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How many successive strikes does it take to score 300 at ten pin bowling | Bowling 3D - Android Apps on Google Play
Bowling 3D
Top Developer
Description
Ready to roll your Bowling Ball like a pro ? With Bowling 3D, you will find a super realistic stunning HD graphics bowling game.
The goal of this ball game is very simple: Knock over as many pins as possible.
Set in a beautiful 3D environment, You will either have the opportunity to train yourself to become a Bowling master or challenge your friends to reach the highest score. This free game provides leaderboards so you can easily track your progress. Hours of Bowling fun ahead of you !
How many consecutive strikes will you get ? Can you score a perfect 300 ?
Read more
2 3,671
1 6,258
,3 D bowling A good bowling game but sometimes the ball goes through the pins as if they were not there! Its weird, otherwise it's great. Fix that with a software update and it'll be 5 stars for sure!
Shelley Simons
Lots of mindless fun! I don't see the need for the replay/skip feature. It's not necessary at all. And it takes up too much time .
Walter Lovett
At the end of game like too see score sheet last longer, instant replay and more control over the ball, Ex... throw curve, spin, hook.
Donna P.
Bowling 3D Neat, realistic game ! I like how it shows the replay, so you can see the ball hit from a side view....it is a bit challenging having to use your finger to roll and guide the ball, and it doesn't always go where you think you put it ! It's alot of fun and I really enjoy playing it.
It seems like a lot of pins stay that should have fallen down. I love bowling so this is a very fun game.
Kevin Veneman
Great game The only thing is you don't have control of the ball you can't make it curve
User reviews
December 22, 2016
,3 D bowling A good bowling game but sometimes the ball goes through the pins as if they were not there! Its weird, otherwise it's great. Fix that with a software update and it'll be 5 stars for sure!
Full Review
Shelley Simons October 1, 2016
Lots of mindless fun! I don't see the need for the replay/skip feature. It's not necessary at all. And it takes up too much time .
Full Review
Walter Lovett October 23, 2016
At the end of game like too see score sheet last longer, instant replay and more control over the ball, Ex... throw curve, spin, hook.
Full Review
Donna P. November 22, 2016
Bowling 3D Neat, realistic game ! I like how it shows the replay, so you can see the ball hit from a side view....it is a bit challenging having to use your finger to roll and guide the ball, and it doesn't always go where you think you put it ! It's alot of fun and I really enjoy playing it.
Full Review
November 28, 2016
It seems like a lot of pins stay that should have fallen down. I love bowling so this is a very fun game.
Full Review
Kevin Veneman January 11, 2017
Great game The only thing is you don't have control of the ball you can't make it curve
Alexandra DeRobertis November 29, 2016
Fabulous Game! I'm disabled so cannot bowl anymore... this is as good as virtual bowling gets!
Full Review
December 1, 2016
Great Game! I had downloaded a bunk 3D bowling game and it was and is yet WACK!!!!!!!!!So glad to get in where I fit in!
Full Review
Eugenia Johnson October 15, 2016
Bowling 3D This game is like a riding a bike but it is fun it is enjoyable now I know how to get down with it wooo
Debbie Goodman October 23, 2016
Bowling3D Its fun but its hard. You have to really love to play the game.
Full Review
David Payne December 5, 2016
Needs improvement. A bit too sensitive for my taste. Should have a way to move the ball after throwing.
Muserr Taalibuddeen November 12, 2016
Challenging makes me get mad....gutter balls...missed spears....so I GOT to keep trying....lmbo
Full Review
Kevin Hannold January 2, 2017
You can't control the ball You have to have some way of controlling the ball after you throw it
Barbara Dugas October 24, 2016
Great game Addictive and fun. Wish I could score like this at the alleys.
Aubree Abel October 23, 2016
3d bowling I think it is so much fun so thank you for inventing it
Johnny Haynes October 24, 2016
3-D bowling Great game love to play and time flies
Winston Chee October 2, 2016
Bowling 3D Difficult but good to play
ImHipNoster 66 October 11, 2016
Of course Fun & easy, and a great way to pass time.
Pamela Frieze October 15, 2016
Bowl It'd lot's of fun you will like it
H Rrrr January 8, 2017
freezes &/or fails to read prompts/swipes
Adam Chase December 6, 2016
Great fun... Very user-friendly for a non-techie like myself.
Karla Boehler November 27, 2016
Bowl 248 is now my highest score. Yay!!!
Full Review
LovesKawaii LifeTV December 31, 2016
Addictive So challenging for my mom she's like NO I LOST AGAIN! And I'm like in the background like Yass!
mukkamala visweswararao October 2, 2016
Bowling Good game for time pass
Michael Edmonds January 7, 2017
Ball Spin when you Tilt you phone would be Great appart from that Great Game
| twelve |
What is the ring made of in sumo wrestling | United Chicago Coin Bally Ball Bowler Bowling machine Shuffle Alley Puck collector coin operated game
Rockola 10 Pins (1940-1941)
United & Chicago Coin Ball Bowlers (expecially if located in Michigan or northwest Ohio/Indiana)
I can arrange shipping from nearly anywhere within North America. I buy ball bowlers from 1957 to 1970 ball bowlers (bowling alleys) by United, Williams and Chicago Coin Machines (Chicago Dynamics Industries, aka CDI). These are more difficult to ship, but often it is possible (please contact me if you have one for sale, and where the game is located - I am near Detroit, Michigan.)
How to find a game easily in this document: This document is organized alphabetically by game type. To easily find a particular game, use the CTRL-F function of your browser, and type in part or all of the game's name to search this document.
Bowler Parts and Schematics.
Sorry I do not have any sources for other bowler parts or schematics (other than the suppliers found at the parts and repair sources web page). And I can not help find bowling games, as these things are huge (the best way to find one is to look in your local area at "amusement" type stores). Information on repair of these games can be found below and at PinRepair.com/em .
Bowling Coin-Op Introduction.
This document covers post-WW2 and later bowling games (mostly United/Williams and Chicago Coin, but also Bally and some other brands too). There are some other styles of games here, which loosely following a bowling theme (i.e. they have a ball or a puck which is launched down an alley). This includes some Skee-Ball, Shuffle Targettes, Bouncing Ball Shuffles, and other oddities. But all games listed here basically have one thing in common; they either use a ball or a puck, which is hurled by the player down an alley.
During the 1950s bowling was a big American past time. To capitalize on this trend, United invented (and other companies copied) coin operated versions of bowling. These games typically were not in bowling alleys (but sometimes were, for those wanting a quick game of bowling, without shoe rentals!), but were in arcades and corner bars.
The Marriage of Seeburg, United and Williams.
In June 1964, the Seeburg corporation (of Jukebox fame) bought the Williams Electronic Manufacturing Corporation. Seeburg operated Williams as a fully owned subsidiary, with Williams continuing its amusement machine production and maintained its distribution system. In buying Williams, Seeburg acquired all the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock from the firm's two shareholders, Samuel Stern and Bernard Weinberg.
The first shuffle alley, United's
"Shuffle-Alley", in October 1949.
An add-on "disappearing pin" unit
was also available (not shown).
This device added mini-pins that
flipped up as the puck hit the
alley rollover switches.
Only three months later (September 1964), Seeburg bought United's game assets. Sam Stern, president of Seeburg's Williams subsidiary, ran the United operation and retain his duties with Williams.
Seeburg began its acquisition strategy in 1958 with the purchase of the Bert Mills Coffee machine. Later purchases included the Lyons cold drink machine, the Bally hot drink machine, the Pic-a-Pack utility vender, the Kinsman Organ Company, the Choice-vend and Cavalier bottle and can drink machines, the Du Grenier cigaret machine, and of course the Williams and United game lines. These acquisitions made Seeburg a full circle manufacturer of coin-operated equipment including jukeboxes, vending machines, and amusement games (pinball, bowlers, etc).
While United has made many types of amusement machines, its bowling games and shuffle alleys have been primarily responsible for its reputation. Williams was strongest in the pinball and baseball machine lines.
On October 31, 1964, Williams announced their move to the larger United plant at 3401 N. California avenue, Chicago. Williams still owns this plant today (where slot machines are developed, but all Williams production has been moved to a new plant in Waukegan, IL).
Because of the marriage of United and Williams, starting about 1965 or 1966 United bowlers also have a Williams manufacturing company logo and address on "United" bowlers. Even though after September 1964 United existed in name only, Williams continued to use the "United" name because of their reputation as making the best bowling games (this information came from 1964 Billboard magazine articles). As late as the 1983, Williams was still using the United name on their Shuffle alleys (1983's Triple Strike was the last shuffle with the "United" name). Unfortunately, in 1999 Williams stopped making all amusement devices (they only make slot machines now, under the Williams name).
Chicago Coin's "lazy susan" swivel score rack that allowed the game to be serviced
from either side, without moving a game from against a rear wall. It was a great
repair idea, but the cabeinet sure was ugly! First used in 1965 on Super Sonic.
Pre-1950 Bowling Innovations.
Prior to 1950, there were really some cool bowling games that were quite innovative. For example the 1939 Bally Alley , which used a rotating ball to do a "spin out" down the lane. This concept was later revived with the 1958 United Midget Alley .) And the first version of the "ten strike" came in 1939 with Evans (this classic was revived many times until 1971.) Another interesting pre-1950 bowler was the 1949 Keeney Ten Pins - this game took the Evans Ten Strike game one step further making it larger, and creating the first try contact ball bowler.
Why Mostly United and CCM Ball Bowling Games in this Document?
(Or What's a Good Ball Bowler to Own?)
The reason for CCM and United bowlers is simple; I like them the best! As a friend of mine puts it (he likes Bally bowlers), it's a "Ford versus Chevy" type arguement. But I feel the quality, looks, and ease of repair is better with United and CCM bowlers. This is especially true if you are an EM pinball repair person. The mechanisms and game logic of Chicago Coin and United bowlers (and after 1964, United/Williams) will be very familar. Bally bowlers are more foreign and don't make as much sense to the typical EM pinball repair guy. Also many Bally bowlers have much of the EM modules under the lanes, making them more difficult (back pain) to work on. Note there are some exceptions to the Bally rule (like the 1963-1969 Bally Bowlers, which really rock.)
Chicago Coin (Chicago Coin Machines or CCM, a division of Chicago Dynamics Industries aka CDI) made lots of bowling games. Generally speaking I find CCM games to be of comparible (or even better) quality to United. I like the CCM pinset units much better than United - they reset and retract with more solid motion (United pins "wooble" much more, looking cheap and toyish). This gives CCM ball bowlers a more solid look and play feel. Also the lane step-up on CCM games used four legs instead of United's two legs. This makes assembling a CCM ball bowler easier, and the game is more robust in construction. As a rule, Chicago Coin games were less expensive (retail price when new) than other makers. And hence, the quality of their electrical components was a bit lower. For example, the plastic score motor cams. These are a major problem as the cams like to crack where they attach to the score motor shaft, rendering the game useless. Finding replacements in good condition is difficult too. (But a piece of copper pipe drilled for the lock screw and put over the cracked cam works great for a repair.) Also CCM stepper units are often painted opposed to being zinc plated like United games, so rust can be an issue. But these are minor issues. United games have problems with lane warp and pin "bowties", where CCM games don't have these problems.
As for looks, United's 1957 to 1960 games are hard to beat, and their quality is quite good, probably better than CCM. But from 1961 to 1964, I prefer CCM games for looks and play. Also CCM bowlers are feature rich, with good play action and fun options. And they were less expensive at their release, so there is a good supply of these fun playing CCM ball bowlers out there. Because of this I really like CCM ball bowlers prior to 1965. From 1965 to 1973, none of the bowlers look good! The CCM "lazy susan swivel" score rack cabinet style (used from 1965 CCM Super Sonic to their last EM ball bowler Gold Medal in 1973) and the United/Williams rectangle pinhood games ( 1963 United Fury to their last ball bowler in 1970) are all basically ugly with bad backglass and cabinet artwork and styling. The pre-1965 CCM games (with 1964 CCM Majestic and CCM Cadillac being the 'end of the line') are great games with nice natural oak trim, handsome looks, and feature-rich games. To me, the 1964 CCM Majestic and 1962 CCM Royal Crown are the big ball bowler for looks, play, features, and repairability. But even the 1965 to 1973 CCM bowlers are good games, maybe not as good looking, but still good games. (I have to admit, the CCM lazy susan head makes repair *way* easier than any United or Bally game.)
Bally bowlers have a number of cosmetic features I just don't personally like as much. For example, the metal pin guard, and general look and styling of their bowlers. They just appear a bit industrial to me. Bally used cheaper hardwoods like Poplar and stained them dark, opposed to United and CCM which used nice Oak and stained it natural (or pickled white) so you could see the grain. There are also some repair issues on Bally games that are not problems on CCM or United bowlers. This includes bad connectors, bad lamp sockets, and bad fuse holders on Ballys (though fuse holders are no big deal as they are easy to replace, but the connectors and lamp sockets are more time consuming.) The lamp sockets and fuse holders can be purchased new and replaced, but it just takes time to replace them. The reason these parts were lower quality was Bally made these components in-house, instead of buying them from companies that specialized in making connectors and sockets. Because of this, Bally lamp sockets, connectors, and fuse holders will often need to be replaced, which makes restoring a Bally bowler generally more work. Finally, the EM logic Bally used for scoring with their "director unit" and mark storage relays can be a bit more difficult to troubleshoot. And many Bally bowlers have the EM modules under the lane, which can cause back pain when repairing. The upside to Bally bowlers is their speed of scoring. United and CCM games often have a "Do Not Bowl When Lit" light. This allows the games to score and cycle between frames. Bally bowlers usually do not have this as they score very fast, allowing the player to bowl as fast as the balls are returned to the player.
Bally also had some unique ideas in bowlers, like Bally's 1964 Bally Bowler , 1965 Bally Bowler and 1966 Bally Bowler and 1969 Bally Bowler . These three games used a unique "swivel action" reciprocating pins, which allowed the pins to move in any direction (not just backwards like the linear United/CCM games). Unfortunately parts for these (often broken) pins are difficult to find, which presents a problem. But on the other hand, these Bally bowlers are probably the best all around contact ball bowler for realism. Only the 1960 United Bowlarama comes close to these Bally machines for real contact bowling.
Another thing that contributes to the popularity of United and CCM bowlers over Bally is just the sear numbers. Bally stopped making bowlers altogether by 1969, but any Bally bowler after 1959 is pretty rare. United and CCM made bowlers into the 1970s. So there are just a lot more United and CCM bowlers out there, and parts are easier to get. Also United and CCM bowlers of the 1960s are more feature-rich with multiple games. (Bally never got into the 6-game styles that United and CCM used.)
Types of Bowling Games.
Essentially there are "Puck Bowlers" (aka "Shuffle Alleys") and "Ball Bowlers" (aka "Bowling Alleys"), and there are some other variant bowling games too (discussed below). Most bowlers (shuffle or ball) are six player games. United Manufacturing was the premier maker of coin operated bowling and shuffle alley games during their history. There were other companies making these games (Chicago Coin and Bally for example), but United made the bulk of them (and probably the best games too).
United "first facts"; bragging about the first shuffle alley called
"Shuffle-Alley" in October 1949.
Shuffle Alleys (aka "Puck Bowlers").
A shuffle alley has a 4 to 9 foot long alley with bowling pins at the end of it. The player knocks down the bowling pins with essentially a metal cased hockey puck (hence the name Puck Bowler). The puck is slid down the alley and hits switches on the alley (which causes a relay to pull in, allowing the sprung bowling pins to retract upward). The puck was returned to the player by "bouncing" off a back rubber wall, and back up the alley to the player. A common thing to see with these games is "alley wax" (Sun Glo), which is not really a wax but looks like a layer of ground up corn cob. This helps the shuffle puck slide down the alley. Shuffle alleys were invented by United in October 1949 with the introduction of United's "Shuffle-Alley" (10/49). United continued to make shuffle alley all the way to the 1990s. Shuffle alleys are the less desirable of the coin operated bowling games, but most people can fit them in their basement (unlike the next type of bowler...)
United bragging about the first ball bowler call "Bowling Alley" in 1956.
Bowling Alleys (aka "Ball Bowlers").
If you have a ball bowler for sale, please contact me at [email protected] .
The first ball bowler was introduced by United in November of 1956 (" Bowling Alley "). This game was significantly different than a shuffle alley (though it shared the same basic game rules). Chicago Coin and Bally introduced their own initial ball bowlers after United, in February 1957 ("Bowling League" and "A.B.C. Bowling Lane", respectively).
Bally's "swing away" pins, used on the 1963-1969 ball bowlers only.
This was a great idea for ball bowlers. No rollover lane switches.
The ball actually hits the pins, which in turns swivels and knocks up
the other pins, just like real bowling.
United ball bowlers started out at a whomping 14 feet in length (typically, but 11 to 25 foot alleys were also available). Later ball bowler were available in even longer lengths, with Chicago Coin selling their later ball bowlers in lengths up to 32 feet! (With added extensions.) The alley itself was about 18 inches off the ground (later games were lower), and the player actually rolled one ball (of the usual three balls in the game) down the alley and hit bowling pins, just like real bowling.
How long should your ball bowler be? Well if you have unlimited space, the longer the better! But most people find that a 16 foot ball bowler is about right. The shorter 13 foot models with 4.5" balls seem too short (though shorter lanes do work well with balls smaller than 4.5 inches). The longer-than-17ft lanes are great, but most people don't have the real estate to dedicate to a ball bowler that long. Hence most people like the 15 to 17 foot games with 4.5" balls and multiple game options the best.
On 1957/1958 ball bowlers, the ball often directly hits the bottom of the bowling pins causing the spring loaded pins to move backward slightly and close a switch. This in turn activated a relay which fully retracted the hit spring-loaded pin. There are NO lane switches. This type of bowler is known as a "contact bowler", because the ball actually makes contact with the pins. But the problem with contact bowlers is the bottom of the pins wear out, causing them to not move when a ball rolls under them, and thus not scoring well. And the rubber that slows the ball after the pins often have some sort of switches to tell the game the ball is past the pins, and often these switch(es) or the rubber breaks making the game unplayable. Finally there is one or two switches for each pin located by the pin release relay (above the pins) that tell the game a pin has been hit. Because of these heavy usage switches, contact bowlers are harder to maintain and operate. Hence they were only used on a few ball (and shuffle) bowlers during 1957 and 1958. Also how the ball hits the pins and then how the pins are retracted gives a kind of "studdered" look to the pin retration. That is, the ball contact the pin moving it back about two inches. This closes a switch which tells the game to pull in the pin relay, causing the pin to then fully retract. There is a very slight delay in this process, making the pin retraction look unnatural (at least to my eye). It's not as smooth and single motioned as a lane switch bowler.
To solve these problem the manufacturers went back to the roll-over switches in the lane (each switch connects to a relay, which when pulled in, allows the respective sprung bowling pin to retract upward). Actually hitting the pins is more realistic, but also causes more potential long term damage to the game (the pins are plastic and often broke, and the pin contact switches got beat to death). Because of this, most ball bowlers use lane switches, which are lower maintainence and just generally work better. It's a bit of an optical illussion though, as the pins are placed an inch or so behind the rollover switch, and only retact when the lane switches are closed (and not by ball impact, but it LOOKS like ball impact is making the pins retract!)
The only true contact ball bowlers made was United Royal (11/57), Bally Lucky Alley (8/58), Bally Strike Bowler (11/57), CCM TV Bowling League (11/57), CCM Lucky Strike (1/58) and United Bowlarama/MBA (1960). Also some shuffle alleys were contact style too in 1957/1958. For the most part I don't see the big deal with contact bowlers - I actually don't mind the lane switches (there was a good reason the manufacturers did not make many contact bowler models).
CCM actually took the lane switch/contact bowler delema a step further with their 1963 Grand series of games. These games had the pins well above the ball, and separated by a small pin deck with formica lane material on the deck. It looks a bit funky at first, but functionally it's great. First there are no visible lane rollover switches, because the switches are *under* the mini-pindeck (making them "roll-under" switches). This gave a much cleaner look to the game. It also hides the ball-pit, again giving a clean look. And since the switches are a roll-under type, beer and pretzels don't get jammed in the switches (rendering the bowler broken). And finally the ball never hits the pins, so there's no broken or dirty pins to deal with. A very good solution to the problem, but CCM only used this system for a few games in 1962-1964. The problem was the visual aspect - it's not quite what you expect a bowler's pins to look like. Hence CCM went back to a standard lane rollover switch design in 1964 with Majestic (which by the way is one of the best CCM ball bowlers, a great looking and playing game). Here's a good picture to demonstrate the two styles of pindecks (the Majestic on the left has standard lane rollover switches, and the Grand Spare Lite on the right has the hidden rollunder style switches. Other than the two different styles of lane switches, these two bowlers are identical.
In 1963-1969 Bally used their unique "swing-away" pins, which were the best of all worlds - the ball hit the pins directly, and the pins swiveled in any direction, allowing them to hit adjacent pins. Unfortunately parts for these pins are difficult to find, and the games themselves are also very rare and not often seen. But they are among the best ball bowlers.
When buying a bowler, check for damage to the head on a bowler.
This wood covers the pins from the top. The cracks happen because
the wood is merely particle board, shaved and 'bent' to make the
round front. Eventually it will break (unless reinforced from the
back). The blue line in the picture shows another spot where the
wood pin cover can crack.
From November 1956 to November 1957, United ball bowler models used 3" composite balls on their first four bowling alley games ('Bowling Alley', 'Team Bowling Alley', 'Hi-Score Bowling Alley', and 'Deluxe Bowling Alley'). Likewise Chicago Coin and Bally also initially used 3" balls. Interestingly, United and Bally 3" ball bowlers do not have gutters. By July of 1957, Chicago Coin's second ball bowler ('Classic Bowling League') was the first game to move to the larger 4 1/2" ball. United started using 4 1/2" balls with their November 1957 'Royal Bowling Alley'. Bally made a more gradual change by moving game to game, from a 3" ('ABC Bowling Lane'), to a 3 1/2" ('ABC Tournament'), to a 4" ('ABC Champion'), to finally a 4 1/2" ball in April 1958 for 'Trophy Bowler' and 'Lucky Alley' (8/58). But for some reason, after Lucky Alley, Bally decreased their ball size to 4" on Pan American (1/59) and Challenger (9/59). But anyway, the larger 4" or 4 1/2" balls made the games even more realistic. The added ball size allowed for more accurate throws, and seemed more like real bowling. In 1966/1967 CCM even offered two models (Vegas and Flair) with 6" balls!
A top view of the wood that covers the top side of the pins on a ball
bowler. Also shown is the pin unit. Amazingly, there are no cracked
or broken pins here! Cracked/broken pins are difficult to repair, as
replacements usually do not match the other original pins.
The other cool thing about ball bowlers is the way a ball is returned to the player. There is an elevator style "ball lift" motor which lifts the ball up, and then rolls the ball down an incline and back to the player up the alley. About 2 feet before the ball gets to the player, the ball rolls up another incline, and comes to rest at the player's hand. This is just like a real bowling alley, in that the player does not bend over to grab the ball.
As for styling and game play, personally I like the 1961 to 1964 games best. These games usually have multiple games ("Flash" being my favorite of the alternative-to-Regulation games) and 4.5" balls. By 1964 for United and 1965 for CCM, the games get really ugly in styling. Yes they are good playing games, but the classic looks of good backglass graphics, natural oak trim, and cabinet style/paint are gone.
A ball bowler ball hitting the pins on United's "Jumbo" ball bowler.
This was largely an optical illusion, as the ball hits lane switches
in front of the pins which electrically retracted the pins.
For bowling fans, ball bowlers are the real deal. Of the coin operated bowling games, ball bowlers are more desirable than shuffle alleys. Unfortunately, Bally stopped making ball bowler in 1966, United in 1970, and CCM in 1973. They just took up too much floor space (even compared to shuffle alleys). There is even a rumor that in the 1960s someone tried to sue United for breaking their foot with a dropped ball bowler ball. Also ball bowlers were expensive when new (much more expensive than nearly any other coin operated device). For these reasons, 1970 ( El Grande ) was the end of the line for United ball bowlers (and the second to last United ball bower was Coronado in 1967, three years earlier). The other manufacturers (Chicago Coin and Bally) also stopped making ball bowlers about the same time (1973 for CCM). Solidstate ball bowlers did sparatically appear in the late 1970s, but not very many models were ever introduced during the 1970s. Chicago Coin had the last EM (Electro-Mechanical) ball bowler in 1973 called Gold Medal , which used a shorter lane length to keep locations happier (one of the complaints of ball bowlers were their size). But all the CCM ball bowlers after about 1968 were generally all the same (just with different backglass artwork). The last major manufacturer ball bowler I can find made was the late 1970's solidstate (electronic, not EM) Stern "Stars & Strikes".
A ball bowler's alley lane and ball return riser as seen by
the player. Sometimes the lane warps. Click here for
information on how to straighten a warped ball bowler lane.
Roll Down Bowlers.
United (and later Chicago Coin) also sold a hybrid bowler that was a combination of a Shuffle Alley and a Bowling Alley. These games had a shorter overall length like a puck bowler (6 to 9.5 feet long), but used 1.5" to 3" diameter balls instead of pucks. This hybrid bowler also often used a ball lift motor to return to the ball to the player, like a ball bowler. The ball is actually just let go by the player, and it "rolls down" the tilted lane to the pins. Some of these Roll Down bowlers included Keeney Ten Pins (1949), United Pixie Bowler (9/58), United Circus (9/62), United Silver (9/62), CCM Variety (1/62). CCM's Variety and United's Circus/Silver were the longest at 9.5 and 9 feet respectively, and Pixie Bowler was 7.5 feet long. Though these game were smaller, they were not very popular (or they would have made more of this hybrid bowling game!) The rolldown games aren't really "bowling", so they didn't sell or earn as well as ball bowlers or even shuffle alleys.
There was also another hybrid (really a predecessor) of the rolldown by United called Midget Alley (3/58). This game was unique in that it had a motor which spun a 2" composite ball at the player's end of the game. As the ball is spinning faster and faster, the player could aim the ball through a sort of moving sight. When the shot is lined up, a button is pressed releasing the ball on to the six foot alley, and the ball's spin then shot it at the pins. Midget Alley's ball release system was very unique and quite cool (and Midget Alley is a contact bowler). Another game that used this style of ball aim and release was Bally's "Bally Alley" , made in the 1939 (not to be confused with the Bally Alley and Bally Lane wall games made in 1974). Bally Alley worked very similar to Midget Alley, but the pins flew to the sides instead of retracting above. Again, I am currently looking for one (please contact me at [email protected] if you know of one for sale).
A "Roll Down" style bowler.
Shuffle Targettes (aka "Skee Alleys").
The Shuffle Targette (Skee alleys) was invented by United in 1950 (Skee Alley, 11/50). The Skee Targette was a cross between a Shuffle alley and Skee-Ball (see below). The 1950 United Skee Alley , 1951 Twin Shuffle-cade Skee Alley , and 1954 Shuffle Targette Deluxe , used a small metal puck which slide down an alley toward targets at the other end. In place of bowling pins, Shuffle Targettes used a bulls-eye-style target lined with open holes. A "lip" at the end of the alley launched the puck up into the bulls-eye, earning different amounts of points depending on where the puck fell. After a set number of pucks had been played, the points were totaled. These Shuffle Targettes were a big success, and United continued to make shuffle targette games into the 1960�s. These games were made mostly in the early 1950s, and are about as collectible as Shuffle alleys.
United's first shuffle alley with score reels, the 1952 "Super Shuffle
6 Player" with it's pins revealed.
Skee-Ball History and Description.
Skee-Balls are just like Skee Alleys, but instead of a metal puck, a small ball is used (like a Ball bowler). Skee-ball was invented in 1909 by J.D. Estes in the city of Philadelphia, and obviously predates Skee-Alleys. In 1914, Maurice Piesen marketed skee-ball to outdoor amusement parks. In 1935 the rights to Skee-Ball were purchased by the Wurlitzer Corporation from Maurice Piesen, and then Wurlitzer sold the rights to Philly Toboggan in 1945. Hence Philadelphia Toboggan Company made a lot of skee ball games from the 1945 to the present. When Skee-Ball alleys were first sold in 1914 to the outdoor amusement parks, the games had a 36-foot lane. This was too long for most arcades, so the length was changed to 14 feet. Eventually the length changed again to the modern length of 10 feet (or sometimes 13 feet). In 1974 Philladelphia Toboggan started making solidstate skeeball games. And in 1977 Skee-Ball Inc. was formed from the old Philadelphia Toboggan Company. Then in 1985 their skeeball machines now had electronic sound.
1937 Wurlitzer ad for their
Philadelphia Toboggan Skeeball game.
Traditionally skeeball games use wooden 3" balls. Usually there are nine to eleven balls per game. Instead of knocking down bowling pins, the idea is to bowl a ball down an alley, hitting a "lip", which launched the ball into a target scoring hole. The center bulls-eye target hole is the smallest and worth the most points, and is surrounded by larger target holes worth less points (with a hole at the bottom, for a missed ball to fall).
Skeeball certainly has its fans. In today's amusement (redemption) centers, they are a mainstream ticket-spitting game. And since skeeball has been around for so long, many people remember them at arcades when they were a kid. ICE (Buffalo NY) sells modern skeeball games like Alley Roller, ICE Ball, and Dunk n Alien. Also the old Philadelphia Toboggan is now Skee-Ball Amusement Games , and sell new versions of their classic skeeball games.
Skee-Balls are not hugely collectible, and certainly not as collectible as Ball Bowlers. The reason? Well there's no mechanical action to them (no pins to hit and retract), so in that regard they are less desirable. But kids love them because the rules are very simple, yet the object (hitting the smallest bullseye hole) is difficult to achieve.
During the 1950s there were the few non-Philly made skeeball games like Genco Skill Ball (1956), CCM Tournament Ski-Ball (1957), CCM Ski-Score (1957), CCM Ski-Bowl (1957) and CCM Skee-Roll (1957). Notice none of these machines use "skee ball" in the name and the scoring is a bit different, due to potential problems with Philadelphia Toboggan. United didn't make any (they stuck to the skee-alley which used a puck instead of a ball), probably because they didn't want to deal with legal hassles of using skee-balls. I personally don't like any of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company skee-ball machines, as they don't have the quality of CCM or Genco machines (but the Philly Toboggan machines are pretty easy to find), and also don't have the interesting scoring.
A row of Skee-Balls in an old arcade.
Bouncing Ball Shuffles.
As shuffle targette games continued to do well in the arcades, in 1958 United introduced a pair of "bouncing ball" shuffle games: Jupiter and Shooting Star (Chicago Coin had its own pair of bouncing ball alleys in 1958 as well, called Rocket Shuffle and Shuffle Explorer). All four of these bouncing ball games played pretty much the same: Inside the machine�s backbox was a 5x5 grid of holes. These holes were reflected by a mirror up into the backglass. A handful of rubber balls were scattered randomly inside the head on the grid. The object of the game was to line up these balls into three, four or five in-a-row. As the shuffle puck hit spring targets at the end of the alley, the corresponding row of balls was popped up into play, landing wherever they may. Once the balls were lined up (or landed in the four corners), the player could either press a button and take the bonus points, or continue to press their luck for a better score. Collectibility of these games is somewhat limited too; most people don't even know they exist!
Bowler Games and Scoring.
By the early 1960s, United and the other manufacturers had developed alternative bowling scoring systems. Some games had as many as seven different scoring schemes, which were user selectable at the start of a game. Probably the most innovative scoring ideas came from Chicago Coin. Some scoring systems included:
30/20: Prior to 1956, nearly all bowlers used this scoring method - 30 points for a strike, 20 points for a spare. United changed to real "regulation" style scoring in 11/55 with Regulation Shuffle Alley , and most bowlers after this used regulation scoring. Electrically, the 30/20 point scoring involved less stepper units, so it is less sophisticated electrically. No frame carry-overs for strikes/spares.
Regulation: AKA "A.B.C. bowling rules." Regulation bowling scoring (basically all bowlers 1956 and later have this, and a select few prior to 1956 like Gottlieb Bowlette used it too). Top score 300 points. Strikes/Spares carry-over to the next frame.
Bonus: strikes and spares scored during the game build up to a potential "bonus" score. When the regular game ends, the play bowls an additional frame to collect the bonus. A strike earns all the bonus points, a spare gets half. Top score 9900.
Advance: strike and spare values are fixed but advance. Usually start out 30/20, then 60/40, then 80/60, etc. No frame carry overs for strikes/spares.
Progressive: strike and spare values increase (no carry overs to next frame). Basically a more advanced 30/20 scoring scheme and very similar (if not the same) as the above "Advance" scheme.
Special: frames 1, 4 and 7 score 300 for a strike and 200 for a spare.
All Strikes: on each frame, the machine presents each player with 10 pins to score. A strike is worth 300 points. Failing to get the "strike" scores only the pins hit. One shot per frame.
All Spares: on each frame, the machine presents each player with a random set of pins to score. The game selects from 2 to 6 pins that each player has to hit to score the spare, earning 300 points. Failing to get the "spare" scores only the pins hit. One shot per frame.
300 Champ: two or more players only. Strike score 30, spare scores 20. Player continues to play as long as he continues to Strike. First player to get 300 points wins.
Step-Up: Fixed scoring for strikes/spares (no carry-over), but values for strikes and spares step up as game progress.
Add-a-Frame: After all players finish the 10th frame, players mayt shoot one, two or three added frames (as indicated on score glass). Strikes/spares are 30/20 points with no carry-over.
Red Dot: game "randomly" associates zero, one, two, or three "red dots" to a frame. If no dots given, a 30/20 scoring is used. If the frame gets one red dot, 50/30 scoring is used, and so on (more dots equals more points). A randomized scoring feature. No frame carry-overs for strikes/spares.
Flash: a traveling light on backglass/score hood registers changing values of strikes and spares. The player must time their first shot of the frame to get the most points (values range from 30/20 to 80/60). A great game of skill and timing. No carry-overs for strikes/spares.
Dual Flash: Same thing as Flash but if player does not get a strike, the moving flash lights start again for the second shot of the frame. No carry-overs for strikes/spares.
Line-Up: a type of Flash game, but incorporates a bingo grid into the flash scoring. Instead of 30/20 to 80/60 scores flashing across the pinhood, a 3x3 bingo matrix is used with single digit numbers "flashing". Player must time their shot to get the number desired. If a horizontal or vertical line is completed, the game awards extra points for 2-in-a-row or 3-in-a-row. No carry-overs.
Shadow: "practice bowling like the professionals". Or better put, "bowl like Stevie Wonder." As CCM explains it, "Game plays without any visible pins. Object of game is to roll ball in strike zone as the pros do in shadow bowling without pins. If strike is not made, spare light on score glass indicates where to roll second ball. Game scores regulation." If the game has pin recorder lights, these go dark too. Though this game is really strange, it is a challenge (especially trying to get spares!)
United's 1956 "Bowling Alley" ball bowler advertising bumper sticker.
Bowler Collectibility, Desirability, and Value.
Unrestored Shuffle and Skee Alleys (shuffle targettes) tend to sell for a reasonable price ($0 to $500). The size of the games, the difficulty in repair, and the general lack of interest is to blame.
Ball Bowlers, back in their day, were considered "top end" coin operated models. They sold new for very big money back in the 1950s and 1960s (often $700 or $800 when new), and also made the operators good money. These games were also made like tanks, and many of them have survived. Today, these games can be collectible to the right person (with a BIG walk-out basement!) After all, who doesn't want a bowling alley in their basement? But the question when selling a 11 to 24 foot Ball Bowler isn't, "how much is it worth?" The bigger question is, "who can get this non-working monster out of my basement, and haul it away?" Because of this, unrestored Ball Bowlers tend to sell for a reasonable amount ($0 to $1000).
All Ball Bowlers and Shuffle Alleys effectively are difficult to impossible to ship, so a local buyer is often needed. This limits the price which can be asked (I am currently looking for one, so please contact me at [email protected] if you know of one for sale in Michigan).
Case in point; a gentlemen called me with a 13 foot 1958 United ball bowler. The owner's dad worked for a wiring company in the 1950s that supplied wiring harnesses to United. In the christmas of 1958, a truck pulled up to his house, and out came a brand new 1958 United Bonus Bowler (thank the United Santa Claus!) The game remained in their basement the whole time. A "home use only" ball bowler (great condition!), but the game no longer worked, and the owners were moving.
The game needed to be removed, as the house was being sold. Also the basement was extremely small, and extraction of the bowler would be difficult. So the question to me was this; "what is the game worth?" My response was, "it doesn't really matter what the game is worth, you just need someone that is willing to take it out". And that was truely the case! Extraction of the game from the basement required three people, and took three hours! It was no small chore. The price for the game was $150. Given the work and people involved, the price paid might have been high! (The three people that moved the game complained they were sore for a week afterwards.)
Bowler Brands/Models - Which is Best?
The next question often asked is, "what is a 'good' bowler model?" This of course is personal preference. I personally like ball bowlers (assuming you have the 20+ feet of basement space needed!) Also I like the pre-1965 models, as those are still "wood rails" (lots of oak), and that use "big balls" (4.5" balls). The 1957/1958 models often have smaller balls, and the post-1962 models have either limited artwork, and are more complicated (difficult to repair). But the 1961 and later bowlers also have up to six different games (I like Flash bowling a lot). So it's all about compromise. Do you want more game variety (Regulation, Flash, All Strikes, etc), or classic looks and artwork? Frankly the compromise I like best are the 1961-1964 CCM ball bowlers, with the 1964 Majestic and 1963 Grand Spare Lite , and the 1962-1963 United bowlers like Holiday and Sahara being the best balance of classic looks, lots of oak, 4.5" balls, and six+ games.
Another consideration is whether the ball/puck bowled actually hits the pins. On early United ball bowlers and most shuffle alleys, the ball or puck actually moves underneath the pins, where lane rollover switches are hit. If the ball/puck rolled over a lane switch, this engaged a relay which allowed that pin to go up (but the ball does *not* hit the pins). If the ball/puck hit a certain series of switches (perhaps the 1 and 2,3 pin switches and then a switch behind all the pins), this would register a strike, and all the pins would go up. Though this is good from a wear point of view (no broken pins!), they are not quite as realistic as a bowler where the ball/puck actually hits the pins themselves. On 1958-1960 games, United/CCM/Bally changed to a lane switch system where the ball actually hits the pins, but the lane rollover switch is what actually makes the pin retract. (Except on a couple games in 1958 where United used a "contact bowler" system to raise the pins. The pins would have a light spring which would allow the pin to move up about one inch or two. As the pin would move up from the impact of the ball, this would activate an overhead switch, which would energize a relay and raise the pin without using the force of the ball. This is a nice idea, as the reaction of the ball hitting the pin is what raises the pin, with help from the game. Also the lane was completely smooth with no proturding switches. Unfortunately this system required too much maintainence, and was changed to a lane switch style system. This is where the ball can graze the bottom of the pins, but the lane switch is what actually causes the pin to retract (and the pins should retract just before the ball hits it).
Then there's which bowler manufacturer to pick. As discussed above, this is largely personal preference. I like United and CCM bowlers best as I feel the quality and styling is top-notch. Bally bowlers feel strange to me personally, but the 1963-1969 units are perhaps the best ball bowlers ever made.
But no matter what style or brand of game you prefer, I'm sure you'll have fun. If you can fix one of these monsters and you have the space for it, they are quite entertaining and competitive. The ultimate party game!
Game Setup.
The following ball bowler set up instructions came from the first United ball bowler, the 1956 "Bowling Alley" game:
INSTALLATION: Fasten the four legs to the cabinet with the furnished bolts, using the painted outlines on the cabinet as a guide. Place back-box in position with furnished bolts and plug in connection jacks tight. Plug power line into AC only, 60 cycles, 115 volts. The power to this game is controlled by a toggle switch which is located under the front part of the cabinet.
Place the four 3 inch diameter rubber balls into the game.
In low voltage areas (105 volts or less), an additional boost in the output voltage of the transformer can be obtained by inserting the transformer voltage control fuse in the "LOW" line.
To prevent abuse or cheating of this game, vibration switches are installed under the playboard and on the sides of the back box. Instructions for sensitivity are located adjacent to these switches.
To make the playfield accessible for servicing, open the two locks at the left side, lift and rotate the top playfield clockwise to an upright position. The fall stop, which is part of the spring lift assembly, will lock when the board is lifted high enough. To lower the playfield, release the fall stop and reverse the procedure.
To make the retractible pins accessible for servicing, remove the screw from the top of the hinged housing. This permits the opening of the hinged housing.
STRIKE-CONTROL JACK: A rotary control jack is located in the cabinet which controls the "easy" and "normal" strikes. Instructions for the various adjustments are located adjacent to the jack.
The back glass is mounted to a hinged frame on the back box. To unhinge the frame operate the latch located on the inside of the backbox.
Bowler Repair/Restoration Information.
Fixing a bowler can be quite a chore, worse than any EM (electro-mechanical) pinball. Keep this in mind when purchasing a bowler. If you don't have much EM repair experience, starting with a bowler is probably not a good idea! The reason is the number of players. Practically all shuffle alleys and ball bowlers are six player games. That means 6x3=18 score reels that will need cleaned (unfrozen!) and adjusted. There are also usually at least one stepper unit per player, plus other stepper units for keeping track of frames and credits. With time, score reels and stepper units will freeze and bind because their original lubrication grease has solidified. Also there are numerous relays to clean and adjust. For an idea of the work involved, click here to see the back of a six player ball bowler. Pretty scarey stuff, eh? But if you're up for it, check out the document PinRepair.com/em for info on repairing the pre-1977 bowlers.
Common Bowling Alley and Shuffle Alley problems:
Frozen score reels and stepper units.
Lane switches out of adjustment (common, from constant ball/puck abuse).
Pin up/down switches out of adjustment (common, from constant pin abuse).
Broken/cracked bowling pins
Broken pin lift solenoid plungers/links.
Broken/cracked pin deck cover.
Warped bowling lane. Click here for tips on fixing this.
Broken wires in the backbox. Due to the constant abuse of reseting 18 score reels and numerous stepper units, wires can break inside the wire's insulation. This is a difficult problem to diagnose and find.
Frozen score motor: During the 1950s, United used an enclosed score motor (unlike Gottlieb or Williams). The same grease that solidified on the score reels and stepper units is used inside the score motor! This can be a bear to fix, necessitating "splitting the case" on the score motor, and cleaning it (the case is riveted together). Sometimes 3-in-1 oil can be squirted inside the case (without "splitting the case"), on motors that are only slightly sluggish.
Bally Bowlers: often the fuse holders, lamp sockets, and connectors will all need to be replaced!
Click here for a playfield switch diagram. This particular diagram is from the 1961 United "Line Up" shuffle alley. It shows each alley switch and what relay and function it performs.
The Alphabetic/Chronological Bowler Information below.
The following information is broken into three parts. The first list is United/Williams games in alphabetic order. The second list is chronological. The third list is other makers (Chicago Coin and Bally mostly).
United Bowling and Shuffle Alley Games (Alphabetic).
Format: Game Name, Manufacturer, Date Released, additional info, picture links.
Numbers (only games that start with actual numbers, not spelled numbers):
10th Frame Manhattan Shuffle Alley, United, 9/52, Tenth Frame Manhattan, basically the same game as "10th Frame Star" shuffle alley.
10th Frame Star Shuffle Alley , United, 9/52, Tenth Frame Star. Was this really the first ball bowler?
10th Frame Super Shuffle Alley, United, 9/52, Tenth Frame Super, Flyer .
11th Frame Shuffle Alley, United, 8/54, Eleventh Frame, Flyer .
3-way Shuffle Alley, United, 11/59, Three way, 3 Way, Flyer , BG , Game .
4-way Shuffle Alley, United, 11/59, Four Way, 4 Way, Flyer .
5 Star Bowler (bowling alley) , United, 3/61, 4.5" balls, five different games, first United ball bowler with 5 different games, last United game with "snout" style pinhood.
5-way Shuffle Alley, United, 4/61, Five way, 5 Way, Flyer , BG .
5 Player Shuffle Alley, United, 1/51, five players, Flyer .
5th Inning, United, 6/55, Fifth Inning is a Skee Targette with a Baseball theme, Flyer .
6 Star Shuffle Alley, United, 3/58, Six Star.
6 Player Shuffle Alley, United, 6/51, six player, Flyer , Game .
7-Stars Bowling Alley , United, 10/61, 4/5" balls, Seven Star has a pin indicator hood, 7 Stars has seven different games.
A:
Polaris bowling alley , United/Williams, 8/64.
Pool Alley, United, 6/56, two players, a mix of pool and bowling, a que-ball is launched at bowling pins (with a pool cue), ball drains behind pins and roll through the cabinet and returned to player at coin door area, storage bin to left of coin door for pool cues, Flyer , BG , Alley .
Premier Barrel Roll Skeeball, Premier, 1930s, has a turning wooden barrel in the backboard that the player tries to get the ball through for extra points, 10 1/2 feet long x 25 inches wide x 66 inches tall BG , Lane , Game , CoinDoor , Lane .
Prize Bowler (shuffle alley), United, 1951, one player, first United bowler with score reels, Backglass , Side , Back .
Pyramid Shuffle Alley, United, 6/65.
R:
Vogue Shuffle Targette Skee Alley, United, circa 1955.
W:
Windy City Shuffle Alley, United/Williams, 1/72, Flyer .
Y:
Yankee Shuffle Alley, United, 5/54, BG , Game .
Z:
Zenith Shuffle Alley, United, 4/59, Flyer .
United Bowling and Shuffle Alleys (Chronological).
Format: YEAR, Game Name, Manufacturer, Date, additional info, picture links.
Pre-WW2:
Premier Barrel Roll Skeeball, Premier, 1930s, has a turning wooden barrel in the backboard that the player tries to get the ball through for extra points, 10 1/2 feet long x 25 inches wide x 66 inches tall BG , Lane , Game , CoinDoor , Lane .
1949:
Shuffle-Alley, United, 10/49, the first shuffle alley ever made, one player, has stationary small light-up bowling pins above lane. The puck on this game does *not* bounce back to the player after a shot. Instead the back drains out the game, and is returned to the player at the front coin door area of the game via a belt (when the game is over, the puck is kept inside the game). Essentially this game is just like Gottlieb's 1950 Bowlette game in function, operation and scoring (but Bowlette is considerably smaller and more desirable). Also a "disappearing pin" add-on was available which replaced the stationary pins with pins that retracted (disappeared) as the puck moved over the lane's rollover switches. Flyer , Backglass , Game (without the "disappear pins" add-on), Game (with the "disappear pins" add-on), BG/Pins (with the "disappear pins" add-on), Coin door and Puck (wood underneath puck was added later). Some pictures by D.Caldwell.
Shuffle Bowler, United, 12/49, one player.
1950:
Deluxe Bowler (shuffle alley), Williams, 1/50, #35, BG , Lane , Side .
Super Shuffle Alley, United, 2/50, one player, lighted pins that do not move, Flyer , Game , Alley .
Shuffle Alley Express, United, 6/50, one player, an upgraded United 10/49 Shuffle Alley with disappearing pins, Flyer , BG , Game .
Double Shuffle Alley, United, 3/50, two players, Flyer , BG , Pins , Game .
Slugger Shuffle Alley, United, 7/50, two players, Flyer .
Twin Shuffle Alley Rebound, United, 7/50, two players, BG .
Shuffle Alley Deluxe, United, 9/50, one player, actually an upgrade kit for United's 10/49 Shuffle Alley to add disappearing pins, Flyer .
Skee Alley, United, 11/50, one player, United's first Shuffle Targette (skee ball but with a puck), Flyer .
1951:
Top Hat (shuffle alley), United, 1951, six players, Game , Game .
Two Player Shuffle Alley Express, United, 1951, two players, BG , Game .
5 Player Shuffle Alley, United, 1/51, 5 players, Flyer .
Twin Shuffle-cade Skee Alley, United, 3/51, two players, Flyer , BG , Game .
6 Player Shuffle Alley, United, 6/51, six players, lightbox scoring (no score reels), Flyer , Game .
Deluxe 6 Player Shuffle Alley, United, 10/51, last United bowler with light scoring, six players, lightbox scoring (no score reels), Flyer .
Prize Bowler (shuffle alley), United, 1951, one player, first United bowler with score reels, Backglass , Side , Back .
All Bowlers from here on are six player games with score reels.
1952:
Vogue Shuffle Targette Skee Alley, United, circa 1955.
Most Bowlers after this point used Regulation scoring instead of 20/30 scoring. The 20/30 scoring method was largely abandoned.
1956:
Duck Pin Bowling , United, circa 1956 (exact date unknown), perhaps United's first ball bowler? Two players, uses 8.5" pins and 4" balls (not 3" and not 4.5"). Ball return is on an external ball guide.
Pool Alley, United, 6/56, two players, a mix of pool and bowling, a que-ball is launched at bowling pins (with a pool cue), ball drains behind pins and roll through the cabinet and returned to player at coin door area, storage bin to left of coin door for pool cues, Flyer , BG , Alley .
Select Play Shuffle Alley, United, 6/56, Flyer .
Handicap Shuffle Alley, United, 9/56, Flyer .
Bowling Alley , United, 11/56, United's first ball bowler, 3" balls, 14 foot length (only) so the flyer says (but 11 footers exist; the 14 foot version has a "man" graphic on the lane by the words "strike spare blow" and the 11 foot version has the word by no man graphic), ball does not hit pins but instead travels beneath them and hits lane switches.
1957:
Team Bowling Alley , United, 4/57, four 3" balls, no gutters. United's second ball bowler - basically it's the same game as their first ball bowler "Bowling Alley" (11/56), but has two additional sets of score reels for accumulated team scoring. Length is 11 or 14 foot lengths (a 4 foot section could be added to a 14 foot base game to get 18 feet). Ball does not hit pins but instead travels beneath them and hits lane switches.
Hi-Score Bowling Alley , United, 8/57, 3" balls, 11 or 14 foot lengths (a 4 foot section could be added to 14 foot base game to get 18 feet), ball does not hit pins but instead travels beneath them and hits lane switches.
Deluxe Bowling Alley , United, 10/57, 3" balls.
Regulation Shuffle Alley 6 Star, United, 10/57, Flyer .
Royal Bowling Alley , United, 11/57, first United ball bowler with 4.5" balls and slim lane configuration, Contact bowler, 13 or 16 foot lengths (a 4 foot section could be added between sections of the 13 or 16 foot base game yielding 17 or 20 feet), no lane switches (ball hits pins and uses overhead pin feedback switches instead).
Jumbo Bowling Alley , United, 12/57, 4.5" balls, ball hits pins but uses lane switches for actual pin retraction, Jumbo is exactly the same as Royal except Royal is a contact bowler and Jumbo is not.
Ten Strike , Williams, 12/57, two players, mechanically animated manikin bowling game, match feature, replay version of Ten Pins (12/57), reissed in 1970 as Mini Bowl .
Ten Strike 6 Player , Williams, 12/57, six players, mechanically animated manikin bowling game, a six player version. Available only in 7 foot ("jumbo") playfield length.
Ten Pins , Williams, 12/57, two players, mechanically animated manikin bowling game, no match (novelty), reissed in 1970 as Mini Bowl .
1958:
Broadway Shuffle Alley, United, circa 1958, BG , Game .
Midget Alley , United, 3/58, a spin and release style roll down bowler with moving sights, uses two 2" balls, 6 foot long, two players, no lane switches (ball hits pins and uses overhead pin feedback switches instead).
6 Star Shuffle Alley, United, 3/58.
Shooting Star Bouncing Ball Shuffle Alley, United, 5/58, Flyer , Flyer , Game .
Bonus Bowling Alley , United, 6/58, 4.5" balls, 13/16/17/20 foot lengths (a 4 foot section could be added to the 13 or 16 foot base game to get 17 or 20 feet), extra shots can be won at 5th and 10th frame, ball hits pins but uses lane switches for actual pin retraction.
Eagle Shuffle Alley, United, 6/58, Flyer .
Jupiter Bouncing Ball Shuffle Alley, United, 9/58, Flyer .
Pixie Bowler (roll down), United, 9/58, roll down bowler, 1.5" balls, 7.5 foot long, two players.
Atlas Shuffle Alley, United, 10/58, alternates frames between "easy strike" and "normal strike", Flyer . BG . Game .
Duplex Bowling Alley , United, 11/58, 4.5" balls, 13/16/17/20 foot lengths, first United ball bowler with two scoring schemes ("Regulation" with 300 points max, or "Progressive" with 990 points max).
Playtime Bowling Alley , United, 11/58, 4.5" balls, 13/16/17/20 foot lengths, "easy strike" and "normal strike" feature (changed the lane switch combination required to obtain a strike).
Cyclone Shuffle Alley, United, 12/58, Flyer .
Niagra Shuffle Alley, United, 12/58, Flyer .
1959:
Play Mate Shuffle Table , United, 1/59, PlayMate has a turn around shuffle layout. Flyer .
Advance Bowling Alley , United, 4/59, 13/16/17/20 foot lengths, allowed selection of "Regulation" scoring (300 points max), or "Bonus" scoring (higher points for strikes, 990 points max).
Dual Shuffle Alley, United, 4/59, Flyer .
Zenith Shuffle Alley, United, 4/59, Flyer .
Empire Shuffle Alley, United, 6/59, BG .
Flash Shuffle Alley, United, 6/59, Flyer .
Simplex Bowling Alley , United, 8/59, 13/16/17/20 foot lengths, ONE player (most ball bowlers are six player), light animated backglass showing pins left.
League Bowling Alley , United, 9/59, 4.5" balls, 13/16/17/20 foot lengths, allowed two or three player teams to compete and kept team scores (or six individual players).
Handicap Bowling Alley , United, 10/59, 4.5" balls, allowed individual or team scoring, gave player choice of easy/medium/hard strike feature (changed the lane switch combination required to obtain a strike).
3-way Shuffle Alley, United, 11/59, Flyer .
4-way Shuffle Alley, United, 11/59, Flyer .
Team-Mate Bowling Alley , United, 12/59, 13/16/17/20 foot lengths, 4.5" balls, player choice of Regulation (300 point max) or Progressive (990 point max) scoring games.
1960:
Savoy Bowling Alley , United, 7/60, 4.5" balls.
Line Up Shuffle Alley, United, 12/60, Flyer , BG .
After 1960, no More 1950s-ish Girls on United Bowler Backglasses.
Because United games got more complex, there was less backglass real estate available, so the girls were gone! Drat.
1961:
Tip Top Bowling Alley , United, 1/61, 4.5" balls.
Dixie Bowling Alley , United, 2/61, 4.5" balls, two different games (regulation and line-up).
5 Star Bowler (bowling alley) , United, 3/61, 4.5" balls, five different games, first United ball bowler with 5 different games, last United game with "snout" style pinhood.
5-way Shuffle Alley, United, 4/61, Flyer , BG .
Classic Deluxe Bowling Alley , United, mid 1961, 4.5" balls, first game with modern pin indicator hood (and alley width increases one inch because the gutters go from 4" wide to 4.5" wide to accomodate larger pinhood), five different games.
Frolics Deluxe Bowling Alley , United, mid 1961, 4.5" balls, pin indicator hood, first United game with "flash" game, six different games.
Dolphin Shuffle Alley, United, 7/61, Flyer .
Stardust shuffle alley, United, 9/61, flyer .
7-Stars Bowling Alley , United, 10/61, 4/5" balls, Seven Star has a pin indicator hood, 7 Stars has seven different games.
Playboy , United, 10/61, six players, a shuffle alley skee-ball type game.
Cameo Bowling Alley , United, 12/61, 4/5" balls, pin indicator hood, seven diferent games.
Gypsy Shuffle Alley, United, 12/61, Game .
1962:
King Tut Shuffle Alley, United/Williams, 8/79, solidstate, Flyer , Flyer , Game , Inside .
1980:
Omni Shuffle Alley, United/Williams, 4/80, solidstate, Flyer , Flyer , BG , Game , Electronics .
1983:
Big Strike Shuffle Alley, United/Williams, 1983, a system7 SS bowler, Flyer , BG , Game , Inside .
Triple Strike Shuffle Alley, United/Williams, 1983, the last "United" shuffle alley, Flyer , Flyer .
1984:
Strike Zone, Williams, 1984, Flyer , Flyer , Flyer .
1985:
Alley Cats Shuffle Alley, Williams, 1985, Flyer , BG , Promo Pic .
Kick-a-Poo II, United, 1985, a shuffle targette, prototype only.
1986:
Tic Tac Strike, Williams, 1986, Flyer , Flyer , BG , Game .
1988:
Top Dawg Shuffle Alley, Williams, 1988, Flyer , BG , BG , Game .
1989:
Shuffle Inn Shuffle Alley, Williams, 1989, Flyer , Flyer .
1991:
Strike Master Shuffle Alley, Williams, 1991, dot matrix score display, last shuffle alley made by Williams/United, Flyer , Flyer , BG , Pins , Game .
1996:
Trophy Bowler (bowling alley) , Bally, 4/58, 4" balls, Contact bowler.
Victory (shuffle alley), Bally, 5/54, BG . Note Exhibit Supply also sold a conversion for this game to turn it into a bowling alley (ball bowler). Game , Game , Game , Game .
Whiz Bowler (shuffle alley), Bally, 12/58.
Chicago Coin (Alphabetic) aka CDI, CCM.
Advance Bowler shuffle Alley, Chicago Coin, 10/53.
All American Basketball , Chicago Coin, 1967, puck bowler with a basketball theme and scoring, backglass animation that shots balls into a basket in the backbox via kickout holes.
Americana (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1968.
Arrow Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 2/55.
Bango , Chicago Coin, 1949. A novelty shuffle alley with no pins.
Bel-Air (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 2/65, Belair.
Big Strike (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1976, game .
Blinker Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 8/55, BG , Game .
Bonus Score Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 5/55.
Bowl-A-Ball , Chicago Coin, 1952, 3" balls. The first roll-down style bowler. Not really a ball bowler, though it does use balls. The balls roll back down the lane and fall into a tray.
Bowling Alley (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1950, probably Chicago Coin's first shuffle alley, two players, backglass light scoring, BG , Game . Pins . Here's another 1950 CCM Bowling Alley that was 'updated' by a Chicago Coin or maybe a distributor. Note the addition of lighted pins on the alley (non-moving, with an added solid red panel infront of the original BG pin lights), and the professionally repainted cabinet (but not the backbox). The background to the backglass is a different color than the above Bowling Alley, so perhaps this update was done by the factory. BG , Game .
Bowling League (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 2/57, Chicago Coin's first ball bowler, 3" balls.
Bowling Classic (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, date unknown.
Bowling Team (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 10/55.
Bowl Master (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 8/59.
Bulls Eye Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 7/55.
Bulls Eye Drop Ball (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 12/59, a puck bowler with a ball dropping theme. Slide the puck down the alley just like in bowling, but there are three "zones" for the puck to hit at the back of the alley. As the game is playing, small plastic balls are being lifted inside the backbox, behind the backglass on the right side. When the balls get to the top of the lift, they are pushed out onto a metal slide that makes them roll down towards the left side of the backglass. The metal slide is made up of three separate metal pieces, each representing one zone on the alley. As the ball is rolling, the player slides the puck and aims for the zone where the ball is currently rolling. When the puck hits the back of the alley, the metal slide is "opened" and the ball drops down like in a pachinko game. Depending on which hole the ball falls into at the bottom of the window, you get that many points. During the game, the balls continue to cycle through, rolling down the metal ramps. The key is to have good timing to drop the ball just right into the highest scoring hole. Twenty shots per game. BG , BG , BG , Game , Game , Game , Game , Instructions .
Cadillac (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 1/64, swing-away backbox cabinet for easier service, 13/16/21 foot lengths, 6 games.
Caprice (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1971, BG , Game .
Champion Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1976, Flyer , Flyer .
Variety (roll down) , Chicago Coin, 1/62, 3" balls,
Vegas Bowling alley , Chicago Coin, 1967, giant oversized 6" balls with a single finger hole (but can be used with standard 4.5" balls too), lazy susan swivel score rack, 6 games, much like CCM Flair .
World Series (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 2/60, a baseball shuffle alley, light animated backglass runners.
Chicago Coin (Chronological) aka CDI, CCM.
Bowling Classic (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, date unknown.
Bango , Chicago Coin, 1949. A novelty shuffle alley with no pins.
Hi-Speed Triple-Score Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1950s (exact date unknown), BG , Game .
Match-Bowl-a-Ball, Chicago Coin, late 1950s (exact date unknown), ball bowler, single game. Game , BG , Lane .
Shuffle Horseshoes (shuffle alley - 2nd version), Chicago Coin, early 1950s (exact year unknown), 2 players. Instead of hitting bowling pins, there are lighted horseshoe stakes at the end of the alley. If you slide the puck right, you can get a ringer just like in a real game of horseshoes. Vary your shot slightly and have your puck hit just to a side of the stake and you can get awarded varying points. A "blow" is not getting close to the stake, and you get zero points. Game , BG , Game , Alley , BG .
Shuffle Horseshoes (shuffle alley - 2nd version), Chicago Coin, early 1950s (exact year unknown), 2 players, Game .
Bowling Alley (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1950, probably Chicago Coin's first shuffle alley, two players, backglass light scoring, BG , Game . Pins . Here's another 1950 CCM Bowling Alley that was 'updated' by a Chicago Coin or maybe a distributor. Note the addition of lighted pins on the alley (non-moving, with an added solid red panel infront of the original BG pin lights), and the professionally repainted cabinet (but not the backbox). The background to the backglass is a different color than the above Bowling Alley, so perhaps this update was done by the factory. BG , Game .
Miami Shuffle , Chicago Coin, 1951.
King Pin , Chicago Coin, 12/51, a pinball machine with fly away style pins like a bowler.
Bowl-A-Ball , Chicago Coin, 1952, 3" balls. The first roll-down style bowler. Not really a ball bowler, though it does use balls. The balls roll back down the lane and fall into a tray.
Double-Score (Shuffle Alley), Chicago Coin, 1952, early shuffle with score reels, strikes score as 30 points, spares score as 20 points, certain frames score double the pin points. Head , Game .
Triple Score (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1952, 30/20 strike/spare scoring, frames 5, 7, 10 give "Triple" score. BG .
Advance Bowler shuffle Alley, Chicago Coin, 10/53.
Criss Cross Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 12/53, BG , Game .
Crown Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1953, BG , Game .
Super Frame Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 3/54. Game .
Feature Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 7/54.
Holiday Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 9/54, Game .
Playtime Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 9/54.
Flash Bowler (shuffle alley, Chicago Coin, 10/54.
Fireball Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 11/54.
Thunderbolt Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 12/54.
Triple Strike Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 2/55.
Hollywood Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 4/55, Game , Game , BG .
Arrow Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 2/55.
Bonus Score Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 5/55.
Bulls Eye Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 7/55.
Blinker Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 8/55, BG , Game .
Score-A-Line Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 9/55.
Bowling Team (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 10/55.
Deluxe Ski-Score, Chicago Coin, mid 1950s (exact date unknown), a ski-ball type bowler with 3" wood balls, 4 frames per game with 2 or 3 shots per frame, BG , BG , Game .
Championship Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 11/56.
CCM Ball Bowler era.
Deluxe Skee Roll, Chicago Coin, 1/57, a ball bowler using skee-alley scoring, 11 or 13 foot long, Flyer .
Tournament Ski-Bowl , Chicago Coin, 1/57, a shuffle alley using a ball and skee-alley scoring, 10 foot.
Criss Cross Ski Ball (skeeball), Chicago Coin, circa 1956, 4 player skee ball game.
Bowling League (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 2/57, Chicago Coin's first ball bowler, 3" balls.
Tournament Ski-Bowl , Chicago Coin, 1/57, a shuffle alley using a ball and skee-alley scoring, 10 foot.
Skee Roll (deluxe), Chicago Coin, 1/57, a ball bowler using skee-alley scoring, 11 or 13 foot long, Flyer .
Ski-Score (deluxe) , Chicago Coin, 1957, a ski-ball type bowler with 3" wood balls, 4 frames per game with 2 or 3 shots per frame.
Skee Roll (deluxe) , Chicago Coin, 1/57, a ball bowler using skee-alley scoring, 11 or 13 foot long, skee-ball.
Lucky Strike Bowling League (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 1/58, 4.5" balls, Contact bowler.
Rocket Shuffle alley, Chicago Coin, 2/58, one player, a ball popper shuffle alley like United's Shooting Star shuffle, BG , BG , Game , Lane .
Rocket Shuffle alley, Chicago Coin, 3/58, *two* player, a ball popper shuffle alley.
Explorer Rocket (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 6/58.
Ball bowler non-casket style lane and vertical metal coin box era.
Player's Choice (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 9/58, 4.5" balls, first CCM ball bowler with non-casket lane, protruding-nose style pinhood.
Double Feature (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 12/58.
Rebound Shuffle, Chicago Coin, 12/58. Simple electronics: a coin mech, relays to drop the pins, and a frame counter in the middle (under the yellow strip), and simple contacts at the far end. When the puck hits the contacts it adds one to the count. When 8 are counted the frame advances one. When the 8 frames are played, the game ends and the pins pop up, ending the game. Game , Game .
Twin Bowler (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 12/58, 4" balls, two ball bowlers right next to each other in a single game(!), protruding-nose style pinhood.
Rocket Ball (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1/59.
Red Pin (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 2/59. BG , Game .
Red Pin Detroit Red Pin (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 2/59. Made specifically for the Detroit area. Does not use rollover switches but the puck hits the pins. BG , Game , Pins .
Ball bowler large score reel era.
King Bowler (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 3/59, 4.5" balls, first CCM ball bowler with large score reels, not to be confused with the later "Hi-Score King Bowler", protruding-nose style pinhood.
Queen Bowler (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 3/59, 4.5" balls, large score reels, protruding-nose style pinhood.
Bowl Master (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 8/59.
Four Game Shuffle alley (4 Game Shuffle), Chicago Coin, 11/59, BG , BG , Game .
Bulls Eye Drop Ball (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 12/59, a puck bowler with a ball dropping theme. Slide the puck down the alley just like in bowling, but there are three "zones" for the puck to hit at the back of the alley. As the game is playing, small plastic balls are being lifted inside the backbox, behind the backglass on the right side. When the balls get to the top of the lift, they are pushed out onto a metal slide that makes them roll down towards the left side of the backglass. The metal slide is made up of three separate metal pieces, each representing one zone on the alley. As the ball is rolling, the player slides the puck and aims for the zone where the ball is currently rolling. When the puck hits the back of the alley, the metal slide is "opened" and the ball drops down like in a pachinko game. Depending on which hole the ball falls into at the bottom of the window, you get that many points. During the game, the balls continue to cycle through, rolling down the metal ramps. The key is to have good timing to drop the ball just right into the highest scoring hole. Twenty shots per game. BG , BG , BG , Game , Game , Game , Game , Instructions .
World Series (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 2/60, a baseball shuffle alley, light animated backglass runners.
Six Game Bowler (6 Game Bowler - shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 6/60, BG .
Wedge style pinhood era. Larger score reels era.
Duchess Bowler (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 8/60, 4.5" balls, large score reels, wedge style pinhood.
Duke Bowler (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 8/60, 4.5" balls, large score reels, wedge style pinhood.
Pro Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1/61, BG , Game .
Princess Bowler (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 1/61, 4.5" balls, large score reels, wedge style pinhood.
Prince Bowler (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, about 1961 (exact date unknown), large score reels, 4.5" balls, 13.5', 16.5' or 21.5' length, 76"x37"x14" backbox, four different games, wedge style pinhood.
Triple Gold Pin Pro (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 9/61.
Continental (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 10/61, 4.5" balls, large score reels.
Red Dot (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1961.
Gold Crown bowling alley , Chicago Coin, 3/62, model 250, large score reels.
Starlite Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1963, CCM Star Lite has six games, Game .
Royal Crown bowling alley , Chicago Coin, 8/62, large score reels, six games, probably the second best CCM bowler (behind Majestic.)
Citation (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 10/62, Flyer .
Star Light (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1963.
Ball bowler gooseneck ("free-back", "swing-away", "hi-style") backbox era. Normal sized score reels.
Grand (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 3/63, first game with "swing-away" servicing (aka "free back" or "outlaw sprint wing", which was only used on four CCM bowlers), normal sized score reels (large score reels abandoned), 13, 16, 21 foot length, 6 games, similar to Grand Prize bowling alley.
Grand Prize (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 3/63, "swing-away" servicing (aka "free back" or "outlaw sprint wing", which was only used on four CCM bowlers), normal sized score reels (large score reels abandoned), 13, 16, 21 foot length, 6 games, similar to Grand bowling alley.
Strike Ball (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 5/63, Game , Game .
Official Spare Lite - bowling alley , Chicago Coin, 9/63, "swing-away" servicing (aka "free back" or "outlaw sprint wing", which was only used on four CCM bowlers), normal sized score reels, cool lane lights to show where to throw ball.
Grand Spare Lite - bowling alley , Chicago Coin, 9/63, normal sized score reels, proturding squared gooseneck pinhood ("swing-away" cabinet).
Spotlite (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 11/63.
Cadillac (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 1/64, swing-away backbox cabinet for easier service with "free back" or "outlaw sprint wing", 13/16/21 foot lengths, 6 games.
DeVille (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 8/64.
Majestic (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 8/64, 13/16/21 foot lengths, 6 games, last CCM game with oak lanes finished in a wood stain, proturding squared gooseneck pinhood ("Hi-Style" cabinet). Majestic is, in my opinion, the end of the line for decent looking CCM ball bowlers. Majestic is also probably one of the best CCM ball bowlers, having a classic "look" with all the best features/games in a 4.5" big ball bowler.
Tournament (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 12/64, 13/16/21 foot lengths (5/8/10 foot extensions available), 6 games, proturding squared gooseneck pinhood ("Hi-Style" cabinet), "spare lit" backbox lights showing where to throw ball for a spare, oak lanes now painted gray instead of a natural wood stain, weird green backglass and cabinet paint (less traditional), lane now lit with florescent lamps under pinhood.
Triumph (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1/65, BG , Game .
Bel-Air (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 2/65, Belair.
Ball bowler lazy susan backbox (less attractive) era.
Super-Sonic (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 3/65, first lazy susan swivel score rack (rounded gooseneck pinhood), 13/17 foot lengths, 6 games.
Top Brass (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 4/65.
Gold Star (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 8/65.
Preview (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 8/65, lazy susan swivel score rack (rounded gooseneck pinhood), 13/17 foot lengths (4/8 foot extensions), natural oak lanes with stenciled graphics, 6 games.
Mardi Gras (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 1970.
Caprice (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1971, BG , Game .
Monte Carlo (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 1971, 13/16 foot lengths (additional 4 and 8 foot extensions available), lazy susan swivel score rack, 6 games (include Beer frame), 4.5" balls.
Prestige shuffle alley, Chicago Coin, 1971, Flyer .
Festival (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 9/72.
Holiday (bowling alley) , Chicago Coin, 1972, 13/16 foot lengths (additional 4 and 8 foot extensions available), 4.5" balls, 5 games (with Beer frame).
Super Bowl (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1972.
Citation (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1973.
Eldorado (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1973,
Gold Medal bowling alley , Chicago Coin, 1973, the last EM ball bowler by any major manufacturer (CCM, United or Bally). BG , Game , Game .
Pro Bowl (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1973, BG , Game .
Gold Mine (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1975.
Big Strike (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1976, game .
Champion Bowler (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1976, Flyer , Flyer .
Melody Lane (shuffle alley), Chicago Coin, 1970s (exact date unknown), BG .
Superbowl bowling alley , Chicago Coin, late 1970s (exact date unknown), uses Bally/Stern solidstate board system, one of the last ball bowlers made.
Keeney.
ABC Bowler, Keeney, early 1950s (exact date unknown), one player shuffle alley with light box scoring, BG , BG , Game .
Bowlette , Keeney, 1957, skeeball bowling, adjustable for 5,7 or 10 frames. Has an extra ball feature that if the player hits the small 50 point hole, will continue play until this hole is missed.
Duck Pins (shuffle alley), Keeney, 6/50, two players, BG .
High Score League Bowler (shuffle alley), Keeney, early 1950s (exact date unknown), four players, light box scoring, BG , Game .
League Bowler (shuffle alley), Keeney, early 1950s (exact date unknown), four players, light box scoring, Game .
Ten Pins , Keeney, 1949, a roll-down type game which uses small 2" balls rolled down at shuffle alley. The Keeney 10 Pins' balls hit small pins, which retract through a string. The pins are held to the alley with magnets (this is the same concept used on the 1957 Williams Ten Strike/Ten Pins and the 1939-1953 Evans Ten Strike ). The ball is returned to the player at the front coin door area via gravity.
Pin-boy (shuffle alley), Keeney, 1949, one player, light box scoring, BG , Game .
Roll-a-Line, Keeney, 1950s (exact date unknown), Flyer .
Speed Lane Bowler (shuffle alley), Keeney, 5/55, six players, BG , Game .
Team Bowler (shuffle alley), Keeney, date unknown, six players, BG , Game , Inside .
Stern.
| i don't know |
In which country were the Commonwealth Games held in 1962 | A history of the Commonwealth Games (From Evening Times)
A history of the Commonwealth Games
A history of the Commonwealth Games
The countdown to the start of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow has begun.
But how much do you know about the history of the Games? When did the Games begin and which Scots city has previously hosted the event?
With the help of our colleagues at the Mitchell Library, here's a simple guide to the history of the Commonwealth Games.
1930 British Empire Games
The city of Hamilton was the first host of the Commonwealth Games. Then called the British Empire Games, the sociological, cultural and political make-up of the Commonwealth movement has altered substantially since 1930.
The inaugural Games was utilitarian and very down to earth, proving that more doesn't necessarily mean better. The athletes' village was the Prince of Wales School next to the Civic Stadium, where the competitors slept two dozen to a classroom, whilst the women were housed in a separate hotel. Despite missing some basic comforts, the participants were unanimous in their praise for the Games and Hamilton's hospitality.
Eleven countries sent a total of 400 athletes to the Hamilton Games. Women competed only in the swimming events. The participant nations were Australia, Bermuda, British Guyana, Canada, England, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.
The Hamilton Games ran at a cost of $97,973.00 and featured six sports: Aquatics (swimming & diving) Athletics Boxing Lawn Bowls Rowing Wrestling
The very first Games were the result of a remarkable feat of organisation. The decision to hold the Games was only finally confirmed in February 1930, yet by August of that same year all the preparations had been completed.
The famous Canadian sprinter, Percy Williams, read the oath of allegiance on behalf of the competitors, surrounded by the flag bearers of the eleven countries. The spectators then enthusiastically joined in the singing of 'God Save the King', fireworks were set off, doves were released as a symbol of the peaceful nature of the proceedings, and the Games had been changed from an idea to a reality. Two weeks of enjoyable sporting endeavour followed.
The Scotland team of 19 competitors claimed an honourable share of the prizes, winning a total of two Gold, three Silver and five Bronze medals. Particularly notable was Duncan McLeod Wright's victory in the Marathon with a time of just under 2 hours and 44 minutes, while our Boxing and Swimming teams both made a considerable impact, with Ellen King winning three medals. The other Scottish Medal came in the Bowls Fours event.
Australiafinished fifth with three gold medals, four silver and one bronze. England was a convincing victor, with 25 gold, 23 silver, and 13 bronze.
1934 British Empire Games
London, August 4-11
Sixteen nations sent a total of 500 competitors to the Games in London. In addition to the 11 nations that competed in Hamilton, making their debut in London were Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) and Trinidad. This was also to be the last time that Newfoundland took part independent of Canada.
Six sports were featured in the Games - athletics, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, swimming and diving and wrestling. A highlight of the 1934 Games was the inclusion of events for women in athletics, with careful consideration given not to include events that were considered 'too exhaustive'. The running events were restricted to the short sprints and a shortened 4 x 220 yard relay instead of the 4 x 440 yard really as per the men's program. Nevertheless this was a breakthrough for women in sport that would one day lead to full recognition and programming for women's athletics on the international stage.
The athletes oath was read by the captain for the England Athletics team, R.L. Howland as follows:-
"We declare that we are loyal subjects of His Majesty the King, Emporer, and will take part in the British Empire Games in the spirit of true sportsmanship, recognising the rules which govern them and desirous of participating in them for the honour of our Empire and the Glory of Sport."
Originally scheduled for Johannesburg, South Africa, the II Games were hosted by London, in order to avoid a political crisis over South Africa's 'Apartheid' policy and its implications on visiting Commonwealth athletes and officials.
Scotlandclaimed a much larger crop of medals in London with five Gold, four Silver and 17 Bronze medals. The Athletics and Swimming teams accounted for most of these, but Scots won medals in every sport with the exception of Cycling. London gave Scottish wrestling its only Gold to date, in Edward Melrose.
1938 British Empire Games
Sydney, February 5-12
Held in the southern hemisphere for the first time, the Third British Empire Games marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of the first British Colony in Australia.
The Games Opening Ceremony took place at the famed Sydney Cricket Ground in front of 40,000 spectators who were keen to see Australia and New Zealand excel against England in particular.
Fifteen nations participated, involving a total of 464 athletes and 43 officials. New participants included Fiji and Ceylon.
Seven sports were featured in the Sydney Games: athletics, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving and wrestling.
A significant change in the Swimming events was the increase pool length from 50 to 55 yards.
This time it was competitors from the northern hemisphere who were at a disadvantage since in their own countries it was the 'off-season' for most sports. In addition there was also the problem of keeping fit during the long sea journey to Australia. Nevertheless the standard of competition was generally very high, particularly in athletics. In the men's and women's track events, all but one of the existing Games records were broken.
The Australian women sprinter, Decima Norman, was the outstanding competitor at the Games. Norman won the remarkable total of five Gold medals by means of victories in the 100 yards, 220 yards, Long Jump and two sprint relays.
Another interesting feature at Sydney was the victory of the English swimmer, John G Davies, in the 220 yards Breaststroke event. David broke the existing record in this competition by using what was later to become known as the Butterfly stroke. At the time it was merely regarded as a legitimate variation of the Breaststroke with the result that the record established by Davies in this event was to stand until 1958.
During the course of the Sydney event a meeting of the British Empire Games Federation was held which awarded the 1942 Games to Montreal. They were of course never to take place due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
A much smaller Scottish contingent than usual undertook the long journey to Sydney and inevitably the result was that Scots competitors won far fewer medals. Even with this factor taken into account, there is no doubt that from a Scottish viewpoint the 1938 Games were a disappointment since only two Silver and Three bronze medals were won by Scots.
1950 British Empire Games
Auckland, February 4-11
World War II interrupted the staging of the British Empire Games scheduled for 1942 and 1946, however the enthusiasm from within the British Empire to continue what was started in 1930 was strong.
The opening ceremony at Eden Park was attended by 40,000 spectators, whilst nearly 250,000 people attended the Auckland Games, paying out a total of ?89,435 ;as event spectators.
The atmosphere of the Opening Ceremony is best described by this paragraph from the Official Record of the Games:
"The entrance of the gladiators in the days of ancient Athens and ancient Rome could not have been more impressive than was that Parade at Eden Park on the afternoon of February 4, 1950. As one, the crowd stitted by the majesty of the colourful scene, wonderful too in its simplicity, rose to its feet to remain standing throughout the ceremony, cheering to the echo as the parade passed on its way around the stadium..."
Twelve countries sent a total of 590 athletes. Newly formed Malaysia and Nigeria made their first appearance.
Nine sports featured- athletics, boxing, cycling, fencing, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.
The Games in Auckland saw a number of firsts with the introduction of the Games Village, air travel and chaperones.
Peter Heatly won his first gold for tower diving, a silver in springboard diving. Had he not suffered an interruption to the last dive, he might have had a second gold. Helen O Gordon won her gold in the breaststroke, beating the Games 200-yard record in 3 minutes 1.7 seconds.
James Hamilton, the cyclist, broke a leg in a race at Dunedin. Water polo featured in Games history for the first and last time, as part of Aquatics. One or two of the men in the team had given up jobs to travel and at least one, hammer gold medallist, Duncan Clark stayed on in New Zealand, where he stills lives. After the Games, the Scottish, English, Welsh and Canadian contingents were taken on a tour of New Zealand, lasting three weeks. They stayed in private homes.
On the whole, the Scottish party did well in winning a total of 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze medals. Peter Heatly's contribution, at the 1950 Games, of Gold and Silver medals in the Diving events was particularly noteworthy.
1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Vancouver, July 30 to August 7
The 5th edition of the Games placed Vancouver on a world stage and featured memorable sporting moments as well as outstanding entertainment, technical innovation and cultural events.
24 countries sent a total of 662 athletes and 127 officials to the Vancouver Games. The 9 sports on the programme were athletics, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.
Scotland flew as a party for the first time. Their Trans Canada Super Constellation inaugurated the first direct flights from Prestwick to Montreal. Even so, the journey took 13 hours.
World attention at the Games fixed upon the "Miracle Mile" won by Roger Bannister in 3 mins 58.8 secs, with John Landy second in 3 mins 59.6 secs in an event that was televised live across the world for the first time. Then it switched to the drama of the marathon, in which Scotland's Joe McGhee took gold and England's Jim Peters took the headlines by driving himself beyond endurance. He ran into the stadium for the last lap 15 minutes ahead of the field. Then began the harrowing spectacle of his falling and rising time and again on buckling legs, until he collapsed short of the tape.
But the glory of the Games for Scotland was the triumph of our three women swimmers in the medley relay. Helen O Gordon, Margaret Girvan and Margaret McDowall won in a new Games record time of 3 mins 51 secs. Victory against the swimming might of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and England had seemed too much to hope for.
Helen O Gordon won the 220yds breaststroke again - her first gold was at Auckland - in the Games record time of 2 minutes 59.2 seconds. Pat Devine, the lone woman in athletics, did not get among the medals, but equalled her best-ever time of 11.1 secs in the 100 yards.
Three boxers went out from Scotland. Three boxing medals came home. Dick Currie won the flyweight gold, John Smillie the bantam gold and Frank McQuillan was second in the lightweight division. Peter Heatly had victories with a gold in the springboard and a bronze in tower diving.
The final tally of six Gold medals was more than had ever previously been achieved and the Scots also gained two Silver and three Bronze medals.
1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Cardiff, July 18-26
The VI Games marked the largest sporting event ever held in Wales and it was the smallest country ever to host a British Empire and Commonwealth Games. 178,000 tickets were eventually sold during the Games.
The Cardiff Games introduced the Queen's Baton Relay, which has been conducted as a prelude to every British Empire and Commonwealth Games ever since.
England's famed middle distance runners, Roger Bannister and Chris Chattaway, were handed the honour of taking the Queen's Baton from Buckingham Palace on the first stage of its journey to Wales.
The Cardiff Games were to be South Africa's last until their post-apartheid return to the Games in 1994. A number of objections against South Africa took place in Cardiff because their team had been selected on the basis of race and colour rather than ability. South Africa subsequently withdrew from the Commonwealth in 1961 for 30 years.
Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,122 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games and 23 countries and dependencies won medals, including for the first time, Singapore, Ghana, Kenya and the Isle of Man.
Nine sports were featured in the Cardiff Games - athletics, boxing, cycling, fencing, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.
"Scots Wha Hae" was replaced at Cardiff by "Scotland The Brave", as the Scottish anthem and total of 144 competitors and officials was not far short of double the representation at London in 1934. Money had come from the public more readily than before, to permit the Scottish show of strength. Sir Alexander King's "Cinema Sundays" helped the funds considerably and his appointment as Commandant was fitting. He was approaching 70 years of ages when he led the Scottish team into the arena.
The standard of competition at the Cardiff Games was very impressive. Ten world records were broken and many new Commonwealth records were established. Ian Black was undoubtedly the star of the Scottish Team but other Golds came from the boxer John Brown and in Weightlifting from Philip Caira, while Peter Heatly contributed yet another Gold in the Diving events. The Athletics results proved disappointing but on the whole Scotland's final tally of four Gold, five Silver and three Bronze medals was extremely satisfying.
1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Perth, Australia, November 21 to December 1
The VII Commonwealth Games are remembered for its "heat, dust and glory". The day before the Perth Games opened the temperature was an expected 80 degrees Fahrenheit, but the heat was measured at 105 degrees at the opening ceremony in the new Perry Lakes Stadium the following day and such extremes persisted throughout the Games' duration. In the previous 65 years, only 10 100 degree plus days had been recorded in Perth. Australian soldiers were pressed into action, ferrying water to competing athletes.
Thirty-five countries sent a total of 863 athletes and 178 officials to Perth. Jersey was amongst the medal winners for the first time, whilst British Honduras, Dominica, Papua New Guinea and St Lucia all made their inaugural Games appearances. Aden also competed by special invitation. Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya competed for the last time before taking part in 1966 under the Malaysian flag.
Nine sports were featured at the Perth Games - athletics, boxing, cycling, fencing, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.
For Perth, the staging of the Commonwealth Games provided it with a springboard for phenominal development in sport and recreation, centered around the sports facilities that were built for the Games. These facilities have catered not only for elite sport but provided much needed opportunity for the development of organised recreational sport as well as a focus for Australia's first University degree Program in Physical Education.
The Scottish boxers again came home with two golds and weightlifter Phil Caira repeated his success of four years earliery in the light-heavy division. The fourth gold went to fencer Sandy Leckie in the foil. But Dick McTaggart had to be content with silver this time as did Willie Lindsay in both shot and discus, and Bobby McGregor in the blue riband event of the pool.
The Scots struggled in the Athletics and Swimming events but on the whole the final total of 4 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze was very reasonable.
1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Kingston, Jamaica, August 4-13
With the British Empire formally ended, the Kingston Games became the VIII British Commonwealth Games. There was a worry amongst the larger nations that Jamaica's infrastructure would not enable a successful Games delivery - but this proved to be largely unfounded. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions.
Kingston was elected host in Rome, Italy at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Controversially, also, the event programme was altered for the first time since 1950 with lawn bowls and rowing dropped and replaced with badminton and shooting instead.
Thirty-four nations (including Aden and Saudi Arabia) competed in the Kingston Games sending a total of 1,316 athletes and officials.
The nine sports on the programme were were athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, fencing, shooting, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.
Weather influenced the Kingston, Jamaica Games to the extent of turning normal routines topsy turvy. Track and field events were held under floodlights in the evening. The marathon and cycle road race were run in early morning. Diving was held early, too, to avoid winds which strengthened with the sun.
The Kingston Games were generally disappointing for the Scottish Team. James Alder's victory in the Marathon evoked memories of previous triumphs by Scots athletes in this event but it proved to be our only gold medal. Once again Bobby McGregor just missed a gold medal, and other silver medals came from Sandy Leckie, Tom Imrie and in Wrestling from Wallace Booth. The final tally was 1 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals.
1970 British Commonwealth Games
The IX Games from the 16th to the 25th of July, 1970 in Edinburgh will be remembered for a number of firsts. It was the first time that metric distances and electronic photo-finish technology were employed at the Games and the first time that HM Queen Elizabeth II attended in her capacity as Head of the Commonwealth. This was also the first Commonwealth Games to be held in Scotland.
Scots will further remember the Games for the Stewart brothers Ian (gold) and Peter (4th) in the 5000 metres and Lachie Stewart (no relation) who took gold in the 10000 metres.
Forty-two nations sent a total of nearly 1,744 athletes and officials to the first Edinburgh Games. New medal winning nations included Tanzania, Malawi and St Vincent.
The 9 sports were featured in the Games - athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, fencing, lawn bowls, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.
Scotland won 25 medals including six gold, four of which were in athletics a feat which has not been matched since. Highlights included the Stewart brothers on the track with Ian taking gold and Peter coming 4th in the 5000 metres whilst Lachie Stewart (no relation) took gold in the 10000 metres. Rosemary Wright won gold in the 800 metres and Rosemary Payne also took gold in the Discus. In Boxing Tommy Imrie won gold in the 71kg weight category and Sandy Leckie took gold in the Fencing Individual Sabre event.
1974 British Commonwealth Games
Christchurch, January 24 to February 2
Following the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, the X Games at Christchurch was the first multi-sport event to place the safety of participants and spectators as its uppermost requirement. Security guards surrounded the athlete's village and there was an exceptionally high-profile police presence. Even so, Christchurch enchanted the watching world as a city of beautiful churches and gardens.
On the running track, Jamaica's Don Quarrie successfully defended both his 1970 100m and 200m gold medals. Quarrie was to go on to win the 1978 100m as well.
On the track one of the greatest 1500 meter races of all time was held. The race was won by Filbert Bayi of Tanzania in a time of 3:32.2 - a new world record by almost a full second. Local runner John Walker also beat the previous world record.
Only 22 countries succeeded in winning medals from the total haul of 374 medals on offer, but first time winners included Western Samoa, Lesotho and Swaziland.
Nine sports were featured in these Games with 1,276 athletes taking part in athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, shooting, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.
The middle of a Scottish winter was not the ideal time to prepare for an antipodean mid-summer trip and so it proved in the outdoor sports at any rate. But there was an exception - the bowlers found the browns (there wasn't a blade of green grass in sight) so much to their liking that all returned with medals. John Christie and Alex McIntosh struck gold in the Pairs, Willie Wood captured the Singles bronze, behind the legendary David Bryant, and Morgan Moffat, John Marshall, Bill Scott and John McRae were also third in the Fours.
A silver and two bronzes was the best the boxers could muster but that was better than the luckless athletes whose best was the silver won by Mrs "Bud" Payne in the discus.
Shooting provided two medals with the name of future world champion Alister Allan first appearing in the honours for smallbore rifle.
An even bigger name saved Scotland's pride, and gave the team a boost it scarcely deserved, in the pool. David Wilkie captured two golds and a silver, winning the 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley as well as finishing second in the 100m breaststroke.
1978 Commonwealth Games
Edmonton, Canada, August 3-12
The XI Games was the first to bear the current day name of the Commonwealth Games. Whilst Edmonton had won the right to host the Games with an audacious vision presented six years earlier to the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly, the organisers had to walk a careful tightrope in the immediate run up to the Edmonton Games to ensure that there was no repeat of the African nations boycott of the 1976 Montreal Olympics caused by a New Zealand rugby tour of South Africa.
Forty-six countries sent a total of 1,474 athletes and 504 officials to the Edmonton Games. As host nation, Canada also topped the medal table for the first time.
Ten sports were featured at the Edmonton Games - athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, lawn bowls, shooting, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.
The Scottish contingent that travelled to Canada in 1978 was the largest that had ever been sent abroad, consisting of 100 competitors and 25 officials. The entire team flew direct to Edmonton by charter flight on 23rd July and were greeted at the airport by a welcoming crowd and the skirl of pipes. The standard of the facilities at the Games Village proved to be excellent, though due to the huge number of competitors that attended, the accommodation was a little cramped. A friendly and cheerful atmosphere prevailed throughout the Games and in particular, the Edmonton Scottish Society provided a wonderful display of traditional Scots hospitality.
On the sporting side there was much to be pleased about with two British and two Commonwealth Games records being set by Scots, and 13 national records being established. Allan Wells gave brilliant performances, winning a gold and a silver in individual events and capturing another gold, along with David Jenkins, Cameron Sharp and Drew McMaster, in the 4x100m Relay.
The other Scottish gold medal at Edmonton came from shooter Alister Allan in the smallbore 50m rifle with a wonderful display of marksmanship. It was also encouraging that our other medals, six silver and five bronze, were spread throughout seven different sports, and the performance of Billy Gilliland and Joanna Flockhart in the Badminton Mixed Doubles was particularly noteworthy.
1982 Commonwealth Games
Brisbane, September 30 to October 9
The Brisbane Games are still hailed as one of the very best. Everything went so well from the moment Matilda, a 13-metre mechanical kangaroo, helped out with the opening ceremonies.
Forty-six nations participated with a new record total of 1,583 athletes and 571 officials. As hosts, Australia headed the medal table leading the way ahead of England, Canada, Scotland and New Zealand respectively.
The men's 200m gold was shared by England's Mike McFarlane and Scotland's Allan Wells, with judges unable to separate the pair at the winning post.
Ten sports featured at the Brisbane Games - archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, shooting, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.
Scotland took a team of 101 athletes and 24 officials and for the team of four Archers, the sport's first time in the Games.
Scotland's Highlights
The Brisbane Games saw an impressive 26 medals won, equalling the best ever Scottish performance at that time and including a record number of eight Gold medals.
Athletics led the medal charge and saw the dominance of reigning Commonwealth and Olympic champion Allan Wells continuing. His win in the 100m saw him nearly dipping under the 10 second barrier matched by a dead heat in the 200m. Anne Clarkson bravely won 800m Silver despite two broken ribs. Scotland's sprint dominance in Athletics was shown by Cameron Sharp's Bronze in both the 100m and 200m and the Men's 4x100m relay team who won Bronze to follow their 1978 gold. The Women's 4x400m relay team also came away with a Bronze to match.
Meg Ritchie won Gold in the Women's Discus in a Games record with further medals won in the Pole Vault to Graham Eggleton and in the Hammer to Chris Black.
The Lawn Bowlers won Golds for Willie Wood in the Men's Singles and in the Pairs for John Watson and David Gourley who won on a shots aggregate.
In Shooting, Scotland's greatest Commonwealth Games medal winner Alister Allan won Gold and Bronze in the Pairs events with Bill MacNeil, then an individual Gold, a feat duplicated by Arthur Clarke. Further medals were won in the Pistol and Trap events. In all, seven of the 11 shooters gained medals.
Further medals were won in Swimming with Robin Brew's individual Silver complemented by one Silver and three Bronze medals in relay events.
Albert Patrick's Wrestling Bronze meant that six of the 10 sports attending the Games came back from Brisbane with medals.
1986 Commonwealth Games
Edinburgh, July 24 to August 2
After nearly two decades successfully averting political stay-aways and protests because of apartheid and sanction-busting sports tours to South Africa, the XIII Games, the second to be staged at Edinburgh, was to become known as "the Boycott Games". Sadly, 32 Commonwealth nations decided that they could not attend, because of their opposition to apartheid in sport.
Twenty-six nations did attend the second Edinburgh Games and sent a total of 1,662 athletes and 461 officials.
Ten sports were featured at the second Edinburgh Games: Aquatics (diving, synchronised swimming & swimming), Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cycling, Lawn Bowls, Rowing, Shooting, Weightlifting, Wrestling.
Scotland won its highest ever medal tally of 33 including three gold. Highlights included Liz McColgan winning gold in the 10,000 metres; medals were also won by Yvonne Murray and Tom McKean, Scotland's other two emerging middle distance stars who would dominate the rest of the 1980s,in Badminton Dan Travers and Billy Gilliland winning gold in the Men's Doubles; and in Lawn Bowls George Adrain and Grant Knox winning gold in the Men's Pairs.
Scotland's Highlights
The Men's 4x100m Relay team continued on their medal winning ways with another Bronze, whilst Geoff Parsons won the first of what would be three medals at consecutive Games in the High Jump.
In Boxing, seven medals were won by the 10 Boxers but unfortunately there was no Gold. The unluckiest Boxers probably being Jim McAllister retiring after a cut and Dougie Young who was well ahead on points before being caught by New Zealand's Jimmy Peau with a desperate punch 32 seconds from the end.
In Cycling, Eddie Alexander won Scotland's first medal since 1970.
Rowing - The return of Rowing saw Scotland's first ever medal in the Coxless Pairs on a Strathclyde Park course later to host the World Championships. This event was notable for Scotland's finest ever Rower, Peter Haining being forced to compete for England due to residency criteria and winning Gold for the "Auld Enemy".
Silver and Bronze medals were won in Swimming, Wrestling and Weightlifting with perhaps the most meritorious performance being the 4th by Weightlifter John McNiven competing in his sixth Games.
1990 Commonwealth Games
The 1990 Commonwealth Games were held in Auckland, between January 24 to February 3.
The XIV Commonwealth Games, the third to be hosted by New Zealand and Auckland's second, witnessed a fantastic opening ceremony comprising a magnificent and moving portrayal of the forces that led to the formation of New Zealand society and culture. The opening of the games comprised a variety of events, including the arrival of The Queen's representative The Prince Edward (her youngest son), the arrival of the Queen's Baton and many MÄ?ori ceremonial stories.
A more relaxed affair was held for the 14th Commonwealth Games closing ceremony, reflecting that of Christchurch in 1974. Attended by HM The Queen, formality and respect played their due part in the beginning with formal salute and the acceptance of the Commonwealth Games flag to the next host city, Victoria, Canada. This was followed by a Native American and modern Canadian dancing display.
Then the fun began with thousands of children entering the stadium with a mass jumprope demonstration, followed by the Athletes themselves. The Queen then made the traditional closing speech and called for all the Commonwealth's athletes to assemble in four years time in Victoria BC in 1994
Thankfully, the perennially threatened boycott gave way to a new positive spirit of co-operation far more in keeping with the image of "The Friendly Games" and a new record of 55 nations participated in the second Auckland Games sending 2,826 athletes and officials.
Twenty-nine of the competing nations succeeded in winning medals from a total of 639 medals available. Australia headed the medals table with New Zealand claiming fourth place behind England and Canada.
Ten sports featured in the second Auckland Games - athletics, aquatics (diving, swimming & synchronised swimming), badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, judo, lawn bowls, shooting and weightlifting.
Scotland won 22 medals including five Gold. Highlights included Liz McColgan winning Gold in the 10,000 metres; Boxer Charles Kane winning Gold in the 63.5kg weight category; Loretta Cusack winning Gold in Judo 56kg; Gold for the Lawn Bowls Men's Fours (Willie Wood, George Adrain, Denis Love, Ian Bruce); and Shooters Ian Marsden and James Dunlop in the Skeet Men's Pairs.
1994 Commonwealth Games
Following the successful Victoria delegation to the Commonwealth Games Federation in 1988, the XV Games were held in Canada for the fourth time between August 18-28. The end of apartheid in the early part of the decade also heralded the return of South Africa to the Commonwealth Games and ensured that the era of threatened boycotts was over. Both the opening and closing ceremonies were held at Victoria's Centennial Stadium, which had undergone a superb refit in honour of the Games.
Sixty-three nations sent 2,557 athletes and 914 officials as the Commonwealth Games burgeoned at Victoria. Once again, Australia headed the medals table whilst the hosts, Canada, pushed England into third place. Nigeria marked its arrival as a Commonwealth sporting force by picking up more gold medals than both New Zealand and India. Hong Kong said farewell to the Games with the territory becoming a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China in 1997.
Ten sports were featured at the Victoria Games - athletics, aquatics (diving, swimming & synchronised swimming), badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, lawn bowls, shooting, weightlifting and
Scotland won 20 medals including six gold. Amongst the highlights were Yvonne Murray winning gold in the 10,000 metres; Boxing gold for Paul Shepherd in the 51kg weight category; three Lawn Bowls gold medals in the Women's Pairs (Frances Whyte and Sarah Gourlay), Men's Singles (Richard Corsie) and Men's Visually Impaired (Lawson Brand) and Gold for shooter Shirley McIntosh in the Smallbore 50m Rifle Prone.
1998
For the first time in the 68-year history of the Commonwealth Games, the host city was situated in Asia.
The XVI Games, they were held at Kuala Lumpur in the Malaysian state of Selangor from September 10-20.
Malaysia placed their own flavor on the Games, with the Queen's Baton being carried into the stadium on an elephant. The baton was presented to Prince Edward by Malaysia's first ever Commonwealth medal winner Koh Eng Tong, a bronze medalist in weightlifting in 1954.
A new record of 70 countries sent a total of 5,250 athletes and officials to the Kuala Lumpur Games.
Fifteen sports were featured in the Kuala Lumpur Games - aquatics, athletics, badminton, boxing, cricket, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, netball, lawn bowls, rugby 7s, shooting, tenpin bowling, weightlifting and wrestling.
Four new sports were introduced in this year's games, and this included the first time team sports will be played at the Commonwealth Games. The new sports were Cricket, Men's and Women's Hockey, Netball and Rugby - 7's
In an attempt to modernize the Games, several team sports were included - such as cricket, rugby and netball and men's and women's field hockey. Up until this time, team sports had not been included in order to emphasize that the games were between individuals and not nations. The team sports were an overwhelming success that added large numbers to both participators and TV audience numbers.
The top five countries in the medal standing were Australia, England, Canada, Malaysia and South Africa. Nauru also achieved an impressive haul of three gold medals.
2002 Commonwealth Games
The XVII Commonwealth Games was the most significant multi-sport event to be held in the United Kingdom since the Olympics of 1948. It was the largest in the history of the Commonwealth Games in terms of participating nations with 72 countries taking part across 14 individual and three team sports from July 25 to August 4. The Games took on added significance in 2002 as the Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty the Queen, celebrated her Golden Jubilee.
The successful hosting of these multi sport games demonstrated to the world that the UK was more than capable of hosting events of such magnitude and this played a significant part in securing the 2012 Olympic Games for the city of London.
The sports were contested by 3,679 athletes on a programme that included; Aquatics (diving, swimming & synchronised swimming), Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cycling, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Lawn Bowls, Netball, Rugby 7s, Shooting, Squash, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
For the first time in the Games history, indeed at any multi-sport event in the world, a limited number of full medal events for elite athletes with a disability (EAD) were included in a fully inclusive sports programme. The sports which included EAD events were Athletics, Lawn Bowls, Swimming, Table Tennis and Weightlifting.
Scotland's team of 202 athletes gave one of its best ever performances, winning 30 medals including six gold. Highlights included cyclist Chris Hoy winning gold in the 1km Time Trial on the track; Alison Sheppard winning gold in the pool in the 50m Freestyle; Graeme Randall winning gold in Judo 81kg; Lawn Bowlers Alex Marshall and George Sneddon winning gold in the Men's Pairs; David Heddle, John Robertson and Ivan Prior winning gold in the Lawn Bowls Triples Physically Disabled; and Scotland's first ever Artistic Gymnastics medal with gold on the rings from Steve Frew.
Australia (82 gold), England (54 gold) and Canada (31 gold) occupied the top three spots while India for the first time made it to the top five with 30 gold, as New Zealand with 11 gold were fifth.
One of the smallest nations captured one of the most prized medals in Manchester when Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis, sprinted to victory in the 100m.
2006 Commonwealth Games
The Australian city of Melbourne, successfully hosted the XVIII Commonwealth Games between the March 15-26.
Whilst Bendigo, the venue for the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games, and Lilydale hosted two of the shooting disciplines the majority of the sports venues were located along the Yarra River and within the city precinct. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as the athletics competition took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), one of the world's largest and most outstanding outdoor sporting grounds. The Athletes Village was located within three kilometres of the city centre.
For the first time in the history of the Games the Queen's Baton visited every single Commonwealth nation and territory taking part in the Games, a journey of 180,000 kms (112,500 miles). The relay ended when the Governor of Victoria, and former Commonwealth Games medallist, John Landy delivered the baton to Her Majesty the Queen at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the Opening Ceremony.
The sports on the programme were: Aquatics (diving, swimming & synchronised swimming), Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Cycling (track & road), Gymnastics, Hockey, Lawn Bowls, Netball, Rugby 7s, Shooting, Squash, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Weightlifting
There were approximately 5,766 athletes and team officials in attendance in Melbourne with the home nation having the largest team with 535 athletes and officials and the volcanic island of Montserrat the smallest with 4 members.
This was the fifth Games that Australia had hosted and the first time since 1982.
Scotland's Highlights
Returning with 11 gold, 7 silver and 11 bronze, a total of 29 medals, placing sixth on the medal table, the 2006 team was Scotland's most successful team in Commonwealth Games history.
30 team members won a total of 29 medals across nine sports. There were 11 gold medallists, including four double gold medallists (Caitlin McClatchey, Gregor Tait, David Carry, Sheena Sharp.
Swimming was the team's most successful sport winning twelve medals (six gold, three silver, three bronze). This performance made swimming the most successful Commonwealth Games sport of all time.
Scotland's top athlete of the Games was swimmer Gregor Tait who won 2 gold, 2 bronze medals.
2010 Commonwealth Games
The vibrant city of New Delhi, home to 14 million people, hosted the Commonwealth Games in October 2010. This was the first time India has hosted the Games and only the second time the event has been held in Asia (Kuala Lumpur in 1998 was the first).
Delhi won the right to host the 2010 Games by defeating the Canadian city of Hamilton by 46 votes to 22 at the CGF General Assembly held in Montego Bay in November 2003.
The dates for the Games wereOctober 3-14, inclusive of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
The Delhi Games Village was a low rise medium development on a 40 acre site in the heart of the capital which housed 6,500 athletes and officials. Existing and new stadia was used to house the following sports:
Archery, Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cycling, Gymnastics, Hockey, Lawn Bowls, Netball, Rugby 7s, Shooting, Squash, Table Tennis, Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
In addition, 15 events were contested across 4 Para-Sports, for elite athletes with a disability, on the inclusive Sports Programme:
Athletics, Swimming, Powerlifting and Table Tennis.
India had its best games ever going from just one bronze in the 1934 games to 101 medals in 2010 including 38 gold, coming second overall. Australia was out in front with 74 gold medals and 178 in total. England came third, taking home 37 gold medals and 142 in total.
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What is a village without a church called | Commonwealth Games History and Traditions
Sports at Games
Australia - Medals Champion of the Games
In the 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and the 2006 Games, Australia had the most gold medals and the most medals overall. If you add up all the medals won since the 1930 Game, Australia has won a total of 1894 medals. England comes in second with 1692 and with 1314 medals Canada is third.
Over the years the Australian teams have grown. While there were only 11 Australian athletes competing in 1930, the total number from all countries that year was only 400.
By 2002 a record 515 athletes represented Australia at the Games and the total number of athletes from all countries had grown to approximately 3690.
This growth is reflected in the number of medals won. In the 1930 Games held in Canada, competing for the first time, our Australian Team won 8 medals. In the 2006 Games our medal count had risen to a total of 221, the highest in that competition. England came in second with 110 medals for 2006.
The Competition
The 53 Commonwealth member countries are divided into 71 nations for competition at the Games. Each Commonwealth Games must consist of a minimum of 10 sports and a maximum of 15 sports.
The currently required sports are:
* Elite Athletes with a Disability
The host country may also select one or more additional Team Sports.
The Traditions
Leading Flagbearer - 1930 through 1950
A single flagbearer carrying the Union Jack led the parade of nations. The use of that flag was to symbolise Britain's leading role in the British Empire.
Baton - since 1958
A baton is carried from Buckingham Place in England to the Opening Ceremony by a relay of athletes. Within the baton is the Queen's Message of Greeting to the athletes. The host nation often choses one of their most famous sporting personality as the baton's final bearer.
Marching Order
The first nation marching in the Parade of Athletes is the host nation of the previous Games. The last nation to march in is the host nation of the current Games. All other nations march in English alphabetical order. In a break with tradition, in 2006 the nations marched in alphabetical order in geographical regions.
Flags
At the stadium there are three national flags flown: previous host nation, current host nation, next host nation.
Brief History of the Commonwealth Games
Reverend J Astley Cooper is credited for the concept of a sporting contest amongst the nations of the British Commonwealth. In a 1891 magazine article, he suggested that a festival combining sporting, military and literary events would bring the British people throughout the world closer together.
Although a sporting contest was held in London in 1911, it wasn't until 1930 that the first Empire Games were held in Canada. Support at the games was very strong and a British Empire Games Federation was formed with the decision to hold the games every four years between the Olympic Games. The games have been renamed several times, finally becoming the Commonwealth Games in 1974.
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The currents of which ocean produce the El Nino effect | El Niño and Southern Oscillation
El Niño and its Effects
Diagram showing the principle of the El Niño in the central Pacific. Colors indicate temperature, with red being warmest and blue coldest. In normal, non-El Niño conditions (top panel of schematic diagram), the trade winds blow towards the west across the tropical Pacific. These winds pile up warm surface water in the west Pacific, so that the sea surface is about 1/2 meter higher at Indonesia than at Ecuador. During El Niño (bottom panel of the schematic diagram), the trade winds relax in the central and western Pacific leading to a depression of the thermocline in the eastern Pacific, and an elevation of the thermocline in the west, thereby bringing an end to nutrient upwelling . (From: NOAA). For more information on El Niño go to: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
El Niño - A Definition
Unusual rainfall in Southern California � and in Peru and Chile � are commonly tied to a climatic condition that involves the entire Pacific and is referred to as "El Niño." The term, as applied to climate, originated with fishermen in Ecuador and Peru who used �El Niño� to mean the �Christ Child� as a way to describe a warm current that appears every few years in their fishing areas, around Christmas.
What exactly is meant climatically by saying, "We have an El Niño situation?� Normally, the cold Peru Current (or Humboldt Current) flows offshore from south to north. (It is a kind of mirror image of the California Current, but colder and stronger.) Associated with this cold current is a process called " coastal upwelling ," or the rising of cold subsurface water. This upwelling water is rich in nutrients ( nitrate and phosphate). These nutrients stimulate the growth of microscopic green algae ( phytoplankton ), which then serve as food for small animals ( zooplankton ). The plankton is eaten by fish (mainly anchovies and sardines), which are in turn caught by bigger fish, sea lions, birds, and people. During an El Niño situation, when the warm current appears, upwelling ceases and phytoplankton production is greatly diminished and the fish move to colder regions farther south (or they starve).
El Niño � A Larger Picture
The appearance of the warm current off Peru is a spillover from a much larger event: a general warming in the eastern tropical Pacific during certain years. This warming results from a weakening of the trade winds and a movement of water from the west-equatorial warm pool (which has been piled up by the trades) toward the east (See also the glossary for "El Niño" and " Warm pool ").
A summary of the cost estimates in US Dollars for the 1982-1983 El Niño, which was the strongest such event recorded over the past 50 years. Although El Niño events vary in intensity, the costs from even the smallest event can be staggering. (From: NASA )
El Niño and its Devastating Effects
An El Niño situation occurs every three or four years or so, mainly in December, and is devastating to the fishing economies of Ecuador and Peru. Birds, sea lions and fishermen go hungry because there are not enough fish to go around. Also, torrential rainfall in the coastal zone frequently accompanies the offshore warming, causing devastating floods (as happened in 1982-1983). See below for a summary of costs associated with the 1982-1983 El Niño.
El Niño and California
In the North Pacific, the Aleutian low-pressure region (over the Aleutian Islands chain to the southwest of Alaska) and the NE Pacific high-pressure region off California characterize normal conditions. When the trade winds weaken and the eastern Pacific warms up, the Aleutian low-pressure center tends to expand southward. The high-pressure cell off California weakens, and the California Current slows and warms. Fisheries collapse. Kelp forests suffer. Baby sea lions starve. Warm, moist air is widely available, favoring development of storm centers. The jet stream in the upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere , which runs along the boundary of arctic and tropical air, moves farther south. Storm tracks move south along with it, and increasingly impinge on the coast of our region. In summary, extraordinary events of precipitation in our region (which produce high stream flow or flooding) are commonly associated with El Niño conditions, when the eastern Pacific is unusually warm. Winter storms, generated in the North Pacific, move farther south than at "normal" times. Also, they have the opportunity to pick up moist tropical air along the way. Absent the offshore high (which acts as a road block), the storm systems can invade our region and dump their load.
El Niño and its effect on the North Pacific, associated with eastern displacement of warm water (red) and associated rain clouds (gray). The warmer equatorial waters heat the atmosphere over time periods measured in months. The atmosphere responds to this heating by producing alternating patterns of low and high pressure, including the low pressure centered just to the southwest of Alaska and another centered over the southeastern United States. (From: NASA )
El Niño and Climate Change
Although El Niño events are not new (there is evidence they have been occurring for hundreds of years), a distinct change in the behavior of this event beginning in the mid-1970�s has some worried that human-induced climate change may be having its effect. These recent changes include two �extreme� El Niño events (the strongest in this century, the 1982 to 1983 event and the longest of this century, the 1990 to 1995 event) and an increased frequency of El Niño relative to the past 50 years. As is the case with most attempts to pen a modern day observation to global warming , this evidence cannot rule out �natural variation.� Periods of high El Niño activity have occurred before, as for example from 1880 to 1925. That being said, some computer models of climate change predict precisely what is being observed today: increased likelihood of El Niño (with one study suggesting an increase of once every five years to once every three years); warming of the tropical Pacific with greater warming in the east than in the west (a pattern generally associated with El Niño); and a possible increase in El Niño severity. In so much as El Niño is a natural phenomena, it is something we need to live with, just as we do with earthquakes and hurricanes. However, if the current El Niño trend continues, the consequences could take a heavy toll on the entire world, disrupting everything from the U.S. insurance industry to the prospect for worldwide sustainable development.
| Pacific Ocean |
What is the line of longitude lying at 0 degrees known as | NOAA Ocean Explorer: Education - Multimedia Discovery Missions | Lesson 8 - Ocean Currents | Activities: El Nino
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El Niño
The name "El Niño" has become familiar to many people as the cause of unpleasant, even extreme, weather. To Californians, it means heavy rains, floods, and mudslides. To Australians, it brings thoughts of drought and catastrophic wildfires. But to meteorologists and oceanographers, El Niño is a fascinating glimpse into the intricate dance of the ocean and the atmosphere and the swirling patterns of heat and moisture that describe the global climate.
Peruvian fishermen have long noted that in some winters, coastal waters heat up and fish stocks dwindle, a phenomenon they named El Niño, (a reference to the birth of the Christ child, which also came in winter). Scientifically, El Niño refers to unusual sea surface temperatures throughout the equatorial Pacific, and to the resulting worldwide weather effects. An El Niño condition is officially declared by NOAA (the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) when a 3-month average of sea surface temperatures in the east central equatorial Pacific Ocean is 0.5° C or more above normal. Historically, El Niño occurred about once or twice per decade, but there is some indication that their frequency is increasing.
Severe El Niños cause death and destruction across countries, even continents, and yet the cause and consequences of these events is still not well understood. Only recently has the technology been available to allow scientists to study, model, and begin to predict global weather and climate.
Instructions: In this activity, you will explore the links between ocean currents, El Niño, and weather. Examine the images and graphics below, and then answer the questions that follow.
Questions
Sea Surface Conditions
Compare sea temperatures and surface topography in the eastern and western equatorial Pacific in normal, non- El Niño conditions.
[Check Answer]
The seawater on the surface in the eastern Pacific is much colder, and cools off with depth much faster. On the west side, there is an enormous blob of warm water that is right on the surface and also extends hundreds of meters down.
The surface of the sea is irregular all across the Pacific, but there is a broad mound on the western side.
Explain how winds and currents cause these patterns.
[Check Answer]
The trade winds blow most of the time in the tropics, and start the Equatorial Currents moving just north and south of the equator. These currents push water from east to west across the Pacific. The land masses on the west side of the sea (Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, etc.) block the currents, and water piles up into a low mound against the land.
Seawater in the Equatorial Currents is heated by intense sunlight during the journey across the Pacific, and so is quite warm by the time it reaches the west side. In the east, cold water is flowing toward the equator in the Eastern Boundary Currents, so sea surface temperatures are much cooler on that side of the Pacific.
Now compare sea temperatures and surface topography in the eastern and western equatorial Pacific during an El Niño.
[Check Answer]
During El Niño, the surface of the Pacific slopes up toward the east. The temperature of the sea is much warmer all across the equator, both right at the surface and down several hundred meters. The hottest water is no longer on the west side of the Pacific, but between the center and east edge of the ocean.
Explain how winds and currents might cause these patterns.
[Check Answer]
It looks as if during El Niño, warm water is flowing east across the Pacific instead of west. This could only happen if the Trade Winds were weaker or less steady than normal, which would in turn diminish the strength of the Equatorial Currents. If the forces of wind and water moving west decline, that big mound of hot water that is usually near Indonesia would collapse, and a lot of it would flow back east in the Equatorial Countercurrents. Warm water would then build up in the eastern Pacific.
Weather
What is the "normal" weather around the equatorial Pacific, and how do currents influence this pattern?
[Check Answer]
Most of the time, currents concentrate warm water in the western Pacific, and that leads to lots of evaporation, cloud formation, and rainfall in that area. Because of the currents, the normal condition in Indonesia, Australia, and Southeast Asia is wet.
In the eastern Pacific, the water and air are colder, so there would be less evaporation and precipitation. California, Central America, Ecuador, and Peru will generally be dry.
What is El Niño weather around the equatorial Pacific, and how do currents influence this pattern?
[Check Answer]
When the countercurrents start to flow more strongly out of the west, they sweep warm water and the associated heavy rainfall with them. This can cause increased precipitation in the eastern Pacific, and on the west coasts of North and South America.
In contrast, cooler water means less evaporation and rain, and unusually dry weather in the countries of the western Pacific Ocean.
Tracking El Niño
What use could this array serve that justifies the time and taxes spent upon it?
[Check Answer]
This array measures ocean surface and near-surface temperatures and wind speed, direction, and temperature, the principal factors involved in El Niño. If these conditions are constantly monitored, they could provide an early warning that an El Niño was on the way and allow people and governments to take precautions. For example, in western Pacific countries, water supplies could be stockpiled and drought-tolerant crops could be planted. On the eastern side of the Pacific, reservoirs could be lowered to make room for storm waters, and vaccine supplies for diseases that flourish in warm, wet weather could be increased.
If the TAO/TRITON Array is effective in providing an early warning of an El Niño, it would help save many lives and ease the financial and emotional tolls caused by powerful, unforeseen weather events.
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Which weapon of warfare was invented by Robert Whitehead in 1866 | Torpedo
By Patrick McSherry
GENERAL:
The torpedo was one of the most dreaded pieces of ordnance of the Spanish American War period. Some theorists claimed that the torpedo would make capital ships obsolete. Torpedoes could be launched from tubes aboard vessels of various sizes, including the new, highly touted but ineffectual torpedo boats.
BACKGROUND:
Self-propelled torpedoes were a technically evolutionary step from the American Civil War era passive floating mine, then called a torpedo. With successes of modified torpedoes on the end of long spars, such as that used to sink the CSS ALBEMARLE in the American Civil War, new delivery systems were studied. The British perfected the spar torpedo where an electronically fired explosive charge was placed on the end of a forty foot long spar that projected ten feet under water outward from the hull of the "attacking" vessel. This would enable the explosive to contact the hull of the enemy vessel below the waterline, hopefully below any armor.
The spar torpedo required the two vessels to be in extremely close proximity which posed considerable danger to the attacking vessel. To overcome this problem, British Engineer Robert Whitehead developed the self-propelled torpedo in 1866. Most navies of the world took great interest in the new weapon, however, the United States Navy did not.
When the U.S. Navy commissioned its first torpedo boat almost twenty-five years later, in 1890, the other navies of the world already had nearly one thousand of the vessels in operation. Over nine hundred were in use among the five major navies of the world alone.
In 1891, during the Chilean Civil War, the Chilean naval vessel ALMIRANTE LYNCH torpedoed and sank the rebel Chilean armored vessel BLANCO ENCALADA with a 14 inch Whitehead torpedo at the close range of one hundred yards. The world, including the U.S., took notice, in spite of the impractically and unusually close range.
In 1896, the Austrian naval officer Ludwig Obry invented the gyroscope, making the torpedo a reliably stable weapon.
The torpedo was a new, highly feared weapon system which saw very little use during the war. In spite of all of the amazing claims of its abilities, the Spanish American War saw no vessel on either side was sunk through the use of a torpedo by the enemy. However, at the battle of Santiago , the Spanish cruiser VIZCAYA apparently suffered a hit to a loaded torpedo tube in it bow, blowing out the bow, and putting the ship out of action.
A cut-away view of a typical Whitehead torpedo of the Spanish American War period.
The torpedo warhead, usually consisting of gun cotton (H above) was fired by a plunger, which, when it contacts an enemy vessel, pushes inward and contacts a percussion cap. The air flask (B above), which contained air under as much as 2,000 pounds per square inch, contained air used to run the compressed air engine (D, above). The torpedo was equipped with dual propellers, running in opposite directions, to avoid any veering of the torpedo from the torque of the propeller
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
The torpedo, in spite of being a good idea in theory, had many limitations. The two largest were the related aspects of method of delivery and range. The Whitehead torpedo had a maximum range of one thousand yards, yet frequently the launching vessel had to get within four hundred yards to have a respectable chance of hitting its target. To approach within one thousand yards of an enemy vessel was quite dangerous and four hundred yards was almost impossible. A vessel, even a fast torpedo boat, such as the USS WINLSOW , could not get close enough to launch its torpedoes with accuracy before being subject to deadly enemy fire. Innovations, such as searchlights, destroyers and rapid fire guns greatly limited the effectiveness of the torpedo boat and the torpedo itself.
The launching mechanisms used for torpedoes aboard torpedo boats, as well as on larger vessels such as the USS OLYMPIA and USS OREGON were not generally directional. With some exceptions, the launchers used, had to aimed by aiming the entire vessel within certain operational limits. Otherwise, the vessel basically had to wait for the enemy to cross into its line of fire. For this reason, the USS OLYMPIA carried six torpedo tubes in various locations. Some torpedo boats carried some trainable launchers. The torpedoes themselves had no instrumentation that would allow them to home in on an enemy ship.
The torpedo, however, did have two advantages. First, had a torpedo actually hit its target, its charge would have created great damage. Secondly, and more importantly, was the threat the weapon created. Though the torpedo did not inflict any major damage during the war, the sheer threat of its existence was a weapon in itself. Even large armored vessels had to be ever vigilant to prevent night attacks by torpedo boats and their deadly torpedoes, creating an additional strain on the ships' crews. The torpedo required the development of counter-measures, caused an alteration of tactics, and was useful as a weapon of terror. Both sides in the Spanish American War were equipped with torpedoes, and the Spanish torpedo boats were one of the most feared wings of the Spanish Navy.
Whitehead torpedo pistol, or fuse. The arrow indicates which direction to screw it into the torpedo.
( Image courtesy of the Doug Howser Collection)
TECHNOTES:
| Torpedo |
For which drink is mother’s ruin a nickname | Curator's Choice -Whitehead torpedo
Whitehead torpedo
Curator's Choice -Whitehead torpedo
The Whitehead torpedo circa 1880s onwards - 'The Devil's Device'
"But for the Whitehead (torpedo), the submarine would remain an interesting toy and but little more". (Admiral HJ May, 1906).
Designed in 1866 by Robert Whitehead, the Whitehead was the first ever locomotive torpedo to be developed. The weapon is named after the torpedo fish which is an electric ray that attacks by delivering a stunning shock to its prey.
A British engineer working in Austria during the 1860's, Robert Whitehead was asked to design a new weapon for warships and coastal defence. He applied this engineering genius to an idea for a locomotive torpedo thought up by Captain Luppis of the Austrian Navy. He built his first torpedo with the help of his 12-year-old son and a trusted workman.
The Whitehead circa 1912.
The torpedo evolved to have a blunter nose which travels through water with greater ease.
The designer's skill in marketing created the legend of the 'Whitehead secret' which workmen were sworn to protect before they could work on the guidance and depth-keeping mechanism. In 1898 Whitehead purchased the 'gyroscope' from its inventor Mr Obry, and combined it with the 'secret' to make the torpedo more reliable in terms of depth and course.
The torpedo transformed naval warfare. It remains the most lethal anti-ship and anti-submarine weapon ever invented as it is almost impossible to defend against. The submarine's capability to approach undetected and launch torpedoes with total surprise from within an effective range, made it truly the 'Devil's Device'.
C Class torpedo compartment
With this weapon Whitehead unlocked the potential of the submarine as a platform of war. He introduced the world to a weapon that almost changed the course of history during two world wars.
The Whitehead torpedo was fitted in the earliest British submarines from Holland I onwards. The first submarine torpedoes, propelled by compressed air, had a maximum range of 800 yards at 30 knots.
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What is the name of the thin unleavened pancakes eaten in Mexico | Pancake - definition of pancake by The Free Dictionary
Pancake - definition of pancake by The Free Dictionary
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pancake
(păn′kāk′)
n.
A thin cake made of batter that is poured onto a hot greased surface and cooked on both sides until brown. Also called flannel cake, flapjack, griddle cake, hotcake; also called regionally battercake.
v. pan·caked, pan·cak·ing, pan·cakes
v.tr.
To cause (an aircraft) to make a pancake landing.
v.intr.
1. To make a pancake landing.
2. To fall flat to the ground with great force, especially to collapse in such a way that higher floors or structures fall directly on the ones beneath.
pancake
n
1. (Cookery)
a. a thin flat cake made from batter and fried on both sides, often served rolled and filled with a sweet or savoury mixture
b. (as modifier): pancake mix.
2. (Cookery) a Scot name for drop scone
3. (Hairdressing & Grooming) a stick or flat cake of compressed make-up
4. (Aeronautics) Also called: pancake landing an aircraft landing made by levelling out a few feet from the ground and then dropping onto it
vb
(Aeronautics) to cause (an aircraft) to make a pancake landing or (of an aircraft) to make a pancake landing
pan•cake
(ˈpænˌkeɪk)
n., v. -caked, -cak•ing. n.
1. a thin, flat cake of batter fried on both sides on a griddle or in a frying pan; griddlecake or flapjack.
2. Also called pan′cake land`ing. an airplane landing made by pancaking.
v.i.
3. (of an airplane) to drop flat to the ground after leveling off a few feet above it.
v.t.
4. Informal. to flatten, esp. as the result of a mishap.
5. to cause (an airplane) to pancake.
[1400–50]
(ˈpænˌkeɪk)
Trademark.
a brand of cosmetic in a semimoist cake of compressed powder, usu. applied with a moist sponge.
pancake
blin - As in blini and blintze, it is Russian for "pancake."
blintz , blintze - Blintz(e) is from Russian blinets, "little pancake."
cake - A Viking contribution, from Old Norse kaka, it is related to "cook"; cake first meant small, flat bread roll baked on both sides by being turned—as in pancake or potato cake.
omelet , omelette - Omelet has also been written omelette, amulet, and aumelet; omelet's root sense is "thin layer" or "crepe," and it was first described in English as a "pancake of eggs."
pancake
I will have been pancaking
you will have been pancaking
he/she/it will have been pancaking
we will have been pancaking
you will have been pancaking
they will have been pancaking
Past Perfect Continuous
cake - baked goods made from or based on a mixture of flour, sugar, eggs, and fat
buckwheat cake - a pancake made with buckwheat flour
buttermilk pancake - a pancake made with buttermilk
blini , bliny - Russian pancake of buckwheat flour and yeast; usually served with caviar and sour cream
blintz , blintze - (Judaism) thin pancake folded around a filling and fried or baked
crape , French pancake , crepe - small very thin pancake
german pancake , pfannkuchen - puffy mildly sweet lemon-flavored egg mixture sprinkled with confectioners' sugar and served with jam or a wine or fruit sauce
latke , potato pancake - made of grated potato and egg with a little flour
tortilla - thin unleavened pancake made from cornmeal or wheat flour
pancake
noun crêpe , drop scone or Scotch pancake I adore pancakes with maple syrup.
Translations
فَطيرَة مُحَلاّة: بانكيك فَطِيرَةٌ مُحْلَاةٌ
palačinkalívanec
A. N → tortita f, panqueque m (LAm)
see also flat 1
B. CPD Pancake Day N (Brit) → martes m inv de carnaval
pancake landing N (Aer) → aterrizaje m de panza
pancake roll N (Brit) → rollito m de primavera
pancake
[ˈpænkeɪk] n → crêpe fPancake Day Pancake Tuesday n (British) → mardi m gras
pancake
vi (aeroplane) → eine Bauchlandung machen
pancake
[ˈpænˌkeɪk] n → frittella , crêpe f inv
as flat as a pancake (fig) → piatto / a come una tavola
pan1
(pӕn) noun
1. a metal pot usually with a long handle, used for cooking food. a frying-pan; a saucepan. pan قِدْر، وِعاء طَبيخ тиган panela pánev die Pfanne pande; -pande; gryde τηγάνι , κατσαρόλα cazuela , cazo , sartén , ... pann, kastrul ماهی تابه pannu casserole סיר तवा, कड़ाह, कड़ाही tava, lonac s ručkom serpenyő penggorengan panna; pottur casseruola , tegame 平なべ 납작한 냄비(프라이팬) keptuvė, prikaistuvis panna kuali leper pan panne , gryte , kasserolle rondel , patelnia کرایی tacho tigaie; cratiţă сковорода ; кастрюля panvica ponev tiganj [stek]panna, kastrull กระทะ tava 平底鍋 сковорода; каструля توا cái xoong 平底锅
2. (American) a tin for baking or cooking food inside an oven. a cake pan. bak وِعاء الطَّبْخ في الفُرْن тавичка forma forma die Pfanne form; -form ταψί molde vorm سینی فر vuoka moule תבנית पलड़ा, पल्ला pleh tepsi panci masak teglia , tortiera オーブン用の皿 접시 skarda plāts/forma cepšanai tin pembakar bakvorm rondel د داش لپاره قالب противень pekáč tiganj [bak]form ภาชนะที่ทำจากดีบุกสำหรับปรุงอาหาร tava , kap (美)盤狀的器皿 деко کڑھائي cái chảo 盘状的器皿
ˈpancake noun
a thin cake usually made of milk, flour and eggs and fried in a pan etc. pannekoek فَطيرَة مُحَلاّة: بانكيك палачинка panqueca palačinka, lívanec der Pfannkuchen pandekage τηγανίτα tortita pannkook نان شیرین و پهن؛ پنکیک pannukakku crêpe פַּנקֵייק आकार में गोल-चपटा, दूध आटे और अण्डों से बना व्यंजन palačinka palacsinta kue dadar, panekuk pönnukaka pancake ホットケーキ 팬케이크 blynas pankūka lempeng pannenkoek pannekake naleśnik يوډول كېك، دالوتكې نابوبره كښته كيدل panqueca clătită блин palacinka, lievanec palačinka palačinka pannkaka ขนมแพนเค้ก gözleme 薄煎餅 оладка; млинець کيک bánh kếp 薄煎饼
pancake
| Tortilla |
Which female newsreader threw a glass of wine over Tory MP Jonathan Aitken in 1983 | What Are Some Examples of Unleavened Bread? | Our Everyday Life
What Are Some Examples of Unleavened Bread?
by Kyle Fiechter
Some unleavened breads are crispy and cracker-like.
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Bread that is unleavened is made without leavening agents, such as yeast or sourdough culture, which allow bread to rise. This type of bread comes with a history of rich religious culture, especially in Jewish and Christian culture. However, it is also a common form of every-day bread eaten on a regular bases in many countries.
Matzah
During the Jewish Passover, Jews may only eat matzah (or matzo) --- unleavened bread --- in remembrance of the Jewish exodus of Egypt when Jews fled in such haste that they did not have time to allow their bread to rise. To make matzah, according to strict interpretations of the Torah, flour must be protected from moisture and heat prior to mixing to avoid fermentation (this kosher flour is known as Shemurah flour) or whole-grain wheat flour must be used. Tools must be kosher as well, cleaned thoroughly. Cold water is drawn from a spring and allowed to settle in a cool, dark place overnight to assure the water is not warm. Extremely hot temperatures (600 to 800 degrees) are used to bake the bread, all in an effort to completely avoid the leavening of the bread.
Chapati
Chapati is an Indian bread made from dough of atta flour (variations replace atta flour with wheat, corn or gram flour or a combination of flours), water and salt. It is rolled into large discs and browned on a very hot griddle or frying pan. It is then exposed briefly to an open flame, which causes the chapati to puff up like a balloon. It is commonly brushed with clarified butter.
Tortilla
Tortillas are commonly found in Mexico and Spain and are made from corn flour or wheat flour. A recipe from Abigail's bakery instructs you to mix 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 cup lard and 3/4 cup water into a large mixing bowl, turn and knead on a floured surface, then divide the dough into pieces and let rest, covered, for at least 1/2 hour. Flatten and roll the balls into thin patties, then cook over a skillet until lightly browned.
Pancakes
Even pancakes can be considered unleavened bread when no yeast is used to raise the batter. Pancake mixes can be found that only require a couple additional ingredients to make pancake batter. Most pancakes are cooked on a griddle, flipping once when the first side is cooked to cook the other side.
References
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Who made her name by perching on the desk while reading the Channel 5 news | Sian Williams moves to Channel 5: BBC anchor becomes latest leaving the Corporation - TV Forum
Granada North West Today
Quote:
“5 News’ output, both domestic and international, is consistently high quality and accessible,” said Williams. “With Channel 5 pledging to boost its coverage even further, it’s a terrific opportunity and an exciting challenge to join this talented and impressive team.”
Williams will front the daily 5pm news programme while Matt Barbet will continue to present 5 News Tonight at 6.30pm and The Saturday Show which runs from 9.30am to 11.30am.
“Sian is one of the UK’s most widely respected news presenters who will add to the wealth of experience, knowledge and insight within the 5 News team,” said Michelle Chappell, commissioning editor of factual, news and current affairs at 5 News.
“Sian’s ability to deliver the biggest stories of the day with charisma and warmth has made her one of the best known and most versatile broadcasters on British television.”
Her extensive broadcasting credits include presenting Radio 4’s Saturday Live, BBC1’s Sunday Morning Live, and hosting Crimewatch, Good Night Britain and National Treasures Live.
Williams will become the fourth high-profile female face of 5 News, after original incumbent Kirsty Young – who pioneered the art of “desk perching” – and her successor Natasha Kaplinsky, who joined Channel 5 in 2008 and left at the end of 2010, and Crosby.
“I’m really excited about welcoming Sian to the 5 News team,” said Cristina Nicolotti Squires, the editor of 5 News. “Her deep connection with the audience plus her rich background in broadcasting make her the perfect person to bring the news to life for our viewers.”
Former GMTV presenter Crosby, who made her name on Sky News, will leave 5 News this month.
| Kirsty Young |
Who had a 2015 hit song with Want to Want Me | Sian Williams moves to Channel 5: BBC anchor becomes latest leaving the Corporation - TV Forum
Granada North West Today
Quote:
“5 News’ output, both domestic and international, is consistently high quality and accessible,” said Williams. “With Channel 5 pledging to boost its coverage even further, it’s a terrific opportunity and an exciting challenge to join this talented and impressive team.”
Williams will front the daily 5pm news programme while Matt Barbet will continue to present 5 News Tonight at 6.30pm and The Saturday Show which runs from 9.30am to 11.30am.
“Sian is one of the UK’s most widely respected news presenters who will add to the wealth of experience, knowledge and insight within the 5 News team,” said Michelle Chappell, commissioning editor of factual, news and current affairs at 5 News.
“Sian’s ability to deliver the biggest stories of the day with charisma and warmth has made her one of the best known and most versatile broadcasters on British television.”
Her extensive broadcasting credits include presenting Radio 4’s Saturday Live, BBC1’s Sunday Morning Live, and hosting Crimewatch, Good Night Britain and National Treasures Live.
Williams will become the fourth high-profile female face of 5 News, after original incumbent Kirsty Young – who pioneered the art of “desk perching” – and her successor Natasha Kaplinsky, who joined Channel 5 in 2008 and left at the end of 2010, and Crosby.
“I’m really excited about welcoming Sian to the 5 News team,” said Cristina Nicolotti Squires, the editor of 5 News. “Her deep connection with the audience plus her rich background in broadcasting make her the perfect person to bring the news to life for our viewers.”
Former GMTV presenter Crosby, who made her name on Sky News, will leave 5 News this month.
| i don't know |
Who was the composer of The Saint Louis Blues | W. C. Handy, Composer, Is Dead; Author of 'St. Louis Blues,' 84
W. C. Handy, Composer, Is Dead; Author of 'St. Louis Blues,' 84
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
W. C. Handy, composer of the jazz classic "St. Louis Blues," died before dawn yesterday at the age of 84. He had been in Sydenham Hospital in Harlem since Sunday with acute bronchial pneumonia.
Mr. Handy suffered a stroke three years ago. Since then he had been able to travel only in a wheelchair. With the exception of a few special occasions, he had been confined to his home at 19 Chester Drive, Yonkers.
At his bedside when Mr. Handy died were his wife, Mrs. Irma Louise Logan Handy, whom he married three years ago; two sons, William C. Handy Jr. and Wyer Handy; a daughter, Mrs. Katherine Lewis; a brother, Charles, and a grandson, William C. Handy 3d.
Mr. and Mrs. Handy had planned to fly to St. Louis on April 7 for the opening of the Paramount film "St. Louis Blues," a fictionalized biography of the composer, and featuring, of course, many of his blues songs. The film will open also in New York and other major cities on the same date.
In announcing Mr. Handy's death, radio stations throughout the country played "St. Louis Blues," "Memphis Blues," "Beale Street Blues" and other of his songs in tribute to him throughout the day.
Honored at Party Here
Mr. Handy's last public appearance was on Nov. 17, 1957, at a birthday party for him in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. More than 800 actors, musicians and public personalities gathered in the Grand Ballroom to hail the "father of the blues."
President Eisenhower, Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Governor Harriman were among the notables who sent telegrams of congratulations. Mayor Wagner proclaimed "W. C. Handy Week" in New York.
William Christopher Handy, son of emancipated slaves, rose from an Alabama log cabin to a Westchester mansion by capturing in song the melancholia of all loneliness and the sadness of his race.
Yet the composer of more than sixty other melodies, was outwardly cheerful, despite blindness during his later years.
Moon-faced and benign, with the deep chest of the trumpet player, the chunky composer was a bit of a philosopher. One day, in his eighties, he told school children how, in his youth, he had slept on cobblestones and Mississippi levees "and heard the roustabouts singing on the steamboats and it hung in my ears." He patted his trumpet and said:
"Life is something like this trumpet. If you don't put anything in it you don't get anything out. And that's the truth."
By then most of his friends were dead and, though the music for "I hate to see that evenin' sun go down" was still in most jazz repertoires, his blues style, so popular for thirty years, seemed to have yielded to new jazz fads.
This did not disturb Mr. Handy's good cheer.
"The Negroes," he said, "invented jazz, and the white folks made an industry out of it."
In a sense politics started the "blues" in 1910. In that year Mr. Handy wrote a campaign song for Edward H. Crump that helped the "Boss" to become Mayor of Memphis. The song became more widely known than the Mayor after it was recorded in 1917 as "Memphis Blues," which described "that melancholy strain, that ever-haunting strain is like a darky's sorrow song."
Mr. Handy was born on Nov. 16, 1873, in Florence Ala. His father and grandfather were Methodist preachers, pastors of the first Negro church in that community.
Describing his early childhood in his autobiography published in 1941 under the title "Father of the Blues," Mr. Handy recalled that his upbringing was rather more strict than that of most of his white contemporaries.
"With all the differences," he wrote, "most of my forebears had one thing in common: if they had any musical talent, it remained buried. My mother admitted a fondness for the guitar, but she could not play it because the church put a taboo on such instruments."
When a small boy, Mr. Handy saved enough money to buy a guitar of his own, but his father ordered him to trade it for a dictionary.
At 15 he graduated into a minstrel show from his school singing class, only to return home when the traveling show ran out of money.
His second venture from home, with 20 cents in his pocket, had as its goal the World's Far in Chicago in 1893. The years following found him alternately employed, penniless, hungry and cold, and in St. Louis he reached his nadir.
"I have tried to forget that first sojourn in St. Louis," he once said. But he must never quite have obliterated it all from his memory, for out of the experience grew "St. Louis Blues." Written in 1914, it set the pattern for hundreds of blues songs.
Upon that melancholy composition a whole new school of popular music writing was based. From its simple, sobbing lyric of frustration grew scores of songs that later were to become the "torch numbers."
Organized Minstrels
Mr. Handy's break into the theatre occurred at the turn of the century. Before that he had eked out his musical education at the Negro Agricultural and Mechanical College near Huntsville, Ala. From this time on he was increasingly successful in organizing orchestras and minstrels and in arranging the popular tunes of the day for minstrel performance.
In 1898 Mr. Handy married his boyhood sweetheart, Elizabeth V. Price. They had six children. She died in 1937. In 1954, when he was 80 years old, Mr. Handy married his secretary.
President and treasurer of the Handy Brothers Music Company, Mr. Handy was a member of the American Federation of Musicians and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He also belonged to the Negro Actors Guild.
Mr. Handy had been totally blind since he fell from a subway station platform in 1943 and suffered a skull fracture. He had lost his sight after World War I, but had partially regained it.
In later years, his works had been performed at the Stadium Concerts here. He was in the audience a few years ago when Louis Armstrong wound up a world tour there by playing "St. Louis Blues."
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Who replaced Florence Ballard in the Supremes | St. Louis Blues by Bessie Smith Songfacts
St. Louis Blues by Bessie Smith Songfacts
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W.C. Handy (1873 - 1958), a middle-class African American, wrote the music for "St. Louis Blues" in one of Memphis' Beale Street bars in 1912. Some say it was plagiarized - Handy was prone to wandering the streets of Memphis and copying down the songs of itinerant street musicians. Handy claimed that he was inspired to write the tune after meeting a woman in St. Louis bemoaning the absence of her husband. "My man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea," she remarked – a line Handy said he wrote into the song.
One of the first blues songs to succeed as a pop hit, a quarter century later Handy said it was still bringing him $25,000 in annual royalties, earning him over a million dollars in his lifetime.
This has been performed by numerous musicians of all styles from Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Stevie Wonder, and the Boston Pops Orchestra. No version is bettered than the one by Bessie Smith. Accompanied by just Fred Longshaw on harmonium and Louis Armstrong on cornet, Smith's version was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1993. The 1929 version by Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra was inducted there in 2008.
Stevie Wonder recorded the song on Herbie Hancock's Jazz album Gershwin's World and won two Grammys in 1999 for his version.
This song has been used in a number of films.
In 1914, it appeared in the Charlie Chaplin movie, The Star Boarder.
In 1929, Bessie Smith made her only film appearance, starring in a movie titled St. Louis Blues that was based on this song.
It was sung by Theresa Harris and played several times, including in the opening credits, in the 1933 movie Baby Face.
St. Louis Blues, a highly fictionalized 1958 biopic of Handy that starred Nat King Cole as the blues composer, was named after his most famous song.
The St. Louis Blues NHL team is named after this tune, and their theme song is Glenn Miller's version of the Handy composition.
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What is the capital of Uzbekistan | What is the Capital of Uzbekistan? - Capital-of.com
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Capital of Uzbekistan
The Capital City of Uzbekistan (officially named Republic of Uzbekistan) is the city of Tashkent. The population of Tashkent in the year 2007 was 27,372,000.
Uzbekistan is an Uzbek speaking country on the coasts of the Aral Sea.
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What is the capital of Uzbekistan ?
The capital of Uzbekistan is Tashkent
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In which country is the port of Mogadishu | Somalia's fight to harness the power of Mogadishu port - BBC News
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Somalia's fight to harness the power of Mogadishu port
By Gabriel Gatehouse BBC News, Mogadishu
6 May 2013
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At the thriving seaport in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, the aroma of lemons drowns out the smell of ship's fuel.
The dried fruits, packed into hundreds of sacks, are being offloaded from trucks and hoisted by crane on to a cargo vessel for export.
The ship will eventually make its way to the Arab Gulf states.
"The pay is poor, but at least there's more work now," says a porter by the name of Alasow, taking a breather from the back-breaking work.
Decades of war and piracy almost destroyed this once-powerful trading hub.
The management and the businessmen are eating into our wages
Noor Osman , Mogadishu dock worker
But in recent months, better security has seen the number of ships docking here more than double.
For Somalia, this port represents more than just a return to business.
It could be the engine of the country's economic resurrection.
Exports consist largely of fruit and livestock. Imports are mostly spaghetti and cement, the latter for use in Mogadishu's current building boom.
All of this economic activity is good news for Somalis, from the porters on the quayside to the lorry drivers; from the wholesalers and importers right down to the farmers who grow the lemons.
All of them are making a living.
But even the people who work here say corruption is rife.
"For 20 years we had no government," says Noor Osman, another porter - caked in dust from a morning offloading sacks of cement.
"Now the management and the businessmen are eating into our wages.
"If the president is a proper Muslim, let him do something about it."
Scrutinising the books
Mr Osman's troubles with the payroll are symptomatic of a wider problem.
Somalia does not have an income tax. Most of the federal budget comes from foreign aid.
Image caption The port still shows evidence of Somalia's political instability
What little revenue the government does collect comes from here, the port, and to a lesser extent, the airport.
Unfortunately, very little revenue is making its way into government coffers.
Abdirazak Fartaag, former head of the Somali Public Finance Unit, says 75-80% of the funds that are being generated by the port are unaccounted for.
"Nobody really knows where that money goes," he says.
In 2010 Mr Fartaag was asked to investigate the financial management practices of what was then Somalia's Transitional Federal government.
Mogadishu port
1991-2006: Closed for business as rival warlords disagree on who should control it
May-December 2006: Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) takes over control of the entire city and reopens the port
2007-2009: Ethiopian forces, which ousted the UIC, secure the port and the WFP undertakes repair and refurbishment work
2009-present day: African Union and Somali government troops provide security - trade increases significantly
What he found was an almost total lack of accountability.
When he presented his findings the following year he was sacked.
He says he has no reason to believe things have changed since then.
"The international community have a say in this regard.
"To say, 'You know what, since we're paying for this, we need to understand [what you're doing with] the money you generate from the port and the airport and any other sources.'"
Earlier this year the UK proposed setting up a mechanism whereby Britain and other donors would get to scrutinise the books.
It was to be called the Joint Financial Management Board.
Somalia's new government rejected the proposal on the grounds that it would infringe national sovereignty.
'Stop being timid'
All the revenues generated here in Mogadishu port, directly will go to the central bank of Somalia
Abdullahi Ali Noor, Port general manager
Mr Fartaag says the countries that fund the Somali government should demand more accountability.
"Unless the international community demands that, nothing is going to change in my view," he says.
"The Americans and the British should stop being timid about this whole process, they should be a bit forceful."
The port's manager, Abdullahi Ali Noor, denied any suggestions of corruption.
"All the revenues generated here in Mogadishu port, directly will go to the central bank of Somalia," he said.
He said the money was already being used to pay civil servants' salaries and other government expenditure.
Image caption Everything from livestock to cement passes through the bustling port
Mr Ali Noor said that revenue currently amounted to around $3.5m (£2.2m) per month - not a large sum with which to run any country, let alone one struggling with the legacy of two decades of war.
The trucks laden with goods rumbling in and out of Mogadishu's port are emblematic of a city rising up from the rubble of war.
Foreign aid is paying for former militiamen to join a fledgling national security force.
Some of them are in evidence at the entrance to the port: Policemen in blue uniforms alongside soldiers in camouflage fatigues.
But old clan loyalties are still strong.
The gun is often still the arbiter here, and he who controls the gates also controls the revenue flows.
| Somalia |
What is another name for word blindness | The unlikely love affair between two countries - BBC News
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The unlikely love affair between two countries
By Mary Harper BBC News
15 December 2014
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The chaos and conflict that once consumed the port of Mogadishu are now gone and a few foreign investors are starting to move into Somalia. Turkey is leading the way - but why is there such a strong bond between these two countries?
Where once rival militias battled for control of these docks, giant container ships now line up to discharge their cargoes of cement, vehicles, pasta and rice. Huge cranes swoop up and down. Some operated by Turks, others by Somalis.
As a container swings uncomfortably close above my head, the sprightly Turkish manager of the port tells me that since his company took over in September, it has been bringing in a monthly revenue of $4m, and rising. Fifty-five percent goes straight to the Somali government.
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He won't let me take his photograph. "I'm too ugly," he says.
It's not just the port. Turks are everywhere in Mogadishu. And so is their flag. This visit, I think I saw more Turkish flags in the city than Somali ones.
Turks run the airport and are busy building a new terminal. Turkish Airlines now flies to Mogadishu four times a week, the first international airline to do so in more than 20 years.
At a gleaming new hospital, built by the Turks, Turkish doctors wear simple white polo shirts. On one sleeve is an image of the Turkish flag. The Somali flag is on the other.
Outside, Turkish builders in cowboy hats and Somalis in tatty T-shirts are putting the final touches to an Ottoman-style mosque with room for 2,000 worshippers. Craftsmen were flown in from Turkey to hand paint the ceiling in rich blues, reds and gold.
Even the garbage trucks trying to get rid of the 20 years' worth of rubbish and rubble come from Turkey. I saw one such truck hosing down a street after a suicide bombing, to make sure every trace of blood and wreckage was removed.
It all started with the famine of 2011. The then Turkish prime minister, now president Erdogan, flew to Somalia. Unlike other foreigners, who keep at a safe distance from the country, preferring to do Somali-related business from neighbouring Kenya, he walked through the streets of Mogadishu. In a suit. Not body armour.
Somalis still talk to me about how he picked up dirty, starving children. How his wife kissed members of the despised minority clans.
And hence the love affair began. Somalis called their boys Erdogan, their daughters Istanbul.
Image copyright AFP
Image caption Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine during their visit to a camp for displaced people in August 2011
This affection for a foreign country is highly unusual in Somalia. Somalis generally do not like outsiders, and have all sorts of abusive nicknames for them. But I struggled to find a Somali who would criticise Turkey, apart from the complaint that they hadn't provided adequate drainage for the new roads they're building in Mogadishu, and that they hadn't done enough to help other parts of the country.
In private conversations, Western diplomats have told me Turkey doesn't communicate or co-ordinate with other donors, that it is too unilateralist.
Turkey, like many other countries, is keen to lay its hands on Africa's natural resources and to exploit new markets as the continent develops. But it has chosen an eccentric way in - Somalia is classed by many as one of the world's most dangerous countries.
The Turks in Mogadishu seem to have a different attitude to danger. On the day of a suicide bombing, I was forbidden access to the highly fortified airport, where I was due to meet the British ambassador.
Image caption Before Turkey resurfaced the roads they were full of holes
But just nearby was a Turkish school, guarded by a couple of lightly-armed Somalis. Turkish children scampered about, playing hide and seek amongst the papaya trees. They share classes with Somali students, who the teachers say are especially good at computing and languages.
The Turks have paid a price for this more relaxed attitude to security. A few have been killed and injured in attacks by the Islamist group al- Shabab; some have been shot dead in disputes over money and other issues.
The next day, I managed with some difficulty to get into the airport compound, this time to meet the United Nations, based in a sterile, grey complex of containers.
Somewhat to my embarrassment, I didn't have a pen. The UN lady kindly lent me a pencil. I forgot to give it back, and later on I gave it to a Somali friend.
Wielding the pencil, he rushed off to his friends shouting, "Look. This is all the UN has to offer us, after more than 20 years and billions of dollars. In just three years, the Turks have helped transform our man-made earthquake of Mogadishu into a semi-functioning city."
Image caption Goods are loaded on to trucks at the port
Of course, it's not as simple as that. The UN and others are paying for African Union soldiers who are helping make Somalia a safer place. The Turks have gone for highly visible projects.
But as I sat eating the cube of Turkish delight offered to me by the sleek stewardess on my homeward Turkish Airlines flight, I couldn't help wondering whether the rest of the world could learn something from what the Turks are doing in the broken city of Mogadishu.
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Who designed the 2012 GB Olympics team uniforms | Team GB kit for London 2012 Olympics designed by Stella McCartney and Adidas launched - Telegraph
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Team GB kit for London 2012 Olympics designed by Stella McCartney and Adidas launched
A Union flag redrawn in two shades of blue will be the centrepiece of the British team’s official Olympic kit this summer after Stella McCartney largely jettisoned red from her designs for the Team GB uniforms.
Must have: Jack Rodwell models the Team GB football shirt
Cycling chic: Sir Chris Hoy in his cycling kit
Grand Slam: Andy Murray in the tennis kit
Medal hope: heptathlete Jessica Ennis models the Team GB kit
Speed: Lizzie Armitstead in her track cycling kit
Home style: Drew Sullivan in the basketball kit
Alll dressed up: Phillips Idowu models the kit
By Paul Kelso , Chief Olympic Correspondent
10:00PM GMT 22 Mar 2012
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The absence of the colour from McCartney’s interpretation of the Union flag drew significant comment at the kit unveiling at the Tower of London, with the designer saying she had tried to reinterpret the flag.
Red features as trimming on many of the 590 individual articles of kit that have been created for Team GB by Adidas, and some socks and shoes are all-red, but the predominate colours are several shades of blue and white.
The red in the Union flag represents the cross of St George, for England, and the cross of St Patrick, for Ireland, and its absence drew a mixed response on social networking sites.
Among those unimpressed was double Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins, who tweeted: “Oh dear — the Olympic kit” shortly after its launch. Wiggins, who was sponsored by Adidas until last year, later deleted the comment.
McCartney, retained as Adidas creative director, said she had tried to give the flag a contemporary twist. “The first place to start on a project like this is to look at the Union flag.
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For me it is one of the most beautiful flags in the world and it is important for me to stay true to that iconic design but also to modernise it and present it in a contemporary way,” she said.
“Ultimately, we wanted the athletes to feel like a team and to be proud with the identity we created.”
Among Adidas athletes attending the launch however there was enthusiastic support for the kit, which has been two years in development and has featured input from potential medal hopes, including Phillips Idowu..
Jessica Ennis, who was consulted by McCartney, said she was excited to try on the kit in which she hopes she will win Olympic gold and she defended the sparing use of red.
“I think its nice, its got subtle bits [of red], the colour stands out more when you have little bits of red,” she said. “Having the launch of the kit with Stella involved has been a totally unique experience, it really feels like the Games are upon us.
"Stella was really keen to know how you like your kit to fit. Because there are so many sports, she wanted to know how you feel it helps you perform. So I spoke to her about length of leggings and the cut of shorts and things.
“I remember my first Team GB kit was really multi-coloured down the side, but over the years it has just got better and better. It is really exciting to wear it, it’s all clean cut, it’s just gorgeous. It’s much better than the previous ones.”
Ennis said she would not be taking any of the kit home with her for fear of inviting bad luck.
“I think it’s not a great position to be in, taking it away with you now. I think you should wait until you are safely selected for the team before you collect your kit,” she said.
Triathlete Alistair Brownlee, one of Britain’s strongest gold medal hopes, believes the strip is perfect for his sport.
“The material’s fantastic, it’s fast in the water but dries quickly,” he said. “It fits very well because you don’t want it baggy in the water or too tight for the cycling and running. It’s a really good, functional piece of kit.”
Video: Kit unveiling
Adidas will produce 175,000 items of clothing for the 550-strong British team, which will be distributed at the team’s pre-Games preparation camp at Loughborough.
Among the items unveiled yesterday was the Team GB football shirt, predominantly blue, which will be worn by a British team taking part in an Olympic finals competition for the first time since 1948.
A replica of the shirt, modelled by English players Frazier Campbell and Jack Rodwell, will be available to buy for £50. The away kit, predominantly white, will not be on public sale.
As well as the football kit, swimming, cycling, tennis, basketball and track-and-field replica equipment will be on public sale.
Idowu, who worked with McCartney on the design, said: “I love what Stella has done with the design. Looking good is psychologically important but my sprint suit is also technically advanced, so not only do I look good but I also have confidence in the technology in the kit.”
The kit will be manufactured in Adidas factories in Turkey, Portugal, the Far East and a small amount in the UK.
What did the athletes tweet?
<noframe>Twitter: Bradley Wiggins - Oh Dear, The Olympic kit!!</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: kelly sotherton - having listened to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/StellaMcCartney" target="_blank">@StellaMcCartney</a> on itv news changing up the union jack is a novel and stylish idea. Obviously my opinion. <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=teamgb" target="_blank">#teamgb</a></noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Louise Hazel - Personally I like the way that Stella has chosen the white striped <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=vajazzle" target="_blank">#vajazzle</a> it's <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=bangontrend" target="_blank">#bangontrend</a></noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: andy turner - So what do u all think of the new Olympic kit? I'm undecided, looks....ok. (Should have a swoosh rather than stripes too)</noframe>
| Stella McCartney |
What is armour called that consisted of riveted metal rings or links | Great Britain is unhappy with their new Olympic uniforms (Pictures) | Larry Brown Sports
Great Britain is unhappy with their new Olympic uniforms (Pictures)
March 23, 2012
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The job of designing Olympic uniforms comes with a ton of pressure. For Stella McCartney, the daughter of the Beatles’ Paul McCartney, the task was especially daunting. Stella is a well-known clothing designer in Great Britain, and her uniform designs for the Summer Olympics in London were released on Thursday. Overall, the kits were not well-received.
McCartney said part of her strategy was to include the colors of the British flag, but many believe she failed to include enough red.
“Massive fail!!!!” one Facebook commenter wrote according to the Daily Mail . “These are not our national colours!!!! Did someone not get the memo.”
“Oh dear! Stella, Stella – did you not think of asking ANYONE on a UK street if they thought it was reasonable for you to take the red off our Union Jack?” another agreed.
Stella insists that she feels very strongly about the British flag and that these uniforms contain more red than any Team Great Britain kit since 1984. Perhaps the general public was expecting perfection since they are hosting the games.
On a separate note, many believe McCartney missed a huge opportunity with the design because research has shown that having red in uniforms can give a team a competitive advantage.
“I think that the GB Olympic designers may have missed an opportunity here to include more red in the design,” clinical sports psychologist Victor Thompson told the Guardian . “This may have helped give the GB wearers a boost psychologically that would be reflected in physical performance – for instance, if the red increased confidence, (positive) aggression and sense that they are dominant, then they are likely to perform closer to their peak performance potential.
“In addition, there may be negative effects on opponents, facing our athletes wearing significant amounts of red, where they assume a less confident and more submissive position in the sporting contests. While these effects are likely to be small, when it comes to the Olympics, the margins between gold and silver, medal and non-medal, are small.”
Whether the uniforms can actually make a competitive difference or not, I’d hate to be Stella McCartney if the British struggle this summer.
GREAT BRITAIN OLYMPIC UNIFORMS 2012
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What is the national day of France called | Stop Calling It Bastille Day! | The Huffington Post
Stop Calling It Bastille Day!
07/11/2015 12:12 pm ET | Updated Jul 11, 2016
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Sidonie Sawyer French-American Features and Travel Writer
When I arrived in the States, around my first month of July in New York, people were talking to me and asking me about Bastille Day.
And I was like: "What is Bastille Day?"
I was familiar with La Bastille in Paris, the dangerous round-about drive on the busy plaza and the gold statue of the naked angel on top -- but I had no idea what Americans were referring to when they smilingly asked about Bastille Day. Was there a special event, a fair, an art exhibit?
But it's YOUR National Day, they replied. No, no, no - It is not! The French National Day is on the 14th of July, and guess what it is called? the 14th of July (le 14 juillet.)
Nobody in France calls it Bastille Day. It's a purely American invention.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say.
"Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête nationale (French pronunciation: [la fɛːt nasjɔˈnal]; The National Celebration) and commonly Le quatorze juillet (French pronunciation: [lə.katɔʁz.ʒɥiˈjɛ]; the fourteenth of July)."
So there.
Yes the storming of the Bastille prison in early morning on another July 14, to free only seven unlawfully held political prisoners was the beginning of the day's events which will lead to the most famous day in French history, but French people do not celebrate the liberation of the Bastille jail, as it was quite a shameful place, and all they did was right a wrong.
France's national holiday is not about the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution. Yes, the fortress/prison was taken down on July 14, 1789, but what the French are celebrating is something that came a year after that, called Fête de la Fédération.
Various dates were contemplated for the celebration -- especially August 4th, the day the feudal system was abolished for good, and the country finally got rid of its kings and kingdom.
July 14th was picked because it is the official day of the Fête de la Fédération, the event of 1790 honoring the brand new French Republic. The national holiday is about national pride: the national bleu-blanc-rouge flag and the national anthem La Marseillaise created to highlight the French values of Liberté, Fraternité and Egalité -- the three foremost rules of the country.
The celebration.
A gigantic military parade on the morning of the 14 juillet honors and displays the armed forces' various branches, with a walking down the famed Champs-Elysées in front of the French president and all the members of the government who can possibly make it.
There are war planes in the sky, horses on the cobblestones, soldiers of every color uniforms, shiny weapons and official attire represented. The sense of pride emanates from these mean and women on the day they get to show off their impeccable discipline manners and sense of service. Thousands are marching under the hot sun, and the TV coverage is watched by millions.
Neighborhood balls held by every firemen's station (Caserne de pompiers) in the country, dancing, singing, food (of course, this is France after all!) and fireworks ending in red, white and blue specials are all over France on the holly day when nobody works.
French citizens, do stand up.
And to celebrate in my own way le Quatorze Juillet, and for those of you who speak a little French, here are the first few lines of the National Anthem La Marseillaise:
"Allons enfants de la Patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé
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What was Commonwealth Day called prior to 1958 | Bastille Day in France
Home Calendar Holidays France Bastille Day
Bastille Day in France
Bastille Day is a day of celebrations of French culture. Many large-scale public events are held, including a military parade in Paris, as well as communal meals, dances, parties and fireworks.
Military airshows have been held in Paris during Bastille Day.
Military airshows have been held in Paris during Bastille Day.
©iStockphoto.com/ cmdawson
Many people attend large-scale public celebrations. These often include:
Military and civilian parades.
Balls.
Spectacular fireworks displays.
There is a large military parade in Paris in the morning of July 14. Service men and women from various units, including cadets from military schools, the French Navy and the French Foreign Legion, participate in the parade. The parade ends with the Paris Fire Brigade. Military aircraft fly over the parade route during the parade. The French president opens the parade and reviews the troops and thousands of people line the route. Other people spend the day quietly and eat a celebratory meal or picnic with family and close friends.
Public Life
Bastille Day is a public holiday in France so post offices, banks, and many businesses are closed. Restaurants and cafes outside of tourist areas may also be closed. However, bakeries and some stores in Paris, as well as at airports and railway stations and along major highways, are open.
Public transport service schedules vary depending on where one lives and intends to travel. Roads in the centers of villages, towns and cities (particularly in Paris) may be closed for parades and other large public events.
Background
The Bastille is a medieval fortress and prison in Paris. Many people in France associated it with the harsh rule of the Bourbon monarchy in the late 1700s. On July 14, 1789, troops stormed the Bastille. This was a pivotal event at the beginning of the French Revolution. Fête de la Fédération was held on July 14, 1790. This was a way to celebrate the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in France.
Official celebrations were held in Paris on June 30, 1878, to honor the Republic of France. On July 14, 1879, more official celebrations were held. These included a military review in Longchamp near Paris and celebrations all over the country. A politician named Benjamin Raspail proposed that July 14 should become a holiday in France in 1880. The law was enacted on July 6, 1880. Bastille Day was a public holiday for the first time on July 14, 1880.
The military parade in Paris has been held every year since 1880, except during World War II. The Free French Forces paraded on this date in London, England from 1940 until 1944. Jean Michel Jarre held a concert in Paris that attracted one million people, then the largest recorded crowd at an outdoor concert, in 1979. Special celebrations were held for the 200th anniversary of the French revolution in 1989. The French football team became world champions on July 12, 1998. This sparked celebrations throughout France on Bastille Day.
Bastille Day celebrations are held in French communities and the Institut de France around the world. Such events in the United States are held in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. There are festivals of French culture in Franschhoek, South Africa, and Hungary.
Symbols
The Eiffel Tower in Paris and the French national flag, or tricolor, are important symbols of Bastille Day. The French national flag is one-and-a-half times as wide as it is tall. It consists of three vertical bands of equal width colored blue, white and red. The same colors are displayed in bunting and banners of many shapes on Bastille Day. People may also wear clothing or face paint in these colors.
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Orangeman’s day in Northern Ireland celebrates victory in which battle | Battle of the Boyne in United Kingdom
Home Calendar Holidays United Kingdom Battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne in United Kingdom
People in Northern Ireland have a bank holiday on or after July 12 to commemorate the Battle of Boyne, which occurred on Ireland’s east coast in 1690. It's also known as "Orangemen's Day", "Orange Day", "the Glorious Twelfth" or just "the Twelfth".
Back of man in black suit and bowler hat
Geared up in a black suit and bowler hat for a march to remember the Battle of the Boyne.
©iStockphoto.com/FILL_IN_USER_NICK_HERE
What Do People Do?
In many towns in Northern Ireland, marches or walks are held by organizations with a Protestant orientation. The marching season lasts from April until August but the Glorious Twelfth (of July), or Orangemen's Day, is particularly important. Many marches are organized by Lodges of the Orange Order and are accompanied by a marching band.
Participants in the walks, or marches, often wear dark suits, although they may remove their jackets if it is hot. Traditionally, they also wore black bowler hats and white gloves, although these are not as common now. The participants also wear collarettes. This type of collarette is made from a long thin piece of cloth, which is draped around the neck of the wearer and joined to form a “V” shape at the front. Many collarettes are made from orange cloth, although there may be other colors. The collarettes bear the number of the lodge that the wearer belongs to and a range of badges showing the person’s positions in or degrees from the lodge.
Many lodges carry at least one flag during the marches. This is normally the Union Flag, sometimes known as the Union Jack, although some carry Scottish, Ulster or Orange Order flags. Many lodges also carry one or more banners. These display the name and number of the lodge on one side. The other side often displays images of William of Orange, deceased lodge members, local landmarks or the bible with a crown.
What's Open or Closed?
Orangemen's Day, or the Glorious Twelfth, is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland. It normally falls on July 12 but if that date is on a Saturday or Sunday, the bank holiday falls on Monday, July 13 or 14. Schools, public offices, many businesses and organizations, and some stores are closed. Public transport services may run on their regular or special holiday timetables.
In some towns and cities there may be local disruption to traffic on Orangemen’s Day as local lodges hold marches, or walks, through certain districts. Orangemen’s Day may be observed and celebrated in other parts of the United Kingdom (Scotland, England and Wales) where it is not a bank holiday.
About the Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was held on July 1, 1690 on the banks of the Boyne River near the town of Dorgheda on the East coast of Ireland. It was a battle between King James VII of Scotland and James II of England and Ireland and his supporters on one side and Prince William of Orange and his followers on the other side. Prince William of Orange won the battle and became King William III.
The Battle of the Boyne has been seen as symbolic of the sectarian struggles between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. King James was seen as representing the Catholics and Prince William was seen to represent the Protestants. This gave the Battle of the Boyne an important symbolic role in Irish politics and life. However, modern analysis of documents from the time suggests that Catholics and Protestants fought on both sides.
Although the Battle of the Boyne is now commemorated on July 12, it was held on July 1, 1690. The shift in the date is due to the changeover from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. In Ireland, the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752 and September 14 followed September 2. Many dates in the calendar were mapped into the new calendar without a correction. However, the Orange orders were suspicious of the Gregorian calendar and its papist connections and continued to march on the corrected date of July 12.
Orangemen’s Day is also celebrated in some areas of the USA and Canada. In the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Orangemen's Day is usually celebrated on the Monday closest to July 12. In some fishing communities the celebrations are held in the winter so fishermen do not lose valuable days at sea during the cod fishing season.
The Orangemen's Day bank holiday in Northern Ireland is proclaimed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The bank holiday falls on July 12. If July 12 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the holiday moves to Monday July 13 or 14.
Battle of the Boyne Observances
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| Battle of the Boyne |
Which Wild West legend was fired as sheriff of Wichita for pocketing fines he'd collected | Irish Flag
What's the Symbolism of the Irish Flag?
History and symbolism of the Irish tricolour
by Borgna Brunner
Rarely has a flag possessed such lasting relevance as that of the "Tricolour," the national flag of the Republic of Ireland . Its three equal stripes illustrate the Irish political landscape as accurately today as in 1848, the year the flag was first unfurled.
orange — standing for Irish Protestants
green — signifying Irish Catholics and the republican cause
white — representing the hope for peace between them
Why Orange?
The color orange is associated with Northern Irish Protestants because of William of Orange (William III), the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland who in 1690 defeated the deposed King James II , a Roman Catholic, in the fateful Battle of the Boyne near Dublin. William III's victory secured Protestant dominance over the island, to the enormous benefit of the 17th-century colonizers of northern Ireland — the English (mainly Anglicans) and Scots (mostly Presbyterians). Sometimes called Orangemen, Protestants in Northern Ireland celebrate the anniversary of the battle each July 12th.
Green for the Emerald Isle?
Green as the color standing for the Irish Catholic nationalists of the south may have something to do with shamrocks and verdant landscapes, but more importantly, green symbolizes revolution. An earlier, unofficial Irish flag —the gold harp on a green background— served from 1798 until the early twentieth century as a symbol of nationalism. As the revolutionary James Connolly wrote, just weeks before he participated in the quixotic Easter Rebellion (1916) that led to his execution by firing squad:
For centuries the green flag of Ireland was a thing accurst and hated by the English garrison in Ireland, as it is still in their inmost hearts...
...the green flag of Ireland will be solemnly hoisted over Liberty Hall as a symbol of our faith in freedom, and as a token to all the world that the working class of Dublin stands for the cause of Ireland, and the cause of Ireland is the cause of a separate and distinct nationality.
—Worker's Republic, April 8, 1916
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Quiz: Irish Literature and Folklore
A Lasting Truce between Orange and Green?
Although it was not adopted as the national flag of Ireland until independence from Britain on December 6, 1921, the Tricolour was first unfurled in public on March 7, 1848, by the militant nationalist Thomas Francis Meagher 1, (the stripes, however, were arranged differently at that time). Explaining the significance of the Tricolour, Meagher expressed a hope for his country that is unfortunately still unrealized today:
The white in the center signifies a lasting truce between the "Orange" and the "Green," and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of the Irish Protestant and the Irish Catholic may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood.
1. Irish revolutionary was just one of Meagher's careers: he was also a prisoner in a Tasmanian penal colony, a New York City lawyer, and a Civil War general for the Union Army.
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Xylography is the art of engraving on which natural substance | xylography - definition and meaning
xylography
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
n. Wood engraving, especially of an early period.
n. The art of printing texts or illustrations, sometimes with color, from woodblocks, as distinct from typography.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
n. The art of making xylographs.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. The art of engraving on wood.
n. The art of making prints from the natural grain of wood.
n. A method pf printing in colors upon wood for purposes of house decoration.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. Engraving on wood: a word used only by bibliographers, and chiefly for the woodcut work of the fifteenth century.
n. A process of decorative painting on wood.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
xylo- + -graphy
Examples
As early as the mid-1950s—first in her paintings and later with her exquisitely textured xylography "Tecelares"—she concentrated on the interplay of forms and background, often provoking our uncertainty in these works as to whether certain shapes are swallowing or being swallowed by the matter surrounding them.
| Wood |
What was Anne of Cleves home town | xylography has this meaning
Xylography \Xy*log"ra*phy\, n. [Xylo- + -graphy: cf. F.
xylographie.]
1. The art of engraving on wood.
2. The art of making prints from the natural grain of wood.
--Knight.
3. A method pf printing in colors upon wood for purposes of
house decoration. --Ure.
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Who was the first person to be buried in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey | Poets' Corner (Westminster Abbey) | Penny's poetry pages Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
Poets' Corner (Westminster Abbey)
Not to be confused with Poets' Corner (website) .
Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, from a 1906 postcard.
Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey because of the good number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there.
The first person to be interred in Poets' Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1556. Over the centuries, a tradition has grown up of interring or memorialising people there in recognition of their contribution to British culture. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the honour is awarded to writers.
Contents
Edit
The first person interred, Geoffrey Chaucer , owed his burial there in 1400 more to his position as Clerk of Works of the Palace of Westminster than to his fame as a writer. The erection of his magnificent tomb, however, by Nicholas Brigham in 1556 (to where Chaucer's remains were then transferred) and the nearby burial of Edmund Spenser in 1599 started a tradition that is still upheld. The area also houses the tombs of several Canons and Deans of the Abbey, as well as the grave of Thomas Parr who, it is said, died at the age of 152 in 1635 after having seen ten sovereigns on the throne.
Burial or commemoration in the Abbey does not always occur at or soon after the time of death. Lord Byron , for example, whose poetry was admired but who maintained a scandalous lifestyle, died in 1824 but was not given a memorial until 1969. Even William Shakespeare , buried at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, was not honoured with a monument until 1740 when one designed by William Kent was constructed in Poets' Corner (though shortly after his death William Basse had suggested Shakepeare should be buried there.) Samuel Horsley , Dean of Westminster in 1796, was said to have tartly refused the request for actress Kitty Clive to be buried in the Abbey:
if we do not draw some line in this theatrical ambition to mortuary fame, we shall soon make Westminster Abbey little better than a Gothic Green Room ! [1]
Not all poets appreciated memorialisation and Samuel Wesley 's epitaph for Samuel Butler , who supposedly died in poverty, continued Butler's satiric tone:
While Butler, needy wretch, was yet alive,
No generous patron would a dinner give;
See him, when starv'd to death, and turn'd to dust,
Presented with a monumental bust.
The poet's fate is here in emblem shown,
He ask'd for bread, and he received a stone.
Some of those buried in Poets' Corner also had memorials erected to them over or near their grave, either around the time of their death or later. In some cases, such as Joseph Addison , the burial took place elsewhere in Westminster Abbey, with a memorial later erected in Poets' Corner. In some cases a full burial of a body took place, in other cases the body was cremated and the ashes buried. There are also cases where there was support for a particular individual to be buried in Poets' Corner, but the decision was made to bury them elsewhere in the Abbey, such as Edward Bulwer Lytton . Other notable poets and writers, such as Aphra Behn , are buried elsewhere in the Abbey. At least two of the memorials (both to individuals buried in Poets' Corner – Rowe and Gay ) were later moved to a location elsewhere in the Abbey due to the discovery of old paintings on the wall behind them.
n 2009 the founders of the Royal Ballet were commemorated in a memorial floor stone and on 25 September 2010 the writer Elizabeth Gaskell was celebrated with the dedication of a panel in the memorial window. [2] Most recently commemorated, on 6 December 2011, with a floor stone, was Poet Laureate Ted Hughes . [3] On 22 November 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, writer C.S. Lewis will be next to be commemorated. [4]
Memorial types
Edit
The memorials can take several forms. Some are stone slabs set in the floor with a name and inscription carved on them, while others are more elaborate and carved stone monuments, or hanging stone tablets, or memorial busts. Some are commemorated in groups, such as the joint memorial for the Brontë sisters (commissioned in 1939, but not unveiled until 1947 due to the war), the sixteen World War I poets inscribed on a stone floor slab and unveiled in 1985, and the four founders of the Royal Ballet , commemorated together in 2009. [5]
The grave of Ben Jonson has the inscription "O Rare Ben Johnson" (sic) on the slab above it. It has been suggested that this could be read "Orare Ben Jonson" (pray for Ben Jonson), which would indicate a deathbed return to Catholicism, but the carving shows a distinct space between "O" and "rare". [6] The fact that he was buried in an upright grave could be an indication of his reduced circumstances at the time of his death [7] but it has also been suggested that Jonson asked for a grave exactly 18 inches square from the monarch and received an upright grave to fit in the requested space. [8]
As floor and wall space began to run out, the decision was taken to install a stained glass memorial window (unveiled in 1994 in memory of Edward Horton Hubbard ), and it is here that new names are added in the form of inscribed panes of glass. There is room for 20 names, and currently (early 2010) there are six names on this window, with a new entry ( Elizabeth Gaskell ) unveiled on 25 September 2010. [2] [2]
Burials
| Geoffrey Chaucer |
Which British motor cycle manufacturer made the C15 | Poets' Corner - Westminster Abbey
Poets' Corner - Westminster Abbey
Poets
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Isaac Rosenberg (1890 - 1918)
Isaac Rosenberg (1890 – 1918) "Isaac Rosenberg’s poems, such as ‘Dead Man ‘s Dump’ and ‘Break of Day in the Trenches’, have been included in every...
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Poets' Corner
Poets' Corner is a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey where a the high number of poets, playwrights, and writers are buried and commemorated.
Note - Links to GENi profiles are Bold; other links are to external webpages.
Some memorials are stone slabs set in the floor with a name and inscription carved on them; others are more elaborate and carved stone monuments, or hanging stone tablets, or memorial busts. Some memorials are commemorated in groups, such as the joint memorial for the Brontë sisters (commissioned in 1939, but not unveiled until 1947 due to the war), the sixteen World War I poets inscribed on a stone floor slab and unveiled in 1985, and the four founders of the Royal Ballet, commemorated together in 2009.
As floor and wall space began to run out a stained glass memorial window was unveiled in 1994 in memory of Edward Horton Hubbard , and it is here that new names are added in the form of inscribed panes of glass. There is room for 20 names; in early 2010 there were six names on this window, with a new entry Elizabeth Gaskell unveiled on 25 September 2010.
The first poet to be interred in Poets' Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1556. There is tradition of interring or commemorating people there in recognition of their contribution to British culture; the honour is awarded overwhelmingly to writers.
Some who are buried in Poets' Corner also had memorials erected to them over or near their grave, either around the time of their death or later. Joseph Addison's burial took place elsewhere in Westminster Abbey, with a memorial later erected in Poets' Corner.
In some cases a full burial of a body took place, in other cases the body was cremated and the ashes buried.
There are also cases where there was support for a particular individual to be buried in Poets' Corner, but the decision was made to bury them elsewhere in the Abbey, an example being Edward Bulwer-Lytton . Other notable poets and writers, such as Aphra Behn , are buried elsewhere in the Abbey. At least two of the memorials (both to individuals buried in Poets' Corner – Nicholas Rowe and John Gay were later moved elsewhere in the Abbey after the discovery of old paintings on the wall behind them.
Examples of Interest
In 2009 the founders of the Royal Ballet were commemorated in a memorial floor stone
25 September 2010 the writer Elizabeth Gaskell was celebrated with the dedication of a panel in the memorial window.
6 December 2011, former Poet Laureate Ted Hughes was commemorated with a floor stone.
22 November 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, writer C. S. Lewis was commemorated with a memorial floor stone.
William Shakespeare , buried at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, was not honoured with a monument until 1740 when one designed by William Kent was constructed in Poets' Corner
Ben Jonson' s grave is not in Poets' Corner, but is in the north aisle of the nave. It has the inscription "O Rare Ben Johnson" (sic) on the slab above it. The fact that he was buried in an upright grave could be an indication of his reduced circumstances at the time of his death but it has also been suggested that Jonson asked for a grave exactly 18 inches square from the monarch and received an upright grave to fit in the requested space. As well as the gravestone in the north aisle of the nave, a wall tablet commemorating Jonson was later erected in Poets' Corner. More details at WIKI
Note - I am up-dating the following lists - CJB
Burials
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What motorway crosses the Pennines linking the A1 with Manchester | Sheffield - Manchester route would be first major cross-Pennines link since M62 | Calendar - ITV News
15 March 2016 at 11:50am
Sheffield - Manchester route would be first major cross-Pennines link since M62
George Osborne is set to announce funding to explore the possibility of a trans-pennine tunnel
Credit: Press Association
Spanning the Pennines has presented a transport challenge for centuries but cost, environmental impact and a sheer lack of ambition have been more of an obstacle than engineering know-how in recent decades.
Now a proposal has been announced to build a Manchester-Sheffield link beneath the Pennines.
Two hundred years ago the hills provided a grand test for great engineers who produced wonders of the industrial revolution like the three-mile-long Standedge canal tunnel and the Ribblehead Viaduct.
But the last major transport link to be built across the Pennines was the M62 motorway, completed in the early 1970s.
Work underway on the M62 in 1967
Credit: Press Association
Since then, scheme after scheme has been little more than a tinkering with a road and rail infrastructure which, with the exception of the M62, was largely developed by the Victorians.
The road links between Sheffield and Manchester - 35 miles apart as the crow flies - provide a clear example of the issues.
There are currently three unsavoury choices.
The 75-mile long motorway route involves taking the M1 the wrong way, almost to Leeds, before joining the overcrowded M62 over the Pennines.
The other two routes - the Woodhead Pass and the Snake Pass - are more direct but take the would-be traveller on single track, winding routes across the high moorland, often closing in the winter due to wind or ice or accidents, or all three.
Woodhead Pass is a treacherous route in bad weather
Credit: Press Association
The M67 - dubbed "the motorway to nowhere" - exemplifies the frustration of the cross-Pennines motorist.
From the M60 Manchester ring road, the M67 heads confidently off towards the Pennine hills and Yorkshire beyond.
But, after just five miles, the motorway stops abruptly at a roundabout in Hyde. This is where a slow crawl of single-carriageway traffic heads towards the Woodhead Pass through Mottram, one of the worst pinch-points on the whole UK road network.
The original plan - half a century ago - was that the M67 would be the start of a trans-Pennine motorway linking Manchester with the M1 in South Yorkshire.
Now, this solution is not even mentioned, such is the inconceivability of driving a six-lane motorway through the Peak District National Park.
The Chancellor's 2016 Budget will provide funding for alternative routes across the Pennines
Credit: Press Association
Instead, the new headline proposal is to tunnel under the Pennines.
Chancellor George Osborne is set to provide £75 million of funding to develop a plan to link Sheffield and Manchester underground.
When the Department for Transport announced it was exploring the feasibility of a major new road link between Sheffield and Manchester in December 2014, it said: "Such a connection could have a dramatic impact on the economy of the north, particularly in combination with plans for high speed rail links.
"It would be capable of fundamentally changing the nature of the journey between two of the most important cities of the north.
"But the invaluable landscapes and ecological significance of the Peak District National Park rule out a surface link. The only credible solution may be to construct a tunnel under the central part of the Pennines."
The M62 motorway under construction in July 1967
Credit: Press Association
Last year, an interim report on such a tunnel outlined the general idea but with no details about routes or terminal locations.
Part of last November's report said: "The tunnel is likely to be longer than most other road tunnels in Europe, and the psychological aspects of travelling through a tunnel of this length are broadly understood.
"However, it is appreciated that we will need to undertake further work to understand driver behaviour and to consider how advances in technology and appropriate tunnel design could help to mitigate this issue."
Last updated Thu 17 Mar 2016
| M62 |
VH is the international aircraft registration for which country | Potential trans-Pennine tunnel among £15bn road schemes | Insider Media Ltd
Potential trans-Pennine tunnel among £15bn road schemes
1 Dec 2014
Yorkshire
A potential trans-Pennine tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester, additional lane capacity for the A1(M) around Doncaster and upgrading the last non-motorway section of the A1 in Yorkshire between Redhouse and Darrington are among projects which have secured a share of £15bn of funding to improve the UK's road network.
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin described it as the "biggest, boldest and most far-reaching roads programme for decades."
Eighteen new schemes have been announced for Yorkshire and the North East which are worth about £2.3bn and could create an estimated 1,500 construction jobs.
The projects include upgrading the A1 in South Yorkshire to raise the last non-motorway section to motorway standard, additional lane of capacity for the A1(M) around Doncaster upgrading the oldest stretch of two-lane motorway still in service, and smart motorways across the Pennines, from Rochdale to Brighouse.
One of the main schemes in Yorkshire is cash for a study to examine the possibility of building a trans-Pennine tunnel between Manchester and Sheffield, as well as a strategic study to examine the feasibility of making the A66 and A69 into dual carriageways.
Elsewhere, improvements are pledged for junction 45 of the M1 to allow increased capacity, and to support the nearby Aire Valley enterprise zone.
There will also be improvements at junctions 1-7 of the M621, with localised widening of sections of the motorway in central Leeds, and a new slip road to provide a direct link from the M62 westbound to the M606 northbound.
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "Today I am setting out the biggest, boldest and most far-reaching roads programme for decades. It will dramatically improve the network and unlock Britain’s economic potential.
"Roads are key to our nation’s prosperity. For too long they have suffered from under-investment."
Chancellor George Osborne added: "Our long term-economic plan means today we can invest £2.3bn into the infrastructure in the North East and Yorkshire to improve, repair and expand our roads. This is all about investing in the northern powerhouse we are seeking to build."
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The TGV is a high speed rail system in which country | Special Trains - TGV | International Rail
Special Trains
Experience the adventure of train travel
TGV
Book Train Tickets on the TGV for a Fast and Scenic Journey to Major French and European Cities
With its fine wines, scenery, fashion and history, France is celebrated as one of the most romantic and sophisticated destinations on the planet. It’s also the perfect country to explore by railway, and when you travel on the TGV network you’re guaranteed a scenic journey that gets you from A to B in comfort and style.
France's high-speed train service
The TGV is a high speed service that will take you all over France linking Paris to over 200 cities including Avignon, Rennes, Nice and Marseille. It also takes you beyond France to cities such as Luxembourg, Brussels, Geneva or Italy.
Popular rail journeys:
| France |
How many contestants are there at the beginning of the UK TV quiz show The Chase | Five of the Fastest Trains in the World | KCET
Five of the Fastest Trains in the World
Associate Producer for Socal Connected.
2012-02-10T13:00:00-08:00
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While politicians, lobbyists and NIMBY-minded residents are still debating the merits and flaws of the approved high-speed rail system that will run from San Francisco to Los Angeles, HSR has been a standard mode of travel in Europe and Asia for decades. Almost half a century after Japan developed the first of its Shinkansen "bullet train" rail lines in 1964, the United States has been slower to adopt this form of transit.
Currently, Amtrak's Acela Express line from Boston to Washington, D.C. is the only operational HSR line in the nation. With average train speeds less than 90 mph, the Amtrak line "does not even qualify as high-speed," according to Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica.
Comparatively, Europe's and Asia's bullet trains rarely travel at average speeds less than 150 mph. The new west coast HSR train is supposed to reach speeds exceeding 200 mph through California's Central Valley, but the United States still has a lot of catching up to do to reach the levels of investment, infrastructure and technological development, and geographical scope achieved by Europe and Asia.
Below are some of the HSR trains from around the world that have left this country in the dust.
JR-Maglev MLX01 — Japan • Top Speed: 361 mph • Rail Type: Maglev
Japan's status as the first adopter of high-speed rail in 1964 has made it a prime innovator and trailblazer in HSR technology. Currently, there is a network of seven Shinkansen passenger and freight bullet train lines spanning the entire country, with the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka as its main artery. As traditional steel-wheels-on-steel-rail technology reaches its limits, however, JR-Central, the trains' owner and operator, has continued its decades-long research into maglev technology, which uses high powered magnets to levitate the train above the rails for faster speeds and reduced friction. Achieved in 2003, the MLX01 train holds the record for fastest train in the world. JR-Central has been investing in infrastructure to develop a maglev rail system independent of the extant Shinkansen network that could attain reliable speeds up to 310 mph. JR hopes to have the Tokyo-Osaka Chuo Shinkansen maglev line running by 2045.
TGV POS — France • Top Speed: 357 mph • Rail type: Conventional Wheel
The TGV POS is the record-setting crown jewel in the fleet of France's Train à Grande Vitesse, a network of rail lines owned and operated by the French national railway corporation, SNCF. The ever-growing TGV rail service is itself part of Rail Europe, the expansive network of lines that extends from the north and east of the continent down to the Mediterranean Sea. The TGV POS, so named for its Paris-Ostfrankreich-Süddeutschland (Paris - Eastern France - Southern Germany) route, is one of the latest operational trains in a long history of bullet trains that were developed in France in the late 1970s. As TGV expanded to neighboring countries, trains like the POS were made to travel at high speeds for longer distances - Paris to Germany, in this case. The V150, a souped-up version of the POS train, was built specifically to break the wheeled rail speed record and did so by clocking in at 357.2 mph (574.8 kph) on the LGV Est line in April 2007. The MLX01 in Japan has this record beat by a mere 4 mph, but the TGV POS still holds the title of fastest wheeled train.
Official Record Video
Shanghai Maglev — China • Top Speed: 311 mph • Rail Type: Maglev
The Shanghai Maglev train runs on an 18-mile stretch of track from the Shanghai Pudong International airport to the western part of the Pudong Region with no stops in between and each trip lasting about eight minutes. The short length of the track lends itself to a high operational speed of 268 mph, which is currently the record for commercial trains. The national railway system China Railway High-Speed (CRH) owns and operates the vast network of rail lines serving the largest population in the world. The cost limitations associated with maglev technology were the main deterrent to maglev infrastructure development. However, China announced that it would couple this with vacuum tube/tunnel technology to create a vacutrain that would reach speeds of 1000 kph (621 mph), almost twice as fast as the the current rail record holder. At an estimated construction cost of $22 million per kilometer, it will prove to be a daunting economic and technological feat, if successful.
CRH380A — China • Top Speed: 302 mph • Rail Type: Conventional Wheel
As China continues as a modern engine of innovation, it has had to face the consequences of developing at breakneck speed. Critics of the country's rail network, the largest in the world, say the speed - both of the trains and infrastructure development - and ambition of HSR projects have had negative, sometimes deadly, results. In July of last year, an accident involving two high speed trains in China's eastern Zhejiang province ended in 40 deaths. There have been issues with overcrowded trains and ticketing malfunctions. Notwithstanding, it is undeniable that Chinese rail authority has become a leader in HSR development. One of latest of the Sino-Shinkansen iterations of the Japanese bullet trains, the CRH380A was tested at a record speed of 302 mph. It is utilized commercially at an operating speed of 186 mph.
ICE V — Germany • Top Speed: 252.8 mph • Rail Type: Conventional Wheel
Though a top speed of 253 mph might not seem impressive comparatively, Germany's InterCityExperiment - Versuch prototype is one of the few European trains not developed in France to have officially exceeded 200 mph. It set that land speed record in 1988. The ICE V test train was the result of a joint effort between the German government and the railway company Deutsche Bundesbahn, which still operates numerous ICE HSR lines throughout Germany under the name Deutsche Bahn. The ICE V served as a model for the modern ICE rail system, now called Intercity Express. The ICE 1 began passenger service in 1991, the same year the record was broken by the TGV Atlantique, a close relative of the POS trains.
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Can you tell the game show from the consolation prize. A toy, a tankard or BFH | Bullseye TV Programme product reviews and price comparison
Disadvantages
Pretty cheesy but a fun programme for a sunday afternoon
This gameshow focusing on the game of darts was around many years ago now and presented by Jim Bowen and I used to love it and watched it regularly. It used to be a very popular show and I used to watch it on Sunday afternoons as it was very easy to sit down and watch. I think it helps to be honest with you if you like darts as I did as it's quite a pigeon-holed quiz dedicated to this activity. I believe that Challenge TV shows repeats of this now and I have to admit I did see a glimpse of it and it's very dated now but that's no surprise when you consider how long ago it was on.
To be fair it was one of those shows that was so cheesy and bad that it was actually good and addictive viewing. Basically there would be three teams at the start with two players on each team. One of those players would be the darts player who played regularly and the other was the non-darts player. Each team would take in turn to throw at a board with categories like books or history for example. They could throw for various points and the nearer the bullseye the more points they could amass if they answered the subsequent question correctly. They not only won cash but also prizes throughout the game.
At the end of the first section of the programme the winning team go through to the final in which they can win prizes on Bully's star board. They then get the choice to risk the prizes they have won for the top prize which most weeks was a speedboat. They would have to score a certain score on the darts board with nine darts or less. It was not always that easy with the non darts player going as well. I must admit I did always find it quite strange that the prize was a speedboat most weeks! The funniest part was where Jim Bowen announced what they could have won had they succeeded and wheels out another boat!
In addition to the game there is also a part in the middle where a professional darts player tries to win money for the charity of the finalist's choice.
I have to admit the show was always amusing and entertaining to me but at the same time does seem very dated when watching nowadays.
| Bullseye |
Who hosted the Channel 4 quiz show Codex | Bullseye | ITV Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
Edit
Bullseye was created and owned by Andrew Wood, who came up with the idea after doing research into aspects which created mass appeal for all viewers in a gameshow.
The series centred on darts , which placed three pairs of contestants (each team with one person to answer questions and one darts player) against one another to win prizes ranging from a new car , a speedboat , a caravan or a luxury holiday to the consolation prizes of a set of darts, a tankard (for male contestants), a silver goblet (for female contestants) and a 'Bendy Bully' a rubber model of the show's mascot.
The show originally aired on Monday nights in September 1981 and produced by ATV. In 1982, Bullseye was moved to Sunday afternoons, with a new co-host, Tony Green , a professional darts commentator, being brought in to keep track of the scores, and it helped to achieve around 17 million viewers.
Bullseye was moved from its traditional Sunday afternoons to Saturday afternoons from 1994 to 1995. A fifteenth series was planned in 1996, but Andrew Wood refused since it required new conditions by the ITV network centre, and he believed it would lose its appeal. [1] After an eleven-year hiatus, Bullseye was revived for a new series, which was recorded for the digital channel Challenge produced by Granada at Yorkshire Television in the Leeds Studios and was hosted by Dave Spikey .
The first four series featured opening titles of Bully jumping out of a sign and walking into a pub to play darts, this was shortened for series 2 onwards, with new theme music and musical beds changed in series 4. From 1985 the titles changed to Bully driving the team coach. This also featured cartoon depictions of Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Dave Whitcombe, Keith Deller, Cliff Lasarenko, Bob Anderson, Jocky Wilson and Mike Gregory at the back of the coach.
By 1993 the opening titles changed again and featured Bully jumping out the sign on the back wall and charging around trashing the set.
The character 'Bully' was ambidextrous. In the opening credits of the show, he was shown to throw his darts with his right hand; however, prior to the advert break midway through the show, he can be seen to write "End of part one" using his left hand.
Jim Bowen once described Bullseye as "the second-best darts-based game-show on television". There are no others.
Contestants
Edit
The revived series presenter Dave Spikey had appeared as a contestant on the show in the 1980s versions.
In 1989, John Cooper appeared on the show. He would later be convicted of multiple burglaries, armed robberies, and, in 2011, following advances in forensic science, two double murders, one rape, and another sexual assault. Footage of his appearance on the show was later used by the prosecution to match him to witness reports at the time.
Rounds
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In round 1, the darts players threw one dart at a board in which each segment represented a different category of question (such as Pot Luck, Faces, Places, Sport, Showbiz, Affairs, History, Books, Words, Britain, Spelling). The first set of questions were worth £30 each, the next set (more difficult) were worth £50, and the final set (more difficult still) were worth £100. The cash prize for hitting the board varied depending on what part of the board was hit; the easiest part of the board to hit won £30, a slightly harder part won £50, a narrow and difficult-to-reach part won £100, and hitting the bullseye won the maximum cash prize of £200 (£150 from 2006). If contestants hit a category which they had not chosen, they would win no money for the throw, and could only win money through answering the question if a question on the category had not already been asked. If a contestant hit a category which had already turned up on that programme, the host would say "The category's gone, so we can't ask the question" and carry on. Another catchphrase would occur when the questions were asked. If a contestant wasn't sure about the answer and said "Is it..." followed by the answer, Bowen would ask "Are you asking me or telling me?". Up to and including series 7, the lowest-scoring couple would be eliminated at the end of the first round, but from series 8 onward, all three couples would stay in the game for the second round.
The dartboard segments in Series 1 in 1981 had lower values - (In order of moving into the board) £30, £10, £20 and the Bullseye was worth £50 (which also give the team the chance to answer any question on the board). The teams earned money by getting the question right to where the dart lands in the corresponding value. It was also preceded by an on-screen "order of play" tournament, which was done off-screen in later series.
Pounds for Points
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In round 2, the darts players threw three darts at a time at a traditional matchplay dartboard, with the highest scoring team given the chance to convert the number of points scored to pounds by answering a general knowledge question. An incorrect answer caused the question to be passed in turn to the second-highest and lowest scoring teams. After three rounds of play the pair with the highest total winnings went through to the next round. The other pairs received a set of darts, a tankard (silver goblet for female contestants), a 'Bendy Bully' and the money that they had won from the two rounds, which was counted during the ad break , with Jim advising the viewers that counting the money would "take me two minutes". He would then say "See you in a couple of throws!" (instead of "See you in a couple of minutes"). In the earlier series, if the throw resulted in a draw then a re-throw by the tied players would take place. In the later series however, the re-throw wouldn't occur and the question would be open to either team on the buzzer.
In the first series the "pounds for points" didn't apply. Whichever team scored the most from throwing three darts, each time would get the chance to answer a choice of a question valued for £25, £50 or £101.
Charity interlude
Edit
Immediately at the start of part 2, a professional darts player or other celebrity threw nine darts, with the score converted to money for the charity of the final contestant's choice. A score of 301 or over was doubled. At the end of the series, (Series 5 onward) the darts player who got the highest score in the series received a 'Bronze Bully' trophy. In the earlier years of the show (up to and including series 4) celebrity players were given a 60 head-start; between then and series 14, the charity segment was exclusive to professional dart players. Celebrity players invariably performed poorly. Such stars would usually offer to 'add some of their own money' to increase the prize fund from, say, 20 pounds, to 80 pounds or so. Officially the highest score is 401 held by Alan Evans and the lowest was 95 by Cliff Lazarenko. The first player on the show to achieve 301 or more with nine darts, was professional darts player Linda Batton, who scored 304 on the second show of the first series.
Bronze Bully Trophy winners
Edit
In this round the final pair were faced with a large prize board containing large black segments, smaller red segments and a large red bullseye. They threw nine darts (three for the non-dart player and six for the dart player) and won a prize for each red segment they hit (however, if they hit a red segment twice, the prize was lost – hence the catchphrase "Keep out of the black, and in the red; there's nothing in this game for two in a bed". However, they could win the prize back by hitting it again). Sometimes though, in special charity episodes, contestants did win the prize twice. The bullseye represented 'Bully's Special Prize'.
The prize board has become the butt of jokes since the programme's original demise because of the perceived poor quality of prizes on offer, but it should be pointed out that for most of the programme's original run prize values were restricted by the Independent Broadcasting Authority . Although some prizes (such as a remote-controlled toy car or legendary "TV with wired remote control") were laughed at by the studio audience even then, smaller prizes were taken for granted at the time, and they seemed relatively lavish compared to those on offer in BBC game shows such as Blankety Blank . In a 2006 episode, Bully's Special Prize was a fully functional Bullseye Fruit Machine , quite possibly the most valuable prize in the show's history not to be the mystery Star Prize – however the contestants promptly lost it after doing badly in the final round.
During series 1, the prize board had a green-red colour scheme however this was replaced in series 2 with the board that would remain for the rest of the series.
In the 1991 Christmas special of the show, Dennis Priestley and John McCririck playing as a professional darts player/celebrity guest combination managed a 100% record with their nine collective darts taking out all eight main prizes and Bully's special prize, all of which went to nominated charities across the UK.
Bully's Star Prize Gamble
Edit
Having completed Bully's Prize Board, the winning pair had "the time it takes the board to revolve" to decide whether to gamble their winnings from the prize board for the mystery Star Prize which was "hiding behind Bully" (in reality, hidden behind a screen in the studio adorned with the Bullseye logo). From series 11 onward, they also had to gamble the money they had won earlier in the show (it was at this point that the phrase "all you'll win is your BFH – Bus Fare Home" came about). If they gambled, they then had to score 101 or more on a standard matchplay dart board with six darts (three darts each & non dart-player first - i.e. the question answerer). Contestants who failed to reach 101 were then invited to "come and have a look at what you could have won", by Jim. Jim's assistants would then wheel out the Star Prize from behind a screen to the sounds of a remixed "sad" version of the theme music, while the audience enjoyed the losing contestants' astonished faces of despair.
If the couple who took part in Bully's Prize Board refused to gamble (inevitably ducking out claiming that they'd already had a "smashing day, Jim" and would like "to give the others a chance"), the second-placed couple from the second round was asked to gamble their money. If the second couple declined, the third couple was asked. On the rare occasions that no couple took up the gamble - (this happened for the very first time in Series 4), the Star Prize was revealed and the show ended. The Star Prize was usually a holiday (especially in later series), a car, a caravan or a speedboat. Sometimes in the earlier series, less lavish Star Prizes (fitted kitchens and the like) were given away so as to fit within the IBA 's prize limits. In the last two series, after prize limits had been lifted, the Star Prize would sometimes be "Bully's Treasure Chest" of £5,000.
If in the rare case that both the second and third place couples had tied on equal points (prior to series 7), then both would be asked if they wanted to gamble. If both said yes, then the dart players would each throw three darts at the standard dartboard, the higher scorer winning.
On the show, it was never made clear if the two winning contestants had to share the Star Prize or if they got one each.
Revival
Edit
Bullseye was one of several game shows to be released as an interactive DVD game for Christmas 2005, although the game did not feature the voice of Jim Bowen, and 'Bully' was redesigned. A Bullseye board game was made around the same time. A 'Classic Bullseye' DVD game was released the following year, which featured the voices of both Jim Bowen and Tony Green and also classic footage from the show. A second edition of the board game was also released in 2006.
In 2005, it was announced that programme creator Andrew Wood had signed a contract with Granada Media for Granada to produce a one-hour long celebrity special Bullseye show to be hosted by Ant & Dec . This Bullseye special was part of Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon , in turn part of ITV’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and was aired on ITV on 22 October 2005. Vernon Kay and Coronation Street star William Roache were the contestants, accompanied by professional darts players Eric Bristow and Andy Fordham , while Tony Green reprised his role as co-host.
Subsequently, as part of a six-month exclusive option agreement signed by Wood, Granada decided that a new series of Bullseye would be produced early the following year. On 25 January 2006, it was announced that Challenge had won the rights to show the new series. On 14 March 2006, it was announced that the show was to be hosted by comedian Dave Spikey , despite tabloid rumours that it would be presented by Ant & Dec or Peter Kay . Bully was also redesigned for the new series, albeit very similar to the Bully used in the original series.
Bullseye returned to the UK on Challenge at 10pm on 17 April 2006. The show maintained the style of prizes from the original — none of the cash prizes had increased in value since the first show, although the bullseye on the category board had decreased to £150 from the £200 of the original series. Some of the prizes from Bully's Prize Board were of more modern gameshow standard, such as a TFT television and an MP3 player. Dave Spikey and Tony Green commented on BBC Radio 1 's Colin and Edith show on 19 April 2006: "...[Bullseye is] The only gameshow on the television in which the prizes get a round of applause..." then joked around about some of the more "naff" prizes on the show.
The revived series was, unlike many other game show revivals in the UK, strikingly similar to the original series. Whilst refreshed, the show maintained the original theme music and stings and used a near-identical set of opening titles to the original series, which sees Bully driving a bus before ejecting his seat and holding onto a flying dart. A cartoon version of Dave Spikey replaced Jim's in the titles.
The first series of the Challenge revival ran for fifteen episodes (one each weeknight) until 5 May 2006. The second series began on 4 September 2006, also running for fifteen episodes (again one each weeknight). However, there was no further production afterwards.
On 19 May 2007, another one-hour long celebrity special was aired on ITV, this time as part of Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon. This time the contestants were newsreader Andrea Catherwood , footballer Graeme Le Saux and another Coronation Street star, Michael Le Vell , paired with professional darts players Martin Adams , Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld respectively. Once again, Tony Green reprised his co-host role. Strangely, Bowen did not appear on the Bullseye episode; instead, he appeared on the marathon's remake of The Golden Shot , acting as "Bowen the Bolt" (instead of "Bernie the Bolt"). At one point, he did make the comment to Kay, "Vernon, this is a bit like Bullseye used to be...throwing arrows for prizes!"
Theme music
Edit
The theme music for the show was written by John Patrick, who was Head of music department at ATV and Central .
The show was unusual in having two different closing theme tune arrangements — a rapid, upbeat version (in the style of Spike Jones , complete with comical sound effects) played when the contestants won the Star Prize, and a more bluesy one in a minor key played when they lost or nobody took the gamble.
Presenters
| i don't know |
Where is the US Masters Golf tournament always held | Masters Preview: Our Picks To Win - Golf Digest
Alex Myers, Associate Editor at GolfDigest.com.
The goal is to put together five-man teams for a contest that will reward not only picking the winner, but the best collective performance. We hope our selections can also be of use to you, no matter what type of fantasy league or Masters pool you might be a part of. The draft order -- aka the Tiger Woods sweepstakes -- was determined by picking names out of a hat, and Ms. Mayo was the lucky lottery winner.
1. Ashley Mayo: Surprise, surprise, I'm going with Tiger Woods. The man is rolling the ball better than anyone on tour
. Literally. He leads all other golfers in the all-important strokes gained putting statistic, and consider this: he made 35 putts of eight feet or longer in his last two starts, and on Saturday at Bay Hill, he made 17 out of 18 putts within 20 feet. At a venue that rewards not only length (which Tiger clearly has) but also precision on the greens, Tiger is undeniably the guy to beat.
2. Alex Myers: Nooooooo! You picked Tiger?! Sigh. OK, I'll take Augusta's No. 2 man of this generation, Phil Mickelson. Lefty showed he has as much firepower as ever when he torched TPC Scottsdale earlier this year for a 28-under total and has showed similar spurts since at Doral and in Houston. Mickelson always seems to play well at Augusta (nine top 5s in the past 12 years) and if not for a wayward tee shot on the par-3 fourth hole on Sunday last year, we'd probably be talking about him going for a fifth green jacket this year.
3. Sam Weinman: A four-time Masters champ and a three-time champ go 1 and 2. You guys are BOLD. I'm going with the mercurial Dustin Johnson, who when he's not off galavanting with Paulina Gretzky
, has proven to be capable of some stellar golf this year. Needless to say, he's plenty long to take advantage of Augusta's par 5s.
4. Geoff Shackelford: Mercurial? I suppose you could say that for Brandt Snedeker's rib, but his putter is anything but and if he's healthy enough, this former contender here has to be a top pick going in. Draw a line through the missed cuts at Bay Hill and Houston, his game is built for majors and he'll be ready.
5. Geoff (continued): As for my second pick, Justin Rose is not terribly daring because the World No. 3 seems to be everyone's second choice behind Tiger. Rose has been the most consistent golfer over the last year and though he seems to keep finishing second, he sports T-11 and T-8 finishes in his last two Masters and is must to include on your ticket.
6. Sam: You can have Justin Rose. From what I recall he starts out Masters great. Finishing them? Not so much. I will take Mr. Permagrin, Matt Kuchar, who has picked up two big wins in the past year, and made some noise at Augusta as well. A Masters win would hardly be a surprise.
Related: Augusta National's unwritten rules
7. Alex: Darn. I almost took Kuchar with my first pick. OK, I'll bite and take the world's No. 2 player, Rory McIlroy. It is the SEVENTH pick after all. Sure, he's off to a lackluster start to the 2013 season, but he's got the talent to turn things around in a hurry like he did last year at the PGA Championship. Besides, D.A. Points just won after not having finished better than T-63 in his first nine starts of the year.
8. Ashley: With a gaze like Keegan Bradley's, I've gotta go with him for my second pick. He started the year pretty poorly, but the in-your-face Ryder Cupper has clearly regained his game and his confidence. We know he can win a major, so if he can continue his steady play he'll have the wherewithal to stay cool on the back nine at Augusta on Sunday.
9. Ashley (continued): Next, I like Bill Haas. I'm picking him for three main reasons: One, Alex doesn't ever stop talking about him (man crush, I think); two, because he's lurked on the first page of the leader board for a few consecutive weeks now, recording three top-10 finishes in his last three starts; and three, because he's proven he knows how to handle pressure. A flop shot from a lake to save par and win 10 million bucks? NO PROBLEM.
10. Alex: I can't believe you took my man Haas! I hope he plays great the first three rounds because Sundays are not his forte. I'll continue my onslaught of overlooked, high-ranked players by picking Luke Donald. An erratic driver of the ball, but a wizard with the putter, Donald seems most suited to collect his first major championship at Augusta National.
11. Sam: Oh, I'm sorry. Am I up? I was just nodding off after your selection of Luke Donald. Me, I'm going with Louis Oosthuizen, since we all know the guy who loses in a playoff one year usually comes back to win the event the next. OK, so that NEVER happens. But I still like Louis...
12. Geoff: Wow. Dulled by Luke Donald and then playing the Oosthuizen card, the man in drab brown! I will counter your Louis with another South African who is playing much better, Charl Schwartzel. He cooled off a bit from his pre-Match Play streak but he's still landing in top 10s and appears to be in great form. I wasn't wild about him going halfway around the world to the same money grab as Luke Donald just two weeks before the Masters, but he's won at Augusta and Luke Donald hasn't.
13. Geoff (continued): My second pick goes against my instinct to select someone with an iffy short game or for sentimental reasons, but I love Lee Westwood's form of late and his approach to 2013. He's got the length, he has the Augusta track record and he says his short game is "brilliant" right now. He's moved to Florida this year with the Masters in mind and either he'll put too much pressure on himself or the improved route to Magnolia Lane will pay off.
14. Sam: From one major-less Englishman to another, I'm going with Ian Poulter. He's sniffed around in majors before -- including a seventh place finish at the Masters last year -- but I think it's Poulter's Ryder Cup success that has prepped him for the next step. Plus, he is the golfer most likely to wear tartan with the green jacket, which has got to count for something.
15. Alex: Love the Louis pick, but the memory of my close call last year (I had him at 90-to-1) was too painful to risk going through that again. I will take another guy with recent major scar tissue, though, and grab Adam Scott, who has been T-8 and T-2 at the Masters the past two years. The Aussie has apparently figured out Augusta's greens -- at least, until he isn't allowed to anchor his putter anymore.
16. Ashley: Alex, I hope you're right. I wouldn't mind seeing lots and lots of that dreamy Aussie on-air over the weekend. But, I digress. My fourth pick is Hunter Mahan. His missed cut at the Shell Houston Open aside, he's already finished in the top 10 twice this year. He and his putter are getting along well, which is important at the Masters. I just worry that those rap songs stuck in his head might not mesh well with Augusta's prim and proper fairways.
Related: The most important clubs in Masters history
17. Ashley (continued): My final pick is the jaded Spaniard formerly known as El Nino. With a scoring average below 70, Sergio Garcia is having one of his best seasons, mostly because his putter is finally working. Combining that with his always-impressive iron game might make him the last man standing. So we've made almost all of our picks and none of us have chosen the current Masters Champion? That's, um, interesting.
18. Alex: Thanks for reminding me! I've based my entire draft on value picks, so why stop now? I'll take the pink driver-wielding, hovercraft-driving
lefty who became a legend with his hooked wedge from the pine straw last year. Bubba Watson has been relatively quiet this year, but his five top-20s in six starts indicates he's close to another breakthrough.
19. Sam: Well, SOMEONE has to pick a dark horse, so I'll take a flyer on Steve Stricker. He's supposedly tapering down his schedule, but that's all the more reason to think he might be in the right frame of mind to contend at Augusta -- especially given his prowess as a putter. More to the point, I'm looking for back-to-back prolific criers to don the green jacket. A Stricker win will produce more tears than the end of "Titanic."
20. Geoff: Who knew a top 10 player in the world is a dark horse? Stricker is a nice choice and I would have picked him if he averaged about twenty more yards off the tee, but in the post-Hootie era, the course is too much for non-bombers. I'll finish things off with a man whose game finally started to perk up on the Florida swing and says he's refreshed after a short break: Nicolas Colsaerts. The Belgian certainly qualifies as a long hitter and he contended at the U.S. Open last year.
OK, well that wraps it up for us -- hopefully, we didn't leave out the eventual winner! Good luck and enjoy the tournament.
| Augusta |
Where is the Horse of the Year show staged | 2017 Masters Travel, The Masters Golf Packages, Masters Tickets & Tours, Badges, House Rentals
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Masters Golf Tournament Travel Package
The PGA Tour might have four Majors, but many would argue that one of them stands above the rest, and that’s the Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. With its iconic green jacket and long and storied history, the Masters Golf Tournament truly is a tradition unlike any other, as CBS likes to remind viewers at every chance it gets. But why sit at home and watch it on TV when you can actually be there to see it live and in person with one of the Masters packages from SportsTravel.com? Our Masters travel packages include everything you need: Masters badges, area hotel reservations, ground transportation, special events and more. We have a wide variety of Masters Golf Tournament golf packages to choose from, including Augusta Golf Tournament practice round packages and private home packages.
Unlike the other golf majors, the Masters Golf Tournament has very tight restrictions on the number of Masters badges that are available. It is virtually impossible to buy Masters badges directly from Augusta National, so it makes a lot of sense to buy a Masters travel package. Just imagine how it would feel to be sitting there at “Amen Corner” watching golfing greats like Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods battle for the most prestigious golf tournament in the world. One of the best things about attending the Augusta National is that you don’t need to worry about overcrowding. Augusta National places a premium on the fan experience, so they limit Masters ticket sales to a very low number so that the galleries do not get too big. And if you can’t make it in 2017, try the 2018 Masters Golf Tournament.
SportsTravel.com specializes in providing the ultimate travel packages to some of the biggest sports events in the world, so after you experience Augusta National then be sure to check out our Super Bowl packages , U.S. Open Tennis packages and Kentucky Derby packages .
“SportsTravel.com is not sponsored by, affiliated with, or a partner of the Masters or Augusta National, Inc. SportsTravel.com is an independent global sports travel and event management company that is a re-seller of tickets and a provider of corporate and fan travel packages and hospitality events.”
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| i don't know |
In which area of France is The Camargue | Camargue Horses
Camargue Horses
As the name suggests, these horses come from the Camargue , a wetland area at the mouth of the River Rhône . They constitute a distinct breed, which, like the Camargue bulls, live in semi-liberty. The Camargue horse is one of the oldest breeds in the world, closely related to the prehistoric horses whose remains have been found elsewhere in southern France. At birth they are coloured dark brown or black, but turn white around the fourth year (In layman's terms they are white horses, but to horsy folk they are grey, since they are not uniformly pure white all over).
Like the Camargue bulls , they are smaller than their modern cousins. At around thirteen or fourteen hands they are technically ponies. They are used in rounding up Camargue bulls. They are never stabled, but well able to survive the humid summer heat and the biting winter cold.
Riders are called gardians. Gardians are as near to anyone comes nowadays to living the cowboy way of life. They play a major role in guarding Camarguais traditions. They live in traditional cabanes, thatched and windowless single-storey structures furnished with bulls' horns over the door to ward off evil spirits. A guardien's traditional tools are a trident and a black hat.
The Camargue is a rugged horse that breeds true to type. They are lively but have a good natureand are particularly suited for riding. They have an even-temper but are lively, agile, brave and hardy. They will travel long distances with ease and are capable of enduring extreme weather and extended periods without food. Their broad hooves are evolutionary adaptions to their wet environment. Camargues are not shod.
Camarges are used to manage the bull herds. They also provide visitors with the opportunity to explore the Camargue region on horseback. Camargue horses thrive in Sea water - they are often called "the horse of the sea" .
These horses represent one of the oldest breeds in the world. They are bred in an area bounded by Montpellier to the west, Tarascon to the north and Fos to the east, passing through Salon-de-Provence, an area which encompasses the "Ile de Camargue ", the plains of the Gard and the Hérault , and part of the Crau.
The breed has existed in the area since prehistoric times. Its origins are shrouded in mystery. It may be descended from the extinct Soutré horse, whose bones (datinf from 17,000 years ago) have been found in the southeast of France. Horse images in Paleolithic cave paintings at Lascaux provide further evidence of Prehistoric horses in south-western France. Many peoples have settled in the Camargue , including the Celts , Greeks , Phoenicians, Romans , Visigoths , Moors , and Franks. The horses brought with these peoples may well have influenced the Camargue breed over time. Today the breed is strictly protected.
Like most horses (but not all!), the the Camargue horse is a herbivore. The teeth are adapted for eating grasses and herbs: incisors tear the plants and premolars behind the incisors chew them. In spring the Camargue horse grazes on new shoots of tall reeds, and on an indigenous plant called samphire. In winter they survive on dried grass and goosefoot, a plant too tough for most grazing animals. The horses' behaviour is regulated by the amount of food available. When it is scarce the Camargue horse may graze for up to 22 hours a day. When it is plentiful, it will graze only at dawn and dusk.
Horses of the Camargue run wild - or at least semi-wild - in small herds consisting of one stallion, his mares and progeny. Fillies are usually caught and branded as yearlings and colts considered unsuitable for breeding are gelded at three years old. Breeding is semi-wild but under supervision of the Biological Research Station of la Tour du Valat. Scientists have been able to observe the social interactions and lifestyles of Camargue horses contributing to our understanding of equine behaviour.
Camargue horses are gereraly born either black or brown, but turn grey with maturity at around 4 years. An adult stands between 13 - 14 hands.
Large square head with a straight or slightly convex profile.
eyes are large and expressive
ears are broad and short with a broad base.
neck is short and muscular, deep at the base. mane and tail are long and thick.
withers are pronounced
back is straight and short.
croup is short and narrow
chest wide and deep.
shoulder is straight and short;
The legs are extremely hardy with clean joints, a long forearm, and very good hooves.
Association des Eleveurs de Chevaux de Race Camargue
Mas du Pont de Roustry, 13 200 Arles, France
Tel: +33 (0) 4 90 97 86 32,
Fax: +33 (0) 4 90 97 70 82
Sexual Maturity: Female, 18 months. Male, 1-2 years.
Mating: Late spring
| Provence |
You have all eaten Fray Bentos products but in which country is Fray Bentos | The Camargue | Provence Guide | Rough Guides
Europe » France » Provence » West Provence » The Camargue
Spreading across Rhône delta, defined by the Petit Rhône to the west, the Grand Rhône to the east, and the Mediterranean to the south, the drained, ditched and now protected land known as the Camargue is distinct from the rest of Provence. With land, lagoon and sea sharing the same horizontal plain, its horizons appear infinite, its boundaries unseen.
The whole of the Camargue is a Parc Naturel Régional, which sets out to balance tourism, agriculture, industry and hunting against the indigenous ecosystems. When the Romans arrived, the northern part of the Camargue was a forest; they felled the trees to build ships, then grew wheat. These days, especially since the northern marshes were drained and re-irrigated after World War II, the main crop is rice.
The Camargue is split into two separate sections by the large Étang du Vaccarès, a lagoon that’s out of bounds to visitors. Most people focus their attention on the western Camargue, home to the sizeable town of Stes-Maries-de-la-Mer, and also commercial attractions such as wildlife parks and activity operators. It is possible, however, to take a quick look at both the western and eastern halves of the Camargue within a single day.
Find out more
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What is Italy's national flower | 50 Italy Fun Facts - Melange Travel
50 Italy Fun Facts
written by robin June 11, 2010
1. Italy has three active volcanoes: Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli.
2. Italy is often called the Bel Paese, which mean beautiful country.
3. Italy is home to the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites – more than 40.
4. Italy has 20 regions and 6 islands.
5. Italy speaks a national language, which was based on the Tuscan dialect, but each region still speaks its own dialect.
6. The Vatican is a separate sovereign nation, its own country.
7. Italy is slightly larger than Arizona.
8. The thermometer is an Italian invention.
9. The piano hails from Italy.
10. With almost 40 million visitors, Italy is the fourth most visited country in the world.
11. The average Italian consumes 26 gallons of wine a year.
12. The typewriter is an Italian invention.
13. Italy did not become a united country until 1861.
14. The Italian Wolf is considered the national animal of Italy.
15. Italy has over 3,000 museums.
16. The national sport of Italy is soccer (known as football outside of America).
17. Italy’s national dish is pasta.
18. Napoleon spent his first exile on the Italian island of Elba.
19. The vespa scooter was invented in Italy in 1946.
20. Italy has the most hotel rooms of any European nation.
21. Everyday 3,000€ gets tossed into the Trevi Fountain.
22. Italy’s national flower is the Lily.
23. Sixty percent of the world’s art treasures are in Italy.
24. Opera was created in Italy.
25. Bubonic Plague killed one-third of the Italian population in the 14th century.
26. Italy has won the World Cup four times.
27. The average consumption of pasta in Italy is 25 kg per person per year.
28. The violin and the cello were both invented in Italy.
29. Italian pizza originated in Naples during the 18th century.
30. Italy holds the Guiness record for having the most elevators.
31. The national bird of Italy is Bluebird.
32. Italy is famous for its sports cars like Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Lamborghini.
33. The oldest European university in continuous operation is the University of Bologna, founded in 1088.
34. Italians invented optical eye glasses.
35. Italy has been making wines for over 2800 years.
36. The oldest film festival in the world, beginning in 1932, is the Venice Film Festival.
37. Italy has more famous fashion designers than any other country.
38. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were set in Italy, including Romeo and Juliet from Verona.
39. Carabinieri uniforms are designed by Valentino.
40. The highest point in Italy is Mont Blanc, in the alps at 15,770 feet.
41. The longest river in Italy is the Po.
42. Italy is the largest wine-producing country in the world.
43. Italy has hosted the Olympic Games three times.
44. The patron saint of Italy is Saint Francis of Assisi.
45. The national Italian airline is called Alitalia.
46. The largest white truffle in a half century weighing over 3 pounds,was unearthed near Pisa, Italy.
47. Italy is home to some of the world’s greatest composers, like Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini.
48. The espresso machine was invented in Italy.
49. Venice has over 400 footbridges.
50. The oldest olive tree in Italy, in Umbria is reportedly over 1700 yrs old.
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| Lilium |
What is the largest city in Canada | 50 Italy Fun Facts - Melange Travel
50 Italy Fun Facts
written by robin June 11, 2010
1. Italy has three active volcanoes: Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli.
2. Italy is often called the Bel Paese, which mean beautiful country.
3. Italy is home to the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites – more than 40.
4. Italy has 20 regions and 6 islands.
5. Italy speaks a national language, which was based on the Tuscan dialect, but each region still speaks its own dialect.
6. The Vatican is a separate sovereign nation, its own country.
7. Italy is slightly larger than Arizona.
8. The thermometer is an Italian invention.
9. The piano hails from Italy.
10. With almost 40 million visitors, Italy is the fourth most visited country in the world.
11. The average Italian consumes 26 gallons of wine a year.
12. The typewriter is an Italian invention.
13. Italy did not become a united country until 1861.
14. The Italian Wolf is considered the national animal of Italy.
15. Italy has over 3,000 museums.
16. The national sport of Italy is soccer (known as football outside of America).
17. Italy’s national dish is pasta.
18. Napoleon spent his first exile on the Italian island of Elba.
19. The vespa scooter was invented in Italy in 1946.
20. Italy has the most hotel rooms of any European nation.
21. Everyday 3,000€ gets tossed into the Trevi Fountain.
22. Italy’s national flower is the Lily.
23. Sixty percent of the world’s art treasures are in Italy.
24. Opera was created in Italy.
25. Bubonic Plague killed one-third of the Italian population in the 14th century.
26. Italy has won the World Cup four times.
27. The average consumption of pasta in Italy is 25 kg per person per year.
28. The violin and the cello were both invented in Italy.
29. Italian pizza originated in Naples during the 18th century.
30. Italy holds the Guiness record for having the most elevators.
31. The national bird of Italy is Bluebird.
32. Italy is famous for its sports cars like Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Lamborghini.
33. The oldest European university in continuous operation is the University of Bologna, founded in 1088.
34. Italians invented optical eye glasses.
35. Italy has been making wines for over 2800 years.
36. The oldest film festival in the world, beginning in 1932, is the Venice Film Festival.
37. Italy has more famous fashion designers than any other country.
38. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were set in Italy, including Romeo and Juliet from Verona.
39. Carabinieri uniforms are designed by Valentino.
40. The highest point in Italy is Mont Blanc, in the alps at 15,770 feet.
41. The longest river in Italy is the Po.
42. Italy is the largest wine-producing country in the world.
43. Italy has hosted the Olympic Games three times.
44. The patron saint of Italy is Saint Francis of Assisi.
45. The national Italian airline is called Alitalia.
46. The largest white truffle in a half century weighing over 3 pounds,was unearthed near Pisa, Italy.
47. Italy is home to some of the world’s greatest composers, like Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini.
48. The espresso machine was invented in Italy.
49. Venice has over 400 footbridges.
50. The oldest olive tree in Italy, in Umbria is reportedly over 1700 yrs old.
—
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Who was the town drunk in Tom Sawyer | Character List
Character List
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Tom Sawyer The main character of the novel. Everything revolves around him, and, except for a few brief chapters, he is present in every chapter.
Aunt Polly Tom's aunt and legal guardian. She loves Tom dearly, but she does not know how to control him.
Sidney Tom's half brother who plays the role of the obedient boy but who is, in reality, a sneak and a tattletale.
Mary Tom's cousin. She likes Tom very much but wants to change him and resorts to bribing him to be good.
Becky Thatcher The pretty new girl to whom Tom is attracted. When trapped in the cave, she proves to be resolute and worthy of Tom's affections.
Huckleberry Finn (Huck) The son of the town drunk, Huck has been the outcast from society his entire life. The adults look upon him as a disgrace and a bad influence; the youngsters look at him with envy because he has complete freedom to do whatever he likes.
Widow Douglas The wealthiest person in the town, she is good, kindhearted, and generous. Because of her nature, Injun Joe's planned revenge--mutilating her--becomes that much more horrible. She is saved by the activities of Huck Finn and becomes his guardian.
Injun Joe He is the villain, the essence of evil in the novel.
Muff Potter The harmless old drunk who is framed for Dr. Robinson's murder (which was actually committed by Injun Joe).
Joe Harper Tom's closest friend and second in command in Tom's adventures. He is not as clever as Tom is, nor is he the leader that Tom is. On Jackson's Island, Joe is the first to want to return to the security of home.
Judge Thatcher (and Mrs. Thatcher) Becky's parents who are highly esteemed members of the community. The Judge uses his authority to seal up the opening to the cave to protect other youngsters and, in doing so, inadvertently seals up Injun Joe.
Mr. Dobbins The schoolmaster. At the end of the school year, the entire school conspires to play a trick on him.
Mr. Walters The Sunday school superintendent who is overly dedicated to his job.
The Reverend Mr. Sprague The pastor of the village church.
Alfred Temple A new boy from St. Louis. Becky uses him to make Tom jealous.
Willie Mufferson The "model boy" for all of the parents and a despicable creature to all the boys.
Amy Lawrence Tom's sweetheart--until he meets Becky Thatcher.
Dr. Robinson The young doctor who is murdered while trying to obtain a body for medical studies.
Mr. Jones (or the Welshman) He and his sons are instrumental in saving the Widow Douglas from the vicious Injun Joe.
| The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
What is cryptology the study of | SparkNotes: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Context
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain
Table of Contents
Plot Overview
Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, in 1835, and grew up in nearby Hannibal, a small Mississippi River town. Hannibal would become the model for St. Petersburg, the fictionalized setting of Twain’s two most popular novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The young Clemens grew up in a prosperous family—his father owned a grocery store as well as a number of slaves—but he was sent out to work at the age of twelve after his father’s death. As a young man, he traveled frequently, working as a printer’s typesetter and as a steamboat pilot. In this latter profession he gained familiarity with the river life that would furnish much material for his writing. He also gained his pen name, Mark Twain, which is a measure of depth in steamboat navigation.
Twain enlisted in the Confederate militia in 1861, early in the Civil War, but he soon left to pursue a career in writing and journalism in Nevada and San Francisco. His articles and stories became immensely popular in the decades that followed. On the strength of this growing literary celebrity and financial success, he moved east in the late 1860s and married Olivia Langdon, the daughter of a prominent Elmira, New York, family. Twain and Langdon settled in Hartford, Connecticut; there Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which he published in 1876. Twain proceeded to write, among other things, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) and two sequels to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894) and Tom Sawyer, Detective (1896). He died in 1910, one of America’s most beloved humorists and storytellers.
While The Adventures of Tom Sawyer retains some of the fragmented, episodic qualities of Twain’s earlier, shorter pieces, the novel represents, in general, a significant literary departure for Twain. He toned down the large-scale social satire that characterized many of his earlier works, choosing instead to depict the sustained development of a single, central character. Twain had originally intended for the novel to follow Tom into adulthood and conclude with his return to St. Petersburg after many years away. But he was never able to get his hero out of boyhood, however, and the novel ends with its protagonist still preparing to make the transition into adult life.
Twain based The Adventures of Tom Sawyer largely on his personal memories of growing up in Hannibal in the 1840s. In his preface to the novel, he states that “[m]ost of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred” and that the character of Tom Sawyer has a basis in “a combination . . . of three boys whom I knew.” Indeed, nearly every figure in the novel comes from the young Twain’s village experience: Aunt Polly shares many characteristics with Twain’s mother; Mary is based on Twain’s sister Pamela; and Sid resembles Twain’s younger brother, Henry. Huck Finn, the Widow Douglas, and even Injun Joe also have real-life counterparts, although the actual Injun Joe was more of a harmless drunk than a murderer.
Unlike Twain’s later masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer concerns itself primarily with painting an idyllic picture of boyhood life along the Mississippi River. Though Twain satirizes adult conventions throughout The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, he leaves untouched certain larger issues that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn explores critically. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer never deals directly with slavery, for example, and, while the town’s dislike of Injun Joe suggests a kind of small-town xenophobia (fear of foreigners or outsiders), Injun Joe’s murders more than justify the town’s suspicion of him. Because it avoids explicit criticism of racism, slavery, and xenophobia, the novel has largely escaped the controversy over race and language that has surrounded The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. To this day, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer remains perhaps the most popular and widely read of all Twain’s works.
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What would a herpetologist study | How to be a Herpetologist – Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
Photo by Todd W. Pierson.
Careers in Herpetology
In reality, herpetology is a sub-field of biology. Jobs in biology traditionally fall into four areas: college and university employment, government work (including state and federal), medical related work, and zoological park or museum staff. More recently, industrial and medical biotechnology have emerged as areas with new and exciting opportunities for biological research. What all of these jobs have in common is training in a biological field. The herpetological emphasis is put there by the worker! For example, a person might be trained in ecology and do environmental impact studies for the government. If that person is also a herpetologist, reptiles and amphibians might be the animals studied to evaluate changes in the environment. A medical research with training in hematology might, if interested in herpetology, study blood of reptiles and amphibians. It is rare to find a job that considers someone to be a herpetologist first!
Years ago it was possible for individuals to study amphibians and reptiles on their own, perhaps by maintaining large collections of animals or by studying them in the wild, and learn enough to get a position at a zoo or museum as a herpetologist. Today, however, techniques for conducting nearly any biological study have become so sophisticated, and competition for jobs has become so intense, that a college degree is a necessity in order to pursue a career in herpetology. Often an advanced degree (masters or doctorate) in biology, anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, physiology, or some related field is required for almost any specialized job. Many, if not most, herpetologists today are employed at colleges or universities and an advanced degree is usually a condition of employment at such institutions.
The specific training required for a career in herpetology varies according to one’s goals. In virtually all cases a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science degree with a major in biology is required. Courses in inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry, calculus, physics and/or earth science should be taken. Statistics is now a necessary tool in biological studies and courses in this area are essential. A great deal of herpetological research is conducted in other countries and facility in one or more foreign languages allows one to follow such activities in other nations. As in other branches of science, computer literacy is indispensable and students should enroll in courses that provide training in computer use.
Any college that provides a strong background in the sciences, mathematics and English also provides the basis for a career in herpetology. But if you are seriously interested in pursuing herpetology as a career you might want to attend a college that also offers a course in herpetology (or at least in natural history or vertebrate zoology) and has one or more faculty members conducting herpetological research. “Leads” to such institutions can best be obtained by studying several recent issues of herpetological journals such as Journal of Herpetology, Herpetological Review, Copeia, or Herpetologica, and noting where some particularly interesting research (to you) is being conducted. You can then write to the institutions or authors and ask for further information about their programs. Another reason to look at herpetological journals, which may be found in college or natural history museum libraries, is to give you some idea of the broad scope of herpetological research and to help you narrow down your interest.
Following graduation from college with a bachelor’s degree in biology, you may want to seek employment immediately. However, opportunities for employment with only a bachelor’s degree are limited, both in terms of available positions and level of advancement. Nevertheless, many graduates obtain jobs in museums or zoos working with exhibits and live animals and dealing with the public. Others work in research laboratories assisting investigators with their projects; such positions exist at larger colleges and in certain government agencies. Students with a broad interest in natural history may find jobs in local, state, or national parks (as park naturalists) or certain large companies as environmental specialists; a knowledge of herpetology can be particularly useful in these positions. In addition, there are many fields — veterinary assistant, biomedical salesperson, biology teacher — where positions less herpetologically related are also available.
Students who continue their education through to the masters or doctorate degree usually find employment where they have greater freedom to pursue their own interests, the salary is higher, and the responsibilities are greater. Most individuals with a Ph.D. work at a college or university where they teach and conduct research in their own area of interest. Herpetological research is often conducted in the field, which involves the collection, marking or observation of organisms, or the analysis of environmental conditions associated with particular populations. However, other herpetologists have a strong interest in laboratory research and spend little time in the field. Studies in physiology, immunology, embryology, genetics, anatomy, and biochemistry are usually conducted in a laboratory, while research in ecology, behavior, population biology, systematics, reproductive biology, and biogeography involve significant amounts of field work. In all cases, however, data have to be analyzed, summarized, and eventually published in a scientific journal. The goal of herpetological research, as with other branches of biology, is to learn as much as possible about our special interest and to communicate this knowledge to others. Publication of this research in journals is how scientific knowledge is communicated and most employers look for people who have shown an ability to do research and also to publish it. Developing writing skills should therefore be considered a must in college.
The main thing is — if you want to be a herpetologist, try it! The study of animal biology can be a continuing interest and challenge for the rest of your life, and it will serve you well no matter what career you ultimately choose.
Herpetology as a Career was written in 1985 by a committee composed of:
Henri C. Seibert (Chairman)
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
This page was initiated on 13 April 1998. Of course, we do not expect that it will answer all your questions, or that it will answer your questions completely. But it should provide many answers, and as always you are encouraged to contact us with additional questions.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Where can I find schools that offer a degree that includes course work in herpetology?
There is a partial [and somewhat outdated] list at http://www.anapsid.org/univ.html that will get you started. But one of the best ways is to use a major search engine and plug in the words herpetology course. You can also add a state name, etc to refine your search. We are in the process of building a database, and will make it available when it gets to a useful size.
Do I absolutely need a graduate degree (Masters or PhD) to do research in herpetology?
To do herpetological research as a university faculty member or museum curator presently requires a PhD and usually a history of successful grant-writing. However, there are a fair number of persons doing high-quality, accepted research in herpetology who have no higher degree. They are scholars in every sense of the word who are self-taught, and who went out and collected animals, made careful observations, read a lot, and talked to others at professional meetings. One of the leading authorities on Mexican herpetology is a pharmaceuticals salesman in Louisiana. One of the leading authorities on Kansas (USA) herps, just now retired, never finished college. And, one of the world’s authorities on the breeding biology of pythons is a young fellow in Oklahoma (USA) who has managed to make a fine living out of breeding them commercially. But note that the emphasis of this section is jobs in herpetology; doing good research does not guarantee a salary for it!
What kind of benefits does a herpetologist get? Do you get medical and dental benefits, and retirement?
These things depend upon your employer and are very variable.
What’s the best way for a high school (or younger) student to begin to prepare to investigate herpetology as a career?
It is important to begin to cultivate contacts through joining any State herpetological society or similar groups. Many have Web sites. Membership typically is a broad cross-section of society — persons with jobs in diverse fields, who share an interest in herpetology. Some members almost surely will be university faculty; others may work in State non-game wildlife programs; some will be students; others will be interested hobbyists with no job-link to herpetology at all.
Also, you should, in high school, take a well-rounded set of courses (emphasizing sciences) that will qualify you for admittance to a good, 4-year college, in which you should major in what generally is called “organismic biology” or some synonym for that which distinguishes it from “cell and molecular.” Your GPA will be important; competition can be fierce! I know of no undergraduate program that offers herpetology as a sole concentration; it simply is too narrow a field, though at many schools a herpetology COURSE or two will be offered. A Bachelor’s of Science degree would be appropriate.
How can a person, who because of young age or lack of formal schooling, learn about reptile and amphibian behavior other than by reading books?
Don’t ignore reading as a source of knowledge! Books and scientific journals contain a wealth of information unavailable on the Web. Keeping herps as pets is an enjoyable way to observe habits and get to know species, but it has its own drawbacks in that care is constantly required, even when on vacation or off to college (some species live a LONG time!). It can be as useful (maybe more), if there is a nearby good-quality zoo, to volunteer some Summer time to help do cleaning or be a “gofer” in the reptile department. Do not expect to be allowed to work with live animals at once; zoo policy or insurance regulations may in fact prohibit non-employees from so doing. But, one can learn a great deal this way, as well as expand one’s contacts. And, sometimes good-quality volunteer work can lead to a paying job. Volunteer work should be planned as a regular part of the week, so supervisors know they can depend upon a volunteer showing up, even if for a couple of hours MWF (or whatever all agree is useful). Volunteering to help a college faculty member with research interests can be a similarly good experience that allows a lot of learning as a benefit.
| Reptile |
Maledictology is the study of what | Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles – Research, Conservation, Education
Journal of Herpetology now featuring continuous publication
January 18, 2017
We are excited to announce that Journal of Herpetology has begun continuous publication, where articles are published officially online shortly after they are accepted. … [Read More...]
2017 Meritorious Teaching Award in Herpetology
January 13, 2017
Sponsored by: American Society of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists (ASIH), The Herpetologists’ League (HL), and the Society for the Study of Amphibians & Reptiles (SSAR) The Herpetology Education Committee is seeking nominations for the 2017 Meritorious Teaching Award in Herpetology, which … [Read More...]
Zhao Ermi, respected Chinese herpetologist
January 6, 2017
We are sad to announce the passing of Ermi Zhao (赵尔宓), a colleague, friend, scientist and world-renowned herpetologist, last month in December 2016. Zhao Ermi is best known as the former deputy director of the Chengdu Institute of Biology, who presided over a prodigiously productive program of new … [Read More...]
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Selenology is the study of what | selenology - definition - English
selenology
translation and definition "selenology", Dictionary English-English online
pronunciation: IPA: /sɛliːˈnɒləʤɪ/ SAMPA: /sEli:"nQl@dZI/
part of speech: noun
Definition and similar words in English:
en.wiktionary.2016
the study of the moon and several satellites
en.wiktionary.2016
the branch of astronomy that deals with the moon
en.wiktionary.2016
(astronomy) The scientific study of the Moon.
en.wiktionary.2016
The scientific study of the Moon.
Thesaurus
selenology (usually uncountable, plural selenologies)
Example sentences with "selenology", translation memory
MultiUn
Name of flight object: Selenological Engineering Explorer (SELENE) “Kaguya”
Common crawl
Using "Rover-1" to transport themselves and their equipment along portions of Hadley Rille and the Apennine Mountains, Scott and Irwin performed a selenological inspection and survey of the area and collected 180 pounds (82 kg) of lunar surface materials. They deployed an ALSEP package which involved the emplacement and activation of surface experiments, and their lunar surface activities were televised using a TV camera which was operated remotely by ground controllers stationed in the mission control center located at Houston, Texas.
MultiUn
JAXA launched the Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE) mission to the Moon on ‧ eptember ‧ carrying ‧ instruments, a high-definition television camera and two sub-satellites named Very Long Baseline Interferometer Radio (VRAD) and Relay (Rstar
Common crawl
[89] On September 14, 2007, it launched lunar orbit explorer " SELENE " (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) on an H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier rocket from Tanegashima Space Center .
Showing page 1. Found 4 sentences matching phrase "selenology".Found in 0 ms. Translation memories are created by human, but computer aligned, which might cause mistakes. They come from many sources and are not checked. Be warned.
| Moon |
What is the study of using the bumps on one's head to deduce character and intelligence called | NOVA Online | To the Moon | Origins
Origins
by Peter Tyson
Whence our moon? Was it a chunk of Earth flung off in our planet's early history? Did the Earth capture a small, roaming planet in its gravity grip? Or did the moon fashion itself alongside our world from the same planetary batter? One of the Apollo program's chief scientific goals was to give lunar researchers the means to decide, once and for all, between these three main theories of how the moon formed.
What transpired in this "battle of the Big Three" after the last Apollo mission flew in 1972 surprised just about everyone. The story provides a revealing glimpse of the workings of the scientific process, while at the same time opening a window on the origins of what one lunar researcher has called "one of the most peculiar bodies in the solar system"—the moon.
The Big Three
Human beings have surely wondered about the moon since they had brains big enough to do so. Many cultures, from ancient times to the present day, have even worshipped it as a deity. The Greeks were perhaps the first to study our satellite scientifically. Using Earth's shadow on the moon during lunar eclipses as a guide, the third-century B.C. astronomer Aristarchus estimated it lay 60 Earth radii away. (It was a remarkable guess: in fact, the distance varies between 55 and 63 Earth radii, or 220,000 and 250,000 miles.) The biographer Plutarch went so far as to posit that people lived on the moon, whose dark regions, the Greeks thought, marked oceans and the bright areas land. Their belief survives in the Latin names—maria (seas) and terrae (lands)—by which we know these dark and light regions.
In the 1870s, Charles Darwin's son proposed that the Earth flung off a portion of itself that became the moon.
Modern scientific study of our neighbor began in 1610, when Galileo, training his spyglass on the moon, became the first person to see the dark and light regions for what they really were: vast plains and rugged mountains, respectively. Galileo's famous trial for heresy—for insisting that the Earth revolved around the sun rather than vice verse—apparently kept Descartes from publishing one of the first theories about the origin of the moon until 1664, long after his own death. (His theory was essentially an early version of the planet-capture theory.) Descartes left a fuller explanation for others, admitting "I have not undertaken to explain everything."
The first moon-origin theory to gain a solid foothold was put forth in 1878. That year, George Howard Darwin, son of the famous evolutionist, proposed that Earth spun so rapidly in its early years that the sun's gravity eventually yanked off a chunk of an increasingly elongated Earth; that chunk became the moon. Four years later, the geologist Osmond Fisher added a juicy addendum: The Pacific ocean basin marks the scar left behind where our future satellite ripped away. The so-called "fission" theory became the accepted wisdom well into the 20th century, as this quirky, 1936 U.S. Office of Education script for a children's radio program attests:
FRIENDLY GUIDE: Have you heard that the moon once occupied the space now filled by the Pacific Ocean? Once upon a time—a billion or so years ago—when the Earth was still young—a remarkable romance developed between the Earth and the sun—according to some of our ablest scientists . . . In those days the Earth was a spirited maiden who danced about the princely sun—was charmed by him—yielded to his attraction, and became his bride . . . The sun's attraction raised great tides upon the Earth's surface . . . the huge crest of a bulge broke away with such momentum that it could not return to the body of mother Earth. And this is the way the moon was born!
GIRL: How exciting!
The Darwin-Fisher model eventually met with competition from two other theories. In 1909, an astronomer with the all-American name of Thomas Jefferson Jackson See proposed that the moon was a wandering planet that had been snared by Earth's gravity, like a fly in a spider web. The third theory, advocated by the astronomer Edouard Roche among others, was coaccretion. In this model, the Earth and the moon formed independently, side by side as it were, from the same material that formed all the planets of our solar system.
Some clever scientist eventually dubbed the Big Three "daughter" (fission), "spouse" (capture), and "sister" (coaccretion). Which family member would win out?
In the years after Gene Cernan, shown here driving the Apollo 17 Lunar Rover, brought back a final batch of moon rocks (see Last Man on the Moon ), our understanding of the moon grew by leaps and bounds.
Apollo's Impact
By the end of the Apollo program, lunar scientists had elucidated many aspects of the moon's history, giving them clues unavailable to the likes of Darwin or See. Selenology, the study of the origin of the moon, had taken off. Most of the new evidence came from the more than 800 pounds of moon rocks retrieved by the American and Russian lunar missions.
In many ways, the moon turned out to be quite different from Mother Earth. Anybody can see that, of course: It's airless, colorless, lifeless. But the differences run deeper. It is compositionally different, with fewer volatile elements—those that tend to boil off at high temperature. The moon might have inherited such differences—maria rocks contain no water, for instance, unlike volcanic rocks on our planet—from the impactor. The lunar samples also suggest that much of the moon may have once been molten; no definitive evidence exists that the Earth ever melted to such a degree. And while one-quarter its size, the moon has but one percent of our planet's mass, and its density more closely resembles that of Earth's mantle rather than the planet as a whole. Lunar scientists in the immediate post-Apollo years explained these discrepancies by postulating that the moon had but a tiny core. In 1998, the Lunar Prospector, NASA's first mission to the moon since Apollo, confirmed that the moon's core indeed comprises less than three percent of its mass. (By contrast, Earth's core represents 30 percent of its mass.)
In many ways, the Earth is remarkably similar to its lifeless satellite.
In other ways, the Earth and moon have remarkably similar characteristics. Studies of radiogenic elements and isotopes in lunar rocks reveal that the two bodies are roughly the same age, 4.5 billion years old. They also came from the same neighborhood: Unlike those in all meteorites ever analyzed, the nonradioactive, stable isotopes of oxygen in moon and Earth rocks match like blood types, implying the two spheres formed at the same radial distance from the sun. Indeed, results from Apollo showed the pair to be more intimately connected than previously thought. "Apollo tied together for the first time the history of the moon with the history of the Earth," says William Hartmann of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. "It showed us that we live in a system, the Earth-moon system."
In fact, it's a pairing unlike any other in the solar system. Our moon is far more massive relative to Earth, for example, than the satellites of all other planets save Pluto (whose moon, Charon, is half its size). The Earth-moon system also has an unusually high angular momentum—that is, the sum of the our planet's rotational velocity and the speed at which the moon orbits the Earth.
So how do the Big Three stand up in the face of all the new evidence? Not well, it turns out. The fission theory might explain the moon's lack of a large core and the oxygen-isotope similarity, astronomers say, but calculations show that the Earth would have to have had four times its present angular momentum—a lightning-fast rotational speed that astronomers cannot square in their models. Add to that the understanding reached decades ago that the Pacific basin formed less than 70 million years ago and therefore could not possibly have spawned the moon, and the Darwin-Fisher model suddenly comes up short.
See's capture theory suffers as well. The idea that Earth's gravity caught a rogue planet might explain the compositional differences between the two bodies. But, then, why doesn't the moon have its own regular-sized core? And why the oxygen-isotope similarity if the two formed in different parts of the solar system? Finally, most modelers deem the chance that a speeding planet would gracefully ease into Earth's embrace rather than slam into it or career off into space too remote for consideration.
Coaccretion led the pack through the 1970s, because, for one thing, it doesn't require a low-probability event like capture. But today it faces the same problem regarding the core. As Hartmann says, "It's very hard to imagine the two bodies growing together but somehow the Earth magically gets all the stuff with the iron in it and the moon doesn't get any." Even more troublesome, experts say, the theory cannot account for the enormous angular momentum we see in the Earth-moon system today.
| i don't know |
What is the theme song from Absolutely Fabulous | Kylie Minogue is 'over the moon' about singing the theme song for Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (From Basingstoke Gazette)
/ Press Association 2014
Kylie Minogue has said she is “over the moon” after recording the theme song for the forthcoming Absolutely Fabulous film.
The 48-year-old pop princess has covered Bob Dylan hit This Wheel’s On Fire, which was featured in the original BBC One series.
Show creator and scriptwriter Jennifer Saunders reprises her role as Edina ‘Eddy’ Monsoon and Joanna Lumley returns as Patsy Stone for Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
Talking about her involvement, Kylie told The Sun: “As a huge fan of the Ab Fab series and both Jennifer and Joanna, I’m over the moon to be singing the theme song.”
In the film, Patsy and Eddy are blamed for a major incident at a fashionable launch party and find themselves pursued by paparazzi.
The two decide to flee to the French Riviera – and despite being penniless, they come up with a plan to make a new life for themselves among the super rich.
Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders return for Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (Fox)
Not much plot is given away, but the scene is set for more funny adventures with the self-absorbed duo.
Julia Sawalha is back as Eddy’s daughter Saffy and June Whitfield returns as Eddy’s mum. Jane Horrocks also revives her role as Bubbles.
The star-studded cast includes appearances from Kim Kardashian West, Harry Styles, Kathy Burke, Emma Bunton, Kate Moss, Rebel Wilson and Cara Delevingne.
Dame Joan Collins (John Shearer/Invision)
There are also cameos from Dame Joan Collins, Jerry Hall, Tinie Tempah, Perez Hilton, Sadie Frost, Jean Paul Gaultier and even Rylan Clark-Neal.
Absolutely Fabulous started life as a sketch on the French And Saunders show before becoming a series in its own right in 1992.
Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders starring in Absolutely Fabulous in 2001 (BBC)
The adventures of two women growing old disgracefully captured the imagination and the BBC series even became a cult hit in the US.
The original BBC run ended in 2002, but the show made three special returns to mark the 20th anniversary.
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is released on July 1 in the UK.
| This Wheel's on Fire (song) |
Name the Glasgow-born guitar virtuoso and 1960s founder of the band Pentangle who died age 67 in 2011 | LISTEN: Pop princess Kylie Minogue covers the Absolutely Fabulous theme tune | Westsound - The Greatest Hits for Dumfries & Galloway
LISTEN: Pop princess Kylie Minogue covers the Absolutely Fabulous theme tune
Kylie Minogue | © PA Photos
Posted on Friday 10 June 2016
Absolutely Fabulous' iconic theme tune 'This Wheel’s On Fire' has been given a modern makeover with Kylie Minogue lending her voice to it.
The original cast will be reprising their roles for the film version of the hit 90s TV show, including Jennifer Saunders as Edina and Joanna Lumley as Patsy.
Kylie is said to be thrilled at recording the theme tune, "As a huge fan of the 'Ab Fab' series and both Jennifer and Joanna, I'm over the moon to be singing the theme song, 'This Wheel’s on Fire'," she commented.
LISTEN to Kylie's version of 'This Wheel’s On Fire' below »
While Kylie's 'This Wheel’s on Fire' is available to buy now the full movie soundtrack will be released on the 1st July to coincide with the release of the film.
'Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie – The Soundtrack' will also include tracks from Jason Derulo, La Roux, Paloma Faith and many more including some of the cast. Those pre-ordering the soundtrack will be able to download 'This Wheel’s On Fire' as an instant grat track - meaning users can download the track instantly before the album's full release.
WATCH: Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie trailer below »
| i don't know |
In America if both the President and Vice President are killed who takes over | When the President and Vice President die....
When the President and Vice President die....
« on: November 30, 2004, 07:45:15 pm »
Dosent the Secratary of State take over? Im not shure, Who does take the Job of President?
Logged
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2004, 07:55:02 pm »
I think it's the Speaker of the House who takes over if the President and VP both die.
Logged
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2004, 08:06:31 pm »
Here's the line of succession:
President
Speaker of the House of Representatives
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
Secretary of State
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Homeland Security (Not yet official)
« Last Edit: November 30, 2004, 09:23:30 pm by DaleC76 »
Logged
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2004, 08:16:15 pm »
In addition, there was a bill to move the Secretary of Homeland Security to #8, just after the Attorney General.
Logged
"Actually, .. now that you mention it...."
- Londo Molari
"Every government are parliaments of whores.
The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us." - P. J. O'Rourke
"Wa sala, wa lala."
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2004, 09:01:15 pm »
You need to strike the Secretary of Homeland Security from the list. The list is given by 3 USC 19 and he's not there. While going by the traditional ordering, he would be placed last, the law gives an explict list of the Cabinet secretaries that can succeed the President. It could be that Homeland Security isn't on the list because of the desire of some to place it higher on the list than the traditional order of when the department was created would dicatate. It might be because some view the Dept. of Homeland Security as being akin to the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force which are not on the list. However, whatever the reason, the Secretary of Homeland Security is not on the list.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #8 on: December 01, 2004, 12:50:07 am »
Well it's not in 3 USC 19 which gives the line of succession and I double checked on the Thomas website before I posted to make certain that there hadn't been a law passed in the 108th Congress which amends that section of the US Code. A further check of Thomas shows that S. 148 would indeed place the Secretary into the line of succession after the Attorney General and has passed the Senate but has been stuck in the House Judiciary Committee since July of last year.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #11 on: December 01, 2004, 12:08:50 pm »
Even if it is only to be Acting President, the Speaker or the President pro tem would have to resign their Congressional position to assume the authority of the executive under current law. There is nothing that couldn't cause the law to be changed, and I wish they would to take the PPT and the Speaker out of the line of succession.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
Quote from: dubya2004 on December 01, 2004, 05:32:47 pm
Does anyone know who takes over after the cabinet, if anyone?
I think if everyone died that is in the line of sucesion, if there were 218 membes of the house of representatives left (I think you need a majority) they would elect a new speaker and they would be president. But if there wasn't 218 members left you would have to wait for the special elections to take place to replace the dead members, Although you wouldn't have to wait for the house elections because the Senate could pick a new President Pro Tempore who would be next in line after the speaker, and even if the senate lost half of it's members the governors of the states pick new ones so you could most likely have a new senate in a few days if necessary. So by leaving the Senate in the line of succession someone could aways replace the president. Again I'm not sure if this is right.
Logged
Quote from: SE Gov. Ernest on December 01, 2004, 12:08:50 pm
Even if it is only to be Acting President, the Speaker or the President pro tem would have to resign their Congressional position to assume the authority of the executive under current law.� There is nothing that couldn't cause the law to be changed, and I wish they would to take the PPT and the Speaker out of the line of succession.
I agree with this position, simply because they are not members of the execurive department, although 9iron's point illustrates how deep the line of succession goes with them included. �I favor having an automatic line of succession for each cabinet position too, as well as each seat in the House and Senate. �If the September 11 plane that crashed in Pennsylvania had made it to Washington and hit the capitol, the entire House or Senate could have been eliminated. �Having automatic replacements would have saved a tremendous amount of trouble. �
Such emergencies are rare, but they do happen. �An Oregon plane crash in 1947 killed the governor, first-in-line Sec. of State and second-in-line president of the Senate. �As prescribed in the state constitution the House Speaker became governor. �Fortunately there was a plan in place.
Logged
Quote from: Governor Wildcard on December 04, 2004, 03:00:57 am
Here's a question can the Speaker of the House be a foreign born citizen?
Yes. With the exception of the Vice Presidency, any of the offices that are in the line of Presidential succession can be held by people who don't qualify to be President, they just wouldn't be able to succeed the President if the line passed down that far. For eaxmple, there is no legal bar to keep Clnton or Bush-43 being a cabinet Secretary.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #24 on: December 04, 2004, 04:24:42 pm »
While one might argue that the Constitution would present no bar to a two term President becoming President again under such a scenario, the law that implements the line of succession after the VP explicitly requires that a person must be "eligible to the office of President under the Constitution". Neither Clinton nor Bush-43 would be eligible for another term, so they could not succeed to the Presidency under any circumstance.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
| Speaker of the House of Representatives |
What are curtains called in America | When the President and Vice President die....
When the President and Vice President die....
« on: November 30, 2004, 07:45:15 pm »
Dosent the Secratary of State take over? Im not shure, Who does take the Job of President?
Logged
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2004, 07:55:02 pm »
I think it's the Speaker of the House who takes over if the President and VP both die.
Logged
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2004, 08:06:31 pm »
Here's the line of succession:
President
Speaker of the House of Representatives
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
Secretary of State
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Homeland Security (Not yet official)
« Last Edit: November 30, 2004, 09:23:30 pm by DaleC76 »
Logged
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2004, 08:16:15 pm »
In addition, there was a bill to move the Secretary of Homeland Security to #8, just after the Attorney General.
Logged
"Actually, .. now that you mention it...."
- Londo Molari
"Every government are parliaments of whores.
The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us." - P. J. O'Rourke
"Wa sala, wa lala."
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2004, 09:01:15 pm »
You need to strike the Secretary of Homeland Security from the list. The list is given by 3 USC 19 and he's not there. While going by the traditional ordering, he would be placed last, the law gives an explict list of the Cabinet secretaries that can succeed the President. It could be that Homeland Security isn't on the list because of the desire of some to place it higher on the list than the traditional order of when the department was created would dicatate. It might be because some view the Dept. of Homeland Security as being akin to the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force which are not on the list. However, whatever the reason, the Secretary of Homeland Security is not on the list.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #8 on: December 01, 2004, 12:50:07 am »
Well it's not in 3 USC 19 which gives the line of succession and I double checked on the Thomas website before I posted to make certain that there hadn't been a law passed in the 108th Congress which amends that section of the US Code. A further check of Thomas shows that S. 148 would indeed place the Secretary into the line of succession after the Attorney General and has passed the Senate but has been stuck in the House Judiciary Committee since July of last year.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #11 on: December 01, 2004, 12:08:50 pm »
Even if it is only to be Acting President, the Speaker or the President pro tem would have to resign their Congressional position to assume the authority of the executive under current law. There is nothing that couldn't cause the law to be changed, and I wish they would to take the PPT and the Speaker out of the line of succession.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
Quote from: dubya2004 on December 01, 2004, 05:32:47 pm
Does anyone know who takes over after the cabinet, if anyone?
I think if everyone died that is in the line of sucesion, if there were 218 membes of the house of representatives left (I think you need a majority) they would elect a new speaker and they would be president. But if there wasn't 218 members left you would have to wait for the special elections to take place to replace the dead members, Although you wouldn't have to wait for the house elections because the Senate could pick a new President Pro Tempore who would be next in line after the speaker, and even if the senate lost half of it's members the governors of the states pick new ones so you could most likely have a new senate in a few days if necessary. So by leaving the Senate in the line of succession someone could aways replace the president. Again I'm not sure if this is right.
Logged
Quote from: SE Gov. Ernest on December 01, 2004, 12:08:50 pm
Even if it is only to be Acting President, the Speaker or the President pro tem would have to resign their Congressional position to assume the authority of the executive under current law.� There is nothing that couldn't cause the law to be changed, and I wish they would to take the PPT and the Speaker out of the line of succession.
I agree with this position, simply because they are not members of the execurive department, although 9iron's point illustrates how deep the line of succession goes with them included. �I favor having an automatic line of succession for each cabinet position too, as well as each seat in the House and Senate. �If the September 11 plane that crashed in Pennsylvania had made it to Washington and hit the capitol, the entire House or Senate could have been eliminated. �Having automatic replacements would have saved a tremendous amount of trouble. �
Such emergencies are rare, but they do happen. �An Oregon plane crash in 1947 killed the governor, first-in-line Sec. of State and second-in-line president of the Senate. �As prescribed in the state constitution the House Speaker became governor. �Fortunately there was a plan in place.
Logged
Quote from: Governor Wildcard on December 04, 2004, 03:00:57 am
Here's a question can the Speaker of the House be a foreign born citizen?
Yes. With the exception of the Vice Presidency, any of the offices that are in the line of Presidential succession can be held by people who don't qualify to be President, they just wouldn't be able to succeed the President if the line passed down that far. For eaxmple, there is no legal bar to keep Clnton or Bush-43 being a cabinet Secretary.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
Re: When the President and Vice President die....
« Reply #24 on: December 04, 2004, 04:24:42 pm »
While one might argue that the Constitution would present no bar to a two term President becoming President again under such a scenario, the law that implements the line of succession after the VP explicitly requires that a person must be "eligible to the office of President under the Constitution". Neither Clinton nor Bush-43 would be eligible for another term, so they could not succeed to the Presidency under any circumstance.
Logged
Quote from: Ignatius of Antioch
He that possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to bear his very silence. � Epistle to the Ephesians 3:21a
The one thing everyone can agree on is that the media is biased against them.
My November Ballot
US Senate: Thomas Dixon D
US House 2: Arik Bjorn D
SC Senate 20: Scott West G
| i don't know |
Which American state has the motto Gold and Silver | Montana State Motto Oro y Plata Gold and Silver
Translation:Gold and Silver
Adoption:1865
State mottoes may be said to reflect the character and beliefs of the citizens of the state, or more accurately, the citizens of the state when they were adopted. State mottoes can help us gain insight into the history of a state. [ What is a motto? ]
Adoption of the Montana State Motto
Like other state mottoes, Montana's Spanish Oro y Plata was conceived as the Montanans were deciding on an official seal for the new Montana Territory. In 1865, shortly after Montana had gained territorial status, a committee, chaired by Mr. Francis R. Thompson, got together to determine an appropriate design for the new seal. The committee agreed that the seal should incorporate certain essential elements of Montana's economy and its future.
As the committee discussed the new seal the question of a territorial motto was introduced. Based on the mineral wealth that Montana had produced since 1862, members favored "Gold and Silver" as a meaningful motto for Montana Territory. Someone thought the motto would have a nice ring in Spanish and, again, there was agreement. Seal design and motto were presented to the Legislature on February 4, 1865. At this time there was a suggestion that "El Dorado," meaning "the place of gold," might be more appropriate than simply "Gold and Silver." But both houses approved the seal with the motto Oro y Plata and Territorial Governor Sidney Edgerton signed the bill into law on February 9, 1865.
The seal has been modified, to some degree, over the years, but the motto has remained: Oro y Plata.
The Montana Code Annotated
As mentioned above, Montana's state motto was adopted as an element of its official seal. The following information is excerpted from the
Montana Montana Code Annotated
, Title 1, Chapter 1, Part 5, Section 1-1-501.
TITLE 1. GENERAL LAWS AND DEFINITIONS.
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
Part 5. State Symbols -- Official Designations.
SECTION 1-1-501.
1-1-501. Great seal. The great seal of the state is as follows: a central group representing a plow and a miner's pick and shovel; upon the right, a representation of the Great Falls of the Missouri River; upon the left, mountain scenery; and underneath, the words "Oro y Plata". The seal must be 2 1/2 inches in diameter and surrounded by these words, "The Great Seal of the State of Montana"
History: En. Sec. 1, p. 42, L. 1893; re-en. Sec. 1130, Pol. C. 1895; re-en. Sec. 430, Rev. C. 1907; re-en. Sec. 526, R.C.M. 1921; re-en. Sec. 526, R.C.M. 1935; R.C.M. 1947, 19-111.
Additional Information
State Motto List : List of all of the state mottoes.
State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols : A Historical Guide, Third Edition - Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Greenwood Press, 2002
State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols : A Study based on historical documents giving the origin and significance of the state names, nicknames, mottoes, seals, flowers, birds, songs, and descriptive comments on the capitol buildings and on some of the leading state histories, Revised Edition - George Earlie Shankle, Ph.D., The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938 (Reprint Services Corp. 1971)
Source: Montana Code Annotated, (http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/mca_toc/index.htm), March 23, 2005
Source: Merriam-Webster Online, (http://www.m-w.com/), March 3, 2005
Source: State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols : A Historical Guide, Third Edition - Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Greenwood Press, 2002
| Montana |
Who was Bjorn Borg's opponent when he won his fourth Wimbledon singles title | Oro y Plata | State Symbols USA
State Symbols USA
Mountains in Glacier National Park, Montana; photo by Dhinal Chheda on Flickr (use permitted with attribution).
Oro y Plata: Gold and Silver
Montana's state motto is Oro y Plata (Spanish for gold and silver). The mountains of Montana have yielded fortunes in gold and silver since the first substantial deposits were discovered in the mid 1800's.
Montana
| i don't know |
Who played Jerry Lee Lewis in the biopic of his life called Great Balls of Fire | Great Balls of Fire! (1989) - IMDb
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Great Balls of Fire! ( 1989 )
PG-13 |
The life and career of wildly controversial rock 'n' roll star Jerry Lee Lewis .
Director:
11 September 2008 3:16 AM, -08:00 | WENN
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Title: Great Balls of Fire! (1989)
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1 win & 1 nomination. See more awards »
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Edit
Storyline
The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s. His arrogance, remarkable talent, and unconventional lifestyle often brought him into conflict with others in the industry, and even earned him the scorn and condemnation of the public. Written by Murray Chapman <[email protected]>
The true story of a legend. See more »
Genres:
30 June 1989 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
Great Balls of Fire See more »
Filming Locations:
Dennis Quaid was 34, playing Jerry Lee Lewis in his early twenties. See more »
Goofs
There is a shot of The plane jerry is flying in from England to the US. It clearly shows a TWA logo, yet when the shot jumps to Jerry coming off the plane, the plane changes from white to silver and from TWA to American airlines. However, the plane he flew across the ocean (London to New York) would not be the plane on which he landed in Nashville; there were no direct London-Nashville flights in the 1950s. See more »
Quotes
See more »
Connections
(IL USA) – See all my reviews
Great Balls of Fire! is beyond a doubt one of the best movies I have ever seen. It's entertaining, funny, and gives an up close and personal look at the greatest rock star of the 50s. No, not Elvis, I'm talking about Jerry Lee Lewis! Before the movie I had never even heard of him, now he is one of my all-time favorite performers. Trust me, I was 9 years old when this movie came out, and if a movie is so good a 9 year old will pipe-down and watch, then you know its a excellent movie. So do yourself a favor and rent or buy this fantastic movie.
ciao bella!
14 of 20 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
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| Dennis Quaid |
In the 2004 film biopic Beyond the Sea, Kevin Spacey plays which 1960s singer | Jerry Lee Lewis - Jerry Lee Lewis' Cafe & Honky Tonk
Jerry Lee Lewis
Home » About » Jerry Lee Lewis
About
Jerry Lee Lewis
Overview
Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29th, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana. He began playing the piano at age 9, copying the styles of preachers and black musicians. He signed with Sun Records in 1956 and quickly became a star. He was inducted into the first class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Early Life
With his innovative and flamboyant piano playing style, Jerry Lee Lewis emerged as one of rock music’s early showman in the 1950s. His musical talents became apparent early on in life. He taught himself to play piano and sang in church growing up. Lewis listened to such radio shows as the Grand Ole Opry and Louisiana Hayride. Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and Al Jolson were some of his early influences.
When he was 10, Lewis’ father mortgaged the family farm to buy his first piano. He gave his first public performance at the age of 14, wowing the crowd gathered for the opening of a local car dealership with his piano prowess. With little formal education, he basically gave up on school around this time to focus on his music.
Rise To The Top
Lewis eventually ended up in Memphis, Tennessee, where he found work as a studio musician for Sun Studios. In 1956, he recorded his first single, a cover of Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms,” which did well locally. Lewis also worked on some recording sessions with Carl Perkins. While working at Sun, he and Perkins jammed with Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. This session by the “Million Dollar Quartet” was recorded at the time, but it was not released until much later.
In 1957, Lewis became a star with his unique piano-driven sound. “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” became a hit on the pop, country and R&B charts. By this time, Lewis had also developed some of his famous stage antics, such as playing standing up and even lighting the occasional piano on fire. He had such energy and enthusiasm in his performances that he earned the nickname “The Killer” for the way he knocked out his audiences.
Lewis was on a roll with his next single, “Great Balls of Fire,” proving to be another big hit in December 1957. The following March, Lewis struck again with “Breathless,” which made into the Top 10 of the pop charts.
Later Albums
In the 1960s, Lewis returned to the music of his youth. He found a new career as a country artist, scoring a hit with 1968′s “Another Place, Another Time.” Lewis recorded several country albums over the next few years, including 1970′s Olde Tyme Country Music and 1975′s Boogie Woogie Country Man.
Lewis never left the rock world completely. In 1973, he did well on the album charts with “The Session”. He revisited some of his older songs as well as the works of Chuck Berry and John Fogerty on this popular recording.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s first class in 1986. A new generation music listeners got introduced to Lewis through the 1989 biopic “Great Balls of Fire”, when Lewis was played by actor Dennis Quaid.
Recent Projects
This nearly lifelong musician and singer continues to record new music and perform around the world. For 2006′s “Last Man Standing”, Lewis sang a number of rock, blues and country classics with some help from such famous admirers as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Buddy Guy. Collaborator Kristofferson described Lewis as “one of the few who can do rock ‘n’ roll, country or soul, and every song is authentic.” He told USA Today that Lewis is “one of the best American voices ever.”
Lewis and Kristofferson worked together again on Lewis’s next effort, 2010′s “Mean Old Man”. The all-star guests on this release included Eric Clapton, Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and John Fogerty among others.
In April of 2013 Lewis opened Jerry Lee Lewis’ Café & Honky Tonk on historic Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. It is filled with the Killer’s piano, motorcycle, photos, memorabilia, along with great food and live music.
Personal Life
Lewis spends much of his time-off at his ranch in Nesbit, Mississippi, where he is happily married to his wife Judith, since March 9th, 2012.
Follow Jerry Lee Lewis' Cafe & Honky Tonk
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Who played Tina Turner in the 1993 biopic What's Love Got to Do with It | What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) - IMDb
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What's Love Got to Do with It ( 1993 )
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The story of singer Tina Turner's rise to stardom and how she gained the courage to break free from abusive husband, Ike Turner.
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Title: What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)
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Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations. See more awards »
Videos
Based on Terry McMillan's novel, this film follows four very different African-American women and their relationships with the male gender.
Director: Forest Whitaker
Three women each claim to be the widow of 1950s doo-wop singer Frankie Lymon, claiming legal rights to his estate.
Director: Gregory Nava
Footage of Tina Turner's amazing three-night stint at the Amsterdam Arena in September, 1996, where she performed all her biggest hits in a spectacular visual production.
Director: David Mallet
Stella is a highly successful, forty-something San Francisco stock broker who is persuaded by her colorful New York girlfriend Delilah to take a well deserved, first-class vacation to ... See full summary »
Director: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
The Jacksons are your average working-class family in Gary, Indiana; but when their father discovers the kids have an extraordinary musical talent they form a band. Winning talent show ... See full summary »
Stars: Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Angela Bassett, Holly Robinson Peete
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Storyline
Anna Mae Bullock always had a special voice. Soon after arriving in St. Louis to live with the mother who had walked out when she was small, the now teenage Anna Mae soon attracts the attention of pop group leader Ike Turner. She becomes the band's singer, his wife, and mother to his children - not all hers. In love with Ike and determined not to leave in the way her mother had, she finds herself the target of increasing violence from her unstable husband who can't see who is making the band such a success. Written by Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
The triumphant true-life story of Tina Turner! See more »
Genres:
Rated R for domestic violence, strong language, drug use and some sexuality | See all certifications »
Parents Guide:
25 June 1993 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
What's Love Got to Do with It See more »
Filming Locations:
£1,583,230 (UK) (15 October 1993)
Gross:
Did You Know?
Trivia
Vanessa Bell Calloway , who plays Jackie, the friend and former Ikette who shares Buddhism with Tina, was wary of chanting the Buddhist words because of her strong Christian faith. Director Brian Gibson allowed her to mouth the words silently during taping, and added the words with a voice double in post-production. See more »
Goofs
Ike gives Zelma a $100 bill that was first printed in the 1990s. See more »
Quotes
Ike Turner, Sr. : [to Tina] Now, we got the right song in the right place at the right time! Now, I need you to get out on that stage right now!
(Atlanta, GA) – See all my reviews
"What's Love Got to Do With It" is a fascinating and absorbing portrayal of the first 43 years of Tina Turner's life. It accurately and convincingly depicts the abuse she underwent and her escape and, finally, salvation through Buddhism. Laurence Fishburne is one of this generation great actors and gives a riveting and observant performance as Ike Turner, but cannot come close to the overwhelming, breathtaking, and mighty presence of Angela Bassett as Tina. She deservedly won the Golden Globe as the Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical of 1993 and if the film had come out any other year than 1993 (during which Holly Hunter gave a performance of a lifetime in "The Piano"), she would have easily taken home an Oscar.
Music plays a huge part in the film and all of it is good. Though I'm only 12, I truly appreciate Tina's music and am always in awe when she sings "Proud Mary" (one of my favorite scenes in the film.) As Roger Ebert pointed out, one of the most triumphant scenes is where, after Tina and Ike have had a vicious and bloody fight, Tina runs away to the Ramada Inn where they take her in. It is one of the best acted scenes of this decade and I never tire of it when I see the film again.
"What's Love Got to Do With It" is one of the best films of 1993 (one of the greatest movie years in history- "Schindler's List", "The Piano") and one the most passionately and skillfully performed films of the decade.
**** out of **** (A)
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Who played boxer James Braddock in the 2005 biopic Cinderella Man | Tina - What's Love Got To Do With It? Disco Inferno (HD 1080p) - YouTube
Tina - What's Love Got To Do With It? Disco Inferno (HD 1080p)
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Published on Apr 19, 2013
Buy ' What's Love...' movie BluRay on Amazon! Click here: http://goo.gl/bylRYv
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Angela Bassett as Tina Turner performing Disco Inferno from the movie What's Love Got To Do With It and meeting Roger Davies.
"What's Love Got to Do With It" ranks as one of the most harrowing, uncompromising showbiz biographies I've ever seen. It is a tradition in the genre that performers must go through hard times in order to eventually arrive at fame, but few went through harder times than Tina Turner. The movie shows Ike, jealous of her talent and popularity, turning into a violent wife-beater, and it shows her putting up with a lot more than she should have, for a lot longer.
Anna Mae Bullock a dix-sept ans lorsqu'elle rencontre Ike Turner. Abandonnée par sa mère, son seul atout est une voix hors du commun, puissante et rauque. En 1958, Ike est l'une des principales attractions musicales de Saint Louis. Sa réputation de séducteur n'est plus à faire. Il a déjà découvert plusieurs chanteuses. Anna Mae, timide et docile, sera son passeport pour la gloire. En quelques semaines, elle devient "Tina", la chanteuse vedette du groupe, la compagne et la protégée d'Ike. Il décide tout pour elle. Tina lui donne deux enfants et se plie à ses exigences. Jaloux de son succès, il la bat. Ce n'est qu'après plusieurs années de sévices et d'humiliations que Tina reprendra sa liberté et connaîtra, à quarante ans, ses premiers triomphes en "solo".
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What nationality was Charles 11's wife Catherine of Braganza | Catherine of Braganza
Catherine of Braganza
Location of death: Lisbon, Portugal
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, S�o Vicente de Fora, Lisbon, Portugal
Gender: Female
Nationality: Portugal
Executive summary: Consort of English King Charles II
Queen consort of Charles II of England, daughter of Jo�o IV of Portugal, and of Louisa de Gusman, daughter of the duke of Medina Sidonia, was born on the 15/25 of November 1638 at Vila Vi�osa. She was early regarded as a useful medium for contracting an alliance with England, more necessary than ever to Portugal after the treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 whereby Portugal was ostensibly abandoned by France. Negotiations for the marriage began during the reign of King Charles I , were renewed immediately after the Restoration, and on the 23rd of June, in spite of Spanish opposition, the marriage contract was signed, England securing Tangier and Bombay, with trading privileges in Brazil and the East Indies, religious and commercial freedom in Portugal and two million Portuguese crowns (about �300,000); while Portugal obtained military and naval support against Spain and liberty of worship for Catherine. She reached England on the 13th of May 1662, but was not visited by Charles at Portsmouth until the 20th. The next day the marriage was solemnized twice, according to the Roman Catholic and Anglican usages. Catherine possessed several good qualities, but had been brought up in a conventual seclusion and was scarcely a wife Charles would have chosen for himself. Her personal charms were not potent enough to wean Charles away from the society of his mistresses, and in a few weeks after her arrival she became aware of her painful and humiliating position as the wife of the selfish and licentious king. On the first presentation to her of Lady Castlemaine, Charles's mistress en titre, whom he insisted on making lady of her bedchamber, she fainted away. She withdrew from the king's society, and in spite of Clarendon's attempts to moderate her resentment, declared she would return to Portugal rather than consent to a base compliance. To overcome her resistance nearly the whole of her Portuguese retinue was dismissed. She was helpless, and the violence of her grief and anger soon changed to passive resistance, and then to a complete forbearance and complaisance which gained the king's regard and favor. In the midst of Charles's debauched and licentious court, she lived neglected and retired, often deprived of her due allowance, having no ambitions and taking no part in English politics, but keeping up rather her interest in her native country.
As the prospect diminished of her bearing children to Charles, several schemes were set on foot for procuring a divorce on various pretexts. As a Roman Catholic and near to the king's person Catherine was the special object of attack by the inventors of the Popish Plot. In 1678 the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was ascribed to her servants, and Titus Oates accused her of a design to poison the king. These charges, of which the absurdity was soon shown by cross-examination, nevertheless placed the queen for some time in great danger. On the 28th of November Oates accused her of high treason, and the Commons passed an address for her removal and that of all the Roman Catholics from Whitehall. A series of fresh depositions were sent in against her, and in June 1679 it was decided that she must stand her trial; but she was protected by the king, who in this instance showed unusual chivalry and earned her gratitude. On the 17th of November Shaftesbury moved in the House of Lords for a divorce to enable the king to marry a Protestant and have legitimate issue; but he received little support, and the bill was opposed by Charles, who continued to show his wife "extraordinary affection." During the winter the calumnies against the queen were revived by Fitzharris, who, however, before his execution in 1681 confessed to their falsity; and after the revival of the king's influence subsequent to the Oxford parliament, the queen's position was not further assailed.
During Charles's last illness in 1685 she showed great anxiety for his reconciliation with the Romish Church, and it was probably effected largely through her influence. She exhibited great grief at his death. She afterwards resided at Somerset House and at Hammersmith, where she had privately founded a convent. She interceded with great generosity, but ineffectually, for Monmouth the same year. On the 10th of June 1688 she was present at the birth of the prince of Wales and gave evidence before the council in favor of the genuineness of the child. She was still in England at the Revolution, having delayed her return to Portugal to prosecute a lawsuit against the second Earl of Clarendon, formerly her chamberlain. She maintained at first good terms with William and Mary; but the practice of her religion aroused jealousies, while her establishment at Somerset House was said to be the home of cabals against the government; and in 1691 she settled for a short tithe at Euston. She left England finally with a train of one hundred persons in March 1692, traveling through France and arriving at Lisbon on the 20th of January 1693. She took up her residence at the palace of Bemposta, built by herself, near Lisbon. In 1703 she supported the Methuen Treaty, which cemented still further the alliance between Portugal and England, and in 1704 she was appointed regent of Portugal during the illness of her brother King Pedro II, her administration being distinguished by several successes gained over the Spaniards. She died on the 31st of December 1705, bequeathing her great wealth, the result of long hoarding, after the payment of divers charitable legacies, to King Pedro; and was buried with great ceremony and splendor at Belem.
Father: João IV (King of Portugal)
Mother: Louisa de Gusman
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Who did David Cameron succeed as leader of the Conservative Party | Queen Catherine of Baganza
Queen Catherine of Braganza and King Charles II of England
King Charles II of England married Catherine, Infanta of Portugal, by proxy in Lisbon, on 23rd April 1662. The marriage treaty between the royal families included a dowry of sugar, plate and jewels to the value of 400,000 crowns, bills of exchange to double that amount, the rights to free trade with Brazil and the East Indies, and the cessions of Bombay and Tangiers. It was the troubled state of Tangiers, under constant threat from the Moors that led to the creation of the 2nd Regiment of Foot later the Queen's Royal (West Surrey) Regiment. This force was to protect Tangiers’ strategic position at the entry to the Mediterranean for the next two decades and on its return to England, Charles II renamed it, “our dearest consort, the Queen’s Regiment.”
When the marriage plans were under discussion, Charles II was persuaded that the Portuguese princess would make a tolerable wife when he was shown a portrait brought over by the Portuguese ambassador. A Londoner reported on 11th May 1661 the “The picture of out intended Queen is at Whitehall; by that and the report of those that have seen her she is a lovely little woman.” Standing before it Charles is said to have remarked “That person cannot be unhandsome”. His hesitancy was understandable, for the portrait in fact shows a doll like young lady wearing a stiff Portuguese court dress with a huge farthingale. Her hair is brushed horizontally across her forehead, but allowed otherwise to ripple loose to her shoulders, signifying her virginal marriageable state. The original was painted by Dirck Stoop, a Dutchman working at the court in Lisbon.
On the wedding day in Lisbon a version of this portrait together with a full length of King Charles, was carried through the streets as part of the public celebration. Apart from the solemn Catholic matrimonial mass in the great Manueline Abbey of St, Jerome at Belem on the river Tagus, there was a stately procession passing under triumphal arches, followed by a bullfight and later an aquatic carnival with fireworks. A colourful record of the proceedings is to be found in a heroic poem called Iter Lusitania: or the Portugal Voyage which celebrated the wedding and the Queen’s journey from Portugal to England. This publication was illustrated with half a dozen engravings by an eyewitness, the same Dirck Stoop, who had a special allegiance to the Infanta and came to England in her retinue in 1662.
On 13th May she landed at Portsmouth. A few days later she was joined by the King and their marriage was given Protestant validity by the Bishop of London in a private service. The Queen wore a rose coloured dress with blue love knots, which were later snipped off and handed round to all present. The King was not displeased with his new bride and wrote shortly afterwards to Minette, his sister:
“Her face is not so exactly as to be called a beauty, though her eyes are excellent good, and nothing in her face that in the least degree can disgust one. On the contrary, she hath as much agreeableness in her looks as I ever saw, and if I have any skill in physiognomy, which I think I have, she must be as good a woman as ever was born. You will wonder to see how well we are acquainted already; in a word, I think myself very happy, for I am confident our two humours will agree very well together.”
Queen Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705)
A royal marriage at this time was merely a political match, although they were expected to produce an heir. In this she signally failed, but the King remained true to her, in the formal sense of honouring her as his wife, despite her childlessness and throughout the time she was accused of sedition during the succession crisis and the Popish Plot of 1678 – 1681.
Very soon after arriving in England the Queen adopted English dress and arranged her hair in fashionable wired bunches of ringlets on either side of her face. It was like this that Samuel Cooper painted her, in an unfinished miniature which is one of the prized possessions of Her Majesty the Queen today. Charles II acquired it for the Royal Collection after the artist’s death. A royal portrait like this, made from the life, from which he might be required to make many copies, would be kept by Cooper in his studio for the purpose of reproduction. The spontaneity of a life sitting is clearly visible.
With the fervour of the restoration, demand for paintings of Charles outstripped all expectations. The affable King’s personal popularity was high, and his Queen, despite her Catholicism, basked in reflected glory. They were both painted by Peter Lely, but the head and shoulders of the Queen, which normally hangs in the Officers Mess, is after an original by a Dutchman called Pieter Borsselaer who came to this country in the early 1660s. The larger of the Regiment’s pictures of the Queen, hanging at Regimental Headquarters, Canterbury over the stairs, is a composition usually ascribed to Jacob Huysmans, a Catholic painter from Antwerp. Both show her holding an orb, with a crown nearby. The complimentary inclusion of the regalia, ermine and crimson velvet makes them both formal state portraits, but the fact was, that the Queen was never crowned. Charles had been crowned well before her arrival, in order to avoid the difficulty of crowning a Catholic.
The portraits known definitely to have been painted by Huysmans are rather different. Samuel Pepys visited his studio on 26th August 1664 and saw the artist working on two portraits at once:
“The Queene is drawn in one like a shepherdess – in the other like St. Katharin, most like and most admirably.”
Perhaps it was the Queen herself who chose less stately but more subtle types of portrait. Portrayal as a Saint, carrying a martyr’s palm, and kneeling on a broken wheel, reveals that she had dedicated her life to the devotion of her religion. Her childhood had been spent in a remote convent, and upon her marriage she saw her duty in England to be protector of the Catholic faith. It had been one of the conditions of the marriage treaty that she would be allowed to practice her religion in England without interference, and throughout much of Charles II’s reign, her chapels at St. James’s and in Somerset House were the only places in London where Catholics could worship freely.
The second very beautiful portrait of the Queen as a shepherdess can be seen today in the King’s dining room at Windsor Castle in an elaborate Grinling Gibbon’s frame. The mood of the painting would appear recreational; the ducks at her feet might reflect her interest in birds – she kept her own aviary, importing parrots and cockatoos from India. She wears silvery white, rose and blue, and a broad – brimmed hat pinned with a butterfly brooch. Her hair hangs long and loose. It was de rigueur at the time to be painted in this ‘timeless’ pastoral gear to avoid being quickly dated by changing fashions. But 17th century paintings often have hidden symbolism. She also holds a crook and her left hand rests on a lamb with a fair-haired boy tipping flowers over its back. The lamb is associated with innocence, gentleness, patience and humility. It is also symbolic of Christ the shepherd, and with his sacrifice for mankind. Catherine had all the foregoing qualities, and she may have identified particularly with the Good Shepherd in her duties as leader of the Catholic faith in England. Why else is the boy showering the lamb with flowers, rather than herself?
Queen Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705)
She is shown seated out of doors, surrounded by birds and animals, in a later portrait painted about 1680 by Benedetto Gennari. This is the painting illustrated by Jock Haswell on p.15 of his book on the regiment: the painting itself hangs at Goodwood. Gennari was another Catholic, an Italian who came to England in the suite of Mary of Modena when she married James, Duke of York, the King’s brother. Further gentle symbolism is intended: nourishment is being given to the lamb of Faith, and the book would be a holy one. The fountain, as a source of water, represented one’s spiritual life and salvation, and was often used as an attribute of the Virgin and the Immaculate Conception – the Queen’s hope of bearing a child was still evident.
When Charles II died in 1685, Catherine, as Queen Dowager, had three years of openly practising her religion without fear while the Catholic James II was on the throne. After his exile in 1688, however, under William and Mary, all Catholic chapels were closed, Catherine’s household was drastically reduced, and she was hounded into meaner accommodation. For a number of years she felt it her duty to stay on and represent the Catholic faith in England, but finally the cross that she had born so bravely against the spiteful intolerance of Queen Mary, became too much, and she managed to get leave from Louis XIV to journey across France to her homeland, the only method of travel that she could afford.
She died in Portugal after steering her own country, as Queen Regent, through some difficult shoals at the start of the eighteenth century. By then, to English Catholics, she had become something of a martyr. It has been suggested that it was as her special symbol that the Paschal Lamb was adopted by the Regiment at this time. It was about this time that its officers began to be called “Kirke’s Lambs” and the Regiment would not have been averse. The army historian, John Childs, states that before its dissolution, the Tangiers garrison was periodically accused by Parliament of being a hotbed of popery. It would be the hidden Catholic significance of the Lamb combined with the flag of St. George of England that could convey the Regiment’s dual allegiance to Queen and to nation.
The lamb is not an emblem of the Royal House of Braganza, which has seven towers in its crest. A tower can just be seen in the background of the painting of ‘Saint’ Catherine by Huysmans. The original of this portrait is now in the hands of a wine-growing family and kept at a Quinta or villa/farmhouse just south of the Tagus. It is a wry post-script to her story to discover that it is this saintly representation which is reproduced on the label of a delicious woody Vinho Branco called “Catarina”. Series of amalgamation is now part of The Princess of Wale’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires). The Queen’s Royal Regiment through a Lady.
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Cressida is a moon of which planet in the Solar System | The Names of the Moons and Their Meanings
http://gw.marketingden.com/planets/mercury.html
No moons.
Venus Roman name for Aphrodite, goddess of love and sex. I don't know why our sister planet got this name. Maybe because its exceedingly dense clouds shroud it in mystery, and the ancients felt that that appropriately describes women and love.
http://gw.marketingden.com/planets/venus.html
No moons.
Earth Known in Greek myth as Gaea (thus fun words like "geography"), Terra to the Romans ("terracing"). The word "earth" comes from Middle English, Old English, and eventually Indo-European, making it a very old word, but with no fun story behind it. It just means dirt.
http://gw.marketingden.com/planets/earth.html
One Moon with many Greek and Roman appelations, few of which are still used today. Some common ones are Luna, Cynthia, Selene, Diana, Hecate... "Moon" again comes from Old English and Indo-European.
Mars Roman name for Ares, god of war. In Greek myth he was a coward and whiner, but was idealized and idolized by the bellicose Romans. The planet acquired the name because of its obviously red hue (blood planet and all that).
http://gw.marketingden.com/planets/mars.html
Two moons: Deimos (Greek for "fear") and Phobos ("fright"). Named after Ares's sons, who were said to often accompany him in battle. No mother takes responsibility for these dreadful children.
Jupiter Roman name for Zeus, king of the gods. He was quite a player. Most of its many, many moons were names after his lovers.
http://gw.marketingden.com/planets/jupiter.html
Io Zeus turned her into a white heifer to hide from Hera, his jealous wife, but was discovered and relentlessly tormented with a gadfly--an ancestor of Heracles.
Europa Seduced by Zeus in the form of a handsome bull, who then carried her off over the sea to Crete. The story is that she eventually populated the country and is where we get "Europe."
Ganymede Handsome young mortal man whom Zeus abducted to serve as his cupbearer, superceding Hebe, his daughter by Hera.
Callisto Another unfortunate lover of Zeus who was transformed by Hera into a bear along with her son. To make up for it, Zeus placed them in the sky to become Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and Ursa Minor (Little Dipper).
Amalthea The goat that fed Zeus as a babe on Crete
Himalia A Cyprian nymph who bore Zeus three sons, including Cronius
Elara Another lover; to hide her from Hera, he placed her under the earth, where she gave birth to the giant Tityas.
Pasiphae Wife of King Minos who was punished for her husband's insult to Poseidon by being forced to fall in love with a bull. With the help of Daedelus, the famous inventor, she contrived a cow costume so she could have relations with the bull. She eventually gave birth to the Minotaur; heaven knows that this has to do with Zeus.
Sinope Abducted by Apollo and became mother of Syrus, for whom the city was named; again no relation to Zeus, but still a mortal lover of a god.
Lysithea Daughter of Oceanus and lover of Zeus.
Carme An obscure lover of Zeus; they produced Britomartis, a Cretan goddess.
Ananke As the goddess of unalterable necessity, she was the mother of the Fates, and with Zeus as the father, also produced Adrasteia, distributor of rewards and punishment.
Leda On the same day, she had sex with her husband and was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan. Eventually she gave birth to Castor, Polydeucus, Clytemnestra, and Helen (as in "of Troy"). One can only assume that since Polydeucus shares his father's immortality, that one of the sisters must as well. And since Clytemnestra's death was well documented at the hands of her son Orestes, that leaves Helen. This is never mentioned in any myth that I know of, but I find it very entertaining.
Metis Her name means "cleverness." Zeus was told that a son from Metis would destroy him, so he swallowed her up to prevent such a possiblity. Not long after, he developed a raging headache and asked Hephesteus to crack open his skull, thus releasing Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
Adrastea Mentioned above as Zeus's and Ananke's daughter, the goddess of unalterable necessity. Known to the Romans as "Nemesis."
Thebe Zeus's daughter by a Boeotian nymph named Iodame; in other stories, a lover of Zeus.
Callirrhoe None of the three Callirrhoe's in Greek myth had anything to do with Zeus. 1. An Oceanid (daughter of Oceanus--there were lots). 2. Wife of Alcmaeon, who acquired a magic robe and necklace as her request, under the pretense of dedicating them at Delphi. When the original owners learned of the ruse, they killed Alcmaeon. Callirrhoe begged the gods to make her two sons into men immediately to avenge their father, which was granted. They killed their father's murderer and dedicated the robe and necklace to Delphi after all. 3. Woman wooed by Coresus, the priest of Bacchus. When she denied him, Bacchus sent madness among her people, which an oracle said could only be lifted if Callirrhoe were sacrifed. Her ex-suitor Coresus was about to do the deed, but turned the knife against himself instead. She was so touched by his act that she killed herself in return, thus making his sacrifice perfectly meaningless. Dolt.
Themisto Not a very pleasant lady; she tried to kill her husband's first wife's children by dressing her own children in white and the victims in black so they could be distinguished in the dark, but the first wife switched the clothes and Themisto ended up killing her own children by mistake.
Kalyke
Iocaste Also known as Jocasta, the mother and eventual wife of Oedipus, who killed herself upon learning her second husband's identity.
Erinome Possibly related to the Erinyes (the Furies), who exacted retribution for particularly evil deeds like patricide.
Harpalyke I don't know of a figure in mythology with this name, but the Greek word means something like "greedy, devouring, alluring, attractive." It could refer to the Harpies, nasty bird-women who punished people, took their souls to the underworld, and were personifications of storms. They also stole and befouled King Phineus's food so that he nearly starved to death, until they were driven away by the Boreads.
Isonoe
Praxidike "She who exacts penalties," a goddess represented with a bare head, to whom the heads of victims were offered.
Megaclite Greek for "much inflicted"??? I don't know.
Taygete Another unfortunate woman whom Zeus took an interest in; she prayed to Artemis to rescue her and was turned her into a doe. Zeus took advantage of her anyway and she gave birth to Lacedaemon.
Chaldene
Autonoe Mother of Acteone, who was turned into a stag and torn apart by his own hounds as punishment for accidentally seeing Artemis nakes. That goddess could be a real bitch sometimes.
Thyone (Originally names Semele, was the lover of Zeus and mother of Dionysus. Hera tricked her into asking Zeus to show himself in his full glory to her, thus burning her up into a small pile of ash. When Dionysus became a god, he retrieved her from the underworld and made her a goddess, renaming her Thyone)
Hermippe
Euporie
Aitne
Saturn Roman name for Cronos, father of Zeus and most of the pantheon. Knowing that one of his children would eventually kill him, he swallowed them each at birth. Zeus was spirited away by his mother, who gave her husband a stone in his place. When Zues was grown, he killed his father and freed his siblings from Daddy's gut. For some reason, many of Saturn's moons are named for non-Classical myth characters. Apparnetly, Chronos didn't have nearly as many naughty stories from which names could be drawn as his son Zeus.
http://gw.marketingden.com/planets/saturn.html
Titan Children of Gaea and Uranus, Titans were the masters of the earth before the pantheon gods were born. Chronos was a Titan, and his son Zeus defeated him and his siblings with the help of his own siblings, thus becoming the king of the gods.
Rhea A Titan, sister and wife of Cronos.
Iapetus Another son of Uranus and Gaea, he and his wife produced Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus
Dione A Titaness; in some stories, she is the mother of Aphrodite by Zeus
Tethys Mother of Rhea, personification of the fertile ocean. She and her brother Oceanus produced 3000 children, who became the rivers, lakes, springs, etc. of the world.
Enceladus One of the hundred-armed Giants (children of Uranus and Gaea) defeated by Zeus and his siblings.
Mimas Another giant, this one killed by Heracles.
Hyperion A Titan who sired Helios (sun), Selene (moon), and Eos (dawn)
Prometheus Son of Iapetus, his name means "forethought." He endlessly took the side of mortal humans against the gods, giving them the divine fire, showing them how to trick the gods into accepting an inferior sacrifice, etc. In punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock, where his liver was eaten out by an eagle every day until Heracles killed the bird and freed him.
Pandora Means "all-gifted." To keep mortal humans from getting too uppity, Zeus devised a woman, perfect in all ways except for insatiable curiosity, and gave her a box with instruction never to open it. Of course she did, and thus unleased all the world's evils, like hunger, sorrow, greed, etc. She finally slammed the box closed, successfully saving Hope, the only thing that makes all these trials bearable.
Pheobe Titaness who became the mother of Leto (mother of the divine twins Artemis and Apollo, both of whom took on the appellation at times: Artemis Phoebe and Apollo Pheobus)
Janus The two-faced Roman god of transitions: bridges, doors, coming-of-age, beginnings and endings. We get the word January from him.
Epimetheus Brother of Prometheus, his name means "afterthought." The unfortunate husband of Pandora, whom he married despite his wiser brother's warnings.
Helene An Amazon warrior who was fated to meet Achilles in battle. After she wounded him, he plunged a sword into her breast and fell in love with her at the same time. Achilles is an idiot like that.
Telesto A sea nymph, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys.
Calypso A sea nymph who took a liking to Odysseus on his way home to Icatha. She kept him on her little island for 7 years before Zeus forced her to release him.
Atlas Son of a Titan, was punished for fighting against Zeus by being forced to carry the world on his shoulders.
Pan Half-goat son of Hermes (Mercury) who plays pipes and is tricksy. His bellow was known to strike unreasoning fear in men's hearts. We get words like "panic" and "pandemonium" from him.
Ymir Norse progenitor of giants and humans. The gods killed him for producing evil giants and used his body to create heaven and earth. In death, his body created dwarves.
Paaliaq
Tarvos A bull-god from Gaul
Kiviuq
Ijiraq
Thrym King of the frost giants in Norse mythology, his name means "uproar." He rules Jotunheim.
Skadi Another frost Giantess, she was the Norse personification of winter. To appease her for her father's murder, the gods allowed her to choose one of them for a husband, but only by looking at their feet.
Mundilfari A Norse Giant who angered the gods by naming his beautiful children Mani (moon) and Sol (sun); the children were then forced to guide the chariots of their namesakes.
Erriapo
Albiorix Means "king of the world," and is another name for the ancient Gallic god Teutates. He was god of war, fertility, and wealth (pretty much everything there is to be god of), and approved to human sacrifices. Equivilent to Mars/Ares.
Suttung A Norse Giant who stole the mead of poetry from the dwarves that made it from Kvasir's blood, and hid it in a mountain. Odin heard his boasting and managed to get it all for himself.
Uranus the god of the sky; the first son of Gaea, as well as her husband. They produced the Titans, the Giants, and other pre-pantheon gods and creatures. All of Uranus's moons are named for Shakespeare characters, which is too bad, because there were plenty of Titans and monsters associated with him that could have been used.
Portia Either the rich heiress in Merchant of Venice , or Brutus's wife in Julius Caesar .
Rosalind (As You Like It)
Belinda From Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock. What, did they run out of Shakespeare characters so soon??
Puck Mischievious sprite, sidekick of Oberon, King of the Fairies. He does all Oberon's naughty work, like making mortals fall in love with each other and turning men's heads into donkeys'. (Misummer Night's Dream)
Miranda Daughter of Prospero, a magician/Duke stranded on a distant island. She falls in love with the first human male she sees who isn't her father. (The Tempest)
Ariel A sprite enslaved to Prospero and supposedly happy about it. Propsero rescued him from a tree trunk, where Sycorax (local evil witch) had trapped him. (The Tempest)
Umbriel "A dusky, melencholy sprite" from Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock.
Titania Queen of the Fairies, estranged wife of Oberon. Falls in love with a donkey-headed man due to Puck's trickeries. (Misummer Night's Dream)
Oberon King of the Fairies, husband of Titania. He's mad at her because he wants the beautiful little Indian prince for HIS entourage and she won't give him up. (Misummer Night's Dream)
Caliban A malevolent, resentful creature, also enslaved by Prospero. Son of Sycorax, Evil Witch(tm). (The Tempest)
Sycorax The evil witch herself. Defeated by Prospero on his arrival. (The Tempest)
Prospero A magician/Duke of Milan who was stranded on a remote island and took the place over. (The Tempest)
Setebos Evil god worshipped by evil witch Sycorax. (The Tempest)
Stephano Drunken butler from the recently ship-wrecked ship, friend of Triculo and comedic relief (The Tempest)
Triculo Jester, friend of Stephano and comedic relief (The Tempest)
Neptune Roman name for Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes, brother to Zeus (Jupiter) and Hades (Pluto). The planet probably got the name because it's blue.
| Uranus |
In which American state capital is The National Cowboy Hall of Fame | Biggest Moons In Our Solar System - WorldAtlas.com
Biggest Moons In Our Solar System
At 5,262 kilometers in diameter, Jupiter's Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system.
Ganymede is the biggest moon in the Solar System
The moon is a solid natural object that orbits around a planet. It is a planet’s natural satellite. No definite scientific explanation has satisfactorily answered the question of how moons came into existence, although there are several theories. The Earth’s Moon was thought to be the only moon but after the invention of the telescope, other moons on other planets were discovered. Each planet has one or more moons except Mercury and Venus. Jupiter has 67 moons the highest number in the solar system. Technological advancements have made it possible for man to discover and even go on expeditions to the moon. The biggest moons in our solar systems are:
Ganymede
Ganymede is by far the largest moon and orbits around planet Jupiter with a diameter of 5,262 kilometers. It is bigger in size than some of the planets like Mercury and Pluto and would have easily been classified as a planet if it was orbiting the sun. It has its own magnetic field. Its discovery was made by Galileo Galilei the Italian astronomer on January 7, 1610. The satellite orbits around Jupiter at a distance of 1,0700,400 km and takes 7.1 days to complete one orbit. The surface of Ganymede has two types of terrains. It consists of lighter, younger areas and a darker cratered region. The planet’s atmosphere is thin and has oxygen contained in dispersed molecules. Water ice and rocky material make up the planet, and it thought to have underground oceans. The name is derived from a prince in Greek mythology.
Titan
Titan Moon orbits Saturn and is the second largest moon with a diameter of 5,150 km. Christiaan Huygens a Dutch astronomer discovered this moon in 1655. It has a dense atmosphere that is similar to that of Earth. 90% of the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, and the rest is methane and small amounts of ammonia, argon, and ethane. It orbits around Saturn in 16 days. The moon has seas and lakes on its surface that are filled with liquid hydrocarbons. It is the only body other than the earth that has water bodies in our solar system. The name Titan is derived from Greek mythology about ancient gods called Titans. Ice and rocky materials make up most of Titan’s mass.
Callisto
Callisto Moon is the second largest moon that orbit planet Jupiter and the third largest moon among all. It has a diameter of 4,821 km and estimated to be 4.5 billion years old; its surface is mostly cratered. It has not had any geological activities for most of its existence. It was discovered by Galileo Galilei on January 7, 1610. Its name is derived from Greek mythology of a nymph called Callisto. It orbits Jupiter at an estimated distance of 1,882,700 km. Callisto takes 16.7 days to rotate on its axis and also orbit Jupiter. It is the farthest moon from Jupiter, meaning it has not been largely affected by Jupiter’s magnetosphere. Water ice constitutes most of its mass and other materials such as magnesium and hydrated silicates. Callisto has a dark surface, and a salty sea is thought to lie underneath the surface.
IO
IO moon also orbits around planet Jupiter and has a diameter of 3,643 km. It is the fourth largest moon and was discovered by 1610 by Galileo Galilei. It is the most active body after Earth with volcanic activity. The surface of IO is mostly made of floodplains of liquid rock and lava lakes. It orbits at an estimated 422,000 km from Jupiter in 1.77 Earth-days and is the fifth moon of the planet Jupiter. The moon has a splotchy appearance of white, red, yellow, black, and orange. The atmosphere of IO mostly consists of Sulphur dioxide. It was named after a nymph called IO who was seduced by the gods Zeus in Greek mythology. Under the smooth surface of IO is a layer made of the iron core and an outer layer made of brown silicate.
Other big moons and the planets they orbit in include, The Earth’s Moon (3,475km), Europa, Jupiter (3,122km), Triton, Neptune (2,707km), Titania, Uranus (1,578km), Rhea, Saturn (1,529km) and Oberon, Saturn (1,523km). Most of the observations on these moons are done from the ground. Improved technology has helped scientists send man-made satellites to revolve around the solar system and enable the discovery of more information on these moons.
Biggest Moons In Our Solar System
Rank
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What is a Penang lawyer | Penang lawyer - Wiktionary
Penang lawyer
A kind of walking stick made from the stem of an East Asiatic palm ( Licuala acutifida ).
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles:
It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a "Penang lawyer."
| Walking stick |
Which film was based on Gone to Texas by Forest Parker | Penang lawyer definition by Babylon’s free dictionary
Wikipedia Dictionaries
English Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia
Licuala is a genus of palms commonly found in tropical rainforests of southern China, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, New Guinea and the western Pacific Ocean islands. They are fan palms, with the leaves mostly circular in outline, sometimes undivided but more usually divided into wedge-shaped segments. Licuala acutifida is the source of cane for the walking stick nicknamed the Penang-lawyer by colonials, probably from the Malay phrase pinang liyar for a wild areca, although the term may also refer to the use of these canes as deadly knobkerries to assassinate litigious enemies.
See more at Wikipedia.org...
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What was the first name of the philosopher Heidegger | Martin Heidegger (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Martin Heidegger
First published Wed Oct 12, 2011
Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) was a German philosopher whose work is perhaps most readily associated with phenomenology and existentialism, although his thinking should be identified as part of such philosophical movements only with extreme care and qualification. His ideas have exerted a seminal influence on the development of contemporary European philosophy. They have also had an impact far beyond philosophy, for example in architectural theory (see e.g., Sharr 2007), literary criticism (see e.g., Ziarek 1989), theology (see e.g., Caputo 1993), psychotherapy (see e.g., Binswanger 1943/1964, Guignon 1993) and cognitive science (see e.g., Dreyfus 1992, 2008; Wheeler 2005; Kiverstein and Wheeler 2012).
1. Biographical Sketch
Martin Heidegger was born in Messkirch, Germany, on September 26, 1889. Messkirch was then a quiet, conservative, religious rural town, and as such was a formative influence on Heidegger and his philosophical thought. In 1909 he spent two weeks in the Jesuit order before leaving (probably on health grounds) to study theology at the University of Freiburg. In 1911 he switched subjects, to philosophy. He began teaching at Freiburg in 1915. In 1917 he married Elfride Petri, with whom he had two sons (Jörg and Hermann) and from whom he never parted (although his affair with the philosopher Hannah Arendt, his student at Marburg in the 1920s, is well-known).
Heidegger's philosophical development began when he read Brentano and Aristotle, plus the latter's medieval scholastic interpreters. Indeed, Aristotle's demand in the Metaphysics to know what it is that unites all possible modes of Being (or ‘is-ness’) is, in many ways, the question that ignites and drives Heidegger's philosophy. From this platform he proceeded to engage deeply with Kant, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and, perhaps most importantly of all for his subsequent thinking in the 1920s, two further figures: Dilthey (whose stress on the role of interpretation and history in the study of human activity profoundly influenced Heidegger) and Husserl (whose understanding of phenomenology as a science of essences he was destined to reject). In 1915 Husserl took up a post at Freiburg and in 1919 Heidegger became his assistant. Heidegger spent a period (of reputedly brilliant) teaching at the University of Marburg (1923–1928), but then returned to Freiburg to take up the chair vacated by Husserl on his retirement. Out of such influences, explorations, and critical engagements, Heidegger's magnum opus, Being and Time (Sein und Zeit) was born. Although Heidegger's academic and intellectual relationship with his Freiburg predecessor was complicated and occasionally strained (see Crowell 2005), Being and Time was dedicated to Husserl, “in friendship and admiration”.
Published in 1927, Being and Time is standardly hailed as one of the most significant texts in the canon of (what has come to be called) contemporary European (or Continental) Philosophy. It catapulted Heidegger to a position of international intellectual visibility and provided the philosophical impetus for a number of later programmes and ideas in the contemporary European tradition, including Sartre's existentialism, Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics, and Derrida's notion of ‘deconstruction’. Moreover, Being and Time, and indeed Heidegger's philosophy in general, has been presented and engaged with by thinkers such as Dreyfus (e.g., 1990) and Rorty (e.g., 1991a, b) who work somewhere near the interface between the contemporary European and the analytic traditions. A cross-section of broadly analytic reactions to Heidegger (positive and negative) may be found alongside other responses in (Murray 1978). Being and Time is discussed in section 2 of this article.
In 1933 Heidegger joined the Nazi Party and was elected Rector of Freiburg University, where, depending on whose account one believes, he either enthusiastically implemented the Nazi policy of bringing university education into line with Hitler's nauseating political programme (Pattison 2000) or he allowed that policy to be officially implemented while conducting a partially underground campaign of resistance to some of its details, especially its anti-Semitism (see Heidegger's own account in Only a God can Save Us). During the short period of his rectorship—he resigned in 1934—Heidegger gave a number of public speeches (including his inaugural rectoral address; see below) in which Nazi images plus occasional declarations of support for Hitler are integrated with the philosophical language of Being and Time. After 1934 Heidegger became increasingly distanced from Nazi politics. Although he didn't leave the Nazi party, he did attract some unwelcome attention from its enthusiasts. After the war, however, a university denazification committee at Freiburg investigated Heidegger and banned him from teaching, a right which he did not get back until 1949. One year later he was made professor Emeritus. Against this background of contrary information, one will search in vain through Heidegger's later writings for the sort of total and unambiguous repudiation of National Socialism that one might hope to find. The philosophical character of Heidegger's involvement with Nazism is discussed later in this article.
After Being and Time there is a reorienting shift in Heidegger's philosophy known as ‘the turn’ (die Kehre). Exactly when this occurs is a matter of debate, although it is probably safe to say that it is in progress by 1930 and largely established by the early 1940s. If dating the turn has its problems, saying exactly what it involves is altogether more challenging. Indeed, Heidegger himself characterized it not as a turn in his own thinking (or at least in his thinking alone) but as a turn in Being. As he later put it in a preface he wrote to Richardson's ground-breaking text on his work (Richardson 1963), the “Kehre is at work within the issue [that is named by the titles ‘Being and Time’/‘Time and Being.’]… It is not something that I did, nor does it pertain to my thinking only”. The core elements of the turn are indicated in what is now considered by many commentators to be Heidegger's second greatest work, Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning), (Beitrage zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis)). This uncompromising text was written in 1936–7, but was not published in German until 1989 and not in English translation until 1999. Section 3 of this article will attempt to navigate the main currents of the turn, and thus of Heidegger's later philosophy, in the light of this increasingly discussed text.
Heidegger died in Freiburg on May 26, 1976. He was buried in Messkirch.
2.1 The Text and its Pre-History
Being and Time is a long and complex book. The reader is immediately struck by what Mulhall (2005, viii) calls the “tortured intensity of [Heidegger's] prose”, although if the text is read in its original German it is possible to hear the vast number of what appear to be neologisms as attempts to reanimate the German language. According to this latter gloss, the linguistic constructions concerned—which involve hyphenations, unusual prefixes and uncommon suffixes—reveal the hidden meanings and resonances of ordinary talk. In any case, for many readers, the initially strange and difficult language of Being and Time is fully vindicated by the realization that Heidegger is struggling to say things for which our conventional terms and linguistic constructions are ultimately inadequate. Indeed, for some thinkers who have toiled in its wake, Heidegger's language becomes the language of philosophy (although for an alternative and critical view of the language of Being and Time, see Adorno 1964/2002). Viewed from the perspective of Heidegger's own intentions, the work is incomplete. It was meant to have two parts, each of which was supposed to be divided into three divisions. What we have published under the title of Being and Time are the first two divisions of (the intended) part one. The reasons for this incompleteness will be explored later in this article.
One might reasonably depict the earliest period of Heidegger's philosophical work, in Freiburg (1915–23) and Marburg (1923–6), before he commenced the writing of Being and Time itself, as the pre-history of that seminal text (although for an alternative analysis that stresses not only a back-and-forth movement in Heidegger's earliest thought between theology and philosophy, but also the continuity between that earliest thought and the later philosophy, see van Buren 1994, 2005). Viewed in relation to Being and Time, the central philosophical theme in these early years is Heidegger's complex critical relationship with Husserl's transcendental phenomenology—what Crowell (2005, p.49) calls “a dynamic of attraction and repulsion”—as driven by Heidegger's transformative reading of Aristotle. As early as a 1919 lecture course, for example, we find Heidegger arguing that Husserl's view (developed in the Logical Investigations, Husserl 1900/1973), that philosophy should renounce theory and concentrate on the things given directly in consciousness, is flawed because such givenness is itself a theoretical construct. For the young Heidegger, then, it is already the case that phenomenological analysis starts not with Husserlian intentionality (the consciousness of objects), but rather with an interpretation of the pre-theoretical conditions for there to be such intentionality. This idea will later be central to, and elaborated within, Being and Time, by which point a number of important developments (explained in more detail later in this article) will have occurred in Heidegger's thinking: the Husserlian notion of formal ontology (the study of the a priori categories that describe objects of any sort, by means of our judgments and perceptions) will have been transformed into fundamental ontology (a neo-Aristotelian search for what it is that unites and makes possible our varied and diverse senses of what it is to be); Husserl's transcendental consciousness (the irreducible thinking ego or subject that makes possible objective inquiry) will have been transfigured into Dasein (the inherently social being who already operates with a pre-theoretical grasp of the a priori structures that make possible particular modes of Being); and Husserlian intentionality (a consciousness of objects) will have been replaced by the concept of care or Being-in-the-world (a non-intentional, or perhaps pre-intentional, openness to a world).
Each of these aspects of Heidegger's framework in Being and Time emerges out of his radical rethinking of Aristotle, a rethinking that finds its fullest and most explicit expression in a 1925–6 lecture course entitled Logik (later renamed Logik (Aristoteles) by Heidegger's student Helene Weiß, in order to distinguish this lecture course from a later one he gave also entitled Logik; see Kisiel 1993, 559, note 23). On Heidegger's interpretation (see Sheehan 1975), Aristotle holds that since every meaningful appearance of beings involves an event in which a human being takes a being as—as, say, a ship in which one can sail or as a god that one should respect—what unites all the different modes of Being is that they realize some form of presence (present-ness) to human beings. This presence-to is expressed in the ‘as’ of ‘taking-as’. Thus the unity of the different modes of Being is grounded in a capacity for taking-as (making-present-to) that Aristotle argues is the essence of human existence. Heidegger's response, in effect, is to suggest that although Aristotle is on the right track, he has misconceived the deep structure of taking-as. For Heidegger, taking-as is grounded not in multiple modes of presence, but rather in a more fundamental temporal unity (remember, it's Being and time, more on this later) that characterizes Being-in-the-world (care). This engagement with Aristotle—the Aristotle, that is, that Heidegger unearths during his early years in Freiburg and Marburg—explains why, as Sheehan (1975, 87) puts it, “Aristotle appears directly or indirectly on virtually every page” of Being and Time. (For more on Heidegger's pre-Being-and-Time period, see e.g., Kisiel 1993, Kisiel and van Buren 1994, and Heidegger's early occasional writings as reproduced in the collection Becoming Heidegger. For more on the philosophical relationship between Husserl and Heidegger, see e.g., Crowell 2001 and the review of Crowell's book by Carman 2002; Dahlstrom 1994; Dostal 1993; Overgaard 2003.)
2.2.1 The Question
Let's back up in order to bring Heidegger's central concern into better view. (The ‘way in’ to Being and Time that I am about to present follows Gelven 1989 6–7.) Consider some philosophical problems that will be familiar from introductory metaphysics classes: Does the table that I think I see before me exist? Does God exist? Does mind, conceived as an entity distinct from body, exist? These questions have the following form: does x (where x = some particular kind of thing) exist? Questions of this form presuppose that we already know what ‘to exist’ means. We typically don't even notice this presupposition. But Heidegger does, which is why he raises the more fundamental question: what does ‘to exist’ mean? This is one way of asking what Heidegger calls the question of the meaning of Being, and Being and Time is an investigation into that question.
Many of Heidegger's translators capitalize the word ‘Being’ (Sein) to mark what, in the Basic Problems of Phenomenology, Heidegger will later call the ontological difference, the crucial distinction between Being and beings (entities). The question of the meaning of Being is concerned with what it is that makes beings intelligible as beings, and whatever that factor (Being) is, it is seemingly not itself simply another being among beings. Unfortunately the capitalization of ‘Being’ also has the disadvantage of suggesting that Being is, as Sheehan (2001) puts it, an ethereal metaphysical something that lies beyond entities, what he calls ‘Big Being’. But to think of Being in this way would be to commit the very mistake that the capitalization is supposed to help us avoid. For while Being is always the Being of some entity, Being is not itself some kind of higher-order being waiting to be discovered. As long as we remain alert to this worry, we can follow the otherwise helpful path of capitalization.
According to Heidegger, the question of the meaning of Being, and thus Being as such, has been forgotten by ‘the tradition’ (roughly, Western philosophy from Plato onwards). Heidegger means by this that the history of Western thought has failed to heed the ontological difference, and so has articulated Being precisely as a kind of ultimate being, as evidenced by a series of namings of Being, for example as idea, energeia, substance, monad or will to power. In this way Being as such has been forgotten. So Heidegger sets himself the task of recovering the question of the meaning of Being. In this context he draws two distinctions between different kinds of inquiry. The first, which is just another way of expressing the ontological difference, is between the ontical and the ontological, where the former is concerned with facts about entities and the latter is concerned with the meaning of Being, with how entities are intelligible as entities. Using this technical language, we can put the point about the forgetting of Being as such by saying that the history of Western thought is characterized by an ‘onticization’ of Being (by the practice of treating Being as a being). However, as Heidegger explains, here in the words of Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics, “an ontic knowledge can never alone direct itself ‘to’ the objects, because without the ontological… it can have no possible Whereto” (translation taken from Overgaard 2002, p.76, note 7). The second distinction between different kinds of inquiry, drawn within the category of the ontological, is between regional ontology and fundamental ontology, where the former is concerned with the ontologies of particular domains, say biology or banking, and the latter is concerned with the a priori, transcendental conditions that make possible particular modes of Being (i.e., particular regional ontologies). For Heidegger, the ontical presupposes the regional-ontological, which in turn presupposes the fundamental-ontological. As he puts it:
The question of Being aims… at ascertaining the a priori conditions not only for the possibility of the sciences which examine beings as beings of such and such a type, and, in doing so, already operate with an understanding of Being, but also for the possibility of those ontologies themselves which are prior to the ontical sciences and which provide their foundations. Basically, all ontology, no matter how rich and firmly compacted a system of categories it has at its disposal, remains blind and perverted from its ownmost aim, if it has not first adequately clarified the meaning of Being, and conceived this clarification as its fundamental task. (Being and Time 3: 31) (References to Being and Time will be given in the form of ‘section: page number’, where ‘page number’ refers to the widely used Macquarrie and Robinson English translation.)
So how do we carry out fundamental ontology, and thus answer the question of the meaning of Being? It is here that Heidegger introduces the notion of Dasein (Da-sein: there-being). One proposal for how to think about the term ‘Dasein’ is that it is Heidegger's label for the distinctive mode of Being realized by human beings (for this reading, see e.g., Brandom 2002, 325). Haugeland (2005, 422) complains that this interpretation clashes unhelpfully with Heidegger's identification of care as the Being of Dasein, given Heidegger's prior stipulation that Being is always the Being of some possible entity. To keep ‘Dasein’ on the right side of the ontological difference, then, we might conceive of it as Heidegger's term for the distinctive kind of entity that human beings as such are. This fits with many of Heidegger's explicit characterizations of Dasein (see e.g., Being and Time 2: 27, 3: 32), and it probably deserves to be called the standard view in the secondary literature (see e.g., Haugeland 2005 for an explicit supporting case). That said, one needs to be careful about precisely what sort of entity we are talking about here. For Dasein is not to be understood as ‘the biological human being’. Nor is it to be understood as ‘the person’. Haugeland (2005, 423) argues that Dasein is “a way of life shared by the members of some community”. (As Haugeland notes, there is an analogy here, one that Heidegger himself draws, with the way in which we might think of a language existing as an entity, that is, as a communally shared way of speaking.) This appeal to the community will assume a distinctive philosophical shape as the argument of Being and Time progresses.
The foregoing considerations bring an important question to the fore: what, according to Heidegger, is so special about human beings as such? Here there are broadly speaking two routes that one might take through the text of Being and Time. The first unfolds as follows. If we look around at beings in general—from particles to planets, ants to apes—it is human beings alone who are able to encounter the question of what it means to be (e.g., in moments of anxiety in which the world can appear meaning-less, more on which later). More specifically, it is human beings alone who (a) operate in their everyday activities with an understanding of Being (although, as we shall see, one which is pre-ontological, in that it is implicit and vague) and (b) are able to reflect upon what it means to be. This gives us a way of understanding statements such as “Dasein is ontically distinguished by the fact that, in its very Being, that Being is an issue for it” (Being and Time 4: 32). Mulhall, who tends to pursue this way of characterizing Dasein, develops the idea by explaining that while inanimate objects merely persist through time and while plants and non-human animals have their lives determined entirely by the demands of survival and reproduction, human beings lead their lives (Mulhall 2005, 15). In terms of its deep ontological structure, although not typically in terms of how it presents itself to the individual in consciousness, each moment in a human life constitutes a kind of branch-point at which a person ‘chooses’ a kind of life, a possible way to be. It is crucial to emphasize that one may, in the relevant sense, ‘choose’ an existing path simply by continuing unthinkingly along it, since in principle at least, and within certain limits, one always had, and still has, the capacity to take a different path. (This gives us a sense of human freedom, one that will be unpacked more carefully below.) This can all sound terribly inward-looking, but that is not Heidegger's intention. In a way that is about to become clearer, Dasein's projects and possibilities are essentially bound up with the ways in which other entities may become intelligible. Moreover, terms such as ‘lead’ and ‘choose’ must be interpreted in the light of Heidegger's account of care as the Being of Dasein (see later), an account that blunts any temptation to hear these terms in a manner that suggests inner deliberation or planning on the part of a reflective subject. (So perhaps Mulhall's point that human beings are distinctive in that they lead their lives would be better expressed as the observation that human beings are the nuclei of lives laying themselves out.)
The second route to an understanding of Dasein, and thus of what is special about human beings as such, emphasizes the link with the taking-as structure highlighted earlier. Sheehan (2001) develops just such a line of exegesis by combining two insights. The first is that the ‘Da’ of Da-sein may be profitably translated not as ‘there’ but as ‘open’. This openness is in turn to be understood as ‘the possibility of taking-as’ and thus as a preintellectual openness to Being that is necessary for us to encounter beings as beings in particular ways (e.g., practically, theoretically, aesthetically). Whether or not the standard translation of ‘Da’ as ‘there’ is incapable of doing justice to this idea is moot—one might express the same view by saying that to be Dasein is to be there, in the midst of entities making sense a certain way. Nevertheless, the term ‘openness’ does seem to provide a nicely graphic expression of the phenomenon in question. Sheehan's second insight, driven by a comment of Heidegger's in the Zollikon seminars to the effect that the verbal emphasis in ‘Da-sein’ is to be placed on the second syllable, is that the ‘sein’ of ‘Da-sein’ should be heard as ‘having-to-be’, in contrast with ‘occasionally or contingently is’. These dual insights lead to a characterization of Dasein as the having-to-be-open. In other words, Dasein (and so human beings as such) cannot but be open: it is a necessary characteristic of human beings (an a priori structure of our existential constitution, not an exercise of our wills) that we operate with the sense-making capacity to take-other-beings-as.
The two interpretative paths that we have just walked are not necessarily in conflict: in the words of Vallega-Neu (2003, 12), “in existing, Dasein occurs… as a transcending beyond beings into the disclosure of being as such, so that in this transcending not only its own possibilities of being [our first route] but also the being of other beings [our second route] is disclosed”. And this helps us to grasp the meaning of Heidegger's otherwise opaque claim that Dasein, and indeed only Dasein, exists, where existence is understood (via etymological considerations) as ek-sistence, that is, as a standing out. Dasein stands out in two senses, each of which corresponds to one of the two dimensions of our proposed interpretation. First, Dasein can stand back or ‘out’ from its own occurrence in the world and observe itself (see e.g., Gelven 1989, 49). Second, Dasein stands out in an openness to and an opening of Being (see e.g., Vallega-Neu 2004, 11–12).
As we have seen, it is an essential characteristic of Dasein that, in its ordinary ways of engaging with other entities, it operates with a preontological understanding of Being, that is, with a distorted or buried grasp of the a priori conditions that, by underpinning the taking-as structure, make possible particular modes of Being. This suggests that a disciplined investigation of those everyday modes of engagement on the part of Dasein (what Heidegger calls an “existential analytic of Dasein”) will be a first step towards revealing a shared but hidden underlying meaning of Being. Heidegger puts it like this:
whenever an ontology takes for its theme entities whose character of Being is other than that of Dasein, it has its own foundation and motivation in Dasein's own ontical structure, in which a pre-ontological understanding of Being is comprised as a definite characteristic… Therefore fundamental ontology, from which alone all other ontologies can take their rise, must be sought in the existential analytic of Dasein. (Being and Time 3: 33–4)
It is important to stress here that, in Heidegger's eyes, this prioritizing of Dasein does not lead to (what he calls) “a vicious subjectivizing of the totality of entities” (Being and Time 4: 34). This resistance towards any unpalatable anti-realism is an issue to which we shall return.
Dasein is, then, our primary ‘object’ of study, and our point of investigative departure is Dasein's everyday encounters with entities. But what sort of philosophical method is appropriate for the ensuing examination? Famously, Heidegger's adopted method is a species of phenomenology. In the Heideggerian framework, however, phenomenology is not to be understood (as it sometimes is) as the study of how things merely appear in experience. Rather, in a recognizably Kantian staging of the idea, Heidegger follows Husserl (1913/1983) in conceiving of phenomenology as a theoretical enterprise that takes ordinary experience as its point of departure, but which, through an attentive and sensitive examination of that experience, aims to reveal the a priori, transcendental conditions that shape and structure it. In Heidegger's Being-centred project, these are the conditions “which, in every kind of Being that factical Dasein may possess, persist as determinative for the character of its Being” (Being and Time 5: 38). Presupposed by ordinary experience, these structures must in some sense be present with that experience, but they are not simply available to be read off from its surface, hence the need for disciplined and careful phenomenological analysis to reveal them as they are. So far so good. But, in a departure from the established Husserlian position, one that demonstrates the influence of Dilthey, Heidegger claims that phenomenology is not just transcendental, it is hermeneutic (for discussion, see e.g., Caputo 1984, Kisiel 2002 chapter 8). In other words, its goal is always to deliver an interpretation of Being, an interpretation that, on the one hand, is guided by certain historically embedded ways of thinking (ways of taking-as reflected in Dasein's preontological understanding of Being) that the philosopher as Dasein and as interpreter brings to the task, and, on the other hand, is ceaselessly open to revision, enhancement and replacement. For Heidegger, this hermeneutic structure is not a limitation on understanding, but a precondition of it, and philosophical understanding (conceived as fundamental ontology) is no exception. Thus Being and Time itself has a spiral structure in which a sequence of reinterpretations produces an ever more illuminating comprehension of Being. As Heidegger puts it later in the text:
What is decisive is not to get out of the circle but to come into it the right way… In the circle is hidden a positive possibility of the most primordial kind of knowing. To be sure, we genuinely take hold of this possibility only when, in our interpretation, we have understood that our first, last and constant task is never to allow our fore-having, fore-sight and fore-conception to be presented to us by fancies and popular conceptions, but rather to make the scientific theme secure by working out these fore-structures in terms of the things themselves. (Being and Time 32: 195)
On the face of it, the hermeneutic conception of phenomenology sits unhappily with a project that aims to uncover the a priori transcendental conditions that make possible particular modes of Being (which is arguably one way of glossing the project of “working out [the] fore-structures [of understanding] in terms of the things themselves”). And this is a tension that, it seems fair to say, is never fully resolved within the pages of Being and Time. The best we can do is note that, by the end of the text, the transcendental has itself become historically embedded. More on that below. What is also true is that there is something of a divide in certain areas of contemporary Heidegger scholarship over whether one should emphasize the transcendental dimension of Heidegger's phenomenology (e.g., Crowell 2001, Crowell and Malpas 2007) or the hermeneutic dimension (e.g., Kisiel 2002).
2.2.2 Modes of Encounter
How, then, does the existential analytic unfold? Heidegger argues that we ordinarily encounter entities as (what he calls) equipment, that is, as being for certain sorts of tasks (cooking, writing, hair-care, and so on). Indeed we achieve our most primordial (closest) relationship with equipment not by looking at the entity in question, or by some detached intellectual or theoretical study of it, but rather by skillfully manipulating it in a hitch-free manner. Entities so encountered have their own distinctive kind of Being that Heidegger famously calls readiness-to-hand. Thus:
The less we just stare at the hammer-thing, and the more we seize hold of it and use it, the more primordial does our relationship to it become, and the more unveiledly is it encountered as that which it is—as equipment. The hammering itself uncovers the specific ‘manipulability’ of the hammer. The kind of Being which equipment possesses—in which it manifests itself in its own right—we call ‘readiness-to-hand’. (Being and Time 15: 98)
Readiness-to-hand has a distinctive phenomenological signature. While engaged in hitch-free skilled activity, Dasein has no conscious experience of the items of equipment in use as independent objects (i.e., as the bearers of determinate properties that exist independently of the Dasein-centred context of action in which the equipmental entity is involved). Thus, while engaged in trouble-free hammering, the skilled carpenter has no conscious recognition of the hammer, the nails, or the work-bench, in the way that one would if one simply stood back and thought about them. Tools-in-use become phenomenologically transparent. Moreover, Heidegger claims, not only are the hammer, nails, and work-bench in this way not part of the engaged carpenter's phenomenal world, neither, in a sense, is the carpenter. The carpenter becomes absorbed in his activity in such a way that he has no awareness of himself as a subject over and against a world of objects. Crucially, it does not follow from this analysis that Dasein's behaviour in such contexts is automatic, in the sense of there being no awareness present at all, but rather that the awareness that is present (what Heidegger calls circumspection) is non-subject-object in form. Phenomenologically speaking, then, there are no subjects and no objects; there is only the experience of the ongoing task (e.g., hammering).
Heidegger, then, denies that the categories of subject and object characterize our most basic way of encountering entities. He maintains, however, that they apply to a derivative kind of encounter. When Dasein engages in, for example, the practices of natural science, when sensing takes place purely in the service of reflective or philosophical contemplation, or when philosophers claim to have identified certain context-free metaphysical building blocks of the universe (e.g., points of pure extension, monads), the entities under study are phenomenologically removed from the settings of everyday equipmental practice and are thereby revealed as fully fledged independent objects, that is, as the bearers of certain context-general determinate or measurable properties (size in metres, weight in kilos etc.). Heidegger calls this mode of Being presence-at-hand, and he sometimes refers to present-at-hand entities as ‘Things’. With this phenomenological transformation in the mode of Being of entities comes a corresponding transformation in the mode of Being of Dasein. Dasein becomes a subject, one whose project is to explain and predict the behaviour of an independent, objective universe. Encounters with the present-at-hand are thus fundamentally subject-object in structure.
The final phenomenological category identified during the first phase of the existential analytic is what Heidegger calls un-readiness-to-hand. This mode of Being of entities emerges when skilled practical activity is disturbed by broken or malfunctioning equipment, discovered-to-be-missing equipment, or in-the-way equipment. When encountered as un-ready-to-hand, entities are no longer phenomenologically transparent. However, they are not yet the fully fledged objects of the present-at-hand, since their broken, malfunctioning, missing or obstructive status is defined relative to a particular equipmental context. The combination of two key passages illuminates this point: First:
[The] presence-at-hand of something that cannot be used is still not devoid of all readiness-to-hand whatsoever; equipment which is present-at-hand in this way is still not just a Thing which occurs somewhere. The damage to the equipment is still not a mere alteration of a Thing—not a change of properties which just occurs in something present-at-hand. (Being and Time 16: 103)
And second:
When something cannot be used—when, for instance, a tool definitely refuses to work—it can be conspicuous only in and for dealings in which something is manipulated. (Being and Time 68: 406)
Thus a driver does not encounter a punctured tyre as a lump of rubber of measurable mass; she encounters it as a damaged item of equipment, that is, as the cause of a temporary interruption to her driving activity. With such disturbances to skilled activity, Dasein emerges as a practical problem solver whose context-embedded actions are directed at restoring smooth skilled activity.
Although Heidegger does not put things this way, the complex intermediate realm of the un-ready-to-hand is seemingly best thought of as a spectrum of cases characterized by different modes and degrees of engagement/disengagement. Much of the time Dasein's practical problem solving will involve recovery strategies (e.g., switching to a different mode of transport) which preserve the marks of fluid and flexible know-how that are present in ready-to-hand contexts. In the limit, however (e.g., when a mechanic uses his theoretical knowledge of how cars work to guide a repair), Dasein's problem solving activity will begin to approximate the theoretical reasoning distinctive of scientific inquiry into present-at-hand entities. But even here Dasein is not ‘just theorizing’ or ‘just looking’, so it is not yet, in Heidegger's terms, a pure disengaged subject. With this spectrum of cases in view, it is possible to glimpse a potential worry for Heidegger's account. Cappuccio and Wheeler (2010; see also Wheeler 2005, 143) argue that the situation of wholly transparent readiness-to-hand is something of an ideal state. Skilled activity is never (or very rarely) perfectly smooth. Moreover, minimal subjective activity (such as a nonconceptual awareness of certain spatially situated movements by my body) produces a background noise that never really disappears. Thus a distinction between Dasein and its environment is, to some extent, preserved, and this distinction arguably manifests the kind of minimal subject-object dichotomy that is characteristic of those cases of un-readiness-to-hand that lie closest to readiness-to-hand.
On the interpretation of Heidegger just given, Dasein's access to the world is only intermittently that of a representing subject. An alternative reading, according to which Dasein always exists as a subject relating to the world via representations, is defended by Christensen (1997, 1998). Christensen targets Dreyfus (1990) as a prominent and influential exponent of the intermittent-subject view. Among other criticisms, Christensen accuses Dreyfus of mistakenly hearing Heidegger's clear rejection of the thought that Dasein's access to the world is always theoretical (or theory-like) in character as being, at the same time, a rejection of the thought that Dasein's access to the world is always in the mode of a representing subject; but, argues Christensen, there may be non-theoretical forms of the subject-world relation, so the claim that Heidegger advocated the second rejection is not established by pointing out that he advocated the first. Let's assume that Christensen is right about this. The supporter of the intermittent-subject view might still argue that although Heidegger holds that Dasein sometimes emerges as a subject whose access to the world is non-theoretical (plausibly, in certain cases of un-readiness-to-hand), there is other textual evidence, beyond that which indicates the non-theoretical character of hitch-free skilled activity, to suggest that readiness-to-hand must remain non-subject-object in form. Whether or not there is such evidence would then need to be settled.
2.2.3 Being-in-the-World
What the existential analytic has given us so far is a phenomenological description of Dasein's within-the-world encounters with entities. The next clarification concerns the notion of world and the associated within-ness of Dasein. Famously, Heidegger writes of Dasein as Being-in-the-world. In effect, then, the notion of Being-in-the-world provides us with a reinterpretation of the activity of existing (Dreyfus 1990, 40), where existence is given the narrow reading (ek-sistence) identified earlier. Understood as a unitary phenomenon (as opposed to a contingent, additive, tripartite combination of Being, in-ness, and the world), Being-in-the-world is an essential characteristic of Dasein. As Heidegger explains:
Being-in is not a ‘property’ which Dasein sometimes has and sometimes does not have, and without which it could just be just as well as it could be with it. It is not the case that man ‘is’ and then has, by way of an extra, a relationship-of-Being towards the ‘world’—a world with which he provides himself occasionally. Dasein is never ‘proximally’ an entity which is, so to speak, free from Being-in, but which sometimes has the inclination to take up a ‘relationship’ towards the world. Taking up relationships towards the world is possible only because Dasein, as Being-in-the-world, is as it is. This state of Being does not arise just because some entity is present-at-hand outside of Dasein and meets up with it. Such an entity can ‘meet up with’ Dasein only in so far as it can, of its own accord, show itself within a world. (Being and Time 12: 84)
As this passage makes clear, the Being-in dimension of Being-in-the-world cannot be thought of as a merely spatial relation in some sense that might be determined by a GPS device, since Dasein is never just present-at-hand within the world in the way demanded by that sort of spatial in-ness. Heidegger sometimes uses the term dwelling to capture the distinctive manner in which Dasein is in the world. To dwell in a house is not merely to be inside it spatially in the sense just canvassed. Rather, it is to belong there, to have a familiar place there. It is in this sense that Dasein is (essentially) in the world. (Heidegger will later introduce an existential notion of spatiality that does help to illuminate the sense in which Dasein is in the world. More on that below.) So now, what is the world such that Dasein (essentially) dwells in it? To answer this question we need to spend some time unpacking the Heideggerian concept of an ‘involvement’ (Bewandtnis).
The German term Bewandtnis is extremely difficult to translate in a way that captures all its native nuances (for discussion, see Tugendhat 1967; thanks to a reviewer for emphasizing this point). And things are made more complicated by the fact that, during his exposition, Heidegger freely employs a number of closely related notions, including ‘assignment’, ‘indication’ and ‘reference’. Nevertheless, what is clear is that Heidegger introduces the term that Macquarrie and Robinson translate as ‘involvement’ to express the roles that equipmental entities play—the ways in which they are involved—in Dasein's everyday patterns of activity. Crucially, for Heidegger, an involvement is not a stand-alone structure, but rather a link in a network of intelligibility that he calls a totality of involvements. Take the stock Heideggerian example: the hammer is involved in an act of hammering; that hammering is involved in making something fast; and that making something fast is involved in protecting the human agent against bad weather. Such totalities of involvements are the contexts of everyday equipmental practice. As such, they define equipmental entities, so the hammer is intelligible as what it is only with respect to the shelter and, indeed, all the other items of equipment to which it meaningfully relates in Dasein's everyday practices. This relational ontology generates what Brandom (1983, 391–3) calls Heidegger's ‘strong systematicity condition’, as given voice in Heidegger's striking claim that “[t]aken strictly, there ‘is’ no such thing as an equipment” (Being and Time, 15: 97). And this radical holism spreads, because once one begins to trace a path through a network of involvements, one will inevitably traverse vast regions of involvement-space. Thus links will be traced not only from hammers to hammering to making fast to protection against the weather, but also from hammers to pulling out nails to dismantling wardrobes to moving house. This behaviour will refer back to many other behaviours (packing, van-driving) and thus to many other items of equipment (large boxes, removal vans), and so on. The result is a large-scale holistic network of interconnected relational significance. Such networks constitute worlds, in one of Heidegger's key senses of the term—an ontical sense that he describes as having a pre-ontological signification (Being and Time 14: 93).
Before a second key sense of the Heideggerian notion of world is revealed, some important detail can be added to the emerging picture. Heidegger points out that involvements are not uniform structures. Thus I am currently working with a computer (a with-which), in the practical context of my office (an in-which), in order to write this encyclopedia entry (an in-order-to), which is aimed towards presenting an introduction to Heidegger's philosophy (a towards-this), for the sake of my academic work, that is, for the sake of my being an academic (a for-the-sake-of-which). The final involvement here, the for-the-sake-of-which, is crucial, because according to Heidegger all totalities of involvements have a link of this type at their base. This forges a connection between (i) the idea that each moment in Dasein's existence constitutes a branch-point at which it chooses a way to be, and (ii) the claim that Dasein's projects and possibilities are essentially bound up with the ways in which other entities may become intelligible. This is because every for-the-sake-of-which is the base structure of an equipment-defining totality of involvements and reflects a possible way for Dasein to be (an academic, a carpenter, a parent, or whatever). Moreover, given that entities are intelligible only within contexts of activity that, so to speak, arrive with Dasein, this helps to explain Heidegger's claim (Being and Time 16: 107) that, in encounters with entities, the world is something with which Dasein is always already familiar. Finally, it puts further flesh on the phenomenological category of the un-ready-to-hand. Thus when I am absorbed in trouble-free typing, the computer and the role that it plays in my academic activity are transparent aspects of my experience. But if the computer crashes, I become aware of it as an entity with which I was working in the practical context of my office, in order to write an encyclopedia entry aimed towards presenting an introduction to Heidegger's philosophy. And I become aware of the fact that my behaviour is being organized for the sake of my being an academic. So disturbances have the effect of exposing totalities of involvements and, therefore, worlds. (For a second way in which worlds are phenomenologically ‘lit up’, see Heidegger's analysis of signs (Being and Time 17:107–114); for discussion, see Dreyfus 1990, 100–2, Cappuccio and Wheeler 2010.)
As already indicated, Heidegger sometimes uses the expression ‘world’ in a different key sense, to designate what he calls the “ontologico-existential concept of worldhood” (Being and Time 14: 93). At this point in the existential analytic, worldhood is usefully identified as the abstract network mode of organizational configuration that is shared by all concrete totalities of involvements. We shall see, however, that as the hermeneutic spiral of the text unfolds, the notion of worldhood is subject to a series of reinterpretations until, finally, its deep structure gets played out in terms of temporality.
2.2.4 The Critique of Cartesianism
Having completed what we might think of as the first phase of the existential analytic, Heidegger uses its results to launch an attack on one of the front-line representatives of the tradition, namely Descartes. This is the only worked-through example in Being and Time itself of what Heidegger calls the destruction (Destruktion) of the Western philosophical tradition, a process that was supposed to be a prominent theme in the ultimately unwritten second part of the text. The aim is to show that although the tradition takes theoretical knowledge to be primary, such knowledge (the prioritization of which is an aspect of the ‘onticization’ of Being mentioned earlier) presupposes the more fundamental openness to Being that Heidegger has identified as an essential characteristic of Dasein.
According to Heidegger, Descartes presents the world to us “with its skin off” (Being and Time 20: 132), i.e., as a collection of present-at-hand entities to be encountered by subjects. The consequence of this prioritizing of the present-at-hand is that the subject needs to claw itself into a world of equipmental meaning by adding what Heidegger calls ‘value-predicates’ (context-dependent meanings) to the present-at-hand. In stark contrast, Heidegger's own view is that Dasein is in primary epistemic contact not with context-independent present-at-hand primitives (e.g., raw sense data, such as a ‘pure’ experience of a patch of red), to which context-dependent meaning would need to be added via value-predicates, but rather with equipment, the kind of entity whose mode of Being is readiness-to-hand and which therefore comes already laden with context-dependent significance. What is perhaps Heidegger's best statement of this opposition comes later in Being and Time.
What we ‘first’ hear is never noises or complexes of sounds, but the creaking waggon, the motor-cycle. We hear the column on the march, the north wind, the woodpecker tapping, the fire crackling… It requires a very artificial and complicated frame of mind to ‘hear’ a ‘pure noise’. The fact that motor-cycles and waggons are what we proximally hear is the phenomenal evidence that in every case Dasein, as Being-in-the-world, already dwells alongside what is ready-to-hand within-the-world; it certainly does not dwell proximally alongside ‘sensations’; nor would it first have to give shape to the swirl of sensations to provide a springboard from which the subject leaps off and finally arrives at a ‘world’. Dasein, as essentially understanding, is proximally alongside what is understood. (Being and Time 34: 207)
For Heidegger, then, we start not with the present-at-hand, moving to the ready-to-hand by adding value-predicates, but with the ready-to-hand, moving to the present-at-hand by stripping away the holistic networks of everyday equipmental meaning. It seems clear, then, that our two positions are diametrically opposed to each other, but why should we favour Heidegger's framework over Descartes'? Heidegger's flagship argument here is that the systematic addition of value-predicates to present-at-hand primitives cannot transform our encounters with those objects into encounters with equipment. It comes in the following brief but dense passage: “Adding on value-predicates cannot tell us anything at all new about the Being of goods, but would merely presuppose again that goods have pure presence-at-hand as their kind of Being. Values would then be determinate characteristics which a thing possesses, and they would be present-at-hand”(Being and Time 21: 132). In other words, once we have assumed that we begin with the present-at-hand, values must take the form of determinate features of objects, and therefore constitute nothing but more present-at-hand structures. And if you add more present-at-hand structures to some existing present-at-hand structures, what you end up with is not equipmental meaning (totalities of involvements) but merely a larger number of present-at-hand structures.
Heidegger's argument here is (at best) incomplete (for discussion, see Dreyfus 1990, Wheeler 2005). The defender of Cartesianism might concede that present-at-hand entities have determinate properties, but wonder why the fact that an entity has determinate properties is necessarily an indication of presence-at-hand. On this view, having determinate properties is necessary but not sufficient for an entity to be present-at-hand. More specifically, she might wonder why involvements cannot be thought of as determinate features that entities possess just when they are embedded in certain contexts of use. Consider for example the various involvements specified in the academic writing context described earlier. They certainly seem to be determinate, albeit context-relative, properties of the computer. Of course, the massively holistic character of totalities of involvements would make the task of specifying the necessary value-predicates (say, as sets of internal representations) incredibly hard, but it is unclear that it makes that task impossible. So it seems as if Heidegger doesn't really develop his case in sufficient detail. However, Dreyfus (1990) pursues a response that Heidegger might have given, one that draws on the familiar philosophical distinction between knowing-how and knowing-that. It seems that value-predicates constitute a form of knowing-that (i.e., knowing that an entity has a certain context-dependent property) whereas the circumspective knowledge of totalities of involvements (Dasein's skilled practical activity) constitutes a form of knowing-how (i.e., knowing how to use equipment in appropriate ways; see the characterization of readiness-to-hand given earlier). Given the plausible (although not universally held) assumption that knowing-how cannot be reduced to knowledge-that, this would explain why value-predicates are simply the wrong sort of structures to capture the phenomenon of world-embeddedness.
2.2.5 Spatiality
In the wake of his critique of Cartesianism, Heidegger turns his attention to spatiality. He argues that Dasein dwells in the world in a spatial manner, but that the spatiality in question—Dasein's existential spatiality—cannot be a matter of Dasein being located at a particular co-ordinate in physical, Cartesian space. That would be to conceive of Dasein as present-at-hand, and presence-at-hand is a mode of Being that can belong only to entities other than Dasein. According to Heidegger, the existential spatiality of Dasein is characterized most fundamentally by what he calls de-severance, a bringing close. “ ‘De-severing’ amounts to making the farness vanish—that is, making the remoteness of something disappear, bringing it close” (Being and Time: 23: 139). This is of course not a bringing close in the sense of reducing physical distance, although it may involve that. Heidegger's proposal is that spatiality as de-severance is in some way (exactly how is a matter of subtle interpretation; see e.g., Malpas 2006) intimately related to the ‘reach’ of Dasein's skilled practical activity. For example, an entity is ‘near by’ if it is readily available for some such activity, and ‘far away’ if it is not, whatever physical distances may be involved. Given the Dasein-world relationship highlighted above, the implication (drawn explicitly by Heidegger, see Being and Time 22: 136) is that the spatiality distinctive of equipmental entities, and thus of the world, is not equivalent to physical, Cartesian space. Equipmental space is a matter of pragmatically determined regions of functional places, defined by Dasein-centred totalities of involvements (e.g., an office with places for the computers, the photocopier, and so on—places that are defined by the way in which they make these equipmental entities available in the right sort of way for skilled activity). For Heidegger, physical, Cartesian space is possible as something meaningful for Dasein only because Dasein has de-severance as one of its existential characteristics. Given the intertwining of de-severance and equipmental space, this licenses the radical view (one that is consistent with Heidegger's prior treatment of Cartesianism) that physical, Cartesian space (as something that we can find intelligible) presupposes equipmental space; the former is the present-at-hand phenomenon that is revealed if we strip away the worldhood from the latter.
Malpas (forthcoming) rejects the account of spatiality given in Being and Time. Drawing on Kant, he argues that “[any] agent, insofar as it is capable of action at all (that is, insofar as it is, indeed, an agent), acts in a space that is an objective space, in which other agents also act, and yet which is always immediately configured subjectively in terms of the agent's own oriented locatedness” (Malpas forthcoming, 14). According to Malpas, then, equipmental space (a space ordered in terms of practical activity and within which an agent acts) presupposes a more fundamental notion of space as a complex unity with objective, intersubjective and subjective dimensions. If this is right, then of course equipmental space cannot itself explain the spatial. A further problem, as Malpas also notes, is that the whole issue of spatiality brings into sharp focus the awkward relationship that Heidegger has with the body in Being and Time. In what is now a frequently quoted remark, Heidegger sets aside Dasein's embodiment, commenting that “this ‘bodily nature’ hides a whole problematic of its own, though we shall not treat it here” (Being and Time 23: 143). Indeed, at times, Heidegger might be interpreted as linking embodiment with Thinghood. For example: “[as] Dasein goes along its ways, it does not measure off a stretch of space as a corporeal Thing which is present-at-hand” (Being and Time 23: 140). Here one might plausibly contain the spread of presence-at-hand by appealing to a distinction between material (present-at-hand) and lived (existential) ways in which Dasein is embodied. Unfortunately this distinction isn't made in Being and Time (a point noted by Ricouer 1992, 327), although Heidegger does adopt it in the much later Seminar in Le Thor (see Malpas forthcoming, 5). What seems clear, however, is that while the Heidegger of Being and Time seems to hold that Dasein's embodiment somehow depends on its existential spatiality (see e.g., 23: 143), the more obvious thing to say is that Dasein's existential spatiality somehow depends on its embodiment.
Before leaving this issue, it is worth noting briefly that space reappears later in Being and Time (70: 418–21), where Heidegger argues that existential space is derived from temporality. This makes sense within Heidegger's overall project, because, as we shall see, the deep structure of totalities of involvements (and thus of equipmental space) is finally understood in terms of temporality. Nevertheless, and although the distinctive character of Heidegger's concept of temporality needs to be recognized, there is reason to think that the dependency here may well travel in the opposite direction. The worry, as Malpas (forthcoming, 26) again points out, has a Kantian origin. Kant (1781/1999) argued that the temporal character of inner sense is possible only because it is mediated by outer intuition whose form is space. If this is right, and if we can generalize appropriately, then the temporality that matters to Heidegger will be dependent on existential spatiality, and not the other way round. All in all, one is tempted to conclude that Heidegger's treatment of spatiality in Being and Time, and (relatedly) his treatment (or lack of it) of the body, face serious difficulties.
2.2.6 Being-with
Heidegger turns next to the question of “who it is that Dasein is in its everydayness” (Being and Time, Introduction to IV: 149). He rejects the idea of Dasein as a Cartesian ‘I-thing’ (the Cartesian thinking thing conceived as a substance), since once again this would be to think of Dasein as present-at-hand. In searching for an alternative answer, Heidegger observes that equipment is often revealed to us as being for the sake of (the lives and projects of) other Dasein.
The boat anchored at the shore is assigned in its Being-in-itself to an acquaintance who undertakes voyages with it; but even if it is a ‘boat which is strange to us’, it still is indicative of Others. The Others who are thus ‘encountered’ in a ready-to-hand, environmental context of equipment, are not somehow added on in thought to some Thing which is proximally just present-at-hand; such ‘Things’ are encountered from out of a world in which they are ready-to-hand for Others—a world which is always mine too in advance. (Being and Time 26: 154)
On the basis of such observations, Heidegger argues that to be Dasein at all means to Be-with: “So far as Dasein is at all, it has Being-with-one-another as its kind of Being” (Being and Time 26: 163). One's immediate response to this might be that it is just false. After all, ordinary experience establishes that each of us is often alone. But of course Heidegger is thinking in an ontological register. Being-with (Mitsein) is thus the a priori transcendental condition that makes it possible that Dasein can discover equipment in this Other-related fashion. And it's because Dasein has Being-with as one of its essential modes of Being that everyday Dasein can experience being alone. Being-with is thus the a priori transcendental condition for loneliness.
It is important to understand what Heidegger means by ‘Others’, a term that he uses interchangeably with the more evocative ‘the “they” ’ (das Man). He explains:
By ‘Others’ we do not mean everyone else but me—those over against whom the ‘I’ stands out. They are rather those from whom, for the most part, one does not distinguish oneself—those among whom one is too… By reason of this with-like Being-in-the-world, the world is always the one that I share with Others. (Being and Time 26: 154–5)
A piece of data (cited by Dreyfus 1990) helps to illuminate this idea. Each society seems to have its own sense of what counts as an appropriate distance to stand from someone during verbal communication, and this varies depending on whether the other person is a lover, a friend, a colleague, or a business acquaintance, and on whether communication is taking place in noisy or quiet circumstances. Such standing-distance practices are of course normative, in that they involve a sense of what one should and shouldn't do. And the norms in question are culturally specific. So what this example illustrates is that the phenomenon of the Others, the ‘who’ of everyday Dasein, the group from whom for the most part I do not stand out, is my culture, understood not as the sum of all its members, but as an ontological phenomenon in its own right. This explains the following striking remark. “The ‘who’ is not this one, not that one, not oneself, not some people, and not the sum of them all. The ‘who’ is the neuter, the ‘they’ ” (Being and Time 27: 164). Another way to capture this idea is to say that what I do is determined largely by ‘what one does’, and ‘what one does’ is something that I absorb in various ways from my culture. Thus Dreyfus (1990) prefers to translate das Man not as ‘the “they” ’, but as ‘the one’.
This all throws important light on the phenomenon of world, since we can now see that the crucial for-the-sake-of-which structure that stands at the base of each totality of involvements is culturally and historically conditioned. The specific ways in which I behave for the sake of being an academic are what one does if one wants to be considered a good academic, at this particular time, in this particular historically embedded culture (carrying out research, tutoring students, giving lectures, and so on). As Heidegger himself puts the point: “Dasein is for the sake of the ‘they’ in an everyday manner, and the ‘they’ itself articulates the referential context of significance” (Being and Time 27: 167). Worlds (the referential context of significance, networks of involvements) are then culturally and historically conditioned, from which several things seem to follow. First, Dasein's everyday world is, in the first instance, and of its very essence, a shared world. Second, Being-with and Being-in-the-world are, if not equivalent, deeply intertwined. And third, the sense in which worlds are Dasein-dependent involves some sort of cultural relativism, although, as we shall see later, this final issue is one that needs careful interpretative handling.
Critics of the manner in which Heidegger develops the notion of Being-with have often focussed, albeit in different ways, on the thought that Heidegger either ignores or misconceives the fundamental character of our social existence by passing over its grounding in direct interpersonal interaction (see e.g., Löwith 1928, Binswanger 1943/1964, Gallagher and Jacobson forthcoming). From this perspective, the equipmentally mediated discovery of others that Heidegger sometimes describes (see above) is at best a secondary process that reveals other people only to the extent that they are relevant to Dasein's practical projects. Moreover, Olafson (1987) argues that although Heidegger's account clearly involves the idea that Dasein discovers socially shared equipmental meaning (which then presumably supports the discovery of other Dasein along with equipment), that account fails to explain why this must be the case. Processes of direct interpersonal contact (e.g., in learning the use of equipment from others) might plausibly fill this gap. The obvious move for Heidegger to make here is to claim that the processes that the critics find to be missing from his account, although genuine, are not a priori, transcendental structures of Dasein. Rather, they are psychological factors that enable (in a ‘merely’ developmental or causal way) human beings to realize the phenomenon of Being-with (see e.g., Heidegger's response to the existentialist psychologist and therapist Binswanger in the Zollikon seminars, and see Dreyfus 1990, chapter 8, for a response to Olafson that exploits this point). However, one might wonder whether it is plausible to relegate the social processes in question to the status of ‘mere’ enabling factors (Gallagher and Jacobson forthcoming; Pöggeler 1989 might be read as making a similar complaint). If not, then Heidegger's notion of Being-with is at best an incomplete account of our social Being.
2.2.7 Care
The introduction of the ‘they’ is followed by a further layer of interpretation in which Heidegger understands Being-in-the-world in terms of (what he calls) thrownness, projection and fallen-ness, and (interrelatedly) in terms of Dasein as a dynamic combination of disposedness, understanding and fascination with the world. In effect, this is a reformulation of the point that Dasein is the having-to-be-open, i.e., that it is an a priori structure of our existential constitution that we operate with the capacity to take-other-beings-as. Dasein's existence (ek-sistence) is thus now to be understood by way of an interconnected pair of three-dimensional unitary structures: thrownness-projection-fallen-ness and disposedness-understanding-fascination. Each of these can be used to express the “formally existential totality of Dasein's ontological structural whole” (Being and Time 42: 237), a phenomenon that Heidegger also refers to as disclosedness or care. Crucially, it is with the configuration of care that we encounter the first tentative emergence of temporality as a theme in Being and Time, since the dimensionality of care will ultimately be interpreted in terms of the three temporal dimensions: past (thrownness/disposedness), future (projection/understanding), and present (fallen-ness/fascination).
As Dasein, I ineluctably find myself in a world that matters to me in some way or another. This is what Heidegger calls thrownness (Geworfenheit), a having-been-thrown into the world. ‘Disposedness’ is Kisiel's (2002) translation of Befindlichkeit, a term rendered somewhat infelicitously by Macquarrie and Robinson as ‘state-of-mind’. Disposedness is the receptiveness (the just finding things mattering to one) of Dasein, which explains why Richardson (1963) renders Befindlichkeit as ‘already-having-found-oneself-there-ness’. To make things less abstract, we can note that disposedness is the a priori transcendental condition for, and thus shows up pre-ontologically in, the everyday phenomenon of mood (Stimmung). According to Heidegger's analysis, I am always in some mood or other. Thus say I'm depressed, such that the world opens up (is disclosed) to me as a sombre and gloomy place. I might be able to shift myself out of that mood, but only to enter a different one, say euphoria or lethargy, a mood that will open up the world to me in a different way. As one might expect, Heidegger argues that moods are not inner subjective colourings laid over an objectively given world (which at root is why ‘state-of-mind’ is a potentially misleading translation of Befindlichkeit, given that this term names the underlying a priori condition for moods). For Heidegger, moods (and disposedness) are aspects of what it means to be in a world at all, not subjective additions to that in-ness. Here it is worth noting that some aspects of our ordinary linguistic usage reflect this anti-subjectivist reading. Thus we talk of being in a mood rather than a mood being in us, and we have no problem making sense of the idea of public moods (e.g., the mood of a crowd). In noting these features of moods we must be careful, however. It would be a mistake to conclude from them that moods are external, rather than internal, states. A mood “comes neither from ‘outside’ nor from ‘inside’, but arises out of Being-in-the-world, as a way of such being” (Being and Time 29: 176). Nevertheless, the idea that moods have a social character does point us towards a striking implication of Heidegger's overall framework: with Being-in-the-world identified previously as a kind of cultural co-embeddedness, it follows that the repertoire of world-disclosing moods in which I might find myself will itself be culturally conditioned. (For recent philosophical work that builds, in part, on Heidegger's treatment of moods, in order to identify and understand certain affective phenomena—dubbed ‘existential feelings’—that help us to understand various forms of psychiatric illness, see Ratcliffe 2008.)
Dasein confronts every concrete situation in which it finds itself (into which it has been thrown) as a range of possibilities for acting (onto which it may project itself). Insofar as some of these possibilities are actualized, others will not be, meaning that there is a sense in which not-Being (a set of unactualized possibilities of Being) is a structural component of Dasein's Being. Out of this dynamic interplay, Dasein emerges as a delicate balance of determination (thrownness) and freedom (projection). The projective possibilities available to Dasein are delineated by totalities of involvements, structures that, as we have seen, embody the culturally conditioned ways in which Dasein may inhabit the world. Understanding is the process by which Dasein projects itself onto such possibilities. Crucially, understanding as projection is not conceived, by Heidegger, as involving, in any fundamental way, conscious or deliberate forward-planning. Projection “has nothing to do with comporting oneself towards a plan that has been thought out” (Being and Time 31: 185). The primary realization of understanding is as skilled activity in the domain of the ready-to-hand, but it can be manifested as interpretation, when Dasein explicitly takes something as something (e.g., in cases of disturbance), and also as linguistic assertion, when Dasein uses language to attribute a definite character to an entity as a mere present-at-hand object. (NB: assertion of the sort indicated here is of course just one linguistic practice among many; it does not in any way exhaust the phenomenon of language or its ontological contribution.) Another way of putting the point that culturally conditioned totalities of involvements define the space of Dasein's projection onto possibilities is to say that such totalities constitute the fore-structures of Dasein's practices of understanding and interpretation, practices that, as we have just seen, are projectively oriented manifestations of the taking-as activity that forms the existential core of Dasein's Being. What this tells us is that the hermeneutic circle is the “essential fore-structure of Dasein itself” (Being and Time 32: 195).
Thrownness and projection provide two of the three dimensions of care. The third is fallen-ness. “Dasein has, in the first instance, fallen away from itself as an authentic potentiality for Being its Self, and has fallen into the world” (Being and Time 38: 220). Such fallen-ness into the world is manifested in idle talk (roughly, conversing in a critically unexamined and unexamining way about facts and information while failing to use language to reveal their relevance), curiosity (a search for novelty and endless stimulation rather than belonging or dwelling), and ambiguity (a loss of any sensitivity to the distinction between genuine understanding and superficial chatter). Each of these aspects of fallen-ness involves a closing off or covering up of the world (more precisely, of any real understanding of the world) through a fascination with it. What is crucial here is that this world-obscuring process of fallen-ness/fascination, as manifested in idle talk, curiosity and ambiguity, is to be understood as Dasein's everyday mode of Being-with. In its everyday form, Being-with exhibits what Heidegger calls levelling or averageness—a “Being-lost in the publicness of the ‘they’ ” (Being and Time 38: 220). Here, in dramatic language, is how he makes the point.
In utilizing public means of transport and in making use of information services such as the newspaper, every Other is like the next. This Being-with-one-another dissolves one's own Dasein completely into a kind of Being of ‘the Others’, in such a way, indeed, that the Others, as distinguishable and explicit, vanish more and more. In this inconspicuousness and unascertainability, the real dictatorship of the ‘they’ is unfolded. We take pleasure and enjoy ourselves as they take pleasure; we read, see, and judge about literature and art as they see and judge; likewise we shrink back from the ‘great mass’ as they shrink back; we find ‘shocking’ what they find shocking. The ‘they’, which is nothing definite, and which all are, though not as the sum, prescribes the kind of Being of everydayness. (Being and Time 27: 164)
This analysis opens up a path to Heidegger's distinction between the authentic self and its inauthentic counterpart. At root, ‘authentic’ means ‘my own’. So the authentic self is the self that is mine (leading a life that, in a sense to be explained, is owned by me), whereas the inauthentic self is the fallen self, the self lost to the ‘they’. Hence we might call the authentic self the ‘mine-self’, and the inauthentic self the ‘they-self’, the latter term also serving to emphasize the point that fallen-ness is a mode of the self, not of others. Moreover, as a mode of the self, fallen-ness is not an accidental feature of Dasein, but rather part of Dasein's existential constitution. It is a dimension of care, which is the Being of Dasein. So, in the specific sense that fallen-ness (the they-self) is an essential part of our Being, we are ultimately each to blame for our own inauthenticity (Sheehan 2002). Of course, one shouldn't conclude from all this talk of submersion in the ‘they’ that a state of authenticity is to be achieved by re-establishing some version of a self-sufficient individual subject. As Heidegger puts it: “Authentic Being-one's-Self does not rest upon an exceptional condition of the subject, a condition that has been detached from the ‘they’; it is rather an existentiell modification of the ‘they’ ” (Being and Time 27: 168). So authenticity is not about being isolated from others, but rather about finding a different way of relating to others such that one is not lost to the they-self. It is in Division 2 of Being and Time that authenticity, so understood, becomes a central theme.
2.3.1 Death
As the argument of Being and Time continues its ever-widening hermeneutic spiral into Division 2 of the text, Heidegger announces a twofold transition in the analysis. He argues that we should (i) pay proper heed to the thought that to understand Dasein we need to understand Dasein's existence as a whole, and (ii) shift the main focus of our attention from the inauthentic self (the they-self) to the authentic self (the mine-self) (Being and Time 45: 276). Both of these transitions figure in Heidegger's discussion of death.
So far, Dasein's existence has been understood as thrown projection plus falling. The projective aspect of this phenomenon means that, at each moment of its life, Dasein is Being-ahead-of-itself, oriented towards the realm of its possibilities, and is thus incomplete. Death completes Dasein's existence. Therefore, an understanding of Dasein's relation to death would make an essential contribution to our understanding of Dasein as a whole. But now a problem immediately presents itself: since one cannot experience one's own death, it seems that the kind of phenomenological analysis that has hitherto driven the argument of Being and Time breaks down, right at the crucial moment. One possible response to this worry, canvassed explicitly by Heidegger, is to suggest that Dasein understands death through experiencing the death of others. However, the sense in which we experience the death of others falls short of what is needed. We mourn departed others and miss their presence in the world. But that is to experience Being-with them as dead, which is a mode of our continued existence. As Heidegger explains:
The greater the phenomenal appropriateness with which we take the no-longer-Dasein of the deceased, the more plainly is it shown that in such Being-with the dead, the authentic Being-come-to-and-end of the deceased is precisely the sort of thing which we do not experience. Death does indeed reveal itself as a loss, but a loss such as is experienced by those who remain. In suffering this loss, however, we have no way of access to the loss-of-Being as such which the dying man ‘suffers’. The dying of Others is not something which we experience in a genuine sense; at most we are always just ‘there alongside’. (Being and Time 47: 282)
What we don't have, then, is phenomenological access to the loss of Being that the dead person has suffered. But that, it seems, is precisely what we would need in order to carry through the favoured analysis. So another response is called for. Heidegger's move is to suggest that although Dasein cannot experience its own death as actual, it can relate towards its own death as a possibility that is always before it—always before it in the sense that Dasein's own death is inevitable. Peculiarly among Dasein's possibilities, the possibility of Dasein's own death must remain only a possibility, since once it becomes actual, Dasein is no longer. Death is thus the “possibility of the impossibility of any existence at all” (Being and Time 53: 307). And it is this awareness of death as an omnipresent possibility that cannot become actual that stops the phenomenological analysis from breaking down. The detail here is crucial. What the failure of the ‘death of others’ strategy indicates is that in each instance death is inextricably tied to some specific individual Dasein. My death is mine in a radical sense; it is the moment at which all my relations to others disappear. Heidegger captures this non-relationality by using the term ‘ownmost’. And it is the idea of death “as that possibility which is one's ownmost” (Being and Time 50: 294) that engages the second transition highlighted above. When I take on board the possibility of my own not-Being, my own being-able-to-Be is brought into proper view. Hence my awareness of my own death as an omnipresent possibility discloses the authentic self (a self that is mine). Moreover, the very same awareness engages the first of the aforementioned transitions too: there is a sense in which the possibility of my not existing encompasses the whole of my existence (Hinman 1978, 201), and my awareness of that possibility illuminates me, qua Dasein, in my totality. Indeed, my own death is revealed to me as inevitable, meaning that Dasein is essentially finite. This explains why Heidegger says that death is disclosed to Dasein as a possibility which is “not to be outstripped” (Being and Time 50: 294).
Heidegger's account of Dasein's relation towards the possibility of its own not-Being forms the backbone of a reinterpretation of the phenomenon of care—the “formally existential totality of Dasein's ontological structural whole” (Being and Time 42: 237). Care is now interpreted in terms of Being-towards-death, meaning that Dasein has an internal relation to the nothing (i.e., to not-being; see Vallega-Neu 2003, 21, for an analysis that links this ‘not’ quality to the point made earlier that sets of unactualized possibilities of Being are structural components of Dasein's Being). As one might expect, Heidegger argues that Being-towards-death not only has the three-dimensional character of care, but is realized in authentic and inauthentic modes. Let's begin with the authentic mode. We can think of the aforementioned individualizing effect of Dasein's awareness of the possibility of its own not-Being (an awareness that illuminates its own being-able-to-Be) as an event in which Dasein projects onto a possible way to be, in the technical sense of such possibilities introduced earlier in Being and Time. It is thus an event in which Dasein projects onto a for-the-sake-of-which, a possible way to be. More particularly, given the authentic character of the phenomenon, it is an event in which Dasein projects onto a for-the-sake-of-itself. Heidegger now coins the term anticipation to express the form of projection in which one looks forward to a possible way to be. Given the analysis of death as a possibility, the authentic form of projection in the case of death is anticipation. Indeed Heidegger often uses the term anticipation in a narrow way, simply to mean being aware of death as a possibility. But death is disclosed authentically not only in projection (the first dimension of care) but also in thrownness (the second dimension). The key phenomenon here is the mode of disposedness that Heidegger calls anxiety. Anxiety, at least in the form in which Heidegger is interested, is not directed towards some specific object, but rather opens up the world to me in a certain distinctive way. When I am anxious I am no longer at home in the world. I fail to find the world intelligible. Thus there is an ontological sense (one to do with intelligibility) in which I am not in the world, and the possibility of a world without me (the possibility of my not-Being-in-the-world) is revealed to me. “[The] state-of-mind [mode of disposedness] which can hold open the utter and constant threat to itself arising from Dasein's ownmost individualized Being, is anxiety. In this state-of-mind, Dasein finds itself face to face with the ‘nothing’ of the possible impossibility of its existence” (Being and Time 53: 310). Heidegger has now reinterpreted two of the three dimensions of care, in the light of Dasein's essential finitude. But now what about the third dimension, identified previously as fallen-ness? Since we are presently considering a mode of authentic, i.e., not fallen, Dasein, it seems that fallen-ness cannot be a feature of this realization of care, and indeed that a general reformulation of the care structure is called for in order to allow for authentic Being. This is an issue that will be addressed in the next section. First, though, the inauthentic form of Being-towards-death needs to be brought into view.
In everyday Being-towards-death, the self that figures in the for-the-sake-of-itself structure is not the authentic mine-self, but rather the inauthentic they-self. In effect, the ‘they’ obscures our awareness of the meaning of our own deaths by de-individualizing death. As Heidegger explains: in “Dasein's public way of interpreting, it is said that ‘one dies’, because everyone else and oneself can talk himself into saying that ‘in no case is it I myself’, for this ‘one’ is the ‘nobody’ ” (Being and Time 51: 297). In this way, everyday Dasein flees from the meaning of its own death, in a manner determined by the ‘they’. It is in this evasion in the face of death, interpreted as a further way in which Dasein covers up Being, that everyday Dasein's fallen-ness now manifests itself. To be clear: evasion here does not necessarily mean that I refuse outright to acknowledge that I will someday die. After all, as I might say, ‘everyone dies’. However, the certainty of death achieved by idle talk of this kind is of the wrong sort. One might think of it as established by the conclusion of some sort of inductive inference from observations of many cases of death (the deaths of many others). But “we cannot compute the certainty of death by ascertaining how many cases of death we encounter” (Being and Time 53: 309).
The certainty brought into view by such an inference is a sort of empirical certainty, one which conceals the apodictic character of the inevitability with which my own death is authentically revealed to me (Being and Time 52: 301). In addition, as we have seen, according to Heidegger, my own death can never be actual for me, so viewed from my perspective, any case of death, i.e., any actual death, cannot be my death. Thus it must be a death that belongs to someone else, or rather, to no one.
Inauthenticity in relation to death is also realized in thrownness, through fear, and in projection, through expectation. Fear, as a mode of disposedness, can disclose only particular oncoming events in the world. To fear my own death, then, is once again to treat my death as a case of death. This contrasts with anxiety, the form of disposedness which, as we have seen, discloses my death via the awareness of the possibility of a world in which I am not. The projective analogue to the fear-anxiety distinction is expectation-anticipation. A mundane example might help to illustrate the generic idea. When I expect a beer to taste a certain way, I am waiting for an actual event—a case of that distinctive taste in my mouth—to occur. By contrast, when I anticipate the taste of that beer, one might say that, in a cognitive sense, I actively go out to meet the possibility of that taste. In so doing, I make it mine. Expecting death is thus to wait for a case of death, whereas to anticipate death is to own it.
In reinterpreting care in terms of Being-towards-death, Heidegger illuminates in a new way the taking-as structure that, as we have seen, he takes to be the essence of human existence. Human beings, as Dasein, are essentially finite. And it is this finitude that explains why the phenomenon of taking-as is an essential characteristic of our existence. An infinite Being would understand things directly, without the need for interpretative intercession. We, however, are Dasein, and in our essential finitude we must understand things in a hermeneutically mediated, indirect way, that is, by taking-as (Sheehan 2001).
What are we to make of Heidegger's analysis of death? Perhaps the most compelling reason for being sceptical can be found in Sartre, who argued that just as death cannot be actual for me, it cannot be one of my possibilities either, at least if the term ‘possibility’ is understood, as Heidegger surely intends it to be, as marking a way of my Being, an intelligible way for me to be. Sartre argues that death is the end of such possibilities. Thus:
[The] perpetual appearance of chance at the heart of my projects cannot be apprehended as my possibility but, on the contrary, as the nihilation of all my possibilities. A nihilation which itself is no longer a part of my possibilities. Thus death is not my possibility of no longer realizing a presence in the world but rather an always possible nihilation of my possibilities which is outside my possibilities. (Sartre 1956, 537)
If Sartre is right, there is a significant hole in Heidegger's project, since we would be left without a way of completing the phenomenological analysis of Dasein.
For further debate over Heidegger's handling of death, see Edwards' (1975, 1976, 2004) unsympathetic broadsides alongside Hinman's (1978) robust response. Carel (2006) develops an analysis that productively connects Heidegger's and Freud's accounts of death, despite Heidegger's open antipathy towards Freud's theories in general.
2.3.2 Anticipatory Resoluteness
In some of the most difficult sections of Being and Time, Heidegger now begins to close in on the claim that temporality is the ontological meaning of Dasein's Being as care. The key notion here is that of anticipatory resoluteness, which Heidegger identifies as an (or perhaps the) authentic mode of care. As we have seen, anticipation is the form of Being-towards in which one looks forward to a possible way to be. Bringing resoluteness into view requires further groundwork that begins with Heidegger's reinterpretation of the authentic self in terms of the phenomenon of conscience or Being-guilty. The authentic self is characterized by Being-guilty. This does not mean that authenticity requires actually feeling guilty. Rather, the authentic self is the one who is open to the call of conscience. The inauthentic self, by contrast, is closed to conscience and guilt. It is tempting to think that this is where Heidegger does ethics. However, guilt as an existential structure is not to be understood as some psychological feeling that one gets when one transgresses some moral code. If the term ‘guilt’ is to be heard in an ethical register at all, the phenomenon of Being-guilty will, for Heidegger, be the a priori condition for there to be moral codes, not the psychological result of transgressions of those codes. Having said that, however, it may be misleading to adopt an ethical register here. For Heidegger, conscience is fundamentally a disclosive rather than an ethical phenomenon. What is more important for the project of Being and Time, then, is the claim that the call of conscience interrupts Dasein's everyday fascination with entities by summoning Dasein back to its own finitude and thereby to authenticity. To see how the call of conscience achieves this, we need to unpack Heidegger's reformulation of conscience in terms of anticipatory resoluteness.
In the by-now familiar pattern, Heidegger argues that conscience (Being-guilty) has the structure of care. However, there's now a modification to the picture, presumably driven by a factor mentioned earlier, namely that authentic Dasein is not fallen. Since conscience is a mode of authentic Dasein, fallen-ness cannot be one of the dimensions of conscience. So the three elements of care are now identified as projection, thrownness and discourse. What is discourse? It clearly has something to do with articulation, and it is tempting to make a connection with language, but in truth this aspect of Heidegger's view is somewhat murky. Heidegger says that the “intelligibility of Being-in-the-world… expresses itself as discourse” (Being and Time 34: 204). But this might mean that intelligibility is essentially a linguistic phenomenon; or it might mean that discourse is intelligibility as put into language. There is even room for the view that discourse is not necessarily a linguistic phenomenon at all, but rather any way in which the referential structure of significance is articulated, either by deeds (e.g., by hammering) or by words (see e.g., Dreyfus 1991, 215; Dreyfus translates the German term Rede not as ‘discourse’ but as ‘telling’, and notes the existence of non-linguistic tellings such as telling the time). But however we settle that point of interpretation, there is something untidy about the status of discourse in relation to fallen-ness and authenticity. Elsewhere in Being and Time, the text strongly suggests that discourse has inauthentic modes, for instance when it is manifested as idle talk; and in yet other sections we find the claim that fallen-ness has an authentic manifestation called a moment-of-vision (e.g., Being and Time 68: 401). Regarding the general relations between discourse, fallen-ness and authenticity, then, the conceptual landscape is not entirely clear. Nevertheless, we can say this: when care is realized authentically, I experience discourse as reticence, as a keeping silent (ignoring the chatter of idle talk) so that I may hear the call of conscience; I experience projection onto guilt as a possible way of Being in which I take responsibility for a lack or a not-Being that is located firmly in my own self (where ‘taking responsibility for’ means recognizing that not-Being is one of my essential structures); and I experience thrownness as anxiety, a mode of disposedness that, as we have seen, leaves me estranged from the familiar field of intelligibility determined by the ‘they’ and thereby discloses the possibility of my own not-Being. So, reticence, guilt and anxiety all have the effect of extracting Dasein from the ontological clutches of the ‘they’. That is why the unitary structure of reticence-guilt-anxiety characterizes the Being of authentic Dasein.
So now what of resoluteness? ‘Resoluteness’ is perhaps best understood as simply a new term for reticence-guilt-anxiety. But why do we need a new term? There are two possible reasons for thinking that the relabelling exercise here adds value. Each of these indicates a connection between authenticity and freedom. Each corresponds to an authentic realization of one of two possible understandings of what Heidegger means by (human) existence (see above). The first take on resoluteness is emphasized by, for example, Gelven (1989), Mulhall (2005) and Polt (1999). In ordinary parlance, to be resolved is to commit oneself to some project and thus, in a sense, to take ownership of one's life. By succumbing to, but without making any real commitment to, the patterns laid down by the ‘they’ (i.e., by uncritically ‘doing what one does’), inauthentic Dasein avoids owning its own life. Authentic Being (understood as resoluteness) is, then, a freedom from the ‘they’—not, of course, in any sense that involves extracting oneself from one's socio-cultural embeddedness (after all, Being-with is part of Dasein's existential constitution), but rather in a sense that involves individual commitment to (and thus individual ownership of) one of the possible ways to be that one's socio-cultural embeddedness makes available (more on this below). Seen like this, resoluteness correlates with the idea that Dasein's existence is constituted by a series of events in which possible ways to be are chosen.
At this point we would do well to hesitate. The emphasis on notions such as choice and commitment makes it all too easy to think that resoluteness essentially involves some sort of conscious decision-making. For this reason, Vallega-Neu (2003, 15) reminds us that resoluteness is not a “choice made by a human subject” but rather an “occurrence that determines Dasein”. This occurrence discloses Dasein's essential finitude. It is here that it is profitable to think in terms of anticipatory resoluteness. Heidegger's claim is that resoluteness and anticipation are internally related, such that they ultimately emerge together as the unitary phenomenon of anticipatory resoluteness. Thus, he argues, Being-guilty (the projective aspect of resoluteness) involves Dasein wanting to be open to the call of conscience for as long as Dasein exists, which requires an awareness of the possibility of death. Since resoluteness is an authentic mode of Being, this awareness of the possibility of death must also be authentic. But the authentic awareness of the possibility of death just is anticipation (see above). Thus “only as anticipating does resoluteness become a primordial Being towards Dasein's ownmost potentiality-for-Being” (Being and Time 62: 354). Via the internal connection with anticipation, then, the notion of resoluteness allows Heidegger to rethink the path to Dasein's essential finitude, a finitude that is hidden in fallen-ness, but which, as we have seen, is the condition of possibility for the taking-as structure that is a constitutive aspect of Dasein. Seen this way, resoluteness correlates more neatly with the idea that human existence is essentially a standing out in an openness to, and in an opening of, Being.
2.3.3 Temporality and Temporalizing
In a further hermeneutic spiral, Heidegger concludes that temporality is the a priori transcendental condition for there to be care (sense-making, intelligibility, taking-as, Dasein's own distinctive mode of Being). Moreover, it is Dasein's openness to time that ultimately allows Dasein's potential authenticity to be actualized: in authenticity, the constraints and possibilities determined by Dasein's cultural-historical past are grasped by Dasein in the present so that it may project itself into the future in a fully authentic manner, i.e., in a manner which is truest to the mine-self.
The ontological emphasis that Heidegger places on temporality might usefully be seen as an echo and development of Kant's claim that embeddedness in time is a precondition for things to appear to us the way they do. (According to Kant, embeddedness in time is co-determinative of our experience, along with embeddedness in space. See above for Heidegger's problematic analysis of the relationship between spatiality and temporality.) With the Kantian roots of Heidegger's treatment of time acknowledged, it must be registered immediately that, in Heidegger's hands, the notion of temporality receives a distinctive twist. Heidegger is concerned not with clock-time (an infinite series of self-contained nows laid out in an ordering of past, present and future) or with time as some sort of relativistic phenomenon that would satisfy the physicist. Time thought of in either of these ways is a present-at-hand phenomenon, and that means that it cannot characterize the temporality that is an internal feature of Dasein's existential constitution, the existential temporality that structures intelligibility (taking-as). As he puts it in his History of the Concept of Time (a 1925 lecture course): “Not ‘time is’, but ‘Dasein qua time temporalizes its Being’ ” (319). To make sense of this temporalizing, Heidegger introduces the technical term ecstases. Ecstases are phenomena that stand out from an underlying unity. (He later reinterprets ecstases as horizons, in the sense of what limits, surrounds or encloses, and in so doing discloses or makes available.) According to Heidegger, temporality is a unity against which past, present and future stand out as ecstases while remaining essentially interlocked. The importance of this idea is that it frees the phenomenologist from thinking of past, present and future as sequentially ordered groupings of distinct events. Thus:
Temporalizing does not signify that ecstases come in a ‘succession’. The future is not later than having been, and having-been is not earlier than the Present. Temporality temporalizes itself as a future which makes present in a process of having been. (Being and Time 68: 401)
What does this mean and why should we find it compelling? Perhaps the easiest way to grasp Heidegger's insight here is to follow him in explicitly reinterpreting the different elements of the structure of care in terms of the three phenomenologically intertwined dimensions of temporality.
Dasein's existence is characterized phenomenologically by thrown projection plus fallenness/discourse. Heidegger argues that for each of these phenomena, one particular dimension of temporality is primary. Thus projection is disclosed principally as the manner in which Dasein orients itself towards its future. Anticipation, as authentic projection, therefore becomes the predominantly futural aspect of (what we can now call) authentic temporalizing, whereas expectation, as inauthentic projection, occupies the same role for inauthentic temporalizing. However, since temporality is at root a unitary structure, thrownness, projection, falling and discourse must each have a multi-faceted temporality. Anticipation, for example, requires that Dasein acknowledge the unavoidable way in which its past is constitutive of who it is, precisely because anticipation demands of Dasein that it project itself resolutely onto (i.e., come to make its own) one of the various options established by its cultural-historical embeddedness. And anticipation has a present-related aspect too: in a process that Heidegger calls a moment of vision, Dasein, in anticipating its own death, pulls away from they-self-dominated distractions of the present.
Structurally similar analyses are given for the other elements of the care structure. Here is not the place to pursue the details but, at the most general level, thrownness is identified predominantly, although not exclusively, as the manner in which Dasein collects up its past (finding itself in relation to the pre-structured field of intelligibility into which it has been enculturated), while fallen-ness and discourse are identified predominantly, although not exclusively, as present-oriented (e.g., in the case of fallen-ness, through curiosity as a search for novelty in which Dasein is locked into the distractions of the present and devalues the past and the projective future). A final feature of Heidegger's intricate analysis concerns the way in which authentic and inauthentic temporalizing are understood as prioritizing different dimensions of temporality. Heidegger argues that because future-directed anticipation is intertwined with projection onto death as a possibility (thereby enabling the disclosure of Dasein's all-important finitude), the “primary phenomenon of primordial and authentic temporality is the future” (Being and Time 65: 378), whereas inauthentic temporalizing (through structures such as ‘they’-determined curiosity) prioritizes the present.
What the foregoing summary of Heidegger's account of temporality makes clear is that each event of intelligibility that makes up a ‘moment’ in Dasein's existence must be unpacked using all three temporal ecstases. Each such event is constituted by thrownness (past), projection (future) and falling/discourse (present). In a sense, then, each such event transcends (goes beyond) itself as a momentary episode of Being by, in the relevant sense, co-realizing a past and a future along with a present. This explains why “the future is not later than having been, and having-been is not earlier than the Present”. In the sense that matters, then, Dasein is always a combination of the futural, the historical and the present. And since futurality, historicality and presence, understood in terms of projection, thrownness and fallenness/discourse, form the structural dimensions of each event of intelligibility, it is Dasein's essential temporality (or temporalizing) that provides the a priori transcendental condition for there to be care (the sense-making that constitutes Dasein's own distinctive mode of Being).
(Some worries about Heidegger's analysis of time will be explored below. For a view which is influenced by, and contains an original interpretation of, Heidegger on time, see Stiegler's 1996/2003 analysis according to which human temporality is constituted by technology, including alphabetical writing, as a form of memory.)
2.3.4 Historicality and Historizing
In the final major development of his analysis of temporality, Heidegger identifies a phenomenon that he calls Dasein's historicality, understood as the a priori condition on the basis of which past events and things may have significance for us. The analysis begins with an observation that Being-towards-death is only one aspect of Dasein's finitude.
[Death] is only the ‘end’ of Dasein; and, taken formally, it is just one of the ends by which Dasein's totality is closed round. The other ‘end’, however, is the ‘beginning’, the ‘birth’. Only that entity which is ‘between’ birth and death presents the whole which we have been seeking… Dasein has [so far] been our theme only in the way in which it exists ‘facing forward’, as it were, leaving ‘behind’ all that has been. Not only has Being-towards-the-beginning remained unnoticed; but so too, and above all, has the way in which Dasein stretches along between birth and death. (Being and Time 72: 425).
Here Dasein's beginning (its ‘birth’) is to be interpreted not as a biological event, but as a moment of enculturation, following which the a priori structure underlying intelligibility (thrown projection plus falling/discourse) applies. Dasein's beginning is thus a moment at which a biological human being has become embedded within a pre-existing world, a culturally determined field of intelligibility into which it is thrown and onto which it projects itself. Such worlds are now to be reinterpreted historically as Dasein's heritage. Echoing the way in which past, present and future were disclosed as intertwined in the analysis of temporality, Dasein's historicality has the effect of bringing the past (its heritage) alive in the present as a set of opportunities for future action. In the original German, Heidegger calls this phenomenon Wiederholung, which Macquarrie and Robinson translate as repetition. Although this is an accurate translation of the German term, there is a way of hearing the word ‘repetition’ that is misleading with regard to Heidegger's usage. The idea here is not that I can do nothing other than repeat the actions of my cultural ancestors, but rather that, in authentic mode, I may appropriate those past actions (own them, make them mine) as a set of general models or heroic templates onto which I may creatively project myself. Thus, retrieving may be a more appropriate translation. This notion of retrieving characterizes the “specific movement in which Dasein is stretched along and stretches itself along”, what Heidegger now calls Dasein's historizing. Historizing is an a priori structure of Dasein's Being as care that constitutes a stretching along between Dasein's birth as the entity that takes-as and death as its end, between enculturation and finitude. “Factical Dasein exists as born; and, as born, it is already dying, in the sense of Being-towards-death… birth and death are ‘connected’ in a manner characteristic of Dasein. As care, Dasein is the ‘between’ ”(Being and Time 73: 426–7).
It is debatable whether the idea of creative appropriation does enough to allay the suspicion that the concept of heritage introduces a threat to our individual freedom (in an ordinary sense of freedom) by way of some sort of social determinism. For example, since historicality is an aspect of Dasein's existential constitution, it is arguable that Heidegger effectively rules out the possibility that I might reinvent myself in an entirely original way. Moreover, Polt (1999) draws our attention to a stinging passage from earlier in Being and Time which might be taken to suggest that any attempt to take on board elements of cultures other than one's own should be judged an inauthentic practice indicative of fallen-ness. Thus:
the opinion may now arise that understanding the most alien cultures and ‘synthesizing’ them with one's own may lead to Dasein's becoming for the first time thoroughly and genuinely enlightened about itself. Versatile curiosity and restlessly ‘knowing it all’ masquerade as a universal understanding of Dasein. (Being and Time 38: 178)
This sets the stage for Heidegger's own final elucidation of human freedom. According to Heidegger, I am genuinely free precisely when I recognize that I am a finite being with a heritage and when I achieve an authentic relationship with that heritage through the creative appropriation of it. As he explains:
Once one has grasped the finitude of one's existence, it snatches one back from the endless multiplicity of possibilities which offer themselves as closest to one—those of comfortableness, shirking and taking things lightly—and brings Dasein to the simplicity of its fate. This is how we designate Dasein's primordial historizing, which lies in authentic resoluteness and in which Dasein hands itself down to itself, free for death, in a possibility which it has inherited and yet has chosen” (Being and Time 74: 435)
This phenomenon, a final reinterpretation of the notion of resoluteness, is what Heidegger calls primordial historizing or fate. And crucially, historizing is not merely a structure that is partly constitutive of individual authentic Dasein. Heidegger also points out the shared primordial historizing of a community, what he calls its destiny.
When the contemporary reader of Being and Time encounters the concepts of heritage, fate and destiny, and places them not only in the context of the political climate of mid-to-late 1920s Germany, but also alongside Heidegger's later membership of the Nazi party, it is hard not to hear dark undertones of cultural chauvinism and racial prejudice. This worry becomes acute when one considers the way in which these concepts figure in passages such as the following, from the inaugural rectoral address that Heidegger gave at Freiburg University in 1933.
The third bond [knowledge service, in addition to labour service and military service] is the one that binds the [German] students to the spiritual mission of the German Volk. This Volk is playing an active role in shaping its own fate by placing its history into the openness of the overpowering might of all the world-shaping forces of human existence and by struggling anew to secure its spiritual world… The three bonds—through the Volk to the destiny of the state in its spiritual mission—are equally original aspects of the German essence. (The Self-Assertion of the German University, 35–6)
The issue of Heidegger's later relationship with Nazi politics and ideology will be discussed briefly below. For the moment, however, it is worth saying that the temptation to offer extreme social determinist or Nazi reconstructions of Being and Time is far from irresistible. It is at least arguable that Heidegger's claim at this point in his work is ‘merely’ that it is only on the basis of fate—an honest and explicit retrieval of my own culture which allows me to recognize and accept the manifold ways in which I am shaped by that culture—that I can open up a genuine path to personal reconstruction or to the possibly enriching structures that other cultures have to offer. And that does not sound nearly so pernicious.
2.4 Realism and Relativism in Being and Time
One might think that an unpalatable relativism is entailed by any view which emphasizes that understanding is never preconception-free. But that would be too quick. Of course, if authentic Dasein were individualized in the sense of being a self-sufficient Cartesian subject, then perhaps an extreme form of subjectivist relativism would indeed beckon. Fortunately, however, authentic Dasein isn't a Cartesian subject, in part because it has a transformed and not a severed relationship with the ‘they’. This reconnects us with our earlier remark that the philosophical framework advocated within Being and Time appears to mandate a kind of cultural relativism. This seems right, but it is important to try to understand precisely what sort of cultural relativism is on offer. Here is one interpretation.
Although worlds (networks of involvements, what Heidegger sometimes calls Reality) are culturally relative phenomena, Heidegger occasionally seems to suggest that nature, as it is in itself, is not. Thus, on the one hand, nature may be discovered as ready-to-hand equipment: the “wood is a forest of timber, the mountain is a quarry of rock; the river is water-power, the wind is wind ‘in the sails’ ” (Being and Time 15: 100). Under these circumstances, nature is revealed in certain culturally specific forms determined by our socially conditioned patterns of skilled practical activity. On the other hand, when nature is discovered as present-at-hand, by say science, its intelligibility has an essentially cross-cultural character. Indeed, Heidegger often seems to hold the largely commonsense view that there are culture-independent causal properties of nature which explain why it is that you can make missiles out of rocks or branches, but not out of air or water. Science can tell us both what those causal properties are, and how the underlying causal processes work. Such properties and processes are what Heidegger calls the Real, and he comments: “[the] fact that Reality [intelligibility] is ontologically grounded in the Being of Dasein does not signify that only when Dasein exists and as long as Dasein exists can the Real [e.g., nature as revealed by science] be as that which in itself it is” (Being and Time, 43: 255).
If the picture just sketched is a productive way to understand Heidegger, then, perhaps surprisingly, his position might best be thought of as a mild kind of scientific realism. For, on this interpretation, one of Dasein's cultural practices, the practice of science, has the special quality of revealing natural entities as they are in themselves, that is, independently of Dasein's culturally conditioned uses and articulations of them. Crucially, however, this sort of scientific realism maintains ample conceptual room for Sheehan's well-observed point that, for Heidegger, at every stage of his thinking, “there is no ‘is’ to things without a taking-as… no sense that is independent of human being… Before homo sapiens evolved, there was no ‘being’ on earth… because ‘being’ for Heidegger does not mean ‘in existence’ ” (Sheehan 2001). Indeed, Being concerns sense-making (intelligibility), and the different ways in which entities make sense to us, including as present-at-hand, are dependent on the fact that we are Dasein, creatures with a particular mode of Being. So while natural entities do not require the existence of Dasein in order just to occur (in an ordinary, straightforward sense of ‘occur’), they do require Dasein in order to be intelligible at all, including as entities that just occur. Understood properly, then, the following two claims that Heidegger makes are entirely consistent with each other. First: “Being (not entities) is dependent upon the understanding of Being; that is to say, Reality (not the Real) is dependent upon care”. Secondly: “[O]nly as long as Dasein is (that is, only as long as an understanding of Being is ontically possible), ‘is there’ Being. When Dasein does not exist, ‘independence’ ‘is’ not either, nor ‘is’ the ‘in-itself’ ”. (Both quotations from Being and Time, 43: 255.)
How does all this relate to Heidegger's account of truth? Answering this question adds a new dimension to the pivotal phenomenon of revealing. Heidegger points out that the philosophical tradition standardly conceives of truth as attaching to propositions, and as involving some sort of correspondence between propositions and states of affairs. But whereas for the tradition (as Heidegger characterizes it), propositional truth as correspondence exhausts the phenomenon of truth, for Heidegger, it is merely the particular manifestation of truth that is operative in those domains, such as science, that concern themselves with the Real. According to Heidegger, propositional truth as correspondence is made possible by a more fundamental phenomenon that he dubs ‘original truth’. Heidegger's key thought here is that before (in a conceptual sense of ‘before’) there can be any question of correspondence between propositions and states of affairs, there needs to be in place a field of intelligibility (Reality, a world), a sense-making structure within which entities may be found. Unconcealing is the Dasein-involving process that establishes this prior field of intelligibility. This is the domain of original truth—what we might call truth as revealing or truth as unconcealing. Original truth cannot be reduced to propositional truth as correspondence, because the former is an a priori, transcendental condition for the latter. Of course, since Dasein is the source of intelligibility, truth as unconcealing is possible only because there is Dasein, which means that without Dasein there would be no truth—including propositional truth as correspondence. But it is reasonable to hear this seemingly relativistic consequence as a further modulation of the point (see above) that entities require Dasein in order to be intelligible at all, including, now, as entities that are capable of entering into states of affairs that may correspond to propositions.
Heidegger's analysis of truth also countenances a third manifestation of the phenomenon, one that is perhaps best characterized as being located between original truth and propositional truth. This intermediate phenomenon is what might be called Heidegger's instrumental notion of truth (Dahlstrom 2001, Overgaard 2002). As we saw earlier, for Heidegger, the referential structure of significance may be articulated not only by words but by skilled practical activity (e.g., hammering) in which items of equipment are used in culturally appropriate ways. By Heidegger's lights, such equipmental activity counts as a manifestation of unconcealing and thus as the realization of a species of truth. This fact further threatens the idea that truth attaches only to propositions, although some uses of language may themselves be analysed as realizing the instrumental form of truth (e.g., when I exclaim that ‘this hammer is too heavy for the job’, rather than assert that it has the objective property of weighing 2.5 kilos; Overgaard 2002, 77; cf. Being and Time 33:199–200).
It is at this point that an ongoing dispute in Heidegger scholarship comes to the fore. It has been argued (e.g., Dahlstrom 2001, Overgaard 2002) that a number of prominent readings of Heidegger (e.g., Okrent 1988, Dreyfus 1991) place such heavy philosophical emphasis on Dasein as a site of skilled practical activity that they end up simply identifying Dasein's understanding of Being with skilled practical activity. Because of this shared tendency, such readings are often grouped together as advocating a pragmatist interpretation of Heidegger. According to its critics, the inadequacy of the pragmatist interpretation is exposed once it is applied to Heidegger's account of truth. For although the pragmatist interpretation correctly recognizes that, for Heidegger, propositional correspondence is not the most fundamental phenomenon of truth, it takes the fundamental variety to be exhausted by Dasein's sense-making skilled practical activity. But (the critic points out) this is to ignore the fact that even though instrumental truth is more basic than traditional propositional truth, nevertheless it too depends on a prior field of significance (one that determines the correct and incorrect uses of equipment) and thus on the phenomenon of original truth. Put another way, the pragmatist interpretation falls short because it fails to distinguish original truth from instrumental truth. It is worth commenting here that not every so-called pragmatist reading is on a par with respect to this issue. For example, Dreyfus (2008) separates out (what he calls) background coping (Dasein's familiarity with, and knowledge of how to navigate the meaningful structures of, its world) from (what he calls) skilled or absorbed coping (Dasein's skilled practical activity), and argues that, for Heidegger, the former is ontologically more basic than the latter. If original truth is manifested in background coping, and instrumental truth in skilled coping, this disrupts the thought that the two notions of truth are being run together (for discussion, see Overgaard 2002 85–6, note 17).
How should one respond to Heidegger's analysis of truth? One objection is that original truth ultimately fails to qualify as a form of truth at all. As Tugendhat (1967) observes, it is a plausible condition on the acceptability of any proposed account of truth that it accommodate a distinction between what is asserted or intended and how things are in themselves. It is clear that propositional truth as correspondence satisfies this condition, and notice that (if we squint a little) so too does instrumental truth, since despite my intentions, I can fail, in my actions, to use the hammer in ways that successfully articulate its place in the relevant equipmental network. However, as Tugendhat argues, it is genuinely hard to see how original truth as unconcealing could possibly support a distinction between what is asserted or intended and how things are in themselves. After all, unconcealing is, in part, the process through which entities are made intelligible to Dasein in such a way that the distinction in question can apply. Thus, Tugendhat concludes, although unconcealing may be a genuine phenomenon that constitutes a transcendental condition for there to be truth, it is not itself a species of truth. (For discussions of Tugendhat's critique, see Dahlstrom 2001, Overgaard 2002.)
Whether or not unconcealing ought to count as a species of truth, it is arguable that the place which it (along with its partner structure, Reality) occupies in the Heideggerian framework must ultimately threaten even the mild kind of scientific realism that we have been attributing, somewhat tentatively, to Heidegger. The tension comes into view just at the point where unconcealing is reinterpreted in terms of Dasein's essential historicality. Because intelligibility, and thus unconcealing, has an essentially historical character, it is difficult to resist the thought that the propositional and instrumental truths generated out of some specific field of intelligibility will be relativistically tied to a particular culture in a particular time period. Moreover, at one point, Heidegger suggests that even truth as revealed by science is itself subject to this kind of relativistic constraint. Thus he says that “every factical science is always manifestly in the grip of historizing” (Being and Time 76: 444). The implication is that, for Heidegger, one cannot straightforwardly subject the truth of one age to the standards of another, which means, for example, that contemporary chemistry and alchemical chemistry might both be true (cf. Dreyfus 1990, 261–2). But even if this more radical position is ultimately Heidegger's, there remains space here for some form of realism. Given the transcendental relation that, according to Heidegger, obtains between fields of intelligibility and science, the view on offer might still support a historically conditioned form of Kantian empirical realism with respect to science. Nevertheless it must, it seems, reject the full-on scientific realist commitment to the idea that the history of science is regulated by progress towards some final and unassailable set of scientifically established truths about nature, by a journey towards, as it were, God's science (Haugeland 2007).
The realist waters in which our preliminary interpretation has been swimming are muddied even further by another aspect of Dasein's essential historicality. Officially, it is seemingly not supposed to be a consequence of that historicality that we cannot discover universal features of ourselves. The evidence for this is that there are many conclusions reached in Being and Time that putatively apply to all Dasein, for example that Dasein's everyday experience is characterized by the structural domains of readiness-to-hand, un-readiness-to-hand and presence-at-hand (for additional evidence, see Polt 1999 92–4). Moreover, Heidegger isn't saying that any route to understanding is as good as any other. For example, he prioritizes authenticity as the road to an answer to the question of the meaning of Being. Thus:
the idea of existence, which guides us as that which we see in advance, has been made definite [transformed from pre-ontological to ontological, from implicit and vague to explicitly articulated] by the clarification of our ownmost potentiality-for-Being. (Being and Time 63: 358)
Still, if this priority claim and the features shared by all Dasein really are supposed to be ahistorical, universal conditions (applicable everywhere throughout history), we are seemingly owed an account of just how such conditions are even possible, given Dasein's essential historicality.
Finally, one might wonder whether the ‘realist Heidegger’ can live with the account of temporality given in Being and Time. If temporality is the a priori condition for us to encounter entities as equipment, and if, in the relevant sense, the unfolding of time coincides with the unfolding of Dasein (Dasein, as temporality, temporalizes; see above), then equipmental entities will be intelligible to us only in (what we might call) Dasein-time, the time that we ourselves are. Now, we have seen previously that nature is often encountered as equipment, which means that natural equipment will be intelligible to us only in Dasein-time. But what about nature in a non-equipmental form—nature (as one might surely be tempted to say) as it is in itself? One might try to argue that those encounters with nature that reveal nature as it is in itself are precisely those encounters that reveal nature as present-at-hand, and that to reveal nature as present-at-hand is, in part, to reveal nature within present-at-hand time (e.g., clock time), a time which is, in the relevant sense, independent of Dasein. Unfortunately there's a snag with this story (and thus for the attempt to see Heidegger as a realist). Heidegger claims that presence-at-hand (as revealed by theoretical reflection) is subject to the same Dasein-dependent temporality as readiness-to-hand:
…if Dasein's Being is completely grounded in temporality, then temporality must make possible Being-in-the-world and therewith Dasein's transcendence; this transcendence in turn provides the support for concernful Being alongside entities within-the-world, whether this Being is theoretical or practical. (Being and Time 69: 415, my emphasis)
But now if theoretical investigations reveal nature in present-at-hand time, and if in the switching over from the practical use of equipment to the theoretical investigation of objects, time remains the same Dasein-time, then present-at-hand time is Dasein-dependent too. Given this, it seems that the only way we can give any sense to the idea of nature as it is in itself is to conceive of such nature as being outside of time. Interestingly, in the History of the Concept of Time (a text based on Heidegger's notes for a 1925 lecture course and often thought of as a draft of Being and Time), Heidegger seems to embrace this very option, arguing that nature is within time only when it is encountered in Dasein's world, and concluding that nature as it is in itself is entirely atemporal. It is worth noting the somewhat Kantian implication of this conclusion: if all understanding is grounded in temporality, then the atemporality of nature as it is in itself would mean that, for Heidegger, we cannot understand natural things as they really are in themselves (cf. Dostal 1993).
3.1 The Turn and the Contributions to Philosophy
After Being and Time there is a shift in Heidegger's thinking that he himself christened ‘the turn’ (die Kehre). In a 1947 piece, in which Heidegger distances his views from Sartre's existentialism, he links the turn to his own failure to produce the missing divisions of Being and Time.
The adequate execution and completion of this other thinking that abandons subjectivity is surely made more difficult by the fact that in the publication of Being and Time the third division of the first part, “Time and Being,” was held back… Here everything is reversed. The division in question was held back because everything failed in the adequate saying of this turning and did not succeed with the help of the language of metaphysics… This turning is not a change of standpoint from Being and Time, but in it the thinking that was sought first arrives at the location of that dimension out of which Being and Time is experienced, that is to say, experienced from the fundamental experience of the oblivion of Being. (Letter on Humanism, pp. 231–2)
Notice that while, in the turning, “everything is reversed”, nevertheless it is “not a change of standpoint from Being and Time”, so what we should expect from the later philosophy is a pattern of significant discontinuities with Being and Time, interpretable from within a basic project and a set of concerns familiar from that earlier text. The quotation from the Letter on Humanism provides some clues about what to look for. Clearly we need to understand what is meant by the abandonment of subjectivity, what kind of barrier is erected by the language of metaphysics, and what is involved in the oblivion of Being. The second and third of these issues will be clarified later. The first bears immediate comment.
At root Heidegger's later philosophy shares the deep concerns of Being and Time, in that it is driven by the same preoccupation with Being and our relationship with it that propelled the earlier work. In a fundamental sense, then, the question of Being remains the question. However, Being and Time addresses the question of Being via an investigation of Dasein, the kind of being whose Being is an issue for it. As we have seen, this investigation takes the form of a transcendental hermeneutic phenomenology that begins with ordinary human experience. It is arguable that, in at least one important sense, it is this philosophical methodology that the later Heidegger is rejecting when he talks of his abandonment of subjectivity. Of course, as conceptualized in Being and Time, Dasein is not a Cartesian subject, so the abandonment of subjectivity is not as simple as a shift of attention away from Dasein and towards some other route to Being. Nevertheless the later Heidegger does seem to think that his earlier focus on Dasein bears the stain of a subjectivity that ultimately blocks the path to an understanding of Being. This is not to say that the later thinking turns away altogether from the project of transcendental hermeneutic phenomenology. The project of illuminating the a priori conditions on the basis of which entities show up as intelligible to us is still at the heart of things. What the later thinking involves is a reorientation of the basic project so that, as we shall see, the point of departure is no longer a detailed description of ordinary human experience. (For an analysis of ‘the turn’ that identifies a number of different senses of the term at work in Heidegger's thinking, and which in some ways departs from the brief treatment given here, see Sheehan 2010.)
A further difficulty in getting to grips with Heidegger's later philosophy is that, unlike the early thought, which is heavily centred on a single text, the later thought is distributed over a large number and range of works, including books, lecture courses, occasional addresses, and presentations given to non-academic audiences. So one needs a navigational strategy. The strategy adopted here will be to view the later philosophy through the lens of Heidegger's strange and perplexing study from the 1930s called Contributions to Philosophy (From Enowning), (Beitrage zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis)), henceforth referred to as the Contributions. (For a book-length introduction to the Contributions, see Vallega-Neu 2003. For a useful collection of papers, see Scott et al. 2001.) The key themes that shape the later philosophy will be identified in the Contributions, but those themes will be explored in a way that draws on, and make connections with, a selection of other works. From this partial expedition, the general pattern of Heidegger's post-turn thinking, although not every aspect of it, will emerge.
The Contributions was written between 1936 and 1938. Intriguingly, Heidegger asked for the work not to appear in print until after the publication of all his lecture courses, and although his demand wasn't quite heeded by the editors of his collected works, the Contributions was not published in German until 1989 and not in English until 1999. To court a perhaps overly dramatic telling of Heideggerian history, if one puts a lot of weight on Heidegger's view of when the Contributions should have been published, one might conceivably think of those later writings that, in terms of when they were produced, followed the Contributions as something like the training material needed to understand the earlier work (see e.g., Polt 1999 140). In any case, during his lifetime, Heidegger showed the Contributions to no more than a few close colleagues. The excitement with which the eventual publication of the text was greeted by Heidegger's readers was partly down to the fact that one of the chosen few granted a sneak preview was the influential interpreter of Heidegger, Otto Pöggeler, who then proceeded to give it some rather extraordinary advance publicity, describing it as the work in which Heidegger's genuine and complete thinking is captured (see e.g., Pöggeler 1963/1987).
Whether or not the hype surrounding the Contributions was justified remains a debated question among Heidegger scholars (see e.g., Sheehan 2001, Thomson 2003). What is clear, however, is that reading the work is occasionally a bewildering experience. Rather than a series of systematic hermeneutic spirals in the manner of Being and Time, the Contributions is organised as something like a musical fugue, that is, as a suite of overlapping developments of a single main theme (Schoenbohm 2001; Thomson 2003). And while the structure of the Contributions is challenging enough, the language in which it is written can appear to be wilfully obscurantist. Polt (1999, 140) comments that “the most important sections of the text can appear to be written in pure Heideggerese… [as Heidegger] exploits the sounds and senses of German in order to create an idiosyncratic symphony of meanings”. Less charitably, Sheehan (2001) describes it as “a needlessly difficult text, obsessively repetitious, badly in need of an editor”, while Schurmann (1992, 313, quoted by Thomson 2003, 57) complains that “at times one may think one is reading a piece of Heideggerian plagiarism, so encumbered is it with ellipses and assertoric monoliths”. Arguably, the style in which the Contributions is written is ‘merely’ the most extreme example (perhaps, the purest example) of a ‘poetic’ style that Heidegger adopts pretty much throughout the later philosophy. This stylistic aspect of the turn is an issue discussed below. For the moment, however, it is worth noting that, in the stylistic transition achieved in the Contributions, Heidegger's writing finally leaves behind all vestiges of the idea that Being can be represented accurately using some pseudo-scientific philosophical language. The goal, instead, is to respond appropriately to Being in language, to forge a pathway to another kind of thinking—Being-historical thinking (for discussion of this term, see Vallega 2001, von Herrmann 2001, Vallega-Neu 2003, 28-9). In its attempt to achieve this, the Contributions may be viewed as setting the agenda for Heidegger's post-turn thought. So what are the central themes that appear in the Contributions and which then resonate throughout the later works? Four stand out: Being as appropriation (an idea which, as we shall see, is bound up with a reinterpretation of the notion of dwelling that, in terms of explicit textual development, takes place largely outwith the text of the Contributions itself); technology (or machination); safeguarding (or sheltering); and the gods. Each of these themes will now be explored.
3.2 Appropriation, Dwelling and the Fourfold
In Being and Time, the most fundamental a priori transcendental condition for there to be Dasein's distinctive mode of Being which is identified is temporality. In the later philosophy, the ontological focus ultimately shifts to the claim that human Being consists most fundamentally in dwelling. This shift of attention emerges out of a subtle reformulation of the question of Being itself, a reformulation performed in the Contributions. The question now becomes not ‘What is the meaning of Being?’ but rather ‘How does Being essentially unfold?’. This reformulation means (in a way that should become clearer in a moment) that we are now asking the question of Being not from the perspective of Dasein, but from the perspective of Being (see above on abandoning subjectivity). But it also suggests that Being needs to be understood as fundamentally a timebound, historical process. As Heidegger puts it: “A being is: Be-ing holds sway [unfolds]”. (Contributions 10: 22. Quotations from the Contributions will be given in the form ‘section: page number’ where ‘page number’ refers to the Emad and Maly English translation. The hyphenated term ‘be-ing’ is adopted by Emad and Maly, in order to respect the fact that, in the Contributions, Heidegger substitutes the archaic spelling ‘Seyn’ for the contemporary ‘Sein’ as a way of distancing himself further from the traditional language of metaphysics. This translational convention, which has not become standard practice in the secondary literature, will not be adopted here, except in quotations from the Emad and Maly translation.)
Further aspects of the essential unfolding of Being are revealed by what is perhaps the key move in the Contributions—a rethinking of Being in terms of the notion of Ereignis, a term translated variously as ‘event’ (most closely reflecting its ordinary German usage), ‘appropriation’, ‘appropriating event’, ‘event of appropriation’ or ‘enowning’. (For an analysis which tracks Heidegger's use of the term Ereignis at various stages of his thought, see Vallega-Neu 2010). The history of Being is now conceived as a series of appropriating events in which the different dimensions of human sense-making—the religious, political, philosophical (and so on) dimensions that define the culturally conditioned epochs of human history—are transformed. Each such transformation is a revolution in human patterns of intelligibility, so what is appropriated in the event is Dasein and thus the human capacity for taking-as (see e.g., Contributions 271: 343). Once appropriated in this way, Dasein operates according to a specific set of established sense-making practices and structures. In a Kuhnian register, one might think of this as the normal sense-making that follows a paradigm-shift. But now what is it that does the appropriating? Heidegger's answer to this question is Being. Thus Heidegger writes of the “En-ownment [appropriation] of Da-sein by be-ing” (Contributions 141: 184) and of “man as owned by be-ing” (Contributions 141: 185). Indeed, this appropriation of Dasein by Being is what enables Being to unfold: “Be-ing needs man in order to hold sway [unfold]” (Contributions 133: 177). The claim that Being appropriates Dasein might seem to invite the adoption of an ethereal voice and a far-off look in the eye, but any such temptation towards mysticism of this kind really ought to be resisted. The mystical reading seems to depend on a view according to which “be-ing holds sway ‘for itself’ ” and Dasein “takes up the relating to be-ing”, such that Being is “something over-against” Dasein (Contributions 135: 179). But Heidegger argues that this relational view would be ‘misleading’. That said, to make proper inroads into the mystical reading, we need to reacquaint ourselves with the notion of dwelling.
As we have seen, the term ‘dwelling’ appears in Being and Time, where it is used to capture the distinctive manner in which Dasein is in the world. The term continues to play this role in the later philosophy, but, in texts such as Building Dwelling, Thinking (1954), it is reinterpreted and made philosophically central to our understanding of Being. This reinterpretation of, and the new emphasis on, dwelling is bound up with the idea from the Contributions of Being as appropriation. To explain: Where one dwells is where one is at home, where one has a place. This sense of place is what grounds Heidegger's existential notion of spatiality, as developed in the later philosophy (see Malpas 2006). In dwelling, then, Dasein is located within a set of sense-making practices and structures with which it is familiar. This way of unravelling the phenomenon of dwelling enables us to see more clearly—and more concretely—what is meant by the idea of Being as event/appropriation. Being is an event in that it takes (appropriates) place (where one is at home, one's sense-making practices and structures) (cf. Polt 1999 148). In other words, Being appropriates Dasein in that, in its unfolding, it essentially happens in and to Dasein's patterns of sense-making. This way of thinking about the process of appropriation does rather less to invite obscurantist mysticism.
The reinterpretation of dwelling in terms of Being as appropriation is ultimately intertwined with a closely related reinterpretation of what is meant by a world. One can see the latter development in a pregnant passage from Heidegger's 1954 piece, Building Dwelling Thinking.
[H]uman being consists in dwelling and, indeed, dwelling in the sense of the stay of mortals on the earth.
But ‘on the earth’ already means ‘under the sky.’ Both of these also mean ‘remaining before the divinities’ and include a ‘belonging to men's being with one another.’ By a primal oneness the four—earth and sky, divinities and mortals—belong together in one. (351)
So, human beings dwell in that they stay (are at home) on the earth, under the sky, before the divinities, and among the mortals (that is, with one another as mortals). It is important for Heidegger that these dimensions of dwelling are conceived not as independent structures but as (to use a piece of terminology from Being and Time) ecstases—phenomena that stand out from an underlying unity. That underlying unity of earth, sky, divinities and mortals—the ‘simple oneness of the four’ as Heidegger puts it in Building Dwelling Thinking (351)—is what he calls the fourfold. The fourfold is the transformed notion of world that applies within the later work (see e.g., The Thing; for an analysis of the fourfold that concentrates on its role as a thinking of things, see Mitchell 2010). It is possible to glimpse the character of the world-as-fourfold by noting that whereas the world as understood through Being and Time is a culturally conditioned structure distinct from nature, the world-as-fourfold appears to be an integrated combination of nature (earth and sky) and culture (divinities and mortals). (Two remarks: First, it may not be obvious why the divinities count as part of culture. This will be explained in a moment. Secondly, the later Heidegger sometimes continues to employ the sense of world that he established in Being and Time, which is why it is useful to signal the new usage as the transformed notion of world, or as the world-as-fourfold.)
There is something useful, as a preliminary move, about interpreting the fourfold as a combination of nature and culture, but it is an idea that must be handled with care. For one thing, if what is meant by nature is the material world and its phenomena as understood by natural science, then Heidegger's account of the fourfold tells against any straightforward identification of earth and sky with nature. Why this is becomes clear once one sees how Heidegger describes the earth and the sky in Building Dwelling Thinking. “Earth is the serving bearer, blossoming and fruiting, spreading out in rock and water, rising up into plant and animal… The sky is the vaulting path of the sun, the course of the changing moon, the wandering glitter of the stars, the year's seasons and their changes, the light and dusk of day, the gloom and glow of night, the clemency and inclemency of the weather, the drifting clouds and blue depth of the ether” (351). What Heidegger's language here indicates is that the earth-as-dwelt-on and the sky-as-dwelt-under are spaces for a mode of habitation by human beings that one might call poetic rather than scientific. So, the nature of dwelling is the nature of the poet. In dwelling we inhabit the poetic (for discussion, see e.g., Young 2002, 99–100).
How does this idea of dwelling as poetic habitation work for the cultural aspects of the fourfold—dwelling among the mortals and before the divinities? To dwell among the mortals is to be “capable of death as death” (Building Dwelling Thinking 352). In the language of Being and Time, this would be to enter into an authentic and thus non-evasive relationship with death (see above). However, as we shall see in a moment, the later Heidegger has a different account of the nothing and thus of the internal relation with the nothing that death involves. It is this reworking of the idea of the nothing that ultimately marks out a newly conceived non-evasive relationship with death as an aspect of dwelling, understood in terms of poetic habitation. The notion of dwelling before the divinities also turns on the development of a theme established in Being and Time, namely that intelligibility is itself cultural and historical in character. More specifically, according to Being and Time, the a priori transcendental conditions for intelligibility are to be interpreted in terms of the phenomenon of heritage, that is as culturally determined structures that form pre-existing fields of intelligibility into which individual human beings are thrown and onto which they project themselves. A key aspect of this idea is that there exist historically important individuals who constitute heroic cultural templates onto which I may now creatively project myself. In the later philosophy these heroic figures are reborn poetically as the divinities of the fourfold, as “the ones to come” (Contributions 248–52: 277–81), and as the “beckoning messengers of the godhead” (Building Dwelling Thinking 351). When Heidegger famously announces that only a god can save us (Only a God can Save Us), or that “the last god is not the end but the other beginning of immeasurable possibilities for our history” (Contributions 256: 289), he has in mind not a religious intervention in an ‘ordinary’ sense of the divine, but rather a transformational event in which a secularized sense of the sacred—a sensitivity to the fact that beings are granted to us in the essential unfolding of Being—is restored (more on this below).
The notion of dwelling as poetic habitation opens up a path to what Heidegger calls ‘the mystery’ (not to be confused with the kind of obscurantist mysticism discussed above). Even though the world always opens up as meaningful in a particular way to any individual human being as a result of the specific heritage into which he or she has been enculturated, there are of course a vast number of alternative fields of intelligibility ‘out there’ that would be available to each of us, if only we could gain access to them by becoming simultaneously embedded in different heritages. But Heidegger's account of human existence means that any such parallel embedding is ruled out, so the plenitude of alternative fields of intelligibility must remain a mystery to us. In Heidegger's later philosophy this mysterious region of Being emerges as a structure that, although not illuminated poetically in dwelling as a particular world-as-fourfold, nevertheless constitutes an essential aspect of dwelling in that it is ontologically co-present with any such world. Appropriation is necessarily a twofold event: as Dasein is thrown into an intelligible world, vast regions of Being are plunged into darkness. But that darkness is a necessary condition for there to be any intelligibility at all. As Heidegger puts it in The Question Concerning Technology (330), “[a]ll revealing belongs within a harboring and a concealing. But that which frees [entities for intelligibility]—the mystery—is concealed and always concealing itself…. Freedom [sense-making, the revealing of beings] is that which conceals in a way that opens to light, in whose clearing shimmers the veil that hides the essential occurrence of all truth and lets the veil appear as what veils”.
It is worth pausing here to comment on the fact that, in his 1935 essay The Origin of the Work of Art, Heidegger writes of a conflict between earth and world. This idea may seem to sit unhappily alongside the simple oneness of the four. The essay in question is notoriously difficult, but the notion of the mystery may help. Perhaps the pivotal thought is as follows: Natural materials (the earth), as used in artworks, enter into intelligibility by establishing certain culturally codified meanings—a world in the sense of Being and Time. Simultaneously, however, those natural materials suggest the existence of a vast range of other possible, but to us unintelligible, meanings, by virtue of the fact that they could have been used to realize those alternative meanings. The conflict, then, turns on the way in which, in the midst of a world, the earth suggests the presence of the mystery. This is one way to hear passages such as the following: “The world, in resting upon the earth, strives to surmount it. As self-opening it cannot endure anything closed. The earth, however, as sheltering and concealing, tends always to draw the world into itself and keep it there” (Origin of the Work of Art 174).
Because the mystery is unintelligible, it is the nothing (no-thing). It is nonetheless a positive ontological phenomenon—a necessary feature of the essential unfolding of Being. This vision of the nothing, as developed in Heidegger's What is Metaphysics?, his 1929 inaugural lecture as Professor of Philosophy at Freiburg, famously attracts the philosophical disdain of the logical positivist Carnap. Carnap judged Heidegger's lecture to turn on a series of unverifiable statements, and thus to be a paradigm case of metaphysical nonsense (Carnap 1932/1959; for a nice account and analysis of the disagreement between Heidegger and Carnap, see Critchley 2001). But placing Carnap's positivist critique to one side, the idea of the nothing allows Heidegger to rethink our relationship with death in relation to poetic habitation. In Being and Time, Being-towards-death is conceived as a relation to the possibility of one's own non-existence. This gives us a sense in which Dasein has an internal structural relation to the nothing. That internal structural relation remains crucial to the later philosophy, but now ‘the nothing’ is to be heard explicitly as ‘the mystery’, a kind of ‘dark matter’ of intelligibility that must remain concealed in the unfolding of Being through which beings are unconcealed. This necessary concealment is “the essential belongingness of the not to being as such” (Contributions 160: 199). In Being-towards-death, this “essential belongingness” is “sheltered” and “comes to light with a singular keenness” (Contributions 160: 199). This is because (echoing a point made earlier) the concealing-unconcealing structure of Being is ultimately to be traced to Dasein's essential finitude. Sheehan (2001) puts it like this: “[o]ur finitude makes all ‘as’-taking… possible by requiring us to understand things not immediately and ontically… but indirectly and ontologically (= imperfectly), through their being”. In Being-towards-death, the human finitude that grounds the mystery, the plenitude of possible worlds in which I am not, is highlighted. As mortals, then, our internal relation to death links us to the mystery (see The Thing). So dwelling (as poetic habitation) involves not only embeddedness in the fourfold, but also, as part of a unitary ontological structure, a necessary relationship with the mystery. (As mentioned earlier ( 2.2.7 ), it is arguable that the sense of the nothing as unactualized possibilities of Being is already at work in Being and Time (see Vallega-Neu 2003, 21). Indeed, Heidegger's explicit remarks on Being-towards-death in the Contributions (sections 160–2) suggest that it is. But even if that is so, the idea undoubtedly finds its fullest expression in the later work.)
If the essence of human Being is to dwell in the fourfold, then human beings are to the extent that they so dwell. And this will be achieved to the extent that human beings realize the “basic character of dwelling”, which Heidegger now argues is a matter of safeguarding “the fourfold in its essential unfolding” (Building Dwelling Thinking, 352). Such safeguarding is unpacked as a way of Being in which human beings save the earth, receive the sky as sky, await the divinities as divinities, and initiate their own essential being as mortals. Perhaps the best way to understand this four-way demand is to explore Heidegger's claim that modern humans, especially modern Western humans, systematically fail to meet it. That is, we are marked out by our loss of dwelling—our failure to safeguard the fourfold in its essential unfolding. This existential malaise is what Heidegger refers to in the Letter on Humanism as the oblivion of Being. As we are about to see, the fact that this is the basic character of our modern human society is, according to Heidegger, explained by the predominance of a mode of sense-making that, in the Contributions, he calls machination, but which he later (and more famously) calls technology.
3.3 Technology
In his 1953 piece The Question Concerning Technology, Heidegger begins with the everyday account of technology according to which technology is the vast array of instruments, machines, artefacts and devices that we human beings invent, build, and then exploit. On this view technology is basically a tool that we control. Heidegger claims that this everyday account is, in a sense, correct, but it provides only a limited “instrumental and anthropological definition” of technology (Question Concerning Technology 312). It depicts technology as a means to an end (instrumental) and as a product of human activity (anthropological). What needs to be exposed and interrogated, however, is something that is passed over by the everyday account, namely the essence of technology. To bring this into view, Heidegger reinterprets his earlier notion of intelligibility in terms of the concept of a clearing. A clearing is a region of Being in which things are revealed as mattering in some specific way or another. To identify the essence of technology is to lay bare technology as a clearing, that is, to describe a technological mode of Being. As Heidegger puts it in the Contributions (61: 88), “[i]n the context of the being-question, this word [machination, technology] does not name a human comportment but a manner of the essential swaying of being”.
So what is the character of entities as revealed technologically? Heidegger's claim is that the “revealing that holds sway throughout modern technology… [is]… a challenging… which puts to nature the unreasonable demand that it supply energy which can be extracted and stored as such” (Question Concerning Technology 320). The mode of revealing characteristic of modern technology understands phenomena in general—including the non-biological natural world, plants, animals, and indeed human beings—to be no more than what Heidegger calls standing-reserve, that is, resources to be exploited as means to ends. This analysis extends to regions of nature and sections of society that have not yet been harnessed positively as resources. Such unexploited elements (e.g., an unexplored jungle, this year's unemployed school leavers) exist technologically precisely as potential resources.
Heidegger's flagship example of technology is a hydroelectric plant built on the Rhine river that converts that river into a mere supplier of water power. Set against this “monstrousness” (Question Concerning Technology 321) is the poetic habitation of the natural environment of the Rhine as signalled by an old wooden bridge that spanned the river for hundreds of years, plus the river as revealed by Hölderlin's poem “The Rhine”. In these cases of poetic habitation, natural phenomena are revealed to us as objects of respect and wonder. One might think that Heidegger is over-reacting here, and that despite the presence of the hydroelectric plant, the Rhine in many ways remains a glorious example of natural beauty. Heidegger's response to this complaint is to focus on how the technological mode of Being corrupts the very notion of unspoilt areas of nature, by reducing such areas to resources ripe for exploitation by the tourist industry. Turning our attention to inter-human affairs, the technological mode of Being manifests itself when, for example, a friendly chat in the bar is turned into networking (Dreyfus 1993). And, in the light of Heidegger's analysis, one might smile wryly at the trend for companies to take what used to be called ‘personnel’ departments, and to rename them ‘human resources’. Many other examples could be given, but the general point is clear. The primary phenomenon to be understood is not technology as a collection of instruments, but rather technology as a clearing that establishes a deeply instrumental and, as Heidegger sees it, grotesque understanding of the world in general. Of course, if technological revealing were a largely restricted phenomenon, characteristic of isolated individuals or groups, then Heidegger's analysis of it would be of limited interest. The sting in the tale, however, is that, according to Heidegger, technological revealing is not a peripheral aspect of Being. Rather, it defines our modern way of living, at least in the West.
At this point one might pause to wonder whether technology really is the structure on which we should be concentrating. The counter-suggestion would be that technological thinking is merely the practical application of modern mathematical science, and that the latter is therefore the primary phenomenon. Heidegger rejects this view, arguing in contrast that the establishment of the technological mode of revealing is a necessary condition for there to be mathematical science at all, since such science “demands that nature be orderable as standing-reserve” by requiring that “nature report itself in some way or other that is identifiable through calculation and that it remain orderable as a system of information” (Question Concerning Technology 328). Either way, one might object to the view of science at work here, by pointing to analyses which suggest that while science may reduce objects to instrumental means rather than ends, it need not behave in this way. For example, O'Neill (2003) develops such an analysis by drawing explicitly on (one interpretation of) the Marxist (and ultimately Aristotelian) notion of the humanization of the senses. Good science may depend on the capacity for the disinterested use of the senses, and so foster a non-instrumental responsiveness to natural objects as ends rather than as means. This is a ‘humanization’ because the disinterested use of the senses is a characteristically human capacity. Thus to develop such a capacity is to develop a distinctively human virtue, something which is a constituent of human well-being. Moreover, if science may sometimes operate with a sense of awe and wonder in the face of beings, it may point the way beyond the technological clearing, an effect that, as we shall see later, Heidegger thinks is achieved principally by some great art.
By revealing beings as no more than the measurable and the manipulable, technology ultimately reduces beings to not-beings (Contributions 2: 6). This is our first proper glimpse of the oblivion of Being, the phenomenon that, in the Contributions, Heidegger also calls the abandonment of Being, or the abandonment of beings by Being (e.g., 55: 80). The notion of a not-being signals two things: (i) technological revealing drives out any sense of awe and wonder in the presence of beings, obliterating the secularized sense of what is sacred that is exemplified by the poetic habitation of the natural environment of the Rhine; (ii) we are essentially indifferent to the loss. Heidegger calls this indifference “the hidden distress of no-distress-at-all” (Contributions 4: 8). Indeed, on Heidegger's diagnosis, our response to the loss of any feeling of sacredness or awe in the face of beings is to find a technological substitute for that feeling, in the form of “lived-experience”, a drive for entertainment and information, “exaggeration and uproar” (Contributions 66: 91). All that said, however, technology should not be thought of as a wholly ‘negative’ phenomenon. For Heidegger, technology is not only the great danger, it is also a stage in the unfolding of Being that brings us to the brink of a kind of secularized salvation, by awakening in us a (re-)discovery of the sacred, appropriately understood (cf. Thomson 2003, 64–66). A rough analogy might be drawn here with the Marxist idea that the unfolding of history results in the establishment of capitalist means of production with their characteristic ‘negative’ elements—labour treated merely as a commodity, the multi-dimensional alienation of the workers—that bring us to the brink of (by creating the immediate social and economic preconditions for) the socialist transformation of society. Indeed, the analogy might be pushed a little further: just as the socialist transformation of society remains anything but inevitable (Trotsky taught us that), Heidegger argues that the salvation-bringing transformation of the present condition of human being is most certainly not bound to occur.
To bring all these points into better view, we need to take a step back and ask the following question. Is the technological mode of revealing ultimately a human doing for which we are responsible? Heidegger's answer is ‘yes and no’. On the one hand, humankind is the active agent of technological thinking, so humankind is not merely a passive element. On the other hand, “the unconcealment itself… is never a human handiwork” (Question Concerning Technology 324). As Heidegger later put it, the “essence of man is framed, claimed and challenged by a power which manifests itself in the essence of technology, a power which man himself does not control.” (Only a God can Save Us; 107, my emphasis). To explicate the latter point, Heidegger introduces the concepts of destining (cf. the earlier notion of ‘destiny’) and enframing. Destining is “what first starts man upon a way of revealing” (Question Concerning Technology 329). As such it is an a priori transcendental structure of human Being and so beyond our control. Human history is a temporally organized kaleidoscope of particular ordainings of destining (see also On the Essence of Truth). Enframing is one such ordaining, the “gathering together of the setting-upon that sets upon man, i.e., challenges him forth, to reveal the actual, in the mode of ordering, as standing-reserve” (Question Concerning Technology 325). This is, of course, a way of unpacking the point (see above) that technology is “a manner of the essential swaying of being” (Contributions 61: 88), that is, of Being's own essential unfolding.
Enframing, then, is the ordaining of destining that ushers in the modern technological clearing. But there is more to it than that. To see why, consider the following criticism of Heidegger's analysis, as we have unpacked it so far. Any suggestion that technological thinking has appeared for the first time along with our modern Western way of living would seem to be straightforwardly false. To put the point crudely, surely the ancient Greeks sometimes treated entities merely as instrumental means. But if that is right, and Heidegger would agree that it is, then how can it be that technological thinking defines the spirit of our age? The answer lies in Heidegger's belief that pre-modern, traditional artisanship (as exemplified by the old wooden bridge over the Rhine), manifests what he calls poiesis. In this context poiesis is to be understood as a process of gathering together and fashioning natural materials in such a way that the human project in which they figure is in a deep harmony with, indeed reveals—or as Heidegger sometimes says when discussing poiesis, brings forth—the essence of those materials and any natural environment in which they are set. Thus, in discussing what needs to be learnt by an apprentice to a traditional cabinetmaker, Heidegger writes:
If he is to become a true cabinetmaker, he makes himself answer and respond above all to the different kinds of wood and to the shapes slumbering within wood—to wood as it enters into man's dwelling with all the hidden riches of its essence. In fact, this relatedness to wood is what maintains the whole craft. Without that relatedness, the craft will never be anything but empty busywork, any occupation with it will be determined exclusively by business concerns. Every handicraft, all human dealings, are constantly in that danger. (What is Called Thinking? 379)
Poiesis, then, is a process of revealing. Poietic events are acts of unconcealment—one is tempted to coin the ugly neologism truth-ing—in which entities are allowed to show themselves. As with the closely related notion of original truth that is at work in Being and Time, the idea of entities showing themselves does not imply that what is revealed in poiesis is something independent of human involvement. Thus what is revealed by the artisanship of the cabinetmaker is “wood as it enters into man's dwelling”. This telling remark forges a crucial philosophical link (and not merely an etymological one) between the poietic and poetic. Poietic events and poetic habitation involve the very same mode of intelligibility.
By introducing the concept of poiesis, and by unearthing the presence of the phenomenon in traditional artisanship, Heidegger is suggesting that even though technological thinking was a possibility in pre-modern society, it was neither the only nor the dominant mode of bringing-forth. So what has changed? Heidegger argues that what is distinctive about enframing as an ordaining of destining is (i) that it “drives out every other possibility of revealing” (Question Concerning Technology 332), and (ii) that it covers up revealing as such (more precisely, covers up the concealing-unconcealing character of appropriation), thereby leaving us blind to the fact that technology is, in its essence, a clearing. For Heidegger, these dual features of enframing are intimately tied up with the idea of technology as metaphysics completing itself. He writes: “[a]s a form of truth [clearing] technology is grounded in the history of metaphysics, which is itself a distinctive and up to now the only perceptible phase of the history of Being” (Letter on Humanism 244). According to Heidegger, metaphysics conceives of Being as a being (for more on the reduction of Being to a being, see section 2.2.1 above). In so doing, metaphysics obscures the concealing-unconcealing dynamic of the essential unfolding of Being, a dynamic that provides the a priori condition for there to be beings. The history of metaphysics is thus equivalent to the history of Western philosophy in which Being as such is passed over, a history that, for Heidegger, culminates in the nihilistic forces of Nietzsche's eternally recurring will-to-power. The totalizing logic of metaphysics involves the view that there is a single clearing (whatever it may be) that constitutes reality. This renders thought insensitive to the fundamental structure of Being, in which any particular clearing is ontologically co-present with the unintelligible plenitude of alternative clearings, the mystery. With this totalizing logic in view, enframing might be thought of as the ordaining of destining that establishes the technological clearing as the one dominant picture, to the exclusion of all others. Hence technology is metaphysics completing itself.
We are now in a position to deal with two items of unfinished business. First, recall the stylistic shift that characterizes Heidegger's later work. Heidegger not only increasingly engages with poetry in his later thinking (especially the works of the German lyric poet Hölderlin), he also adopts a substantially more poetic style of writing. But why? The language of metaphysics, which ultimately unpacks itself as technological, calculative thinking, is a language from which Heidegger believed he did not fully escape in Being and Time (see quotation from the Letter on Humanism at the beginning of section 3.1 above, and Vallega-Neu 2003 24–9 for discussion). What is needed to think Being historically, to think Being in its essential unfolding, is a different kind of philosophical language, a language suggested by the poetic character of dwelling. It is important to realize that Heidegger's intention here is not to place Being beyond philosophy and within the reach of poetry, although he does believe that certain poets, such as Hölderlin, enable us to glimpse the mysterious aspect of Being. His intention, rather, is to establish that the kind of philosophy that is needed here is itself poetic. This explains the stylistic component of the turn.
Secondly, recall the loss of dwelling identified by Heidegger. Modern humankind (at least in the West) is in the (enframed) grip of technological thinking. Because of this promotion of instrumentality as the fundamental way of Being of entities, we have lost sight of how to inhabit the fourfold poetically, of how to safeguard the fourfold in its essential unfolding. Such safeguarding would, in a sense, be the opposite of technological thinking. But what ‘opposite’ amounts to here needs to be worked out with care. Given contemporary concerns over deforestation, global warming and the like, it is tempting to think that Heidegger's analysis of technology might provide the philosophical platform for some sort of extreme eco-radicalism. However, while there is undoubtedly much of value to be said about the contribution that Heidegger's thinking may make to contemporary debates in environmental ethics (see e.g., Zimmerman 1983, 1993, 2002), Heidegger was no eco-warrior and no luddite. Although he often promoted a romantic image of a pre-technological age inhabited by worthy peasants in touch with nature, he did not believe that it is possible for modern humankind to forge some pastoral Eden from which technology (in both the everyday and the essential sense) is entirely absent. So we should neither “push on blindly with technology” nor “curse it as the work of the devil” (Question Concerning Technology 330). Indeed, both these options would at root be technological modes of thinking. The way forward, according to Heidegger, is not to end technology, but rather to inhabit it differently (see e.g., Vallega-Neu 2003 93 note 15). We need to transform our mode of Being into one in which technology (in the sense of the machines and devices of the modern age) is there for us to enjoy and use, but in which technology (in the sense of a mode of Being-in-the-world) is not our only or fundamental way of encountering entities. And what is the basic character of this reinhabiting? It is to shelter the truth of Being in beings (e.g., Contributions 246: 273), to safeguard the fourfold in its essential unfolding. In what, then, does this safeguarding consist?
3.4 Safeguarding
Heidegger argues that if humankind is to enter into safeguarding, it needs to learn (or perhaps to learn once more) to think of Being as a gift that has been granted to us in history. Indeed, to think properly is precisely to be grateful for the gift of Being (see What is Called Thinking?). (Terms such as ‘gift’ and ‘granted’ should not be heard theologically, but in terms of secularized sacredness and destining.) In this learning process, certain artworks constitute ontological beacons that disrupt the technological clearing. Thus recall that Heidegger identifies a shared form of disclosure that is instantiated both by the old wooden bridge over the Rhine and by Hölderlin's poem “The Rhine”. We can now understand this identification in terms of the claim that certain artworks (although of course not those that themselves fall prey to technological thinking) share with traditional artisanship the capacity to realize poiesis. In so doing such artworks succeed in bringing us into contact with the mystery through their expression of dwelling (poetic habitation). In listening attentively and gratefully to how Being announces itself in such artworks, humankind will prepare themselves for the task of safeguarding.
But what exactly would one do in order to safeguard the fourfold in its essential unfolding. Recall that in Building Dwelling Thinking Heidegger presents safeguarding as a four-dimensional way of Being. The first two dimensions—saving the earth and receiving the sky as sky—refer to our relationship with the non-human natural world. As such they forge a genuine connection between the later Heidegger and contemporary environmentalist thinking. However, the connection needs to be stated with care. Once again the concept of poiesis is central. Heidegger holds that the self-organized unfolding of the natural world, the unaided blossoming of nature, is itself a process of poiesis. Indeed it is poiesis “in the highest sense” (Question Concerning Technology 317). One might think, then, that saving the earth, safeguarding in its first dimension, is a matter of leaving nature to its own devices, of actively ensuring that the conditions obtain for unaided natural poiesis. However, for Heidegger, saving the earth is primarily an ontological, rather than an ecological, project. ‘Save’ here means “to set something free into its own essence” (Building Dwelling Thinking, p.352), and thus joins a cluster of related concepts that includes dwelling and also poiesis as realized in artisanship and art. So while, say, fiercely guarding the integrity of wilderness areas may be one route to safeguarding, saving the earth may also be achieved through the kind of artisanship and its associated gathering of natural materials that is characteristic of the traditional cabinetmaker. The concept of saving as a setting free of something into its own essence also clears a path to another important point. All four dimensions of safeguarding have at their root the notion of staying with things, of letting things be in their essence through cultivation or construction. Heidegger describes such staying with things as “the only way in which the fourfold stay within the fourfold [i.e., safeguarding] is accomplished at any time in simple unity” (Building Dwelling Thinking 353). It is thus the unifying existential structure of safeguarding.
What now of safeguarding in its second dimension—to receive the sky as sky? Here Heidegger's main concern seems to be to advocate the synchronization of contemporary human life with the rhythms of nature (day and night, the seasons, and so on). Here safeguarding is exemplified by the aforementioned peasants whose lives were interlocked with such natural rhythms (through planting seasons etc.) in a way that modern technological society is not. One might note that this dislocation has become even more pronounced since Heidegger's death, with the advent of the Internet-driven, 24-hours-a-day-7-days-a-week service culture. Once again we need to emphasize that Heidegger's position is not some sort of philosophical ludditism, but a plea for the use of contemporary machines and devices in a way that is sensitive to the temporal patterns of the natural world. (For useful discussion see Young 2002, 110–113. Young makes an illuminating connection with Heidegger's eulogy to van Gogh's painting of a pair of peasant shoes to be found in The Origin of the Work of Art.)
Of course, these relationships with nature are still only part of what safeguarding involves. Its third and fourth dimensions demand that human beings await the divinities as divinities and “initiate their own essential being—their being capable of death as death—into the use and practice of this capacity, so that there may be a good death” (Building Dwelling Thinking 352). The latter demand suggests that we may safeguard each other as mortals by integrating a non-evasive attitude to death (see above) into the cultural structures (e.g., the death-related customs and ceremonies) of the community. But now what about the third dimension of safeguarding? What does it mean to await the divinities as divinities?
Let's again approach our question via a potential problem with Heidegger's account. Echoing a worry that attaches to the concept of heritage in Being and Time, it may seem that the notion of destining, especially in its more specific manifestation as enframing, involves a kind of fatalism. Despite some apparent rhetoric to the contrary, however, Heidegger's considered view is that destining is ultimately not a “fate that compels” (Question Concerning Technology 330). We have been granted the saving power to transform our predicament. Moreover, the fact that we are at a point of danger—a point at which the grip of technological thinking has all but squeezed out access to the poetic and the mystical—will have the effect of thrusting this saving power to the fore. This is the good news. The bad news is that:
philosophy will not be able to effect an immediate transformation of the present condition of the world. This is not only true of philosophy, but of all merely human thought and endeavor. Only a god can save us. The sole possibility that is left for us is to prepare a sort of readiness, through thinking and poetizing, for the appearance of the god or for the absence of the god in the time of foundering [Untergang]; for in the face of the god who is absent, we founder. (Only a God can Save Us 107)
That is what it means to await the divinities as divinities.
3.5 Only a God can Save Us
Heidegger sometimes uses the term ‘god’ to mean the secularized notion of the sacred already indicated, such that to embrace a god would be to maintain due sensitivity to the thought that beings are granted to us in the essential unfolding of Being. When, in the Contributions, Heidegger writes of the last or ultimate god of the other beginning (where ‘other’ is in relation to the ‘first beginning’ of Western thought in ancient Greece—the beginning of metaphysics), it often seems to be this secularized sacredness that he has in mind (cf. Thomson 2003; see Crownfield 2001for an alternative reading of the last god that maintains a more robust theological dimension, although one which is concrete and historicized). However, Heidegger sometimes seems to use the term ‘god’ or ‘divinity’ to refer to a heroic figure (a cultural template) who may initiate (or help to initiate) a transformational event in the history of Being by opening up an alternative clearing (for this interpretation, see e.g., Young 2002, 98). These heroic figures are the grounders of the abyss, the restorers of sacredness (Contributions 2: 6, see Sallis 2001 for analysis and discussion). It might even be consistent with Heidegger's view to relax the requirement that the divine catalyst must be an individual being, and thus to conceive of certain transformational cultural events or forces themselves as divinities (Dreyfus 2003). In any case, Heidegger argues that, in the present crisis, we are waiting for a god who will reawaken us to the poetic, and thereby enable us to dwell in the fourfold. This task certainly seems to be a noble one. Unfortunately, however, it plunges us into the murkiest and most controversial region of the Heideggerian intellectual landscape, his infamous involvement with Nazism.
Here is not the place to enter into the historical debate over exactly what Heidegger did and when he did it. However, given his deliberate, albeit arguably short-lived, integration of Nazi ideology with the philosophy of Being (see above), a few all-too-brief comments on the relationship between Heidegger's politics and his philosophical thought are necessary. (For more detailed evidence and discussion, as well as a range of positions on how we should interpret and respond to this relationship, see e.g., Farias 1989; Neske and Kettering 1990; Ott 1993; Pattison 2000; Polt 1999; Rockmore 1992; Sluga, 1993; Wolin 1990, 1993; Young 1997). There is no doubt that Heidegger's Nazi sympathies, however long they lasted, have a more intimate relationship with his philosophical thought than might be suggested by apologist claims that he was a victim of his time (in 1933, lots of intelligent people backed Hitler without thereby supporting the Holocaust that was to come) or that what we have here is ‘merely’ a case of bad political judgment, deserving of censure but with no implications for the essentially independent philosophical programme. Why does the explanation run deeper? The answer is that Heidegger believed (indeed continued to believe until he died) that the German people were destined to carry out a monumental spiritual mission. That mission was nothing less than to be at the helm of the aforementioned transformation of Being in the West, from one of instrumental technology to one of poetic dwelling. In mounting this transformation the German people would be acting not imperialistically, but for all nations in the encounter with modern technology. Of course destining is not a fate that compels, so some divine catalyst would be needed to awake the German nation to its historic mission, a catalyst provided by the spiritual leaders of the Nazi Party.
Why did Heidegger believe that the German people enjoyed this position of world-historical significance? In the later writings Heidegger argues explicitly that “[t]hinking itself can be transformed only by a thinking which has the same origin and calling”, so the technological mode of Being must be transcended through a new appropriation of the European tradition. Within this process the German people have a special place, because of the “inner relationship of the German language with the language of the Greeks and with their thought”. (Quotations from Only a God can Save Us 113.) Thus it is the German language that links the German people in a privileged way to, as Heidegger sees it, the genesis of European thought and to a pre-technological world-view in which bringing-forth as poiesis is dominant. This illustrates the general point that, for Heidegger, Being is intimately related to language. Language is, as he famously put it in the Letter on Humanism (217), the “house of Being”. So it is via language that Being is linked to particular peoples.
Even if Heidegger had some sort of argument for the world-historical destiny of the German people, why on earth did he believe that the Nazi Party, of all things, harboured the divine catalyst? Part of the reason seems to have been the seductive effect of a resonance that exists between (a) Heidegger's understanding of traditional German rural life as realizing values and meanings that may counteract the insidious effects of contemporary technology, and (b) the Nazi image of rustic German communities, rooted in German soil, providing a bulwark against foreign contamination. Heidegger certainly exploits this resonance in his pro-Nazi writings. That said there is an important point of disagreement here, one that Heidegger himself drew out. And once again the role of language in Being is at the heart of the issue. Heidegger steadfastly refused to countenance any biologistic underpinning to his views. In 1945 he wrote that, in his 1934 lectures on logic, he “sought to show that language was not the biological-racial essence of man, but conversely, that the essence of man was based on language as a basic reality of spirit” (Letter to the Rector of Freiburg University, November 4, 1945, 64). In words that we have just met, it is language and not biology that, for Heidegger, constitutes the house of Being. So the German Volk are a linguistic-historical, rather than a biological, phenomenon, which explains why Heidegger officially rejected one of the keystones of Nazism, namely its biologically grounded racism. Perhaps Heidegger deserves some credit here, although regrettably the aforementioned lectures on logic also contain evidence of a kind of historically driven ‘racism’. Heidegger suggests that while Africans (along with plants and animals) have no history (in a technical sense understood in terms of heritage), the event of an airplane carrying Hitler to Mussolini is genuinely part of history (see Polt 1999, 155).
Heidegger was soon disappointed by his ‘divinities’. In a 1935 lecture he remarks that the
works that are being peddled (about) nowadays as the philosophy of National Socialism, but have nothing whatever to do with the inner truth and greatness of this movement (namely, the encounter between global technology and contemporary man), have all been written by men fishing the troubled waters of values and totalities. (An Introduction to Metaphysics 166)
So Heidegger came to believe that the spiritual leaders of the Nazi party were false gods. They were ultimately agents of technological thought and thus incapable of completing the historic mission of the German people to transcend global technology. Nonetheless, one way of hearing the 1935 remark is that Heidegger continued to believe in the existence of, and the philosophical motivation for, that mission, a view that Rockmore (1992, 123–4) calls “an ideal form of Nazism”. This interpretation has some force. But perhaps we can at least make room for the thought that Heidegger's repudiation of Nazism goes further than talk of an ideal Nazism allows. For example, responding to the fact that Heidegger drew a parallel between modern agriculture (as a motorized food-industry) and “the manufacturing of corpses in gas chambers and extermination camps”, Young (1997) argues that this would count as a devaluing of the Holocaust only on a superficial reading. According to Young, Heidegger's point is that both modern agriculture and the Final Solution are workings-out of the technological mode of Being, which does not entail that they should be treated as morally equivalent. (Heidegger draws the parallel in a lecture called The Enframing given in 1949. The quotation is taken from Young 1997, 172. For further discussion, see Pattison 2000).
Heidegger's involvement with Nazism casts a shadow over his life. Whether, and if so to what extent, it casts a more concentrated shadow over at least some of his philosophical work is a more difficult issue. It would be irresponsible to ignore the relationship between Heidegger's philosophy and his politics. But it is surely possible to be critically engaged in a deep and intellectually stimulating way with his sustained investigation into Being, to find much of value in his capacity to think deeply about human life, to struggle fruitfully with what he says about our loss of dwelling, and to appreciate his massive and still unfolding contribution to thought and to thinking, without looking for evidence of Nazism in every twist and turn of the philosophical path he lays down.
Arendt, Hannah | death | Dilthey, Wilhelm | existence | existentialism | Gadamer, Hans-Georg | Heidegger, Martin: aesthetics | hermeneutics | Husserl, Edmund | phenomenology
Acknowledgments
A few passages in section 2 of this entry have been adapted from material that appears in chapters 5–7 of my Reconstructing the Cognitive World: the Next Step (Wheeler 2005). The suggestion (in 2.1) of reading the neologisms of Being and Time as an attempt to reanimate the German language is from Andrea Rehberg. Many thanks to Andrea Rehberg, Peter Sullivan and Søren Overgaard for their helpful comments on an earlier draft. Any inaccuracies or unproductive interpretations that remain are, of course, entirely my responsibility.
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Who played Councillor David Horton in the TV sitcom The Vicar of Dibley | Being and Time, part 1: Why Heidegger matters Simon Critchley | Opinion | The Guardian
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Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was the most important and influential philosopher in the continental tradition in the 20th century. Being and Time, first published in 1927, was his magnum opus. There is no way of understanding what took place in continental philosophy after Heidegger without coming to terms with Being and Time. Furthermore, unlike many Anglo-American philosophers, Heidegger has exerted a huge influence outside philosophy, in areas as diverse as architecture, contemporary art, social and political theory, psychotherapy, psychiatry and theology.
However, because of his political commitment to National Socialism in 1933, when he assumed the position of Rector of Freiburg University in south-western Germany, Heidegger continues to arouse controversy, polemic and much heated misunderstanding.
The hugely important matter of the relation between Heidegger and politics is the topic for another series of blogs entries. Indeed, to my mind, the nature and extent of Heidegger's involvement in National Socialism only becomes philosophically pertinent once one has begun to understand and feel the persuasive power of what takes place in his written work, especially Being and Time .
The task I have set myself in this series of blogs is to provide a taste of the latter book and hopefully some motivation to read it further and study it more deeply. But once you have read Being and Time and hopefully been compelled by it, then the question that hangs over the text, like the sword of Damocles, is the following: how could arguably the greatest philosopher of the 20th century also have been a Nazi? What does his political commitment to National Socialism, however long or short it lasted, suggest about the nature of philosophy and its risks and dangers when stepping into the political realm?
Being and Time
Being and Time is a work of considerable length (437 pages in the German original) and legendary difficulty. The difficulty is caused by the fact that Heidegger sets himself the task of what he calls a "destruction" of the philosophical tradition. We shall see some of the implications of this in future entries, but the initial consequence is that Heidegger refuses to avail himself of the standard terminology of modern philosophy, with its talk of epistemology, subjectivity, representation, objective knowledge and the rest.
Heidegger has the audacity to go back to the drawing board and invent a new philosophical vocabulary. For example, he thinks that all conceptions of the human being as a subject, self, person, consciousness or indeed a mind-brain unity are hostages to a tradition of thinking whose presuppositions have not been thought through radically enough. Heidegger is nothing if not a radical thinker: a thinker who tries to dig down to the roots of our lived experience of the world rather than accepting the authority of tradition.
Heidegger's name for the human being is Dasein, a term which can be variously translated, but which is usually rendered as "being-there". The basic and very simple idea, as we will see in future entries, is that the human being is first and foremost not an isolated subject, cut off from a realm of objects that it wishes to know about. We are rather beings who are always already in the world, outside and alongside a world from which, for the most part, we do not distinguish ourselves.
What goes for Dasein also goes for many of Heidegger's other concepts. Sometimes this makes Being and Time a very tough read, which is not helped by the fact that Heidegger, more than any other modern philosopher, exploits the linguistic possibilities of his native language, in his case German. Although Macquarrie and Robinson, in their 1962 Blackwell English edition, produced one of the classics of modern philosophical translation, reading Being and Time can sometimes feel like wading through a conceptual mud of baroque and unfamiliar concepts.
The basic idea
That said, the basic idea of Being and Time is extremely simple: being is time. That is, what it means for a human being to be is to exist temporally in the stretch between birth and death. Being is time and time is finite, it comes to an end with our death. Therefore, if we want to understand what it means to be an authentic human being, then it is essential that we constantly project our lives onto the horizon of our death, what Heidegger calls "being-towards-death".
Crudely stated, for thinkers like St Paul, St Augustine, Luther and Kierkegaard, it is through the relation to God that the self finds itself. For Heidegger, the question of God's existence or non-existence has no philosophical relevance. The self can only become what it truly is through the confrontation with death, by making a meaning out of our finitude. If our being is finite, then what it means to be human consists in grasping this finitude, in "becoming who one is" in words of Nietzsche's that Heidegger liked to cite. We will show how this insight into finitude is deepened in later entries in relation to Heidegger's concepts of conscience and what he calls "ecstatic temporality".
Being and Time begins with a long, systematic introduction, followed by two divisions, each containing six chapters. I have just finished teaching the whole book in a 15-week lecture course at the New School for Social Research in New York and I estimate that I spoke for about 2 hours a week. As they say here in New York, just do the math! Therefore, in the following 7 short blog entries, I can only give a taste of the book and offer some signposts for readers who would like to explore further.
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Who played Fliss Hawthorne in the TV sitcom The Cuckoo Waltz | Diane Keen: Updated News, Videos, Wiki and Photos - TopEntity.com
DIANE KEEN
DIANE KEEN
Diane Keen (born 29 July 1946) is an English actress, who starred in the British TV drama Doctors in which she played Julia Parsons from 2003-2012. She is also known for starring in the 1970s comedy series The Cuckoo Waltz and Rings on Their Fingers, and for her many appearances in Nescafé coffee advertisements during the 1970s and 1980s.
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What is the largest instrument in the violin family | Professionals star Lewis Collins dies after five-year battle with cancer | Daily Mail Online
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STARS PAY TRIBUTE TO COLLINS
Michael Grade: 'He was Bodie. A big hunky macho character with a lovely innocence about him.'
Piers Morgan: 'Sad news about Lewis Collins. Terrifically cool actor. Loved watching The Professionals as a kid. RIP.'
Colin Baker: 'He was the year below me at drama school. Had style!'
Born in Birkenhead, Wirral, Collins started out as a hairdresser before he started playing drums and guitar in pop groups, and had a number of other jobs before he decided to become an actor.
After training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and performing on numerous theatre tours, he won the role that would make him famous in 1977, continuing until the series ended in 1981.
Explosive; Collins (right) with co-stars Martin Shaw (left) and Gordon Jackson (centre) on the set of The Professionals in 1978
Action hero: Collins's character William Bodie was a ruthless former paratrooper who was not afraid to take on criminals including terrorists, hit-men and spies
In 1982 he auditioned for the role of James Bond but his audition was deemed 'too aggressive'.
'I was in Albert R Broccoli's office for five minutes, but it was really over for me in seconds,' he reportedly said.
'He's expecting another Connery to walk through the door and there are few of them around.'
Outside of The Professionals, which is currently being re-shown on ITV Four, his best known role came playing SAS officer Captain Peter Skellen in the 1982 film Who Dares Wins.
He subsequently applied to join the Territorial SAS, a unit open to part-time reservists but was rejected because of his fame, despite passing the entrance tests.
He also appeared in 1970s sitcom The Cuckoo Waltz, which dealt with the comic complications that ensue when impoverished newlyweds Chris and Fliss Hawthorne, played by David Roper and Diane Keen, take in a lodger, Gavin Rumsey (Collins) to ease their financial problems.
Family man: Collins with wife Michelle Larrett and their 19-month old son Oliver at their wedding in 1992. The couple had three sons
Hollywood calling: The actor was born in the Wirral but relocated to Los Angeles where he lived in this low-key house with his family
Collins had another taste of on-screen policing when he played Dr Peter Alan, a research scientist in need of police protection, in a 2002 episode of The Bill.
In early 2012, Collins was cast to play Earl Godwin in the historically based feature film production of 1066, although in June 2013 it was reported that he had withdrawn from the production.
He married teacher Michelle Larrett in 1992, and the couple went on to have their three sons.
Daredevil: Collins vaulting a railing above the streets of London in 1981. He auditioned for James Bond, but was told he was 'too aggressive' for the part
Soldier: Outside of The Professionals, his best known role came playing SAS officer Captain Peter Skellen in the 1982 film Who Dares Wins, alongside Ingrid Pitt (centre) and Mark Ryan (right)
Return to screens: Lewis Collins in ITV police drama The Bill
Many of Collins's friends and former colleagues were quick to pay tribute to the actor.
Former BBC chairman, and ITV executive chairman Michael Grade said of the actor: 'He was Bodie.
'A big hunky macho character with a lovely innocence about him.'
Creator of The Professionals Brian Clemens told the BBC : 'I thought he would have made a marvellous Bond.
'He was tough and he could fight, he looked good, he was handsome and he had this nice sense of humour.'
Sensitive side: Bodie often hid his intelligent side behind his macho image, enjoying English literature and playing the piano
Doctor Who star Colin Baker tweeted: 'Sad to hear that Lewis Collins has died. He was the year below me at drama school. Had style!'
Brian Conley, who played Collins's son in 1999 series The Grimleys wrote: 'God bless lewis Collins, my dad in The Grimleys. A great actor and a lovely man.'
Actress Daniella Westbrook also paid tribute to Collins on Twitter saying: 'So sad to hear the handsome & talented Lewis Collins has lost his battle to cancer today. He was a true gent. Sending love to his family.'
ALL ACTION HERO: FROM DETECTIVES TO SAS SOLDIERS, LEWIS COLLINS'S GREATEST ON-SCREEN MOMENTS
Collins made his on-screen debut in 1974 in an episode of another famous police show, Z-Cars. He enjoyed bit-parts in a number of popular programmes, including The New Avengers, and played lodger Gavin Rumsey in comedy The Cuckoo Waltz.
It was in 1977 when he got his big break, winning the role of former SAS man William Bodie in hit show The Professionals, starring alongside Martin Shaw and Gordon Jackson.
The series ended in 1981, and the year after viewers were treated to another famous Collins role - Captain Peter Skellen - in Who Dares Wins, which was loosely based on the Iranian Embassy siege in 1980.
In 1988 Collins played Sergeant George Godley in the miniseries Jack The Ripper, which also starred Michael Caine as Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline.
Collins returned to television screens in 2002, when he appeared in an episode of The Bill.
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What is the smallest instrument in an orchestra | Instruments of the Orchestra - Arapahoe Philharmonic
Instruments of the Orchestra
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Instruments of the Orchestra
Welcome to the world of classical music instruments! Musical instruments are grouped into different families based on the way the instrument makes its sound. There are four main families of instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Here is how an orchestra is often set up:
Below you will find some basic information about each of the main types of instruments used most frequently in a full-sized orchestra:
The Strings
The four most commonly used instruments in the string family are the violin, the viola, the cello and the double (string) bass. They are all made by gluing pieces of wood together to form a hollow “sound box.” The quality of sound of one of these instruments depends on its shape, the wood it is made from, the thickness of both the top and back, and the varnish that coats its outside surface.
Four strings made of gut, synthetics, or steel are wrapped around pegs at one end of the instrument, tightly stretched across a “bridge,” and attached to a tailpiece at the other end. The pegs are used to tune the instrument (change the length of the string until it makes exactly the right sound). The strings are tuned in perfect “fifths” from each other – 5 notes apart.
The player makes the strings vibrate by plucking them, striking them, strumming them, or, most frequently, by drawing a bow across them. The bow is made of wood and horsehair. The instrument sounds different notes when the performer presses a finger down on the strings on the instrument’s neck, changing the length of the portion of the string that vibrates. The shorter the vibrating part of the string,the higher the sound produced.
Violin
Violin
The violin is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the string family. It is held under the chin and rests on the player’s left shoulder. It can be played standing or sitting. Usually a soloist will stand, and violinists in an orchestra will sit. The violin often carries the melody in an orchestral work as its brilliant sound carries easily over many of the other instruments. There are usually two sections of violins, first violins and second violins, and they play different “parts” (different music has been written for each group).
Viola
Viola
A little larger than the violin but played in the same manner, the viola is the next lower member of the string family. The viola duplicates the violin’s three lower strings, but its fourth string is tuned another fifth lower than the lowest violin string. It has a warmer tone quality than the violin and often plays harmony to support the violin’s melody.
Cello
Cello
The cello plays notes that are only an octave (8 notes) lower than the viola, but it is much larger. Due to its size, the cellist sits in a chair and rests the cello between his or her knees. The cello has an end pin that rests on the floor to help support the instrument’s weight. The cello can play the part of a supportive, reliable bass instrument at one moment, and rise to reproduce the notes of a lovely tenor voice at other times.
Double Bass
Double Bass
The double bass, also called the string bass (pronounced “base” as in first base) or just “bass” for short, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed stringed instrument, an octave lower than the cello. While it looks similar to the other members of the string family, it has more sloping “shoulders” so that the player can reach and move around on the strings more easily despite its large size. It may also have 5 strings rather than 4 with the addition of a lower string. Because of its size (taller than the performer), the bassist stands or sits on a tall stool to play the instrument, which rests on the floor.
Harp
The harp, another stringed instrument, is nothing like the rest of the string family. It is a tall, triangular-shaped instrument with about 45 vertical strings. The strings are plucked or strummed with the player’s fingers while seven pedals at the bottom of the harp adjust the length of the strings to produce additional notes.The harpist sits in a chair with the back of the harp between his or her knees, in order to be able to reach the strings and use the foot pedals that can change the pitch of the harp by one or two half-steps.
Do you think the piano belongs in this section? Well, it does have strings, 88 of them, but most experts consider it a percussion instrument because of the way the strings are struck by small hammers to make their sound. Therefore you will find it listed under the Percussion section later on this page.
The Woodwinds
Instruments in the woodwind family used to all be made of wood, hence the name, but now they can be made of wood, metal, plastic or some combination of materials. They are all tubes with an opening at one end and a mouthpiece at the other end. They each have rows of holes that are covered by metal caps called keys. Pressing on different keys produces different musical notes – the sound changes depending on where the air leaves the instrument (through one of the key holes or out the far end). There are three ways in which the woodwind family creates sound: by blowing air across the edge of or into the mouthpiece (flute or piccolo), by blowing air between a single reed and a fixed surface (clarinet and bass clarinet), or by blowing air between two reeds (oboe, English horn, bassoon, and contrabassoon).
Flute
The flute is a narrow metal tube about two feet long, with a row of holes covered by keys. The player blows air across the small hole in the mouthpiece to produce a sound that can be either soft and mellow or high and piercing. Like the violin, the flute may often carry the melody line as it is easy to hear above the other instruments.
Piccolo
The piccolo,usually made from metal or wood, is like a small flute. Because the length of the instrument is shorter than the flute, the pitch is higher, but it operates the same way. It is more of a specialty instrument, used when the part to be played is especially high.
Oboe
The oboe does not have a mouthpiece like the flute and the piccolo. It is a double-reed instrument, with two reeds tied together for the mouthpiece. When the player places the reeds between her or his lips and blows air through them into the oboe, the reeds vibrate and produce the sound. Many oboists make their own reeds, or at least tailor them to suit their specific playing style. The oboe is made of wood. It has a more mellow sound than the flute, but still has a bright treble sound and is often expected to carry the melody in an orchestral work.
English Horn
The English horn (cor anglais) is a perfect fifth below the oboe, which requires it to be one and one-half times as long! It also has a curved metal neck for the reed and a bulbous bell. The fingering and playing techniques are very similar to the oboe, and many performers play both instruments. It is thought to have a more mellow sound than the oboe.
Clarinet
Another wooden instrument, the clarinet, produces a fluid sound when air is blown between a single reed and the mouthpiece. As air passes through, the reed vibrates and creates sound. It has a large range of nearly four octaves so is a very versatile instrument. The tone quality can vary greatly depending on the musician, the instrument, the mouthpiece, and the reed.
Bass Clarinet
The bass clarinet is a larger, lower relative of the clarinet. Most bass clarinets today are straight instruments like a clarinet but with a small upturned silver-colored metal bell and a curved metal neck. The bass clarinet has a usable range of over four octaves, quite close to the range of the bassoon, and many bass clarinetists perform works originally intended for bassoon or even cello.
Bassoon
The bassoon is a large double-reed instrument with a sound that is deeper than the other woodwind instruments. When the player blows air between the reeds, the vibrating column of air inside the instrument travels over nine feet to the bottom of the instrument, then up to the top where the sound comes out! Luckily, the bassoon comes apart into pieces for easy transport. There is a complex key work system to allow this large instrument to utilize its three-octave range with considerable agility.
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon is twice as long as the standard bassoon, curves around on itself twice, and, due to its weight and shape, is supported by an end pin. Sometimes a strap around the player’s neck gives additional support. It is a very deep-sounding woodwind instrument. The contrabassoon is mainly a supplementary rather than a core orchestral instrument, and is most frequently found in larger symphonic works.
Saxophone
The saxophone, while made of brass, is actually a woodwind instrument! It uses a single-reed mouthpiece much like the clarinet. The saxophone (“sax” for short) was invented in 1846 by Adolphe Sax to try to bridge the gap between brass and woodwind instruments. It is more powerful than most woodwinds, and more versatile than most brass instruments. The saxophone is used extensively in jazz, as well as in military, marching, and concert bands. There is also chamber and symphonic music written for sax, though it is less common. Still, there are some wonderful orchestral works that use the sax, so you will probably find a sax in our midst at some point every season!
The Brass
Brass instruments are essentially very long pipes that widen at their ends into a bell-like shape. The pipes have been curved and twisted into different shapes to make them easier to hold and play. Instruments in the brass family produce their sound when the player “buzzes” her or his lips while blowing air through the mouthpiece, kind of like making a “raspberry,” creating a vibrating column of air within the instrument. Most brass instruments have valves attached to their long pipes. When the player presses down on the valves, they open and close different parts of the pipe, increasing the length of the pipe when played and creating a lower sound. In addition to the valves, the player can select the pitch from a range of overtones or harmonics by changing his or her lip aperture and tension (known as the embouchure). The mouthpiece can also make a big difference in tone. Brass musicians can also insert mutes into the bell of their instrument to change the timbre of its sound.
Trumpet
The trumpet has been around since about 1500 years BCE! It is the highest-sounding member of the brass family, and was often used for signaling/sending messages and religious purposes in the early days as the sound is very bright and clear. Air travels through six and a half feet of tubing bent into an oblong shape. The modern trumpet has three valves to change pitches, added in the early 19th century.
Trombone
The trombone has a more mellow sound than the trumpet. Instead of valves or keys, the trombone uses a slide with seven positions to change the length of its approximately nine feet of tubing in order to reach different pitches. The longer the column of air, the lower the pitch. It also has a short tuning slide to adjust intonation.
Bass Trombone
The bass trombone is identical in length to the tenor trombone, but has a wider bore and a larger bell to create a fuller tone in the low register. It also has one or two valves which can lower the key of the instrument. There is usually at least one bass trombone in a symphony orchestra.
French Horn
The horn (often called the French horn but it really isn’t French at all!) consists of about twenty feet of narrow tubing wound into a circle with a large flared bell at the end. It has a clear, mellow sound, and is played with the bell pointing away from the audience, providing contrast to the other brass instruments. The player produces different notes on the horn by pressing valves with the left hand and by moving the right hand inside of the bell.
Tuba
Made of about sixteen feet of tubing, the tuba is the lowest-sounding member of the brass family. It is one of the newest instruments in the orchestra, having first appeared in the mid-19th century. The concert tuba generally has four or five valves and is held upright in the player’s lap. While tubas are common in a marching band, in the classical orchestra there is generally only a part for one tuba.
Looking for the saxophone? While made of brass, it is under the woodwind section. Read more about it under The Woodwind Family to find out why!
The Percussion Family
The percussion section provides a variety of rhythms, textures and tone colors to orchestral music. Instruments in the percussion family make sound in one of three ways, by striking, shaking, or scraping. Percussion instruments can also be tuned or untuned. Tuned instruments play specific pitches or notes, just like the woodwind, brass and string instruments. Untuned instruments produce a sound with no definite pitch, like the sound of hitting two pieces of wood or metal together. Percussion instruments are an international family, representing musical styles from many different cultures. There are numerous kinds of percussion instruments, such as rattles, castanets, or tambourines, that are not shown here as they are used less frequently in orchestral compositions.
Keyboard instruments are a special class of percussion instrument.
Timpani
Timpani, also known as kettle drums, are large copper bowls covered with calfskin or plastic stretched over the top. Timpani are pitched instruments, tuned to a specific pitch that fits into the key of the composition being played. The performer strikes the top of the instrument with wooden sticks or mallets to produce the note. The larger the drum, the lower or deeper the sound.
Snare Drum
The snare drum is a widely used unpitched percussion instrument, though the sound can be changed slightly by tightening the drum head. Snare drums may be made from various wood, metal, or acrylic materials, and come in a variety of sizes. Most modern drum heads are made of mylar (plastic). A typical orchestral snare drum might be 14” in diameter and 6” deep. The snare drum is almost always double-headed, with rattles (called snares) of gut, metal wire or synthetics stretched across one or both heads. The snare drum is played by hitting with drum sticks.
Bass Drum
The bass drum (pronounced “base” as in first base) is a large tuned percussion instrument with a calfskin or plastic drum head that covers both sides of the hollow, wooden cylinder. The bass drum has a deep or low sound. The bass drum is mounted on a stand because of its size, and the player strikes either side with felt-covered mallets.
Triangle
The triangle, named because of its shape, is made from a small cylindrical piece of steel that is suspended from a loop and played by striking with a steel beater. While it looks easy to play, getting the volume and rhythm correct can be challenging!
Gong
The gong is a brass disc-shaped instrument that is hit with a large, soft mallet. Gongs can range in size from very small, producing a high-pitched sound, to larger than a person (!), producing a low or deep reverberating sound.
Cymbals
Cymbals are made of thin, round plates of metal alloys. Most cymbals are of indefinite pitch. The size of the cymbal affects its sound – larger cymbals are louder and can sustain their note longer. The unique sound of the cymbals allows them to project above a full orchestra, but they can also be played very softly, and offer a wide variety of options for making different sounds. Orchestral cymbals are traditionally used in pairs, each one having a strap by which they are held. Sound is created by rubbing their edges together in a sliding movement, striking them against each other, and several other techniques. Cymbal pairs are usually damped when the sound is supposed to end by pressing them against the player’s body. Another use of cymbals is to hang a cymbal by its strap, which allows the cymbal to vibrate freely when struck by mallets or drum sticks, making a very different sound than two cymbals hitting each other.
Vibraphone
The vibraphone is an instrument that has a keyboard made from aluminum bars, similar to a xylophone or marimba. The player strikes the keys with mallets, and may make the notes hold a couple of seconds longer using a pedal similar to that on a piano.Vibraphone keys are of graduated widths. Lower bars are wider and higher notes are narrower, to help balance volume and tone of the instrument. The player plays the vibraphone while standing up.
Piano
The piano is probably one of the most familiar musical instruments. Not only is it used for solo performances, but it often appears in ensembles and chamber music, and is frequently used to accompany, rehearse, and compose. The piano has figured prominently in all kinds of music from classical to music halls to ragtime to jazz to rock and roll. It is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when the player presses the keys with her or his fingers, causing small padded hammers to strike the strings. The sound is stopped by a damper when the key is released, though pedals can sustain the note a bit longer. The piano can produce a great variety of dynamics (soft to loud), based on how hard or softly the pianist hits the keys. There are 88 keys (52 white and 36 black) on a standard piano!
Want to hear what many of these instruments sound like?
Check out this Dallas Symphony Orchestra site: https://www.dsokids.com/listen/by-instrument/.aspx . Each featured instrument can be heard making a sound, playing a tune, or playing with an orchestra. Explore the rest of the DSO Kids site, too – hear music written by various composers throughout history and find information on music theory for beginners. Thank you, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, for developing such a cool website!
Another really great site for kids has been provided by the San Francisco Symphony. It is called “SFKids – Fun and Games with Music,” and offers ways to discover, listen to, play, perform, conduct, and compose music through games. Check it out at http://www.sfskids.org/ . Thanks to the San Francisco Symphony for providing such a fun way for kids to learn about the delights of music!
Special thanks to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for granting us permission to use some of their instrument images on our website.
| Triangle |
On what musical instrument would you play a rappel | Families of the Orchestra | Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey
Families of the Orchestra
String Family
Violin, Viola, Cello & Double Bass
On all of the orchestral string instruments, the string is played by drawing a bow strung with horsehair across it. The string can also be plucked, an effect called pizzicato.
The violin is the smallest and highest pitched instrument in the string family. The viola is a little larger and deeper in sound. The cello is much larger than the viola and produces a rich, mellow tone. The Double Bass is the largest member of the string family and has a very deep tone.
Woodwind Family
Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon & Contrabassoon
Most of the woodwind instruments were once of made entirely of wood. They are now made with wood, metals and/or plastic.
Woodwind instruments make sounds in different ways.
The flute and piccolo, make a sound by blowing air across the mouthpiece. The clarinet and saxophone use a single reed (piece of cane or fiberglass), which vibrates, to produce a sound. Oboes, english horns, bassoons and contrabassoons use two pieces of cane vibrating against each other, to make a sound.
Woodwind instruments are made into a tube with holes in it. When all of the holes are covered, the tone is low. As the holes are opened, the tone becomes higher.
Brass Family
Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba & French Horn
Brass instruments are long tubes of metal which the player blows into (making a buzzing sound with the lips) through a mouth-piece at one end.
The trumpet has 3 valves to assist in changing the pitches. The french horn and tuba have 4 valves or rotors to change the pitches. The french horn is a conical brass instrument made with a tube coiled in a circle and ending in a flared bell. The trombone uses a slide to change the pitches.
Percussion
Snare Drum, Cymbals, Bass Drum, Guiro, Timpani, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Marimba, Cymbals, Chimes, Tambourine, Castanets, Triangle and more…
The percussion instruments are the rhythm section of the orchestra. They make sounds when they are struck, scraped, or rattled with hands or special sticks. Some percussion instruments have a definite high or low pitch, and some do not have a definite pitch. The Marimba, xylophone, timpani, chimes, vibraphone, and celesta are examples of pitched percussion instruments. The bass drum, snare drum, triangle, cymbals, and tambourine do not have a definate pitch.
The percussion family has the most members, with new instruments being added all of the time.
Keyboards/Others
Piano, Harpsichord, Organ & Harp
These instruments are often classified as percussion instruments because they play a rhythmic role in some music. However, keyboard instruments are not true members of the percussion.
Sound is produced on the piano by small hammers striking strings as the musician presses the keys.
The harp is sometimes classified in the string family, however it is not shaped the same and it has about 45 strings stretched across its frame. The strings are plucked. There are seven pedals at the bottom of the harp that adjust the length of the strings to produce more pitches.
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What musical instrument was invented by Johann Christophe Denner | instrument | Johann Christoph Denner
Johann Christoph Denner
Posted on July 3, 2008 by John Denner
The clarinet has undergone many changes and innovations through the years. From its’ first inception during the late 1600’s to today’s clarinet models, this musical instrument has certainly been through a lot. Due to the many improvements it underwent, there … Continue reading →
| Clarinet |
How many strings are there on a viola | Sopranino Clarinet | Johann Christoph Denner
Johann Christoph Denner
Posted on July 3, 2008 by John Denner
Denner
The clarinet has undergone many changes and innovations through the years. From its’ first inception during the late 1600’s to today’s clarinet models, this musical instrument has certainly been through a lot. Due to the many improvements it underwent, there are many different types of clarinets made throughout the years. Here are some of the well known types of clarinets from the highest to the lowest voice:
Sopranino Clarinet in A-flat – More commonly used in Europe and Australia as a part of their military band. This type of clarinet is very rare and considered a collector’s item by some.
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Who was the lead singer with Cream | Cream singer Jack Bruce dies at 71
Cream singer Jack Bruce dies at 71
Jack Bruce wrote and sang Cream's biggest hits including 'White Room' and 'Sunshine of Your Love.'
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Cream singer Jack Bruce dies at 71 Jack Bruce wrote and sang Cream's biggest hits including 'White Room' and 'Sunshine of Your Love.' Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/1wrOBsn
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Cream singer Jack Bruce dies at 71
Associated Press Published 12:27 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2014 | Updated 2:00 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2014
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JOE COCKER | Dec. 22 (age 70) | The Sheffield, England-born singer with a huge, sandpapery voice was best known for a memorable Woodstock performance in 1969 where he delivered a cover of The Beatles' 'With a Little Help From My Friends' with almost frightening intensity. (Here he performs at Woodstock 1994.)
Eileen Blass, USA TODAY
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BOBBY KEYS | Dec. 2 (age 70) | Keys (left) played saxophone for the Rolling Stones, and also performed on recordings with John Lennon and Eric Clapton.Originally from Texas, Keys started playing with Buddy Holly and The Crickets and went on to become a top session and touring musician.
Casey Monahan/Statesman.com
WAYNE STATIC | Nov. 1 (age 48) | Born Wayne Richard Wells, the founder and frontman of Static-X had disbanded the platinum-selling industrial metal group in 2013 and embarked on a solo career.
John Shearer, WireImage
JACK BRUCE | Oct. 25 (age 71) | With supergroup trio Cream, the British bassist (left) wrote and sang lead on hits such as ‘White Room’ and ‘Sunshine of Your Love.’
Peter Kemp, AP
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ALVIN STARDUST | Oct. 23 (age 72) | The glam rocker and stage actor, born Bernard Jewry and famed for hits such as ‘My Coo Ca Choo’ and ‘I Feel Like Buddy Holly,’ was hailed by Keith Richards as “the godfather of British rock ‘n’ roll.”
M. McKeown, Getty Images
TIM HAUSER | Oct. 16 (age 72) | The founder of Manhattan Transfer (right, with Alan Paul, left, and Janis Siegel) brought doo-wop- and jazz-tinged a cappella to the masses with hits such as 'Operator' and 'The Boy From New York City.'
Evening Standard, Getty Images
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PAUL REVERE | Oct. 4 (age 76) | The ringleader of Paul Revere and the Raiders (front center) -- the '60s rockers famed for performing in Revolutionary War-style costumes. He played organ on hits such as 'Kicks'; 'Hungry'; and 'Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian).'
AP
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GEORGE HAMILTON IV | Sept. 17 (age 77) | The longtime Grand Ole Opry star made the radical switch from pop to country early in his career and went on to score 40 country hits in less than two decades, among them ‘Abilene’ and ‘She’s a Little Bit Country.’
RB Redferns
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JOE SAMPLE | Sept. 12 (age 75) | With the Crusaders, he fused jazz, funk and R&B, pioneering the move of jazz from acoustic to electronic. His songs were sampled by Tupac Shakur, and he worked as a session keyboardist for Steely Dan, Marvin Gaye, B.B. King and Quincy Jones.
Jean-Christophe Bott, AFP/Getty Images
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BOB CREWE | Sept. 11 (age 83) | The songwriter/producer known as the "fifth" of the Four Seasons (seated, in the studio with the Seasons) wrote such standards as "Walk Like a Man" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." Later, he wrote Labelle's seductive soul hit "Lady Marmalade."
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
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COSIMO MATASSA | Sept. 11 (age 88) | The New Orleans producer and studio owner put his stamp on early rock ‘n’ roll, recording Little Richard ("Tutti Frutti") and Fats Domino ("The Fat Man") at his J&M Studio in the French Quarter.
Tim J. Mueller for USA TODAY
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SIMONE BATTLE | Sept. 5 (age 25) | The G.R.L. group singer, mentored by Simon Cowell on TV’s ‘The X Factor,’ signed with Dr. Luke as part of the Pussycat Dolls reboot band and was featured on Pitbull’s ‘Wild Wild Love.’
Casey Curry, Invision via AP
NICKY DA B | Sept. 2 (age 24) | The New Orleans bounce artist (born Nickesse Toney) gave voice to Diplo’s twerk-tastic 2012 hit ‘Express Yourself.’
Gary Miller, FilmMagic
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JIMI JAMISON | Aug. 31 (age 63) | He joined Survivor after the band’s biggest hit, 1982’s ‘Eye of the Tiger,’ but went on to sing later hits ‘The Search Is Over’ and ‘Burning Heart.’ Solo, he co-wrote and recorded the ‘Baywatch’ theme, ‘I’m Always Here.’
Frank Hoensch, Getty Images
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LIONEL FERBOS | July 19 (age 103) | The New Orleans jazz trumpeter was a French Quarter fixture, playing a regular Saturday night gig at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe well past his 100th birthday. "As long as I have teeth, I'll keep playing," he told USA TODAY in 2011. "You can't play trumpet without teeth."
Tim J. Mueller for USA TODAY
JOHNNY WINTER | July 16 (age 70) | The Texas blues-rock icon (and brother of Edgar Winter), famous for his blazing ‘70s live shows, was hailed by ‘Rolling Stone’ as one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Fin Costello, Redferns
TOMMY RAMONE | July 11 (age 62) | The drummer and producer (left, with Johnny, Dee Dee and Joey Ramone in "End of the Century") co-founded seminal punk band The Ramones in 1974.
Magnolia Pictures
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CHARLIE HADEN | July 11 (age 76) | Polio ended his country singing career at 15, so Haden became an instrumentalist. He enjoyed a nearly 60-year career as a pioneering jazz bassist and composer, finding fame with Ornette Coleman’s quartet and Keith Jarrett’s trio.
Chris Pizzello, AP
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PAUL HORN | June 29 (age 84) | A trip to India in 1968, where Horn meditated with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and The Beatles, steered the flutist away from mainstream jazz to a mellower music that would become known as new age.
Dimitrios Kambouris
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BOBBY WOMACK | June 27 (age 70) | The revered soul man and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer played guitar in Sam Cooke's band, produced Sly Stone, and wrote hits recorded by the Rolling Stones ('It's All Over Now') and Wilson Pickett ('I'm a Midnight Mover').
Josh Brasted, WireImage
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MABON “TEENIE” HODGES | June 22 (age 68) | Famed as the anchor of the celebrated Hi Rhythm Section, the Memphis soul guitarist also co-wrote scores of Al Green classics, among them ‘Here I Am,’ ‘L-O-V-E (Love),’ ‘Love and Happiness’ and ‘Take Me to the River.’ In recent years, music fans knew him as rapper Drake’s uncle.
Susanna Vapnek, AP
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JIMMY C. NEWMAN | June 21 (age 86) | That "C" stood for "Cajun," the preferred genre of the Grand Ole Opry's Cajun country pioneer. The Louisiana-born performer was famous for hits such as 'Cry, Cry, Darling,' 'Seasons of My Heart' and 'A Fallen Star.'
David Redfern, Redferns
Fullscreen
GERRY GOFFIN | June 19 (age 75) | With then-wife Carole King, he wrote dozens of top 40 hits, among them '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman' and 'Take Good Care of My Baby.' Their partnership ended, but Goffin went on to co-write such hits as 'Saving All My Love for You.'
Charlie Gillett Collection, Redferns via Getty Images
HORACE SILVER | June 18 (age 85) | The jazz pianist and hard-bop pioneer co-founded the Jazz Messengers and composed such classics as 'Song for My Father' and 'Nica's Dream.'
Caroline Greyshock, Sony Music
JIMMY SCOTT | June 12 (age 88) | The Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist with the high-pitched, youthful voice performed with Elton John and Sting and counted Madonna among his famous fans.
Andree-Noelle Pot, AP
Fullscreen
DON DAVIS | June 5 (age 75) | The Detroit musician and producer behind hits from Johnnie Taylor ('Who's Making Love'), Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. ('You Don't Have to Be a Star to Be in My Show') went on to helm First Independence Bank, one of the country's biggest black-owned banks.
Donna Terek, The Detroit News/AP
Fullscreen
HERB JEFFRIES | May 25 (age 100) | The black “singing cowboy” starred in Westerns such as 'The Bronze Buckaroo' and 'Harlem on the Prairie.' He recorded signature song ‘Flamingo’ in 1940 with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and went on to score solo hits with ‘Basin Street Blues’ and ‘When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano.’
Gabriel Bouys, AFP/Getty Images
Fullscreen
DJ E-Z ROCK | April 27 (age 46) | The Harlem hip-hop pioneer born Rodney "Skip" Bryce, right, recorded 1988 hit "It Takes Two" with pal Rob Base, left, a smash that would be subsequently sampled by the Black Eyed Peas, Snoop Dogg, Gang Starr, Girl Talk and Ciara.
Janette Beckman, Redferns
Fullscreen
KEVIN SHARP | April 19 (age 43) | While battling bone cancer in high school, Sharp, center, asked the Make-A-Wish foundation to introduce him to producer David Foster. Years later, that connection led Sharp to hit No. 1 on the country chart with his debut single, 1995's "Nobody Knows."
Acey Harper, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image
Fullscreen
JESSE WINCHESTER | April 11 (age 69) | The Louisiana-born singer/songwriter, who moved to Canada in 1967 to avoid the Vietnam War draft, wrote tunes that drew upon folk, country and blues and were covered by George Strait, Jimmy Buffett and the Everly Brothers.
Rick Diamond, Getty Images
FRANKIE KNUCKLES | March 31 (age 59) | The pioneering Chicago DJ and producer hailed as the "Godfather of House" worked with everyone from Chaka Khan to Michael Jackson.
Wendell Teodoro, WireImage
DAVE BROCKIE | March 23 (age 50) | GWAR's longtime frontman, aka Oderus Urungus, skewered the metal paradigm with creepy costumes, over-the-top antics and profane lyrics.
Gary Wolstenholme, Redferns
Fullscreen
SCOTT ASHETON (wearing cap) | March 15 (age 64) | As a co-founder of The Stooges, the hard-hitting drummer (seen at the band's 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction) helped bridge the gap from raw '60s rock to explosive '70s punk.
Justin Lane, EPA
FRANNY BEECHER (right) | Feb. 24 (age 92) | His blazing lead guitar helped usher in the rock 'n' roll era on hits by Bill Haley and His Comets, such as "Don't Knock the Rock" and "See You Later, Alligator."
AP
BOB CASALE | Feb. 17 (age 61) | The guitarist and his brother Gerald were one of two sets of siblings in the new-wave band Devo, famed for 1980 hit "Whip It."
Ebet Roberts, Redferns, via Getty Images
Fullscreen
WILLIAM 'BUNNY RUGS' CLARKE | Feb. 2 (age 65) | Even Stevie Wonder admired the reggae star's voice, says Third World bandmate Willie Stewart. “When Bunny hit those high notes in ‘Try Jah Love,’ you would see a big smile on Stevie’s face while he swayed his head from side to side in great approval that this man had the pipes (to) deliver his song,” Stewart told USA TODAY.
Garvin Gray, Revenge Media
Fullscreen
PETE SEEGER | Jan. 27 (age 94) | The folk singer felt that music and politics could intertwine, influencing artists such as Bob Dylan and Don McLean to do the same. He won countless awards and continued his humanitarian efforts for decades, including cleaning up the Hudson River.
Frank Franklin II, AP
Fullscreen
JOE EVANS | Jan. 17 (age 97) | The Carnival Records founder played alto and baritone saxophone, flute and clarinet, touring with Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker in the 1940s and '50s and backing up Stevie Wonder and The Supremes in the '60s as part of the Motown Revue. He later retired from music and earned a master’s degree in education from Rutgers University.
University of Illinois Press
Fullscreen
PHIL EVERLY (left) | Jan. 3 (age 74) | The younger half of the Everly Brothers, whose sweet harmonies earned them admission into both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame. In addition to hits "Bye Bye Love" and "Wake Up Little Susie," the duo helped inspire rock legends including The Beatles and Warren Zevon.
AP
JAY TRAYNOR (left) | Jan. 2 (age 69) | The original “Jay” of Jay and the Americans reached success with hit single "She Cried" and later toured with Jay Siegel's Tokens.
Jay Siegel
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| Jack Bruce |
Which action painter was often referred to as Jack The Dripper | Cream Bassist Jack Bruce Dead At 71 | The Huffington Post
Cream Bassist Jack Bruce Dead At 71
10/25/2014 12:30 pm ET | Updated Oct 26, 2014
1.6k
Lauren Zupkus Social Media Editor, Huffpost Entertainment
Jack Bruce, singer and bassist of classic rock band Cream, died at the age of 71, his family confirmed on his Facebook page Saturday.
"It is with great sadness that we, Jack’s family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend. The world of music will be a poorer place without him, but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts," the Bruce family wrote.
A rep for Bruce confirmed to TMZ that he died from liver disease.
An acclaimed bass player for Cream, Bruce also sang lead vocals on Cream songs like "Sunshine of Your Love" and "White Room." The group, whose members also included Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
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| i don't know |
Who was the British war hero who was seized in Beirut in 1989 at the age of 74 | BBC ON THIS DAY | 13 | 1989: British war hero 'seized' in Beirut
1989: British war hero 'seized' in Beirut
A British war hero is feared kidnapped after he disappeared in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Jackie Mann, 74, an ex-squadron leader and Spitfire pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain, vanished after leaving his home in the city to go to a bank.
It is feared that Mr Mann has joined the three other UK hostages believed to be held by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah party.
Mr Mann's wife Sunnie has made an emotional appeal for his release on Lebanon Television.
Mrs Mann said: "I appeal to whomsoever is holding my husband to return him to me."
Mrs Mann told reporters: "We are just a couple who have lived in Lebanon for over 40 years because we loved the place and its people."
There are concerns for Mr Mann's welfare because he suffers from a skin problem which requires medication after being badly burnt when he was shot down as a pilot.
The previously unknown group Armed Struggle Cells has claimed it has a British "captive" although it did not mention Mr Mann by name. But the claim is being treated with caution.
The group has demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners it said were being held in Britain accused of killing Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali in 1987.
However, Scotland Yard said no-one linked to the murder was being held in the UK.
A Foreign Office spokesman has confirmed that Mr Mann is missing but said there was no independent evidence that he had been kidnapped.
Officials are checking hospitals in the Lebanon, police and local authorities in Beirut in the search for Mr Mann.
The British embassy had warned three days before Mr Mann was seized that a Shia group was preparing to take another Western hostage.
The Foreign Office and British embassy in Lebanon had renewed warnings to British citizens still living in Beirut to leave immediately following the Salman Rushdie affair in February.
A fatwa, or religious edict, was issued by Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the publication of Mr Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses". Khomeini said Muslims had a duty to kill Mr Rushdie for blaspheming Islam in his novel.
Concerns have also been mounting after the Speaker of the Iranian parliament, Hashemi Rafsanjani, urged Palestinians to kill five Westerners for every Palestinian killed by Israelis in the occupied territories.
Meanwhile, a 24-year-old West German aid worker, Marcus Quint, who was kidnapped earlier this month has been released at the headquarters of the pro-Syrian Amal militia without any explanation.
| Jackie Mann |
Besides Wembley which other London venue was used in the 1966 World Cup finals | BBC ON THIS DAY | 13 | 1989: British war hero 'seized' in Beirut
1989: British war hero 'seized' in Beirut
A British war hero is feared kidnapped after he disappeared in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Jackie Mann, 74, an ex-squadron leader and Spitfire pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain, vanished after leaving his home in the city to go to a bank.
It is feared that Mr Mann has joined the three other UK hostages believed to be held by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah party.
Mr Mann's wife Sunnie has made an emotional appeal for his release on Lebanon Television.
Mrs Mann said: "I appeal to whomsoever is holding my husband to return him to me."
Mrs Mann told reporters: "We are just a couple who have lived in Lebanon for over 40 years because we loved the place and its people."
There are concerns for Mr Mann's welfare because he suffers from a skin problem which requires medication after being badly burnt when he was shot down as a pilot.
The previously unknown group Armed Struggle Cells has claimed it has a British "captive" although it did not mention Mr Mann by name. But the claim is being treated with caution.
The group has demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners it said were being held in Britain accused of killing Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali in 1987.
However, Scotland Yard said no-one linked to the murder was being held in the UK.
A Foreign Office spokesman has confirmed that Mr Mann is missing but said there was no independent evidence that he had been kidnapped.
Officials are checking hospitals in the Lebanon, police and local authorities in Beirut in the search for Mr Mann.
The British embassy had warned three days before Mr Mann was seized that a Shia group was preparing to take another Western hostage.
The Foreign Office and British embassy in Lebanon had renewed warnings to British citizens still living in Beirut to leave immediately following the Salman Rushdie affair in February.
A fatwa, or religious edict, was issued by Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the publication of Mr Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses". Khomeini said Muslims had a duty to kill Mr Rushdie for blaspheming Islam in his novel.
Concerns have also been mounting after the Speaker of the Iranian parliament, Hashemi Rafsanjani, urged Palestinians to kill five Westerners for every Palestinian killed by Israelis in the occupied territories.
Meanwhile, a 24-year-old West German aid worker, Marcus Quint, who was kidnapped earlier this month has been released at the headquarters of the pro-Syrian Amal militia without any explanation.
| i don't know |
Which motor racing track is east of Chester | Chester Motor Club - Club History
CLUB HISTORY
International Representatives
The First 70 Years
On the 29th of September 1921, as a result of reading an advertisement on the front page of ‘The Cheshire Observer’ the previous week, placed by Mr Ted Davies of Davies Bros. Motorcycles, a group of enthusiasts got together at The Kings Head Hotel, Grosvenor Road, Chester to consider the formation of a Motor Cycle Club. After much debate, they formed an organization to be known as:
The
Chester
and District Motorcycle and Light Car Club
From amongst the people attending this meeting was elected the first committee and Officers Of The Club. Mr A. Wood, Landlord of the Kings Head, was elected Chairman, Captain W.G. Hill was elected to the posts of Hon.. Secretary and Treasurer. The Captain was Mr J Gamon and Vice Captain, Mr j Crowther Walker. The committee was made up from Messrs R.W. Milton, W.H. Stokes, E. Parton, J. Graham Oates, D.W. Beck, Ill. Davies and a Mr Sandy Miles, according to the minutes which are deposited at The City Record Office. Others who attended that first meeting include Len Buttonwood, Cec Parker. Billy Philpot. Ernie Marsden, Beet Wright. Eric Whitely. lvor Watson, George Milton and George Gleave. Before 1921 however. all was not darkness on the motoring front in
Chester
as there appears to have been as existence "The Cheshire Motor Club". whose secretary was one Harry Marsdan. This thrived until the First World War but was not to be resurrected after. It is said that the Trophies belonging to this organization still reside ‘as a bank vault in
Chester
Hillclimbing
Enthusiasm ran high. The first organized activity of the Club was a social run to Llangollen on
the 2nd October 1921
. Highlight of the day was a climb up Alt y Bath - then a rough. unmade stepped track At the first committee meeting on
20th October 1921
it was decided to apply for affiliation to the Auto Cycle Union in order to become licensed to run competitive motorcycle events. Things progressed apace. Social runs to such diverse places as Rhyl,
New Brighton
, Conquering Hero Hill,
Berwyn
. Worlds End, Cilcain, The Sun at Trevor and Pen y Ball, to mention but a few, were enjoyed on most Sundays. In the meantime members were looking for suitable stretches of road to race on They were successful and on Easter Monday 1923 the first Llinegar Hill Climb, for motorcycles only, was run. Len Wood and Dudley Beck was in charge presenting the Club with its first opportunity to help the local community by donating 3d out of each of 6000 programmes sold, at 6d each, in aid of the of the Ffynnongroew lighting fund. I believe some of the streetlights can still be seen today. Between 5000 and 6000 spectators in ideal weather watched riders on the 1056 yard climb.
Founder member Jack Smith was one of five riders to come to grief near the top of the hill, although none were seriously enough injured to need the attention of an undertaker who advertised his services in the programme, it was thought prudent, however, to bring Jack home in George Milton’s sidecar. Best performance and the Walker Cup went to Mr H.Porter with a time of 37.6 secs, while the Beck Cup for best performance by a local rider went to Mr C. Edwards from Holywell in a time of 47.4 sees. Contemporary press reports indicate the great support of the local populace and that H. Gaskell created much diversion by riding down the 1 in 6 hill standing on his saddle.
In 1924 the Hill was alive to the sound of music once again. This time Light Cars were included in the event and fastest time of the day for Light Cars went to Basil H. Davenport, a silk merchant from Macclesfield, driving a G.N. which he called B.H.D., in a time of 40.2 secs or 41.8 secs depending on which press report you read. This gave him the Beck Cup. whilst the Walker Cup went to Mr S J. Shepherd riding a 2.3/4, side valve B.SA. Another award for local riders went to Mr R Catherwood riding a 3 � Norton his prize was a pair of "Whippet Tweed Breeches". T. Sinsister a trade entrant, put up F.T.D. on his 3 � Norton, but received no trophy, Shades of Gentlemen versus the Players. Basil Davenport’s car is now in the ownership of Club Member Robin Parker and is still active on the hills to this day. How this came about is a fascinating story in itself. Apparently during one run Basil had some sort of mechanical problem resulting in B.H.D. turning over on top of him - one of only three accidents that befell him in some thirty odd years of competition. An intrepid marshal lifted the car to enable Basil to wriggle out. They became great friends and Basil promised that the car would be offered to the marshal when Basil had finished with it - that marshal was Cec Parker, Robin’s father, who regrettably died before Basil retired from competition. You can imagine Robin’s surprise when a voice on the phone told him to "Come to Macclesfield and collect his car, now that I have retired".
Llinegar Hill (the hill) is still there, although I am not totally sure which piece of road was used. Reprints of the first series of 1" Ordnance Survey maps give some clues, added to which there is a road in Ffynnongroew called ‘Llinegar Hill’ which runs up to where Llinegar was. I suspect that could be it.
Incidentally third fastest car time was put up by Dudley Beck with a very fast blown Austin Seven, with all aluminium body, and reputed to be the first supercharged car in
Chester
. At about this time Gordon
England
(of Brooklands fame and probably one of the first people to manufacture components for making standard cars quicker) also had a very fast
Austin
7 which had benefited from his tuning activities. A wager was struck and to Dudley Beck’s credit his car proved the better and quicker vehicle.
As the 1925 event was in the final stages of preparation the government of the day decreed that Trials of Speed on the public highway were no longer to be allowed as a result of the public outcry after a spectator was injured at an event in the Home Counties. So after two successful years Llinegar was no more.
Through the following year while various ‘offroad’ events were being run, along with social occasions on most Sundays, a small group of members consisting of Frank Shaw, Ces Parker, Jack Smith and Messrs. Burgess, Eaton and Billy Philpott were searching for another venue for a Sprint or Hillclimb. Early in 1926 agreement was reached with the authorities responsible for Prestatyn Sports and Carnival Week to use, by some quirk of ownership, half a mile of "that new section of Main road between Gronant and Prestatyn" which I believe covers a section of the present A548 between Gronant and the A547 fork.
Reading
contemporary press reports the fields on either side of the course provided ideal car parking and natural grandstands from which thousands of spectators watched the fun. Run on Bank Holiday Monday the 21st of August, for Motorcycles, some 50 or so competitors wrestled their machines against a strong headwind which limited terminal speeds to little more than 70 mph. The Wood Cup for Fastest Time of Day went to a Mr C. Waterhouse on a 496cc Sunbeam in a time of 23.8 sees. In addition he received the Davies Cup for best performance by a member of Chester Motor Club, for that is what the name had become. I suspect that the original title became too much of a mouthful and, as contemporary press reports often referred to ‘The Chester Club’, the new title seemed appropriate. In 1925, after much discussion, the name change was agreed by the committee.
Gronant was run again in 1927, on the 20th of August The weather was much kinder and the large band of spectators were confident that records would be set. They were not disappointed as, after a titanic struggle, both the Wood and Davies Cups went to Mr E. Searle on a 598cc Norton in 23.6 secs, crossing the line at well over 90mph. Other awards watt to George Milton (The Walker Cup), Bill Lord (The Deva Cup) and to C.L. Emery watt the Carnival Cup. I wonder where that one is now?
Regrettably this appears to have been the last of the Gronant events the reason for not running any more is not recorded. One of the principle attractions of Gronant from the spectator point of view, was that riders were started in pairs, an early form of 'drag racing’ which allowed everyone to see who had won. There are strong rumours of The Club running events on Pen y Hal hill in Holywell but I have found no evidence of this except in Jack Smith’s notes in the 1947 year book.
(Back to selection list)
Grass and Sand Racing
Records show that throughout the balance of the twenties The Club went from strength to strength, as many as thirty events of all types being run in 1928 and again in 1929. Included in this list were both grass and sand races, which had a great affinity for each other, as both did for speedway. In fact one of our most successful grass and sand racers, George Milton also Captained Warrington Speedway at around this time and even brought one of his team, ‘Skid Pleavin’, to race on the Wallasey sands on one occasion.
Another event which became very popular for a number of years was the grass track races held on the Roodee in
Chester
as part of Easter Autumn Sports. Very high speeds were attained on the turf more used to the thunder of hooves than the snarl of exhausts due in no small way to the use of spiked tyres similar to those used in ice racing. Records show that on a course measuring I Mile 1 Furlong to the lap, 4 lap races took less than 4 minutes, a speed of something approaching 70 M.P.H.
However the Club continued to organise speed events at a variety of venues including Harrison Drive (Wallasey), Abergele and Kinmel Bay all of which were used for Sand Races of differing lengths, varying from one to twenty ki1ometres. As an example the 1932 May meeting at Harrison Drive the Flying 1 Km. races for solos and sidecars were won by one C.P. Wood on a 596cc Douglas at 81.64 M.P.H. and 76.09 M.P.H. respectively, presumably bolting on a ‘chair’ for the second success. Other winners its 1932 included George Milton, Jack Wilkinson, Les Graham, Colin Edge and Jack Blundell. It is interesting to note that the race distances were invariably set to Kilometres whereas the speeds were calculated in Miles per Hour, a chore which must have taxed the pre calculator age more than somewhat.1932 was a great year for Club events the records show that some forty or so events were run, varying from an invitation dance at the Stafford Hotel to assorted Scrambles, Trials and Grass.
(Back to selection list)
Track races
About this time The Club became involved in "Motor Ball" which involved two teams of five motorcyclists and one large ball. Five a side football on wheels! In fact on
the 18th of August 1934
Chester Motor Club represented
England
against a French team the ‘Union Motocycliste de L’aube’ at The Oval, Post Sunlight, by kind permission of Lever Brothers. Ltd. The teams lined up as follows:
For France, Messrs. Blondel Levy Bornot, Boeglin, Welzelle. Preaux and team Captain Devliegher all riding Monet and Goyon machines Our Heroes, Captained by Jack Smith, were George Milton. Frank Shaw, Cec Parker and Colin Edge. The Match was refereed by a Mr. H. Price. Correspondence exists to show that teams from
Chester
toured
France
in the year's 1933/4 and 1936 playing representative matches against a number of French Clubs, including the Automobile Club de Troyes. Regrettably it is a matter of record that despite our status as English Champions we never managed to beat the French on any occasion. Correspondence is to hand which indicates that it was the intention to invite the victorious French team and the Mayor of Troyes to our Golden Jubilee dinner in 1971. Unfortunately, the postal strike intervened and it proved impossible. This title of English Champions all came about after word came to The Clubs attention that a team from
Basingstoke
were calling themselves Champions of England despite not having played
Chester
. Matches were arranged and Our Heroes proved that
Chester
were the better side. In 1934 in a National tourney staged at
Donnington
Park
, our team consisting of George Milton. Colin Edge, Frank Shaw, Herbert Price. Edgar Ashley. Ron Ross, Ces Parker, Lea Peters and Captain Jack Smith were officially crowned Champions of England.
At the fifth National Rally of Motorcyclists held at Lilleshall on
September 19th 1937
some 433 entries had set out from a variety of locations as diverse as Abergavenny and Aylesbury to Yeovil and York, passing through 118 controls before reaching the finish. The Auto Cycle Union Inter Club Challenge Trophy was awarded to the Club scoring the highest figure of merit, obtained by multiplying the aggregate number of mileage marks won by those members of the Club who took part in the road competition by the percentage of members present at LilIeshaIl, whether they have competed in the Rally or not. Quite how Our Heroes fared in that section of the competition I have yet to determine, but I do know that they turned out two teams for an exhibition motoball match at 12 noon and a further team of seven to compete in a series of Grass Track Match races against Birmingham M.C.C. Amongst Our Heroes were many names who were either famous at the time or were to become well known in the not too distant future. These names, apart from those already listed, include Lea Graham later to become a works rider for M.V. Augusta, AJ.S and others during a career in which he became one of the most successful road racers in our Club. Tragically, Lea died of injuries received in the T.T races post war Truly a Hero with a capital "H". One communication received in 1938 quite out of the blue was from Baron Von Falkwhausen, the German Minister for Sport under Hitler, to give displays of trick riding and motor cycle football at the German sports fortnight in
Berlin
. He was unable to understand that as only five of our ten team members could arrange leave from work, The Club had to turn down his invitation.
One of the many anecdotes that Colin and Peggy Edge used to amuse us with, deep in the heart of Clocaenog forest waiting for the RA.C. Rally to arrive, concerned a trip Colin made to the International Six Days Trial in
Austria
late in 1939. Colin, being the staunch competitor that he was, was determined to do his best and bring his machine back in one piece. A little thing like some diminutive Austrian house painter declaring war on the rest of the World was not going to stop him. After the event had finished Colin set off to ride back home. If you look at the map of
Europe
it shows that the straight line from
Austria
to home crosses a large chunk of
Germany
. At the frontier Colin insisted on an escort to cross what was now enemy territory. Not only did he get an escort, but one from the Gestapo to boot (a Colonel Grimm would you believe), which meant that Colin was one of the very few, if not the only,
U.K.
competitor to bring back his machine, something that its owners were very grateful for. More importantly, I feel it is a measure of the calibre of Colin who, with his wife Peggy, were one of our most popular joint Presidents.
In the thirties, Grass Track racing became more and more popular and venues were constantly being sought Our Club was very successful in this endeavour running events at Raby Mere, NorthopHall, Delamere Forest, Little Budworth, Malpas, Helsby Hill not to mention Hoole Playing Fields and the Roodee. Some of these venues were used up to three times a year, all of which added up to a very busy period of Club activity. Of course, grass tracking was not all we did in those days, there were Scrambles, Trials, Sand Racing and all manner of 2,3 and 4 wheeled sport.
(Back to selection list)
Trialing
A unique event was the Picton Trial, so popular that we had to run it twice in some years to cater for the demand. The Picton’ gave motorcycle riding a new dimension, in that you had to have a machine and a rider that could operate in two or three feet of mud. Many famous riders of the day rode at Picton. Run for most of its life by the combined efforts of the Kay and Whitely families the course is still mostly intact. Both sections are now bridleways bisected by the M53 and are a pleasant place to walk the dog. There is however no doubt in my mind that a combination of machine development and increased water extraction has caused a lowering of the water table meaning that the Picton as it was has gone forever. To such an extent, in fact, that what used to be a stern test of the finest Trials Riders would now be easy in a family saloon as long as the weather has been kind.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 created some consternation in the Club, causing us to lose seven events in that year alone. At the A.G.M. held on
the 7th January 1940
a decision was made to ‘soldier’ on with the programme slightly curtailed until an Extraordinary G.M. on 6th of May at the Park Cafe in
Foregate Street
allowed for the cessation of competition for the duration of the larger event. During hostilities The Club supplied a
County
Organiser
for the Home Guard. Cec Parker who had some 84 riders under his control, and three Divisional Organisers for the Cheshire County Police Motor Cycle Dispatch Corps, Jack Smith, Colin Edge and George Milton, providing what must have been one of the fastest Mail delivery services there was.
War did not completely stop our Club’s competitions as George Newnes organised a bicycle rally through
Chester
on
the 15th January 1940
. The route included the notorious St. Mary’s Hill, which caused the downfall of at least one rider. When you consider the cycles available at that time it is surprising that only Frank Roden fell off. A second cycle event was run over the Picton course being won by Colin Edge. This made Colin the only person to have won the Trial on both motor and man powered cycles.
The first post war meeting took place in George Milton’s garage in
Union Street
on 10th of June 1945, with the committee convening 10 days later. A few events were run during the rest of that year, but things really got under way in 1946 when 28 events were run. These included: 6 Grass Track meetings, 3 Trials. 2 Dances and one each of the following, Scramble, Rally, Freak Hill Climb, Dinner and Hotpot Supper. In 1947 we published a Club Handbook which had all sorts of useful information set out for Members including the programme of competitive and social events shown below:
January
10thDinner Dance and awards at The Queen Hotel
19th A.G.M. at The Queen Hotel
April
20th Invitation Trial for cars & motorcycles
May
26th Grasstrack races at Spy Hill Farm, Mouldsworth
June
21st Combined Sprint on Summers Drive
29th
18th Lea Peters Memorial Scramble at Malpas
26th Closed to Club Car Trial, (maybe the 1st Bartley)
November
23rd Picton Trial, followed by the 23rdA.G.M. at The Queen Hotel.
December
14th Northern Experts Trial, a National Championship event
Interspersed with all these were various social runs and events which have not yet found their way into my records.
(Back to selection list)
Sprinting
One milestone, which survived into the sixties to become one of the oldest Speed events in the North was the Queensferry Sprint, run mostly on the main access road to John Summers Steelworks at Shotton and occasionally on the runway at Sealand Aerodrome. One of the most interesting facts relating to the times set up at Queensferry was that F.T.I). For Motorcyclists started at 22.6 sees by Bob Bony on a 998cc Brough Superior and was left by Reg Dearden on a 541 cc Norton at 22.4 sees, a time set in 1953. The times for Cars started at 28.4 sect by Gillie Tyrer driving a 328 B.M.W. and was left at 22 sec dead by the late Ken Wharton driving a 2 litre supercharged E.RA. (RUB) also set in 1953. This appears to have been a mighty good year for Sprinting. One significant reason for this could have been the heathen brews with which Motorcyclists habitually fuelled their machines compared to the almost watery Pool Petrol used by the four-wheeled brigade. In addition I suspect that the fifties saw the aid of the specialist sprint vehicles, most of which were based on pre war racing machines. These were probably reaching the aid of their development potential even before the arrival on the scene of the first of the post war motor cars and the resurgence of the Racing Car industry.
It was in 1949 that John Cooper and Peter Collins both drove Coopers at Queensferry. John went on to create the legendary Cooper Bristol, which carried Mike Hawthorn to many victories and provided the basis for his future with Ferrari. The Mini Cooper and the car that carried Sir Jack Brabham to his two Formula One World Championships, Peter went on to partner Mike in the Ferrari works team and also drove works Mercedes and Aston Martin in Sports Car racing. In fact anyone who was involved in Sprinting competed at Queensferry during its lifetime.
When we were forced to change the course from a standing start half mile to a S/S quarter mile followed immediately by a flying quarter due to changes in the road, this brought a whole new set of targets to aim at. There was often a constant battle between two great Heroes of the sprint world, both riding 998 cc Vincent machines. They were Neville Higgins and ‘The Heap’ and George Brown and his ‘Nero’ and ‘Super Nero’ machines who waged war on each other at almost every venue they entered I well remember standing alongside George on the start line and watching him snuff the air and scuff the road surface with his boot and mutter "122". Out came the big Vincent warmed up and raring to go. On came the green light. In went the clutch and, with a thunderous roar, George and Nero were away breaking the timing beam exactly 12.2 sees late. Poor Neville shook his head and never did get down to less than 12.4 secs either that day or any other at Summers Drive. This I think happened in 1959 but pales into insignificance what in 1962, in terrible conditions of hail and snow, Josh Randles made F.T.D. in the car event driving a Cooper Monaco with a time of 14.27 secs. ‘Iron Man’ Brown wheeled out ‘Super Nero’ and hurtled down Sealand’s runway in an incredible 12.24 sees. It is, however, important to record that Neville Higgins did put up F.T.D. at Queensferry on more than one occasion, finally leaving the record at Sealand at 12.10 sect. He still rides big Vinceots and now works for SAAB in
Sweden
. The highest speed recorded over the flying quarter mile was by Gillie Tyrer in his "D" Type Jaguar at 131.58 M.P.H., a performance which nearly had him clocking on for the next shift at the Steelworks beyond the railway. For some reason I am unable to locate any speeds for motorcycles, so I feel I may not be doing justice to our two wheel competitors.
In 1964/5 we moved back to Summers Drive for the last two years before losing out to the new style management of British Steel. Sealant airfield had been decommissioned by the R.A.F. and had deteriorated far too much to be used again so the search was on for an alternative venue. We ran one event on Wallasey Promenade in 1965 for cars and motorcycles, which was less than successful for a variety of reasons. One by one the local airfields fell under the influence of commercial developers, Hooton had become Vauxhall Motors, Prees Heath had been ploughed up, Poulton was not available and Borras had become a gravel pit. Burtonwood, near
Warrington
held out some hope and in l971/2 we ran two events there.both of which were won by Barry Sewell in the Marcos that he races to this day. Then we lost that venue due to the development of Warrington New Town. It was not until twelve years later that we managed to get a date at
Oulton
Park
where we again managed to run two sprints, before the policy of the circuit owners changed and they decided not to allow sprints anymore - probably because there were more profitable uses for the circuit. However, we live in hope of finding another venue for speed events.
In 1947 Mr. Stanley Bartley, proprietor of
Upton
garage, presented The Club with the Bartley Trophy to be awarded for best performance in a Car trial. The first occasion I have been able to find any record of The Bartley Trial is on
8th May 1950
but anymore about this event has proved very elusive. However the 1951 event received extensive coverage in Autosport. The event was run on Sunday the first of April over a route of some 40 miles starting from Davies Garage at Padeswood and finishing at Rivalyn Garage, Loggerheads. A number of sections with delightful names were used, including. High Street (near Caergwrle), Short and Sweet,
Jungle Avenue
. Swan Song. The Camel and Boundary Stone which lay on private ground within a cock’s stride of Loggerheads, all this activity happening under the watchful eye of the Trophy donor himself. Cyril Corbishley went home with the premier award having driven his C.C.S (Cyril Corbishley Special) powered by a 1446cc Ford engine to a clear victory. Ross Preston took second driving his mid engined self-built special, powered by
Austin
. Other award winners included Miss H.B. Kemble (1172cc Ford), K.R. Bailey (1442cc Bailey Special), AA.
Butler
(1172cc Clegg Special), R.A. Hopkinson (1172cc Bancroft Special) and B.F. Clegg in another 1172cc Clegg Special. It must be said that these were not trailer borne vehicles but, for the most part, home built road going specials in the purest sense of the word, aided in no small way by the mass of bits and pieces left over from pre war times. The Bartley ran as a trial until 1957 when enthusiasm for trials waned somewhat and it developed into a road rally. Little did the organisers realise the beast they were spawning.
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Road Rallying
In its heyday, The Bartley was the ‘Motoring News’ event everyone wanted to win. Over the years it gained a reputation for a ‘right good thrash’ being at various times voted best event in both the B.T.R.D.A. Silver Star and Motoring News Championships. Tough it certainly was. For example in 1977 if you had one fail you did not get into the first three overall. Theo Bengry and Paul Watkins dropped 51.00 minutes to lead home 43 finishers from 102 starters. Clerk of the Course Martin Wright had promised a Rally to test navigators and so it was. Rally Sport beaded their report "Without doubt, the toughest Motoring News event of the year, if not the decade, Chester Motor Club’s Bartley Rally saw the entire top ten seeded crews retire during the event". It was some 30% easier the next year as no fails got you into the first four. Motoring News reported: "The organisors had certainly watered down this event from last year and for the majority of competitors it was probably a fantastic event". This was in all honesty true, proven by the winners only dropping 11 minutes 24 seconds.
The Bartley road rally continued until 1978 when, with a change of name it became ‘The More & Gamon Trophy Rally’ supported by the local British Leyland distributor. It went through a major resurgence until 1983 when, due to another change of sponsor, which subsequently failed to materialise, the Bartley was run again in 1984. The tide was turning and public opinion, not to mention the ‘powers that be’, were making it more and more time consuming to run acceptable standard of event, so The Club decided to retire from road rallies until, and if, the situation becomes more equitable. The Bartley was not dead as in 1989, and again in 1990, it was run as a Stage Rally at
Oulton
Park
. The Martini Rally, sponsored as the name suggests by Martini & Rossi, was one of the Country’s Premier road rallies. It was run by The Club for some years, starting in 1955. It was initially run as a daylight event on a Sunday over a 140 mile route in
Cheshire
. Starting in
City Road
and finishing at the Mollington Banastre where awards were presented by The Club Patron, Lady Mary Grosvenor. First overall were Cliff Abbott and John Corfe with no penalties in a Triumph TR2. Second place, with one penalty mark was taken by Grahame John (driving his fathers Rover 75) navigated by Peter Lightfoot. Incidentally the Martini was Graham and Peter’s maiden event. Out of 36 starters 28 reached the finish with first class awards going to Dennis Done, Arthur Hill and Jack Williamson, who all lost 2 marks. The team award went to ‘The Happy Wanderers’.
Although there were only seven Martini’s, the event gained a reputation for an honest, no gimmick night rally with more than its fair share of support One statistic of which we should be aiming to repeat every time we run an event, is that all seven were oversubscribed. This was more a measure of the quality of the rally, than the value of its solid silver replicas. Martini and Rossi then re-thought their publicity program and corporate policy dictated that their motorsport budget should be spent on events which did not compete on public roads.
The Bernie Rally, supported by Bernie’s Motor Auction. Queensferry and later to be twinned with the Martini was first run in 1952 rapidly developing into a major restricted rally run mainly in Wales. In fact the 1953 event can best be described by quoting the Autosport report: "Competitors in the Bernie Trophy Rally, on the 18/19 July found the first part of the 500 mile course very easy, and all arrived at the
Cardiff
control with time in hand. However, the main section from
Cardiff
to
Chester
by way of the Welsh mountain passes proved tougher going and only 10 entrants were left with clean sheets at the finish, where the final tests found the winner". For the record the winner was G. Boyle in an M.G. TD. who lost 40 marks, and of the seven teams entered, only two finished intact, both with the same penalties.
In 1962 The New Bernie Rally became our first event to be included in the Motoring News Road Rally Championship and, until problems with ‘black spots’ in 1967, maintained its rightful place in the top half of that auguste series. The roads and tracks of North Wales were home to The Bernie and provided many well known crews with many nights of satisfying hard work It did however come to an ignominious end, something I still remember to this day when, having been accepted into the Ford Motor Company backed Mexico Championship, we suffered the trauma of being widely remembered as the only club ever to cancel a round of that premier series. No one has had the nerve to rum a Bernie since. Maybe the time is nigh...?
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Stage Rallying
In the early seventies Ken Mumford and Martin Pratt set out to find sufficient private roads in our area to run a special stage rally. Between us we must have surveyed, if that is not too grand a word, every yard of non-public road in
Cheshire
and
North Wales
. I seem to remember Ken estimated it as some 2-300 miles and out of this we gained permission to use one piece that was just over 2 miles long. During this protracted search we obtained a Forestry Allocation from the Welsh Association Of Motor Clubs, and started again, aided by John Pratt and Mike Neal At that time only the R.A.C. and the Welsh Rallies were using the hallowed ground belonging to the Forestry Commission, which meant that almost anyone who wanted to could get an Allocation. However we came under some criticism from the member clubs of the W.A.M.C. the comment being that we had had an allocation for nearly two years and had done nothing with it, so maybe we should let someone else try. This we did and C & A Motor Club took over the W.A.M.C. allocation and in 1975 the first all stage ‘Gwynedd Rally’ was run in the
North Wales
forests. The Gwynedd was the first restricted status rally to be run on Commission land in
North Wales
but we were not to be outdone however and, taking advantage of the rules which existed at the time we obtained an allocation from the A.N.W.C.C. and ran the first of the Cestrian’s later in 1975. One interesting item, which I remember from those days, was that the deposit required by the R.A.C. from clubs wishing to negotiate with the commission was �110, a sum of money that The Club did not have. After much discussion about seven or eight committee members made interest free loans to The Club to make that amount available. As far as I remember everyone got their money back so the present treasurer can stop worrying. So after many years of trying to run a special stage rally of any sort and constantly being told by the R.A.C. authorities that there were no forests available, one afternoon John Pratt and Ken Mumford sat in the District Conservator’s office in Ruthin and heard the magic words "tell us what you want and we will see what can be done".
So was The Cestrian born. Ian Hughes won the first one, followed by Barry Lee, Dereck Evans, Frank Pierson. Brian Mitchel, Mike Stuart and Phil Collins. The Cestrian was Mike Stuart’s first National win. After a few ‘ear1y teething problems The Cestrian developed into one of the best value for money one day events of its time. Our old friend Autosport reported one event thus: "It was without question a superb value for money rally, but why couldn’t crews have repeated the 11 miler, its start just a mile from Cefn Du? Clerk of the Course Mike Neal summed it all up stating that it would have been impossible to do so and keep costs down, but I am working on it". This sentiment was echoed throughout all of the contemporary reports. Sadly, the enforced change in pricing policy made it impossible to run the event and maintain its value, so after two abortive attempts The Club pulled out of forestry rallying The Cestrian now runs at Aintree Motor Racing Circuit as a tarmac stage rally and The Club has recently renewed its interest in Forestry events by applying for an allocation from the Welsh Association of Motor Clubs. While it may be some time before our name comes to the top of the W.A.M.C. list I, for one, am pleased that there is a renewed interest in running in the forest.
In 1960 a new form of motorsport arrived in this Country from
America
, known there as ‘Go Kart’ racing. Our Club was one of the first to introduce this novel form of low cost racing to existing motorsport enthusiasts and, in early 1960, we ran a demonstration around some 5 gallon drums on the pit straight at Oulton Park This soon degenerated into a series of unofficial races and, mainly through the good auspices of Les Jones and Jack Morgan our Club became one of the premier Karting Clubs in the Country. After some years the Karters decided to form their own club and so the Cheshire Kart Club was formed, still to this day, I might add, under the guiding hand of Les Jones.
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International Representatives
At International level, the Club has always been well represented. Frank Roden competed the first ever R.A.C. Rally in 1951 and continued with many other events such as the MCC, Redex, Daily Express and Scottish Rallies. At about this time George Milton decided to take up rallying and for his first event in 1950 he entered the Monte Carlo Rally crowed by Colin and Peggy Edge. They finished 21st overall out of some 400 starters. George entered and completed the Monte for the next four years becoming our Clubs first life member of the Monte Carlo Rally Drivers Club, awarded to all competitors who complete five Montes in succession. Many other members competed in international rallies both, at home and abroad, Arthur Shinn, Gordon Stratton, Vernon Cooper and Dennis Done all entered the Monte. Val Seal and Bill Sinclair, George Newnes and George Powell, Graham John and Henry Dodd all teamed up to do the R.A.C. at various times. Archie Dobell competed in five Tulip a Welsh and an RAC, taking a second in class on the 1964 Tulip. Gordon Stratton’s best result was a 3 litre class win on the 1959 Monte. George Newnes won the best London Motor Club member award on the London Rally.
Other members, with apologies to those forgotten or overlooked, who have represented the Club on international rallies over the years include, Ian Harwood, Iain Mclaren, Gerdi Frickel, Gordon Amery, Stan Booth, Pauline Shaw, John Pratt, Ces and Mike Offley, Keith Billows, Mike Hamer Frank Pierson, Mike Hinde, Pat Faichney, Barry Hughes and the Powley brothers. Brian and Roger. These stalwarts of the Club competed on such diverse events as the World Cup Rally, the
London
to Sydney Marathon and such ‘local’ events .as the Tulip, Welsh, TAP, Scottish, Alpine, RAC in its many guises,
Monte Carlo
and Pirelli Classic Marathon.
So over the first seventy years of its life our Club has been prominent in practically all known forms of Motorsport and maybe a few that are not so prominent.
This text has been scanned from an original text and unfortunately some errors may occur. Written by Martin Pratt. Edited and produced by Paul Robinson. Entire contents copyright � 1991
| Oulton Park |
Which sport is played at The Guards Club | Chester Motor Club - Club History
CLUB HISTORY
International Representatives
The First 70 Years
On the 29th of September 1921, as a result of reading an advertisement on the front page of ‘The Cheshire Observer’ the previous week, placed by Mr Ted Davies of Davies Bros. Motorcycles, a group of enthusiasts got together at The Kings Head Hotel, Grosvenor Road, Chester to consider the formation of a Motor Cycle Club. After much debate, they formed an organization to be known as:
The
Chester
and District Motorcycle and Light Car Club
From amongst the people attending this meeting was elected the first committee and Officers Of The Club. Mr A. Wood, Landlord of the Kings Head, was elected Chairman, Captain W.G. Hill was elected to the posts of Hon.. Secretary and Treasurer. The Captain was Mr J Gamon and Vice Captain, Mr j Crowther Walker. The committee was made up from Messrs R.W. Milton, W.H. Stokes, E. Parton, J. Graham Oates, D.W. Beck, Ill. Davies and a Mr Sandy Miles, according to the minutes which are deposited at The City Record Office. Others who attended that first meeting include Len Buttonwood, Cec Parker. Billy Philpot. Ernie Marsden, Beet Wright. Eric Whitely. lvor Watson, George Milton and George Gleave. Before 1921 however. all was not darkness on the motoring front in
Chester
as there appears to have been as existence "The Cheshire Motor Club". whose secretary was one Harry Marsdan. This thrived until the First World War but was not to be resurrected after. It is said that the Trophies belonging to this organization still reside ‘as a bank vault in
Chester
Hillclimbing
Enthusiasm ran high. The first organized activity of the Club was a social run to Llangollen on
the 2nd October 1921
. Highlight of the day was a climb up Alt y Bath - then a rough. unmade stepped track At the first committee meeting on
20th October 1921
it was decided to apply for affiliation to the Auto Cycle Union in order to become licensed to run competitive motorcycle events. Things progressed apace. Social runs to such diverse places as Rhyl,
New Brighton
, Conquering Hero Hill,
Berwyn
. Worlds End, Cilcain, The Sun at Trevor and Pen y Ball, to mention but a few, were enjoyed on most Sundays. In the meantime members were looking for suitable stretches of road to race on They were successful and on Easter Monday 1923 the first Llinegar Hill Climb, for motorcycles only, was run. Len Wood and Dudley Beck was in charge presenting the Club with its first opportunity to help the local community by donating 3d out of each of 6000 programmes sold, at 6d each, in aid of the of the Ffynnongroew lighting fund. I believe some of the streetlights can still be seen today. Between 5000 and 6000 spectators in ideal weather watched riders on the 1056 yard climb.
Founder member Jack Smith was one of five riders to come to grief near the top of the hill, although none were seriously enough injured to need the attention of an undertaker who advertised his services in the programme, it was thought prudent, however, to bring Jack home in George Milton’s sidecar. Best performance and the Walker Cup went to Mr H.Porter with a time of 37.6 secs, while the Beck Cup for best performance by a local rider went to Mr C. Edwards from Holywell in a time of 47.4 sees. Contemporary press reports indicate the great support of the local populace and that H. Gaskell created much diversion by riding down the 1 in 6 hill standing on his saddle.
In 1924 the Hill was alive to the sound of music once again. This time Light Cars were included in the event and fastest time of the day for Light Cars went to Basil H. Davenport, a silk merchant from Macclesfield, driving a G.N. which he called B.H.D., in a time of 40.2 secs or 41.8 secs depending on which press report you read. This gave him the Beck Cup. whilst the Walker Cup went to Mr S J. Shepherd riding a 2.3/4, side valve B.SA. Another award for local riders went to Mr R Catherwood riding a 3 � Norton his prize was a pair of "Whippet Tweed Breeches". T. Sinsister a trade entrant, put up F.T.D. on his 3 � Norton, but received no trophy, Shades of Gentlemen versus the Players. Basil Davenport’s car is now in the ownership of Club Member Robin Parker and is still active on the hills to this day. How this came about is a fascinating story in itself. Apparently during one run Basil had some sort of mechanical problem resulting in B.H.D. turning over on top of him - one of only three accidents that befell him in some thirty odd years of competition. An intrepid marshal lifted the car to enable Basil to wriggle out. They became great friends and Basil promised that the car would be offered to the marshal when Basil had finished with it - that marshal was Cec Parker, Robin’s father, who regrettably died before Basil retired from competition. You can imagine Robin’s surprise when a voice on the phone told him to "Come to Macclesfield and collect his car, now that I have retired".
Llinegar Hill (the hill) is still there, although I am not totally sure which piece of road was used. Reprints of the first series of 1" Ordnance Survey maps give some clues, added to which there is a road in Ffynnongroew called ‘Llinegar Hill’ which runs up to where Llinegar was. I suspect that could be it.
Incidentally third fastest car time was put up by Dudley Beck with a very fast blown Austin Seven, with all aluminium body, and reputed to be the first supercharged car in
Chester
. At about this time Gordon
England
(of Brooklands fame and probably one of the first people to manufacture components for making standard cars quicker) also had a very fast
Austin
7 which had benefited from his tuning activities. A wager was struck and to Dudley Beck’s credit his car proved the better and quicker vehicle.
As the 1925 event was in the final stages of preparation the government of the day decreed that Trials of Speed on the public highway were no longer to be allowed as a result of the public outcry after a spectator was injured at an event in the Home Counties. So after two successful years Llinegar was no more.
Through the following year while various ‘offroad’ events were being run, along with social occasions on most Sundays, a small group of members consisting of Frank Shaw, Ces Parker, Jack Smith and Messrs. Burgess, Eaton and Billy Philpott were searching for another venue for a Sprint or Hillclimb. Early in 1926 agreement was reached with the authorities responsible for Prestatyn Sports and Carnival Week to use, by some quirk of ownership, half a mile of "that new section of Main road between Gronant and Prestatyn" which I believe covers a section of the present A548 between Gronant and the A547 fork.
Reading
contemporary press reports the fields on either side of the course provided ideal car parking and natural grandstands from which thousands of spectators watched the fun. Run on Bank Holiday Monday the 21st of August, for Motorcycles, some 50 or so competitors wrestled their machines against a strong headwind which limited terminal speeds to little more than 70 mph. The Wood Cup for Fastest Time of Day went to a Mr C. Waterhouse on a 496cc Sunbeam in a time of 23.8 sees. In addition he received the Davies Cup for best performance by a member of Chester Motor Club, for that is what the name had become. I suspect that the original title became too much of a mouthful and, as contemporary press reports often referred to ‘The Chester Club’, the new title seemed appropriate. In 1925, after much discussion, the name change was agreed by the committee.
Gronant was run again in 1927, on the 20th of August The weather was much kinder and the large band of spectators were confident that records would be set. They were not disappointed as, after a titanic struggle, both the Wood and Davies Cups went to Mr E. Searle on a 598cc Norton in 23.6 secs, crossing the line at well over 90mph. Other awards watt to George Milton (The Walker Cup), Bill Lord (The Deva Cup) and to C.L. Emery watt the Carnival Cup. I wonder where that one is now?
Regrettably this appears to have been the last of the Gronant events the reason for not running any more is not recorded. One of the principle attractions of Gronant from the spectator point of view, was that riders were started in pairs, an early form of 'drag racing’ which allowed everyone to see who had won. There are strong rumours of The Club running events on Pen y Hal hill in Holywell but I have found no evidence of this except in Jack Smith’s notes in the 1947 year book.
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Grass and Sand Racing
Records show that throughout the balance of the twenties The Club went from strength to strength, as many as thirty events of all types being run in 1928 and again in 1929. Included in this list were both grass and sand races, which had a great affinity for each other, as both did for speedway. In fact one of our most successful grass and sand racers, George Milton also Captained Warrington Speedway at around this time and even brought one of his team, ‘Skid Pleavin’, to race on the Wallasey sands on one occasion.
Another event which became very popular for a number of years was the grass track races held on the Roodee in
Chester
as part of Easter Autumn Sports. Very high speeds were attained on the turf more used to the thunder of hooves than the snarl of exhausts due in no small way to the use of spiked tyres similar to those used in ice racing. Records show that on a course measuring I Mile 1 Furlong to the lap, 4 lap races took less than 4 minutes, a speed of something approaching 70 M.P.H.
However the Club continued to organise speed events at a variety of venues including Harrison Drive (Wallasey), Abergele and Kinmel Bay all of which were used for Sand Races of differing lengths, varying from one to twenty ki1ometres. As an example the 1932 May meeting at Harrison Drive the Flying 1 Km. races for solos and sidecars were won by one C.P. Wood on a 596cc Douglas at 81.64 M.P.H. and 76.09 M.P.H. respectively, presumably bolting on a ‘chair’ for the second success. Other winners its 1932 included George Milton, Jack Wilkinson, Les Graham, Colin Edge and Jack Blundell. It is interesting to note that the race distances were invariably set to Kilometres whereas the speeds were calculated in Miles per Hour, a chore which must have taxed the pre calculator age more than somewhat.1932 was a great year for Club events the records show that some forty or so events were run, varying from an invitation dance at the Stafford Hotel to assorted Scrambles, Trials and Grass.
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Track races
About this time The Club became involved in "Motor Ball" which involved two teams of five motorcyclists and one large ball. Five a side football on wheels! In fact on
the 18th of August 1934
Chester Motor Club represented
England
against a French team the ‘Union Motocycliste de L’aube’ at The Oval, Post Sunlight, by kind permission of Lever Brothers. Ltd. The teams lined up as follows:
For France, Messrs. Blondel Levy Bornot, Boeglin, Welzelle. Preaux and team Captain Devliegher all riding Monet and Goyon machines Our Heroes, Captained by Jack Smith, were George Milton. Frank Shaw, Cec Parker and Colin Edge. The Match was refereed by a Mr. H. Price. Correspondence exists to show that teams from
Chester
toured
France
in the year's 1933/4 and 1936 playing representative matches against a number of French Clubs, including the Automobile Club de Troyes. Regrettably it is a matter of record that despite our status as English Champions we never managed to beat the French on any occasion. Correspondence is to hand which indicates that it was the intention to invite the victorious French team and the Mayor of Troyes to our Golden Jubilee dinner in 1971. Unfortunately, the postal strike intervened and it proved impossible. This title of English Champions all came about after word came to The Clubs attention that a team from
Basingstoke
were calling themselves Champions of England despite not having played
Chester
. Matches were arranged and Our Heroes proved that
Chester
were the better side. In 1934 in a National tourney staged at
Donnington
Park
, our team consisting of George Milton. Colin Edge, Frank Shaw, Herbert Price. Edgar Ashley. Ron Ross, Ces Parker, Lea Peters and Captain Jack Smith were officially crowned Champions of England.
At the fifth National Rally of Motorcyclists held at Lilleshall on
September 19th 1937
some 433 entries had set out from a variety of locations as diverse as Abergavenny and Aylesbury to Yeovil and York, passing through 118 controls before reaching the finish. The Auto Cycle Union Inter Club Challenge Trophy was awarded to the Club scoring the highest figure of merit, obtained by multiplying the aggregate number of mileage marks won by those members of the Club who took part in the road competition by the percentage of members present at LilIeshaIl, whether they have competed in the Rally or not. Quite how Our Heroes fared in that section of the competition I have yet to determine, but I do know that they turned out two teams for an exhibition motoball match at 12 noon and a further team of seven to compete in a series of Grass Track Match races against Birmingham M.C.C. Amongst Our Heroes were many names who were either famous at the time or were to become well known in the not too distant future. These names, apart from those already listed, include Lea Graham later to become a works rider for M.V. Augusta, AJ.S and others during a career in which he became one of the most successful road racers in our Club. Tragically, Lea died of injuries received in the T.T races post war Truly a Hero with a capital "H". One communication received in 1938 quite out of the blue was from Baron Von Falkwhausen, the German Minister for Sport under Hitler, to give displays of trick riding and motor cycle football at the German sports fortnight in
Berlin
. He was unable to understand that as only five of our ten team members could arrange leave from work, The Club had to turn down his invitation.
One of the many anecdotes that Colin and Peggy Edge used to amuse us with, deep in the heart of Clocaenog forest waiting for the RA.C. Rally to arrive, concerned a trip Colin made to the International Six Days Trial in
Austria
late in 1939. Colin, being the staunch competitor that he was, was determined to do his best and bring his machine back in one piece. A little thing like some diminutive Austrian house painter declaring war on the rest of the World was not going to stop him. After the event had finished Colin set off to ride back home. If you look at the map of
Europe
it shows that the straight line from
Austria
to home crosses a large chunk of
Germany
. At the frontier Colin insisted on an escort to cross what was now enemy territory. Not only did he get an escort, but one from the Gestapo to boot (a Colonel Grimm would you believe), which meant that Colin was one of the very few, if not the only,
U.K.
competitor to bring back his machine, something that its owners were very grateful for. More importantly, I feel it is a measure of the calibre of Colin who, with his wife Peggy, were one of our most popular joint Presidents.
In the thirties, Grass Track racing became more and more popular and venues were constantly being sought Our Club was very successful in this endeavour running events at Raby Mere, NorthopHall, Delamere Forest, Little Budworth, Malpas, Helsby Hill not to mention Hoole Playing Fields and the Roodee. Some of these venues were used up to three times a year, all of which added up to a very busy period of Club activity. Of course, grass tracking was not all we did in those days, there were Scrambles, Trials, Sand Racing and all manner of 2,3 and 4 wheeled sport.
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Trialing
A unique event was the Picton Trial, so popular that we had to run it twice in some years to cater for the demand. The Picton’ gave motorcycle riding a new dimension, in that you had to have a machine and a rider that could operate in two or three feet of mud. Many famous riders of the day rode at Picton. Run for most of its life by the combined efforts of the Kay and Whitely families the course is still mostly intact. Both sections are now bridleways bisected by the M53 and are a pleasant place to walk the dog. There is however no doubt in my mind that a combination of machine development and increased water extraction has caused a lowering of the water table meaning that the Picton as it was has gone forever. To such an extent, in fact, that what used to be a stern test of the finest Trials Riders would now be easy in a family saloon as long as the weather has been kind.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 created some consternation in the Club, causing us to lose seven events in that year alone. At the A.G.M. held on
the 7th January 1940
a decision was made to ‘soldier’ on with the programme slightly curtailed until an Extraordinary G.M. on 6th of May at the Park Cafe in
Foregate Street
allowed for the cessation of competition for the duration of the larger event. During hostilities The Club supplied a
County
Organiser
for the Home Guard. Cec Parker who had some 84 riders under his control, and three Divisional Organisers for the Cheshire County Police Motor Cycle Dispatch Corps, Jack Smith, Colin Edge and George Milton, providing what must have been one of the fastest Mail delivery services there was.
War did not completely stop our Club’s competitions as George Newnes organised a bicycle rally through
Chester
on
the 15th January 1940
. The route included the notorious St. Mary’s Hill, which caused the downfall of at least one rider. When you consider the cycles available at that time it is surprising that only Frank Roden fell off. A second cycle event was run over the Picton course being won by Colin Edge. This made Colin the only person to have won the Trial on both motor and man powered cycles.
The first post war meeting took place in George Milton’s garage in
Union Street
on 10th of June 1945, with the committee convening 10 days later. A few events were run during the rest of that year, but things really got under way in 1946 when 28 events were run. These included: 6 Grass Track meetings, 3 Trials. 2 Dances and one each of the following, Scramble, Rally, Freak Hill Climb, Dinner and Hotpot Supper. In 1947 we published a Club Handbook which had all sorts of useful information set out for Members including the programme of competitive and social events shown below:
January
10thDinner Dance and awards at The Queen Hotel
19th A.G.M. at The Queen Hotel
April
20th Invitation Trial for cars & motorcycles
May
26th Grasstrack races at Spy Hill Farm, Mouldsworth
June
21st Combined Sprint on Summers Drive
29th
18th Lea Peters Memorial Scramble at Malpas
26th Closed to Club Car Trial, (maybe the 1st Bartley)
November
23rd Picton Trial, followed by the 23rdA.G.M. at The Queen Hotel.
December
14th Northern Experts Trial, a National Championship event
Interspersed with all these were various social runs and events which have not yet found their way into my records.
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Sprinting
One milestone, which survived into the sixties to become one of the oldest Speed events in the North was the Queensferry Sprint, run mostly on the main access road to John Summers Steelworks at Shotton and occasionally on the runway at Sealand Aerodrome. One of the most interesting facts relating to the times set up at Queensferry was that F.T.I). For Motorcyclists started at 22.6 sees by Bob Bony on a 998cc Brough Superior and was left by Reg Dearden on a 541 cc Norton at 22.4 sees, a time set in 1953. The times for Cars started at 28.4 sect by Gillie Tyrer driving a 328 B.M.W. and was left at 22 sec dead by the late Ken Wharton driving a 2 litre supercharged E.RA. (RUB) also set in 1953. This appears to have been a mighty good year for Sprinting. One significant reason for this could have been the heathen brews with which Motorcyclists habitually fuelled their machines compared to the almost watery Pool Petrol used by the four-wheeled brigade. In addition I suspect that the fifties saw the aid of the specialist sprint vehicles, most of which were based on pre war racing machines. These were probably reaching the aid of their development potential even before the arrival on the scene of the first of the post war motor cars and the resurgence of the Racing Car industry.
It was in 1949 that John Cooper and Peter Collins both drove Coopers at Queensferry. John went on to create the legendary Cooper Bristol, which carried Mike Hawthorn to many victories and provided the basis for his future with Ferrari. The Mini Cooper and the car that carried Sir Jack Brabham to his two Formula One World Championships, Peter went on to partner Mike in the Ferrari works team and also drove works Mercedes and Aston Martin in Sports Car racing. In fact anyone who was involved in Sprinting competed at Queensferry during its lifetime.
When we were forced to change the course from a standing start half mile to a S/S quarter mile followed immediately by a flying quarter due to changes in the road, this brought a whole new set of targets to aim at. There was often a constant battle between two great Heroes of the sprint world, both riding 998 cc Vincent machines. They were Neville Higgins and ‘The Heap’ and George Brown and his ‘Nero’ and ‘Super Nero’ machines who waged war on each other at almost every venue they entered I well remember standing alongside George on the start line and watching him snuff the air and scuff the road surface with his boot and mutter "122". Out came the big Vincent warmed up and raring to go. On came the green light. In went the clutch and, with a thunderous roar, George and Nero were away breaking the timing beam exactly 12.2 sees late. Poor Neville shook his head and never did get down to less than 12.4 secs either that day or any other at Summers Drive. This I think happened in 1959 but pales into insignificance what in 1962, in terrible conditions of hail and snow, Josh Randles made F.T.D. in the car event driving a Cooper Monaco with a time of 14.27 secs. ‘Iron Man’ Brown wheeled out ‘Super Nero’ and hurtled down Sealand’s runway in an incredible 12.24 sees. It is, however, important to record that Neville Higgins did put up F.T.D. at Queensferry on more than one occasion, finally leaving the record at Sealand at 12.10 sect. He still rides big Vinceots and now works for SAAB in
Sweden
. The highest speed recorded over the flying quarter mile was by Gillie Tyrer in his "D" Type Jaguar at 131.58 M.P.H., a performance which nearly had him clocking on for the next shift at the Steelworks beyond the railway. For some reason I am unable to locate any speeds for motorcycles, so I feel I may not be doing justice to our two wheel competitors.
In 1964/5 we moved back to Summers Drive for the last two years before losing out to the new style management of British Steel. Sealant airfield had been decommissioned by the R.A.F. and had deteriorated far too much to be used again so the search was on for an alternative venue. We ran one event on Wallasey Promenade in 1965 for cars and motorcycles, which was less than successful for a variety of reasons. One by one the local airfields fell under the influence of commercial developers, Hooton had become Vauxhall Motors, Prees Heath had been ploughed up, Poulton was not available and Borras had become a gravel pit. Burtonwood, near
Warrington
held out some hope and in l971/2 we ran two events there.both of which were won by Barry Sewell in the Marcos that he races to this day. Then we lost that venue due to the development of Warrington New Town. It was not until twelve years later that we managed to get a date at
Oulton
Park
where we again managed to run two sprints, before the policy of the circuit owners changed and they decided not to allow sprints anymore - probably because there were more profitable uses for the circuit. However, we live in hope of finding another venue for speed events.
In 1947 Mr. Stanley Bartley, proprietor of
Upton
garage, presented The Club with the Bartley Trophy to be awarded for best performance in a Car trial. The first occasion I have been able to find any record of The Bartley Trial is on
8th May 1950
but anymore about this event has proved very elusive. However the 1951 event received extensive coverage in Autosport. The event was run on Sunday the first of April over a route of some 40 miles starting from Davies Garage at Padeswood and finishing at Rivalyn Garage, Loggerheads. A number of sections with delightful names were used, including. High Street (near Caergwrle), Short and Sweet,
Jungle Avenue
. Swan Song. The Camel and Boundary Stone which lay on private ground within a cock’s stride of Loggerheads, all this activity happening under the watchful eye of the Trophy donor himself. Cyril Corbishley went home with the premier award having driven his C.C.S (Cyril Corbishley Special) powered by a 1446cc Ford engine to a clear victory. Ross Preston took second driving his mid engined self-built special, powered by
Austin
. Other award winners included Miss H.B. Kemble (1172cc Ford), K.R. Bailey (1442cc Bailey Special), AA.
Butler
(1172cc Clegg Special), R.A. Hopkinson (1172cc Bancroft Special) and B.F. Clegg in another 1172cc Clegg Special. It must be said that these were not trailer borne vehicles but, for the most part, home built road going specials in the purest sense of the word, aided in no small way by the mass of bits and pieces left over from pre war times. The Bartley ran as a trial until 1957 when enthusiasm for trials waned somewhat and it developed into a road rally. Little did the organisers realise the beast they were spawning.
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Road Rallying
In its heyday, The Bartley was the ‘Motoring News’ event everyone wanted to win. Over the years it gained a reputation for a ‘right good thrash’ being at various times voted best event in both the B.T.R.D.A. Silver Star and Motoring News Championships. Tough it certainly was. For example in 1977 if you had one fail you did not get into the first three overall. Theo Bengry and Paul Watkins dropped 51.00 minutes to lead home 43 finishers from 102 starters. Clerk of the Course Martin Wright had promised a Rally to test navigators and so it was. Rally Sport beaded their report "Without doubt, the toughest Motoring News event of the year, if not the decade, Chester Motor Club’s Bartley Rally saw the entire top ten seeded crews retire during the event". It was some 30% easier the next year as no fails got you into the first four. Motoring News reported: "The organisors had certainly watered down this event from last year and for the majority of competitors it was probably a fantastic event". This was in all honesty true, proven by the winners only dropping 11 minutes 24 seconds.
The Bartley road rally continued until 1978 when, with a change of name it became ‘The More & Gamon Trophy Rally’ supported by the local British Leyland distributor. It went through a major resurgence until 1983 when, due to another change of sponsor, which subsequently failed to materialise, the Bartley was run again in 1984. The tide was turning and public opinion, not to mention the ‘powers that be’, were making it more and more time consuming to run acceptable standard of event, so The Club decided to retire from road rallies until, and if, the situation becomes more equitable. The Bartley was not dead as in 1989, and again in 1990, it was run as a Stage Rally at
Oulton
Park
. The Martini Rally, sponsored as the name suggests by Martini & Rossi, was one of the Country’s Premier road rallies. It was run by The Club for some years, starting in 1955. It was initially run as a daylight event on a Sunday over a 140 mile route in
Cheshire
. Starting in
City Road
and finishing at the Mollington Banastre where awards were presented by The Club Patron, Lady Mary Grosvenor. First overall were Cliff Abbott and John Corfe with no penalties in a Triumph TR2. Second place, with one penalty mark was taken by Grahame John (driving his fathers Rover 75) navigated by Peter Lightfoot. Incidentally the Martini was Graham and Peter’s maiden event. Out of 36 starters 28 reached the finish with first class awards going to Dennis Done, Arthur Hill and Jack Williamson, who all lost 2 marks. The team award went to ‘The Happy Wanderers’.
Although there were only seven Martini’s, the event gained a reputation for an honest, no gimmick night rally with more than its fair share of support One statistic of which we should be aiming to repeat every time we run an event, is that all seven were oversubscribed. This was more a measure of the quality of the rally, than the value of its solid silver replicas. Martini and Rossi then re-thought their publicity program and corporate policy dictated that their motorsport budget should be spent on events which did not compete on public roads.
The Bernie Rally, supported by Bernie’s Motor Auction. Queensferry and later to be twinned with the Martini was first run in 1952 rapidly developing into a major restricted rally run mainly in Wales. In fact the 1953 event can best be described by quoting the Autosport report: "Competitors in the Bernie Trophy Rally, on the 18/19 July found the first part of the 500 mile course very easy, and all arrived at the
Cardiff
control with time in hand. However, the main section from
Cardiff
to
Chester
by way of the Welsh mountain passes proved tougher going and only 10 entrants were left with clean sheets at the finish, where the final tests found the winner". For the record the winner was G. Boyle in an M.G. TD. who lost 40 marks, and of the seven teams entered, only two finished intact, both with the same penalties.
In 1962 The New Bernie Rally became our first event to be included in the Motoring News Road Rally Championship and, until problems with ‘black spots’ in 1967, maintained its rightful place in the top half of that auguste series. The roads and tracks of North Wales were home to The Bernie and provided many well known crews with many nights of satisfying hard work It did however come to an ignominious end, something I still remember to this day when, having been accepted into the Ford Motor Company backed Mexico Championship, we suffered the trauma of being widely remembered as the only club ever to cancel a round of that premier series. No one has had the nerve to rum a Bernie since. Maybe the time is nigh...?
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Stage Rallying
In the early seventies Ken Mumford and Martin Pratt set out to find sufficient private roads in our area to run a special stage rally. Between us we must have surveyed, if that is not too grand a word, every yard of non-public road in
Cheshire
and
North Wales
. I seem to remember Ken estimated it as some 2-300 miles and out of this we gained permission to use one piece that was just over 2 miles long. During this protracted search we obtained a Forestry Allocation from the Welsh Association Of Motor Clubs, and started again, aided by John Pratt and Mike Neal At that time only the R.A.C. and the Welsh Rallies were using the hallowed ground belonging to the Forestry Commission, which meant that almost anyone who wanted to could get an Allocation. However we came under some criticism from the member clubs of the W.A.M.C. the comment being that we had had an allocation for nearly two years and had done nothing with it, so maybe we should let someone else try. This we did and C & A Motor Club took over the W.A.M.C. allocation and in 1975 the first all stage ‘Gwynedd Rally’ was run in the
North Wales
forests. The Gwynedd was the first restricted status rally to be run on Commission land in
North Wales
but we were not to be outdone however and, taking advantage of the rules which existed at the time we obtained an allocation from the A.N.W.C.C. and ran the first of the Cestrian’s later in 1975. One interesting item, which I remember from those days, was that the deposit required by the R.A.C. from clubs wishing to negotiate with the commission was �110, a sum of money that The Club did not have. After much discussion about seven or eight committee members made interest free loans to The Club to make that amount available. As far as I remember everyone got their money back so the present treasurer can stop worrying. So after many years of trying to run a special stage rally of any sort and constantly being told by the R.A.C. authorities that there were no forests available, one afternoon John Pratt and Ken Mumford sat in the District Conservator’s office in Ruthin and heard the magic words "tell us what you want and we will see what can be done".
So was The Cestrian born. Ian Hughes won the first one, followed by Barry Lee, Dereck Evans, Frank Pierson. Brian Mitchel, Mike Stuart and Phil Collins. The Cestrian was Mike Stuart’s first National win. After a few ‘ear1y teething problems The Cestrian developed into one of the best value for money one day events of its time. Our old friend Autosport reported one event thus: "It was without question a superb value for money rally, but why couldn’t crews have repeated the 11 miler, its start just a mile from Cefn Du? Clerk of the Course Mike Neal summed it all up stating that it would have been impossible to do so and keep costs down, but I am working on it". This sentiment was echoed throughout all of the contemporary reports. Sadly, the enforced change in pricing policy made it impossible to run the event and maintain its value, so after two abortive attempts The Club pulled out of forestry rallying The Cestrian now runs at Aintree Motor Racing Circuit as a tarmac stage rally and The Club has recently renewed its interest in Forestry events by applying for an allocation from the Welsh Association of Motor Clubs. While it may be some time before our name comes to the top of the W.A.M.C. list I, for one, am pleased that there is a renewed interest in running in the forest.
In 1960 a new form of motorsport arrived in this Country from
America
, known there as ‘Go Kart’ racing. Our Club was one of the first to introduce this novel form of low cost racing to existing motorsport enthusiasts and, in early 1960, we ran a demonstration around some 5 gallon drums on the pit straight at Oulton Park This soon degenerated into a series of unofficial races and, mainly through the good auspices of Les Jones and Jack Morgan our Club became one of the premier Karting Clubs in the Country. After some years the Karters decided to form their own club and so the Cheshire Kart Club was formed, still to this day, I might add, under the guiding hand of Les Jones.
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International Representatives
At International level, the Club has always been well represented. Frank Roden competed the first ever R.A.C. Rally in 1951 and continued with many other events such as the MCC, Redex, Daily Express and Scottish Rallies. At about this time George Milton decided to take up rallying and for his first event in 1950 he entered the Monte Carlo Rally crowed by Colin and Peggy Edge. They finished 21st overall out of some 400 starters. George entered and completed the Monte for the next four years becoming our Clubs first life member of the Monte Carlo Rally Drivers Club, awarded to all competitors who complete five Montes in succession. Many other members competed in international rallies both, at home and abroad, Arthur Shinn, Gordon Stratton, Vernon Cooper and Dennis Done all entered the Monte. Val Seal and Bill Sinclair, George Newnes and George Powell, Graham John and Henry Dodd all teamed up to do the R.A.C. at various times. Archie Dobell competed in five Tulip a Welsh and an RAC, taking a second in class on the 1964 Tulip. Gordon Stratton’s best result was a 3 litre class win on the 1959 Monte. George Newnes won the best London Motor Club member award on the London Rally.
Other members, with apologies to those forgotten or overlooked, who have represented the Club on international rallies over the years include, Ian Harwood, Iain Mclaren, Gerdi Frickel, Gordon Amery, Stan Booth, Pauline Shaw, John Pratt, Ces and Mike Offley, Keith Billows, Mike Hamer Frank Pierson, Mike Hinde, Pat Faichney, Barry Hughes and the Powley brothers. Brian and Roger. These stalwarts of the Club competed on such diverse events as the World Cup Rally, the
London
to Sydney Marathon and such ‘local’ events .as the Tulip, Welsh, TAP, Scottish, Alpine, RAC in its many guises,
Monte Carlo
and Pirelli Classic Marathon.
So over the first seventy years of its life our Club has been prominent in practically all known forms of Motorsport and maybe a few that are not so prominent.
This text has been scanned from an original text and unfortunately some errors may occur. Written by Martin Pratt. Edited and produced by Paul Robinson. Entire contents copyright � 1991
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Which European city has an underground station called George V | Paris Le Forum des Halles and other Shopping Reviews
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Which motor manufacturer make the Qashqai | Europe Transportation - Taxi, Train, Bus & Airport Tips
Europe Transportation
The popular and cheapest alternative- Osea shuttle
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Bus shuttles from Limassol to the Airport
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Private Tour: Customize Your Perfect Day in Paris
"Your day in Paris is completely tailored to match your sightseeing desires. Before your tour your private guide will contact you to discuss the things you want to see so that your logistics and itinerary can be arranged in advance saving you time.On the day of your tour meet your guide at your preferred central location and then set off by whatever means of transport is needed. Taxi rides and public transport are included but all meals activities and entrance fees are payable at your own expense.So what to see? That's up to you! Perhaps visit must-see sights like the ever-inspiring Eiffel Tower -- Paris’s undisputed architectural icon -- or the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur for sweep focus on the more offbeat Paris attractions like the Père Lachaise Cemetery – the city’s hauntingly beautiful graveyard – or let your guide introduce you to private parks that tourist maps miss. Below is a sample itinerary."
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"Your morning or afternoon in Paris is completely tailored to match your interests. Your guide will contact you before your tour to discuss the things you want to see so that your logistics and itinerary can be arranged in advance. Choose one of seven nei Opéra/Louvre Montparnasse St-Germain-des-Prés Panthéon/Latin Quarter Montmartre or the Marais/Bastille. On the day of your tour your guide will meet you at your hotel or apartment in central Paris. Then
Private 2-Day Tour: Customize Your Perfect Stay in Paris
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What type of transport is an abra used in Dubai | Transportation in Dubai, Dubai Metro, Cabs, Buses, Abras, Airlines
Transportation in Dubai
Dubai Metro, Cabs, Buses, Trams, Abras, Airlines
Hi Sunil here to talk about transportation in Dubai
Dubai roads are extremely busy like any major metropolitan area in the US.
The entire Dubai transportation system is regulated by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
Despite the many transportation options in Dubai, there is really no reliable public transportation system.
So I can't tell you what the most preferred way of traveling for most people in Dubai is.
But what I can tell you is that no matter which currently existing method (as of 2007) of transportation you choose, you will face a lot of traffic and congestion particularly during rush hour.
I think Wiki published a figure indicated that Dubai professionals spend nearly 2 hours on the road commuting to and from work.
Goodness - this is one of the reasons I am personally so reluctant to move there. I cannot deal with traffic. I am too impatient on the road sometimes!
When you go to Dubai you will see that the government has spent a lot of money developing and beautifying the roads. But because Dubai's population has boomed overnight, the road development is not enough to keep up with the increased number of vehicles on the road.
Ask anyone in Dubai and they will tell you traffic and congestion is their number one concern about Dubai (more so than sky high rents and property values). And here is an interesting quote from Wiki:
"Traffic congestion, the single biggest concern among Dubai's 1.44 million residents, inflicts losses of Dh 4.6 billion or 3.15% of the emirate's Dh146 billion GDP a year. The city has a car ownership rate of 541 cars per 1,000 population.
This figure exceeds that of cities like New York City [444 cars per 1,000 population], London [345 cars per 1,000 population] and Singapore [111 cars per 1,000 population]. If this trend continues, then by 2020, there will be 5.3 million registered cars in Dubai."
Very interesting. The government does realize this problem and has a few solutions in the works. In addition to developing new roads and overpasses, the government is working on a toll road system as well as the largest subway system in the world that is scheduled to complete in 2009 - the Dubai Metro .
Transportation in Dubai Option #1
Dubai Metro
The Dubai Metro might just be the answer to problems in the Dubai transportation system. The entire project is projected at just under $4 billion and is scheduled to complete in 2009.
The project is being led by a partnership of 3 Japanese companies and is currently underway. You will see all kinds of overpasses and Metro work stations all over the place as you drive around Dubai.
The original plan includes two main lines; green and blue. The green line will go from Rashidiya to the city center and the blue line will go from the new Dubai Airport to Jebel Ali. Each line is scheduled to run every 90 seconds.
Each train track is going to have 70 kilometers of track and 43 station stops. Some of these will be above the ground and some will be underground (no different that New York City or Chicago).
The government is hoping that this project is the answer to the main concern most Dubai residents have. To assist the Dubai Metro airport, the transportation authority is also planning developing seven rail systems on the ground that connects various areas within the city to the main Metro line.
A snap-shot of transportation in Dubai during rush hour.
Transportation in Dubai Option #2
Taxi Cabs in Dubai
The taxi system is a large part of transportation in Dubai. Whenever I am there I prefer taking cabs mostly (that is if I don't rent a car). Dubai is not very big and you can usually get to most places quickly with a cab (assuming light traffic volumes).
Taxis in Dubai are very cheap compared to most places around the world. I'd say more people use the taxi than the bus. This is because buses are used mainly by daily commuters who commute to work. Cabs are more preferred by the tourists and temporary visitors.
There are around 7,500 taxis in Dubai (as of 2007) that are operated by both the government and the private sector. The government sector cabs are cream colored and are operated by the Dubai Transport Corporation (DTC).
Private cabs in all colors, shapes and sizes. There are about 4 or so large private cab companies. Just a quick note: DO NOT ever hop in a cab with no meter. And if the cab has a meter but the driver does not want to use it, ask them to stop and walk away unless they use the meter.
Many cab drivers scam people this way. Don't get scammed! For metered cabs, expect to pay Dhs. 3.80 to begin with and then about 50 fils for each kilometer.
Transportation in Dubai Option #3
Buses in Dubai
The bus system in Dubai is also quite large in size. It has close to 200 routes and it carries around 30 million people every week (as of 2007). I¡¦m not sure what you think of these numbers but at the end of the day the transport system is not nearly as big as it should or needs to be to meet service demands from commuters.
If you are planning on taking the bus, you could be waiting up to an hour to catch one with space for you. There are just not enough buses to fit all commuters. It's a sad situation and many commuters are extremely frustrated with it.
You would think with all the money Dubai government has that it would do something right? Well it probably can, but I bet you they don't want to add more congestion to the already oversaturated roads of Dubai. They'd rather have commuters suffer the inconvenience (just my personal opinion as I don¡¦t see any other reason why they wouldn't just increase the number of buses).
Recently however the RTA did announce that they will be adding over 1600 new buses to the roads of Dubai. These are supposed to be high end buses that are comfortable for commuters and technologically inclined to function better.
The buses will be controlled by the RTA dispatch or control center. Word on the street is that you should see these buses early in 2009. Time will tell if this is the case. I have a feeling it will be delayed like most other Dubai projects.
No matter what your mode of transportation in Dubai, if you are using the road you will run into massive traffic jams.
Transportation in Dubai Option #4
Dubai Trams
This is what I was personally waiting for. In fact I was quite surprised this proposition was suggested quite late. I believe a good tram system will definitely make transportation in Dubai much more convenient.
The most recent word on the tram system is a targeted completion by 2011. There will be two tram lines, the Downtown Burj Dubai Tram System and the Al Sufouh Tram.
The Burj tram will go around the Burj Dubai area and the Al Sufouh will run along the Al Sufouh Road stopping by the Burj Al Arab, Dubai Marina and Mall of Emirates. The Burj system will be 4.6km or 2.9 miles in length and the Al Sufouh will be 14.5km or 9 miles.
The tram system is a huge project and is expected to significantly assist the Dubai Metro in reducing congestion in the city. Each tram will have many trains that will be 44 meters or 140 feet long and can fit up to 300 passengers each.
Overhead cables won't be needed as the tram system is designed to run on ground level power supply. In addition, each tram system will be equipped with the latest technology and safety features. They system will run 20 hours per day.
Transportation in Dubai Option #5
My Favorite Transportation in Dubai - The Abra
The Abra is a water taxi that is not as much used today anymore. It is a traditional method of Dubai transportation mainly used by the traders and merchants "back in the day".
Today the Abra is not so much a commercial transportation method in Dubai. Rather it is more recreational. I like taking the Abra from mainland to a remote restaurant somewhere on an island. It's a fun ride.
The Abra is commonly used to cross the Dubai Creek. You can use this water taxi to get from Bur Dubai to Deira and vice versa. The two stations that you need to know about are the Bastakiya and the Bani Yas Road station.
Don't let anyone fool you, the Abra ride is only Dhs. 1. Yes! It is one Dirham! But be nice and tip your guide. It is a lot of hard work rowing that taxi to the shore. Remember that Dhs. 3.67 is only $1. So please be kind :)
If you want you can also rent out the Abra for Dhs. 100. That is just around $25! The operator comes with it.
Transportation in Dubai
Airlines
Thought I'd throw this in airline traveling for you as well. The Dubai International Airport (DXB) is where you will land when you get to Dubai. As of 2007 this is the only airport in Dubai.
It is the main hub for world class Emirates Airlines and has been renovated multiple times since its inception to turn it into a world class airport similar to most tourist attractions you will see in Dubai. The Dubai Airport is very well known for its top class duty free shopping. Make sure you check this out while you are there.
There is another airport in the making as well. The Dubai World Central International Airport will be a free trade area within Dubai and will be the located in the Jebel Ali Airport City. The Dubai government has huge plans for this airport. They want this airport to become the busiest airport in the world by handling approximately 120 million passengers by 2028.
The government is trying very hard to promote Emirates Airlines (owned by the government) and make it accessible from pretty much any city around the world. Just run a search online and you will already see this plan working. Just recently most Americans or anyone else didn't even know this airline existed. Read a more comprehensive discussion on the Dubai Airport here.
Back To Transportation in Dubai Via Road
By now you must have a good feel for the transportation in Dubai and might be able to imagine the roads there. Despite all the traffic and congestion, more and more people are going to Dubai with each passing day.
If you are planning a visit to Dubai and are interested in fully exploring the Emirate (both within Dubai City and outside where you can experience authentic Dubai), I recommend renting a car in Dubai.
And if you choose to do so, I recommend booking your rental car in advance before getting to Dubai. If you have an international license (very easy to get even if you don't) you will definitely be glad you rented a car.
Book your rental through our pre arranged partner to save significantly on your booking.
If you don't want to drive, there are always drivers available that you can hire for a short term. You can find them in Dubai Yellow Pages as well as some Dubai Guides. You can also visit Dubai chat channels to ask someone already in Dubai or someone who has recently visited Dubai for a good recommendation.
| Water taxi |
What road safety item was introduced into the UK on 31 October 1951 | Bur Dubai Abra Dock - Top Tips Before You Go - TripAdvisor
Bur Dubai Abra Dock
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Yes
Is this attraction good for couples?
Yes
Would this be a good hot day activity?
Yes
Does this attraction provide visitors with a taste of the local culture?
Yes
Is this attraction pet friendly?
Yes
Is this activity accessible without advanced planning or reservations?
Yes
Does this attraction have good sunset views?
Yes
Does this activity require advanced planning, ticketing or reservations?
Yes
No
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Does this attraction require above average amounts of physical activity (long walks, climbs, stairs or hikes)?
Yes
Is this an outdoor attraction or activity?
Yes
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Address: | Southern side of Dubai Creek, Dubai 75157, United Arab Emirates
Phone Number:
Recommended length of visit: <1 hour
Fee: Yes
Description:
In the historic district, the Abra Dock in Bur Dubai, is an affordable...
In the historic district, the Abra Dock in Bur Dubai, is an affordable 10-minute traditonal wooden boat ride -- really a taxi. Take the abra from the Bastakiya side, look around the textile souk and the art galleries, and end in the gold souk. Used by 15-20 million passengers each year, the Abra Dock in Bur Dubai is a memorable cruise in the water.
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“Nice ride ”
Nice and cheap ride by small boat, it costs 1 dirham so you can try. From the boat you will see different kind of ships around and some parts of old Dubai.
Reviewed yesterday
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All reviews gold souk water taxi spice souk traditional boat wooden boat small boat mode of transport meena bazaar nice experience great fun abras creek boats souks crossing ride aed1 1dhs 1aed dhows
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Reviewed yesterday NEW via mobile
Nice and cheap ride by small boat, it costs 1 dirham so you can try. From the boat you will see different kind of ships around and some parts of old Dubai.
Helpful?
“Excellent Way to see Dubai”
Reviewed yesterday NEW
A must do if you are visiting Dubai to Take the dhow cruise at Bur Dubai. It only cost each person 2 dirham one way and return another 2 dirham. The ride doesn't take more than 10 mins but gives a good view of how life used to be. *Best to ride during sunset*
Helpful?
“Fun & Hazardous”
Reviewed 2 days ago NEW
The ride across the creek for the small charge is fun. One warning would be that the setting on to Abra is a little treacherous when ever there is some waves or wind.
Helpful?
“Nice Experience”
Reviewed 2 days ago NEW
It's a wonderful cultural experience taking these small old-style boats to the Old Souq (Market) and walking down the isles of beautifully colored heritage shops. Try to time it so you get to take the boat ride back around sunset - a beautiful scene. I would say this trip is more exciting than any more luxurious cruise you could take... More
Helpful?
“Abra Rides at Dubai Creek”
Reviewed 3 days ago NEW
Great low cost experience at Dubai Creek. Old part of Dubai wih Abra's to take you across Dubai Creek. Can also hire an Abra to take you for a one hour excursion along the creek. Must do when you have visitor's.
Helpful?
“Dubai Creek Abra”
Reviewed 3 days ago NEW
This is the best experience in Dubai, or anywhere, for the cost of AED 1 per trip. You may enjoy the busy atmosphere of the Creek including the working Dhows and visit the Textile, Gold souks.
Helpful?
“Fantastic”
Reviewed 4 days ago NEW
Must see, must travel. For only one dirham. Superb and fast connection between Old Souq and city centre.
Helpful?
“cheap and fun”
Reviewed 5 days ago NEW
it is a fully functional dock which is the easiest and cheapest (AED 1 (= USD 0,27) per trip) way to cross the Creek it is run efficiently (maximum waiting time is less than 10 mins) and used by locals and tourists alike It is a MUST when in Deira or Bur Dubai
Helpful?
“Exciting ”
Reviewed 5 days ago NEW via mobile
A very cheap and fun way to pass over the creek. It costs 1AED and you pay the driver direct on the boat. It departs from two places on each side of the creek. We went one way over to the Herb/Gold souk.
Helpful?
“Tourist attraction but still fully functional for daily use”
Reviewed 6 days ago NEW
1AED to cross the creek. Probably the cheapest transportation I have ever used. The docks are used for everyday life and tourists are welcome. Get on board and pay the driver.
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Staying in The Creek
Neighbourhood Profile
The Creek
The smell of frankincense hangs thick and heavy in the air, waves lap gently at jetties, and market traders call to passing tourists. The creek, originally the place where pearl boats docked and left on missions to uncover jewels from the deep, is where the city really began. The Al Fahidi District on the Creekside is one of the oldest heritage sites in Dubai, easily recognizable with its iconic wind towers, the original air conditioning. Home to the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding and the Dubai Museum, the old buildings also house a range of cafes, shops and art galleries. Often called “the real Dubai,” this is a wonderful place to lose yourself before catching an abra across the creek to the spice souk, where your senses will be overwhelmed with tastes, smells, and sounds.
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What is the oldest known alloy | Blagovest Bells
acoustics
Bronze The History
The oldest alloy known to human beings was a bronze made of copper and arsenic. People learned to make it about 3500 B.C. Gradually, people replaced the arsenic with tin. The period in history between the Stone Age and the Iron Age became known as the Bronze Age because bronze was commonly used to cast containers such as cups, urns, and vases. People also shaped bronze into battle-axes, helmets, knives, shields, and swords. They also made it into ornaments, and sometimes even into primitive stoves.
Bronze Age (3,500 to 0 BC or later, depending on location)
Bronze was developed about 3500 BC by the ancient Sumerians in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley. Historians are unsure how this alloy was discovered, but believe that bronze may have first been made accidentally when rocks rich in copper and tin were used to build campfire rings. As fire heated these stones, the metals may have melted out and mixed, forming bronze. This theory is supported by the fact that bronze was not developed in North America, where natural tin and copper ores are rarely found in the same rocks.
Around 3000 BC, bronze-making spread to Persia, where bronze objects such as ornaments, weapons, and chariot fittings have been found. Bronzes appeared in both Egypt and China around 2000 BC. The earliest bronze castings (objects made by pouring liquid metal into molds) were made in sand, and this method is sometimes still used, even for casting bells. However, clay and stone molds were developed later on, and clay is usually used nowadays for bells. Zinc, lead, and silver were added to bronze alloys by Greek and Roman metalworkers for use in tools, weapons, coins, and art objects.
At first, copper-arsenic alloys were used, but only for a short while. One disadvantage of this alloy was that the fumes emitted by arsenic during smelting tended to kill the metalsmiths!
Eventually, tin was found to be an ideal alloying agent for copper. The optimum ratio is about 10 to 20% tin to copper. The melting point of bronze is 950 deg. C, compared to 1084 deg. C for pure copper. The bronze melt flows freely into molds without formation of gas bubbles, which is a problem with copper, and bronze is hard immediately after casting and cooling it does not need to be tempered. Bronze is harder and less brittle than copper-arsenic alloys, and it can be hardened even further by hammering
Modern bronzes
After its discovery (for the Middle East, around 700 BC) iron, and later steel, quickly replaced bronze in the ancient world as the metal of choice for weaponry and industry because it is harder and more durable. Today, bronze is used for making products ranging from household items such as doorknobs, drawer handles, clocks, and sculpture, but it is also still used in some industrial applications, such as engine parts, bearings, and wire. And of course, it is used in bells.
| Bronze |
How many barrels did the original Gatling gun have | What is the difference between bronze, brass and copper? | Reference.com
What is the difference between bronze, brass and copper?
A:
Quick Answer
Copper is a pure elemental metal with the atomic number 29, while both bronze and brass are alloys of copper and other metals. Bronze is always an alloy of copper and tin. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, sometimes with other metals added to give the brass specific qualities.
Full Answer
Copper is one of the oldest metals known to civilization, and it is the only elemental metal other than gold to have a "gold-like" color. It is used by mankind for thousands of different purposes. Today, much of the copper in use is contained in alloys such as brass and bronze.
Bronze has a brownish metallic color, and it is made by combining copper with up to 11-percent tin. Bronze alloys are always water resistant, and they are used to make statues, medals and coins.
Brass is defined as any metal alloy that consists primarily of copper in combination with zinc. There are many different kinds of brass. Admiralty brass consists of 30 percent zinc and one percent tin, while Aich's alloy consists of exactly 60.66 percent copper, 36.58 percent zinc, 1.02 percent tin and 1.74 percent iron. High brass is a type of brass with a very high tensile strength, and it is made with 65 percent copper and 35 percent zinc.
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What are the two moons of Mars called | Martian Moons | Mars Exploration Program
PHOBOS AND DEIMOS
(moons of Mars)
Mars has two small moons: Phobos and Deimos. Phobos (fear) and Deimos (panic) were named after the horses that pulled the chariot of the Greek war god Ares, the counterpart to the Roman war god Mars. Both Phobos and Deimos were discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall. The moons appear to have surface materials similar to many asteroids in the outer asteroid belt, which leads most scientists to believe that Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids.
Two Moons Passing
| Moons of Mars |
What is Russian billionaire industrialist Roman Abramovich's investment corporation called | Deimos: Facts About the Smaller Martian Moon
Deimos: Facts About the Smaller Martian Moon
By Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor |
June 21, 2016 11:48pm ET
MORE
Images captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, reveal that the surface of Deimos is mostly smoooth, marred only by recent impact craters.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Mars is the only terrestrial planet to host multiple moons. The smaller of the two, the lumpy moon Deimos, bears more resemblance to an asteroid than to most of the moons in the solar system, a similarity that raises questions about its formation.
Discovery and nomenclature
On August 12, 1877, the focused search for Martian moons by American astronomer Asaph Hall resulted in the discovery of Deimos. Six days later, he identified the second Martian moon, Phobos .
The existence of the moons had been suggested years before, when Johannes Kepler proposed that since Earth hosted one moon and Jupiter four (as only the Galilean moons were known at the time), Mars might have two moons in orbit around it. However, no signs of such moons existed until Hall undertook his careful search.
Using a 26-inch refractor at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., Hall made a methodical study of the region around the red planet. Peering closer to Mars than previous astronomers, he found Deimos circling only 14,576 miles (23,458 kilometers) from the center of the planet, traveling around its equator. Phobos orbited even closer in. Their close proximity and small size had kept them hidden in the glare from the planet.
Like many objects in the solar system, the Martian moons take their names from Greek mythology. In Homer's ancient poem, "The Iliad," Deimos (Flight) and Phobos (Fear) were the twin sons of Mars (Ares to the Greeks), and accompany him into battle.
Exploring the moons
Deep space mission planners are eying Deimos, a moon of Mars, as an exploration target for humans. Here, the path to reach the Martian moon is laid out.
Credit: Lockheed Martin
It took almost another century for scientists to begin to understand the two tiny Martian moons. In 1971, NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft became the first manmade satellite to orbit another planet. Images from the craft revealed that both Deimos and Phobos have lumpy, potato-like shapes, rather than being spherical like Earth's moon. Observations of Deimos were limited by the tidal locking of the moon to the planet, resulting in the same side always facing outward.
As the exploration of continued, scientists were able to glean more information about the two tiny moons. The Viking orbiters flew by in the late 1970s, with the second orbiter passing within 19 miles (30 km) of Deimos. The Soviet Phobos 2 mission, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor , and the European Mars Express all provided more clues about the two curious moons. Rovers from the planet's surface even got in on the act, with Spirit and Opportunity and Curiosity all providing images from the ground .
Formation and composition
All of this information combined created a puzzling picture. The dark moons are made up of material similar to Type I or II carbonaceous chondrites, the substance of asteroids and dwarf planets such as Ceres. They are tiny, with the smaller Deimos having a radius of only 3.9 miles (6.2 km). This, combined with their potato-like shape, hints that both moons might be asteroids, pushed by Jupiter from the asteroid belt and snatched up by the gravity of Mars.
But this is far from conclusive. The close orbit of Deimos is nearly circular. It travels around the equatorial plane of Mars in 30 hours, a little over a Martian day. To reach such a stable orbit would require braking by the atmosphere, but the atmosphere on the red planet is thinner than on Earth.
Another possible origin for the moons is that dust and rock could have accreted, or drawn together, while in orbit around Mars. A third possibility includes a collision, much like the one that formed Earth's moon , with most of the large debris being shed from the planet's orbit, leaving behind only Deimos and Phobos.
Mars is the only terrestrial planet to host multiple moons. The smaller of the two, the lumpy moon Deimos, bears more resemblance to an asteroid than to most of the moons in the solar system, a similarity that raises questions about its formation.
Discovery and nomenclature
On August 12, 1877, the focused search for Martian moons by American astronomer Asaph Hall resulted in the discovery of Deimos. Six days later, he identified the second Martian moon, Phobos .
The existence of the moons had been suggested years before, when Johannes Kepler proposed that since Earth hosted one moon and Jupiter four (as only the Galilean moons were known at the time), Mars might have two moons in orbit around it. However, no signs of such moons existed until Hall undertook his careful search.
Using a 26-inch refractor at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., Hall made a methodical study of the region around the red planet. Peering closer to Mars than previous astronomers, he found Deimos circling only 14,576 miles (23,458 kilometers) from the center of the planet, traveling around its equator. Phobos orbited even closer in. Their close proximity and small size had kept them hidden in the glare from the planet.
Like many objects in the solar system, the Martian moons take their names from Greek mythology. In Homer's ancient poem, "The Iliad," Deimos (Flight) and Phobos (Fear) were the twin sons of Mars (Ares to the Greeks), and accompany him into battle.
Exploring the moons
It took almost another century for scientists to begin to understand the two tiny Martian moons. In 1971, NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft became the first manmade satellite to orbit another planet. Images from the craft revealed that both Deimos and Phobos have lumpy, potato-like shapes, rather than being spherical like Earth's moon. Observations of Deimos were limited by the tidal locking of the moon to the planet, resulting in the same side always facing outward.
As the exploration of continued, scientists were able to glean more information about the two tiny moons. The Viking orbiters flew by in the late 1970s, with the second orbiter passing within 19 miles (30 km) of Deimos. The Soviet Phobos 2 mission, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor , and the European Mars Express all provided more clues about the two curious moons. Rovers from the planet's surface even got in on the act, with Spirit and Opportunity and Curiosity all providing images from the ground .
NASA's next Discovery-class mission (a low-cost mission) has several competitors for selection, and expected to be announced in 2016. One of them would explore both Martian moons. The mission is called PADME (Phobos And Deimos and Mars Environment) and among its major aims is to characterize where Deimos and Phobos came from — whether they were created at the same time as Mars, or captured from the asteroid belt, or somewhere else.
NASA is considering sending humans to Mars in the 2030s, which led some scientists to suggest a mission to one of its moons instead might be beneficial. It would reduce the complication of landing on a surface with an atmosphere, although humans would need to be tethered to the surface of Deimos or Phobos if they wanted to stay put.
Formation and composition
The dark moons are made up of material similar to Type I or II carbonaceous chondrites, the substance of asteroids and dwarf planets such as Ceres. They are tiny, with the smaller Deimos having a radius of only 3.9 miles (6.2 km). This, combined with their potato-like shape, hints that both moons might be asteroids, pushed by Jupiter from the asteroid belt and snatched up by the gravity of Mars.
But this is far from conclusive. The close orbit of Deimos is nearly circular. It travels around the equatorial plane of Mars in 30 hours, a little over a Martian day. To reach such a stable orbit would require braking by the atmosphere, but the atmosphere on the red planet is thinner than on Earth.
Another possible origin for the moons is that dust and rock could have accreted, or drawn together, while in orbit around Mars. A third possibility includes a collision, much like the one that formed Earth's moon , with most of the large debris being shed from the planet's orbit, leaving behind only Deimos and Phobos.
From the surface of Mars, the tiny moon appears star-like. At full moon, Deimos shines about as brightly as Venus. When the moon eclipses the sun , it appears as a small dot crossing its surface.
But the pair won't shine in the sky forever. Within 100 million years, the closer Phobos will collide with the red planet. Deimos will suffer the opposite fate. Its orbit is slowly drawing it away from Mars, and eventually the moon will be cast off into space.
Deimos has a number of craters caused by impact from meteorites. But craters on Deimos look different from those on most bodies in the solar system. When a rock collides with another body, material from the impact tends to fly up in the air and fall back to the surface, creating ejecta deposits. But the small size of the moon means that objects only need to travel 13 mph (20 km/h) to fly off into space. Although the moon is covered with regolith that may lie as deep as 328 feet (100 meters), it is created by meteorites pulverized by impact, rather than by castoff material.
Only two of the craters on Deimos are named. In 1726, English author Jonathan Swift cited Kepler when he referred to two Martian moons in his fictional work, "Gulliver's Travels." A few years later, the French writer Voltaire referenced two moons in a short story. The two craters bear the names of these authors.
Facts about Deimos:
Radius of moon: 3.9 miles (6.2 km)
Semi-major axis around Mars (distance from planet's center): 14,576 miles (23,458 km)
Closest approach: 14,576 miles (23,458 km)
Farthest approach: 14,576 miles (23,458 km)
Orbit eccentricity: 0.0002
Time to make one orbit: 30 hours
Mass: 1.4762 x 10^15 kg
Density: 1.471 g/cm^3
Surface gravity: 0.003 m/s^2
Escape velocity: 13 mph (20 km/h)
Additional reporting by contributor Elizabeth Howell.
Editor's Recommendations
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A melcryptovestimentaphiliac compulsively steals what | A melcryptovestimentaphiliac compulsively steals what | GK Wikipedia - Free Encyclopedia
GK Wikipedia - Free Encyclopedia
A melcryptovestimentaphiliac compulsively steals what
Answer - Knickers
| Panties |
What is the second event in the heptathlon | Writing with light is the literal meaning of what word from - IT - 402
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Which county cricket club has a rearing white horse on its crest | Kent Flag | British County Flags
British County Flags
Posted on August 3, 2013 by vexilo
The flag of Kent was included on the registry from its inception. The design of a white horse rearing on its hind legs has been associated with the county for over a thousand years. Tradition holds that the first Germanic invaders in Britain were Jutish mercenaries from the Danish peninsula, led by brothers Hengist and Horsa: the pair appear in the 9th century work on the history of the English people, “Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum” by the Venerable Bede; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; the 9th century work attributed to the Welsh Monk Nennius, “Historia Brittonum” and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 12th century “Historia Regum Brittaniae”. All these works of course were completed centuries after the events they describe and the two brothers may well have been legendary, the theme of twin brothers appears frequently in Germanic stories as recorded by classical writers and additionally the horse was an important element in the rituals of many ancient peoples, with names derived from the words for horse appearing frequently – the Old English words “Hengest” and “Horsa” meant respectively, “stallion” and “horse”. Conceivably, these founding fathers may in fact have been just the one individual, which is suggested by the similarity of these two names with equine associations. Reflecting all these characteristics, these Jutish invaders were said to have borne a banner bearing a white horse and it is further speculated that the symbol may have referred to the mythical horse Sleipner, which belonged to the god Odin, venerated by these Germanic warriors. The story of Hengist and Horsa further relates that the latter was killed in battle with the Celtic leader Vortigern at Aylesford, where a monument was raised in his honour, the White Horse Stone
near Maidstone. This standing stone is considered by some visitors to resemble a horse’s head. Apparently the site has also been known locally as “The Ingá stone”, which presumably could be a corruption of the name “Hengist”? An alternative school of thought postulates that the white horse of Kent is actually derived from the ancient white horses cut into chalk downs and stamped on the coins of more than one pre-Roman British king. However forged though, the link between the emblem of a white horse and the county of Kent was demonstrably established by the heraldic era.
As with Essex , the emblem of this early English kingdom was first recorded in print in the 1605 work “Restitution of Decayed Antiquities” by Richard Verstegen which included an engraving of Hengist and Horsa landing in Kent in 449 under the banner of a rampant white horse.
It is worth noting that the illustration specifically shows a flag bearing a horse rather than a shield, the inference is clear that the invading force specifically used a flag with the horse emblem on it and lends an obvious historical legitimacy to the horse bearing flag of Kent.
John Speed subsequently included the white horse in his 1611 “Atlas of Great Britaine”, appearing twice on a red shield, once held by “Hengist”
and here on a blue shield
Although it has been suggested that the white horse was subsequently used by the Justices of Kent for many years no evidence of such usage has yet come to light. Evidently however, the white horse came to be generally regarded as the emblem of the former kingdom, turned county. Kent County Council, established in 1889, was formally awarded a grant of arms, bearing the white horse, on 17 October 1933
– the blazon of the shield, “gules, a horse rampant argent” i.e. red with a white rearing horse, is one of the simpler heraldic descriptions. As this emblem had already been in the public domain long before the creation of the council, an armorial banner formed from such anciently recognised arms could not be restricted to the council’s use but represented the whole county as an entity in itself. The armorial banner was, therefore, the county flag and was thus accepted by the Flag Institute on the basis of this traditional association and use. The motto used on the council arms means ‘unconquered’ and refers to a local legend which holds that in 1067, shortly after the Norman Conquest, a detachment of Kentishmen ambushed the newly crowned King William; in return for his life, he promised that the county would be able to keep its ancient privileges, the “Treaty of Swanscombe”, thus Kent was the only part of England deemed “unconquered” by the Normans. This motto is thus also a popular theme in the county and the county flag is accordingly sometimes referred to as the Invicta Flag or Invicta Flag of Kent. The defiant rearing stance of the horse lends itself naturally to the description, invicta!
There can of course be no categorical proof that the Jutes arrived on the shore of Kent brandishing a white stallion over their heads but it should be noted that a rampant white horse remains the arms of several continental territories that are broadly the locality whence the Jutes sprang, these include;
Lower Saxony, Germany
| Kent |
Colonel Gaddafi was one linked to buying which England football league team | Essex Flag | British County Flags
British County Flags
Posted on May 20, 2013 by vexilo
Essex’s fearsome flag was included on the registry from its inception, in the early years of the 21st century. The three white seaxes (short Saxon swords) with gold pommels, on a red field were the arms ascribed in the later mediaeval period to the ancient kingdom of the East Saxons, or Essex. They appeared on John Speed’s 1611 Atlas “The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine” here,
and here
and were thus regarded as representing the former kingdom, turned county, of Essex for centuries. The council established for Essex in 1889 was formally awarded a grant of arms, bearing the seaxes, in 1932,
As these arms had already been in the public domain well before the creation of the council however, an armorial banner formed from these anciently attributed arms could not be restricted to the council’s use but as with the arms from which it was derived, represented the whole county as an entity . The armorial banner was therefore, the county flag. Interestingly, the Essex council arms feature no supporters, crest, motto or other adornments typical of a heraldic award, the plain decorated shield, of ancient renown, being used alone. Such plain arms are a rarity in heraldry and usually typify arms of antiquity.
Speed’s depiction of the Essex seaxes was predated by 6 years, as their earliest reference, by Richard Verstegan who in 1605 stated in his work “A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence”, printed in Antwerp, “Erkenwyne king of the East-Saxons did beare for his armes, three [seaxes] argent, in a field gules”, i.e. three short Saxon swords on a red background. He cited no authority for his assertion but appears to have been confident about it. Speed subsequently included the arms in his atlas but qualified the notion that they were used by the ancient East Saxon kings with the statement “as some or our heralds have emblazed”. Why precisely the three seaxes were originally ascribed as the arms of the Kingdom of Essex has been lost in the mists of time, however, as it is believed that the name of the nation of the Saxons was itself derived from the Seax, the form of weapon for which they were best known, it seems logical that the weapons were chosen as a reflection of the name. However, it may well be that there had been a royal tradition of using the seaxes in Essex as there had been an association in Kent with the white horse emblem held to have been borne by that kingdom’s founders Hengist and Horsa. The choice of arms attributed by later heralds may have been based on such a tradition.
The depiction of the blades themselves seems to have evolved over the years. The notches for example are a fanciful artistic elaboration – gouging chunks out of a weapon like this would weaken its solidity and usefulness and existing seaxes, such as this one displayed in the London museum (missing the original wooden handle)
are also not curved like scimitars. These characteristics seem to be the products of nineteenth century heraldic fashion!
The extent to which the arms were recognised as symbolic of the county is demonstrated by a number of examples; in 1770, Peter Muilman published the first volume of his History of Essex, on the front was a female figure with a shield by her side bearing three seaxes, they later appeared on the Chelmsford Gazette from 1822 and they were used on their fire plate, by The Essex Equitable Insurance Society
The emblem appears on a print of Braintree Market from 1826
The arms can be found today in a stain glass window in Chelmsford Cathedral
and boldly announce entry into the county
They appear in the arms and the badge of the University of Essex
and the badges of the local police
and cricket club
The arms of several towns in Essex, issued in recent decades include a seax or two from the county emblem
The old Kingdom of Essex stretched further inland towards the Midlands and covered territory now in Middlesex and Hertfordshire. Accordingly the same arrangements of three seaxes on red was used in Middlesex for centuries until in 1910 the County Council there received arms that were distinguished by the addition of a Saxon crown over the seaxes
The original form of the arms is retained in the badge of Middlesex County Cricket Club
The Essex flag is widely recognised and much used, especially on vessels
and in sporting contexts
| i don't know |
Which super group were originally called the 'New Yardbirds' | Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin's Dubious Recording History
Yardbirds photo courtesy of Epic/EMI Records
By Will Shade
In July 1968, the Yardbirds finally threw in the towel. Relf and McCarty made the fatal decision that heavy, guitar dominated music was on the way out. They formed the art rock/progressive band, Renaissance. McCarty is still rueful, yet bemused, about the path he chose to follow. He has since reformed the Yardbirds several times. The latest configuration, with Chris Dreja, has toured America and Europe well into the New Millenium. They do an incredible version of "Dazed and Confused,� seguing straight from a note perfect "Still I'm Sad.� It would seem that McCarty and Dreja feel some right to the song.
Relf and McCarty's foray into prog rock was short lived. They released only one album with Renaissance. A second Renaissance LP was half done before they packed it in and John Hawken took it upon himself to locate other musicians to finish it. Keith Relf apparently realized the error of his ways, forming a heavy metal band in the mid-70s. Their one and only album, the self-titled Armageddon, is one of the great lost classics. It easily stands cheek by jowl with his former bandmate's work in Led Zeppelin.
Chris Dreja was initially slated to be the bass player in Page's new lineup, but bowed out gracefully once a more enthusiastic replacement was found. Page obviously made the right choice. He walked away with a stockpile of songs, including heavy metal's nascent anthem, "Dazed and Confused."
The stalwart Jimmy Page soon assembled a new band, which still called itself the Yardbirds. Comprised of Page, fellow session hack John Paul Jones on bass, drummer John Bonham and vocalist Robert Plant, they fulfilled the original band's final contractual obligations, touring Sweden in September 1968. Contrary to accepted facts, the band was not known as the New Yardbirds at the time. Scandinavian ads billed them as either the Yardbirds or Yardbirds with Jimmy Page.
Now back to the name "Yardbirds� itself. McCarty and Relf signed a document, which authorized Page and Dreja to fill out a Yardbirds group to satisfy the Scandinavian dates only. Page and Dreja had the name, even when Dreja left the band to pursue his passion for photography. Chris Dreja cleared up matters in a 2001 interview with this author. He recalled an exchange with the last Yardbirds manager, Peter Grant, who would go on to guide Led Zeppelin as well.
"I do remember through my own lawyer just remind Peter that I had in no way given up moral rights to the name itself whether I was a photographer or dentist or whatever. I certainly didn't hand it over to Jimmy Page," Dreja said. "I wasn't going to give up the moral rights to my status and what the band was. And through my lawyer I informed them of that. It was nothing heavy, but it's interesting they became Led Zeppelin fairly quickly."
When Chris Dreja found out that manager Peter Grant was sending the group out to tour England (October 18-19) under the name, the ex-Yardbird informed Page and Grant that he did not want them to use said name. The name change was announced in the October 19, 1968 issue of "Disc" magazine. Dreja's request caused the name change - Page has never owned it.
Around this time, the new group had entered the studio to record their first album (boxes containing the master tapes are marked "Yardbirds"). Soon, they adopted their new name, which would grace their eponymous debut. Amusingly enough, the name Led Zeppelin itself wasn't devised by any member of the band.
In May 1966, Jeff Beck was growing disenchanted with the Yardbirds. He and Jimmy Page entered the studio to record a number of tracks along with John Paul Jones and the Who's great drummer, Keith Moon. Moon's bandmate, John Entwistle, was also involved in some capacity. Apocryphal legend says the recording session went so well that the four musicians discussed forming a band. Moon and Entwistle were dissatisfied with Pete Townshend's increasing dictatorial grip on the Who. They were quite keen on the idea as were Page and Beck. They bantered back and forth over what would be a fitting epithet for the band. Someone said they would "go over like a lead balloon." Entwistle's rejoinder was to the affect that the band should be called "lead zeppelin." Moon brayed with delight. Page filed the name away in that steel trap that serves as a brain. One of the songs recorded at this session, "Beck's Bolero," figures into the scheme of things at a later point.
Exhilirated by the experience, Page realized the unit would need a dynamic vocalist. One of those approached was the Small Face's diminutive, yet powerful singer, Steve Marriott. Page was quickly rebuffed by the Small Faces' management, which had shady underworld connections. Jimmy Page was asked if he could "play guitar with broken fingers" or words to that affect. Needless to say, Page never contacted Marriott. Marriott's work with the Small Faces would figure into the Led Zeppelin saga, though.
Page returned to the Yardbirds until the summer of 1968. As already documented, he formed a new unit, which became known as Led Zeppelin. Once the tour of Scandinavia was over, the band entered the studio to record their first LP in the fall of 1968. Led Zeppelin's self-titled debut was recorded in under thirty hours. And it shows in the lack of originality.
Jeff Beck in the meantime had formed his first solo band. The Jeff Beck Group took the Yardbirds' formula to its logical conclusion, i.e. loud and hard psychedelic blues mutating into what we now call heavy metal. This crackerjack unit was comprised of Beck on lead guitar, Steampacket's Rod Stewart on vocals, Birds' guitarist Ron Wood on bass and Mick Waller on drums. They recorded the very first heavy metal album, "Truth." Released in August 1968, Jimmy Page was to use his ex-bandmate's album as a veritable blueprint for Led Zeppelin's debut.
A track by track comparison of "Truth" and "Led Zeppelin I" is an intriguing process. Both albums had a reworking of a Yardbirds' song. The Beck album opened with a roaring, albeit less effective, version of "Shapes of Things." Led Zeppelin also used a Yardbirds' song, "Dazed and Confused." Page at this point rewrote the lyrics yet again, but he stuck strictly to the arrangement he and Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty devised. The Led Zeppelin version is solely credited to Jimmy Page, with no mention being made of Jake Holmes. In 2001, this author asked Holmes when he became aware of Led Zeppelin's version.
"When the album came out! And then, stupidly, I never followed up on it," Jake Holmes said. "In the early 1980's, I did write them a letter and I said basically: 'I understand it's a collaborative effort, but I think you should give me credit at least and some remuneration.' But they never contacted me."
Holmes shared this writer's assessment of the Yardbirds proto-psychedelic version as oppossed to Zeppelin's bombastic numbskullery. Previous to 2001, Holmes had been unaware that the Yardbirds even covered it until receiving a copy of their Anderson Theatre performance.
"The Yardbirds' 'Dazed & Confused' is really good. I understand what 'garage' people see in all this craziness. I like their version much better than Led Zeppelin's," Holmes said.
Be that as it may, it still doesn't address Page's motivation in lifting the song and then denying credit to Holmes. In a 1990 interview with Musician magazine, Jimmy Page quickly soured when questions veered into this territory. The Q and A exchange is quoted below.
Musician: I understand "Dazed & Confused" was originally a song by Jake Holmes. Is that true?
Page: [Sourly] I don't know. I don't know. [Inhaling] I don't know about all that.
Musician: Do you remember the process of writing that song?
Page: Well, I did that with the Yardbirds originally... The Yardbirds were such a good band for a guitarist to play in that I came up with a lot of riffs and ideas out of that, and I employed quite a lot of those in the early Zeppelin stuff.
Musician: But Jake Holmes, a successful jingle writer in New York, claims on his 1967 record that he wrote the original song.
Page: Hmm. Well, I don't know. I don't know about that. I'd rather not get into it because I don't know all the circumstances. What's he got, The riff or whatever? Because Robert wrote some of the lyrics for that on the album. But he was only listening to... we extended it from the one that we were playing with the Yardbirds.
Musician: Did you bring it into the Yardbirds?
Page: No, I think we played it 'round a sort of melody line or something that Keith [Relf] had. So I don't know. I haven't heard Jake Holmes so I don't know what it's all about anyway. Usually my riffs are pretty damn original. [laughs] What can I say?
Yardbird Chris Dreja provided his take on the matter - and probably the most insight - when this author asked him to muse on Page's 40-year denial.
"It's the guilt," he said simply.
Both albums (Truth and Led Zeppelin I) also contained a traditional English folk song. Beck's LP had a lovely acoustic arrangement of "Greensleeves." He didn't take any credit for the song. Page, on the other hand, showcased his companion piece to "White Summer." The song was called "Black Mountainside." It is credited solely to Page, yet humorously enough it is a centuries old tune. He probably picked it up from Bert Jansch, who is one of Page's primary acoustic influences. Further, Jansch had been playing the song for years, using its original title "Black Waterside." He never took credit for the song. Jimmy Page, however, boldly stamped his name on the tune. As a side note, Davey Graham probably devised the D-A-D-G-A-D tuning used on "Black Waterside" and on "White Summer." Annie Briggs, another influence on Page, was also known to do a version of "Black Waterside."
"The accompaniment was nicked by a well-known member of one of the most famous rock bands, who used it, unchanged, on one of their records," Jansch was quoted as saying in Doug Kennedy's 1983 "The Songs and Guitar Solos of Bert Jansch. "
This contrasting of heavy songs with light acoustic numbers was to become Led Zeppelin's trademark. Yet the Jeff Beck Group did it first and to better affect. Beck is as dazzling a guitar player as Jimmy Page, yet he is far more precise and capable of restraint. Interestingly, Jeff Beck's solo debut contained a rock 'n roll interpretation of Ravel's "Bolero." Entitled "Beck's Bolero," the piece came from the aborted 1966 supergroup session that had found Beck, Page, John Paul Jones and Keith Moon collaborating. Page provided some propulsive acoustic rhythm work upon which Jeff Beck overlaid stinging lead guitar. The song is once again credited only to Jimmy Page. Beck and Page have feuded over the songwriting rights in numerous interviews. To this day, Beck insists he came up with the arrangement. After all, it wasn't called "Page's Bolero."
Strangely, this is what Jimmy Page himself had to say about the song in a Trouser Press article, (October 1977, number 22 "Paging the Yardbirds" part two of a three part interview with Dave Schulps):
"Keith Relf had a melody on tape and we used that as the main part of the song. I don't think that Beck actually came in on the backing tracks - he just did the overdubs and wrote the central section - the riffy bridge," Page said.
It is left up to you, gentle reader, to make up your own mind as to where the origins of this song truly lie.
Truth also contained a version of the Muddy Waters classic, "You Shook Me." For some reason, Page also decided to include this song on Led Zeppelin's first album. While the song is properly accredited to its author, Willie Dixon, Jeff Beck was less than enthusiastic upon hearing Led Zeppelin's demo. With Truth still on the charts, he was unable to understand Page's decision to record the song for Led Zeppelin I. As recounted in the Led Zeppelin biography, Hammer of the Gods, Beck's eyes teared with rage as he demanded, "Jim, why?" Page just shrugged sheepishly, unable to explain why he wanted to upstage his former bandmate.
A hamfisted rewrite of Eddie Cochran's rockabilly classic "Nervous Breakdown" appeared on Led Zeppelin's first album. Entitled "Communication Breakdown," this interpretation made no mention of Cochran, being credited to Bonham/Jones/Page.
Annie Briggs' fingerprints were all over another song on Led Zeppelin I. Her original, "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You," was appropriated by the foursome with the credits reading Bredon (her real name)/Page/Plant. Whether Page and Plant added anything to the song is debatable.
Led Zeppelin I closed with the ultimate pastiche. "How Many More Times" opens with a bass riff that came straight from the Yardbirds' reworking of "Smokestack Lightning." Lyrically it is comprised of Howlin' Wolf's "How Many More Years," Albert King's "The Hunter" and bits of Gary Farr and the T-Bones' "How Many More Times." Further, there was a direct quote of Jimmy Rodgers' pop hit, "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine."
A listen to the Yardbirds Last Rave-up in L.A. bootleg reveals an interesting fact. "Smokestack Lightning" has the bolero section from "Beck's Bolero." Page also used this on "How Many More Times.� The only thing original about the song is Page's violin bowing. "How Many More Times" is credited to Bonham/Jones/Page, though.
During 1969, Led Zeppelin toured continually. They recorded their sophomore effort in various studios while they were on the road. The resulting album is uneven and shows less originality than its predecessor.
"Whole Lotta Love" opens Led Zeppelin II. As mentioned earlier, Steve Marriott and the Small Faces figure into the Led Zeppelin saga. That mod foursome were known for a killer live version of the Muddy Waters "You Need Love."
The following paragraph is from Small Faces: The Young Mods' Forgotten Story by Paolo Hewitt (1995, Acid Jazz Books).
'A few years later, one of the LP's outstanding tracks, the Marriott/Lane 'You Need Loving,' cropped up again to create rock history, albeit in a different format. '"Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin was nicked off that album,' Marriott pointed out. 'Percy Plant was a big fan. He used to be at all The Small Faces gigs. We did a gig with The Yardbirds which he was at and Jimmy Page asked me what that number was we did. "'You Need Loving'," I said, "it's a Muddy Waters thing" which it really is, so they both knew it, and Percy used to come to the gigs whenever we played in Kidderminster or Stowbridge, where he came from. He was always saying he was going to get this group together. He was another nuisance. He kept coming into the dressing room, just another little Mod kid. We used to say, "That kid's here again." Anyway we used to play this number and it became a stock opener after that album. After we broke up they took it and revamped it. Good luck to them. It was only old Percy who'd had his eyes on it. He sang it the same, phrased it the same, even the stops at the end were the same, they just put a different rhythm to it.' He laughs. 'For years and years I would hear it come on the radio while driving in America, and I would think, "Go on, my son," until one day I thought, "Fucking hell, that's us, that is. The bastards!"'
"Whole Lotta Love" is obviously, as Steve Marriott pointed, a direct nick of the Small Faces take on "You Need Love." The lyrics are basically the same as the Muddy Waters version. Further, Robert Plant's vocal stylings are indeed modeled directly on Marriott's delivery. One listen to the Small Faces version will lay any doubt aside. Unfortunately, the Small Faces songwriting credits made no mention of Willie Dixon. Of course, neither did Led Zeppelin.
Interestingly enough, Willie Dixon's own daughter, Shirley, brought it to her father's attention. As reported in the October 8, 1994's edition of The Los Angeles Times by Steve Hochman, Shirley Dixon first heard Led Zeppelin's version when she was thirteen. She played it for her father, who agreed it was his song. Willie Dixon was receiving no royalties from it. In 1985, Dixon sued Led Zeppelin for royalties to "Whole Lotta Love." The case was settled out of court two years later, with a generous settlement to Willie Dixon. Today, Shirley Dixon heads the Blues Heaven Foundation (established by her father), which helps blues artists recover their royalties and rights.
Another blues classic on Led Zeppelin II became famous as "The Lemon Song." Derived directly from Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor," there is also the infamous quote about squeezing lemons that comes from Robert Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues." Chester Burnett, a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf, received no credit for "The Lemon Song." In the early '70s, Arc Music sued Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement. The suit was settled out of court.
The album closed with a song credited to Page/Plant, "Bring It On Home." Discerning listeners realized it was the old Sonny Boy Williamson song of the same name, albeit with a furious Page solo. Once again, the song's author, Willie Dixon, won a settlement.
Led Zeppelin III found Page still rummaging through his suitcase of Yardbirds castoffs. An album track, "Tangerine," was one Page had worked on with the Yardbirds in the spring of 1968. At that time, it was called "Knowing That I'm Losing You." The two arrangemens are identical. The Yardbirds had never copyrighted the piece, which made it easy for Page to usurp it in its entirety. The song was attributed solely to Jimmy Page with no mention being made of Keith Relf, who had written a significant chunk of the lyrics that appeared in Led Zeppelin's version.
"He [Keith Relf] should really be given a credit for that one," Jim McCarty said, referring specifically to the second verse's lyrics in "Knowing That I'm Losing You," which appear intact as the first verse in "Tangerine."
This author conducted interviews with McCarty, Dreja and Keith Relf's sister, Jane, in the autumn of 2001 for a story on the Page era Yardbirds, which appeared in the 2002 edition of Ugly Things magazine. Lest readers think plagiarism is a victimless crime, Jane Relf's reaction to information on the "Knowing That I'm Losing You" and "Tangerine" situation should give cause for pause.
"My brother plucked that session man out of obscurity and gave him a job and that's how he repaid him?" Jane Relf mused. "My brother was not well-off at the end of his life and the royalties for that song could have helped out considerably."
She was refering to Keith Relf's financial straits at the time of his death in 1976. As for "Knowing That I'm Losing You" and "Tangerine." both feature a steel guitar courtesy of Page. Once again, the Yardbirds' unreleased version is superior. Relf's vocals are heartbreaking and McCarty's drums much lighter and better suited to the song's fragility. Their take has a prominent Morricone touch and the massed vocals at the end take it to new heights. Led Zeppelin's version simply pales in comparison. Page, though, had the good sense to realize the song's appeal and it has since gone onto be one of Zeppelin's most beloved songs, free as it is of Plant's insipid cliches that pass themselves off as lyrics.
Page claimed authorship of the entire song, including the lyrics. The Yardbirds had never copyrighted the piece, which made it easy for Page to usurp it in its entirety. The flower-child verses smack of Keith Relf, though.
Another track from Led Zeppelin III, "Since I've Been Loving You," lifted significant lyrical passages from Moby Grape's "Never." In doing so, Robert Plant can't really be accused so much of plagiarism as sheer laziness. Both tracks are meandering and desultory nonentities. Why in the world would Plant use verses that Moby Grape member Bob Mosely was obviously making up on the fly? Most likely, it was meant as an homage, considering Plant's love of West Coast hippy bands. Both songs are generic blues jams and Plant would have been better served by devising new lyrics. This would come back to haunt him. In 2005, according to an anonymous source, Led Zeppelin came to a financial agreement with Mosely although he will never be acknowledged in the credits of "Since I've Been Loving You" as part of the arrangement.
"Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is basically an original song with Jones/Page/Plant being listed as the song's authors. However, the intro is lifted from "The Waggoner's Tale" by Bert Jansch.
Nineteen-seventy-one's Led Zeppelin IV, showed the band to be up to their old tricks. The drum intro to "Rock 'n Roll" was a direct lift from Little Richard's "Keep A-Knocking." One listen to that early nugget will prove the point. Further, elements of the solo from the old Yardbirds warhorse "Train Kept A-Rollin" show up in "Rock 'n Roll."
But it is that holiest of Holy Grails, "Stariway To Heaven," that will shock the faithful. On one of Led Zeppelin's early tours, they had opened for the California art-rock group, Spirit. In the liner notes to the reissue of Spirit's 1968 eponymous debut, the band's guitarist Randy California mentions the fact that Jimmy Page took special interest in an original entitled "Taurus." There is no doubt that Page appropriated the opening guitar lines note for note on "Stairway To Heaven." Further, the chord progression in "Stairway To Heaven" is incredibly similiar to a song by the Chocolate Watch Band, "And She's Lonely." The Yardbirds played with the Chocolate Watch Band during Page's tenure. It would be quite ironic if he did indeed lift the chords from the Chocolate Watch Band. The Chocolate Watch Band, to those in the know, were the ultimate Yardbirds clone. Wouldn't it be fitting that a former Yardbirds guitarist ripped off something from a band that based an entire career around sounding like that famed quintet?
Led Zeppelin IV found the band tackling a Memphis Minnie original, "When The Levee Breaks." In this case, Memphis Minnie is credited, but so are the four members of Led Zeppelin. What they contributed to the song - besides a sluggish beat - is once again debatable.
Led Zeppelin continued to appropriate songs throughout the rest of their career, albeit with less frequency. For the most part, the songs examined in this article are the most notorious cases of Led Zeppelin lifting others artistic works.
Is this hair-splitting? Isn't rock 'n' roll all about taking influences, warping and twisting them until they come out sounding new? Yes and no. Rock n roll's great idiot savant, Elvis Presley, married blues to country, creating the 20th century's most popular form of music. And while his first single at Sun Studios, a breath-taking version of Arthur �Big Boy� Crudup's �That's All Right Mama,� doesn't sound anything like the sluggish original it is still properly credited to the rightful author. Same goes for all three of the Beatles covers of Carl Perkins songs. Taking a stray riff is one thing. Appropriating an entire song's music and lyrics while listing yourself as the author is quite another.
In the summer of 2000, two Yardbirds CD's from the Jimmy Page era were released. The first release was a limited edition of the famed Live Yardbirds Featuring Jimmy Page issued by Mooreland Street Records. Contrary to rumors, Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja are quite content with the quality of the show as is Keith Relf's family. Page had this album surpressed twice before in the '70's.
The CD's sold out quickly. Apparently Mooreland Street Records had dealings with Page's represenatives. Russ Garrett, head of the company, also runs a Yardbirds fan forum on the internet. He has alluded to legal scuffling with "800-pound gorillas in buisness suits" on the website. Garrett would not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
The other Yardbirds release was issued by New Millenium. It contained the legendary final studio sessions from New York City in April 1968. Called Cumular Limit, the CD had fans salivating. This was especially true, because McCarty hinted in a interview from the spring of 2000, that a take on "Tangerine� would be included. The Yardbirds version was called "Knowing That I'm Losing You." However, that track does not appear on the new release.
"I was advised that one of the members wasn't exactly delirious with the album,� Carlton Sandercock at New Millenium said.
Considering that Keith Relf was tragically electrocuted in 1976 and that both McCarty and Dreja participated in the CD's liner notes, it doesn't take much detective work to figure out which member is unhappy with the release.
Asked what happened to the inclusion of "Knowing That I'm Losing You" on the CD, Sandercock would not go into details.
"Unfortunately, one of the songs was not released,� he simply said.
"Knowing That I'm Losing You" appeared on at least one file-sharing internet site in the winter of 2007. A Google search might turn it up for the avid web detective.
Cumular Limit also has a live version of "Dazed and Confused� from French television in the spring of '68. For once, the song is credited properly, reading "Jake Holmes; arr. Yardbirds." It came as no surprise that the CD was surpressed within a short time of its release and is no longer available except as a Japanese pirate.
A video of the Yardbirds on the French television show crop up regularly on YouTube . And for those who still think the Yardbirds called their version of the song, "I'm Confused," take note how the French MC introduces it as "Dazed & Confused," laying that myth to rest for once and all.
The tangled web that is "Dazed & Confused" was unsnarled to a degree in 2004 when Jake Holmes' LP saw the light of day in the digital age. The Above Ground Sound Of Jake Holmes appeared on CD in America on the itsaboutmusic.com label and on Radioactive in the UK. His original version of "Dazed & Confused" is finally garnering some of the attention it was always due, with mainstrem rags like Mojo showcasing its parent album. For folks who have yet to hear the original, visit: www.myspace.com/jakeholmes and feast your ears! As for the man himself, Jake Holmes is looking for a lawyer who will not be cowed by the Page's fearsome business and legal reputation. This author - with tongue firmly in cheek - suggested forcing the issue with Holmes recording a Led Zeppelin staple like "Kashmir" and taking credit for it. Holmes only laughed. He has learned to view this chapter in his life with a sense of humor and take it with a grain of salt.
This investigative piece may appear to be gratutious Page-bashing, but rest assured it's far from it. To this day, Jimmy Page is unacknowledged as one of the, if not the greatest psychedelic guitar players ever. Page's criminially underrated work with the Yardbirds and on countless sessions (take note of his hypnotic work with Donovan in particular) illustrate that he set the standard for lysgeric discord par excellence.
And in light of the fact that Page played on hundreds of uncredited session tracks in Britain between 1963 and 1966, and was instrumental in the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, he is probably the most recorded major rock guitarist ever. His fretwork itself is unassailable. Even on the lightweight session material he appears on, Page's guitar playing is impeccable, which is amazing if you consider that the majority of those forgotten groups should not have been within earshot of a studio. In the end, though, it is his habit for taking credit for other's people's material that is being examined here, not his guitar sorcery.
Thanks to Greg Russo and Mike Fornatale for providing valuable insight and information. This piece originally appeared in Perfect Sound Forever in 2001. Certain sections have been added and updated from stories Will Shade wrote for both Ugly Things and Shindig magazines subsequent to this piece's original debut.
For more information on Jake Holmes, please visit this online magazine's interview
Check out the rest of PERFECT SOUND FOREVER
| Led Zeppelin |
Which former soap star had a hit in 1993 with This Is It | Top 10 Yardbirds Songs
Top 10 Yardbirds Songs
REDDIT
John Pratt, Hulton Archive, Getty Images
The Yardbirds ‘ storied history often overshadows the great music the band made during their five-year run. Like many of their British contemporaries, they started as a pure blues group, covering songs by the American blues legends they worshiped. But they maintained a not-so-secret weapon throughout their career: three great guitarists, starting with Eric Clapton , who got fed up with the Yardbirds’ sporadic pop success and quit. He was replaced by Jeff Beck , who, in turn, was replaced by Jimmy Page . After one album with the band, Page restructured them with a new singer, bass player and drummer and initially called them the New Yardbirds before settling on Led Zeppelin . Our list of the Top 10 Yardbirds Songs emphasizes the music, not the history, but all three guitar gods are represented.
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What is the capital of the Maldive islands | Capital of the Maldives, Male' - Maldives
Netherlands
Capital of the Maldives, Male'
Male', the capital of the Maldives is located almost in the centre of the nation, on the east side of Kaafu atoll. It is the commercial centre and the location of many important historical and religious landmarks. With an area of just over 1.77 square kilometres, it is home to over 70,000 people. It is the busiest and the most populous island in the archipelago. In the past, it has been known as the Sultan's island.
For the purpose of administration the island is divided into four districts. Henveiru occupies the North-East side and Maafannu the North-West. The two smaller wards Galolhu and Machchangolhi, lie in the centre and to the south. Recently the Island of Vilingili has been added as an extension to Male'. Vilingili is been developed as an urban area since Male' no longer can accommodate the growing population and housing.
All over Maldives houses are given names and numbers. However, numbers are used rarely and all houses are referred by there given names and most of them have Dhivehi (Maldivian) names, but some reflect the British influence often quite incongruously and sometimes poetically. Heart, Snow Down, Sky Villa, Rose Burn, Night Flower, Blue Bell, Lightning Villa, Marine Villa, Dreamy Light and Forget Me Not are some names you might see on, above or by the side of the house doors.
The ambience of this small, unsoiled semi-urban environment with the historical sites and a museum with artefacts of the distinctive Maldivian culture dating as far back as 5000 BC, has unexpectedly caught the imagination of many a visitor such as Thor Hyerdal .
| Male |
With an average ground level of 1.5 meters above sea level, what Asian island nation is the lowest country in the world | Male, capital city of Maldives
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Malé, capital city of Maldives
Malé is both a city and an island, combining cosmopolitan style with laid-back islander roots. Candy-colored skyscrapers dominate the spectacular skyline, artificial beaches beckon visitors to the turquoise waters and historic sites await exploration. The islet is only 1.7 kilometers long and just one kilometer wide, but more than 100,000 people call it home. It is the world's densest city, making it easy to explore on foot. You can walk around the entire island in about an hour, and nearly all the sights are conveniently concentrated on the north shore.
One of the most popular sights in Malé is the Hukuru Miskiyy, or Friday Mosque. Constructed in 1656, the mosque is a stunning example of local architectural style. The intricately engraved beams and fluted coral block walls decorated in ornamental patterns are awe-inspiring. Non-Muslims must be granted permission to enter the site, but it is worth the effort to explore the beautiful building.
The mosque sits at Independence Square, known to locals as Jumhooree Maidhaan. A giant Maldivian flag waves at the center of the little park, and nearly every political demonstration in Malé is staged there.
Just south of the square is the Islamic Center, the best-known architectural landmark in the capital. The complex is home to the country's largest mosque, capable of holding 5,000 people under its glistening golden dome. Visitors can explore the center outside of communal prayer hours, but interior photography is forbidden.
The remains of the former Sultan's palace make up part of the Islamic Center, and that area now houses the Maldivian National Museum. The haphazard collection features many old photographs and royal regalia, moon rocks and other artifacts from the country's history. English explanations help visitors understand the context of each piece, and admission is just a few dollars.
The closet thing to the countryside near Malé is Hulhumalé Island. Boats depart from the capital each day to make the short trip to the artificial island. Construction is booming, but much of the island remains undeveloped.
A small artificial beach offers respite from the city center on the east coast. The turquoise waters are especially welcoming to surfers, and locals love to lounge on the white sand. The beach comes alive in the late afternoons and evenings, when locals come out to celebrate the day's end by breathing in the fresh sea air and cooling their feet in the surf.
Malé is also home to a surprising concentration of shops and markets. The local market on the northern side of the island is a great place to catch a glimpse of local life while shopping for inexpensive but fresh fruits and vegetables. Two blocks away is the fish market, a true delight of energy and color. Visit in the late afternoons when the fisherman deliver the day's catch, then watch the fish-cutters work their magic.
There are an abundance of textile shops on the island, and many local women buy custom-designed clothes instead of shopping in boutiques. You can design your own garments from the hundreds of fabrics available in every color, texture and design, then take home your custom souvenir.
For more conventional souvenirs, hit up the shops at Chandhanee Magu on the northern end of the island. Discerning travelers can pick up anything from shell necklaces and local handicrafts for reasonable prices.
Male Geographical Location
Male is located on the southern tip of the island North Male Atoll. It is the most populated city of the Republic of Maldives with approximately 106,000 people.
Male Language
Maldivian is the official language of the Republic of Maldives although there are many dialects. Malé is the most common dialect of Maldivian and is spoken widely in Male.
Male Predominant Religion
Sunni Muslim is the only accepted religion of the Maldives although Buddhism was practiced up until the mid 12th century.
Male Currency
The Rufiyaa is the official currency of the Maldives.
Male Climate
The temperature is consistently warm in Male and it experiences moderate rainfall throughout the year with January to March being the driest months.
Male Main Attractions
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Cape Farewell is the southern tip of which island | Cape Farewell Canada Home - Cape Farewell Canada
Cape Farewell Canada
There are 28 voyagers from Canada, the UK,
Mexico, Brazil, Ireland, Germany, and India on this Cape Farewell
Youth Expedition. See photos and read short bios of many of
these voyagers. See what interests them, and what drives them
to make a difference in our world.
+
The first Cape Farewell expedition to originate
in Canada takes place September 7-20, 2008, when 16 Canadian
high school students representing each province and territory
will join an international group of students on an expedition
of discovery to Canada’s Arctic.
+
After training in Toronto followed by air
transfer to Iceland, the expedition departs from Reykjavik
(Iceland) on September 7, rounding Cape Farewell on the southern
tip of Greenland and arriving at Iqaluit (Baffin Island) on
September 20.
In September 2007, 12 young voyagers from
Canada, UK and Germany sailed around the Norwegian Arctic
to raise awareness about climate change. This expedition was
a chance for youth to learn about the science of climate change
and to communicate this important issue through art.
+
| Greenland |
How is the England island of Kerkira better known to holiday makers | Cape Farewell, Greenland (NASA, International Space Statio… | Flickr
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center By: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
Cape Farewell, Greenland (NASA, International Space Station Science, 08/04/08)
Cape Farewell, Greenland is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 17 crewmember on the International Space Station (ISS). This view illustrates the southernmost tip of Greenland, known as Kap Farvel in Danish and Nunap Isua in Inuit. The viewing direction is towards the northeast; the image was taken when the space station was located near its most northerly orbital latitude of 52 degrees, off the northern coast of the Island of Newfoundland approximately 1160 kilometers to the southwest. Greenland is the world's largest island with an area of over 2 million square kilometers; however much of the island is covered by an ice cap that can reach thicknesses of 3 kilometers. The image is highly oblique -- taken from an angle looking outwards from the ISS, rather than straight down towards the Earth -- and this provides a sense of topography along the southern edge of Greenland. The exposed dark grey bedrock along the southwestern coastline has been carved by glaciers into numerous fjords -- steep-sided valleys that drain directly into the ocean; the white cloud cover surrounding the island doubtless contains some sea ice and icebergs calved from glaciers. A band of high-altitude cirrus clouds (light grey) cast shadows on the lower stratus cloud deck in the lower third of the image. The thin blue layer of Earth's atmosphere is visible.
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Which former chancellor of the exchequer was born in the Shetlands | Geoffrey Howe dies: prime minister leads tributes to 'quiet hero' | Politics | The Guardian
Geoffrey Howe dies: prime minister leads tributes to 'quiet hero'
David Cameron pays respects to former chancellor and foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe, who has died at 88
Saturday 10 October 2015 11.58 EDT
First published on Saturday 10 October 2015 07.36 EDT
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The former Conservative chancellor Sir Geoffrey Howe has died, aged 88, after a suspected heart attack, his family said on Saturday.
Lord Howe was credited with ending Margaret Thatcher’s political career by resigning from her cabinet in November 1990.
Howe’s family said he died late on Friday night at his home in Warwickshire after attending a local jazz concert with his wife, Elspeth. “There will be a private family funeral, followed by a memorial service in due course. The family would be grateful for privacy at this time.”
David Cameron led tributes to the Tory grandee who was Thatcher’s longest serving minister until he resigned in 1990. His decision was credited with starting the process that led to her resignation.
Cameron said that Howe was the “quiet hero of the first Thatcher government” and a “kind, gentle and deeply thoughtful man” who gave strong and sound advice.
Sir Geoffrey Howe: a life in politics - in pictures
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“His time as chancellor of the exchequer was vital in turning the fortunes of our country around, cutting borrowing, lowering tax rates and conquering inflation. Lifting exchange controls may seem obvious now, but it was revolutionary back then,” Cameron said.
George Osborne (@George_Osborne)
I will miss Geoffrey Howe. He was a great source of advice to me;a quietly-spoken radical,whose bitterly contested budgets rescued Britain
October 10, 2015
“The Conservative family has lost one of its greats. Our thoughts are with his family.”
Another former Tory chancellor, Lord Lamont, said he was deeply saddened by Howe’s death: “He was a truly brilliant chancellor of the exchequer. Behind the quiet unassuming demeanour there was steely determination, dogged consistency and a sense of direction.
“He also had an impish sense of humour. Although he later fell out with Mrs Thatcher, they were for a long period a highly effective partnership, and she could not have succeeded without him. He was a Tory with a social conscience, who wanted opportunity for all. He was also a great friend and mentor to me for over 50 years.”
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Geoffrey Howe and Margaret Thatcher at a European summit in Copenhagen, in 1987. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex/Shutterstock
Another former chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, who was parliamentary private secretary to Howe in the Ted Heath government of 1970-74, told the BBC: “I have regarded myself as an acolyte of Geoffrey Howe throughout my career - free market economics, a special conscience, internationalism, pro-European - and I always admired his pleasant demeanour, his unflappability as well as his steely resolve and his very, very good mind.”
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said that Howe “was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in and famously demonstrated this in his historic confrontation with Mrs Thatcher”.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, described him as a “kind, decent and honourable man”, while Labour frontbencher Chris Bryant praised his “gentle spirit, enquiring mind and internationalist outlook”.
Born in Port Talbot in 1926, Howe was educated at Winchester college and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He entered the Commons in November 1964 but lost his seat two years later.
Howe became a QC in 1965 and was elected MP for Reigate as well as being knighted in 1970. He served as solicitor general and trade minister in Ted Heath’s government before Labour won power in 1974.
Geoffrey Howe's most celebrated quotes
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After losing a leadership contest to Thatcher in 1975, she made him shadow chancellor. It was during this time that the Labour chancellor Denis Healey – who died last Saturday – made his famous jibe that being attacked by Howe was “like being savaged by a dead sheep”.
Following the Tory landslide in 1979, Thatcher made Howe her chancellor and he became a key figure in many of her most controversial economic reforms. In her second term he served as foreign secretary, where challenges included responding to the collapse of the apartheid regime in South Africa - and the increasingly complex issue of Britain’s relationship with Europe.
In 1989, amid growing tensions with Thatcher over Europe, Howe was shifted to the more junior position of leader of the House of Commons but also made deputy prime minister.
He resigned in November 1990, shortly after Thatcher declared that the UK would never join a single currency project.
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Geoffrey Howe gives his resignation speech in the House of Commons in 1990. Photograph: PA
In his resignation speech in the Commons, he criticised Thatcher for undermining policies on economic and monetary union in Europe that were backed by her colleagues and the governor of the Bank of England.
“It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease, only for them to find, as the first balls are being bowled, that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain,” he declared.
Three weeks later, Thatcher herself resigned after failing to prevent a Tory leadership contest going beyond the first round.
Howe entered the House of Lords in June 1992 and retired in May this year.
| Norman Lamont |
How many chains are there in a furlong | POLITICS : Black Eye Doesn't Deter Lamont's Rise in Britain - latimes
POLITICS : Black Eye Doesn't Deter Lamont's Rise in Britain
December 07, 1990 |WILLIAM TUOHY | TIMES STAFF WRITER
LONDON — Until he was named chancellor of the exchequer last week, 48-year-old Norman Lamont was better known to readers of Britain's tabloid press as "the man with the black eye."
That unwanted sobriquet came in 1985 when a jealous suitor punched the married Lamont as he left the apartment of heiress Olga Polizzi, daughter of millionaire hotelier Lord Forte. For days, Lamont wore dark glasses as he carried out his duties as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's government. And he denied deeper ramifications of the story--first declaring that he had "walked into a wall," then explaining that the incident was "innocent but complicated."
But the tabloid headlines and House of Common chuckles failed to impede Lamont's career: He climbed steadily, and today is probably the closest adviser to Prime Minister John Major, who is surrounding himself with bright young men.
When the 47-year-old Major himself was chancellor, Lamont served as chief secretary of the Treasury, a demanding job that is the rough equivalent of the U.S. budget director.
The two became close associates, and when Thatcher announced her intention of resigning as prime minister in the face of a challenge for the Conservative Party leadership from former Defense Minister Michael Heseltine, Lamont quickly organized Major's campaign.
He worked tirelessly and efficiently, lobbying Conservative members of Parliament for their votes, which resulted in Major's surprisingly strong showing over Heseltine and Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd.
Something of a bon vivant who likes good food and visiting Italy, Lamont's fleshy, saturnine appearance--one profile described him as looking like a Neapolitan tenor--belie a scissors-sharp mind.
The son of a Scottish physician and born in the Shetlands, he attended Cambridge University, where he quickly took to college politics. Later, he spent time in the Conservative Party office in London, and in banking.
He was elected to Parliament from Kingston-upon-Thames in 1972, at 30 the youngest Tory lawmaker, and began his rise to No. 11 Downing St., the chancellor's official home, on the way holding posts in the Departments of Energy, Trade and Industry, Defense and the Treasury.
In advising the prime minister, Lamont will not, of course, be alone. Among the senior figures Major has brought around him is Chris Patten, 46, the well-liked, humorous and competent former environment minister who has become Conservative Party chairman. His role will be central to Major's political future: organizing the Tory party to win the next election.
Closer to No. 10 Downing St. will be Major's press secretary, Gus O'Donnell, a 36-year-old economist who has moved with him from the chancellor's office. Tall and easygoing, O'Donnell is smooth and cool, a marked contrast to his predecessor, Bernard Ingham, a fiery Yorkshireman who delighted in manning the barricades for Thatcher.
On Wednesday, Major named Sarah Hogg, 44, a well-known economics journalist, to overhaul the prime minister's policy unit, the "think tank" inside No. 10. Her first task will be to decide which of the seven-person unit inherited from Thatcher should stay. Like most of John Major's personal appointments, she is considered a pragmatist, rather than an ideologue.
As Major's personal staff shakes out, four other sometime aides are expected to find themselves in key behind-the-scenes roles: Nicholas True, 39, who advised Major at the Department of Health and Social Security; Graham Mather, 36, a lawyer who now directs the Institute of Economic Affairs; Andrew Dunlop, 31, a former political adviser at the Ministry of Defense, and Carolyn Sinclair, a Treasury official on loan to the prime minister's office.
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What bluish white element is used in battery electrodes | Zinc - definition of zinc by The Free Dictionary
Zinc - definition of zinc by The Free Dictionary
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/zinc
Related to zinc: zinc deficiency
zinc
(zĭngk)
n. Symbol Zn
A bluish-white, lustrous metallic element that is brittle at room temperature but malleable with heating. It is used to form a wide variety of alloys including brass, bronze, various solders, and nickel silver, in galvanizing iron and other metals, for electric fuses, anodes, meter cases and batteries, and in roofing, gutters, and various household objects. US pennies minted after 1982 consist of a copper-clad zinc core. Atomic number 30; atomic weight 65.38; melting point 419.53°C; boiling point 907°C; specific gravity 7.134 (at 25°C); valence 2. See Periodic Table .
tr.v. zinced, zinc·ing, zincs or zincked or zinck·ing or zincks
To coat or treat with zinc; galvanize.
[German Zink, possibly from Zinke, spike (so called because it becomes jagged in the furnace), from Middle High German zinke, from Old High German zinko.]
zinc
(zɪŋk)
n
1. (Elements & Compounds) a brittle bluish-white metallic element that becomes coated with a corrosion-resistant layer in moist air and occurs chiefly in sphalerite and smithsonite. It is a constituent of several alloys, esp brass and nickel-silver, and is used in die-casting, galvanizing metals, and in battery electrodes. Symbol: Zn; atomic no: 30; atomic wt: 65.39; valency: 2; relative density: 7.133; melting pt: 419.58°C; boiling pt: 907°C
2. (Metallurgy) informal corrugated galvanized iron
[C17: from German Zink, perhaps from Zinke prong, from its jagged appearance in the furnace]
ˈzincic, ˈzincous, ˈzincoid adj
(zɪŋk)
n., v. zincked zinced (zɪŋkt) zinck•ing zinc•ing (ˈzɪŋ kɪŋ) n.
1. a ductile, bluish white metallic element: used in making galvanized iron and other alloys, and as an element in voltaic cells. Symbol: Zn; at. wt.: 65.37; at. no.: 30; sp. gr.: 7.14 at 20°C.
v.t.
2. to coat or cover with zinc.
[1635–45; < German Zink, perhaps derivative of Zinke(n) prong, from the spikelike form it takes in a furnace]
zinc
(zĭngk)
Symbol Zn A shiny, bluish-white metallic element that is brittle at room temperature but is easily shaped when heated. It is widely used in alloys such as brass and bronze, as a coating for iron and steel, and in various household objects. Zinc is essential to the growth of humans and animals. Atomic number 30. See Periodic Table .
Zinc
| Zinc |
In 1949 which became the first stately home in England to open to the public | Lead
Lead
Introduction
The symbol in the title is the alchemical symbol for lead, the sign of Saturn.
Lead is a shiny, blue-white soft metal when its surface is fresh. On exposure to the air, it becomes covered by a dull, gray layer of basic carbonate that adheres closely and protects it from further alteration. It resembles aluminium in this respect, which is protected by a dull, gray layer of oxide. Otherwise, lead would react rapidly with the oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air. When placed in sulphuric acid, lead is protected by a similar layer of PbSO4 that adheres strongly. For these reasons, lead is often used to sheathe cables for burial, to protect roofs from the atmosphere, and as tanks and pipes for sulphuric acid. Lead has many and varied uses in technology. This article mentions a very large number of uses of lead and its compounds, from cathedrals to crystal sets, from batteries to sailing ships.
Lead and its compounds were known and widely used in antiquity. Its metallurgy was well-developed even then. The uses of lead depended on its corrosion resistance, its softness and ease of working, and its low melting point. Metal pipes were made of lead, starting with a plate that was rolled into a cylinder and fusion welded down the seam. Buildings were roofed with sheets of lead, and glazed with lead mullions. Molten lead was poured into holes in stone to hold fasteners. Boxes of lead were used as protective containers, and as coffins. Lead was used in the metallurgy of other metals, as we shall see in some detail. Lead was, indeed, used in machines of all kinds, not as a structural material, but where its fusibility and workability were an advantage, and for many small items of daily use.
At the current time, the greatest quantity of lead is used in lead-acid storage batteries. Until recently, next in importance was the use in paint pigments. However, environmental considerations have largely removed lead from paints. Similarly, the once considerable usage of lead in tetraethyl lead antiknock compound has also disappeared for a similar reason. Lead is still used for sheathing cables, in bearing alloys, in artistic pigments and glazes, for decorative glass, in the chemical industry, and, of course, for bullets, which have always been in special demand in the United States.
This article gives some general information on lead, and discusses a few processes and devices in which lead has played a central role, both recently and historically. The banned uses of lead are also described, to satisfy curiosity that might otherwise be frustrated. As much of the curious lore of lead has been mentioned as I could find.
Properties of Lead
The chemical symbol for lead is Pb, from Latin plumbum. The name "lead" is cognate with the Dutch "lood." The high-German "Blei" has no echoes in English or Dutch. English, however, uses the word "plumber" for a worker in lead. The older term is preserved in the name "Ledbetter." Dutch still uses the word "loodgieter" for a plumber, which means "lead-pourer." In Greek, lead is molubdos, a name now used for molybdenum. This meant "lead pencil" in Greek, which describes the soft MoS2 well.
The atomic number of lead is Z = 82, and its stable isotopes are of mass numbers A = 204, 206, 207 and 208, of which the last is most abundant (52.3%). Each isotope is the end of a natural radioactive series, except for 204, which is the rarest at 1.48% abundance. The isotopic abundance, and so the atomic weight, varies in lead from different locations. The average atomic weight is 207.22. The series beginning with Th232 (half-life 1.39 x 1010 y) ends with Pb208. The series beginning with U238 (half-life 4.5 x 109 y), the most abundant natural isotope of uranium, ends with Pb206, and includes the natural isotope of radium, Ra226. The famous fissionable U235 (half-life 7.1 x 108 y) ends with Pb207. Because of the large number of electrons it contains, and its high density, lead is the most practical absorber of gamma rays.
The density of lead is 11.3437 g/cm3, higher than that of common metals like iron (7.86) and copper (8.933), but less than that of mercury (13.6), and not in the league with the really dense metals like gold (19.3), tungsten (19.3), platinum (21.45), iridium (22.42) or osmium (22.48), which are about twice as dense. Lead is, nevertheless, the densest of the common and inexpensive metals, and some uses depend on this property. The fishing sinker and the sailor's lead are humble examples. Lead crystallizes in the face-centered cubic structure, with lattice constant a = 0.494 nm.
The melting point of lead is 327.35°C, and the boiling point is 1515°C. The only common metals with lower melting points are tin and bismuth, while the boiling point is high enough to allow processes in liquid lead over a wide temperature range. The coefficient of linear expansion is 29.5 x 10-4 per °C. The bulk modulus is 0.44 x 106 Mbar. The heat conductivity is 0.081 cal/cm-s-°C, and the specific heat is 0.03046 cal/g-K (all properties are room-temperature values). The heat of fusion is 6.26 cal/g. The electrical resistivity is 20.648 μΩ-cm (compare to copper, 1.683). The hardness of pure lead is 1.5 on the Mohs scale (between talc and gypsum: it can be scratched by the fingernail), and its tensile strength is only 2000 psi. The Young's modulus is 2.56 x 106 psi. Its crystalline form is face-centered cubic, with lattice constant 0.4939 nm. Lead alloys considerably with bismuth and tin, to a smaller degree with antimony and silver. Lead anneals itself (rerystallizes) at room temperature, so cold work does not harden it.
The Chemistry of Lead
The electron configuration is 6s26p2 over a filled 5d subshell, similar to that of C, Si, Ge and Sn, the other elements in its column in the periodic table. The spectroscopic ground state is 3P0, and the resonance line is at 283.39 nm. Because of this, and the high boiling point, lead does not color the gas flame. The first ionization potential is 7.415V, second 15.04V, third 32.1V and fourth 38.97V. The lead spectrum is a good example of jj-coupling, which has effects even in the ground state.
Lead exhibits the oxidation state +2, corresponding to loss of the two p electrons, in most of its common compounds. In this oxidation state, lead is generally basic. The oxidation state +4 also occurs, and in it lead is more acidic. Lead is generally amphoteric, like aluminium, especially in the +4 state, like tin.
Lead forms a series of oxides, which are important compounds. The principal ones are PbO, a yellow oxide called litharge, and PbO2, a reddish-brown substance called lead dioxide, or, erroneously in technical practice, lead peroxide. It is, of course, not a peroxide. Orange-yellow Pb2O3 is PbO·PbO2, while red Pb3O4, red lead or minium, is 2PbO·PbO2. In addition to these, there is Pb2O, lead suboxide, a black, amorphous substance that is PbO·Pb. If metallic (liquid) lead is heated in air below 545°C, red lead forms; if above 545°C, litharge forms.
Basic lead carbonate, 2PbCO3·Pb(OH)2, when pure, is a brilliant white substance that makes an excellent paint pigment, called white lead. It reacts with H2S to produce black PbS, so should not be used in chemistry laboratories. It was generally made by the "Dutch Process" where perforated plates were treated with acetic acid, air and CO2. The lead for this process was called "corroding lead" in commerce, and had to be very low in antimony, which caused the white lead to darken.
The pigment "chrome yellow" was PbCrO4. Mixed with prussian blue, it made a very good green (this is not always the case, but it worked here). "Chrome red" was PbCrO4·PbO. Lead gave a full spectrum of bright colors, used by artists as well as by house painters. Red lead made a paint that protected iron and steel from corrosion; the famous Forth Bridge in Scotland is usually seen covered in red lead. The painters work continuously on it.
Colorless lead nitrate, Pb(NO3)2 is the most soluble lead compound. Lead acetate, Pb(CH3COO)2 is also soluble. It has a sweet taste, and for this reason is called "sugar of lead." When it was discovered, in Roman times, it was used in certain baked treats, which proved fatal. Any soluble lead salt dried on paper can offer an easy test for H2S. When moistened and waved around, it will turn black. Your nose, actually, is not a good detector, since the rotten-egg odor rapidly disappears by fatiguing your sense of smell. The halides of lead are rather insoluble, while the sulphate, carbonate and sulphide are quite insoluble. As we have mentioned, this insolubility is what protects lead from corrosion. Lead arsenate, Pb(AsO4)2 is a double poison, from the Pb and from the As. It was used for dusting cotton plants to fight the weevil.
In qualitative analysis, lead is identified by first adding dilute HCl to the sample, which precipitates the chlorides of mercury, silver and lead, the only insoluble chlorides of the common cations. After this precipitate is separated, it is treated with hot water (still in acid solution). Lead chloride is much more soluble in hot water than in cold, so it is separated by pouring off the supernatant. Then the addition of a little sulphuric acid will produce a precipitate of PbSO4, proving the presence of lead.
A powdered sample, mixed with a little Na2CO3 as flux on a charcoal block, and then heated in the reducing blowpipe flame (the yellow part), will make a drop of liquid Pb and some PbO. This is a mineralogist's test.
One of the most famous lead compounds was tetraethyl lead, Pb(C2H5)4. Here the lead has made four tetrahedral covalent bonds, like carbon in CH4, to fool the motor fuel into letting it dissolve. In the cylinder, the heat knocks the ethyl radicals off and the lead forms a cloud of PbO. The ethyl stops any explosion front in its tracks. Therefore, the fuel charge does not detonate and burns smoothly. This permitted the use of cheaper straight-chain hydrocarbons in motor fuel, instead of the branched and aromatic hydrocarbons of greater octane rating. The lead is only there to carry the ethylene into the combustion zone; it would evaporate if added to the fuel directly.
Tetraethyl lead was made by treating ethyl bromide or ethyl chloride with an alloy of sodium and lead, NaPb. The sodium grabbed the halogen, the lead latched on to the ethyl radical, and some lead was left over, which could be reused. Some extra ethyl bromide was added to the fuel, so that in the heat of the combustion, it would combine with the lead that had initially been released, and carry it out in the exhaust. Otherwise, the lead would stay around and foul the spark plugs and valves (which it did anyway). Some people thought the lead lubricated the valves and was necessary for the engine, but this is false.
Lead as a Poison
It is quite clear from what has been mentioned above that lead was all around us, principally in lead paint and in tetraethyl lead. Now, lead is a systemic poison, but its use in paint and motor fuel was thought safe because nobody ate paint or scraped it into their coffee, and there was lots of air to dilute the lead coming out of exhaust pipes. However, it was finally realized that children did eat paint, and were extra sensitive to lead in the air, and while this had no serious health effects, it seemed to make them stupider than they would otherwise be. This was an excellent reason to reduce the lead in the environment, and that has been done. Paints now use other pigments, such as titanium dioxide, and tetraethyl lead has been banished from motor fuel, which would be a good idea anyway, as easier on engines. This may have saved several lives a year. Now, if the cars were banished instead, we would save 40,000 lives a year.
Acute lead poisoning results from ingesting soluble lead compounds. The symptoms were called "painter's colic" since painters, covered with white lead, were at risk. The damage appears to be mainly to the nervous system, and the effects not as acute as those of mercury poisoning. Lead is an accumulative poison, building up until it reaches a toxic level. An antidote after swallowing a soluble lead salt is a stiff drink of epsom salts, MgSO4, which precipitates insoluble PbSO4.
Lead pipes were once used for household water. Lead pipe was easy to form by casting or extrusion, and easy to join by fusion. A mixture of litharge, glycerine and linseed oil made "plumber's cement" that could be used for joining pipes without heat. With hard water, a layer of sulphate or carbonate forms on the lead, and lead does not enter the water. With soft water, as from cisterns, this protective layer does not form, and a dangerous amount of lead can dissolve in the water. Since lead pipes were widely used in Roman times, some experts have concluded that they poisoned the populace rather generally. In fact, Vitruvius shows that the hazard was appreciated, and steps taken to reduce it.
Copper tubing is joined with solder, which usually contains lead. The amount of lead that comes from soldered tubing connections is vanishingly small, and no hazard, but nevertheless it is deprecated. Even fishing sinkers of lead have been banned, which shows an excellent lack of appreciation of the degree of hazard. Actually, what gave the most worry was simply lost and discarded lead bits. Just good sense would show that it is necessary to be wary of unusual concentrations in the environment and to correct them when discovered.
There is no risk at all in handling lead metal. It cannot be absorbed through the skin or the respiratory tract. Dilute hydrochloric acid has little effect on it, so the lead would pass through the stomach before any damage was done. Eating lead is probably safe, but not encouraged. Carbonated water dissolves lead to some degree. Food and drink should never touch lead, since organic acids, such as acetic acid, may dissolve lead. Lead is, on the whole, very much less a hazard than mercury. It was made dangerous by its widespread use in paint and motor fuel, and that is now past.
The Mineralogy and Production of Lead
Wherever mineralized fluids have percolated through rocks, and Pb++ ions have encountered S-- ions, the highly insoluble mineral galena, PbS, has precipitated. Galena is a cubic crystal with the same structure as NaCl, with P replacing Na and S replacing Cl. A galena cube is shown at the right (image © Amethyst Galleries). It is a semiconductor, with the small band gap of 0.37V, so it possesses good conductivity at room temperature. This causes its shiny lead-gray metallic lustre, but it is not a metal, and is brittle. The "crystal" of a crystal set is a galena crystal. The "whisker" makes a point-contact diode with rectifying properties. Its specific gravity is 7.4-7.6, so it is nearly as dense as iron. Only exceptionally does it occur as large, well-formed crystals, usually cuboids, suitable for a mineral collection, much more often disseminated in small bits in rock and other minerals.
In the Mississippi valley, the limestone rocks have in many places been eaten away by ground waters, and the voids have been filled with minerals, among them galena. Galena gave its name to the town in northwest Illinois, and large deposits were found in southwestern Wisconsin. Southeastern Missouri also has large galena deposits, that are still mined, and the Tri-State area around Joplin, including parts of Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, was once one of the great lead-producing areas of the world. This Mississippi valley galena is unusual in not being associated with silver, which usually accompanies lead.
Leadville, Colorado is named after the lead that accompanied the silver that was once mined there. In England, Derbyshire, Cumberland and Cornwall all had extensive galena deposits that have been worked from Roman times on. The mining area of the Harz Mountains in Germany was notable for galena, which was found in the Erzgebirge as well. The western United States and Australia also have important galena deposits. Lead is not a rare metal, as mercury is, but is found at many locations.
Galena deposits may have been altered by water filtering down from above, oxidizing and enriching the ore. This supergene enrichment has changed the sulphide into anglesite, PbSO4, and cerussite, PbCO3. This occurred notably on the island of Anglesey, where there were early lead workings. These "oxide" ores are much easier to treat than the sulphide, and were worked out long ago. The only ore of lead that need be considered is galena.
The problem of winning lead is complicated by the low concentration of lead in the available ore, sometimes only a few percent, and by the presence of numerous impurities. To make the process clearer, we'll assume we have relatively pure galena, and not many impurities. First of all, because of the sulphur, carbon will not reduce lead from galena. The galena must first be roasted in air to oxidize the sulphur and change the galena to oxide. A typical reaction is 2PbS + 3O2 → 2PbO + 2SO2. Now we can add some raw ore to the results of roasting, and get 2PbO + PbS → 3Pb + SO2 by further heating. The elemental lead then runs to the bottom of the furnace, where it can be tapped off and cast into pigs. This simply shows the general theory of the pyrometallurgy of lead. Ore of such purity and concentration to make this simple scheme works does not exist.
First of all, the ore must be concentrated to separate the lead ore from the zinc ore, for example. It turns out to be possible to do this with flotation. A substance is added that wets the zinc ore, allowing it to sink to the bottom, but does not wet the galena, allowing it to be caught up in a foam that floats on the surface of the water. The result is not just lead sulphide, but also the sulphides of copper, iron, zinc, antimony and arsenic. The enriched ore is then roasted in ovens to drive off as much of the sulphur as possible. The roasted ore must be ground and sintered to put it in the form of porous chunks that allow gases to pass through freely, and will not collapse into a thick, impervious layer in the blast furnace. Lead ores are such that these two operations are best combined into one simultaneous roasting-sintering process that produces a sinter ready for the lead blast furnace.
The second stage of smelting can take place in an ore hearth, or a larger blast furnace. The sintered ore is charged, with coke, limestone flux, and other additives depending on the impurities present. The products that accumulate at the bottom are lead, matte (containing iron and copper), speiss (containing iron and arsenic), and slag (containing the silicates, zinc, iron and calcium). Cold air is blown in at the bottom, and flue dust and gases come out the top. The lead bullion from Mississippi valley ores is called "soft" lead and is pure enough for most uses without further treatment. The other by-produts are treated to separate their valuable constituents. Zinc, incidentally, does not dissolve in molten lead, and can be added to extract impurities by differential solubility.
Lead is sold as soft lead, 99.90% pure, common lead (lead that has been desilvered), 99.85% pure, and corroding lead (for paint), 99.94% pure. Hard lead is alloyed with 6%-18% antimony, which increases the strength of the lead. The addition of only 1% Sb or 3% Sn increases the strength by 50%. Hard lead is used for battery plates. Terne plate is heavy sheet steel coated with a lead-tin alloy. 75-25 and 50-50 Pb-Sn alloys are used.
The Lead-Acid Battery
Gaston Planté (1834-1889) was experimenting with electrolysis in the 1850's. This was before the introduction of efficient dynamos, so all direct current electricity came from primary cells. He put two lead plates in dilute sulphuric acid, and passed a current between them. At one plate, the one connected with the positive pole of his battery, oxygen was evolved, and at the other plate hydrogen was evolved. This was no surprise, since water had been electrolyzed for over half a century at the time. What was a surprise was that when he had allowed the current to pass for some time and then disconnected the battery, the lead plates acted like a battery on their own, something that had not been observed before. The plate that had been connected to the (+) pole of the battery, the anode, was at a higher potential than the plate that had been connected to the (-) pole of the battery, the cathode, and now current flowed in the opposite direction. The lead plates were observed to collect a layer of a white substance, lead sulphate, as this happened. When the current finally stopped, the cycle could be repeated by reconnecting the power source. Planté had discovered a storage battery. He announced his discovery in 1859, but it attracted little interest, since there was no demand for such a device.
By 1880, there was a demand. Edison and Swan had devised practical incandescent lamps, and Edison was promoting a complete system, from dynamos to lamps, based on direct current distribution. If there were a practical storage battery, then the battery could be floated across the lines to supply power when the dynamos were shut down, at times of low demand or for repairs. Power could be produced when there was excess generating capacity, and used to bridge over times of unusual demand. Camille Faure looked at the Planté battery, and overcame its principal faults--the lack of capacity, high internal impedance and the long "forming" process necessary to prepare the plates. The cathode was made of spongy lead for lower internal resistance, and the positive plate was consisted of pockets filled with red lead, which was converted more easily to the active ingredient, PbO2, in the forming process. This battery was much more practical, and soon commanded a good market.
Edison tried to improve the Faure battery, extending its life and reducing its weight, looking toward applications in electric vehicles. The result was the Edison alkaline cell, in which the life was extended, and the battery rendered much more rugged. However, the weight problem was not solved, and is not solved to the present day. The lead-acid battery is still the best secondary battery in most heavy-duty applications. Electric street railways operated by battery cars were actually put into service. The batteries were to be charged overnight, when the cars were not in service, and their power used during the day, obviating the need for overhead conductors. There were also battery cars and trucks for road service. The expense and weight of the batteries made such use uneconomic, especially after the invention of the self-starter made internal combustion engines available to all. Of course, at the same time this led to the use of a lead-acid battery in each vehicle for starting and for maintaining the electricity supply with the engine idling or stopped.
The present lead-acid cell consists, in a state of full charge, of a negative plate, or cathode, of spongy lead in a grid of hard lead, a positive plate, or anode, of PbO2 paste in a grid of hard lead, and an electrolyte of dilute sulphuric acid of specific gravity 1.28. This is a 37% solution, with 472.5 g/l of H2SO4. At full discharge, the electrolyte is of specific gravity 1.05, an 8% solution containing 84.18 g/l of acid. Both plates are coated with PbSO4. Approximately 4 moles of acid are used per litre, which corresponds to 213 A-h of charge (an ampere-hour is a current of one ampere flowing for one hour, or 3600 coulomb). Assuming that 4 moles of Pb are reacted at the cathode, and 4 moles of PbO2 at the anode, the total weight of active materials is about 3 kg. This gives a weight-to-capacity ratio of 14 g/A-h. Of course, this is much lower than is required for a practical battery, with case, electrode grids and other necessities. However, a limit of perhaps 25 g/A-h represents the maximum that can be expected of a lead-acid battery, and a limit of about 200 A-h per litre of electrolyte volume.
The cathode reaction is Pb + SO4++ → PbSO4 + 2e-. For each atom of lead, two electrons pass through the external circuit when the cell is delivering current. At the anode, the reaction is PbO2 + 4H+ + 2SO4++ + 2e- → PbSO4 + 2H2O. This reaction uses the two electrons sent by the cathode through the external circuit. For each two electrons, two molecules of acid are turned into two molecules of water and two molecules of lead sulphate. The electrode potential of the cathode reaction is -0.355V, and the electrode potential of the anode reaction is 1.685V, at standard concentrations. The net potential difference is 1.685 - (-0.355) = 2.040V. At the concentrations in a fully charged battery, the potential difference is closer to 2.2V, decreasing to 2.0V for a fully discharged battery.
It is easy to measure the specific gravity of the electrolyte with a hydrometer, and this gives an accurate estimate of the state of charge of the battery. This is one of the great advantages of the lead-acid cell. Note that the electrode reactions do not show any evolution of gases. With open cells, there is in fact some emission of H2 and O2, so the water lost in this way must be replenished regularly. This was once a regular duty in servicing a car, but modern batteries require very little care, and some are sealed, venting gas only when necessary. Also, ventilation was necessary to prevent the hydrogen from becoming an explosion hazard. When ordinary car batteries are charged rapidly, water is electrolyzed.
The lead in batteries is easily reclaimed, and secondary lead is an important source of the metal. There is even a special blast furnace that accepts a charge of scrap batteries, from which metallic lead can then be tapped. It is necessary to handle the impurities involved, coming from the battery cases and the wooden separators between the plates. These components may be burned to provide the fuel for the process. The contrast with tires, that just pile up in unattractive mountains with little value or use, and sometimes smokily catch fire, is notable.
Cupellation
In the ancient world, a very important application of metallurgy was to the winning of gold and silver from their ores, and the testing of objects made from gold and silver to determine their purity. This was made much more difficult than it is today by the unavailability of strong mineral acids. A particular problem was the "parting" of gold and silver; that is, separating the two metals. Often, whatever alloy happened to result from the smelting process was used without further treatment. Lead played an important role in these matters, both in recovering gold and silver from their ores, assaying ore quality, and testing objects for purity.
The usual way of testing alloys of gold and silver, gold and copper and copper and silver was the use of the touchstone. This word is used today, normally without any understanding of its significance. The touchstone was a particular type of black stone that was abrasive enough to rub off some metal when the object to be tested was scraped along it, leaving a colored streak. This streak was then compared with the streaks left by test strips of metal of known composition to determine its composition.
A cupel was a refractory crucible made from bone or wood ash. In later times, beech ashes were preferred. The carefully purified ashes were moistened and molded into the desired form. The cupel was heated to dry it thoroughly. If the cupel was not properly made, it could break in use with the loss of the test sample. The ore sample or material to be tested was reduced to a powder, and some form of lead was added, together with certain additions that handled known impurities. The cupel was heated in a furnace to fuse the lead, and the sample was stirred with a wooden stick, which added some carbon. In this step, any gold or silver in the sample dissolved in the liquid metal, separating it from matter that would not dissolve. The solubility of gold and silver in lead, and the insolubility of iron, copper and zinc is the basis of the process. This rejected matter was then discarded, and the metallic mass brought to a higher temperature by blowing the fire with bellows. This raised the temperature to the point where litharge, PbO, formed rapidly. The litharge was pulled out as it was formed, and finally only a metallic drop remained, which was the purified gold and silver.
This assay process was called cupellation, which separated the gold and silver from the usual adulterants. Unfortunately, it did not part the gold from the silver, which required other means. It did, however, reveal the content of precious metals, and the touchstone could then determine the relative amounts of gold and silver that were present, and through this the value of the sample. Evidence of cupellation was found in excavations of the Athenian silver mines at Laurium, so it dated from at least the 6th century BCE. These mines produced silver-bearing lead.
The same process was applied in mining, carried out in a much larger cupellation furnace, to separate gold and silver from the ore. It is still used to desilver lead, which can be economically done because of the value of the by-product silver. Pure lead is easily obtained by reducing the litharge with carbon, as described above.
Other processes with the same end effect are amalgamation, dissolving in mercury followed by distillation, described in the article on mercury, and cyanidation, leaching with dilute cyanide solution to dissolve the gold as a soluble cyanide complex, followed by precipitation. Cyanidation is the currently favored method of gold recovery, since it works with very lean ores.
Miscellaneous Uses of Lead
The uses covered in this section are: sounding, glass, pottery glazes, pewter, fulminates, type, bearings, soldering, fusible alloys and bullets.
An interesting use of lead that depends only on its density was the determination of the depth of water at sea by means of a sounding with a lead line. The leadsman stood on the chains, a platform on the side of the ship, on the weather side (that is, the side from which the wind was blowing), with a hand lead line, 25 fathoms (150 ft) long. This consisted of a hemp line with a lead plummet, weighing about 7 lb, attached to one end by a rope or leather device. Certain fathom distances were marked by cloth or leather markers that could be individually distinguished. The leadsman cast the plummet ahead, so it would be vertically beneath him when it reached the bottom, and called out the mark that was observed in a traditional manner. The first mark was at 2 fathoms, so if it appeared at the surface, the leadsman would sing out "By the mark, twain!" This wasn't much water for an ocean-going ship, but on the Mississippi it was enough, and Samuel Clemens took it for a pen name.
There were marks only at 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 and 20 fathoms. If the lead bottomed with the water in between marks, say at six fathoms, the leadsman would call instead "Deep, six" to let the helmsman know that it was not an exact mark, but an estimated one. The plummet had a recess in the bottom that was filled with tallow. When it struck bottom, it would pick up any loose material so the nature of the bottom would be known (for anchoring purposes). If it came up clean, the bottom was rock. In these last two paragraphs, "lead" is always pronounced like the metal.
Glass is a fused mixture of silica with some addition,a flux, to lower the melting point of the mixture. When it is cooled, the substance finds it very difficult to attain the correct structure for crystalline silica, which is complicated, in view of the tangled mass of long molecules that results from the typical formation of long chains of silica atoms. If the added material is Na2CO3, the result is soda or crown glass with an index of refraction of about 1.5. A glass made from K2CO3, PbO and ground flints is called flint glass, and in extreme cases can have an index of refraction as high as 1.890. This glass is used in decorative cut glass. Too much lead makes the glass unstable to crystallization. In the making of clear glass, impurities in the raw materials must be eliminated.
Pottery is made from clay that is moistened and shaped. It is then fired in a kiln to a stage called biscuit, in which the clay has undergone a chemical reaction so that it is rigid and brittle, and no longer affected by moisture. Now a glaze can be applied on the surface in the form of a liquid, decoration added, and the item given a finish firing, that fuses the glaze into a smooth coating for the piece. The glaze is essentially a coating of glass. Early glazes used sand, lime, powdered galena and salt. Salt melts at 801°C, but the glaze would seem to be soluble. The Romans introduced lead glazes, that incorporated PbO and other lead compounds. One lead glaze gave the red terra sigillata ware, another a popular blue-green glaze. The technique was lost in the west, but preserved in Constantinople, and was re-established in the 11th century. A tin glaze from Mesopotamia was popular in medieval times, which consisted of PbO, SnO, NaCl and potassium glass. In Staffordshire in England, glazes, many of which used lead, played an important role in the evolution of tableware.
Pewter is a soft alloy of tin that was used for pitchers, platters and pots, a sort of inexpensive silver that was easily shaped and worked. A traditional alloy was 80 Sn, 15 Pb, 5 Sb. The lead was added to reduce the cost of the metal, the antimony to harden it. If the lead content is objectionable, as it is if food is to be in contact with the pewter, lead-free pewter of 85 Sn, 15 Sb or 85 Sn, 6.8 Cu, 6 Bi, 1.7 Sb can be used.
The first fulminating compound seems to be mercury fulminate, discovered by Howard in 1799. "Fulminating" comes from the Latin fulminis, "lightning," and describes compounds that explode violently when shocked or heated. They are used to detonate high explosives like dynamite or TNT that require a detonating shock wave to explode. Gunpowder in a restricted volume can also be set off by fulminates. A small percussion cap containing a fulminating compound at the end of a cartridge explodes when struck by the firing pin, igniting the main propellant charge.
Lead azide, Pb(N3)2, is another useful fulminate that is an alternative to mercury fulminate. It is a salt of hydrazoic acid, HN3, which freezes at -80°C and boils at 35.7°C, becoming an explosive gas. The azide ion has the structure -N=N+=N-, where the (+) represents a partial electron deficiency, and the (-) a partal electron excess. The radical is actually a resonance structure, and cannot be properly represented by a single structural formula. When connected to an unsaturated carbon, the added latitude for the electrons lowers the energy and the radical is not as unstable. When connected to a metal atom, the radical is unstable and can decompose to nitrogen. For example, 2HN3 → 3N2 + 2H2 + 113,200 cal. Sodium azide can be made from sodamide and nitrous oxide, and hydrazoic acid then obtained by treatment with sulphuric acid. Lead azide is the Pb++ salt of hydrazoic acid. The colorless needles are insoluble in cold water, slightly soluble in hot water, and very soluble in acetic acid. When heated to 350°C, lead azide explodes, giving lead, nitrogen and heat. The root "azo" comes from the French for nitrogen, azote. KN3, NaN3, AgN3 and TlN3 are also known. The potassium and sodium azides are probably not as unstable as the last two. While we are on the subject of fulminates, NCl3 and NI3 are very sensitive, the latter exquisitely so, since touching it with a feather is enough to set it off. Such fulminates are not practically useful, of course.
Lead styphnate, the lead salt of 2,4,6-trinitro,1,3-dihydroxybenzene, or lead 2,4,6-trinitroresorcinol, is now used, in combination with other ingredients (to give it more bang), in electrical detonators, replacing mercuric fulminate. It is non-hygroscopic and stable, having a positive heat of formation, but very sensitive to flame or spark. It is unusually sensitive to static electricity, so it is dangerous to handle. It is insensitive to nuclear radiations.
It is popularly believed that Johann Gutenberg (1400-1468) of Mainz invented the printing press and produced the first printed book, an edition of the Bible, in 1456. Of course, this is true in essence, but the full story is more complicated and more interesting. The printing press, paper and ink were all known and used at the time. Books and illustrations were already produced. Paper was what made printing possible. Parchment and similar media, which had been used in the West since papyrus became unavailable, are not suitable for printing, because they are too uneven to receive a good impression, and besides were much too expensive for mass use. Paper made from textile fibres was invented in China, and was perfect for the press. This is perhaps the most important Chinese invention that actually reached the West and found actual use without essential modification.
Gutenberg's contribution was the process of making type of good quality and sufficient amount to be used in general printing, so that a plate could be assembled from fonts of type, and the type re-used after printing, a much more practical process than creating individual blocks for each page. The method he chose was to cast the type in metal, using a carefully made die to stamp out the molds. The problem here is that most metals shrink on freezing, a problem that would be severe with the small castings. The solution was type metal, an alloy of 62 Pb, 24 Sb and 14 Sn, that not only melted at a low temperature, but also expanded slightly on cooling, so that it would fill the molds accurately. It was also a hard alloy, so the type would stand up to repeated use. Linotype machines used an 85 Cu, 15 Sb, 5 Sn (or 82, 15, 3) alloy. These machines, as the name indicates, cast a complete line of type at once after the operator had typed in the letters. Gutenberg's invention was the method of manufacturing type. From there it was an easy step to the printing that made books available to the general public.
The design of bearings, where one metal slides on another, has always been important in technology. The governing principles are that the two metals in contact must be different, and that the interface must be lubricated in such a way that the two metals are kept from actual contact. There is another class of bearings in which the contact is a rolling one, where different problems arise. We'll treat only bearings with sliding motion here. Such bearings have the advantage of being able to carry heavy loads, of being of simple construction, and are well adapted to carry away excess heat by conduction.
A lightly loaded bearing is loaded up to 1000 psi, moderately loaded up to 2000 psi, and a heavily loaded above 3000 psi. A low surface speed is less than 10 fps, moderate 15-20 psi, and high above 30 fps. Resistance to seizure is called "score resistance." A high score resistance is necessary at high surface speed, or if the bearing is started and stopped frequently, when the lubricating film may be squeezed out. Score resistance and compressive strength are inversely correlated.
An excellent form of lubrication is hydrodynamic, where the oil film is drawn into the bearing by the movement. The oil may be supplied by a pressure system, or by a wick dipping into a reservoir. There is no metal-to-metal contact at all, and the friction is very low. With this kind of lubrication, the oil supply must not be interrrupted, and must be kept very clean. Such bearings are used in automotive engines (usually with soft-metal bearings), and were originally used for the journals of railway axles, where the load was heavy. In this latter use, they have been replaced by roller bearings, not to reduce the friction, but to overcome the dangers of poor maintenance. A roller bearing requires no regular maintenance and can largely be forgotten (a valuable feature on American railways), while the oil reservoirs for a hydrodynamic bearing must be kept filled and clean, and the wick in place. A hydrodynamic bearing has larger friction before the oil film is established, but when running is as antifriction as a roller bearing.
A simple, traditional bearing is 60 Cu, 40 Zn brass on steel, lubricated by grease that sticks to the surfaces because of its viscosity. Before the petroleum age, tallow was often used as the lubricant. A few percent of lead improves the anti-scoring property. The lead does not dissolve, but forms small drops of soft material. Bronzes with high lead content, say 70 Cu, 10 Sn, 20 Pb, have good score resistance, but less compressive strength. These are called leaded bronze bearings.
For low loads, the tin-based bearing alloys called "babbitt" are superior. Isaac Babbitt was the original patentee. A typical alloy is SAE10: 90 Sn, 5 Sb, 5 Cu. These alloys depend on the formation of an intermetallic compound SbSn which forms hard, antifriction "cuboids." Similar alloys are lead-based, such as SAE14: 80 Pb, 10 Sn, 10 Sb, or "white metal," 75 Pb, 19 Sb, 5 Sn, 1 Cu. The popular and inexpensive Magnolia Metal was 80 Pb, 15 Sb, 5 Sn, or 90 Pb, 10 Sb. The lead alloys can carry less load than tin babbitt, because they are softer. Tin is expensive compared to lead, so lead alloys are cheaper. These soft bearing alloys are often backed with a steel shell to support them and to prevent them from extruding. There are also copper-lead bearing alloys, such as 60 Cu, 40 Pb. The lead does not dissolve in the copper, and the soft crystallites smear out to make a good bearing surface.
Lead forms the intermetallic compound Pb3Ca. It dissoves in lead at 316°C (just below the melting point) and precipitates out at about 20°C. The precipitate hardens the lead from Brinell 7 to Brinell 19. This is called precipitation hardening, and makes a stronger bearing material.
Soldering is a valuable method of joining metals, that can be done with solders that melt at a conveniently low temperature, in the region of 200°C to 300°C, so that an electric soldering tool can be used. These are sometimes called "soldering irons" though always of copper, not iron. Soldering depends on the liquid solder's wetting the two surfaces to be joined, which requires that the surfaces be clean and free of corrosion. A flux is used to maintain the surfaces clean, and is absolutely necessary to a successful solder joint. Lead on its own does not wet metals well, but when tin is added the alloy wets copper, silver, gold and tin very well. Besides, it melts at a lower temperature and so is easier to use. The frequently-used "60-40" solder is 60 Sn, 40 Pb, which begins to melt at 183°C and is fully melted at 190°C. The 50-50 alloy was called "common solder" and is a compromise. A 40 Sn, 60 Pb low-tin plumbing solder begins to melt at 183°C and is fully melted at 238°C. The wide temperature interval in which the solder is "pasty" makes a "wiped" joint easy. An alloy 62 Sn, 38 Pb melts and freezes sharply at 183°C, and is called the eutectic alloy. Eutectic solder is excellent for electronic work.
A schematic equilibrium diagram of the tin-lead system is shown at the right. The vertical scale is temperature, the horizontal is composition, from 100% Sn on the left to 100% Pb on the right. The component α is a solid solution of a little Pb in Sn, while β is a solid solution of Sn in Pb. In the liquid state, Pb and Sn mix uniformly in any proportion. In other regions of the diagram, there is a mixture of two phases of different composition and structure. The mixtures of Sn and Pb melt at lower temperatures than either pure component, a common happening. The melting point is a minimum, 183°C for a composition of 38% Pb, 72% Sn, which we have noted is called the eutectic. This is from Greek, and means "easy melting." If we start with a homogeneous liquid of this composition and cool it, it freezes abruptly at 183°C, and the temperature remains constant until all the liquid has solidified. The result, the eutectic solid, is a finely layered strudel of α and β components.
If the liquid is richer in lead than the eutectic, some α phase begins to crystallize out when the line joining E and the melting point of Pb is reached. As it cools further, the α phase is joined by some eutectic material, and when it reaches the horizontal line the last to solidify gives eutectic. The same thing happens if the liquid is richer in tin, but now the β component is mixed with eutectic. At the far right and left of the diagram, a pure α or β phase crystallizes out. An understanding of this diagram will explain the behavior of solder well.
Rosin, or a solution of rosin in alcohol, is a noncorrosive flux that can be used with copper, silver, gold or tin. It will not remove oxides, but protects the surfaces when heated and causes the solder to flow easily. There is an activated rosin that is somewhat more effective, and only slightly corrosive. Rosin flux, in general, does not have to be removed. For soldering iron and steel, a more active flux that removes oxides is necessary, and zinc or ammonium chlorides are satisfactory. They are corrosive, and must be removed after use, best by washing with weak hydrochloric acid and then water. One popular flux is mixed in petroleum jelly so it will stick, and called "Nokorode" although it will, of course, and should certainly be avoided for electronic work. The solder wire generally used in electronics includes a rosin core, so it generally does not need added flux.
Hard, or "silver" solders melt at around 700°C, and contain no lead. A typical alloy is 45 Ag, 30 Cu, 25 Zn. Soldering with these alloys is called brazing, and is generally done with a gas torch and a special flux.
Lead is also found in fusible or low-melting alloys. One use for these was for fusible plugs in the crown sheets of boilers. The crown sheet is the sheet directly above the fire. If it is not kept covered by water, the metal can overheat, distort and fail disastrously. A fusible plug melts if not kept below its fusing temperature by water, and allows a jet of water and steam to extinguish the fire, besides warning the crew. Fusible elements are also used in automatic fire sprinkler systems, and, of course, in fuses that melt when an excessive electric current passes through them.
Low-melting alloys are about 50% bismuth, with various amounts of lead, tin and cadmium, depending on the melting point required. Rose's alloy, which melts at 100°C, is 50 Bi, 28 Pb, 22 Sn. Wood's alloy, melting at 71°C, is 50 Bi, 24 Pb, 14 Sn, 12 Cd, or 50 Bi, 25 Pb, 12.5 Sn, 12.5 Cd. Wood's alloy is used for casting teaspoons for entertainment purposes. These alloys can also be used as patterns for investment casting, and for hobby and modelling purposes. Note that the compositions of such alloys vary a little, but all will have similar properties.
Lead is used for bullets and shot, chiefly because of its high density. Shot alloys have been given as 99.8 Pb, 0.2 As, or 94 Pb, 6 Sb. The latter is the common antimonial hard lead, also used for battery plates. Lead was too expensive for use in cannonballs. A smooth-bore hand weapon uses a spherical bullet. Any other shape would tumble excessively and produce an inaccurate, short range shot. A musketeer often carried his own lead, crucible and bullet mold and made his own bullets over his campfire. The mold was often furnished with the weapon, so the bullets would fit. Rifle bullets are made to rotate by the helical lands or rifling in the barrel, so they can be made longer and heavier. Originally, however, they were round like any other bullet, and were usually wrapped in a lubricated patch that engaged the rifling. A "round" consists of bullet, wad, powder and cap (for a percussion round). These were packaged for convenience in a "cartridge" made of cardboard. Only later do we find a brass cartridge case containing the powder, with the bullet crimped at the end, and a percussion cap in the base, that can be inserted in the chamber and fired with no other complications.
Shotgun cartridges, incorrectly called "shells," are still cardboard, with a brass piece containing the percussion cap crimped on one end. The spherical shot was at one time (and maybe still is) made in shot towers, one of which is to be seen beside the Thames today, converted to some other use. Molten lead was poured into a sieve at the top of the tower, and the falling drops assumed an accurate spherical shape and cooled by the time they reached the bottom, where they only had to be picked up and sorted by screening.
References
Properties of lead and its compounds are passim in handbooks such as the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Lange's Handbook of Chemistry, and Kent's Mechanical Engineer's Handbook.
G. Agricola, De Re Metallica (1556). H. C. Hoover and L. H. Hoover, transl. (New York: Dover, 1950). Description of cupellation.
J. L. Bray, Non-Ferrous Production Metallurgy, 2nd ed. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1947), Chapter 14.
R. A. Higgins, Engineering Metallurgy, 3rd ed. (London: The English Universities Press, 1971). Equilibrium diagrams.
W. N. Jones, Inorganic Chemistry (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1949), Chapter 31.
P. Kemp, ed., The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea (London: Oxford University Press, 1976). Sounding.
Image of galena kindly furnished by Amethyst Galleries, Inc. . This is an excellent website and specimens can be purchased online. This is probably the best mineral website, and the company should be supported for making it available.
Composed by J. B. Calvert
Created 10 November 2002
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The Astor family were owners of which magnificent house | Living With a Touch of Astor Family History - The New York Times
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Living With a Touch of Astor Family History
By LAURA LATHAM
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The interior open-plan living area of The Astor, a six-bedroom barn conversion near Cookham, Berkshire. Credit Hamptons International
COOKHAM, ENGLAND — The Astor family legacy is still making its mark on British property sales.
The new owner of Rest Harrow, a 14-bedroom, Arts-and-Crafts-style residence on the Kent coast, prefers to remain anonymous but the house’s history ensures that the property itself will draw attention.
The home, a sea-facing mansion, was built in 1910 for Viscount William Waldorf Astor and his wife, Nancy. The viscount, whose father built the Waldorf Astoria, the New York hotel, belonged to one of the most famous and wealthy families in the United States, but he relocated to Britain in the late 1800s.
Nancy Astor was the first woman elected to the British Parliament and, even today, the Astors remain at the heart of British business and politics. The current Lady Astor is the mother of Samantha Cameron, wife of Prime Minister David Cameron.
Rest Harrow, which remained in the family until its sale in January, is on the Sandwich Bay Estate, a private property near the historic riverside village of Sandwich and a 90-minute drive from central London. Although in need of some updating, the property, which was listed at £2.25 million, or $3.4 million, drew interest from prospective international buyers. According to the sales agent, Andrew Harwood of the London-based property agency Knight Frank, they included U.S. and British financiers and Russian entrepreneurs.
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The sale of the estate, which sits on 3.05 acres, or 1.2 hectares, and comprises the house, includes 11,560 square feet, or 1,074 square meters, of living space; a staff cottage of 1,829 square feet; and gardens with outdoor and indoor tennis courts.
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“In terms of price per square feet, this house is fantastic value,” Mr. Harwood said. “East Kent has always been good value. If this house was closer to London it would be double the asking price.”
The Astors regularly spent their summers with their children and grandchildren at Rest Harrow. Lady Astor loved to entertain and famous guests of the period included the writer George Bernard Shaw, and two former prime ministers, Harold Macmillan and Winston Churchill. More recent guests have included another British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and the author V.S. Naipaul, a Nobel Prize laureate.
The house is predominantly south facing and has sweeping views of the Kent coast. The ground floor comprises several large reception rooms, two kitchens and servants’ quarters. On the first floor upstairs are the main bedrooms with an additional five bedrooms. The nursery is on the floor above.
Lady Astor was a great believer in the benefits of seawater and had it piped directly into the two grand bathrooms attached to the master bedroom, which still have the original fittings.
Although Rest Harrow has been sold, part of another piece of Astor history is still on the market. The Astors’ main residence in Britain was the stately home of Cliveden, in the county of Berkshire. It was the location of the Profumo scandal, which rocked the British government in the 1960s, and is now a hotel. Cliveden’s former farm, however, has been developed into residential properties.
The estate, which in the early 1900s was run by the viscount as a highly productive model farm, is behind electronic gates at the end of 2 miles, or 3.2 kilometers, track. The village of Cookham is a mile away and rail access to London takes 40 minutes.
The former workers’ cottages and buildings that housed the dairy, stables and workshops now have Grade II listings from the English Heritage organization, meaning that they are of more than special historic interest. The listing restricts alterations and requires that remaining original features be preserved.
But although the homes’ exteriors may look as they did a hundred years ago, the interiors have been redesigned for modern lifestyles. Of the six properties that have been renovated during the past two years, all have been sold for £700,000 to £1.75 million.
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The former milking parlor, renamed The Astor, was completed recently and is on the market at £4.95 million. The property measures 11,420 square feet and has large open-plan living and dining areas, six ground-floor bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, a basement gym and hammam, a movie room and a wine cellar. The grounds comprise 2.5 acres with a four-car garage and outbuildings. From the garden, there is private access to the River Thames and also to the main estate.
“When the farm was bought, this building was empty except for a lot of cow manure,” said Nick Hole-Jones, a local agent with the real estate consultants Hamptons International. “So there was a lot of scope to do something unique.”
While the exterior may still resemble a barn, with its red roof tiles and beamed exterior, the architect, Michael Fowler, created a large internal space that allows light to flood inside.
A staircase rises from the center of the ground-floor space, leading up to two mezzanine-style floors designed to appear as if they were floating in the open space. The first is a 500-square-foot seating area and the second, a 254-square-foot level that includes a bar.
The house is fitted with smart technology and even has iPod docks that allow music to be piped to all areas. “It’s been designed as a bit of a party house,” Mr. Hole-Jones said. “It’s the kind of home that would appeal to someone wanting privacy, a buyer with money who doesn’t need to show it, and who also values the security of the location.”
For those not in the market to buy, another property with an Astor connection is available to rent for £8,000 per month, through Hampton’s International.
Hosey Rigge, a six-bedroom, red brick Edwardian villa in the Kentish village of Westerham, has 7,180 square feet of living space that includes an indoor pool. Until 1995 it was the home of Lady Fiona Astor, the former wife of the present Lord Astor of Hever.
The property has had several famous houseguests, like Churchill and his wife, Clementine, who stayed here while their nearby home, Chartwell, was being renovated. (They called the house “Cosy Pigge.”)
Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” also visited before her death in 1934. But reports that Mr. Carroll wrote his famous manuscript here cannot be true, as the author died in 1898 and the house was not built until 1905.
A version of this article appears in print on March 15, 2013, in The International Herald Tribune. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe
| Cliveden |
Eaton Hall in Cheshire has been the seat of which ducal family since the 1440's | Timeline of Cliveden House | 5* Country House Hotel in Berkshire
Estate acquired by Manfield Family.
1666
Estate acquired by George Villiers 2nd Duke of Buckingham. He built the original House on the terrace. Built as a hunting lodge to entertain mistress and friends.
1668
Dual fought between Duke of Buckingham and Earl of Shrewsbury on account of Countess of Shrewsbury, at Barn Elms near Putney Bridge. Earl of Shrewsbury was wounded and later died.
1696
1st Earl of Orkney acquired Cliveden estate and lived here with his wife Elizabeth Villiers who was a first cousin of Duke of Buckingham. Earl of Orkney was a fine soldier and fought often for his country
1737
Frederick Prince of Wales leased the house from Anne Countess of Orkney and her husband the 4th Earl of Inchiquin who moved to live at Taplow Court which was part of the estate.
1751
Three Countesses of Orkney. Following the death of Frederick Prince of Wales his wife Augusta gave up the lease on Cliveden and Anne her husband 4th Earl of Inchiquin moved back.
1795
Devastating fire which destroyed all of the main mansion and only the wings remained.
1849
Duke and Duchess of Sutherland moved in to Cliveden. During this year the House suffered another devastating fire which again destroyed the main house. The queen saw the smoke from Windsor Castle and despatched fire engines from Windsor to help to fight the fire.
1861
Water tower completed by Henry Clutton. The sculpture on the top of the tower is a version of the Spirit of Liberty as in the Place de la Bastille in Paris. In 1868 the Duchess died and the house was sold.
1868
Duke of Westminster arrived at Cliveden. During this time many alterations were made to the interior of the House.
1893
The Astors, William Waldorf Astor was immensely rich and purchased Cliveden for $1.25 million. In 1894 Mamie, Lady Astor died at the age of 36. William was devastated and became almost a recluse at Cliveden spending all of his time and effort on changes to the House and his home in London.
1897
Lord Astor purchased the wall panels seen today in the French Dining Room from Chateaux d'Asnieres near Paris. The panels date from the mid 18th century.
1897
Fountain of Love carved by Thomas Waldo Story in marble and volcanic rock in Rome.
1905
Waldorf Astor met and fell in love with Nancy Langhorne.
1906
Waldorf was given Cliveden by his father William Astor, at the same time he gave Nancy a magnificent tiara containing the famous Sancy diamond which, is 55 carats and is now kept in the Louvre in Paris.
1914
Waldorf volunteered for the army but failed the medical. The house was offered as a hospital but it was decided that it would be too difficult to adapt. Undaunted, he offered it to the Canadians who created a hospital in the covered tennis court and the bowling alley. Several other buildings on the estate were used as accommodation for staff.
1915
The Duchess of Connaught Red Cross Hospital could take 110 patients and ended up being able to house 600. In this year Winston Churchill visited and later the same year the King and Queen paid an official visit.
1932
President Roosevelt visited Cliveden. Many famous people visited Cliveden in the post war years including Charlie Chaplin and George-Bernard Shaw.
1961
Bill Astor installed the outdoor swimming pool where Christine Keeler and John Profumo met thus igniting the biggest political scandal in British political history.
1965
Cliveden has often been used for entertaining and for film making. In 1965 the Beatles filmed part of 'Help' the movie at the house and famously held races on the Parterre between themselves and the film crew in-between scenes.
1969
Stanford University leased the House for use as a place of learning until 1983.
1985
Cliveden House becomes a luxury hotel and the story continues.
2012
A new chapter begins... Cliveden House becomes the sister hotel of Chewton Glen in Hampshire. Another famously iconic English Country House Hotel.
Cliveden House & Spa - Taplow, Berkshire, England SL6 0JF Res: 00 44 1628 607107
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