differences: On sexual and gender matters: Wicca has generally accepted the equality of men and women. Christianity has historically reserved positions of power in the church , the rest of society and the family for males. Wicca regards responsible sexual behavior as a gift of the Goddess. Some committed Wiccan couples engage in private sexual rituals. Christianity has tended to have a negative and restrictive view of sexual behavior . Wicca generally accepts all sexual orientations as normal and natural: heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual . Wicca is largely an oral tradition, and has no holy text that corresponds to the Christian Bible. Wiccans stress the cycles of life and look upon time largely as cyclical. Christians mainly view time as linear. Most Wiccans reject the concept of Heaven and Hell , and embrace reincarnation. The concept that a person must believe certain things or behave in a certain way to achieve salvation and avoid being tortured in Hell for all eternity is foreign to Wicca. Wiccans feel close to nature and are highly concerned about its preservation. Wiccans do not proselytize. In particular, they do not usually dedicate, teach, or initiate potential converts unless they are 18 years or older. Where possible, and where it is safe to do so, Wiccans prefer to perform their rituals out-of-doors. Should I become a Wiccan? This is an intensely personal decision. We cannot recommend whether a person should or should not adopt a specific religion. Such a decision has to come from the heart.  If you are searching for a faith group that matches your beliefs, you might find the Religion Selector by SelectSmart.com and SpeakOut.com to be helpful. If you find the following portion of the Charge of the Goddess to be particularly moving and meaningful, then you might have the makings of a Wiccan. If it simply sounds like gibberish, then Wicca may not be for you: Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess; she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, and whose body encircles the universe:  "I who am the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, call unto thy soul:  Arise, and come unto me.  For I am the soul of nature, who gives life to the universe.  From Me all things proceed, and unto Me all things must return; and before My face, beloved of gods and of men, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite.  Let My worship be within the heart that rejoices; for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.  And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.  And thou who thinkest to seek Me, know that thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knowest the Mystery: that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without.  For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire." 1 Becoming a Wiccan is not a simple path. Parents and friends might be very distressed when they learn that you are not accepting their religion. If you live in some areas of world, you have to be quite secretive about being a Wiccan because of danger of physical assault. People's reaction depends a lot on how tolerant they feel towards other religions, and on what they believe about Wicca. There is still a lot of misinformation being circulated about Wicca and other Neopagan religions. Fortunately, an increasing number of Neopagans are coming out of the closet and openly discussing their religions. Increasing numbers of non-Pagan web sites which accurately discuss Neopagan religions are becoming available. Over time, the hatred and misinformation should largely disappear. How to I make contact with other Wiccans? There are generally no Wiccan listings in the religion page of your local newspaper. Individual Wiccans and covens tend to keep a low profile for reason of security. It is safer that way. Many Wiccans start by attending a local Neopagan gathering or festival. The Witches' Voice maintains an index of Wiccans and covens worldwide. We urge caution when contacting an unknown Wiccan individual or group for the first time. There are a lot of nut-cases and sexual predators in North America and Wicca has its share. We recommend arranging the first meeting in a public place. More details Related essay on this web site:
i don't know
What religion was accepted in the Roman Empire in AD313 by the Edict of Milan?
The Roman Empire: in the First Century. The Roman Empire. Early Christians | PBS   Early Christians The spread of Christianity was made a lot easier by the efficiency of the Roman Empire, but its principles were sometimes misunderstood and membership of the sect could be dangerous. Although Jesus had died, his message had not. Word of his teachings spread to Jewish communities across the empire. This was helped by energetic apostles, such as Paul and by the modern communications of the Roman Empire. Spreading the word Over 30 years, Paul clocked up around 10,000 miles, traveling across the Roman Empire. He preached in some of the empire�s most important cities. Although places like Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth and Athens looked magnificent, they were also home to tens of thousands of poor, desperate people who were the perfect audience for the Christian message of eternal life. Like Jesus, Paul spoke to people in their homes and synagogues. But he went beyond Jesus, who had only preached to Jews . Paul believed his message should also be taken to gentiles � the non-Jews. Relaxing the rules This meant taking a more relaxed approach to ancient Jewish laws about food and circumcision. It was a slap in the face for Jewish tradition, but it was also the central reason for the rapid spread of Christianity. As the Christian movement began to accept non-Jewish members, it moved further away from the strict rules imposed on Jews. In so doing, it gradually became a new and separate religion. An easy target Despite its growing popularity, Christianity was sometimes misunderstood and membership could bring enormous risks. Widely criticized after the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, the Emperor Nero tried to divert attention away from his own failings by providing an easy scapegoat: the Christians. Although the followers of Jesus were working hard to spread the message, there were still very few Christians in Rome. They were regarded with suspicion. Some important Christian rituals were mistaken as cannibalism, others as incest. Christians became an easy target. Nero wasted no time. He arrested and tortured all the Christians in Rome, before executing them with lavish publicity. Some were crucified, some were thrown to wild animals and others were burned alive as living torches. A new approach Despite this, Nero's persecution of the new Christian sect was brief and, in the first century at least, was not repeated in other parts of the empire. When asked by Pliny the Younger how to deal with Christians in the Asian provinces, Trajan replied that they should not be actively pursued. However, they could be punished if they were publicly criticized and refused to abandon their beliefs. Over time, the Christian church and faith grew more organized. In 313 AD, the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which accepted Christianity: 10 years later, it had become the official religion of the Roman Empire. Where to next:
Christianity
Which term is used for a painting of Mary supporting the body of the dead Christ?
Edict of Milan - Razor Robotics Edict of Milan Bust of Emperor Constantine the Great, Roman, 4th century. The Edict of Milan (Italian: Editto di Milano, Latin: Edictum Mediolanense) was the February 313 AD agreement to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire. Western Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius, who controlled the Balkans, met in Milan and among other things, agreed to change policies towards Christians following the Edict of Toleration by Galerius issued two years earlier in Serdica. The Edict of Milan gave Christianity a legal status, but did not make Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire until Emperor Theodosius I did so in 380 AD. The document known as the Edict of Milan (Edictum Mediolanense) is found in Lactantius' De Mortibus Persecutorum and in Eusebius of Caesarea's History of the Church with marked divergences between the two. Whether or not there was a formal 'Edict of Milan' is debatable. The version found in Lactantius is not in the form of an edict. It is a letter from Licinius to the governors of the provinces in the Eastern Empire he had just conquered by defeating Maximinus later in the same year and issued in Nicomedia. History Remains of the Imperial palace of Mediolanum (Milan). The imperial palace (built in large part by Maximian, colleague of Diocletian) was a large complex with several buildings, gardens, and courtyards, used for the Emperor's private and public activities, and for his court, family, and imperial bureaucracy. Ever since the fall of the Severan dynasty in 235, rivals for the imperial throne had bid for support by either favouring or persecuting Christians. The previous Edict of Toleration by Galerius had been recently issued by the emperor Galerius from Serdica and was posted at Nicomedia on 30 April 311. By its provisions, the Christians, who had "followed such a caprice and had fallen into such a folly that they would not obey the institutes of antiquity", were granted an indulgence. Wherefore, for this our indulgence, they ought to pray to their God for our safety, for that of the republic, and for their own, that the commonwealth may continue uninjured on every side, and that they may be able to live securely in their homes. Their confiscated property, however, was not restored until 313, when instructions were given for the Christians' meeting places and other properties to be returned and compensation paid by the state to the current owners: the same shall be restored to the Christians without payment or any claim of recompense and without any kind of fraud or deception. It directed the provincial magistrates to execute this order at once with all energy so that public order may be restored and the continuance of divine favour may "preserve and prosper our successes together with the good of the state." The actual letters have never been retrieved. However, they are quoted at length in Lactantius' On the Deaths of the Persecutors (De mortibus persecutorum), which gives the Latin text of both Galerius's Edict of Toleration as posted at Nicomedia on 30 April 311 and of Licinius's letter of toleration and restitution addressed to the governor of Bithynia and posted at Nicomedia on 13 June 313. Eusebius of Caesarea translated both documents into Greek in his History of the Church (Historia Ecclesiastica). His version of the letter of Licinius must derive from a copy posted in the province of Palaestina Prima (probably at its capital, Caesarea) in the late summer or early autumn of 313, but the origin of his copy of Galerius's Edict of 311 is unknown since that does not seem to have been promulgated in Caesarea. In his description of the events in Milan in his Life of Constantine, Eusebius eliminated the role of Licinius, whom he portrayed as the evil foil to his hero Constantine. The Edict was in effect directed against Maximinus Daia, the Caesar in the East who was at that time styling himself as Augustus. Having received the emperor Galerius' instruction to repeal the persecution in 311, Maximinus had instructed his subordinates to desist, but had not released Christians from prisons or virtual death-sentences in the mines, as Constantine and Licinius had both done in the West. Following Galerius' death, Maximin was no longer constrained; he enthusiastically took up renewed persecutions in the eastern territories under his control, encouraging petitions against Christians. One of those petitions, addressed not only to Maximin but also to Constantine and Licinius, is preserved in a stone inscription at Arycanda in Lycia, and is a "request that the Christians, who have long been disloyal and still persist in the same mischievous intent, should at last be put down and not be suffered by any absurd novelty to offend against the honour due to the gods." The Edict is popularly thought to concern only Christianity, and even to make Christianity the official religion of the Empire (which recognition did not actually occur until the Edict of Thessalonica in 380). Indeed, the Edict expressly grants religious liberty not only to Christians, who had been the object of special persecution, but goes even further and grants liberty to all religions: When you see that this has been granted to [Christians] by us, your Worship will know that we have also conceded to other religions the right of open and free observance of their worship for the sake of the peace of our times, that each one may have the free opportunity to worship as he pleases; this regulation is made that we may not seem to detract from any dignity of any religion. — "Edict of Milan", Lactantius, On the Deaths of the Persecutors (De Mortibus Persecutorum), ch. 48. opera, ed. 0. F. Fritzsche, II, p 288 sq. (Bibl Patr. Ecc. Lat. XI). Since Licinius composed the Edict with the intent of publishing it in the east upon his hoped-for victory over Maximinus, it expresses the religious policy accepted by Licinius, a pagan, rather than that of Constantine, who was already a Christian. Constantine's own policy went beyond merely tolerating Christianity: he tolerated paganism and other religions, but he actively promoted Christianity. Religious statement People commonly point to the Edict of Milan as Constantine’s first great act as a Christian Emperor, although, it is unlikely that the Edict of Milan was an act of genuine Christian faith on Constantine’s part. The document instead should more accurately be seen as the first step in creating an alliance with the Christian God, whom Constantine considered the strongest Deity. Constantine at that time was more concerned about social stability and the protection of the empire from the wrath of the Christian God than he was for justice or care for the Christians. The Edict of Milan is more indicative of the Roman culture’s obsession with seeking the gods' intervention than of Constantine's or Licinius’s religious beliefs. The Edict of Milan required that the wrong done to the Christians be righted as thoroughly as possible. From the state’s perspective all wrongs should be righted as it claims “it has pleased us to remove all conditions whatsoever.” The edict further demanded that individual Romans right any wrongs towards the Christians as well, claiming that “the same shall be restored to the Christians without payment or any claim of recompense and without any kind of fraud or deception.” These provisions indicate that more than just the establishment of justice was intended. After stating that they should return what was lost to the Christians immediately, the edict states that this should be done so that “public order may be secured”, not for the intrinsic value of justice or even for the glory of God. The sense of urgently righting wrongs reflects the leaders' desires to avoid unfavorable consequences, which in this case included social unrest and further conquests. The sooner the Romans maintained a state of justice with the Christians, the sooner the state could become stable because, it was thought, the forces of evil would be more balanced. Constantine was known to be superstitious and believed enough in the existence of the non-Christian gods to not want to offset the balance of good and evil. Because Constantine held this fear of all the gods worshiped in the Roman Empire at that time, this fear of and desire to form an alliance with the Christian God demonstrated in the Edict of Milan is insufficient to claim he was then a Christian.  
i don't know
What was invented and first described by Dr Ludovic Zamenhof in 1887?
Esperanto : Wikis (The Full Wiki) The Full Wiki       Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Related top topics Latin_alphabet ">Top languages by writing system: Latin alphabet Did you know ... From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the language. For other uses, see Esperanto (disambiguation) . Esperanto Native : 200 to 2000 (1996, est.); Fluent speakers: est. 100,000 to 2 million (in about 115 countries) [1] Category (purpose) Esperanto (help·info) is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language . [2] Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro , in 1887. The word esperanto means "one who hopes" in the language itself. The language's original name was "La Internacia Lingvo." [3] Zamenhof's goal was to create an easy to learn and politically neutral language that would serve as a universal second language to foster peace and international understanding. [4] Esperanto has between 100,000 and 2 million speakers in about 115 countries, and approximately one thousand native speakers , [5] i.e. people who learned Esperanto as one of their native languages from their parents. Although no country has adopted the language officially , Esperanto did get official recognition by UNESCO in 1954. [6] Today, Esperanto is employed in world travel, [7] correspondence, cultural exchange, conventions, literature, language instruction, [8] television, [9] movies, [10] and radio broadcasting. [11] The first international Esperanto congress was organized in France, Boulogne-sur-Mer , in 1905. Since then international conferences and meetings have been organized around the world with Esperanto every year. [12] At least one major search engine, Google , offers searching of Esperanto-related websites via an Esperanto portal. [13] There is evidence that learning Esperanto may provide a good foundation for learning languages in general. [14] Esperanto is also the language of instruction in one university, the Akademio Internacia de la Sciencoj in San Marino . [15] Contents The first Esperanto book by L. L. Zamenhof Esperanto was created in the late 1870s and early 1880s by Dr. Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof , a Jewish ophthalmologist from Bialystok , at the time part of the Russian Empire . According to Zamenhof, he created this language to foster harmony between people from different countries. His feelings and the situation in Bialystok may be gleaned from an extract from his famous letter to Nikolai Borovko: [16] The place where I was born and spent my childhood gave direction to all my future struggles. In Bialystok the inhabitants were divided into four distinct elements: Russians, Poles, Germans and Jews; each of these spoke their own language and looked on all the others as enemies. In such a town a sensitive nature feels more acutely than elsewhere the misery caused by language division and sees at every step that the diversity of languages is the first, or at least the most influential, basis for the separation of the human family into groups of enemies. I was brought up as an idealist; I was taught that all people were brothers, while outside in the street at every step I felt that there were no people, only Russians, Poles, Germans, Jews and so on. This was always a great torment to my infant mind, although many people may smile at such an 'anguish for the world' in a child. Since at that time I thought that 'grown-ups' were omnipotent, so I often said to myself that when I grew up I would certainly destroy this evil. —L. L. Zamenhof, in a letter to one N. Borovko, ca. 1895 After some ten years of development, which Zamenhof spent translating literature into Esperanto as well as writing original prose and verse , the first book of Esperanto grammar was published in Warsaw in July 1887. The number of speakers grew rapidly over the next few decades, at first primarily in the Russian Empire and Eastern Europe , then in Western Europe , the Americas , China , and Japan . In the early years, speakers of Esperanto kept in contact primarily through correspondence and periodicals , but in 1905 the first world congress of Esperanto speakers was held in Boulogne-sur-Mer , France . Since then world congresses have been held in different countries every year, except during the two World Wars . Since the Second World War, they have been attended by an average of over 2,000 and up to 6,000 people. Relation to 20th-century totalitarianism As a potential vehicle for international understanding, Esperanto attracted the suspicion of many totalitarian states. The situation was especially pronounced in Nazi Germany , Imperial Japan and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin . In Germany, there was additional motivation to persecute Esperanto because Zamenhof was Jewish. In his work, Mein Kampf , Hitler mentioned Esperanto as an example of a language that would be used by an International Jewish Conspiracy once they achieved world domination . [17] Esperantists were killed during the Holocaust , with Zamenhof's family in particular singled out for murder. [18] In the early years of the Soviet Union, Esperanto was given a measure of government support, and an officially recognized Soviet Esperanto Association came into being. [19] However, in 1937, Stalin reversed this policy. He denounced Esperanto as "the language of spies" and had Esperantists exiled or executed. The use of Esperanto was effectively banned until 1956. [19] After the Spanish Civil War , Francoist Spain persecuted the Anarchists and Catalan nationalists among which Esperanto was extended [20] but in the 1950s, the Esperanto movement was tolerated again. Official use Esperanto has never been an official language of any recognized country. However, there were plans at the beginning of the 20th century to establish Neutral Moresnet as the world's first Esperanto state. Qian Xuantong , a Chinese linguist, promoted the replacement of Chinese with Esperanto. [21] In addition, the self-proclaimed artificial island micronation of Rose Island used Esperanto as its official language in 1968. The U.S. Army has published military phrasebooks in Esperanto, [22] to be used in wargames by mock enemy forces. In the summer of 1924, the American Radio Relay League adopted Esperanto as its official international auxiliary language , and hoped that the language would be used by radio amateurs in international communications, but its actual use for radio communications was negligible. Esperanto is the working language of several non-profit international organizations such as the Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda ; most others are specifically Esperanto organizations. The largest of these, the World Esperanto Association , has an official consultative relationship with the United Nations and UNESCO . Esperanto is also the first language of teaching and administration of one university, the International Academy of Sciences San Marino . Linguistic properties Classification As a constructed language , Esperanto is not genealogically related to any ethnic language. It has been described as "a language lexically predominantly Romanic , morphologically intensively agglutinative , and to a certain degree isolating in character". [23] The phonology , grammar , vocabulary , and semantics are based on the western Indo-European languages . The phonemic inventory is essentially Slavic , as is much of the semantics, while the vocabulary derives primarily from the Romance languages , with a lesser contribution from the Germanic languages . Pragmatics and other aspects of the language not specified by Zamenhof's original documents were influenced by the native languages of early speakers, primarily Russian , Polish , German , and French . Typologically , Esperanto has prepositions and a free pragmatic word order that by default is subject-verb-object . Adjectives can be freely placed before or after the nouns they modify, though placing them before the noun is more common. New words are formed through extensive prefixing and suffixing . Writing system Main article: Esperanto orthography Esperanto is written with a modified version of the Latin alphabet , including six letters with diacritics : ĉ , ĝ , ĥ , ĵ , ŝ (with circumflex ) and ŭ (with breve ). The alphabet does not include the letters q, w, x, or y except in unassimilated foreign names. The 28-letter alphabet is: a b c ĉ d e f g ĝ h ĥ i j ĵ k l m n o p r s ŝ t u ŭ v z All letters are pronounced approximately as in the IPA , with the exception of c and the letters with diacritics: Letter (in diphthongs) Writing diacritic letters The letters with diacritics (found in the "Latin-Extended A" section of the Unicode Standard ) once caused problems with printing and computing. This was particularly true with the five letters with circumflexes, as they do not occur in any other language. The diacritics are normally only a problem now with computing situations such as internet chat groups and databases that are limited to ASCII characters. There are two principal workarounds to this problem, which substitute digraphs for the accented letters. Zamenhof, the inventor of Esperanto, created an "h-convention", which replaces ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, and ŭ with ch, gh, hh, jh, sh, and u, respectively. A more recent " x-convention " has gained ground since the advent of computing. This system replaces each diacritic with an x after the letter, producing the six digraphs cx, gx, hx, jx, sx, and ux. This latter system is useful for automated alphabetic word sorting, as each letter with a diacritic is ordered correctly after the preceding letter: for example, cxa comes correctly after cu, just as ĉa would. This system is also useful for simple computerized conversion back into the standard orthography, as there is no ambiguity. There are computer keyboard layouts that support the Esperanto alphabet, and some systems use software that automatically substitutes x- or h-convention digraphs with the corresponding diacritic letters. One example of this is EK for Microsoft Windows . Phonology Main article: Esperanto phonology (For help with the phonetic symbols, see Help:IPA) Esperanto has 22 consonants , 5 vowels and 2 semivowels that combine with the vowels to form 6 diphthongs . (The consonant [j] and semivowel [i̯] are both written with the letter j.) Tone is not used to distinguish meanings of words. Stress is always on the penultimate vowel in fully Esperanto words unless a final vowel o is elided , a practice which occurs mostly in poetry . For example, familio "family" is [fa.mi.ˈli.o], with the stress on the i, but when the word is used without the final o (famili’), the stress remains on the i: [fa.mi.ˈli]. Consonants     The sound [r] is usually rolled , but may be tapped [ɾ]. The [v] is normally pronounced like an English v, but may be pronounced [ʋ] (between English v and w) or [w], depending on the language background of the speaker. A semivowel [u̯] normally occurs only in diphthongs after the vowels [a] and [e], not as a consonant [w]. Common, if debated, assimilation includes the pronunciation of nk as [ŋk] and kz as [ɡz]. A large number of consonant clusters can occur, up to three in initial position (as in stranga, which means "strange") and four in medial position (as in instrui, meaning "teach"). Final clusters are uncommon except in foreign names, poetic elision of final o, and a very few basic words such as cent "hundred" and post "after". Vowels Open a There are also two semivowels, [i̯] and [u̯], which combine with the cardinal vowels to form six falling diphthongs : aj, ej, oj, uj, aŭ, and eŭ. Since there are only five vowels, a good deal of variation in pronunciation is tolerated. For instance, e commonly ranges from [e] (French é) to [ɛ] (French è). These details often depend on the speaker's native language. A glottal stop may occur between adjacent vowels in some people's speech, especially when the two vowels are the same, as in heroo "hero" ([he.ˈro.o] or [he.ˈro.ʔo]) and praavo "great-grandfather" ([pra.ˈa.vo] or [pra.ˈʔa.vo]). Grammar Main article: Esperanto grammar Esperanto words are derived by stringing together prefixes , roots , and suffixes . This process is regular, so that people can create new words as they speak and be understood. Compound words are formed with a modifier-first, head-final order, as in English (compare "birdsong" and "songbird"). The different parts of speech are marked by their own suffixes: all common nouns end in -o, all adjectives in -a, all derived adverbs in -e, and all verbs in one of six tense and mood suffixes, such as the present tense -as. Plural nouns end in -oj (pronounced like English "oy"), whereas direct objects end in -on. Plural direct objects end with the combination -ojn (pronounced to rhyme with "coin"); -o- indicates that the word is a noun, -j- indicates the plural, and -n indicates the accusative. Adjectives agree with their nouns; their endings are plural -aj (pronounced "eye"), accusative -an, and plural accusative -ajn (pronounced to rhyme with "fine"). Conditional -us (kantus) Word order is comparatively free. Adjectives may precede or follow nouns; subjects, verbs and objects may occur in any order. However, the article la "the", demonstratives such as tiu "that" and prepositions (such as ĉe "at") must come before their related nouns. Similarly, the negative ne "not" and conjunctions such as kaj "and" and ke "that" must precede the phrase or clause that they introduce. In copular (A = B) clauses, word order is just as important as it is in English: "people are animals" is distinguished from "animals are people". Vocabulary Main article: Esperanto vocabulary The core vocabulary of Esperanto was defined by Lingvo internacia, published by Zamenhof in 1887. This book listed 900 roots; these could be expanded into tens of thousands of words with prefixes, suffixes and compounding. In 1894, Zamenhof published the first Esperanto dictionary , Universala Vortaro, which had a larger set of roots. The rules of the language allowed speakers to borrow new roots as needed; it was recommended, however, that speakers use most international forms and then derive related meanings from these. Since then, many words have been borrowed, primarily (but not solely) from the Western European languages. Not all proposed borrowings become widespread, but many do, especially technical and scientific terms. Terms for everyday use, on the other hand, are more likely to be derived from existing roots; komputilo "computer", for instance, is formed from the verb komputi "compute" and the suffix -ilo "tool". Words are also calqued ; that is, words acquire new meanings based on usage in other languages. For example, the word muso "mouse" has acquired the meaning of a computer input device based on a parallel usage in English. Esperanto speakers often debate about whether a particular borrowing is justified or whether meaning can be expressed by deriving from or extending the meaning of existing words. Some compounds and formed words in Esperanto are not entirely straightforward; for example, eldoni, literally "give out", means "publish", paralleling the usage of certain Western European languages (such as German ). In addition, the suffix -um- has no defined meaning; words using the suffix must be learned separately (such as dekstren "to the right" and dekstrumen "clockwise"). There are not many idiomatic or slang words in Esperanto, as these forms of speech tend to make international communication difficult—working against Esperanto's main goal. Useful phrases Below are listed some useful Esperanto words and phrases along with IPA transcriptions: English [ˈpa.tson] Sample text The following short extract gives an idea of the character of Esperanto. [24] (Pronunciation is covered above; the main thing for English speakers to remember is that the Esperanto letter j has the sound of the English letter y.) Esperanto: «En multaj lokoj de Ĉinio estis temploj de drako-reĝo. Dum trosekeco oni preĝis en la temploj, ke la drako-reĝo donu pluvon al la homa mondo. Tiam drako estis simbolo de la supernatura estaĵo. Kaj pli poste, ĝi fariĝis prapatro de la plej altaj regantoj kaj simbolis la absolutan aŭtoritaton de feŭda imperiestro. La imperiestro pretendis, ke li estas filo de la drako. Ĉiuj liaj vivbezonaĵoj portis la nomon drako kaj estis ornamitaj per diversaj drakofiguroj. Nun ĉie en Ĉinio videblas drako-ornamentaĵoj, kaj cirkulas legendoj pri drakoj.» English translation: In many places in China, there were temples of the dragon-king. During times of drought, people would pray in the temples that the dragon-king would give rain to the human world. At that time the dragon was a symbol of the supernatural. Later on, it became the ancestor of the highest rulers and symbolised the absolute authority of the feudal emperor. The emperor claimed to be the son of the dragon. All of his personal possessions carried the name "dragon" and were decorated with various dragon figures. Now dragon decorations can be seen everywhere in China and legends about dragons circulate. Education The majority of Esperanto speakers learn the language through self-directed study , online tutorials, and correspondence courses taught by volunteers. In more recent years, teaching websites like lernu! have become popular. Esperanto instruction is occasionally available at schools, including four primary schools in a pilot project under the supervision of the University of Manchester , and by one count at 69 universities. [25] However, outside China and Hungary , these mostly involve informal arrangements rather than dedicated departments or state sponsorship. Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest had a department of Interlinguistics and Esperanto from 1966 to 2004, after which time instruction moved to vocational colleges; there are state examinations for Esperanto instructors. [26] [27] In Brazil , an effort is being made to approve a law to teach Esperanto in public schools . [28] Various educators have estimated that Esperanto can be learned in anywhere from one quarter to one twentieth the amount of time required for other languages. [29] Claude Piron , a psychologist formerly at the University of Geneva and Chinese-English-Russian-Spanish translator for the United Nations, argued that Esperanto is far more intuitive than many ethnic languages. "Esperanto relies entirely on innate reflexes [and] differs from all other languages in that you can always trust your natural tendency to generalize patterns. [...] The same neuropsychological law [—called by] Jean Piaget generalizing assimilation—applies to word formation as well as to grammar." [30] The Institute of Cybernetic Pedagogy at Paderborn (Germany) has compared the length of study time it takes Francophone high school students to obtain comparable 'standard' levels in Esperanto, English, German, and Italian. [31] The results were: 2000 hours studying German = 1000 hours studying Italian = 150 hours studying Esperanto. It should be noted, however, that these figures can only reflect the respective learning difficulty of these languages for native French speakers. They should be compared to figures from other countries to allow for a more general perspective on the learning difficulty of Esperanto. It should be noted in the chart above, Italian would naturally be easier for French speakers to learn since they are both Romance languages, where German is a Germanic language, for example. Language acquisition Four primary schools in Britain, with some 230 pupils, are currently following a course in " propedeutic Esperanto"—that is, instruction in Esperanto to raise language awareness and accelerate subsequent learning of foreign languages—under the supervision of the University of Manchester. [32] Studies have been conducted in New Zealand, [33] United States, [34] [35] [36] Germany, [37] Italy [38] and Australia. [39] The results of these studies were favorable and demonstrated that studying Esperanto before another foreign language expedites the acquisition of the other, natural, language. This appears to be because learning subsequent foreign languages is easier than learning one's first, while the use of a grammatically simple and culturally flexible auxiliary language like Esperanto lessens the first-language learning hurdle. In one study, [40] a group of European secondary school students studied Esperanto for one year, then French for three years, and ended up with a significantly better command of French than a control group, who studied French for all four years. Similar results have been found for other combinations of native and second languages, as well as for arrangements in which the course of study was reduced to two years, of which six months is spent learning Esperanto. [41] Community The network of the Pasporta Servo . Esperanto is by far the most widely spoken constructed language in the world. Speakers are most numerous in Europe and East Asia , especially in urban areas . [42] Esperanto is particularly prevalent in the northern and eastern countries of Europe; in China, Korea , Japan, and Iran within Asia; in Brazil , Argentina , and Mexico in the Americas; [1] and in Togo in Africa. [43] Number of speakers An estimate of the number of Esperanto speakers was made by Sidney S. Culbert , a retired psychology professor at the University of Washington and a longtime Esperantist, who tracked down and tested Esperanto speakers in sample areas in dozens of countries over a period of twenty years. Culbert concluded that between one and two million people speak Esperanto at Foreign Service Level 3 , "professionally proficient" (able to communicate moderately complex ideas without hesitation, and to follow speeches, radio broadcasts, etc.). [44] Culbert's estimate was not made for Esperanto alone, but formed part of his listing of estimates for all languages of over 1 million speakers, published annually in the World Almanac and Book of Facts . Culbert's most detailed account of his methodology is found in a 1989 letter to David Wolff. [45] Since Culbert never published detailed intermediate results for particular countries and regions, it is difficult to independently gauge the accuracy of his results. In the Almanac, his estimates for numbers of language speakers were rounded to the nearest million, thus the number for Esperanto speakers is shown as 2 million. This latter figure appears in Ethnologue . Assuming that this figure is accurate, that means that about 0.03% of the world's population speaks the language. This isn't Zamenhof's goal of a universal language , but it represents a level of popularity unmatched by any other constructed language. Marcus Sikosek (now Ziko van Dijk) has challenged this figure of 1.6 million as exaggerated. He estimated that even if Esperanto speakers were evenly distributed, assuming one million Esperanto speakers worldwide would lead one to expect about 180 in the city of Cologne . Van Dijk finds only 30 fluent speakers in that city, and similarly smaller-than-expected figures in several other places thought to have a larger-than-average concentration of Esperanto speakers. He also notes that there are a total of about 20,000 members of the various Esperanto organizations (other estimates are higher). Though there are undoubtedly many Esperanto speakers who are not members of any Esperanto organization, he thinks it unlikely that there are fifty times more speakers than organization members. [42] Finnish linguist Jouko Lindstedt, an expert on native-born Esperanto speakers, presented the following scheme [46] to show the overall proportions of language capabilities within the Esperanto community: 1,000 have Esperanto as their native language. 10,000 speak it fluently. 100,000 can use it actively. 1,000,000 understand a large amount passively. 10,000,000 have studied it to some extent at some time. In the absence of Dr. Culbert's detailed sampling data, or any other census data, it is impossible to state the number of speakers with certainty. Few observers, probably, would challenge the following statement from the website of the World Esperanto Association : Numbers of textbooks sold and membership of local societies put the number of people with some knowledge of the language in the hundreds of thousands and possibly millions. [47] In 2009 Lu Wunsch-Rolshoven used 2001 year census data [48] from Hungary [49] and Lithuania as a base for an estimate, resulting in approximately 160,000 to 300,000 to speak the language actively or fluently throughout the world, with about 80,000 to 150,000 of these being in the European Union. Native speakers Main article: Native Esperanto speakers Ethnologue relates estimates that there are 200 to 2000 native Esperanto speakers (denaskuloj), who have learned the language from birth from their Esperanto-speaking parents. [1] This usually happens when Esperanto is the chief or only common language in an international family, but sometimes occurs in a family of devoted Esperantists. The most famous native speaker of Esperanto is businessman George Soros . [47] Teodoro Schwartz , his father, was an Esperantist. [47] Also notable is young Holocaust victim Petr Ginz , whose drawing of the planet Earth as viewed from the moon was carried aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003 ( STS-107 ). Culture Esperanto as used in the Icelandic Phallological Museum Esperanto speakers can access an international culture , including a large body of original as well as translated literature . There are over 25,000 Esperanto books, both originals and translations, as well as several regularly distributed Esperanto magazines . Esperanto speakers use the language for free accommodations with Esperantists in 92 countries using the Pasporta Servo or to develop pen pal friendships abroad through the Esperanto Pen Pal Service. [50] Every year, 1,500–3,000 Esperanto speakers meet for the World Congress of Esperanto (Universala Kongreso de Esperanto). [51] The European Esperanto Union (Eŭropa Esperanto-Unio) regroups the national Esperanto associations of the EU member states and holds congresses every two years. The most recent was in Maribor, Slovenia , in July-August 2007. It attracted 256 delegates from 28 countries, including two members of the European Parliament , Ms. Małgorzata Handzlik of Poland and Ms. Ljudmila Novak of Slovenia . Historically, much Esperanto music , such as Kaj Tiel Plu, has been in various folk traditions. [52] In recent decades, more rock and other modern genres have appeared, an example being that of the Swedish band Persone . [53] There is also a variety of classical and semi-classical choral music, both original and translated, as well as large ensemble music that includes voices singing Esperanto texts. Lou Harrison , who incorporated styles and instruments from many world cultures in his music, used Esperanto titles and/or texts in several of his works, most notably La Koro-Sutro (1973). David Gaines used Esperanto poems as well as an excerpt from a speech by Dr. Zamenhof for his Symphony No. 1 (Esperanto) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (1994–98). He wrote original Esperanto text for his Povas plori mi ne plu (I Can Cry No Longer) for unaccompanied SATB choir (1994). There are also shared traditions , such as Zamenhof Day , and shared behaviour patterns. Esperantists speak primarily in Esperanto at international Esperanto meetings . Detractors of Esperanto occasionally criticize it as "having no culture". Proponents, such as Prof. Humphrey Tonkin of the University of Hartford , observe that Esperanto is "culturally neutral by design, as it was intended to be a facilitator between cultures, not to be the carrier of any one national culture." The late Scottish Esperanto author William Auld has written extensively on the subject, arguing that Esperanto is "the expression of a common human culture , unencumbered by national frontiers. Thus it is considered a culture on its own." [54] Others point to Esperanto's potential for strengthening a common European identity, as it combines features of several European languages . Famous authors in Esperanto Main article: Esperanto in popular culture Esperanto has been used in a number of films and novels. Typically, this is done either to add the exotic flavour of a foreign language without representing any particular ethnicity, or to avoid going to the trouble of inventing a new language. The Charlie Chaplin film The Great Dictator (1940) showed Jewish ghetto shops designated in Esperanto, each with the general Esperanto suffix -ejo (meaning "place for..."), in order to convey the atmosphere of some 'foreign' East European country without referencing any particular East European language. Two full-length feature films have been produced with dialogue entirely in Esperanto: Angoroj , in 1964, and Incubus , a 1965 B-movie horror film. Canadian actor William Shatner learned Esperanto to a limited level so that he could star in Incubus. In Fritz Lang 's Metropolis (1927) shop and road signs in Esperanto appear in many background scenes. Other amateur productions have been made, such as a dramatisation of the novel Gerda Malaperis (Gerda Has Disappeared). A number of "mainstream" films in national languages have used Esperanto in some way, such as Gattaca (1997), in which Esperanto can be overheard on the public address system. In the 1994 film Street Fighter , Esperanto is the native language of the fictional country of Shadaloo , and in a barracks scene the soldiers of villain M. Bison sing a rousing Russian Army-style chorus, the "Bison Troopers Marching Song", in the language. Esperanto is also spoken and appears on signs in the film Blade: Trinity. In the British comedy Red Dwarf , Arnold Rimmer is seen attempting to learn Esperanto in a number of early episodes, including Kryten . In the first season, signs on the titular spacecraft are in both English and Esperanto. Esperanto is used as the universal language in the far future of Harry Harrison 's Stainless Steel Rat and Deathworld stories. Musician Stephen Kellogg has acknowledged that his song "Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts" from his 2009 album "The Bear" is a reference to the language of Esperanto. In his song, though, Shady Esperanto is a character. The opening song 'Memoro de la Ŝtono' in the popular Video Game Final Fantasy XI was written in Esperanto. This was the first game in the series that was online and the composer Nobuo Uematsu felt that Esperanto was a good language to symbolize worldwide unity. It has been performed worldwide. In the Michael Chabon novel The Yiddish Policeman's Union the main character lives in the Hotel Zamenhof. All of the signs in the hotel are written in Esperanto. Science In 1921 the French Academy of Sciences recommended using Esperanto for international scientific communication. A few scientists and mathematicians, such as Maurice Fréchet (mathematics), John C. Wells (linguistics), Helmar Frank (pedagogy and cybernetics), and Nobel laureate Reinhard Selten (economics) have published part of their work in Esperanto. Frank and Selten were among the founders of the International Academy of Sciences in San Marino , sometimes called the "Esperanto University", where Esperanto is the primary language of teaching and administration. Goals of the movement Zamenhof's intention was to create an easy-to-learn language to foster international understanding. It was to serve as an international auxiliary language, that is, as a universal second language, not to replace ethnic languages. This goal was widely shared among Esperanto speakers in the early decades of the movement. Later, Esperanto speakers began to see the language and the culture that had grown up around it as ends in themselves, even if Esperanto is never adopted by the United Nations or other international organizations. Those Esperanto speakers who want to see Esperanto adopted officially or on a large scale worldwide are commonly called finvenkistoj , from fina venko, meaning "final victory", or pracelistoj, from pracelo, meaning "original goal". [55] Those who focus on the intrinsic value of the language are commonly called raŭmistoj , from Rauma , Finland , where a declaration on the near-term unlikelihood of the "fina venko" and the value of Esperanto culture was made at the International Youth Congress in 1980. [56] These categories are, however, not mutually exclusive. The Prague Manifesto (1996) presents the views of the mainstream of the Esperanto movement and of its main organisation, the World Esperanto Association ( UEA ). [57] Symbols and flags Main article: Esperanto symbols The earliest flag, and the one most commonly used today, features a green five-pointed star against a white canton , upon a field of green. It was proposed to Zamenhof by Irishman Richard Geoghegan , author of the first Esperanto textbook for English speakers, in 1887. The flag was approved in 1905 by delegates to the first conference of Esperantists at Boulogne-sur-Mer. A version with an "E" superimposed over the green star is sometimes seen. Other variants include that for Christian Esperantists, with a white Christian cross superimposed upon the green star, and that for Leftists, with the color of the field changed from green to red . [58] The jubilea simbolo . In 1987, a second flag design was chosen in a contest organized by the UEA celebrating the first centennial of the language. It featured a white background with two stylised curved "E"s facing each other. Dubbed the "jubilea simbolo" ( jubilee symbol ), [59] it attracted criticism from some Esperantists, who dubbed it the "melono" (melon) because of the design's elliptical shape. It is still in use, though to a lesser degree than the traditional symbol, known as the "verda stelo" (green star). [60] Politics Esperanto has been placed in many proposed political situations. The most popular of these is the Europe – Democracy – Esperanto , which aims to establish Esperanto as the official language of the European Union . The Irish political party Éirígí has recently adopted the green star as its emblem partly in support of Esperanto as an international language instead of English.[citation needed] Religion Esperanto has served an important role in several religions, such as Oomoto from Japan and the Baha'i Faith from Iran, and has been encouraged by others. Oomoto The Oomoto religion encourages the use of Esperanto among its followers and includes Zamenhof as one of its deified spirits. [61] Bahá'í Faith The Bahá'í Faith encourages the use of an auxiliary international language . While endorsing no specific language, some Bahá'ís see Esperanto as having great potential in this role. [62] Lidja Zamenhof , the daughter of Esperanto founder L. L. Zamenhof , became a Bahá'í. Various volumes of the Bahá'í literatures and other Baha'i books have been translated into Esperanto. Spiritism In 1908 , spiritist Camilo Chaigneau wrote an article named "Spiritism and Esperanto" in the periodic "La Vie d'Outre-Tombe" recommending the use of Esperanto in a "central magazine" for all spiritists and esperantists. [63] Esperanto then became actively promoted, at least in Brazil , by spiritists. The Brazilian Spiritist Federation publishes Esperanto coursebooks, translations of Spiritism's basic books , and encourages Spiritists to become Esperantists. [64] Bible translations The first translation of the Bible into Esperanto was a translation of the Tanakh or Old Testament done by L. L. Zamenhof . The translation was reviewed and compared with other languages' translations by a group of British clergy and scholars before its publication at the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1910. In 1926 this was published along with a New Testament translation, in an edition commonly called the "Londona Biblio". In the 1960s, the Internacia Asocio de Bibliistoj kaj Orientalistoj tried to organize a new, ecumenical Esperanto Bible version. [65] Since then, the Dutch Remonstrant pastor Gerrit Berveling has translated the Deuterocanonical or apocryphal books in addition to new translations of the Gospels, some of the New Testament epistles, and some books of the Tanakh or Old Testament. These have been published in various separate booklets, or serialized in Dia Regno, but the Deuterocanonical books have appeared in recent editions of the Londona Biblio. Christianity Christian Esperanto organizations include two that were formed early in the history of Esperanto: Individual churches using Esperanto include: The Quaker Esperanto Society, with activities as described in an issue of "The Friend" [66] 1910 - First Christadelphian publications in Esperanto. [67] [68] There are instances of Christian apologists and teachers who use Esperanto as a medium. Nigerian Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi's " Spirita nutraĵo " (spiritual food) Yahoo mailing list, for example, has hosted weekly messages since 2003. [69] Chick Publications , publisher of Protestant fundamentalist themed evangelistic tracts, has published a number of comic book style tracts by Jack T. Chick translated into Esperanto, including "This Was Your Life!" ("Jen Via Tuta Vivo!") [70] Islam Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran called on Muslims to learn Esperanto and praised its use as a medium for better understanding among peoples of different religious backgrounds. After he suggested that Esperanto replace English as an international lingua franca , it began to be used in the seminaries of Qom . An Esperanto translation of the Qur'an was published by the state shortly thereafter. [71] [72] In 1981, Khomeini and the Iranian government began to oppose Esperanto after realising that followers of the Bahá'í Faith were interested in it. [71] The founder of 'Pakistana Esperanto-Asocio' Prof. Allama Muztar Abbasi from Murree Pakistan wrote several books on Esperanto and compiled the Esperanto-Urduo Vortaro (Esperanto-Urdu dictionary). Moreover, he is the first Pakistani who translated Qur'an from its original text into Esperanto. The translation of Qur'an with the name of Vera Libro was published in 2000. Criticism Main article: Criticism of Esperanto Esperanto was conceived as a language of international communication, more precisely as a universal second language . [73] Since publication, there has been debate over whether it is possible for Esperanto to attain this position, and whether it would be an improvement for international communication if it did; Esperanto proponents have also been criticized for diverting public funds to encourage its study over more useful national languages. [74] Since Esperanto is a planned language, there have been many criticisms of minor points. [75] An example is Zamenhof's choice of the word edzo over something like spozo for "husband, spouse", [76] or his choice of the Classic Greek and Old Latin singular and plural endings -o, -oj, -a, -aj over their Medieval contractions -o, -i, -a, -e. (Both these changes were adopted by the Ido reform, though Ido dispensed with adjectival agreement altogether.) Some more common examples of general criticism include the following: Esperanto has not yet achieved the hopes of its founder to become a universal second language. Although many promoters of Esperanto stress the successes it has had, the fact remains that well over a century since its publication, the Esperanto-speaking community remains comparatively tiny with respect to the world population. In the case of the United Kingdom , for instance, Esperanto is rarely taught in schools, because it is regarded by the government as not meeting the needs of the national curriculum . [77] Many critics see its aspirations for the role of a preponderant international auxiliary language as doomed because they believe it cannot compete with English in this regard. [78] The vocabulary and grammar are based on major European languages, and are not universal. Often this criticism is specific to a few points such as adjectival agreement and the accusative case (generally such obvious details are all that reform projects suggest changing)[citation needed], but sometimes it is more general: Both the grammar and the 'international' vocabulary are difficult for many Asians, among others, and give an unfair advantage to speakers of European languages. [79] One attempt to address this issue is Lojban , which draws from the six most populous languages Arabic , Mandarin Chinese , English , Hindi , Russian , and Spanish , and whose grammar is designed for computer parsing. [80] The vocabulary, diacritic letters, [81] and grammar are too dissimilar from the major Western European languages,[citation needed] and therefore Esperanto is not as easy as it could be for speakers of those languages to learn, even though it is much easier to learn than any other European language. [82] [83] Attempts to address this issue include the younger planned languages Ido and Interlingua . [84] Esperanto phonology is unimaginatively provincial, being essentially Belorussian with regularized stress, leaving out only the nasal vowels , palatalized consonants , and /dz/. For example, Esperanto has phonemes such as /x/, /ʒ/, /ts/, /eu̯/ (ĥ, ĵ, c, eŭ) which are rare as distinct phonemes outside Europe. [85] Esperanto has no culture. [86] Although it has a large international literature, Esperanto does not encapsulate a specific culture. Esperanto is culturally European. This is due to the European derivation of its vocabulary, and its semantics ; both infuse the language with a European world view. [87] The vocabulary is too large. Rather than deriving new words from existing roots, large numbers of new roots are adopted into the language with the intent of being internationally accommodating when in reality the language only caters to European languages. This makes the language more difficult for non-Europeans than it needs to be. [79] A similar argument is made by many Esperanto speakers, not against the language itself but against the way it is (in their view) misused by many (mostly European) speakers; they argue that compounds or derivations should be used whenever possible, and new root words borrowed only when absolutely necessary. [88] [89] Esperanto asymmetry in gender formation makes it sexist . [86] Most kin terms and titles are masculine by default and only feminine when so specified. There have been many attempts to address this issue, of which one of the better known is iĉism [90] (used by the Esperantist writer Jorge Camacho ) [91] , from which Riism derived. Esperanto is, looks, or sounds artificial. This criticism is often due to the letters with circumflex diacritics, which some find odd or cumbersome. [86] Others claim that an artificial language will necessarily be deficient, due to its very nature, [92] although the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has found that Esperanto fulfills all the requirements of a living language. [93] Modifications Main article: Esperantido Though Esperanto itself has changed little since the publication of the Fundamento de Esperanto (Foundation of Esperanto), a number of reform projects have been proposed over the years, starting with Zamenhof's proposals in 1894 and Ido in 1907. Several later constructed languages, such as Universal , were based on Esperanto. In modern times, attempts have been made to eliminate perceived sexism in the language. One example of this is Riism . However, as Esperanto has become a living language, changes are as difficult to implement as in ethnic languages. See also ^ "Ĉi-tiu Esperanto estus turka..." , Renato Corsetti. 2007. ^ Seksaj vortoj - Bertilo Wennergren - Plena Manlibro de Esperanta Gramatiko ^ Camacho, Jorge. Sur la linio. Rakontoj kaj noveloj de Georgo Kamaĉo. Enkonduko de Fernando de Diego. - Berkeley : Eldonejo Bero, 1991. ^ Claude Piron cites and replies to several such criticisms in his Le Défi des Langues (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1994). ^ Laŭ la komuna opinio de gvidaj fakuloj de la Instituto, Esperanto apartenas al la kategorio de vivaj lingvoj. Pli detale traktante la temon, konsiderante la historion kaj la nunan staton de Esperanto, a.) ĝi estas grandmezure normigita, b.) amplekse sociiĝinta, c.) ne-etna viva lingvo, kiu en sekundara lingva komunumo plenumas ĉiujn eblajn lingvajn funkciojn, kaj samtempe ĝi funkcias kiel pera lingvo. - Ĉi supre diritaj respegulas la sciencan starpunkton de nia Instituto. "Malgranda fina venko" - en Hungario Further reading Everson, Michael. The Alphabets of Europe: Esperanto PDF (25.4 KB). Evertype, 2001. Forster, Peter G. The Esperanto Movement. The Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1982. ISBN 90-279-3399-5. Gledhill, Christopher. The Grammar of Esperanto: A Corpus-Based Description. Second edition. Lincom Europa, 2000. ISBN 3-8958-6961-9. [3] Harlow, Don. The Esperanto Book . Self-published on the web (1995–96). Wells, John . Lingvistikaj aspektoj de Esperanto ("Linguistic aspects of Esperanto"). Second edition. Rotterdam: Universala Esperanto-Asocio, 1989. Zamenhof, Ludovic Lazarus, Dr. Esperanto's International Language: Introduction & Complete Grammar The original 1887 Unua Libro , English translation by Richard H. Geoghegan; HTML online version 2006. Print edition (2007) also available from ELNA or UEA . External links Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language in the world. Sourced Asked about what impresses her most about Esperanto conferences: With Esperanto conferences, it was the level of fluency. I sort of thought it would be like watching a video of "Chapter 1 Dialogue" in a language class, like "Where is the library?" But it was very fluid, like watching someone speak Spanish. So seeing that happen convinced me that it's a real language; it's not people playing dress-up with a different vocabulary. Arika Okrent Author of “In the Land of Invented Languages” May 2009, Random House. From a Time Online interview By M.J. STEPHEY Monday, May. 18, 2009 See also Dietary requirements The famous constructed language Esperanto first appeared in Russian Poland in 1887, the product of a Polish-Jewish opthalmologist and amateur linguist, Dr. Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof. Dr. Zamenhof hoped that the worldwide adoption of a neutral international language would ease ethnic tensions and enable people of widely differing backgrounds to communicate with each other. The name of the language means "one who hopes." Esperanto is not officially aligned with any particular country or ethnic group; indeed, one can find Esperanto speakers in well over 100 countries around the world. Pasporta Servo , a hospitality service for Esperanto speakers, includes more than 1,300 addresses in almost ninety different countries. Pronunciation guide Esperanto uses twenty-eight letters from the Roman alphabet, and is a phonetic language (each sound has a single letter and each letter represents a single sound). The letters Q, W, X, and Y are not used. Five of the letters have a circumflex on top of them (ĉ ĝ ĥ ĵ ŝ) and one has a breve (ŭ). Esperanto speakers represent these letters in situations where the circumflex cannot be used (e.g. unformatted e-mail where only basic ASCII characters can be used) either by placing an "x" after the letter; placing an "h" after the letter (this is the method approved by Esperanto's creator, Dr. Zamenhof); or placing the circumflex itself (^) after the letter. On the Internet, most Esperantists use the "x" method. Words are always pronounced with the accent on the penultimate (next-to-last) syllable. a 
language esperanto
Arthur Wynne of Liverpool invented which teaser in 1913?
Esperanto : definition of Esperanto and synonyms of Esperanto (English) ( help · info ) is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language . [1] Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto (Esperanto translates as "one who hopes"), the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro , in 1887. Zamenhof's goal was to create an easy-to-learn and politically neutral language that transcends nationality and would foster peace and international understanding between people with different regional and/or national languages. Estimates of Esperanto speakers range from 10,000 to 2,000,000 active or fluent speakers, as well as native speakers , that is, people who learned Esperanto from their parents as one of their native languages. Esperanto is spoken in about 115 countries. Usage is particularly high in Europe, East Asia, and South America. [2] The first World Congress of Esperanto was organized in France in 1905. Since then congresses have been held in various countries every year with the exception of years in which there were world wars. Although no country has adopted Esperanto officially , Esperanto was recommended by the French Academy of Sciences in 1921 and recognized in 1954 by UNESCO (which later, in 1985, also recommended it to its member states). In 2007 Esperanto was the 32nd language that adhered to the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment ( CEFR )". [3] As of October 2011, the Esperanto Wikipedia had the 27th highest count of Wikipedia articles. [4] Esperanto is currently the language of instruction of the International Academy of Sciences in San Marino . [5] There is evidence that learning Esperanto may provide a superior foundation for learning languages in general, and some primary schools teach it as preparation for learning other foreign languages. On February 23, 2012, Google Translate added Esperanto as its 64th language. Contents   The first Esperanto book by L. L. Zamenhof Esperanto was created in the late 1870s and early 1880s by Dr. Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof , an ophthalmologist of mixed cultural heritage from Bialystok , then part of the Russian Empire . According to Zamenhof, he created this language to foster harmony between people from different countries. His feelings and the situation in Bialystok may be gleaned from an extract from his letter to Nikolai Borovko: [6] The place where I was born and spent my childhood gave direction to all my future struggles. In Bialystok the inhabitants were divided into four distinct elements: Russians, Poles, Germans and Jews; each of these spoke their own language and looked on all the others as enemies. In such a town a sensitive nature feels more acutely than elsewhere the misery caused by language division and sees at every step that the diversity of languages is the first, or at least the most influential, basis for the separation of the human family into groups of enemies. I was brought up as an idealist; I was taught that all people were brothers, while outside in the street at every step I felt that there were no people, only Russians, Poles, Germans, Jews and so on. This was always a great torment to my infant mind, although many people may smile at such an 'anguish for the world' in a child. Since at that time I thought that 'grown-ups' were omnipotent, so I often said to myself that when I grew up I would certainly destroy this evil. —L. L. Zamenhof, in a letter to N. Borovko , ca. 1895 After some ten years of development, which Zamenhof spent translating literature into Esperanto as well as writing original prose and verse , the first book of Esperanto grammar was published in Warsaw in July 1887. The number of speakers grew rapidly over the next few decades, at first primarily in the Russian Empire and Eastern Europe , then in Western Europe , the Americas , China , and Japan . In the early years, speakers of Esperanto kept in contact primarily through correspondence and periodicals , but in 1905 the first world congress of Esperanto speakers was held in Boulogne-sur-Mer , France. Since then world congresses have been held in different countries every year, except during the two World Wars . Since the Second World War, they have been attended by an average of over 2,000 and up to 6,000 people. Zamenhof's name for the language was simply La Internacia Lingvo "the International Language". [7]   Reactions of 20th-century totalitarian regimes to Esperanto As a potential vehicle for international understanding, Esperanto attracted the suspicion of many totalitarian states. The situation was especially pronounced in Nazi Germany , Imperial Japan and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin . In Germany, there was additional motivation to persecute Esperanto because Zamenhof was Jewish. In his work, Mein Kampf , Hitler mentioned Esperanto as an example of a language that would be used by an International Jewish Conspiracy once they achieved world domination . [8] Esperantists were killed during the Holocaust , with Zamenhof's family in particular singled out for murder. [9] In the early years of the Soviet Union, Esperanto was given a measure of government support, and the Soviet Esperanto Association was an officially recognized organization. [10] However, in 1937, Stalin reversed this policy. He denounced Esperanto as "the language of spies" and had Esperantists exiled or executed. The use of Esperanto was effectively banned until 1956. [10] After the Spanish Civil War , Francoist Spain persecuted the Anarchists and Catalan nationalists among whom the use of Esperanto was extensive [11] but in the 1950s, the Esperanto movement was tolerated again.   Official use Esperanto has never been a secondary official language of any recognized country. However, there were plans at the beginning of the 20th century to establish Neutral Moresnet as the world's first Esperanto state. Qian Xuantong , a Chinese linguist, promoted the replacement of Chinese with Esperanto. [12] In addition, the self-proclaimed artificial island micronation of Rose Island used Esperanto as its official language in 1968. [13] The US Army has published military phrase books in Esperanto, [14] to be used in war games by mock enemy forces . In the summer of 1924, the American Radio Relay League adopted Esperanto as its official international auxiliary language , and hoped that the language would be used by radio amateurs in international communications, but its actual use for radio communications was negligible. Esperanto is the working language of several non-profit international organizations such as the Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda , a left-wing cultural association, or Education@Internet , which has developed from an Esperanto organization; most others are specifically Esperanto organizations. The largest of these, the World Esperanto Association , has an official consultative relationship with the United Nations and UNESCO , which recognized Esperanto as a medium for international understanding in 1954. [15] Esperanto is also the first language of teaching and administration of one university, the International Academy of Sciences San Marino . [5]   Linguistic properties   Classification As a constructed language , Esperanto is not genealogically related to any ethnic language. It has been described as "a language lexically predominantly Romance , morphologically intensively agglutinative , and to a certain degree isolating in character". [16] The phonology , grammar , vocabulary , and semantics are based on the western Indo-European languages . The phonemic inventory is essentially Slavic , as is much of the semantics, while the vocabulary derives primarily from the Romance languages , with a lesser contribution from the Germanic languages and minor contributions from Slavic languages and Greek . Pragmatics and other aspects of the language not specified by Zamenhof's original documents were influenced by the native languages of early speakers, primarily Russian , Polish , German , and French . Typologically , Esperanto has prepositions and a free pragmatic word order that by default is subject–verb–object . Adjectives can be freely placed before or after the nouns they modify, though placing them before the noun is more common. New words are formed through extensive prefixing and suffixing .   Phonology Main article: Esperanto phonology Esperanto has 23 consonants , 5 vowels , and 2 semivowels that combine with the vowels to form 6 diphthongs . (The consonant /j/ and semivowel /i̯/ are both written j, and the uncommon consonant /dz/ is written with the digraph dz. [17] ) Tone is not used to distinguish meanings of words. Stress is always on the second-last vowel in fully Esperanto words unless a final vowel o is elided , which occurs mostly in poetry . For example, familio "family" is [fa.mi.ˈli.o], with the stress on the second i, but when the word is used without the final o (famili’), the stress remains on the second i: [fa.mi.ˈli].   Consonants     The sound / r / is usually trilled [ r ], but may be tapped [ ɾ ]. The / v / is normally pronounced like English v, but may be pronounced [ ʋ ] (between English v and w) or [ w ], depending on the language background of the speaker. A semivowel /u̯/ normally occurs only in diphthongs after the vowels / a / and / e /, not as a consonant /w/. Common, if debated, assimilation includes the pronunciation of nk as [ŋk] and kz as [ɡz]. A large number of consonant clusters can occur, up to three in initial position (as in stranga, "strange") and four in medial position (as in instrui, "teach"). Final clusters are uncommon except in foreign names, poetic elision of final o, and a very few basic words such as cent "hundred" and post "after".   Vowels a There are also two semivowels, /i̯/ and /u̯/, which combine with the cardinal vowels to form six falling diphthongs : aj, ej, oj, uj, aŭ, and eŭ (nearly the same as the diphthongs of Filipino). Since there are only five vowels, a good deal of variation in pronunciation is tolerated. For instance, e commonly ranges from [e] (French é) to [ɛ] (French è). These details often depend on the speaker's native language. A glottal stop may occur between adjacent vowels in some people's speech, especially when the two vowels are the same, as in heroo "hero" ([he.ˈro.o] or [he.ˈro.ʔo]) and praavo "great-grandfather" ([pra.ˈa.vo] or [pra.ˈʔa.vo]).   Writing system Main article: Esperanto orthography The Esperanto alphabet is based on the Latin script , using a one-sound-one-letter principle. It includes six letters with diacritics : ĉ , ĝ , ĥ , ĵ , ŝ (with circumflex ), and ŭ (with breve ). The alphabet does not include the letters q, w, x, or y, which are only used when writing unassimilated foreign terms or proper names. The 28-letter alphabet is: a b c ĉ d e f g ĝ h ĥ i j ĵ k l m n o p r s ŝ t u ŭ v z All unaccented letters are pronounced approximately as in the IPA , with the exception of c. Esperanto j and c have Central European values largely unfamiliar to English speakers: Esperanto j has a y sound, as in hallelujah or Jägermeister , and c has a ts sound, as in Penderecki or Václav Havel . The accented letters are a bit like h-digraphs in English: Ĉ is pronounced like English ch, and ŝ like sh. Ĝ is the g in gem, ĵ a zh sound, as in fusion or French Jacques, and the rare ĥ is like the h in the Yiddish pronunciation of Hanukkah. Letter (in diphthongs)   Writing diacritic letters The letters with diacritics (found in the "Latin-Extended A" section of the Unicode Standard ) once caused problems with printing and computing. This was particularly true with the five letters with circumflexes, as they do not occur in any other language. The diacritics are normally only a problem now with computing situations such as internet chat groups and databases that are limited to ASCII characters. There are two principal workarounds to this problem, which substitute digraphs for the accented letters. Zamenhof, the inventor of Esperanto, created an "h-convention", which replaces ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, and ŭ with ch, gh, hh, jh, sh, and u, respectively. If used in a database, a program in principle could not determine whether to render, for example, ch as c followed by h or as ĉ, and would fail to render, for example, the word senchava properly. A more recent " x-convention " has gained ground since the advent of computing. This system replaces each diacritic with an x (not part of the Esperanto alphabet) after the letter, producing the six digraphs cx, gx, hx, jx, sx, and ux. There are computer keyboard layouts that support the Esperanto alphabet, and some systems use software that automatically substitutes x- or h-convention digraphs with the corresponding diacritic letters (EK for Microsoft Windows is one example). [18] Another example is the Esperanto Wikipedia, which uses the x-convention for input: when a contributor types cx when editing an article, it will appear as the correct ĉ in the article text.   Grammar Main article: Esperanto grammar Esperanto words are derived by stringing together prefixes , roots , and suffixes . This process is regular, so that people can create new words as they speak and be understood. Compound words are formed with a modifier-first, head-final order, as in English (compare "birdsong" and "songbird," and likewise, birdokanto and kantobirdo). The different parts of speech are marked by their own suffixes: all common nouns end in -o, all adjectives in -a, all derived adverbs in -e, and all verbs in one of six tense and mood suffixes, such as the present tense -as. Plural nouns used as grammatical subjects end in -oj (pronounced like English "oy"), whereas their direct object forms end in -on. Plural direct objects end with the combination -ojn (rhymes with "coin"); -o- indicates that the word is a noun, -j- indicates the plural, and -n indicates the accusative. Adjectives agree with their nouns; their endings are plural -aj (pronounced "eye"), accusative -an, and plural accusative -ajn (rhymes with "fine"). Conditional -us (kantus) Word order is comparatively free. Adjectives may precede or follow nouns; subjects, verbs and objects may occur in any order. However, the article la "the", demonstratives such as tiu "that" and prepositions (such as ĉe "at") must come before their related nouns. Similarly, the negative ne "not" and conjunctions such as kaj "and" and ke "that" must precede the phrase or clause that they introduce. In copular (A = B) clauses, word order is just as important as in English: "people are animals" is distinguished from "animals are people".   Vocabulary Main article: Esperanto vocabulary The core vocabulary of Esperanto was defined by Lingvo internacia, published by Zamenhof in 1887. This book listed 900 roots; these could be expanded into tens of thousands of words using prefixes, suffixes, and compounding. In 1894, Zamenhof published the first Esperanto dictionary , Universala Vortaro, which had a larger set of roots. The rules of the language allowed speakers to borrow new roots as needed; it was recommended, however, that speakers use most international forms and then derive related meanings from these. Since then, many words have been borrowed, primarily (but not solely) from the Western European languages. Not all proposed borrowings become widespread, but many do, especially technical and scientific terms. Terms for everyday use, on the other hand, are more likely to be derived from existing roots; komputilo "computer", for instance, is formed from the verb komputi "compute" and the suffix -ilo "tool". Words are also calqued ; that is, words acquire new meanings based on usage in other languages. For example, the word muso "mouse" has acquired the meaning of a computer mouse from its usage in English. Esperanto speakers often debate about whether a particular borrowing is justified or whether meaning can be expressed by deriving from or extending the meaning of existing words. Some compounds and formed words in Esperanto are not entirely straightforward; for example, eldoni, literally "give out", means "publish", paralleling the usage of certain Western European languages (such as German ). In addition, the suffix -um- has no defined meaning; words using the suffix must be learned separately (such as dekstren "to the right" and dekstrumen "clockwise"). There are not many idiomatic or slang words in Esperanto, as these forms of speech tend to make international communication difficult—working against Esperanto's main goal.   Useful phrases Below are listed some useful Esperanto words and phrases along with IPA transcriptions: English [ˈpa.tson]   Sample text The following short extract gives an idea of the character of Esperanto. [19] (Pronunciation is covered above; the Esperanto letter j is pronounced like English y.) Esperanto: «En multaj lokoj de Ĉinio estis temploj de la drako-reĝo. Dum trosekeco oni preĝis en la temploj, ke la drako-reĝo donu pluvon al la homa mondo. Tiam drako estis simbolo de la supernatura estaĵo. Kaj pli poste, ĝi fariĝis prapatro de la plej altaj regantoj kaj simbolis la absolutan aŭtoritaton de feŭda imperiestro. La imperiestro pretendis, ke li estas filo de la drako. Ĉiuj liaj vivbezonaĵoj portis la nomon drako kaj estis ornamitaj per diversaj drakofiguroj. Nun ĉie en Ĉinio videblas drako-ornamentaĵoj, kaj cirkulas legendoj pri drakoj.» English translation: In many places in China, there were temples of the dragon-king. During times of drought, people would pray in the temples that the dragon-king would give rain to the human world. At that time the dragon was a symbol of the supernatural. Later on, it became the ancestor of the highest rulers and symbolised the absolute authority of the feudal emperor. The emperor claimed to be the son of the dragon. All of his personal possessions carried the name "dragon" and were decorated with various dragon figures. Now dragon decorations can be seen everywhere in China and legends about dragons circulate.   Education The majority of Esperanto speakers learn the language through self-directed study , online tutorials, and correspondence courses taught by volunteers. In more recent years, free teaching websites like lernu! have become popular. Esperanto instruction is occasionally available at schools, including four primary schools in a pilot project under the supervision of the University of Manchester , and by one count at 69 universities. [20] However, outside China and Hungary , these mostly involve informal arrangements rather than dedicated departments or state sponsorship. Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest had a department of Interlinguistics and Esperanto from 1966 to 2004, after which time instruction moved to vocational colleges; there are state examinations for Esperanto instructors. [21] [22] The Senate of Brazil passed a bill in 2009 that would make Esperanto an optional part of the curriculum in public schools . As of 2010 the bill has not yet been passed by the Chamber of Deputies . [23] [24] [25] Various educators have estimated that Esperanto can be learned in anywhere from one quarter to one twentieth the amount of time required for other languages. [26] Claude Piron , a psychologist formerly at the University of Geneva and Chinese–English–Russian–Spanish translator for the United Nations, argued that Esperanto is far more intuitive than many ethnic languages. "Esperanto relies entirely on innate reflexes [and] differs from all other languages in that you can always trust your natural tendency to generalize patterns. [...] The same neuropsychological law [—called by] Jean Piaget generalizing assimilation—applies to word formation as well as to grammar." [27] The Institute of Cybernetic Pedagogy at Paderborn (Germany) has compared the length of study time it takes natively French-speaking high-school students to obtain comparable 'standard' levels in Esperanto, English, German, and Italian. [28] The results were: 2000 hours studying German = 1500 hours studying English = 1000 hours studying Italian (or any other Romance language such as French) = 150 hours studying Esperanto.   Language acquisition Main article: Propaedeutic value of Esperanto Four primary schools in Britain, with some 230 pupils, are currently following a course in " propaedeutic Esperanto"—that is, instruction in Esperanto to raise language awareness and accelerate subsequent learning of foreign languages—under the supervision of the University of Manchester. As they put it, Many schools used to teach children the recorder , not to produce a nation of recorder players, but as a preparation for learning other instruments. [We teach] Esperanto, not to produce a nation of Esperanto-speakers, but as a preparation for learning other languages. [29] Studies have been conducted in New Zealand, [30] United States, [31] [32] [33] Germany, [34] Italy [35] and Australia. [36] The results of these studies were favorable and demonstrated that studying Esperanto before another foreign language expedites the acquisition of the other, natural, language. This appears to be because learning subsequent foreign languages is easier than learning one's first foreign language, while the use of a grammatically simple and culturally flexible auxiliary language like Esperanto lessens the first-language learning hurdle. In one study, [37] a group of European secondary school students studied Esperanto for one year, then French for three years, and ended up with a significantly better command of French than a control group, who studied French for all four years. Similar results have been found for other combinations of native and second languages, as well as for arrangements in which the course of study was reduced to two years, of which six months is spent learning Esperanto. [38]   Community   Geography and demography Esperanto is by far the most widely spoken constructed language in the world. [39] Speakers are most numerous in Europe and East Asia , especially in urban areas , where they often form Esperanto clubs . [40] Esperanto is particularly prevalent in the northern and eastern countries of Europe; in China, Korea , Japan, and Iran within Asia; [41] in Brazil , Argentina , and Mexico in the Americas; [42] and in Togo in Africa. [43]   Number of speakers An estimate of the number of Esperanto speakers was made by Sidney S. Culbert , a retired psychology professor at the University of Washington and a longtime Esperantist, who tracked down and tested Esperanto speakers in sample areas in dozens of countries over a period of twenty years. Culbert concluded that between one and two million people speak Esperanto at Foreign Service Level 3 , "professionally proficient" (able to communicate moderately complex ideas without hesitation, and to follow speeches, radio broadcasts, etc.). [44] Culbert's estimate was not made for Esperanto alone, but formed part of his listing of estimates for all languages of over one million speakers, published annually in the World Almanac and Book of Facts . Culbert's most detailed account of his methodology is found in a 1989 letter to David Wolff. [45] Since Culbert never published detailed intermediate results for particular countries and regions, it is difficult to independently gauge the accuracy of his results. In the Almanac, his estimates for numbers of language speakers were rounded to the nearest million, thus the number for Esperanto speakers is shown as two million. This latter figure appears in Ethnologue . Assuming that this figure is accurate, that means that about 0.03% of the world's population speaks the language. Although it is not Zamenhof's goal of a universal language , it still represents a level of popularity unmatched by any other constructed language. Marcus Sikosek (now Ziko van Dijk ) has challenged this figure of 1.6 million as exaggerated. He estimated that even if Esperanto speakers were evenly distributed, assuming one million Esperanto speakers worldwide would lead one to expect about 180 in the city of Cologne . Van Dijk finds only 30 fluent speakers in that city, and similarly smaller-than-expected figures in several other places thought to have a larger-than-average concentration of Esperanto speakers. He also notes that there are a total of about 20,000 members of the various Esperanto organizations (other estimates are higher). Though there are undoubtedly many Esperanto speakers who are not members of any Esperanto organization, he thinks it unlikely that there are fifty times more speakers than organization members. [40] Finnish linguist Jouko Lindstedt , an expert on native-born Esperanto speakers, presented the following scheme [46] to show the overall proportions of language capabilities within the Esperanto community: 1,000 have Esperanto as their native language. 10,000 speak it fluently. 100,000 can use it actively. 1,000,000 understand a large amount passively. 10,000,000 have studied it to some extent at some time. In the absence of Dr. Culbert's detailed sampling data, or any other census data, it is impossible to state the number of speakers with certainty. According to the website of the World Esperanto Association : Numbers of textbooks sold and membership of local societies put the number of people with some knowledge of the language in the hundreds of thousands and possibly millions. [47] In 2009 Lu Wunsch-Rolshoven used 2001 year census data [48] from Hungary [49] and Lithuania as a base for an estimate, resulting in approximately 160,000 to 300,000 to speak the language actively or fluently throughout the world, with about 80,000 to 150,000 of these being in the European Union.   Native speakers Main article: Native Esperanto speakers Ethnologue relates estimates that there are 200 to 2000 native Esperanto speakers (denaskuloj), who have learned the language from birth from their Esperanto-speaking parents. [42] This usually happens when Esperanto is the chief or only common language in an international family, but sometimes occurs in a family of devoted Esperantists. [50]   Culture   Monato , the most popular Esperanto news magazine. (The large print reads "15 years after the fall of the empire".) Main articles: Esperanto culture , Esperanto literature , Esperanto film , and Esperanto music Esperanto speakers can access an international culture , including a large body of original as well as translated literature . There are over 25,000 Esperanto books, both originals and translations, as well as several regularly distributed Esperanto magazines . Esperanto speakers use the language for free accommodations with Esperantists in 92 countries using the Pasporta Servo or to develop pen pal friendships abroad through the Esperanto Pen Pal Service. [51] Every year, 1,500–3,000 Esperanto speakers meet for the World Congress of Esperanto (Universala Kongreso de Esperanto). [52] [53] Historically, much Esperanto music , such as Kaj Tiel Plu, has been in various folk traditions. [54] There is also a variety of classical and semi-classical choral music, both original and translated, as well as large ensemble music that includes voices singing Esperanto texts. Lou Harrison , who incorporated styles and instruments from many world cultures in his music, used Esperanto titles and/or texts in several of his works, most notably La Koro-Sutro (1973). David Gaines used Esperanto poems as well as an excerpt from a speech by Dr. Zamenhof for his Symphony No. 1 (Esperanto) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (1994–98). He wrote original Esperanto text for his Povas plori mi ne plu (I Can Cry No Longer) for unaccompanied SATB choir (1994). There are also shared traditions , such as Zamenhof Day , and shared behaviour patterns. Esperantists speak primarily in Esperanto at international Esperanto meetings . Detractors of Esperanto occasionally criticize it as "having no culture". Proponents, such as Prof. Humphrey Tonkin of the University of Hartford , observe that Esperanto is "culturally neutral by design, as it was intended to be a facilitator between cultures, not to be the carrier of any one national culture". The late Scottish Esperanto author William Auld wrote extensively on the subject, arguing that Esperanto is "the expression of a common human culture , unencumbered by national frontiers. Thus it is considered a culture on its own." [55]   Noted authors in Esperanto Muztar Abbasi (Translation of "The Holy Qur'an" in Esperanto)   Popular culture Main article: Esperanto in popular culture Esperanto has been used in a number of films and novels. Typically, this is done either to add the exotic flavour of a foreign language without representing any particular ethnicity, or to avoid going to the trouble of inventing a new language. The Charlie Chaplin film The Great Dictator (1940) showed Jewish ghetto shop signs in Esperanto. Two full-length feature films have been produced with dialogue entirely in Esperanto: Angoroj , in 1964, and Incubus , a 1965 B-movie horror film. Other amateur productions have been made, such as a dramatisation of the novel Gerda Malaperis (Gerda Has Disappeared). A number of "mainstream" films in national languages have used Esperanto in some way. Esperanto is used as the universal language in the far future of Harry Harrison 's Stainless Steel Rat and Deathworld stories. Poul Anderson 's story " High Treason " takes place in a future where Earth became united politically while still divided into many languages and cultures, and Esperanto became the language of its space armed forces, fighting wars with various extraterrestrial races. The opening song 'Memoro de la Ŝtono' in the popular Video Game Final Fantasy XI was written in Esperanto. This was the first game in the series that was online and the composer Nobuo Uematsu felt that Esperanto was a good language to symbolize worldwide unity.   Science In 1921 the French Academy of Sciences recommended using Esperanto for international scientific communication. [56] A few scientists and mathematicians, such as Maurice Fréchet (mathematics), John C. Wells (linguistics), Helmar Frank (pedagogy and cybernetics), and Nobel laureate Reinhard Selten (economics) have published part of their work in Esperanto. Frank and Selten were among the founders of the International Academy of Sciences in San Marino , sometimes called the "Esperanto University", where Esperanto is the primary language of teaching and administration.[ citation needed ]   Goals of the movement Zamenhof's intention was to create an easy-to-learn language to foster international understanding. It was to serve as an international auxiliary language, that is, as a universal second language, not to replace ethnic languages. This goal was widely shared among Esperanto speakers in the early decades of the movement. Later, Esperanto speakers began to see the language and the culture that had grown up around it as ends in themselves, even if Esperanto is never adopted by the United Nations or other international organizations. Those Esperanto speakers who want to see Esperanto adopted officially or on a large scale worldwide are commonly called finvenkistoj , from fina venko, meaning "final victory", or pracelistoj, from pracelo, meaning "original goal". [57] Those who focus on the intrinsic value of the language are commonly called raŭmistoj , from Rauma , Finland , where a declaration on the near-term unlikelihood of the "fina venko" and the value of Esperanto culture was made at the International Youth Congress in 1980. [58] These categories are, however, not mutually exclusive. The Prague Manifesto (1996) presents the views of the mainstream of the Esperanto movement and of its main organisation, the World Esperanto Association (UEA). [59]   Symbols and flags Main article: Esperanto symbols The earliest flag, and the one most commonly used today, features a green five-pointed star against a white canton , upon a field of green. It was proposed to Zamenhof by Irishman Richard Geoghegan , author of the first Esperanto textbook for English speakers, in 1887. The flag was approved in 1905 by delegates to the first conference of Esperantists at Boulogne-sur-Mer. A version with an "E" superimposed over the green star is sometimes seen. Other variants include that for Christian Esperantists, with a white Christian cross superimposed upon the green star, and that for Leftists, with the color of the field changed from green to red . [60]   The jubilea simbolo In 1987, a second flag design was chosen in a contest organized by the UEA celebrating the first centennial of the language. It featured a white background with two stylised curved "E"s facing each other. Dubbed the "jubilea simbolo" ( jubilee symbol ), [61] it attracted criticism from some Esperantists, who dubbed it the "melono" (melon) because of the design's elliptical shape. It is still in use, though to a lesser degree than the traditional symbol, known as the "verda stelo" (green star). [62]   Politics Esperanto has been placed in many proposed political situations. The most popular of these is the Europe – Democracy – Esperanto , which aims to establish Esperanto as the official language of the European Union . The Irish political party Éirígí has recently adopted the green star as its emblem partly in support of Esperanto as an international language instead of English. The party derives its position on Esperanto from the Irish socialist leader James Connolly , who supported its use. [63]   Religion Esperanto has served an important role in several religions, such as Oomoto from Japan and the Baha'i Faith from Iran, and has been encouraged by others, like Spiritism .   Oomoto The Oomoto religion encourages the use of Esperanto among its followers and includes Zamenhof as one of its deified spirits. [64]   Bahá'í Faith The Bahá'í Faith encourages the use of an auxiliary international language . While endorsing no specific language, some Bahá'ís see Esperanto as having great potential in this role. [65] L. L. Zamenhof 's daughter Lidja became a Bahá'í, [66] and various volumes of the Bahá'í literatures and other Baha'i books have been translated into Esperanto. In 1973, the Bahá'í Esperanto-League for active Bahá'í supporters of Esperanto was founded.   Spiritism In 1908, spiritist Camilo Chaigneau wrote an article named "Spiritism and Esperanto" in the periodic "La Vie d'Outre-Tombe" recommending the use of Esperanto in a "central magazine" for all spiritists and esperantists. [67] Esperanto then became actively promoted, at least in Brazil , by spiritists. The Brazilian Spiritist Federation publishes Esperanto coursebooks, translations of Spiritism's basic books , and encourages Spiritists to become Esperantists. [68]   Bible translations The first translation of the Bible into Esperanto was a translation of the Tanakh or Old Testament done by L. L. Zamenhof . The translation was reviewed and compared with other languages' translations by a group of British clergy and scholars before its publication at the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1910. In 1926 this was published along with a New Testament translation, in an edition commonly called the "Londona Biblio". In the 1960s, the Internacia Asocio de Bibliistoj kaj Orientalistoj tried to organize a new, ecumenical Esperanto Bible version. [69] Since then, the Dutch Remonstrant pastor Gerrit Berveling has translated the Deuterocanonical or apocryphal books in addition to new translations of the Gospels, some of the New Testament epistles, and some books of the Tanakh or Old Testament. These have been published in various separate booklets, or serialized in Dia Regno, but the Deuterocanonical books have appeared in recent editions of the Londona Biblio.   Christianity Christian Esperanto organizations include two that were formed early in the history of Esperanto: Individual churches using Esperanto include: The Quaker Esperanto Society, with activities as described in an issue of "The Friend" [70] 1910 – First Christadelphian publications in Esperanto. [71] [72] There are instances of Christian apologists and teachers who use Esperanto as a medium. Nigerian Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi's " Spirita nutraĵo " (spiritual food) Yahoo mailing list, for example, has hosted weekly messages since 2003. [73] Chick Publications , publisher of Protestant fundamentalist themed evangelistic tracts, has published a number of comic book style tracts by Jack T. Chick translated into Esperanto, including "This Was Your Life!" ("Jen Via Tuta Vivo!") [74]   Islam Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran called on Muslims to learn Esperanto and praised its use as a medium for better understanding among peoples of different religious backgrounds. After he suggested that Esperanto replace English as an international lingua franca , it began to be used in the seminaries of Qom . An Esperanto translation of the Qur'an was published by the state shortly thereafter. [75] [76] In 1981, its usage became less popular when it became apparent that followers of the Bahá'í Faith were interested in it. [75]   Criticism Main article: Criticism of Esperanto Esperanto was conceived as a language of international communication, more precisely as a universal second language . [77] Since publication, there has been debate over whether it is possible for Esperanto to attain this position, and whether it would be an improvement for international communication were it to do so; Esperanto proponents have also been criticized for diverting public funds to encourage its study over more "useful national languages". [78] Since Esperanto is a planned language, there have been many criticisms of minor points. [79] An example is Zamenhof's choice of the word edzo over something like spozo for "husband, spouse", [80] or his choice of the Classic Greek and Old Latin singular and plural endings -o, -oj, -a, -aj over their Medieval contractions -o, -i, -a, -e. (Both these changes were adopted by the Ido reform, though Ido dispensed with adjectival agreement altogether.) Some more common examples of general criticism include the following: Esperanto has not yet achieved the hopes of its founder to become a universal second language. Although many promoters of Esperanto stress the successes it has had, the fact remains that well over a century since its publication, the Esperanto-speaking community remains comparatively tiny with respect to the world population. In the case of the United Kingdom , for instance, Esperanto is rarely taught in schools, because it is regarded by the government as not meeting the needs of the national curriculum . [81] Many critics see its aspirations for the role of a preponderant international auxiliary language as doomed because they believe it cannot compete with English in this regard. [82] The vocabulary and grammar are based on major European languages, and are not universal. Simultaneously, the vocabulary, diacritic letters, [80] and grammar are too dissimilar from the major Western European languages,[ citation needed ] and therefore Esperanto is not as easy as it could be for speakers of those languages to learn, even though it is much easier to learn than any other European language. [83] [84] The "too European" criticism is often specific to a few points such as adjectival agreement and the accusative case (generally such obvious details are all that reform projects suggest changing),[ citation needed ] but sometimes it is more general: Both the grammar and the 'international' vocabulary are difficult for many Asians, among others, and give an unfair advantage to speakers of European languages. [85] One attempt to address this issue is Lojban , which draws from the six most populous languages, Arabic , Mandarin Chinese , English , Hindi , Russian , and Spanish , and whose grammar is designed for computer parsing. [86] Attempts to address the "not European enough" criticism include the younger planned languages Ido and Interlingua . [87] Esperanto simultaneously has no culture [88] and it is culturally European. Although it has a large international literature, Esperanto does not encapsulate a specific culture. Its vocabulary and semantics are derived from European languages. Both infuse the language with a European world view. [89] The vocabulary is too large. Rather than deriving new words from existing roots, large numbers of new roots are adopted into the language with the intent of being internationally accommodating when in reality the language only caters to European languages. This makes the language more difficult for non-Europeans than it needs to be. [85] A similar argument is made by many Esperanto speakers, not against the language itself but against the way it is (in their view) misused by many (mostly European) speakers; they argue that compounds or derivations should be used whenever possible, and new root words borrowed only when absolutely necessary. [90] [91] Esperanto asymmetry in gender formation makes it sexist . [88] Most kin terms and titles are masculine by default and only feminine when so specified. There have been many attempts to address this issue, of which one of the better known is iĉism [92] (used by the Esperantist writer Jorge Camacho ), [93] from which Riism derived. Esperanto is, looks, and/or sounds artificial. This criticism is often due to the letters with circumflex diacritics, which some find odd or cumbersome. [88] Others claim that an artificial language will necessarily be deficient, due to its very nature, [94] although the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has found that Esperanto fulfills all the requirements of a living language. [95]   Modifications Main article: Esperantido Though Esperanto itself has changed little since the publication of the Fundamento de Esperanto (Foundation of Esperanto), a number of reform projects have been proposed over the years, starting with Zamenhof's proposals in 1894 and Ido in 1907. Several later constructed languages, such as Universal , were based on Esperanto. In modern times, attempts have been made to eliminate perceived sexism in the language. One example of this is Riism . However, as Esperanto has become a living language, changes are as difficult to implement as in ethnic languages.   Eponymous entities There are many geographical and astronomical features named after Esperanto, or after its creator L. L. Zamenhof. These include Esperanto Island in Zed Islands off Livingston Island , [96] and the asteroids 1421 Esperanto and 1462 Zamenhof discovered by Finnish astronomer and Esperantist Yrjö Väisälä .   See also
i don't know
Which organisation refers to God as ‘The Great Architect of the Universe’?
The Great Architect of the Universe - Subliminal Messages and Propaganda - tribe.net The Great Architect of the Universe topic posted Mon, October 1, 2007 - 12:48 AM by  Unsubscribed The Great Architect of the Universe en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grea...e_Universe (GAOTU, also Grand Architect of the Universe or Supreme Architect of the Universe) is a conception of God used by many. It is a conception of God discussed by many Christian theologians and apologists. As a designation it is used within Freemasonry to neutrally represent whatever Supreme Being to which each member individually holds in adherence. It is also a Rosicrucian conception of God, as expressed by Max Heindel. The concept of the Demiurge as a grand architect or a great architect also occurs in gnosticism and other religious and philosophical systems. Contents [hide] 6 The Great Architect in Literature 7 See also 8 References [edit] Christianity The concept of God as the (Great) Architect of the Universe has been employed many times in Christianity. Illustrations of God as the architect of the universe can be found on Bibles from the Middle Ages[1] and regularly employed by Christian apologists and teachers. Wayne Jackson, editor of the Christian Courier [2], for example, talks about reflecting "upon the existence, power, and wisdom of the grand Architect of the universe". A Beka Books from Pensacola Christian College[3], for another example, state that "No subject matter better reflects the glory of God than mathematics. To study mathematics is to study God's thoughts after Him, for He is the great Engineer and Architect of the universe.". Christian theologians such as Thomas Aquinas hold that there is a Grand Architect of the Universe, the First Cause, and that this is God. Commentators on Aquinas such as Stephen A Richards[4] have pointed out that the assertion that the Grand Architect of the Universe is the Christian god "is not evident on the basis of 'natural theology' alone but requires an additional 'leap of faith' based on the revelation of the Bible". John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (published in 1536), repeatedly calls the Christian God "the Architect of the Universe", also referring to his works as "Architecture of the Universe", and in his commentary on Psalm 19 refers to the Christian god as the "Great Architect" or "Architect of the Universe". [edit] Freemasonry Usage of the term in Freemasonry has been the subject of criticism by some non-Masons, particularly Christian non-Masons, who criticise the idea of worshipping multiple gods by a single name.[5] This criticism has formed one basis for allegations that Freemasonry is a new religion. Masons themselves, such as Bissey[6], Leazer (quoting Coil's Masonic Encyclopaedia)[7], and Morris[8], assert that "the Masonic abbreviation G.A.O.T.U., meaning the Great Architect of the Universe, continues a long tradition of using an allegorical name for the Deity". They trace how the name and the abbreviation entered Masonic tradition from the Book of Constitutions written in 1723 by Reverend James Anderson. They also note that Anderson, a Calvinist minister, probably took the term from Calvin's usage. Christopher Haffner's own explanation of how the Masonic concept of a Great Architect of the Universe, as a placeholder for the Supreme Being of one's choice, is given in Workman Unashamed: "Now imagine me standing in lodge with my head bowed in prayer between Brother Mohammed Bokhary and Brother Arjun Melwani. To neither of them is the Great Architect of the Universe perceived as the Holy Trinity. To Brother Bokhary He has been revealed as Allah; to Brother Melwani He is probably perceived as Vishnu. Since I believe that there is only one God, I am confronted with three possibilities: They are praying to the devil whilst I am praying to God; They are praying to nothing, as their gods do not exist; They are praying to the same God as I, yet their understanding of His nature is partly incomplete (as indeed is mine — 1 Cor 13:12) It is without hesitation that I accept the third possibility."[9] [edit] Rosicrucianism In Heindel's exposition, the Great Architect of the Universe is the Supreme Being, who proceeds from The Absolute, at the dawn of manifestation. For a detailed discussion, see The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception. [edit] Gnosticism The concept of the Great Architect of the Universe occurs in Gnosticism. In Nasoræanism, for example, the Pira Rabba is the source, origin, and container of all things, which is filled by the Mânâ Rabbâ, the Great Spirit, from which emanates the First Life. The First Life prays for companionship and progeny, whereupon the Second Life, the Ultra Mkayyema or World-constituting Æon, the Architect of the Universe, comes into being. From this architect come a number of æons, who erect the universe under the foremanship of the Mandâ d'Hayye or gnôsis zoês, the Personified Knowledge of Life.[10] [edit] Others James Hopwood Jeans, in his book The Mysterious Universe, also employs the concept of a Great Architect of the Universe, saying at one point "Lapsing back again into the crudely anthropomorphic language we have already used, we may say that we have already considered with disfavour the possibility of the universe having been planned by a biologist or an engineer; from the intrinsic evidence of his creation, the Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician.".[11][12] To that Jinarajadasa adds his observation that the Great Archictect is "also a Grand Geometrician. For in some manner or other, whether obvious or hidden, there seems to be a geometric basis to every object in the universe."[13] The concept of the Demiurge as a benevolent great architect or grand architect of matter occurs in the writings of Plato, including in Timaeus. For further discussion, see Demiurge#Platonism. The concept of a Great Architect of the Universe also occurs in Martinism. Martinist doctrine is that the Great Architect must not be worshipped. Martinists hold that whilst it is possible to "invoque" Him, it is not to adore Him.[14][15] [edit] The Great Architect in Literature In Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, the Great Architect is used to refer to the creator of the universe. [edit] See also
Freemasonry
In Sikhism men take the last name Singh – what name do women take?
Chapter Three: The Masonic Doctrine of God The Masonic Doctrine of God   The All-Inclusive Deity of Freemasonry Freemasonry�s lodges are erected to God.... Symbolically, to "erect to God" means to construct something in honor, in worship, in reverence to and for him. Hardly is the initiate within the West Gate before he is impressed that Freemasonry worships God. (1)          Let no man enter any great or important undertaking without first evoking the aid of Deity.... The trust of a Mason is in God. (2) Having established that Freemasonry is indeed a religion, it should not surprise us that "worship" is conducted within the walls of the Lodge. However, since we are told that "Freemasonry is not Christianity," the question before us is, Just who is worshipped as "God" by Masons?          According to Allen E. Roberts, "In his private devotions a Mason will pray to Jehovah, Mohammed, Allah, Jesus, or the deity of his choice." (3) In the lower degrees of the Blue Lodge, Freemasonry purposely attributes many ambiguous names to what it refers to as "God" to avoid offending any of its members. Among these names are "The Great Architect of the Universe," "The Governor of the World," "The Nameless One of a Thousand Names," etc. One Masonic periodical stated: [The Mason] prays to the Grand Artificer or the Great Architect of the Universe. Under that title men of all faiths may find each his own Deity. Failure to mention any deity by name is not denial, but merely the practice of a gracious courtesy, so that each man for whom the prayer is offered can hear the name of his own deity in the all inclusive title of Great Architect. (4) Freemasonry at its entrance level in the Blue Lodge degrees is polytheistic because it claims to give equal honor to the deities of all religions. However, as a man advances into the higher degrees of either the York Rite or the Scottish Rite, it becomes apparent that this is yet another deception employed by the Blue Lodge. According to Albert Pike, "Among all the ancient nations there was one faith and one idea of Deity for the enlightened, intelligent, and educated and another for the common people." (5) The truth is that Freemasonry is tolerant only of those concepts of God which either conform to its own, or can be molded to do so. Of course, the true Christian would not find himself welcome within the Lodge simply because the Bible teaches that there is but one God and no other. Indeed, the Scriptures describe Yahweh as a personal and jealous Deity who condemns the worship of any other god as idolatrous and deserving of death. It is no wonder, then, that Henry Wilson Coil denounced the "ancient tribal Hebrew Jahweh" as a "partisan, tribal God," (6) amd stated that "monotheism... violates Masonic principles." (7)          However, the face of Freemasonry changes once a man advances beyond the Blue Lodge. Martin Wagner wrote: In its doctrines concerning the divine eminence Freemasonry is decidedly pantheistic, partaking of the various shades of that view of the divine. God (the Great Architect) is the great "soul" of the universe, and the universe is the garment in which he is clothed.          The Masonic view of the revelation of God, in the lower degrees, is deistic, but in the higher degrees it becomes pantheistic. The writings of Garrison, Buck, Pike, and other eminent Masons show this unmistakably. It is this particular pantheistic conception of deity which has passed from India through the secret doctrines of the Kabbalah into the modern speculative Freemasonry.... In Masonry, a god distinct from the life of nature has no existence. (8) Wagner was absolutely correct in pointing out that Freemasonry becomes blatantly pantheistic as it begins to place greater emphasis in the higher degrees upon the "one true God" or the "religion of Nature." According to Manly P. Hall, the true Mason knows that the essence of divinity is to be discovered in every "plant, animal, mineral, and man... and [he] recognizes the oneness of life manifesting through the diversity of form." (9) Freemasonry teaches that behind this "diversity of form" is one connected "Life Principle," or the "Spark of God" in all living things, and that the Mason must strive to hasten the day when "the crystallization of form with its false concepts is swept away, [and] one great truth [Freemasonry] remains." (10) In his Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert Mackey spoke of the "Divine Spirit," or anima mundi ("soul of the world"), and described this "immaterial force" as "the source of all physical and sentient life." (11) Former Sovereign Grand Commander Henry C. Clausen further substantiated this as a Masonic belief when he wrote the following commentary on the Twenty-Eighth Degree of the Scottish Rite: "This is a Kabalistic and Hermetic Degree of the greatest antiquity, dealing with the primal matter of all things.... What we see in this life are reflections of things that exist in the invisible spiritual world.... [There exists] an underlying divinity in all things." (12)          Though Freemasons are encouraged in the lower degrees to pray to "Jehovah, Mohammed, Allah, Jesus, or the deity of his choice," the purpose of the higher degrees is to teach the participant that these are all in fact false gods and inadequate caricatures of the "One True God": "Every religion and every conception of God is idolatrous, insofar as it is imperfect, as it substitutes a feeble and temporary idea in the shrine of that Undiscoverable Being [of Masonry]." (13)          As the Mason progresses higher into the Royal Arch degrees of the York Rite, he is eventually given the "true name of God," and must swear a solemn oath never to reveal it to those outside of his degree of initiation, even at the peril of his own life. This secret name -- "Jah-Bul-On" -- is a composite of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (YHWH, "Jehovah" or "Yahweh"), "Baal," and "Osiris." The identity of this "Undiscoverable Being" will become obvious as we proceed. The Ancient Worship of the Pagan Sun-God According to the various pagan traditions, one man (known by various names, depending upon the language and culture in which the tradition is found) elevated himself in the days just after a great flood as the first world dictator by gathering men into walled cities and training the first army of warriors. The Assyrians knew this character as Ninus, which literally means �the Son,� and his father as Belus or Bel, �the Confounder.� (14) According to Assyrian legend, Ninus was �the first who carried on war against his neighbours, and he conquered all nations from Assyria to Lybia, as they were unacquainted with the arts of war.� (15) At a time when the sparse human population was constantly threatened by roving wild animals, this individual was also renowned for his prowess as a hunter and was therefore known in Egypt as Khons, �the Huntsman,� or �god of the chase� (16) and was frequently pictured dressed in a leopard skin. (17) This common myth of Ninus as a skilled horseman and hunter seems to be the origin of the mythological Greek character of the centaur, a half horse and half man creature with a bow and arrow in its hands. (18)          That the man thus described with such striking similarity in the pagan myths must have been Nimrod, the son of Cush and grandson of the cursed Ham, is beyond doubt. For example, the Egyptians identified Nimus as Osiris, the son of Horus or Hermes, the latter name meaning �son of Ham,� (19) and the Chaldees called him Zernebogus, which means �the seed of the prophet Cush.� (20) To the Greeks, he was known as Bacchus, literally �the branch of Cush� (21) and to the Phoenicians, he was Chusorus, �the seed of Cush.� (22) Not only is Nimrod described in Scripture as �a mighty one in the earth� and �a mighty hunter before the LORD� (Genesis 10:8-9), but his very name is derived from two Hebrew words: nemar, leopard (23) and radah, subjugate. (24) Thus, his name literally means �the subduer of the leopard� -- further identifying him as the mythological hunter. Moreover, biblical scholars are agreed that it was Nimrod who supervised the construction of the city and tower of Babel in the land of Shinar (Genesis 11:1-8) and later the city of Ninevah (Genesis 10:11). He is also referred to in pagan mythology as Phoroneus, the �emancipator� or �deliverer� � an allusion to his �deliverance� of mankind from the moral laws of God: ...[N]ot content with delivering men from the fear of wild beasts, [Nimrod] set to work also to emancipate them from that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, and in which alone true happiness can be found. For this very thing, he seems to have gained, as one of the titles by which men delighted to honour him, the title of the �Emancipator,� or �Deliverer.� The reader may remember a name that has already come under his notice. That name is the name of Phoroneus. The era of Phoroneus is exactly the era of Nimrod. He lived about the time when men had used one speech, when the confusion of tongues began, and when mankind was scattered abroad. He is said to have been the first that gathered mankind into communities, the first of mortals that reigned, and the first that offered idolatrous sacrifices. This character can agree with none but that of Nimrod. Now the name given to him in connection with his �gathering men together,� and offering idolatrous sacrifice, is very significant. Phoroneus, in one of its meanings, and that of the most natural, signifies the �Apostate.� That name had very likely been given him by the uninfected portion of the sons of Noah. But that name had also another meaning, that is, �to set free;� and therefore his own adherents adopted it, and glorified the great �Apostate� from the primeval faith, though he was the first that abridged the liberties of mankind, as the grand �Emancipator�! And hence, in one form or other, this title was handed down to his deified successors as a title of honour. All tradition from the earliest times bears testimony to the apostacy of Nimrod, and to his success in leading men away from the patriarchal faith, and delivering their minds from that awe of God and fear of the judgments of heaven that must have rested on them while yet the memory of the flood was recent. And according to all the principles of depraved human nature, this too, no doubt, was one grand element in his fame; for men will readily rally around any one who can give the least appearance of plausibility to any doctrine which will teach that they can be assured of happiness and heaven at last, though their hearts and natures are unchanged, and though they live without God in the world. (25) Since Nimrod was viewed as the great �life-giver,� it was only natural that his veneration would, over time, become associated with the worship of the great �life-giving sun.� According to Babylonian myth, Nimrod was brutally murdered (26) and was subsequently reborn into the body of his son, Tammuz. (27) This was symbolized in Chaldean lore by the setting of the sun in the west, and its rising in the east. Eventually, the sun came to be worshiped as the Supreme God, author of light and of life, and the naturalistic religion of which such worship was an integral part was diversified amongst the ancient civilizations under various appellations following the scattering of �the sons of Adam� (Genesis 11; Deuteronomy 32:8). To the Moabites, the sun-god was known as Chemosh (1 Kings 11:33), to the Ammonites, he was Molech (1 Kings 11:7), to the Egyptians, he was Osiris or On (Genesis 41:45), and to the Assyrians, he was Baal, or Bul.          Though Scripture repeatedly condemned participation in such idolatrous worship (Exodus 34:14), the chosen people of Israel were especially warned by God against involvement in the veneration of Baal, whose barbaric rituals involved self mutilation (1 Kings 18:28), ritual prostitution (Judges 2:17; Jeremiah 7:9; Amos 2:7), the offering of infants as burnt sacrifices (Deuteronomy 12:1-4; Jeremiah 19:4-5), and many other heinous acts. Through the practice of human sacrifice, as well as a variety of barbaric secret ceremonies, the participants believed themselves to have become initiated into the "Mysteries," thereby securing their place among the gods after death. God�s abhorrence of the religion and practices of sun-worship, which is found to be at the root of all forms of occultism, was demonstrated on numerous occasions in the Old Testament when He judged and severely punished the nation of Israel for her constant apostasy into this very thing (Deuteronomy 8:19-20).          Freemasonry is directly descended, by the admission of its own scholars, from the worship of the sun-god, Baal. Albert Mackey, one of the leading authorities on Masonic doctrine, made the following observation: [Baal] was the chief divinity among the Phoenicians, the Canaanites, and the Babylonians.... The Sabaists understood Baal as the sun, and the Baalim, in the plural, were the sun, moon, and the stars, "the host of heaven." Whenever the Israelites made one of their almost periodical deflections to idolatry, Baal seems to have been the favorite idol to whose worship they addicted themselves....          Hence we see that there was an evident antagonism in the orthodox Hebrew mind between Jehovah and Baal. The latter was, however, worshipped by the Jews, whenever they became heterodox, and by all the Oriental or Shemite nations as a supreme divinity, representing the sun... as the ruler of the day.... In brief, Baal seems to have been wherever his cultus was established, a development or form of the old sun-worship. (28) One would think that after making such an accurate observation of the "antagonism" between the worship of the true God, Jehovah or Yahweh, and that of the pagan sun-god, Baal, Mackey would have attempted to distance Freemasonry from the latter. However, the opposite is actually the case: Our brethren met on the highest hills, and the lowest valleys, the better to observe the approach of cowans and eavesdroppers, and to guard against surprise.          So then, because our ancient brethren -- the old sun-worshippers -- met on the highest hills to worship Baal, or the sun-god, and Freemasonry being that same worship revived, it must necessarily follow, that Masonic Lodges must be held in the highest rooms of buildings, to carry out the coincidence (emphasis added). (29) It is certainly no "coincidence" that the Bible speaks of the "high places of Baal" (Numbers 22:41; Deuteronomy 12:2-3; Jeremiah 19:5), which Mackey admitted above were the inspiration of what are now Masonic Lodges. Consequently, the temples of Freemasonry are everywhere adorned with symbols of Baal and other heathen deities, as are also the ceremonial aprons and additional regalia worn by Masons during their secret rituals. It is also significant to note that Masonic temples are constructed with the altar facing due east. Again, Mackey explained: The orientation of the Lodges or their position east and west is derived from the universal custom of antiquity. The heathen temples were so constructed that their length was directed towards the east, and the entrance was by a portico at the western front, where the altar stood so that votaries approaching for the performance of religious rites, directed their faces toward the east, the quarter of sunrise. The primitive reason for this custom undoubtedly is to be found in the early prevalence of sun-worship, and hence the spot where the luminary first made his appearance in the heavens was consecrated in the minds of his worshippers as a place entitled to peculiar reverence. (30) Seated upon an elevated chair against the eastern wall of the Lodge is the Masonic officer known as the "Worshipful Master." We learn from Masonic writers that this man�s position and title are clear indications that he represents the pagan sun-god to which all initiates must bow: "As the sun rises in the east, to open and govern the day, so rises the Worshipful Master in the east... to open and govern his Lodge, set the Craft to work, and give them proper instructions." (31)          It is interesting that all this corresponds exactly to one of the "detestable things" that was revealed to the Prophet Ezekiel in a vision: Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD�s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.          Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD�S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.          Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them (Ezekiel 8:14-18). The Occult Reversal of God and Satan In the occult, Satan (or Lucifer) has traditionally been associated with the sun, the harbinger of spiritual light. Esoteric philosophy teaches that it is this "great being," not the God of the Old Testament, that was the true redeemer and benefactor of mankind in the Garden of Eden and who later possessed the body of Jesus of Nazareth to rescue the Jews from their idolatrous worship of Ilda-Baoth (Jehovah), and to instruct them in the truth of man�s inherent or potential divinity. For example, occult medium Helena P. Blavatsky wrote in her book, The Secret Doctrine: Once the key to Genesis is in our hands, it is the scientific and symbolic Kabbala which unveils the secret. The Great Serpent of the Garden of Eden and the "Lord God" are identical.... (32)          Stand in awe of him, and sin not; speak his name with trembling.... It is Satan who is the god of our planet and the only god....          When the Church, therefore, curses Satan, it curses the cosmic reflection of God....          In this case it is but natural... to view Satan, the Serpent of Genesis as the real creator and benefactor, the Father of Spiritual mankind. For it is he who was the "Harbinger of Light," bright radiant Lucifer, who opened the eyes of the automaton [Adam] created by Jehovah, as alleged; and he who was the first to whisper, "In the day ye eat thereof, ye shall be as Elohim, knowing good and evil" -- can only be regarded in the light of a Saviour. An "adversary" to Jehovah... he still remains in Esoteric Truth the ever loving "Messenger"... who conferred on us spiritual instead of physical immortality....          Satan, or Lucifer, represents the active... "Centrifugal Energy of the Universe" in a cosmic sense.... Fitly is he... and his adherents... consigned to the "sea of fire," because it is the Sun... the fount of life in our system, where they are purified... and churned up to re-arrange them for another life; that Sun which, as the origin of the active principle of our Earth, is at once the Home and the Source of the Mundane Satan.... (33) In Morals and Dogma, Albert Pike, an avowed Luciferian, wrote: To prevent the light from escaping at once, the Demons forbade Adam to eat the fruit of "knowledge of good and evil," by which he would have known the Empire of Light and that of Darkness. He obeyed; an Angel of Light induced him to transgress, and gave him the means of victory; but the Demons created Eve, who seduced him into an act of Sensualism, that enfeebled him, and bound him anew in the bonds of matter....          To deliver the soul, captive in darkness, the Principle of Light, or Genius of the Sun, charged to redeem the Intellectual World... came to manifest Himself among men.... It but put on the appearance of a human body, and took the name of Christ in the Messiah, only to accommodate itself to the language of the Jews. The Light did its work, turning the Jews from the adoration of the Evil Principle, and the Pagans from the worship of Demons. But the Chief of the Empire of Darkness caused Him to be crucified by the Jews (emphasis in original). (34) According to Pike, it was the demons, not God, that barred Adam from the Tree of Knowledge, thereby perpetuating his spiritual ignorance (compare to Genesis 2:15-17). However, an unnamed "Angel of Light" persuaded him to rebel against the "demonic" command (compare to Genesis 3:1-4), and, as a result, Adam was "enlightened" and initiated into the "true religion," which, of course, is supposedly that of Freemasonry. This "Angel of Light" later assumed the appearance of a man (compare to John 1:1, 14) in order to act as redeemer of mankind, turning the world from its worship of the Edenic "demons."          We find the enigmatic "Angel of Light" identified by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:14 as none other than Satan himself. Is this indeed the god to whom Masons ultimately owe their allegiance? Elsewhere in the same volume, Pike answered in the affirmative: "Lucifer, the light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the spirit of darkness! Lucifer, Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable, blinds feeble, sensual or selfish souls? Doubt it not!" (emphasis in original). (35)          To the non-Mason, the above statement would appear to be somewhat cryptic; indeed, such was the intention of the author. However, when we remember that initiates into the religion of Freemasonry regard it as "the Light," it becomes apparent that Lucifer, the "light-bearer," is therefore the custodian, or guardian, of Freemasonry. Consequently, the Mason is assured by the writings of Manly Hall that "the seething, surging energies of Lucifer are in his hands," and that, before he will be allowed to advance in the Lodge, "he must prove his ability to properly apply [this] energy." (36) Likewise, Henry C. Clauson told his fellow Masons, "[W]e have within us an infinite, unlimited source of power," and that when this "power" is channeled by Masons worldwide, "we would have achieved a true New Age" wherein there will be "no more wars, no more crime; [and] Brotherly love and life would be lived in all God�s glory." (37) Such lofty ideals and pious platitudes notwithstanding, the power sought by the Mason is clearly satanic, not divine, and the "New Age" he seeks to advance is the kingdom of the Devil (Revelation, chapter 13). Endnotes 1. Carl H. Claudy, Foreign Countries: A Gateway to the Interpretation and Development of Certain Symbols of Freemasonry (Richmond, Virginia: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1971), page 23. 2. George Simmons and Robert Macoy, Standard Masonic Monitor of the Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason (Richmond, Virginia: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1984), page 17. 3. Allen E. Roberts, The Craft and its Symbols (Richmond, Virginia: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1974), page 6. 4. Short Talk Bulletin (The Masonic Service Association of the United States), Volume XXXVI, Number 8, page 7. 5. Pike, Morals and Dogma, page 206. 6. Coil, Encyclopedia, page 516. 7. Coil, ibid., page 517. 8. Wagner, Interpretation, pags 286, 309-310. 9. Hall, Lost Keys, page 93. 10. Hall, ibid., pages 94, 95. 11. Mackey, Encyclopedia, Volume I, pages 60, 179, 240. 12. Clausen, Commentaries, pages 203-204, 210-212. 13. Pike, Morals and Dogma, page 516. 14. Reference: Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons: The Papal Worship Proved To Be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife (Dahlonega, Georgia: Crown Rights Book Company, [1916] 2002), pages 25, 27. 15. Hislop, ibid., page 23. 16. Reference: Hislop, ibid., pages 40-42. 17. Reference: Hislop, ibid., pages 45-46. 18. Reference: Hislop, ibid., page 42. 19. Reference: Hislop, ibid., page 25. 20. Reference: Hislop, ibid., page 34. 21. Reference: Hislop, ibid., page 48. This is the form in which Nimrod is worshiped each year in New Orleans, Louisiana during Mardi Gras. 22. J. Gardiner Wilkinson, The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (London, England: John Murray, 1841), Volume IV, page 191. 23. James Strong, A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Hebrew Bible (McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company, n.d.), page 79. 24. Strong, ibid., page 107. 25. Hislop, Two Babylons, pages 51-52. 26. According to the Egyptian version of the story, Osiris (Nimrod) was put to death by an �Evil One� named Typho, who was also known as Sem. That Nimrod�s executioner was actually Shem, the righteous son of Noah, is beyond question (reference: Hislop, ibid., pages 62-66). 27. Reference: Hislop, ibid. 28. Mackey, Encyclopedia, Volume I, page 88. 29. Mackey, Manual, page 43; see also Mackey, Encyclopedia, Volume I, page 325. 30. Mackey, Manual, page 55; see also Mackey, Encyclopedia, Volume I, pages 226-227, 452. 31. Duncan, Ritual, page 15. 32. Helena P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine (Pasadena, California: Theosophical University Press, 1963), Volume I, page 414. 33. Blavatsky, ibid., Volume II, pages 234, 235, 243, 245. 34. Pike, Morals and Dogma, page 567. 35. Pike, ibid., page 321. 36. Hall, Lost Keys, page 76. 37. Clauson, Commentaries, pages 157-158.
i don't know
Which term is commonly used for members of the Unification Church?
Unification Church at Worships.org Women in Religion About the Unification Church The Unification Church was founded 1954 in South Korea by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. It is commonly known by the pejorative term Moonies (after the founder and leader). Some followers object to the name, claiming it is meant as an insult. However, the name was coined and used by members of the Unification Church itself. Currently, the Unification Church goes by the name "Association of Families for Unification and World Peace," or "Family Federation for World Peace and Unification." However, the Unification Church operates under numerous names. The Unification Church claims to be a Christian movement, but deviates significantly in teachings and practices. Members live throughout the world with the largest number living in South Korea, or perhaps Japan. Members reject the concept of the Christian Trinity in favor of one unified God, and believe that humanity's fallen nature is due to an affair Eve had with Lucifer. The church's goal is to unite all of Christianity under one church, which will be achieved through the birth of the "third Adam," something that already occured during the early 20th century in Korea. The church is perhaps best known for its mass wedding ceremonies, known as Blessings. As an example, on February 17, 2010 the Rev. Sun Myung Moon carried out one of the signature events of his church by blessing about 7,000 couples in Seoul, South Korea. Most of the couples never saw each other before they were matched. The church is slightly less known for its funding of numerous conservative political groups and publications in the United States, including the Washington Times. UNIFICATION CHURCH NEWS
Unification Church of the United States
What was found in 1872 in the Atlantic with no-one on board but the cargo secure?
Growing Up Special: Identity Formation in the Second Generation of the Unification Church Growing Up Special: Identity Formation in the Second Generation of the Unification Church Growing Up Special: Identity Formation in the Second Generation of the Unification Church By Bryan Flynn When I was younger, I always looked forward to going to summer camp. It was the only place I knew where everyone was similar to me. It was the only place where it was okay to be a “Moonie,” or a child of the Unification Church. We were of all ages, all ethnicities, from all over the country, and sometimes from other countries. Some of us thought being a Moonie made us special, others thought it made us different, but we all knew that our experiences were unique to us alone. At summer camp, I didn’t have to explain why I woke up every Sunday at five in the morning to recite pledges of faith in Korean, and no one thought my aversion to dating was at all strange. We were all the second generation of the Unification Church, the product of the years of sacrifice and dedication by our parents, all in the hopes that we would change the world. For most of these children, being a part of the second generation of the church has been a major part of their identity. My aim in this paper is to explore how this religious identity is experienced across a diverse youth group as well as how it intersects with other aspects of their identity. To accomplish this, I will briefly explore the history of the Unification Church in the United States and the church’s theological traditions. I will then draw on previous studies of the relationship between religion and identity, as well as ethnographic interviews with second-generation youth in the Unification Church, to analyze how the church’s ideologies have shaped my own and other youth members’ identity construction. History and Theology of the Unification Church The story of the Unification Church starts in what is now North Korea where Sun Myung Moon was born in 1920. Moon was raised in a Christian family and was always a religious child. According to church history, Moon was visited by the spirit of Jesus where He asked the then 15-year-old to continue his mission. Moon was to become the second coming of Christ, tasked with bringing complete salvation to the world. He began preaching throughout the Korean peninsula and began acquiring a number of followers. Moon founded the Unification Church, officially called The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, in 1954. The church saw growth in the 1960′s and 1970′s, sending missionaries to all corners of the earth, including the United States. The estimated membership of the church is between 5 to 7 million people, and there are growing church communities in nearly every country. The first Unification Church missionaries came to the United States from Korea and Japan in 1959. During the 1960’s and into the early 1970’s, the missionaries’ focus was to establish centers throughout the country in cities such as Berkeley, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C. It wasn’t until the mid 1970’s that the church took off as a national movement. The missionaries focused their efforts on recruiting college students and, in turn, captured the attention of many young people looking for a sense of community, many of whom joined with enthusiasm. These students came from a range of backgrounds and were recruited by missionaries from different countries, which created church centers with racially and ethnically diverse congregations. Throughout the decade members participated in mobile fundraising teams and witnessing missions with the goal of solidifying and strengthening their faith in the new movement. The Unification Church draws a lot of its theology from Christian thought. However, it departs in the interpretation of the Bible, namely in the story of Adam and Eve and in the mission of Jesus.  According to Unification doctrine, the story of Adam and Eve, referred to as “The Fall,” is a symbolic representation.  The “eating of the fruit” is not to be interpreted literally but as a reference to a sexual encounter. This encounter happened before Adam and Eve attained spiritual maturity, and ultimately before they received the blessing from God to come together. Because of this, Adam and Eve were unable to start their family lineage with God’s blessing. Instead, their inability to wait for spiritual maturity established a blood lineage that began with Satan. The idea of reaching spiritual maturity before marriage is central to Unification thought and is the root of many of its practices. Equally as important to Unification ideology is the church’s understanding of the mission of Jesus. According to the church, part of the mission of Jesus was to establish a nuclear family. It is through family unification that Jesus would be able to return humanity to God’s lineage, or their state before “The Fall.” A particularly important date, then, for the Unification Church is July 1, 1982. It marked the “blessing ceremony,” or marriage, of 2,075 couples from across the United States. It is from these marriages that many of the second generation came. The term “blessed child” is used for anyone born into the church; each second-generation member is considered a blessed child. The second generation is referred to as “blessed” because it is thought that they are born without bearing the burden of the original sin. The role of blessed children in the movement is very important. Continuing a lineage that begins with God is the ultimate goal of the church, and the only way to achieve that is for the second generation to also receive “The Blessing.” Essentially, “The Blessing” is the term used in the Unification Church for marriage. However, there are many more ideological implications of “The Blessing” besides that of a marital union. The Blessing ceremony also marks a shift in the dynamic of the church atmosphere, as it moved from a movement of young, single people, to a family-centered movement. For the church, the ultimate goal of “The Blessing” is to eradicate the satanic blood lineage and restore humanity’s lineage through bestowing God’s blessing on families. The years of sacrifice the first-generation members gave in the sixties and seventies were to lay the spiritual foundation that would allow their children to be born without original sin, to be born in God’s lineage. One first- generation member explained the difference between generations this way: “[Being a] part of the second generation is totally different from other children and totally different from us, the first generation, as well. The difference is lineage. They were born of God’s lineage. We, the first generation, were engrafted into God’s lineage but were born of the satanic lineage. This is the point that separates us apart and makes us different from them.” To the first generation, their children are the ones who will continue God’s lineage into the future, and ultimately, will lead to salvation for all of humanity. It is through the second generation that humanity will return to God’s lineage. Through their years of fundraising and witnessing, the thousands of young people that joined the movement were able to reach spiritual maturity and begin their marriage based on God’s lineage. The second generation of the movement were to be the first born without original sin, which has been attributed to all humanity, due to Adam and Eve’s fall. In this sense, the second generation was born perfect. For the first generation, “The Blessing” was a very important moment, and much of their work during the 1970’s was in preparation to receive “The Blessing.” It is equally important for the second generation, as it is the ultimate hope that blessed children (BCs) will eventually receive the blessing, that is to marry within the faith and continue the traditions and practices of the church, and more importantly, continue a lineage that is rooted in God’s blessing.     Struggles with Perfection At times, I have felt connected to my church, and being a BC has been a central part of my identity. Conversely, I have experienced times of great confusion about my relation to the church, and how my role as a second generation fits into my own perception of myself. Growing up, I never felt the need to consider how being a BC played a part in my identity, never considering the possibility of alternative options. Even into my high-school years, the assumption always remained that I would follow a certain path.  It has not been until recently that I have begun to consider, critically, how my identification, or lack thereof, as a BC has intersected with other social roles and personal identifying markers. I share the experience that nearly every child growing up in a religious family encounters: a childhood of assumed and adopted devotion. I participated excitedly in all church activities because that was what my parents were doing. In addition, there was a close group of children generally the same age in our congregation, and the friendships that developed through the church were extremely valuable to me. I remember taking a lot of pride in my active participation in church activities. At a young age, I felt a strong desire to meet the criteria for what I considered to be a good second-generation member. I have experienced my identity as a BC primarily through my interactions with other BCs. Though I have not connected to the Unification Church’s ideology in a way that necessarily influences the way I view myself, I have tried very hard in the past to engage in church doctrine and invest energy in the various practices of the church. This includes things such as daily readings of speeches and other writings from the founder of the church, Rev. Moon. These practices were important to me insofar as they were important to my parents. What solidified my identification with the church most, however, was the extended BC community throughout the country. Not only is there a close community of kids in my hometown, every state has a collection of BCs of some sort. During the summer I would attend summer “workshops,” which were half camp and half religious schools. Similar to my experiences at home, it was the friendships I made at those workshops that had the biggest impact on me. It was with other BCs that I had the closest relationships. I never considered myself to be a part of a religious minority, but I do remember not being open with people outside of the church about my religious identity. When asked by my friends at school about religion, I simply deferred the question by responding that I was Christian. This separation between my religious and school identities continued through middle and high school. While I continued to value my role as a second-generation member of the church, it was not the only lived experience I had growing up. Moving from elementary to middle and finally to high school, I began to spend less and less time involved in church activities. Even though I associated less with the church, it was still an integral part of who I was. Many of my decisions and behaviors were very much influenced by what I perceived to be the expectations of the church and the requirements I imposed upon myself as a BC. This increasingly dualistic concept of my own identity stayed with me for some time. Even after high school, when I took a year off to devote all of my time to a church leadership program, I drew from many experiences and identifiers to determine my image of self. During that time, my faith was displayed in a very public way, as I spent a lot of time fundraising for various projects that we had planned. Most of the time this entailed spending evenings going door to door, asking for donations in exchange for a product. For many BCs, this was experienced through a program called STF, or Special Task Force. This program mirrored the years the first generation spent living in vans and traveling across the country for fundraising and establishing their faith. I did not spend my entire dedicated year in a van, only small trips lasting about a month. Even then, I continued to dodge the fact that I was associated with the Unification Church and instead focused on the “youth leadership” aspect of the program. Throughout my life I have had a hard time linking my role as a second-generation church member with my everyday life, and it has not been until recently that I have begun to feel comfortable talking about my upbringing in the church. There are many aspects of my experience that are echoed throughout the entire second generation of the church. Through stories such as mine, I believe that it is possible to begin to explore how a person’s identity as a BC is experienced in the various aspects of their lives. Despite being such a diverse group, the shared experience of being a BC is a fundamental part of all of the second generation. The oral histories that I have conducted with second-generation youth have helped me to explore questions of identity and religion within the Unification Movement and those significant to my own identity formation. To explore the very specific questions about identity formation within the second generation of the Unification Church, I now turn to the collection of narrative-style testimonies from various second-generation members. I explore these narratives to demonstrate how individual and collective experience have been central to Unification Church youths’ identity construction. Growing Up Special I chose the narrative approach to the interview process to allow participants to express a wide range of experiences. I collected accounts from 10 individuals who grew up in the church.  All the participants were college-aged, half of these being male and half being female. The geographic make-up consists mostly of participants the Maryland area, however some participants are from the Seattle area. Each participant can be said to come from a middle-class background, although economic factors were not considered for this study. The participants wrote most of the narratives, as they were provided with four open-ended questions, aimed simply at guiding their stories. Two of the interviews were conducted in person, and one was conducted through an online chat program. I know each of the participants personally, which allowed for an open narrative. However, I did specify that I was not looking for very personal experiences; rather, I was looking for general experiences of growing up in the church. Finally, to provide anonymity for the participants, their names will not be used in this paper. Of importance to this kind of analysis is Pamela King’s examination of identity development in a religious context through a three-dimensional framework consisting of ideological, social, and spiritual aspects. For King, an ideological context provides youth with “a sense of meaning, order, and place in the world.” [1]  While this notion depends heavily on a person’s commitment to an ideology, King also makes an interesting point that “religion can provide opportunities for youth to use their analytical capacities to think through and question beliefs and values, which may be especially helpful in the consolidation of identity.” [2] In this instance, religion acts as an opportunity for exploration rather than a constraining context. Not only does religion have the possibility to provide individuals with an ideological framework in which to develop their identity, it also creates a strong social context.  For King, “personal integration is facilitated not only by abstract ideology but by having it lived out in the flesh. Religions often provide opportunities for adolescents to interact with peers and build intergenerational relationships as well.” [3] Not only is the immediate community of importance, but religious context also presents the opportunity to connect with the previous generation, thus giving a sense of trans-generational continuity.  Regardless of the ideological implications of a religious context, as well as the commitment of a given individual, religion is “a web of support, where young people experience trustworthy parents, friends, and adults with whom they can dialogue and interact, is an ideal environment for young people to wrestle with issues of identity.” [4] In this sense, the value of a religious context for identity formation is not only in faith, but also in community. Through interviews conducted with individuals born into the Unification Church, I found that there are two salient ways that religion is significant in a youth’s identity formation. It became clear that the BC identity is experienced on an abstract, ideological level and lived as collective experience. On one hand, there are sets of behavioral expectations that accompany being a second-generation member of the church. The important ideological role of BCs impact the way many second-generation members came to view themselves within the context of the church. Because of this, BCs must determine how they situate themselves with the “mission” of the second-generation movement. In addition to the ideological aspect of the BC identity, there are strong social factors to the identity formation of a BC. The relationships built within the second-generation community are very important to most BCs. Much of the second-generation identity is determined by their relationship to other people born into the church. King touches upon the varied experiences within a single religious context by stating that people “must consider the individual’s interpretation or experience of context as an important mediating variable. The same context will not be associated with a uniform pattern of identity development for all individuals therein. Much valuable information about identity formation will be gained by examining the meaning an adolescent makes of elements in his/her social context.” [5] By exploring these two avenues of interpretation of the BC identity, I hope to begin to develop an understanding of how religious identity is formed amongst second-generation youth within the Unification Church. The role of the second generation in the Unification Church differs in a very dramatic way from other faiths. The position of a BC is said to be of the utmost importance, as the church doctrine states that it is only the second generation who are born without any sin. The emphasis on such a coveted position brings varying responses within the BC community. Despite the differences in interpretation, the feeling of difference is common among all the narratives of each participant. Starting from a very young age, BCs are taught that they are very unique, having been born with no original sin, and are thus elevated in their spiritual position. These feelings resonated throughout many of the narratives; many of the participants expressed an understanding that they were supposed to be different from other people. One experience that is shared among many of the second generation is attending Sunday school during their childhood. This was an opportunity to instruct BCs on how to live a life in accordance with the church’s principles. Through Sunday school, many second-generation youth encountered both the ideological and social aspects of their religious and personal identities. One youth described Sunday school this way: “[Our Sunday school teacher] taught my sisters and I, and like 6 other kids, what it meant to be a BC. She told us that we were special, more special than anyone else because we were born perfect. My dad also used to tell us that when we died, we would… be in heaven because we [were] BCs” This passage highlights two kinds of experiences that are central to the BC identity. First, the experience of Sunday school, which mirrored other activities such as summer camp, solidified a BC’s understanding of his or her role within the church structure. It is through these experiences that the second generation came to understand their position as unique, special, or different.  Secondly, BCs shared these learning experiences with other second-generation children. This established strong relationships within the community. This is especially important because not only were BCs forming social relationships, they were also developing a shared understanding of their role. Though this experience was shared by many of the participants, however, it occurred in varying degrees. Another participant gave a much broader depiction of the special role that BC’s occupy in the context of the church: “What does it actually mean to be a BC for me? I know the technical side, which is that through the conditions and sacrifices of our parents we were able to be the first generation of youth born without original sin and without a direct connection to the human fall. Our parents once believed that this would make us perfect children and so many of the early 2nd Generation were raised with harsh standards that were unreachable. This is one of the reasons so many of the older 2nd Generation hold resentment towards our church, understandably so. Since then perceptions have changed and I’m grateful to see our parents recognizing the validity of the struggles of our generation.” Although both of these passages discuss the similar experience, it is clear that there are different interpretations within this group. This passage begins to expose the intricacies of the relationship between the expectations of the second generation and their identity. For many of the early BCs, the ideological aspect of the second-generation identity was very challenging. The pressures of maintaining a strict moral lifestyle proved very difficult for many of the second generation. This has changed dramatically over time as both the first and second generation began to realize these difficulties. In some cases, this “special” position was inspiring, helping to strengthen youth commitment to the church as well as their identity formation as a BC. However, in some cases, there was a feeling of isolation, or of pressure, which caused a challenge both to the understanding of what it means to be a BC, as well as commitment to the faith. These varying interpretations brought a number of changes in the perception of the BC identity to participants as they became older. The challenges were not only with the ideological realities of being a second-generation. The emphasis of lineage and of the elevated status of the second-generation also made it difficult for some BCs to explore an identity outside of the church: “I didn’t know how to interact with people outside the church. Within the church I was very open and talked and was cool, but outside in the real world I was awkward. Over time and finally getting to actually know people I got to realize that I wasn’t that different and that there were great people outside the church. I wasn’t that special and I grew angry at all these walls I was raised with. The seclusion and the pedestal I was put up upon only made the crash towards reality in the end worse.” Many felt that their identity as a BC was the only one available to them. Many BCs had difficulties relating their understanding of themselves to their experiences outside of the church. While the ideological implications of being born perfect bound many second-generation to the BC community, it also limited their ability to explore identities in other contexts. The tension between the ideological and social aspects of a BC identity is further expressed in the passage below. The role of the second generation provided many BCs with a strong sense of who they were supposed to be within the context of the church. This was experienced within both the ideological and social realms of the BC identity: “I feel like I started to understand myself not solely as an individual, but as part of a larger picture, whether in my family or church community. I also felt special as a second generation who God had been “waiting for so long”. Through this I developed a sense of privilege to be born into a new lineage, but also repressed in society as I felt marginalized as part of a small religion.” The above passage provides an important insight into the ways identity is formed within the second-generation community. The connection to a “new lineage” influences the feelings of being special, as well as strengthens the social ties within the church community. However, it is interesting to note the acknowledgement in multiple narratives that these connections came at the cost of experiences outside of the church. Being placed in such a marginalized position caused many BCs struggled with their identity. While the understanding of coming from a new lineage validated a identity as someone special, the ideas on what that position meant was challenged outside of the church environment. One participant shared this experience: “I think one of the ways I felt my identity was in terms of lineage, in a way I felt purer than others and I held my purity in high regard. This idea was upheld pretty much throughout high school. I had a couple experiences where my standards were tested and failed and had a hard time adjusting to these failures as I felt it was lost and in a way stolen from me. After that it became a slow downward spiral until I didn’t place the same importance on purity and identity as I used to. I think, in a way, there is still some subconscious self judgment that has been so ingrained it’s been hard to fully break away from.” It is clear that the moral expectations of maintaining God’s lineage caused many of the second generation to struggle with the social aspect of their identities. On one hand, many feared that a failure to uphold the standards of the church would isolate them from the church community. While on the other hand, many felt a desire to connect to people outside of the church. However, because of the ideas about how a BC should live make up such a big part of the second-generation identity, many found this to be very difficult. These excerpts help to underline some of the conflicting experiences felt by some of the BCs within the church community. Being raised in such an elevated role brought both feelings of commitment and belonging, but also feelings of tension and stress, which challenged the salience of a BC identity within the individual. The experiences and interpretations of each individual offer a unique look at the context plays into identity formation. It is clear that certain identities, such as religious identities, are not experienced in the same way. Even within the same context, there are a number of identities intersecting in an individual’s experience. Some experienced a challenge when the identity role of BC went against other experienced identities outside of the context of the church. Belonging to a Blessed Community Another common aspect to the narrative of the BCs interviewed was their connection and relationship to the BC community at large. Regardless of the commitment to the church theology, or the self-identification with being a BC, many of the participants expressed an affinity and closeness to other BCs. Interactions with other BCs are different than with those who did not grow up in the church. The relationships within the church community build off of the ideas of lineage that run central to the second generation, and the entire Unification identity.  Because BCs have been returned to God’s lineage, they are all a part of a large family: “While growing up, I felt I had an extremely diverse family. I was raised to call the parents of my friends ‘Aunt’ and ‘Uncle,’ and so I naturally saw others as part of my extended family. It made me feel really comfortable whenever I spent the night at friends’ houses because I knew they were my family. It also meant that although my family was relatively small (I have one older sister who is 6 years my senior), I felt like I had many other siblings through my friends and their families… As a young child being a BC just meant that I had a million friends and family. As a teenager the same was true. I could go to any state in the USA and easily find a family to stay with that I felt comfortable and at home with.” Interestingly, the exact same feeling was expressed in another interview: “A big part of being a BC, as is with every exclusive group, is the community. Like being a smoker, you go outside and see other smokers at a party and you guys are tight friends for a few moments. That is how it is. BCs have an innate connection. We were all raised in a similarly unique way that drew us together. Being a BC as a kid was about constantly making best friends and that sort of brotherhood. I had tight friends all over the world. It was pretty wild. If you go on a road trip you have friends everywhere whose houses you can stay at. “ This sense of community and family is very important to the BC identity. The relationships a BC has and maintains to the rest of the church community are crucial to maintaining a sense of belonging.   Without inclusion in the church community, it is almost impossible to have an identity as a second-generation.  This connects to the ideological aspect of the BC community as well.  Growing up, that relationship to the church was entirely dependent on adhering to the standards of the church.  Losing your faith, in this instance, also meant that a BC would lose their family. Another way that the connectivity of the BC community was felt was through the sharing of a familiar narrative.  In the context of a religious minority status, some find it hard to explain why they behave in certain ways to people outside of the faith.  This not only has implications of identity presentation but also drew one individual closer to the BC community: “To me being a BC also felt like family. I always felt there was a special connection that I could have with them that I didn’t find with others. I still feel a sense of comfort being around BC’s but more recently have come to also really trust and appreciate the friendship of open-minded people outside the church. I think one of the main things that helped connect me more so to BCs was the understanding of our unusual story, which is so difficult, I felt, to explain to others. I had real fear trying to figure out how to explain to others why I do things so differently and was raised in such a way. I think mainly the most common issue was with dating. People often wondered why I didn’t and I had a hard time telling people.” I shared the experiences detailed above while growing up. While I did not find it difficult to create and maintain friendships with people outside of the church, I found it impossible to ever bring up the topic of religion. My understanding of my unique position as a second-generation member made it difficult for me to share my experiences with others, especially those outside of the church.  For me, I began to see my identity as a BC as something completely separate to my public school identity. Even when BCs had a positive experience in sharing their faith, they continued to struggle with merging their identity as a second-generation with their other lived identities. The following passage highlights this: “Although later on in high school I had a ‘hardcore’ phase and told my friends most of the things about the church. The reaction was accepting and they often actually helped me out in cases where my dating was in question. I still find it hard to explain to people now, even though all my experiences with telling people have been mostly positive. I think my shy nature as well as being very sheltered from the outside world had made it difficult for me to create relationships outside the church. It still takes me longer than with people I have just met inside the church, even though logically I know they aren’t very different and most likely will be receptive.” This passage indicates that identity formation is always in progress, though not necessarily linear. Although there is sense of familial belonging in the BC community, and relationships seem to develop easily amongst BCs, there is still a draw to explore connections with people outside of the BC community. Although it is difficult for the participant to immediately connect with some people, there is indication that religious identity provides the basis for building connections across difference, even though it fosters communities built around sameness. This passage shows the tensions between religion as a ground for collective identity formation and as an impetus for individual identity exploration. Based on my research findings, second-generation youth exhibit a commitment to the community, and to the basic ideals presented in the church. A certain sense of morality is present in each of the participants. Even if this morality is not linked to the specific structure of the church as an organization, it is linked to a sense of belonging to a religious community. No longer are the rules of being identified as a BC connected exclusively with following the exact, structured spiritual path that we adopted as children. The collective understanding of what it means to be a BC is contingent upon our specific community formations, even though a sense of fidelity is still crucial to the overall identity of a second-generation church member. The blessing ceremony and emphasis on marriage within the church is one of the most talked about within the community.  It has been, and continues to be, the most salient aspect of the Unification experience for the second generation.  Whether or not one participated in the blessing, the ideas surrounding it undoubtedly impact their overall perspective and identity in very profound ways.  Recognition of a similar life story, of similar experiences, as well as simple familiarity with other BCs is what holds the community together. While it is often hard to explain exactly what it was like to grow up in the church to someone without intimate knowledge of the ways of the church, BC identity does not require any kind of seclusion or isolation. In contrast, it is through increasing awareness of how one negotiates multiple identities that the status of BC becomes more prominent. The popular assumption that religious minority groups have a higher rate of commitment in connection with a lack of exploration of other identity options is clearly not the case within the context of the Unification Church. Balancing between the varying ideological commitments is expected with any religious group. Those who continue to identify with the theology often do so into late adolescence after experiencing very meaningful identity-forming moments or going through great times of exploration. The case of the second-generation identity formation brings into question the assumptions of religion as a force that constrains other markers of identity. References Anthony, Dick, Thomas Curtis, Madeline Doucas, and Thomas Robbins “The Last Civil Religion: Reverend Moon and the Unification Church.” Sociological Analysis. 37.2 (1976): 111-125. Bromely, David, and Rachel S. Bobbitt. “Challenges to charismatic authority in the Unificationist Movement.” In Sacred Schisms: How Religions Divide, edited by James R.Lewis, 129-146. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Erikson, Erik. Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1968. Print. Hardy, Same, et al. “Community and Religious Involvement as Contexts of Identity Change Across Late Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood.” International Journal of Behavioral Development. 35.2 (2010): 125-135. Kim, Yun Jin. “Education of Our Second Generation.”TParents.org (blog), February 6, 2006. http://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Talks/Kim/Kim-educ-2gen.htm King, Pamela. “Religion and Identity: The Role of Ideological, Social, and Spiritual Contexts.” Applied Developmental Science 7.3 (2003): 197-204. Mickler, Michael. “Future Prospects of the Unification Church.” In The Future of New Religious Movements, edited by David Bromley and Phillip Hammond, 175-185. Macon: Mercer University Press, 1987. 175-185. Muuss, Rolf E. Theories of Adolescence: Eric Erickson’s Theory of Identity Development. 6th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Otomo, Yuji. ” Second Generation Problems and Solutions.” TParents.org (blog), August 15, 2010. Parsons, Arthur. “The Secular Contribution to Religious Innovation: A Case Study of the Unification Church.” Sociology of Religion. 50.3 (1989): 209-227.   Footnotes    (↵ returns to text) King, Pamela. “Religion and Identity: The Role of Ideological, Social, and Spiritual Contexts.” Applied Developmental Science 7.3 (2003): 197-204. ↵ Ibid. ↵
i don't know
Which element is basic to all organic chemistry?
organic chemistry - The most common elements in functional group - Chemistry Stack Exchange up vote 4 down vote The most common element present in organic functional groups is carbon, $\ce{C}$, which is also the most common element in organic compounds. All functional groups are defined as some other atoms attached to at least one carbon atom. The second most common element in organic compounds is hydrogen, $\ce{H}$, but $\ce{H}$ is not necessary for the formal definition of many functional groups. The third most common element is oxygen, $\ce{O}$, which is an essential element in the definition of many functional groups, followed by nitrogen, $\ce{N}$, and then sulfur, $\ce{S}$, phosphorous, $\ce{P}$, the halogens, and boron, $B$. Occurrence frequency in functional group definition: In the lists of functional groups below, the prevalence of certain elements by requirement in the formal definition of that functional group is: $\ce{C} \ 100\%,\ \ce{O}\ 47\%,\ \ce{N}\ 30\%,\ \ce{S}\ 19\%,\ \ce{H}\ 13\%,\ \ce{P}\ 9\%,\ \ce{F,\ Cl,\ Br,\ I, B}\ 4\%$ Hydrocarbons: Alkane and Cycloalkane - all $sp^3$ $\ce{C-C}$ and $\ce{C-H}$ bonds: $\ce{-CH2-CH2 -}$ Alkene - at least two $sp^2$ carbon atoms sharing at least one $\ce{C=C}$ bond: $\ce{-CH=CH -}$ Allene - at least one cumulated diene where the middle carbon is $sp$: $\ce{-CH=C=CH -}$ Alkyne - at least two $sp$ hybridized carbon atoms sharing at least one $\ce{C#C}$ bond: $\ce{-C3C -}$ Aromatic ring - a cyclic planar fully conjugated polyene containing $4n+2 \ \pi$ electrons, where $n\geq0$ is an integer. See benzene . In all of the hydrocarbon functional groups, the hydrogen atoms are not necessary. They can often be replaced by carbon or heteroatoms (not $\ce{C}$ or $\ce{H}$) and you still have the functional group. That being said, hydrogen is the second most common element in organic molecules, even if it is not required for the formal definition of some functional groups. Functional groups with single bonds between carbon and heteroatoms. In most of these functional groups, the $\ce{H}$ atoms shown are part of the definition. The letter $\ce{R}$ represents hydrocarbon groups, although for a few groups, it can represent $H$.
Carbon
Which Dickens novel features the Gordon Riots?
The Basics of Organic Chemistry - dummies The Basics of Organic Chemistry The Basics of Organic Chemistry The Basics of Organic Chemistry When you explore biology, you’ll find that many processes are constantly occurring in living organisms. The study of organic chemistry — which focuses on carbon molecules — is central to all living organisms. The ability to convert ingested fuel to usable energy is what differentiates a living organism from a dead one. The ingested fuel contains a variety of large molecules (macromolecules) that get broken down. When the macromolecules have been broken down into their smallest parts, they can enter the cells, which contain more macromolecules, which are involved in more processes. What is organic chemistry? In organic chemistry, the focus is on the element carbon. Carbon is central to all living organisms; however, thousands of nonliving things (such as drugs, plastics, and dyes) are made from carbon compounds. Diamonds are carbon atoms in a crystal structure. Diamonds are so hard because the atoms of carbon are so closely bonded together in the crystal form. That same ability to pack closely together makes carbon an excellent structural element in its other forms as well. One atom of carbon can combine with up to four other atoms. Therefore, organic compounds usually are large and can have several atoms and molecules bonded together. Organic molecules can be large, and they comprise the structural components of living organisms: carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. Carbon is key In their outer shells, carbon atoms have four electrons that can bond with other atoms. When carbon is bonded to hydrogen (which is common in organic molecules), the carbon atom shares an electron with hydrogen, and hydrogen likewise shares an electron with carbon. Carbon-hydrogen molecules are referred to as hydrocarbons. Nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen also are often joined to carbon in living organisms. Long carbon chains = low reactivity Large molecules form when carbon atoms are joined together in a straight line or in rings. The longer the carbon chain, the less chemically reactive the compound is. However, in biology, other measures of reactivity are used. One example is enzymatic activity, which refers to how much more quickly a certain molecule can allow a reaction to occur. One key to knowing that a compound is less reactive is that its melting and boiling points are high. Generally, the lower a compound’s melting and boiling points, the more reactive it is. For example, the hydrocarbon methane, which is the primary component of natural gas, has just one carbon and four hydrogen atoms. Because it is the shortest carbon compound, it has the lowest boiling point (-162°C) and is a gas at room temperature. It is highly reactive. On the other hand, a compound made of an extremely long carbon chain has a boiling point of 174°C (compared to water, which has a boiling point of 100°C). Because it takes so much more for it to boil, it is much less reactive and is not gaseous at room temperature. Forming functional groups based on properties In organic chemistry, molecules that have similar properties (whether they are chemical or physical properties) are grouped together. The reason they have similar properties is because they have similar groups of atoms; these groups of atoms are called functional groups. Chemical properties involve one substance changing into another substance by reacting. An example of a chemical property is the ability of chlorine gas to react explosively when mixed with sodium. The chemical reaction creates a new substance, sodium chloride (table salt). Physical properties refer to different forms of a substance, but the substance remains the same; no chemical reaction or change to a new substance occurs. Some of the properties that the functional groups provide include polarity and acidity. For example, the functional group called carboxyl (-COOH) is a weak acid. Polarity refers to one end of a molecule having a charge (polar), and the other end having no charge (nonpolar). For example, the plasma membrane has hydrophilic heads on the outside that are polar, and the hydrophobic tails (which are nonpolar) form the inside of the plasma membrane.
i don't know
Who invented the lightning conductor after flying a kite in a storm?
Exactly 261 Years Ago, Ben Franklin Flew a Kite in a Lightning Storm Exactly 261 Years Ago, Ben Franklin Flew a Kite in a Lightning Storm Go to permalink Benjamin Franklin first shocked himself in 1746, while conducting experiments on electricity with found objects from around his house. Six years later and exactly 261 years ago today, the founding father flew a kite attached to a key and a silk ribbon in a thunderstorm and effectively trapped lightning in a jar. The experiment is now seen as a watershed moment in mankind's question to channel a force of nature once thought to be the wrath of God himself. It's also understood that Ben Franklin was pretty effing lucky he didn't fry his bones on that fateful early June afternoon in 1752. Based on what he'd contribute to the nation in the years after that, America is pretty lucky, too. Advertisement By the time Franklin started experimenting with electricity, he'd already found fame and fortune as the author of Poor Richard's Almanack and was starting to get into science. Electricity wasn't a very well understood phenomenon at that point, though, so Franklin's research proved to be fairly foundational. The early experiments, experts believe, were inspired by other scientists' work and the shortcomings therein. That early brush with the dangers of electricity left an impression on Franklin. He described the sensation as "a universal blow throughout my whole body from head to foot, which seemed within as well as without; after which the first thing I took notice of was a violent quick shaking of my body." However, it didn't scare him away. In the handful of years before his famous kite experiment, Franklin contributed everything from designing the first battery designs to establishing some common nomenclature in the study of electricity. It's thanks to Franklin, for instance, that we refer to positive and negative charges. Before him, they were known as "vitreous" and "resinous" charges. (Those names don't quite have the same punch do they?) Advertisement At a certain point, Franklin's fascination about electrity shifted beyond mere curiosity to practically political spheres like public safety. He wanted to know if there might be a way to keep churches and other tall buildings from burning down during lightning storms and hypothesized that lighting was just one big discharge of static electricity. If this was the case, he thought, one ought to be able to tease lightning out of the clouds with a charged object placed high in the air. Like a metal rod on top of a steeple with a cable stretching down to the ground. Or a kite with a key attached to it. So Franklin and his 21-year-old son William suited up on June 10, 1852—some historians avoid naming an exact date for the experiment since the event was so vaguely documented—and ventured into the storm. It should be known that Franklin was not the first to conduct this type of experiment. Just a month before Franklin's experiment in Philadelphia, French scientist Thomas-François Dalibard conducted an electric kite experiment of his own and possibly invented a lightning rod before Franklin, though he's not given credit for doing so. The reason for that might be explained purely by the American do-it-all's showmanship. Franklin had a built-in audience for his scientific reports and was generally gifted at promoting his own work. Before he got to take credit for the kite experiment, though, Franklin had to survive it. In order to reduce the risk of electrocution, he opted for a kite on a dry silk string over a metal rod attached to a building as the preferred method for attracting lightning. An iron key was attached to the silk string as well as a metal wire that was dropped into an electrically charged Leyden jar. Once the kite was flying high, Franklin held on to a dry silk ribbon attached to the string and took shelter in a nearby barn so that he wouldn't get wet. Sure enough, the storm picked up, the air became charge, and Franklin successfully conducted electricity through his kite rig. Because he was holding a silk ribbon and not the actual string, Franklin avoided getting shocked, though he said that he would catch a shock if he put his finger close to the key. Sponsored After the successful experiment, Franklin knew that his lightning rod idea would work. Again, he wasn't the only one experimenting with the idea, though his belief that the rods should be sharp on the end in oder to attract lightning was significant. The first of these so-called Franklin lightning rods started popping up across Philadelphia in the 1850s and one eventually graced the top of the State House in Maryland. Franklin wrote of the devices' importance: May not the knowledge of this power of points be of use to mankind, in preserving houses, churches, ships, etc., from the stroke of lightning, by directing us to fix, on the highest parts of those edifices, upright rods of iron made sharp as a needle… Would not these pointed rods probably draw the electrical fire silently out of a cloud before it came nigh enough to strike, and thereby secure us from that most sudden and terrible mischief! You've got to love that last bit. Because Franklin was a bit of a troublemaker. The kite experiment and lightning rod campaign proved to foreshadow Franklin's involvement in the American colonies' independence movement. King George III, you see, was a fan of blunt lightning rods, not the pointed ones that Franklin recommended. "The favored pointed lightning rod expressed support for Franklin's theories of protecting public buildings and the rejection of theories supported by the King," says the Franklin Institute. "The English thought this was just another way for the flourishing colonies to be disobedient to them." Advertisement Advertisement It turns out the English were kind of right. In the decades that followed Franklin's kite experiment, the Americans would become known not just for their audacity in the face of authority but also for their seemingly limitless capacity to innovate and improve new technologies. First came electricity, then steam engines, then the telephone, the airplane, the TV, the Internet, the personal computer, Steve Jobs. Our country owes a lot to that funny-haired man on the hundred-dollar bill who spent a dangerous day flying a kite over a quarter of a millenium ago. Which reminds me: Not enough people fly kites these days or conduct impromptu scientific experiments. There should be an app for that.
Benjamin Franklin
Which 1973 thriller film features a malevolent dwarf in a red coat?
Lightning Rod History - Invention of the Lightning Rod . LIGHTNING ROD Benjamin Franklin was fascinated by storms; he loved to study them. If he were alive today, we could probably add "storm-chaser" to his long list of titles. It was in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1746 that Franklin first stumbled upon other scientists' electrical experiments. He quickly turned his home into a little laboratory, using machines made out of items he found around the house. During one experiment, Ben accidentally shocked himself. Franklin spent the summer of 1747 conducting a series of groundbreaking experiments with electricity. He wrote down all of his results and ideas for future experiments in letters to Peter Collinson, a fellow scientist and friend in London who was interested in publishing his work. By July, Ben used the terms positive and negative (plus and minus) to describe electricity, instead of the previously used words "vitreous" and "resinous." Franklin described the concept of an electrical battery in a letter to Collinson in the spring of 1749, but he wasn't sure how it could be useful. Later the same year, he explained what he believed were similarities between electricity and lightning, such as the color of the light, its crooked direction, crackling noise, and other things. There were other scientists who believed that lightning was electricity, but Franklin was determined to find a method of proving it. By 1750, in addition to wanting to prove that lightning was electricity, Franklin began to think about protecting people, buildings, and other structures from lightning. This grew into his idea for the lightning rod. Franklin described an iron rod about 8 or 10 feet long that was sharpened to a point at the end. He wrote, "the electrical fire would, I think, be drawn out of a cloud silently, before it could come near enough to strike..." Two years later, Franklin decided to try his own lightning experiment. Surprisingly, he never wrote letters about the legendary kite experiment; someone else wrote the only account 15 years after it took place. In June of 1752, Franklin was in Philadelphia, waiting for the steeple on top of Christ Church to be completed for his experiment (the steeple would act as the "lightning rod"). He grew impatient, and decided that a kite would be able to get close to the storm clouds just as well. Ben needed to figure out what he would use to attract an electrical charge; he decided on a metal key, and attached it to the kite. Then he tied the kite string to an insulating silk ribbon for the knuckles of his hand. Even though this was a very dangerous experiment, (you can see what our lightning rod at the top of the page looks like after getting struck), some people believe that Ben wasn't injured because he didn't conduct his test during the worst part of the storm. At the first sign of the key receiving an electrical charge from the air, Franklin knew that lightning was a form of electricity. His 21-year-old son William was the only witness to the event. Two years before the kite and key experiment, Ben had observed that a sharp iron needle would conduct electricity away from a charged metal sphere. He first theorized that lightning might be preventable by using an elevated iron rod connected to earth to empty static from a cloud. Franklin began to advocate lightning rods that had sharp points. His English colleagues favored blunt-tipped lightning rods, reasoning that sharp ones attracted lightning and increased the risk of strikes; they thought blunt rods were less likely to be struck. King George III had his palace equipped with a blunt lightning rod. When it came time to equip the colonies' buildings with lightning rods, the decision became a political statement. The favored pointed lightning rod expressed support for Franklin's theories of protecting public buildings and the rejection of theories supported by the King. The English thought this was just another way for the flourishing colonies to be disobedient to them. Franklin's lightning rods could soon be found protecting many buildings and homes. The lightning rod constructed on the dome of the State House in Maryland was the largest "Franklin" lightning rod ever attached to a public or private building in Ben's lifetime. It was built in accord with his recommendations and has had only one recorded instance of lightning damage. The pointed lightning rod placed on the State House and other buildings became a symbol of the ingenuity and independence of a young, thriving nation, as well as the intellect and inventiveness of Benjamin Franklin. TO LEARN MORE by Tom Tucker, Richard Loehle / Paperback - 144 pages  / Sunburst (1998) The stories of twenty ingenious young Americans who have filed patents with the United States Patent Office, including Chester Greenwood who invented ear muffs, Ralph Samuelson, originator of water-skiing, and Vanessa Hess who created colored car wax. Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll by Franklyn Mansfield Branley, True Kelley / Paperback - 32 pages / (1999) / Harpercollins Juvenile Did you know that lightning bolts can be over a mile long? Or that they may come from clouds that are ten miles high? Storms can be scary, but not if you know what causes them. All About Lightning by Martin A. Uman / Paperback - 167 pages (December 1986) / Dover Pubns The physics of lightning (voltage, current, charge, speed, event sequence, frequency of occurrence, length/width of channel, temperature, etc).
i don't know
In which county of Northern Ireland is the Giant’s Causeway?
The Giant’s Causeway | Ireland.com Bushmills Coastal walks The Giant’s Causeway Hexagonal columns, a wishing chair and a giant’s foot? There’s magic at the Giants Causeway. Or should that be science? The Giant's Causeway The Giant’s Causeway – science or myth? Well, you’ll get different stories about how these hexagonal basalt beauties came into being. Most likely the locals here will tell you that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) is responsible for this coastal oddity. But then, we love telling tales round this part of the world. North Antrim Coast Pop into one of the local pubs and you’ll hear a whole lot more about this Unesco World Heritage Site. Keep to the Causeway Coastal Route and you’ll be bang in the middle of a bounty of beaches, serious surfing, the crumbling ruins of Dunluce Castle and a perilously high rope bridge called Carrick-a-Rede . Science or myth? Just magic we reckon.  Think a friend might enjoy this article? Click to save and share Save this page to a Scrapbook:
Antrim
What famous bridge is considered part of the motorway the M180?
Discover Northern Ireland | The Northern Edge Find out more about Carrickfergus Castle "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." The Gobbins Excite all the senses on this exhilarating cliff-face path, which was first enjoyed in the early 1900s. Located on the scenic Islandmagee peninsula, the attraction has been reborn and reimagined for the 21st century giving unparalleled access to the rugged Antrim Coast. The dramatic and challenging path includes spectacular tubular and suspension bridges, caves, steps and tunnels. There is also a fascinating Visitor Centre and cliff-top path. Find out more about The Gobbins "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Carnfunnock Country Park An excellent day out for all the family, the park is packed full of exciting and unusual attractions, in a spectacular setting overlooking the Antrim Coast. Highlights include an outdoor adventure playground, family fun zone, nine-hole golf course, walled garden, walking trails, geocaching, a hedge maze in the shape of Northern Ireland, caravan and camping site and and a modern visitor centre/café. Find out more about Carnfunnock Country Park "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Slemish With its unmistakable profile rising above the surrounding plain, this extinct volcano has always captivated visitors. Slemish is famous as the location where, according to legend, Saint Patrick tended sheep for six years after being captured and taken to Ireland. From a car park with interpretation, there is a looped walk ascending to the summit - a popular pilgrimage walk on Saint Patrick’s Day each year. Find out more about Slemish "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Glenarm Castle and Walled Garden Visit the ancestral home of the McDonnells, Earls of Antrim, with its glorious Walled Garden packed full of natural and manmade features. Enjoy a treat in the charming tea-room, located in the 19th century Mushroom House. The castle itself is open on selected dates, where you can see superb examples of Irish furniture plus family portraits. Open Easter until end of September. Find out more about Glenarm Castle and Walled Gardens "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." The Glens of Antrim Take time to explore the famous Glens of Antrim. There are nine altogether, each with its own scenic drive, with lyrical names such as Glencloy, Glentaisie and Glenballyemon. Don’t miss Glenariff Forest Park , set in the ‘Queen of the Glens’, with bracing walks and beautiful waterfalls. Stop off in pretty towns and villages such as Glenarm, Carnlough, Cushendall and Cushendun, and enjoy a traditional music session. "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Cushendun Don’t miss a stop off at the pretty coastal village of Cushendun, nestled at the foot of Glendun, one of the nine Glens of Antrim. A designated Conservation Area, it was designed in the style of a Cornish village by eminent architect Clough Williams-Ellis. Look out for the goat sculpture, ‘Johann’, and the caves behind the village which were one of many local locations used in the filming of HBO’s Game of Thrones® "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Torr Head Take a detour off the main Causeway Coastal Route towards this rocky headland which forms our closest point to Scotland, just 13 miles away. It’s a narrow, winding road but it’s worth it for the stunning views of Fair Head, Rathlin Island and the Antrim and Scottish coastlines. A ruined 19th century lookout on the headland once tracked transatlantic ships. "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Bonamargy Friary Stop off at the picturesque ruins of Bonamargy Friary , just outside the lively seaside town of Ballycastle. It was founded around 1500 by the Franciscans and contains the remains of chieftain Sorley Boy McDonnell. In the town itself, look out for a memorial to Guglielmo Marconi who carried out the first tests on radio signals here in 1898. "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." The Dark Hedges This iconic archway of intertwining beech trees has become one of our most photographed natural phenomena. It was planted by the Stuart family in the eighteenth century to impress visitors approaching the entrance to their Georgian mansion. Today the site is perhaps best known as a filming location in HBO’s Game of Thrones® ; it doubled as The King’s Road in Season Two of the epic series Find out more about The Dark Hedges "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Rathlin Island Take a day trip or stay over to experience the rugged beauty and tranquillity of Northern Ireland’s only inhabited offshore island, reached by ferry from Ballycastle. Follow one of the island’s scenic walking trails or hire a bicycle to explore the quiet roads. Learn about island life at the Boathouse Visitor Centre, watch the seal colonies, visit the island’s three lighthouses or the popular RSPB Seabird Centre situated at the distinctive West Lighthouse. Find out more about Rathlin Island "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge Take the exhilarating rope bridge challenge across to tiny Carrick-a-Rede island (a Site of Special Scientific Interest) and enjoy a truly cliff-top experience. Set amid unrivalled scenery on the North Antrim Coast, the 30-metre deep and 20-metre wide chasm is traversed by a rope bridge that was traditionally erected by Salmon fishermen. It’s a bit more sturdy these days but there’s still only one way off the island - back across the swinging bridge! Find out more about Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Ballintoy Harbour This small, picturesque fishing harbour is a short detour from Ballintoy village. Follow the narrow winding road downhill past the white-washed Ballintoy Parish Church "one of Ireland’s most photographed churches. The harbour’s stunning natural setting led to it being used as a filming location in the fantasy TV series Game of Thrones® , as exterior Pyke shots and as the Iron Islands. "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Whitepark Bay Enjoy a stroll on this spectacular sandy beach which forms a white arc between two headlands on the North Antrim Coast. Your only company might be the cows who are known to rest on the beach. Don’t miss the picturesque little harbour and hamlet of Portbradden at the western end of the bay. It is home to the beautiful St.Gobban's Church, one of the smallest in Ireland. Find out more about Whitepark Bay "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Giant's Causeway Not to be missed on any itinerary is this geological wonder which gives the route its name. The Giant’s Causeway sits at the centre of an Area of Outstanding Beauty and is Northern Ireland’s only World Heritage Site, famously steeped in myth and legend. Begin your visit at the state-of-the-art Visitor Centre then stroll down to the intriguing polygonal stones to search out distinctive formations such as the Camel, Wishing Chair, Granny and Organ. "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Old Bushmills Distillery Take a guided tour through the heart of Ireland’s oldest working distillery, its original grant signed by King James I in 1608. The finest Irish whiskeys have been produced here for over 400 years, using the same traditional methods and the water from the distillery’s own stream. Take in the sights and smells, enjoy tutored tastings and relax with a whiskey (or soft drink) in the 1608 Bar at the end of your tour, before browsing the excellent gift shop. Find out more about the Old Bushmills Distillery "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Dunluce Castle One of the jewels on the route, this breathtaking castle ruin has inspired artists and writers such as C.S. Lewis. Perched dramatically on the cliffs of the North Antrim Coast, it was built around 1500 by the local MacQuillan family and later seized by the Scottish MacDonnell clan who eventually established a small town here. Discover the castle’s tumultuous history with an audio-visual tour and smartphone app. Find out more about Dunluce Castle "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Downhill Demesne Experience the wild and dramatic setting of Downhill Demesne which was the romantic vision of Frederick Hervey, an 18th century Earl Bishop of Derry. Beyond the ruined mansion lies one of our most iconic monuments - the circular Mussenden Temple, perched on a cliff edge high above Downhill Beach. It was built as a summer library and inspired by the Temple of Vesta near Rome. Don’t miss a visit to Hezlett House , a picturesque, late 17th century thatched cottage. Find out more about Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Binevenagh With its line of dramatic, basalt cliffs, Binevenagh mountain dominates the surrounding countryside. Take a detour off the main Causeway Coastal Route and ascend a scenic drive to the summit, with its fishing lake and panoramic views of the Roe Valley , Sperrin Mountains, North Coast and across Lough Foyle to Donegal. The more adventurous can follow one of the hiking trails to the summit. "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Magilligan Point A remote and beautiful location, Magilligan Point guards the entrance to Lough Foyle at the tip of one of the British Isles’ largest sand dune systems. Visit the Martello Tower , one of best preserved of a chain built to defend the coast of Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars. Then enjoy a brisk stroll on the golden sands of the Blue Flag Benone Strand before enjoying a meal in the popular Point Bar. "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Limavady Sculpture Trail Explore the myths and legends of the scenic Roe Valley area with this trail of beautiful and innovative art pieces. Learn about the notorious, 18th century highwayman Cushy Glen, enjoy the stunning coastal views from the sculpture of Celtic God of the Sea Manannàn Mac Lir, and see the writhing form of Lig-na-paiste - the last remaining serpent in Ireland. "Nothing much changes, people have time to chat and the boats that rock gently in the harbours are in no hurry." Roe Valley Country Park Take time out from driving to explore this scenic and tranquil park on the outskirts of Limavady, known for its abundance of wildlife, birds and Springtime wild flowers. Enjoy woodland walks and spectacular riverside views, learn about the industrial and natural heritage of the area in the museum and countryside centre then enjoy a snack in Ritters Tea Room. Don’t miss the ‘Leap of the Dog’ sculpture inspired by a legend behind the town’s original name, ‘Leim an Mhadaidh’
i don't know
Which current BBC drama sees Anne Reid and Derek Jacobi rekindle an old romance?
Anne Reid: From Ken Barlow's wife and Daniel Craig's screen lover to a pin-up girl at 79 - Mirror Online TV Anne Reid: From Ken Barlow's wife and Daniel Craig's screen lover to a pin-up girl at 79 The Last Tango In Halifax star on life, love, ageing and the role which has made her an unexpected sex symbol  Share Get soaps updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Last Tango in Halifax star Anne Reid is warm and sparky and loves a party. Amazing Anne will be 80 in May and the chances are she’ll have a ­knees-up sipping a cosmopolitan cocktail instead of putting her feet up with a cup of tea. By then she will have appeared in her own London cabaret show and may even have retained her 2014 pin-up of the year title from The Oldie magazine. It is hardly surprise then that the actress, who has played Bond star Daniel Craig’s lover, hates being underestimated because of her ­advancing years. She told the Sunday People: “I’d rather be ­turning 50. But I’m not, so I’ve just got to get on with it. “I don’t actually feel any different and I get tetchy if people ask me if I can manage the stairs. I can’t bear it, I get very ­ungracious and really rather rude when people do that. “They mean it kindly but I just say, ‘Stop treating me like a daft old fool.’ It’s just the implication that we’ve all got a bit weird and rather stupid when we get older, this is what I get angry about.” But what does make Anne happy is playing Celia in BBC1’s hit drama Last Tango in Halifax. The show that centres around Celia’s late-in-life romance with boyhood sweetheart Alan, played by Derek Jacobi, 76, has charmed the ­nation. It is on its third series and has attracted 7.5 million viewers. Hit drama: Anne and Derek Jacobi in Last Tango In Halifax (Photo: BBC) In this series we have ­seen Celia’s torment after she discovered her new husband Alan has a love child, Gary, played by Rupert Graves. When Alan revealed he was ­unfaithful to his late wife it had a major impact on Celia, who was cheated on by her first husband. Anne told how everyone has been talking about the plot. She said: “I received a letter from an old friend the other day who just raved about the episode where Celia found out because she had a ­husband who was unfaithful. “She’s a singer who gave up her career to have children and her ­husband was off having affairs with other women. “Then her next husband kept ­saying, ‘I’m not like your first ­husband,’ which is exactly like the storyline in the show. “She thought the ­episode was so truthful. Your ­confidence is ­destroyed when you find out you can’t trust people.” Shocking: Anne as Ken Barlow's ill-fated first wife Val in Corrie (Photo: RICHARD MADDEN/SCOPEFEATURES.COM) Anne’s husband Peter Eckersley was a TV producer who died of cancer aged 45 in 1981. She has ­never ­experienced infidelity but got her big break on TV playing a wife who was cheated on – by Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow. She was his missus Valerie for ten years until an electric shock from a hairdryer killed her in 1971. Anne said: “I’ve never gone through it but I would not react like Celia. If somebody did that to me I would probably just tell him to sling his hook. “I wouldn’t sulk in the way she does but you see I’m a very ­independent sort of person. I’m much tougher than she is. “I’m not really emotionally ­dependant on anybody, except my son, my daughter-in-law and my grandchildren. But a partner... I haven’t felt like that for so many years I don’t really ­remember what it was like.” Two weeks ago, old-fashioned Celia refused to attend the same-sex ­wedding of her daughter Caroline, played by Sarah Lancashire. And last week fans were reeling when it looked as if Caroline’s ­partner Kate, played by Nina Sosanya, had been killed. A trailer for Sunday nnight’s show sees the cast at a funeral. Loving it: Anne and the Last Tango cast (Photo: BBC) Anne said: “I’m not homophobic. I mean, who cares? You know the state of the world and you’re only here for about 70, 80, years, so why do people worry about somebody’s sex life? It’s bonkers really.” Anne, who was born in Newcastle upon Tyne but now lives in London, told how the Last Tango cast are ­planning a reunion dinner soon. She said she is particularly close to co-star Sarah, 50. “I first met her when she was 12 with a ­ponytail. She’s a wonderful ­actress. I feel related to her, I believe we have the best mother and daughter ­relationship ­on screen.” Anne, who also starred in Victoria Wood’s TV comedy Dinnerladies, said she loves ­parties, socialising and ­cosmopolitan cocktails but added it can get out of hand. “I’m afraid sometimes I cram too much into my schedule,” she said with a laugh. “And I’m not very ­domesticated. I’m absolutely hopeless in the kitchen.” But as Last Tango grows in popularity around the world, Anne’s schedule is getting ever busier. “I’ve been getting fanmail from all over,” she said. “Last year I was walking down Madison Avenue in New York when a ­yellow cab came ­screaming to a halt behind me. “Somebody shouted, ‘Stop!’ and I started to move away ­quickly. Well, I was in a strange country. But this great big guy got out of the cab and shouted, ‘You’re an actress and you’re ­wonderful!’ It was lovely.” She is equally chuffed about her pin-up status. She won the title at The Oldie Awards at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand last February, nearly four years after ­collecting her MBE. She said: “I’m older than Terry Wogan, for goodness sake. I’m old enough to be Boris Johnson’s mother... I’m not. “It was lovely, the room was full of very bright people in their 70s and 80s. Raunchy: Anne was Daniel Craig's love interest in The Mother (Photo: BBC) “John Major and Norma Major came up and said how much they loved the programme and I sat next to Baroness Trumpington, who took me to tea at the House of Lords afterwards. “She was absolutely wonderful, She is over 90 and she’s much sharper than a great deal of 25-year-olds.” Anne, who was Daniel Craig’s lover in 2003 film The Mother, has written a few ­chapters of her memoirs but she is forced to admit she had not had enough “scandalous sex” to spice it up. She is passionate about singing as well as acting and will be in her own cabaret show next month at The Crazy Coqs, part of London’s Brasserie Zédel. But, for now, Anne who was Bafta nominated for playing Daniel Craig’s older love in the 2003 film The Mother, is having the time of her life in Last Tango. “To have this wonderful part, somebody up there clearly likes me because I’m very lucky. “We’ve just hit a winning ­combination I think and I’ve never enjoyed anything more than this. “Five years ago, if anybody had said to me you and Derek Jacobi are going to play the Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt of the 70-somethings I would have thought they were bonkers.” Like us on Facebook
Last Tango in Halifax
In which year did the world’s first ‘expo’ the Great Exhibition in London take place?
Nicola Walker: 'I've got a feisty face' - Telegraph Theatre Nicola Walker: 'I've got a feisty face' After years as a jobbing actress, people are starting to notice Nicola Walker. Jasper Rees meets her as she prepares for Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge at the Young Vic Face value: Nicola Walker plays Beatrice in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge Photo: Benjamin McMahon By Jasper Rees 11:00AM BST 04 Apr 2014 “You’re not going to win. It’s not in the script that you win. People like you don’t win.” Last year Nicola Walker was at the Olivier Awards as her husband Barnaby Kay, also an actor, whispered these sweet nothings into her ear. She had been nominated for her deeply touching performance as the mother of the autistic Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the National Theatre . “And then five minutes later,” she recalls, “he was going, ‘Oh my God, you won!’” For over 20 years Nicola Walker has been one of those compelling actors you recognise and admire but can’t quite put a name to. Her biggest gig was as Ruth Evershed, the spook in Spooks who sacrificed herself at the climax of the final series. But in the past few years her career has gathered momentum. Aside from Curious Incident, TV viewers have been getting to know Walker as Gillian, the ballsy bed-hopping daughter of Derek Jacobi in Last Tango in Halifax , BBC One’s comedy drama about late-flowering love. There have also been substantial roles in meaty shows such as Scott & Bailey and Prisoners’ Wives . Now she is to play Beatrice, the wife of conflicted Italian-American longshoreman Eddie Carbone ( Mark Strong making a rare stage appearance ) in the Young Vic’s production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge . Walker says that Beatrice is a brilliant part. “It’s the sort of part that you don’t take much notice of when you’re a younger actress.” Nicola Walker with Mark Strong in rehearsals for A View from the Bridge Photo: Simon Annand The role of a wife who watches powerlessly as her husband takes protectiveness of his pretty young niece to destructive extremes is often played as what Walker calls “a little bird in a brown cardigan.” However, the 43-year-old actress sees it differently. “She’s fighting for her own sexual identity and for this man who she absolutely loves.” Indeed, a little bird doesn’t sound like Walker’s sort of woman. While adept at conveying deep vulnerability, she has always projected a sense of being able to look after herself. “I’ve got a feisty face,” she says. “You can’t escape your face.” The brow is indeed firm, the mouth strong, the big blowtorch eyes are intense. It means she’s rarely cast as the happiest bunny in the warren. Does she think she looks melancholy? “Oh I hope not. Although I did have to give myself a talking to at the school gates [she and Kay have a son named Harry]. My small talk I noticed was quite doom-laden and I thought maybe the other mums were moving away. Actors have got to get to know each other very quickly, so you’re quite good at saying things that maybe in a normal social situation take a few years to build up to.” Walker seems far from feisty or melancholy in person and despite bringing along some jottings to crib from in case she’s lost for words, she’s happy to chat. We talk about Last Tango, the production that has proved to be a gamechanger for her career and it transpires that she never thought she’d get the role of Gillian. REVIEW: Last Tango in Halifax, BBC One, final episode “At the audition I remember thinking there is absolutely no way they are going to give me this job. They had about ten northern actresses. I was saying to the girl who was going in after me, ‘I don’t know why I’m here. My northern accent is dreadful.’” When she was cast Walker started exploring the nooks and crannies of a troubled character. “I got interested in this thing that seems to drive her: it may not be the top note but I think there’s this awful shame in Gillian. For this seemingly independent, confident, sexually driven woman, sex doesn’t mean anything. She was punishing herself. And I found that very interesting.” Gillian (Nicola Walker) in Last Tango in Halifax with Alan (Derek Jacobi) and Raff (Josh Bolt) Photo: Anthony and Cleopatra Series Ltd Walker grew up in Essex and caught the acting bug at her local youth theatre in Harlow. “I was really encouraged by my mother. My dad thought it was a ridiculous thing to do.” Afterwards she headed to Cambridge where comedian and presenter Sue Perkins , then an older undergraduate, was assigned to be her “college mother”. Things started badly. “She was the worst college mother I could have had,” says Walker. They’re meant to hold your hand. She asked to borrow my bike, got drunk and I never saw it again.” However, they started doing comedy skits. “I was her stooge. I did one where I spent the entire time onstage with a paper bag on my head with Sue doing jokes.” Years later they resumed their partnership when her old college mother cast Walker in her sitcom Heading Out. Walker eventually won a place at RADA but chose to forego it in order to get stuck into work. “I felt there was a clock ticking. I thought, I’m a girl, I’m 21, I’ve got to get going.” She, Perkins and fellow Cambridge graduate Rachel Weisz did plays above pubs to get agents and Equity cards. She was fresh out of university when she was cast as a happy-clappy Christian singer in Four Weddings and a Funeral. “If you watch that all you see is a 21-year-old going, ‘I can’t believe I’ve got this gig.’” She has been working more or less ever since. In the late Nineties, she was the female lead in Steven Moffat’s now-forgotten school sitcom Chalk and starred opposite Robson Green in Touching Evil, but the big break came when she joined Spooks in 2003. She left after five series to have a baby, and was lured back when she took her new son in to see the show’s producer. The result was a longer story arc for Ruth. Nicola Walker as Ruth Evershed in Spooks with Sir Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) Photo: BBC “It was all about loneliness. Ruth was actually the least angry person I’ve played. She started off really cheerful, and she got ground into a mould by this job. But I was ready for it to end. We really had taken that character everywhere we could.” It is clear from our conversation that Walker thinks deeply about each character she plays and is very careful before accepting work. A View from the Bridge is her first theatre since Curious Incident because, she says, “Other plays hadn’t really felt right”. “This came in and I thought, oh it’s a Miller, it’s got so much to get your teeth into.” Has she now got her eye on other major roles for someone of her age? “I’d really like to play Lady Macbeth. That’s probably the only one left on my hit list now.” A View from the Bridge is at the Young Vic from April 4 to June 7. Box office: 020 7922 2922 / www.youngvic.org
i don't know
The Rembrandt House Museum can be visited in which city?
Opening hours & Admission – Rembrandthuis This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. This iframe contains the logic required to handle AJAX powered Gravity Forms.   Directions How to get to the Rembrandt House Museum The museum is located in the center of Amsterdam, near the famous Waterlooplein and on a 15 minutes’ walk from Amsterdam’s Central Station. Public Transport Every line from and to CS Amsterdam, Nieuwmarkt Station, Hoogstraat exit. Train Amsterdam Central Station (15 minutes’ walk or 2 minutes by metro). Tram Lines 9 and 14, Waterlooplein stop. Boat Waterlooplein or Zwanenburgerwal stops (More information: www.canal.nl ) Car The Waterlooplein, Muziektheater/Stadhuis or Valkenburgerstraat car parks are all situated near the museum (approximately 3 minutes’ walk from the museum).  For more information about parking in Amsterdam, please visit www.bereikbaar.amsterdam.nl or www.p1.nl . House Rules The house rules of the Rembrandt House Museum can be found here .  
Amsterdam
Haneda Airport is one of the busiest in the world - which city does it serve?
Museum Het Rembrandthuis (Rembrandt House) (Amsterdam, The Netherlands): Top Tips Before You Go - TripAdvisor Do I have to buy a ticket for my infant? How do I get there using public transportation? Is there a restaurant or café onsite? Staying in Plantage & the East Neighborhood Profile Plantage & the East The eastern edge of central Amsterdam provides visitors with the chance to imagine the city that Rembrandt called home (and to tour his historic house) while shopping like the thriftiest of locals at Waterlooplein’s massive flea market, or even enjoying a craft beer beside the tallest wooden windmill in The Netherlands. This verdant, serene, and stately part of town is home to Artis Royal Zoo, one of Europe’s oldest (and still best kept) zoos, and Hortus Botanicus, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. It's also an ideal setting for the Dutch outpost of St Petersburg’s Hermitage.
i don't know
Which Cairo square was the centre of the Egyptian revolution?
Day-to-Day Timeline - Jan. 25 - Revolution in Cairo | FRONTLINE | PBS MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images Wael Ghonim (@Ghonim) We are heading to tahrir square now chanting bread, freedom and dignity Dima_Khatib Dima Khatib أنا ديمة (@Dima Khatib أنا ديمة) El Baradei: this is the beginning of an uprising, I will be going back to Egypt soon. On Al Jazeera English now #egypt #jan25 "As I'm writing, there are tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square, chanting against Mubarak. The demonstrators are trying to storm the parliament, only to be met with tear gas and water cannons. There are dozens who are injured. Twitter and Bambuser are blocked by the government. We are using proxies now to Tweet. The protesters are chanting the same slogans as the Tunisians: الشعب يريد إسقاط الحكومة! The people want to overthrow the govt!" Hossam el-Hamalawy, "Protestors Take Over Tahrir Square" (3arabawy) Gordon Reynolds (@gordon_reynolds) Dictating via IM. Twitter blocked. Small groups of protesters throughout Cairo centralize in to mass of thousands in Tahrir Square. Gigi Ibrahim جييييج (@Gsquare86) OMG Twitter is back!! Thank god ! The situation in Tahrir is beyond amazing eveeryone should head there #jan25 "The group publicly called for protests at those sites for Jan. 25, a national holiday celebrating the country's widely reviled police force. They announced the sites of the demonstrations on the Internet and called for protests to begin at each one after prayers at about 2 p.m. But that wasn't all. 'The 21st site, no one knew about,' Mr. Kamel said." Charles Levinson and Margaret Coker "The Secret Rally That Sparked an Uprising" (The Wall Street Journal) VideoJan. 25 Egypt - Tahrir Square - Down Town "When I arrived [home], the Twitter hash #jan25 lit up. Someone said that earlier tweets had been deliberately planted as decoys to mislead authorities. Now, in dozens of real locations throughout the city, protesters had begun to mobilize. I ran out the door and took the subway back to Tahrir Square." Gordon Reynolds, "Tonight in Cairo, The Parliament is Surrounded" (The Awl) "There was a reason the protesters launched their movement on 25 January: it was the day on which in 1952 British troops massacred police officers in Ismailiya, a town midway along the Suez Canal. In the Mubarak era, it was known as Police Day and celebrated by marches and demonstrations on the part of the Ministry of Interior's finest: its highlight in Cairo was a speedboat procession on the Nile." Issandr El Amrani, "Why Tunis? Why Cairo?" (London Review of Books) Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) We didn't expect Tunisia to fall & it did. We didn't expect 10s of thousands of Egyptians to protest & they did.All bets are off #Jan25 Ian Lee (@ianinegypt) Wow, downtown Cairo is on lock down. Riot police are everywhere, guarding every street. Will today be battle on the Nile? #egypt Adam Makary (@adamakary) Tahrir - they must have shot at least 50 canons of tear gas then water canon then bullets, absolute mayhem, a day #egypt will never forget
Tahrir Square
In which country did the protests break out at the Pearl Roundabout?
A History of Tahrir Square A History of Tahrir Square BY     It is too soon to comprehend the full impact of what happened in Tahrir Square during the 18 days that followed. But whatever it is, Egypt and the Arab world will never be the same again.   The recent revolution in Cairo has made Tahrir Square a household name. No one, not even a historian who has written a book on the city, could have imagined that this aptly named public space would nurture a spark that would set the entire Middle East ablaze.   Tahrir, which means liberation in Arabic, is one of the oldest squares in modern Cairo. The images of the square recently aired during broadcast coverage of the uprising—images now engraved in the minds of people all over the globe—were taken from the rooftops of the few high-rise buildings situated south of the square. Just beyond this location, looking west and north, is a collection of overlooked buildings that capture the history of modern Egypt and render the revolutionary happenings in Tahrir Square all the more poignant.The Tahrir square witnessed its first serious demonstrations during the same era. Opposition to British presence in Egypt sparked protests and skirmishes, with police killing two dozen Egyptians by Feb. 11, 1946A photograph of the square from the early 1960s helps tell the story. Appearing under the Cairo tower is the headquarters of the Arab League and next to it is the former Hilton Hotel, which is currently under renovation as a new Ritz-Carlton. North of the hotel is the salmon-colored Egyptian Museum and behind it is a building that would ultimately become the headquarters for President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP). In the foreground is a statue-less pedestal crowning a green roundabout. Each of these landmarks plays a role in the making of modern Cairo, a city that is nearly four thousand years old. Most scholars would agree that the city is only one thousand years old, but its metropolitan expansion in the twenty-first century engulfed all earlier settlements from Memphis to Giza, making Cairo many millennia older.   During the time of the Ancient Egyptians, the square was simply a patch of desert. By the time the Fatimids established Al-Qahira (which was later Anglicized into Cairo) in the tenth century, the Nile River had changed its course and swallowed much of this land. The area later became marshland covered by water during flood seasons. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, by the time Napoleon occupied Cairo, the land had dried up enough to allow the French forces to camp there. It was not until the time of Mohamed Ali, the founder of modern Egypt, that the network of barrages built to control the flow of the river, stabilized the banks of the Nile in Cairo.   Tahrir Square was born as a green field. In the 1960, President Nasser issued a government decree changing the name of the square from Ismailia to Tahrir to commemorate the departure of the British from EgyptThe 500 acre open space housed cultivated fields, gardens and many royal family palaces during Khedive Ismail’s reign. Ismail, the grandson of Mohamed Ali, came to be known as the founder of modern Cairo. Having lived in Paris during the remake of the city by Baron Haussmann, Ismail embarked on the project of modernizing the city in many ways, one of which was to build a district later named after him. In the center of this district was a square that carried the same name, Ismailia square.   Tahrir square was hence laid out as a formal pubic space. The square, however, had an undefined form until the Egyptian Museum was built in its northeastern corner. Ismail’s modernization projects plunged the country into great debt, and he was the first ruler of modern Egypt to be removed from power—in this case, foreign forces did the ousting. The British occupation of Egypt ensued into the waning years of the nineteenth century. The British stationed their troops west of the square in Ismailia, in what Egyptians often called the English Barracks.   During the early part of the twentieth century, the Ismailia district emerged as the downtown of modern Cairo and it expanded toward the square, which had to be replanned to facilitate the newly introduced vehicular traffic in Cairo. The roundabout in the southern part of the square was consequently built. A few decades later, during the reign of King Farouk, the space acquired the statue-less pedestal. Farouk had commissioned a statue of his grandfather, Khedive Ismail, to be built for the pedestal. The Arab League headquarters were also built during this time, thus defining the eastern side of the square.   Tahrir Square was taking shape. The square witnessed its first serious demonstrations during the same era. Opposition to British presence in Egypt sparked protests and skirmishes, with police killing two dozen Egyptians by Feb. 11, 1946. (On the same day, 64 years later, President Mubarak was forced to step down. An accident of history?)   In a twist of irony, the statue of Khedive Ismail, King Farouk’s grandfather, did arrive in Egypt a few weeks following the 1952 revolt. It was never placed on its pedestal, of course. The symbolism of the empty pedestal, a remnant of Egypt’s failed monarchy, was a landmark Nasser left untouchedDissatisfaction with King Farouk’s government brought about another set of protests that resulted in the Great Fire of Cairo on Jan. 25, 1952. A few buildings in the square were casualties of the blaze. (On the same day, 59 years later, the Egyptian people descended upon Tahrir Square in unprecedented numbers to protest their government. Another accident of history, perhaps!)   The 1952 fire was a precursor to an Army coup, led by Gamal Abdul Nasser, on July 23, that transformed Egypt from a sleepy kingdom into a revolutionary republic. In the following decade, in the 1960S, President Nasser issued a government decree changing the name of the square from Ismailia to Tahrir to commemorate the departure of the British from Egypt.   Tahrir Square was given its name. In the early 1960s, the Hilton Hotel was built on the site of the former English Barracks. Next to it was a building intended to house the Cairo Municipality but that actually became the headquarters of Nasser’s Arab Socialist Union, the single party that governed Egypt for much of his rule. This was the building that Mubarak’s NDP later inherited—a building set ablaze by protestors during the recent 2011 demonstrations.   In a twist of irony, the statue of Khedive Ismail, King Farouk’s grandfather, did arrive in Egypt a few weeks following the 1952 revolt. It was never placed on its pedestal, of course. The symbolism of the empty pedestal, a remnant of Egypt’s failed monarchy, was a landmark Nasser left untouched. The pedestal remained in place until the 1970s when construction of a metro system necessitated its removal. During Anwar Sadat’s time as president, Tahrir Square acquired Cairo’s first metro station, which was named after Sadat during Mubarak’s rule. The southern part of the square was also renamed Sadat Square, although Cairenes never referred to it as such. They limited their use of the name to the metro station.   The Egyptian people have long accepted July 23,1952, as their day of revolution but they never recognized Tahrir Square as the symbol of their liberation. That all changed on Jan. 25, 2011. It is too soon to comprehend the full impact of what happened in Tahrir Square during the 18 days that followed. But whatever it is, Egypt and the Arab world will never be the same again. Social media has given a new life to the city and has reminded us that public space will always remain a vibrant arena for public discourse and revolutionary change.  
i don't know
Hanged in 2010 Ali Hassan al-Majid had what nickname?
Iraq executes ‘Chemical Ali’ - World news - Mideast/N. Africa - Conflict in Iraq | NBC News + - BAGHDAD  — Iraq on Monday executed Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin known as "Chemical Ali," for the poison gas attacks that killed more than 5,000 Kurds in 1988. News of the hanging came shortly after three suicide car bombs struck downtown Baghdad . It was not immediately clear whether the attacks were linked to the execution of al-Majid. "The death sentence against Ali Hassan al-Majid has been carried out today," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. Majid earned his nickname because of his use of poison gas. He had received four death sentences, the last around a week ago for an attack on the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja in which thousands were killed. Dabbagh said in the statement that Majid was not subjected to any abuse during the execution, unlike the insults heaped on Saddam by Shiite Muslim observers when he was hanged in December 2006. "Everyone abided by the government's instructions and the convicted was not subjected to any breach, chanting, abuse words, or insults," Dabbagh said. Feared by many It was not clear if Majid was hanged before or after a series of coordinated suicide bombings close to well-known hotels in Baghdad in which dozens of people died.
Ali Hassan al-Majid
Anosmia is the loss of what?
Saddam cousin ‘Chemical Ali’ will hang | New York Post Saddam cousin ‘Chemical Ali’ will hang Modal Trigger Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," for his alleged use of chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds, was convicted to a fourth death sentence today. AP A man places flowers on the grave of a victim killed in a 1988 chemical attack in Halabja in northern Iraq. The man behind it, ‘Chemical Ali’ will hang for it. (AP) BAGHDAD — Saddam Hussein’s notorious cousin “Chemical Ali” was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging today for ordering the gassing of Kurds in 1988, killing more than 5,000 in the worst such attack ever against civilians. It was Ali Hassan al-Majid fourth death sentence for crimes against humanity in Iraq. The previous three have not been carried out, in part because survivors of the poison gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja wanted to have their case against al-Majid heard. Relatives of Halabja victims cheered in the courtroom when chief judge Aboud Mustafa handed down the guilty verdict against al-Majid, one of the chief architects of Saddam’s repression and among the last to face trial. Nazik Tawfiq, a 45-year-old Kurdish woman who said she lost six relatives in the attack, fell to her knees to pray upon hearing the verdict. “I am so happy today,” she said. “Now the souls of our victims will rest in peace.” In Halabja after the verdict, residents cheered and songs played from loudspeakers at a monument commemorating victims of the attack. Some in town visited the cemetery to remember loved ones who died in the gassing. The jubilation demonstrated again the deep-rooted hatred many Iraqis feel toward the former regime. Another senior figure in Saddam’s regime, former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, suffered a severe stroke over the weekend and cannot speak, his son said Sunday. Aziz was the international face of Saddam’s regime for several years. He was convicted and sentenced to prison for his involvement in the forced displacement of Kurds in northern Iraq and the deaths of Baghdad merchants in the early 1990s. Al-Majid earned his nickname because of his willingness to use poison gas against the Kurds. The 1988 killings remain a source of deep pain, particularly for Iraq’s Kurds. Many in Halabja still suffer physically from the effects of the nerve and mustard gas that were unleashed on the village at the end of the Iran-Iraq War. Survivors feel a sense of injustice that Saddam was hanged for the killings of Shiites following a 1982 assassination attempt, but did not live to face justice for the Halabja attack. The gassing of the town was considered the most extensive use of chemical weapons on civilians in history. The court also convicted and sentenced other former officials to jail terms on Sunday for their roles in the Halabja attack. Former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie faces 15 years in prison, as does Iraq’s former director of military intelligence, Sabir Azizi al-Douri. Farhan Mutlaq al-Jubouri, a former top military intelligence official, was sentenced to 10 years. Evidence against the defendants included eyewitness accounts, official documents and films seized after the fall of Saddam’s regime, and military correspondence among commanders. Al-Majid faces three previous death sentences for atrocities committed during Saddam’s rule — particularly government campaigns against Shiites and Kurds in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was previously sentenced to hang for his role in a brutal crackdown against the Kurds in the late 1980s, known as the Anfal campaign, that killed hundreds of thousands. The court later issued separate death sentences for his role in the 1991 suppression of a Shiite uprising and for a 1999 crackdown that sought to quell a Shiite backlash to the slaying of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed al-Sadr. The earlier death sentences against al-Majid have not been carried out in part because of a desire by victims of the gas attacks to see him tried for one of the former regime’s most vicious attacks. Another obstacle was a political dispute involving al-Taie, who was also sentenced to death along with Chemical Ali in the Anfal trial. Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, have both refused to sign the execution order against al-Taie, who signed the cease-fire with U.S.-led forces that ended the 1991 Gulf War. Al-Taie is a Sunni Arab viewed by many as a respected career soldier who was forced to follow Saddam’s orders in the purges against Kurds. The three-member presidency council must approve all death sentences, and the failure to find agreement on al-Taie delayed the execution of al-Majid as well. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, has pushed the presidency council to approve the death sentences pending against al-Majid and al-Taie. Al-Taie surrendered to U.S. forces in September 2003 after weeks of negotiations. His defense has claimed the Americans had promised al-Taie “protection and good treatment” before he turned himself in. Many Sunni Arabs saw his sentence as evidence that Shiite and Kurdish officials are persecuting their once-dominant minority by using their influence over the judiciary. Another reason for the delay is that the Kurds from Halabja have also been pushing to have their day in court with al-Majid. Mohammed Saeed Ali, a Kurdish city official in Halabja, said al-Majid ought to be hanged in Halabja to bring closure to victims’ relatives. “Chemical Ali massacred us and we want to see him getting what he deserves,” he said. Share this:
i don't know
Who played football for Argentina, Colombia and Spain?
Diego Costa turns his back on Brazil to play for Spain | Daily Mail Online comments Diego Costa has controversially pledged his international future to Spain after rejecting a call up from Brazil for their friendlies in November. The Atletico Madrid forward – who has scored 13 goals in 11 matches this season – has signed documentation confirming his desire to play for the world champions despite being born in Brazil and playing in friendlies for them against Italy and Russia this year. The Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari wanted to select him for November's fixtures against Honduras and Chile but his approach has been officially rejected. On fire: Diego Costa, celebrating against Real Madrid, wants to play internationally for Spain TOP GOALSCORERS IN LA LIGA This season. Rodri (Almeria) 5 David Villa (Atletico Madrid) 4 The CBF are expected to appeal against Costa's decision – their president Jose Maria Marin had already described Spain's intention of calling him up as 'illegal' – given that he has already featured in those two friendlies. The Spanish Football Federation, however, said on Tuesday that they expected Costa to be available for their friendlies against South Africa and Russia, if selected. 'This morning, Tuesday October 29, the Spanish-Brazilian player Diego Da Silva Costa, Diego Costa, attended the notary Serrano 30, where he added his signature to a document that manifests his intention to play for the Spanish national football team,' the statement read. 'The forward has sent this document to Mr Julio Cesar Avelleda, secretary general of the Confederacao Brasileira de Futebol (CBF). It communicates his desire to be available for Spanish national coach Vicente del Bosque, from this moment. 'In this way, Diego Costa can play with Spain, in their next two games in November, if the national coach deems it opportune.' Decision: Costa has turned his back on home country Brazil Forward thinking: Spain boss Vicente del Bosque already has plenty of attacking options To get into the Spain XI, Costa will be have to compete with David Villa, Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente, Alvaro Negredo, Roberto Soldado and more whereas Brazil have less competition for places and he could partner Neymar. He would not be the first to play for two countries. Many players have played for newer, independent nations following the break-up of a larger state. Davor Suker, for example, played for Yugoslavia then Croatia, Mattias Sammer played for East Germany then Germany and Oleg Luzhny played for the Soviet Union then Ukraine. However, others have done the same as Costa. Ferenc Puskas famously played for Hungary but also represented Spain and his former Real Madrid team-mate Alfredo Di Stefano starred for Argentina, Colombia and Spain. Michel Platini, a France great, also played an exhibition game for Kuwait. Globetrotter: Ferenc Puskas (right) played for Hungary and Spain while Alfredo Di Stefano represented Argentina, Colombia and Spain
Alfredo Di Stéfano
Which world figure is married to quantum chemist Joachim Sauer?
FIFA World Cup: Argentina's Top 10 Players of All Time | Bleacher Report FIFA World Cup: Argentina's Top 10 Players of All Time Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow 85.1K 8 Comments Argentina is, without a doubt, one of the most successful football nations in history. Although heartbreak has outweighed success on the biggest stage, Argentina has won 16 Copa America, 2 Olympic Gold Medals, and 6 FIFA World Youth Championships. Argentine Clubs have won more Copa Libertadores (22) than Brazilian sides (13), while also exporting some of the great players in the history of the game, including Alfredo Di Stefano, Omar Sivori, Mario Kempes, Daniel Passarella, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, and many more. Making a list of the best 10 Argentine Players is a nearly impossible task, so I discarded all players who never represented Argentina in a World Cup, which is why Juventus legend Omar Sivori and Real Madrid man Alfredo Di Stefano are not on the list. Although both men had brilliant careers in Argentina with River Plate before crossing the pond, they missed out on the biggest stage before representing Italy and Spain respectively. I have also discarded players who represented other countries, even if they played in a World Cup for Argentina. For that reason, Luis Monti, who was a runner up with Argentina at Uruguay 1930 before winning the World Cup four years later with Italy, was not included. It is unfair to include such players over those who showed loyalty to the Argentine shirt during their entire careers. World Cup Experience: 1998, 2002, 2006 Clubs: River Plate, Parma, Lazio, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Milan, Genoa The ultimate goal poacher, Crespo is the second highest scorer in the history of the Argentine National Team, netting 35 goals in just 64 games. Making his record all the more impressive is that the majority of his appearances came as a substitute while Gabriel Batistuta was Argenitna’s undisputed number nine. After coming through the youth ranks at River Plate, Crespo debuted for the club under manager Daniel Passarella in 1993 and won three league titles (1993, 1994, and 1996). His greatest achievement for River came during the 1996 Copa Libertadores when he helped Los Millonarios to the title, scoring twice in the Final against Deportivo Cali of Colombia. With Passarella then the manager of the National Team, Crespo won Silver at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta before moving to Parma in Italy, where he won the Coppa Italy, Italian Super Cup, and UEFA Cup all in 1999. His success at Parma brought about a big money move to Lazio for what was then a world record of £35 million. In his first year at the club, he paid back the Roman side by being Serie A’s leading scorer with 26 goals. On the international stage, Crespo was called up to the 1998 World Cup under Passarella and the 2002 World Cup under Marcelo Bielsa, although he only played a bit role, as both managers deemed that Crespo and Batistuta were too similar to play together, perhaps a move that cost Argentina greatly. At Germany 2006, after bouncing around between Inter, AC Milan, and Chelsea, Crespo was finally given the chance to be a starter at a World Cup at 31 years of age. Although he picked up the Silver Shoe as the tournament’s second leading scorer, Crespo was disappointing for the majority of the time and was substituted as Argentina fell to hosts Germany on penalties. Crespo then won the 2007 Serie A title with Inter, netting 20 goals, and took one last shot at winning a trophy with Argentina at the 2007 Copa America, where he walked off injured after converting a penalty against Colombia which allowed him to surpass Maradona into second place on Argentina’s scoring charts. With Crespo out for the rest of the tournament, Argentina again fell in the Final to Brazil and Crespo’s international career ended without major triumph. World Cup Experience: 2006 Clubs: Barcelona Although just 22, Messi has put himself among the all-time greats, not only for Argentina, but in the history of world football. Born in Rosario, Messi came up through the youth ranks of local side Newell’s Old Boys before a growth hormone deficiency carried him across the Atlantic to Barcelona, where he has become arguably the greatest player in the history of the storied Catalan outfit. La Pulga burst onto the world stage at the age of 18, when he led Argentina to the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, winning the Golden Boot as top scorer and Golden Ball as best player. His success for Argentina carried over to his club side, where Messi became an important player in Barcelona’s run to the 2006 La Liga and Champions League double. Jose Pekerman rewarded the 18 year old Messi with a call up to the Argentina squad for Germany 2006, where he scored a goal and added an assist in a 6-0 thrashing of Serbia and Montenegro. During Argentina’s elimination at the hands of the hosts, Pekerman made a series of puzzling substitutions including leaving Messi on the bench, causing uproar that eventually led to Pekerman’s resignation. Back with Barcelona, Messi enjoyed a spectacular 2006-2007 season. Although Barcelona fell just short of the La Liga title, Leo had effectively replaced Ronaldinho as the club’s most important player, striking 16 goals in the league, including a hat trick against Real Madrid in El Clasico. In the Copa del Rey, Messi scored a goal nearly identical to Maradona’s second against England, bringing about even more comparisons between the two stars. Later in the season, Messi also scored his own version of “the hand of god” against Espanyol. At the 2007 Copa America, Messi was voted the Best Young Player, but Argentina were shocked by Brazil in the Final despite playing the best football of the tournament. The disappointment carried over to Barcelona, where Messi continued to be arguably the game’s best player, but a series of injuries cost Barcelona a chance at the La Liga title. Finally, in 2008-2009, Messi put together a complete season, void of injuries. After leading Argentina to the 2008 Olympic Gold, he scored 38 goals for Barcelona, who won the “treble.” Messi finished as the top scorer in the Champions League and won the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year. The following season, Leo netted a remarkable 47 goals, winning the Club World Cup, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and La Liga. He finished as the winner of the Pichichi, awarded to La Liga’s top scorer, the leading scorer of the Champions League, and the European Golden Boot. Now, all eyes are on Messi to see if he can replicate his form for Barcelona at the highest level. World Cup Experience: 1986 Clubs: Independiente Ricardo Bochini is a rarity in today’s era: a one club man. For twenty years, El Bocha bled Independiente red and is considered one of the greatest playmakers of all time. Sadly, Bochini is not as well known outside of Argentine because he had a certain Diego Armando Maradona playing in his position, and coach Carlos Bilardo deemed the two plays “too similar” to be on the field at the same time. Although he would always have to play second fiddle to Maradona at the international level, he was unmatched for Independiente during a sparkling 20 year career in which he won four league titles and four Copa Libertadores crowns. Although he never played in Europe, he proved his worth against the top European clubs, netting the winner against Juventus and legendary goalkeeper Dino Zoff in the Intercontinental Cup against Juventus in 1973 and leading his side to the Intercontinental crown again in 1984 against Liverpool. Bochini also won the Interamerica Cup twice in a match against the best clubs from North America. Overall, he played a staggering 740 league games for Independiente and is the ultimate idol in the club's history. Although only a substitute during the 1986 World Cup, he did get on the pitch during the semifinal victory over Belgium and participated in the 1983 Copa America as well. World Cup Experience: 1958 Clubs: River Plate, Millonarios "Tarzan" is considered one of the most innovative goalkeepers of all time and was even voted goalkeeper of the century. He debuted with River Plate at the age of 19, when River was by far the greatest side in the world with the likes of Angel Labruna and Alfredo Di Stefano. He became famous for wearing gloves, but also for his convention of darting off his line to break up attacks. With River, Carrizo won league titles in 1945, ’47, ’52, ’53, ’55, ’56, and ’57. Unfortunately, his international career did not see the kind of success as his domestic form, as Argentina refused to enter the World Cup in 1950 or 1954 due to political reasons. Carrizo finally got his chance to play in front of the world at Sweden 1958 but, after years of international isolation, Argentina were no match for the more physical and organized Europeans and were home after the group stage. At the club level, Carrizo represented River Plate over 500 times and set a mark of 769 minutes without conceding a goal. World Cup Experience: 1958 Clubs: River Plate, Rampla Juniors No player is a better representation of Club Atletico River Plate than Angelito Labruna. Born in Buenos Aires, Labruna began his career for River in 1939 and played with the Nunez outfit until 1959. During the 1940’s, Labruna formed part of La Maquina, along with Juan Carlos Muñoz, José Manuel Moreno, Adolfo Pedernera, and Félix Loustau, considered to be the greatest front line in history. A young Alfredo Di Stefano could not even break into River’s vaunted attack and had to be loaned out to Huracan. Di Stefano called La Maquina the greatest team he ever saw play, even better than the famed Real Madrid sides of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. Labruna led the Argentine Primera Division in goals in 1943 and 1945 and won a league title in nine of his 20 seasons (1941, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957) a remarkable record. To this day, Labruna has played more games for River Plate than anyone (515) and is the leading scorer in the history of the Argentine First Division, striking 293 goals. He also scored 16 times against Boca Juniors in El Superclasico, yet another record held by Angelito. On the international stage, Labruna was robbed of playing in a World Cup during his prime, as the tournament was canceled due to World War II in 1942 and 1946, while Argentina refused to take part in 1950 and 1954. He did, however, lift the Copa America in 1946 and 1955 before finally playing in the World Cup at Sweden 1958 at the age of 40. 5. Gabriel Omar Batistuta World Cup Experience: 1994, 1998, 2002 Clubs: Newell’s Old Boys, Deportivo Italia River Plate, Boca Juniors, Fiorentina, Roma, Inter Milan, Al Arabi Gabriel “Batigol” Batistuta is the highest scorer in the history of the Argentine National, Team netting a remarkable 56 goals in 78 games, including 10 in World Cups. Born in the Santa Fe Province, Bati started off at Newell’s Old Boys of Rosario before making the jump to River Plate, where he won the Argentine Primera Division in 1990. However, his less than stellar relationship with River manager Daniel Passarella saw him do the unthinkable: move to River’s arch-rivals Boca Juniors. His stellar performances earned him a call up to the National Team under Alfio Basile for the 1991 Copa America in Chile, where he was the tournament’s leading scorer with six goals as Argentina claimed the title. Two years later, Argentina won the Copa America again, thanks to a double from Batistuta in the Final against Mexico. At USA 1994, Bati made his first appearance in a World Cup and Argentina began as one of the favorites, after Diego Maradona returned to the National Team. Batistuta scored a hat-trick in the opener against Greece and Argentina looked set to make a run deep into the tournament before Maradona’s doping test came out positive, crushing the spirit of the team and leading to a second round exit at the hands of Romania. Four years later, Bati was again the main man for Argentina, smashing three goals against Jamaica, making him the only player to score a hat-trick in two different World Cups. He also added goals against Japan and England as Argentina reached the Quarterfinals, where they were undone by a brilliant strike from Dennis Bergkamp. At the club level, Batistuta is the all time leading scorer for Fiorentina after showing loyalty by staying with the Tuscan outfit for nine seasons despite offers from bigger clubs. Finally, in 2000, in search for the league title that had alluded him for so many years in Florence, he moved to the capital where he signed with Roma and scored 20 goals in leading the Giallorossi to the Scudetto. At the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, Batistuta and Argentina were again amongst the favorites, but after Bati netted the only goal in a 1-0 over Nigeria, Argentina collapsed against England and Sweden and missed out on the Second Round, ending Bati’s international career in tears. Although he never made it past the quarterfinals of the World Cup, Batistuta will always be remembered for his desire and passion when playing for Argentina and, of course, his record setting scoring record. He now passes time as a polo player back in Argentina. World Experience: 1974, 1978, 1982 Clubs: Quilmes, Racing, River Plate, Argentinos Juniors, Flamengo, Atletico Madrid, Velez Sarsfield Fillol was born in the Buenos Aires Province and came up through the youth ranks at provincial club Quilmes, where he was quickly recognized as one of the top goalkeepers in Argentina, bringing about a move to Racing Club, one of Argentina’s traditional “Big Five Clubs.” His success at Racing earned El Pato a call up to the National Team and a spot at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. Although Fillol was not the number one keeper, he started Argentina’s final match, a 1-1 draw against East Germany in the second group phase. After Racing, Fillol moved to River Plate, the biggest club in the country. At the time of his transfer in 1974, River had not won the Argentine Primera Division since 1957, but with a squad that also featured Daniel Passarella and Norberto Alonso, River ended its long title drought by claiming both the Metropolitano and Nacional Titles in 1975. In 1977, River won the title again as Fillol won the Olimpia de Plata award as the best Argentina player, the first goalkeeper to earn the distinction. However,it was in 1978, during Argentina’s first World Cup triumph that Fillol cemented his legacy as one of the greatest keepers of all time. After beating out Boca Juniors legend Hugo Gatti for the number one jersey, Fillol did not disappoint coach Cesar Luis Menotti, helping Argentina beat Hungary and France in its first two matches before a defeat to Italy for La Seleccion to play their second round matches in Rosario, not in Buenos Aires. Fillol kept a clean sheet in all three matches, pulling off a number of remarkable stops, including a penalty save against Poland. Argentina advanced to the Final against the vaunted Dutch team and their Total Football. Although the goals of Mario Kempes stole the show, it was Fillol who kept his side in the match with a series of spectacular saves to keep his team in the match before Kempes and Daniel Bertoni sealed the victory in extra time. Fillol was rightfully voted the Best Goalkeeper at Argentina 1978. After the World Cup, Fillol continued his brilliant club form at River, winning league titles in 1978, 1980, and 1981. Unfortunately, like the rest of his teammates, Fillol did not take his best form to Spain 1982 and Argentina, who had begun the tournament as favorites, crashed out in the second group phase after losses to Brazil and Italy. Fillol rounded out his career with successful stints in Brazil with Flamengo and in Spain with Atletico Madrid before returning to Argentina and playing for Racing and Velez Sarsfield. El Pato will always be remembered for his success with River, winning eight titles, and of course the 1978 World Cup, but his career can perhaps best be summed up by Maradona who called him: “Simply the greatest goalkeeper I’ve ever seen in my life.” World Cup Experience: 1974, 1978, 1982 Clubs: Instituto, Rosario Central, Valencia, River Plate, Hercules, First Vienna, St. Polten, Kremser, Fernandez Vial Born in the province of Cordoba, Kempes started his professional career with local club Instituto in 1970 before making the move to one of Argentina’s biggest clubs: Rosario Central. After finishing as the Argentine Primera Division’s top scorer in 1974, he earned a call up to the National Team for West Germany 1974, a World Cup that ended in embarrassment at the hands of the Dutch and where Kempes failed to make the expected impact. In 1976, Kempes again led the Argentine League in goals and earned a transfer to Spain, where he played for Valencia and continued his outstanding form, winning El Pichichi as the top scorer in Spain in 1977 and 1978. The brilliance of Kempes was such that manager Cesar Luis Menotti included him despite stating he would only bring players to the World Cup who plied their trade in Argentina. As teammate Osvaldo Ardiles put it: “Mario was the exception to this rule because he was deemed indispensable.” After a disappointing first round at Argentina 1978, Menotti dropped Kempes into a more withdrawn position, allowing him to make runs from deep, a tactic that worked to perfection as El Matador carved up the Polish and Peruvians with two goals each before saving his best for last against Holland in the Final. Mario opened the scoring in the final by taking a pass from Leopoldo Luque and finishing coolly past Jan Jongbloed in the Dutch goal. After the Europeans equalized and sent the game to extra time, Kempes gave Argentina the lead with a trademark run in which he skipped past two challenges before lifting the ball over Jongbloed and finishing before two Dutch defenders could clear. Kempes finished with the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and Golden Ball as the top player. After leading Valencia to the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 1980, he was the big money signing by River Plate in 1981 in order to counteract Boca Junior’s acquisition of Diego Maradona. The move paid off, and River Plate, inspired by 15 goals from Kempes, including a free kick against Boca Juniors in La Bombonera, won the title. At Spain 1982, Kempes and Maradona were expected to form the most potent partnership in the World Cup, but it never came off and Argentina went home too early despite having arguably the tournament’s most talented team. World Cup Experience: 1978, 1982, 1986 Clubs: River Plate, Fiorentina, Inter Milan Only one Argentine player can boast a place in both of the country’s World Cup winning sides and that man is Daniel Passarella, “El Kaiser.” Officially, Passarella is the second highest scoring defender of all time and is known well for his aerial ability and ferocious free kicks, but is perhaps best remembered for his leadership and the heart with which he played. In Argentina, Passarella is the defender to which all young stoppers are compared, although no defender since has matched his intelligence or goalscoring prowess, netting a remarkable 24 goals in 1976 and a total of 99 for River Plate. Passarella won four Argentine Championships with River Plate and was the heart and soul of Argentina’s successful 1978 World Cup winning campaign, commanding the penalty area and threatening the opposition’s goal with his runs forward, finding the back of the net via a penalty against France in the group stage. As the captain, Passarella was the first Argentine to lift the World Cup trophy, an iconic image for the country. El Gran Capitan was one of the few bright spots during Argentina’s ill-fated attempt to repeat as World Champions at Spain 1982. The side entered the tournament as favorites with the bulk of the 1978 squad back and bolstered by the inclusion of Diego Maradona, but the weight and pressure of the war for Las Malvinas taking place back home was too much to handle and Argentina crashed out to Brazil and Italy during the second group stage, but not before El Kaiser smashed home a brilliant long range free kick against the eventual champions, Italy, and legendary goalkeeper Dino Zoff. He had managed a goal earlier in the tournament against El Salvador. After the disappointment, Passarella moved to Italy, where he enjoyed an extremely successful spell at Fiorentina and later at Inter. Before the 1986 tournament, new coach Carlos Bilardo took the captaincy from Passarella and gave it to Maradona, beginning what would become a long time feud between the two. Eventually, Passarella withdrew from the tournament due to “illness,” it has been well documented that the River Plate legend left due to his feud with El Diez. Later, Passarella coached the Argentine National Team to the quarterfinals of France 1998, but has continued to butt heads with Maradona to this day. Despite their rocky relationship (to say the least), Maradona had this to say about Passarella in his autobiography: “The best defender I ever saw in my life…The best at heading the ball, and at both ends, something that Argentine football is missing these days. What goes on between us off the pitch has nothing to do with what I think of him as a footballer.” World Cup Experience: 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 Clubs: Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, Newell’s Old Boys By the time Diego Maradona made his debut at the age of 15 for Buenos Aires side Argentinos Juniors in 1976, there were already rumors that something special was on the horizon at El Paternal, but nobody could have projected the sheer greatness that ensued. At the age of just 16, El Pibe de Oro made his debut for the National Team, and at 17 he led the Argentina Primera with 22 goals in 1978. His sensational form earned him a call up to a preliminary list of 25 for Argentina’s 1978 World Cup side, but coach Cesar Luis Menotti decided that Maradona was too young, and the young Diego was one of the three players cut before the start of the tournament. “At that point, when I was left out of the final squad of twenty-two, I realized that anger was a fuel for me. It really got me revved up. I played best when I was after revenge,” Maradona recounted years later. Inspired by the disappointment of missing out on Argentina’s first World Cup title, Maradona led the Argentine First Division in scoring for five straight seasons, before making the move to Boca Juniors. El Diez arrived at Boca and promptly lifted them to the title in his only season, netting 28 goals and securing a then world record transfer fee of 1 million dollars to FC Barcelona. At Spain 1982, Maradona and Argentina succumbed to the pressure of having to deal with the label of favorites and the realization that their country was losing the war for Las Malvinas, as the government had reported that Argentina were indeed winning the war. Although Maradona did play well and scored two goals in the group stage, he was man-marked by Claudio Gentile in a loss to Italy before losing his cool and kicking Batista in the groin, resulting in a red card and an abrupt end to his first World Cup. At Barcelona, Maradona provided many highlights on the pitch, but off it he lived a wild life and clashed with club directors. A spell of hepatitis was followed by a broken leg thanks to a rash tackle at the hands of Andoni Goikoetxea, who Maradona dubbed the “Butcher of Bilbao.” In 1984, Maradona left Barcelona to join Napoli for another world record transfer fee (he remains the only man to twice break the world record in transfer fees) where he found himself idling near the bottom of Serie A. Thanks to Maradona, Napoli became one of the giants of the European game. What makes Maradona’s success at Napoli so remarkable is that the club has never come close to replicating its success under El Diez before or after his presence. This is all the more impressive because, at a time Serie A was the best league in the world, with the likes of Platini, Matthaus, Baggio, Maldini, Donadoni, Zenga and many more. But with Maradona, Napoli became the first club to win the “double” by claiming the Scudetto and Copa Italia in 1987, the first such trophies in club history. In 1989, Maradona lifted the UEFA Cup knocking out Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Stuttgart on the way to the title. In 1990, Napoli won their second Scudetto and the Italian Super Cup, their last trophy to date. As spectacular as Maradona was at Napoli, his greatest achievement came at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico where he tormented each opponent on the way to the title and won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player. His two goals against England will live on in history as his defining moment and, arguably, the defining moment in World Cup history. Four years later, Maradona and Argentina were far from their best but reached the Final thanks to a series of improbable results, including a win over hosts Italy in Napoli’s stadium and a victory over Brazil thanks to a trademark Maradona run and pass to Claudio Caniggia. After Italia 1990, Maradona found himself suspended by FIFA after failing an anti-doping test and, although he made comebacks with Sevilla, Newell’s Old Boys, and Boca, his best years were behind him. That was until the 1994 World Cup in the USA, where Maradona and Argentina were the best team of the group stage, before El Diego failed another anti-doping test, prompting questions of a vendetta against him. Now, 16 years after leaving the World Cup in disgrace, Maradona is back on the biggest stage as Argentina’s manager and can boast one of the tournament’s most talented teams with the likes of Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Gonzalo Higuain, and Diego Milito. No one will be surprised if Maradona is laughing, finally gaining revenge against FIFA for USA 1994 and Italia 1990, when he saw the Final stripped from him after a series of questionable calls in favor of the Germans.
i don't know
Who thought Sebastian Moran ‘the second most dangerous man in London?
Sebastian Moran | Baker Street Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Colonel Sebastian Moran is an ex-army colonel and the right-hand man of Professor James Moriarty . Sherlock Holmes 's miniature biography described him as the "second most dangerous man in London ." Biography Edit Sebastian Moran was born in London in 1840, the son of Sir Augustus Moran, CB, sometime Minister to Persia. After being educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford, he went on to a distinguished military career. Formerly of the 1st Bangalore Pioneers (Madras), he served in the Jowaki Expedition of 1877-1878 and in the Second Anglo-Afghan War , seeing action at the Battle of Char Asiab, 6 October 1879 (for which he was "mentioned in despatches"); the Battle of Sherpur, 23 December 1879; and at Kabul. An accomplished marksman and prolific big-game hunter, Moran authored the books Heavy Game of the Western Himalayas in 1881 and Three Months in the Jungle. Years later, Holmes remarked that Moran's "bag of tigers" was still the record in India, and no single British hunter had taken more. Reading this portion of Moran's biography, John Watson commented that it was the history of an honorable soldier, with no hint of the arch-criminal he and Holmes later confronted. Holmes agreed that Moran had several noteworthy qualities, especially his iron nerve, which made him outwardly admirable. According to Holmes, many of Moran's feats were still legendary in India, such as when he "crawled down a drain after a wounded man-eating tiger." Holmes whimsically speculated that Moran's criminality was the result of some "hereditary disease," similar to a blight which affects offshoots of otherwise healthy trees. Whatever the reason was, Moran went to the bad, and, although there was no open scandal, he was obliged to retire from the army and return to London. Outwardly respectable, with an address in Conduit Street, Mayfair, and a member of the Anglo-Indian Club, the Tankerville Club and The Bagatelle Card Club, he still acquired an evil reputation in London's underworld, which led to his recruitment by Professor Moriarty , who employed him as the chief of staff of his criminal empire. In addition, Moran was employed for select assassinations that required his uncanny marksmanship. Moran followed Professor Moriarty to Switzerland , and, after Moriarty perished at the bottom of the Reichenbach Falls , attempted to kill Holmes by rolling boulders down on him. Holmes escaped, but was forced to remain officially dead for several years, knowing that Moran would be gunning for him as soon as he revealed himself. Instead, Holmes waited for Moran to slip up and incriminate himself. After the collapse of Moriarty's criminal organization, Moran returned to London and earned a living by playing cards at several clubs. When one of the other players, Ronald Adair, noticed that Moran won by cheating and threatened to expose him, Moran murdered Adair with a silent air rifle that fired revolver bullets, crafted especially to Moriarty's specifications by a blind German mechanic. Dr. Watson and a returned Holmes took the case, and Moran attempted to kill the detective by firing his air rifle from a vacant house opposite Holmes' residence at 221B Baker Street . Holmes having anticipated this, Moran shot a wax effigy of Holmes while the real Holmes, with Watson and Inspector Lestrade , hid nearby to seize Moran.
Sherlock Holmes
Politics. At Westminster what is a ‘spad’?
Sebastian Moran | Villains Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia „ ~ Moran in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Colonel Sebastian Moran is the villain of the Sherlock Holmes short story The Adventure of the Empty House. He is a former colonel of the British Army who later turns to crime and becomes Professor Moriarty's chief of staff. He is known as the best shot in the army and is extremely skilled with a sniper rifle. In the film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, he serves as the secondary antagonist and is played by Paul Anderson. Holmes once described him as "the second most dangerous man in London" - the most dangerous being Professor Moriarty , Moran's employer. Other adaptations In the modern adaption Sherlock, a Lord Moran appears in the first episode of the third series "The Empty Hearse" as a Member of Parliament, who plans to blow it up in a terrorist attack. He is uncredited and no connection is given between him and James Moriarty .
i don't know