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The spice saffron is made from the dried stigmas of which flower? | Saffron - History and Domestication of Crocus sativus
By K. Kris Hirst
Updated July 11, 2016.
Saffron is technically a spice, made from the dried stigmas of the crocus flower (Crocus sativus). Saffron crocus is a corm , and a member of the family Iridaceae. Likely first domesticated from the wild version Crocus cartwrightianus in the Late Bronze Age Aegean ( Minoan period, ca 1900-1600 BC) (although there is some debate), saffron had and has a variety of uses.
Saffron is a powerful pigment, able to dye liquid, skin, hair and cloth a rich yellow color (even red saffron is yellow in solution) up to 150,000 times its own weight: the chemical producing the vivid yellow is called crocetin. Saffron is added for its flavor and aroma to many traditional Mediterranean and Asian dishes . It is also a medicine, and has been used as a pain-reliever in many societies around the world. The active chemical for pain-killing in saffron is isophorone, which is currently undergoing tests for treatment in a wide range of diseases. In all these uses, a little bit goes a long way, and a good thing, too: current retail prices are approximately US$10 (~8 Euros) per gram (or US$10,000 per kilogram, or two pounds).
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Making Saffron
Saffron has always been ludicrously expensive, even during its use in the Minoan culture, where the same weights used to measure gold were used for saffron. The reason for the expense is the labor-intensive nature of the production process.
Saffron only blooms for one month in the autumn, and some flowers may only be open for two weeks. During the brief blooming, the stigmas of C. sativus are painstakingly separated from the petals and stamens and then dried, a procedure best carried out on the day of the collection. Each crocus has three stigmas, and it takes about 160,000 flowers to produce five kg (11 lbs) of wet stigmas, which converts to 1 kg (2 lbs) of dried spice.
Yields per hectare in modern Greece range between 4 and 8 kilograms (9-18 pounds) , although in other areas the yields are much higher--New Zealand crocus farms produce up to 24 kg (53 lbs) per ha.
Harvesting saffron can only be done by hand: labor estimates on modern saffron cultivation and harvest in New Zealand is 400 person-hours per kg; in Iran estimates run to 270 person-days (2160 person-hours).
Archaeological Evidence of Saffron Domestication
Most scholars point to Greece as the origin of saffron, although a recent DNA study (Alavi-Kia et al. 2008) suggests that the plant may have originated in Mesopotamia. There are some 80 species of crocus distributed throughout southwestern Europe; Alavi-Kia et al. suggest possible wild progenitors for saffron as the Iranian forms C. almehensis or C. mickelsonii.
In the 19th century, domesticated saffron (C. sativus) was reported growing near the Minoan towns of Khania and Rethymnon. Evidence for domestication is the average number of flowers on a plant (the wild form has between one and five flowers; C. sativus between three and five), and the relative length of the stamens: both species will produce saffron, but stamens in the domestic version are long enough to flop out of the flower.
Because that kind of evidence is difficult to document archaeologically, there is some debate about when the Minoans stopped gathering wild crocus and began transplanting the corm to more convenient places, and selected for the long stamens. At some point, probably during the Neo-Palatial period of 1900-1600 BC, that tipping point was crossed.
Isophorone has been identified on sherds from the Early to Neo-Palatial (ca 2300-1900 BC) period site of Chrysokamino. Crocus flower representations on pottery, stone, faience , seals, jewelry and frescoes are found in the Early to Middle Minoan period. Saffron flowers are illustrated on Linear B tablets in the Late Bronze Age Aegean at Knossos , where 59 whole or partial tablets illustrating the palace recipe for saffron has been identified. One of the tablets describes a recipe for more than 4 kilograms, requiring the harvest from 640,000 flowers, or a minimum of 128,000 different plants.
Two famous Minoan frescoes illustrate crocus picking are found at Knossos. In one a blue monkey is picking flowers out of a bowl; and at the Xeste 3 fresco in Room 3 at Akrotiri, two women (one with a blue scalp) are illustrated in a field of saffron.
Recent Saffron Studies
Examination of Linear A and B tablets from Knossos suggests to JO Day (2011) that although saffron had a special meaning to Minoan society, under the Mycenaeans, it lost its importance, becoming simply one of several commodities depicted. Day argues that the decrease may have been a political one: the Mycenaeans saw saffron as a Minoan motif and hence worth suppressing.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to Plant Domestication , Ancient Pigments , and the Dictionary of Archaeology .
Alavi-Kia SS, Mohammadi SA, Aharizad S, and Maghaddam M. 2008. Analysis of genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships in crocus genus of Iran using inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism. Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment 22(3):795-800.
Beeston RF, Palatinus J, Beck CW, and Stout EC. 2006. Organic Residue Analysis of Pottery Sherds from Chrysokamino. Hesperia Supplements: The Chrysokamino Metallurgy Workshop and its Territory 36:413-428.
Licón CC, Carmona M, Rubio R, Molina A, and Berruga MI. 2012. Preliminary study of saffron (Crocus sativus L. stigmas) color extraction in a dairy matrix. Dyes and Pigments 92(3):1355-1360.
Pizzichini D, Chiusano ML, and Giuliano G. 2007. An EST database from saffron stigmas . BMC Plant Biology 7:53. (Open source)
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Which was the last of the seven 'Road' films starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby? | Saffron Flower in India
Home > Reference > Flora & Fauna > Indian Flowers > Saffron Flower in India
Saffron Flower in India
Saffron Flower is a well known item all over the world added to various food items for colouring, flavouring and for taste.
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More on Saffron Flower in India (1)
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Saffron Flower is a well known flower plant which belongs to the botanical family, Iridaceae. A spice made from the dried stigma of the flower of saffron crocus is considered the world's most expensive spice. The plant has various uses including culinary and medicinal and is found quite extensively throughout India. The origin of saffron dates back to more than 3,000 years and is mentioned in various historical documents found in the Mediterranean, Asian and European countries. The Chinese historical documents of the 3rd century AD referred saffron to have a Kashmiri provenance.
Origin of Saffron
According to other historical evidences saffron was brought to India by the Persian rulers around 500 BC. The Persian rulers transplanted the Persian saffron crocus corms to the Kashmiri soils, once they conquered Kashmir. According to ancient Chinese historical account an Arhant Indian Buddhist missionary named Madhyantika (or Majjhantika) sowed Kashmir's first saffron crop when he was sent to Kashmir in the 5th century BC. Saffron cultivation and its uses are believed to spread through the Indian subcontinent from Kashmir. The huge popularity of saffron during that time made it the official colour for Buddhist robes and mantles, immediately after the death of Lord Buddha .
The Phoenicians began cultivation of saffron in India during the 6th century BC and also started marketing the Kashmiri saffron by utilising their extensive trade routes. Saffron is used regularly for anointing Gomateshwara, as part of the Mahamastakabhisheka festival, since 978-993 AD. However, according to the traditional Kashmiri legends, saffron was brought to the region by two Sufi ascetics, Khwaja Masood Wali and Hazrat Sheikh Shariffudin, during the 11th and 12th centuries AD. A golden-domed shrine and tomb dedicated to those Sufis can be found in the saffron-trading village of Pampore, India, till today. However, famous Kashmir poet and scholar Mohammed Yusuf Teng differed with this history of saffron and stated that the plant had been cultivated in Kashmir for more than two millennia. The Kashmiri Tantric Hindu epics of that time mention about saffron cultivation as well.
Nature of Saffron
Saffron is a small bulbous perennial plant with the botanical name of Crocus sativus Linn. The low growing plant grows 15 to 25 cm high and has an underground globular corm. It is mainly cultivated for its large, scented, blue or lavender flowers. The flowers of saffron plant have divided, orange coloured stigmas, which along with the style-tops yield the saffron of commerce. The flowering period of saffron starts during middle or late October and lasts only until the first or second week of November. However, the number of saffron flowers and the time of blooming in any year are dependent upon the temperature prevalent in spring and autumn and upon the amount of rainfall.
Saffron is known by different names in various Indian languages. In Sanskrit, the plant is named as Keshara, Kunkuma, Aruna, Asra and Asrika. The Hindi and Punjabi names of the plant are Zaffran and Kesar and it is called as Zaffran in Bengali. The Gujarati speaking people know the plant as Keshar, while in Kannada it is called as Kunkuma Kesari. In Kashmiri, saffron is known as Kong and the Marathi speaking people call it as Kesar and Kesara. While it is called as Kungumapu in Tamil, the Telugu name of saffron is Kunkumapuva. In Urdu it is popular as Zaffran and Jafranekar.
The state of Jammu & Kashmir is the place where saffron is predominately cultivated in India. In fact, Kashmir is considered one of the three prominent cultivating places of saffron all over the world. The state of Himachal Pradesh is also counted among the premium cultivating places of saffron in India. The ideal environment for cultivation of saffron is cool dry climate and rich soil with excellent drainage and organic content. India is one of the premium producers and exporters of top-grade 'coupe' saffron around the world. Saffron is also used quite extensively for self-consumption in different parts of India. There are three grades of saffron available in Indian market and they are known as Shahi Saffron, Mogra saffron, and Lachha Saffron.
Uses of Saffron
Saffron has many uses in India. It is frequently used for culinary and medicinal purposes. In ancient period, the Kashmiri saffron was used as a fabric dye and also for treating depression. Saffron stigmas were soaked in water to yield a golden-yellow solution and were then used as a fabric dye. The usable saffrons are produced by drying the stigmas and part of the styles of the purple autumn crocus. Saffron has a bitter taste and a penetrating aromatic odour. It can be added to various food items for colouring, flavouring and also for taste. In fact, saffron is considered one of the oldest and most expensive spices in the world. For its unique aromatic feature, saffron is commonly used in preparing food items like baked goods, cheeses, confectionaries, curries, liquors, meat dishes, and soups, etc.
Apart from its culinary uses, saffron has also been used for serving several medicinal purposes since the ancient period. It has carminative (suppressing cramps and flatulence) and emmenagogic (enhancing pelvic blood flow) properties. It is also used as herbal medicine for curing respiratory infections and disorders like coughs and common colds, scarlet fever, smallpox, cancer, hypoxia, and asthma, etc. It is used in treatment of other health disorders like blood disorders, insomnia, paralysis, heart diseases, flatulence, stomach upsets, gout, chronic uterine haemorrhage, dysmenorrhoea, amenorrhea, baby colic, eye disorders, etc. as well. Saffron is also used as a perfume.
As a whole, saffron can be described as quite a useful plant that has limited cultivation areas. The limited cultivation of the plant has made it one of the most expensive spices while its numerous uses have made it one of the most sought after plants all over the world.
(Last Updated on : 29/06/2013)
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In which month is St George's Day? | St. George's Day in United Kingdom
Home Calendar Holidays United Kingdom St. George's Day
St. George's Day in United Kingdom
St George's Day in England remembers St George, England's patron saint. The anniversary of his death, which is on April 23, is seen as England's national day. According to legend, he was a soldier in the Roman army who killed a dragon and saved a princess.
According to legend, St George slayed a dragon. Many Christians observe St George's Day in the UK, although it is not a public holiday.
According to legend, St George slayed a dragon. Many Christians observe St George's Day in the UK, although it is not a public holiday.
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Celebrate St George's Day
St George's Day used to be a national holiday in England. It is now an observance that is celebrated with parades, dancing and other activities. Flags with the image of St George's cross are flown on some buildings, especially pubs, and a few people wear a red rose on their lapel. Church services on the Sunday closest to April 23 often include the hymn 'Jerusalem', written by the poet William Blake. The words describe a supposed visit to Glastonbury, England, by Jesus Christ during his youth.
Public Life
April 23 is not a public holiday. Schools, stores, post offices, businesses and other organizations are open as usual. Public transport services run to their usual timetables.
About St George's Day
St George was born sometime around the year 280 in what is now Turkey. He was a soldier and rose up through the ranks of the Roman army, eventually becoming a personal guard to the Emperor Diocletian. He was executed for being a Christian on April 23, 303, and is buried in the town of Lod in Israel.
St George is most widely known for slaying a dragon. According to legend, the only well in the town of Silene was guarded by a dragon. In order to get water, the inhabitants of the town had to offer a human sacrifice every day to the dragon. The person to be sacrificed was chosen by lots. On the day that St George was visiting, a princess had been selected to be sacrificed. However, he killed the dragon, saved the princess and gave the people of Silene access to water. In gratitude, they converted to Christianity. It is thought that the dragon represents a certain type of pagan belief that included the sacrifice of human beings.
St George's Day was once celebrated as widely as Christmas. But the celebrations waned by the end of the 18th century after England had united with Scotland on May 1, 1707. In recent times, there has been a push, involving campaigns and petitions, to make the day a public holiday in England.
St George is the patron saint of a number of other places, such as Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Portugal and Russia. He is also remembered in some regional holidays, such as in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada and among the Gorani people who live in a mountainous area in the Balkans and were converted to Islam many centuries ago, but still observe St George's Day. Around the world, a number of days are devoted to St George, including April 23 and dates in November and December of the Gregorian calendar.
Symbols
The most widely recognized symbol of St George's Day is St George's cross. This is a red cross on a white background, which is often displayed as a flag. It is used as England's national flag, forming part of the Union Flag, the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Saint George's cross was originally the flag of the maritime Republic of Genoa. Around 1190, the King of England started paying the Doge of Genoa to protect ships originally from the city of London and the rest of England that sailed in the Mediterranean.
During the crusades in the 1100s and 1200s, English knights used St George's cross as part of their uniform. It has been the official flag of England for centuries, but the Union Flag, a combination of St George's cross, St Andrew's cross and St Patrick's cross, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. Now Saint George's cross is used as a national symbol by fans of the English national football, rugby and cricket teams. At international matches, flags and scarves bearing this cross are worn and people paint it on their faces. It is also has a prominent place on the arms of the City of London and the flags of the city of Barcelona, Spain, and the country of Georgia.
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Which anniversary is celebrated upon 25 years of marriage? | St George's Day 2015: who is actually celebrating? - Telegraph
UK News
St George's Day 2015: who is actually celebrating?
Does anyone mark St George's Day in England? It's just not, well, very English is it to shout about our patron saint? Even Buckingham Palace is flying the Union flag today, not the St George's one.
Morris dancers celebrate St George's Day at Leadenhall Market Photo: Alamy
But there are a number of towns, households, businesses and -- of course -- politicians celebrating St George's Day .
We take a look at some people proud to wave the flag on April 23.
Google
Well, perhaps this is not a surprise. Google doodles are used to mark some pretty obscure anniversaries, including the 119th anniversary of the creation of the first Ice Cream Sundae.
English Heritage
A larger than life statue of a knight on horseback was unveiled this week at Wellington Arch -- the memorial that sits in the middle of Hyde Park Corner, London. It is part of a summer of celebrations, including jousting tournaments, being hosted by English Heritage, which is using the hashtag #knightfever . This weekend the statue is being moved to Wrest Park in Bedfordshire.
A spokesman for English Heritage said: "We are keen to emphasise that it is a time to celebrate English history, rather than be nervous about any negative connotations of the St George flag!"
Politicians
There is an election coming up, afterall. And there is rarely anything to be lost in shouting about the pride you have in your country.
— Simon Danczuk (@SimonDanczuk) April 23, 2015
David Cameron has recorded a video that ticks various St George's Day bingo boxes: the Industrial Revolution, Shakespeare, Magna Carta. Last year he managed to squeeze in Newcastle Brown Ale, Arsenal, Cornish pasites and Downton Abbey.
Not to be outdone...
Happy St George's Day to everyone across England and further afield. We can be proud of our country, of our ingenuity, our industry.
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) April 23, 2015
Ukip
The Ukip party are taking St George's Day particularly seriously.
Happy St. George's Day to all! http://t.co/Jju1ccgEHd pic.twitter.com/lU8sytSSIu
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) April 23, 2015
At their morning press conference there was quite a party atmosphere.
UKIP are holding a press conference about St George's Day. To celebrate, they've kindly given me a special gift pic.twitter.com/DWuGnQPKtw
— Michael Deacon (@MichaelPDeacon) April 23, 2015
At the press conference , Patrick O'Flynn, Ukip's economic spokesman, was asked if the Turkish St George would have been allowed into Britain as a “skilled migrant”. Mr O’Flynn said: “Well, I guess dragon-slaying is a skill.
Greetings card companies
No day, however obscure, however niche, can be ignored by greeting card manufacturers and retailers. A bereavement card for your dead goldfish? We've got that covered. So it shouldn't come as a shock that Clinton Cards has 6 designs available in selected stores. Last year the retailer sold 2,500 St George’s Day cards.
D-List celebrities
Helen Wood, one-time Big Brother winner who slept with Wayne Rooney, is one of the many people taking to social media on St George's Day to express a political view.
Hope next #StGeorgesDay England announce they're bringing back the death penalty. Hang scum instead of giving them a ps4 & comfy bed in jail
— Helen Wood (@Helen_Wood86) April 23, 2015
Asparagus growers
St George's Day marks the start of the British asparagus season. There is an asparagus festival running for the next month around the country.
Supermarkets
We are a nation of shopkeepers afterall. And there is nothing a supermarket loves more than a special day -- any day -- to encourage us to fill our baskets. Hallowe'en, Easter, Mother's Day, St George's Day; these all are opportunities to sell us more stuff.
Our stores are getting into the spirit of St George's Day! What will you be doing? pic.twitter.com/VEGvpGy9mi
— Tesco News (@TescoMedia) April 23, 2015
This is Tesco, Gerrard's Cross
Celebrating St George's day with some traditional English favourites..Lemonade, Ginger Beer&Roast Beef to name a few pic.twitter.com/X9aqN4DkKQ
— James Lingard (@jlingard1989) April 23, 2015
Though some shoppers have complained that Asda is not making enough of an effort.
@asda not a single item for sale relating to St George's day in England! Always have the St paddy's day hats and beer deals!
— Hutch (@CSHutch85) April 23, 2015
Nottingham
There are plenty of villages, towns and cities flying the St George's flag. But Nottingham appears to be taking it to another level. At lunchtime a grand parade, organised by The Royal Society of St. George, will process from the Forest Recreation Ground to the Old Market Square. There is a food market and a music festival. And an absolutely enormous flag.
Largest England flag erected in preparation for St George's Day http://t.co/oUs3SlylBt pic.twitter.com/JDMrH52C9U
— David Jones (@DavidJo52951945) April 21, 2015
For a patriotic country- St.George's day really does fall short. Be English- Be proud ?? Nottingham is! pic.twitter.com/eQTFdXcquh
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In which war was the Battle of the Somme? | Battle of the Somme - World War I - HISTORY.com
Battle of the Somme
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Introduction
The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was one of the largest battles of the First World War. Fought between July 1 and November 1, 1916 near the Somme River in France, it was also one of the bloodiest military battles in history. On the first day alone, the British suffered more than 57,000 casualties, and by the end of the campaign the Allies and Central Powers would lose more than 1.5 million men.
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The Somme campaign in 1916 was the first great offensive of World War I for the British, and it produced a more critical British attitude toward the war. During and after the Somme, the British army started a real improvement in tactics. Also, the French attacked at the Somme and achieved greater advances on July 1 than the British did, with far fewer casualties.
Did You Know?
On August 31, 1916, Harry Butters, a youngU.S. citizenserving with British forces, was killed, becoming the first American casualty of World War I.
But it is the losses that are most remembered. The first day of the Somme offensive, July 1, 1916, resulted in 57,470 British casualties, greater than the total combined British casualties in the Crimean, Boer, and Korean wars. In contrast, the French, with fewer divisions, suffered only around 2,000 casualties. By the time the offensive ended in November, the British had suffered around 420,000 casualties, and the French about 200,000. German casualty numbers are controversial, but may be about 465,000.
How did this happen? In early 1916, the French proposed a joint Franco-British offensive astride the river Somme. Because of Verdun, the British army assumed the major role of the Somme offensive. Hence, on July 1, 1916, the British army attacked north of the Somme with fourteen infantry divisions, while the French attacked astride and south of the Somme with five divisions. In defense, the German army deployed seven divisions. The British attack was planned by Douglas Haig and Henry Rawlinson, GOC Fourth Army. The two differed about the depth of the offensive and the length of the bombardment, so the adopted plan was an awkward mixture.
The artillery was the key to the offensive, but it did not have the ability to cut all the wire, destroy deep German trenches, knock out all enemy guns, or provide a useful barrage for the infantry attack. And at zero hour on July 1, the artillery shifted away from the German front trenches too quickly and left the infantry exposed. But the French, with Verdun experience, had much more heavy artillery and attacked in rushes, capturing more ground and suffering less.
After July 1, a long stalemate settled in, with the German army digging defenses faster than Allied attacks could take place. Despite small advances, the Somme became a bloody battle of attrition, and Haig has been criticized for prolonging the campaign into winter, especially for the last six weeks. The Somme was an expensive lesson in how not to mount effective attacks, but the German army was also weakened and in February retreated to new, and shorter, defensive lines.
The Reader’s Companion to Military History. Edited by Robert Cowley and Geoffrey Parker. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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In which European city would you have found Checkpoint Charlie? | The Battle of the Somme, as it happened on July 1, 1916
The Battle of the Somme, as it happened on July 1, 1916
Watch | The story of the Battle of the Somme
02:14
Laurence Dodds
1 July 2016 • 8:20pm
The first day of the Battle of the Somme was the worst day in the history of the British Army.
At 7:30am on July 1, 1916, thousands of British soldiers began an attack against a German trench line which was supposed to have been destroyed. It wasn't. Over the next 12 hours 29,000 people were killed and many more wounded. Many of those who survived were changed forever – as was the world, and Britain's understanding of itself.
Scroll down and read upwards to follow the events of that momentous day, minute by minute and hour by hour, just as they happened 100 years ago.
Sources
In assembling this account I am deeply indebted to the scholarship of the following:
Robert Kershaw: 24 Hours at the Somme (WH Allen)
Martin Middlebrook: The First Day on the Somme (Pen & Sword)
John Keegan: The Face of Battle (Vintage)
Edward Liveing: 24 Hours on the Somme (Amberley)
Andrew Roberts: Elegy (Head of Zeus)
Garry Sheffield: Douglas Haig – From Somme to Victory (Aurum)
William Philpott: Bloody Victory (Abacus)
Paul Fussell: The Great War and Modern Memory (OUP)
Siegfried Sassoon: Memoirs of an Infantry Officer (Faber)
Cecil Lewis: Sagittarius Rising (Pen & Sword)
Geoffrey Malins: How I Filmed The War (Project Gutenberg)
I would also like to thank the following for their generous help:
The National Army Museum
Stuart Eastwood at Cumbria's Museum of Military Life
Peter Donnelly of the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum
David Stevenson (info boxes) and Richard Burgess (graphics)
Jacob Furedi and Olivia O'Neill who helped greatly with research
Nigel Jones for showing me where to look
7:18PM
Conclusion: July 2, 1916
By the end of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 21,000 British soldiers and 8,000 Germans are dead. The Brits have suffered more casualties than in the Crimean War, the Boer War, and the Korean War combined. Our main success is Montauban; most of the other gains will be lost overnight. For every yard captured, two men are casualties.
Over the next three months British attempts to widen this breach degenerate into muddy confusion. Both sides rush ill-trained and ill-equipped troops into piecemeal battles over scraps of copse and village until finally the winter weather smothers their efforts. In the new year the exhausted Germans retreat and dig in, hoping instead to weaken Britain's economy though submarine warfare. This brings the Americans into the war. So the Somme is a strategic victory – especially for the French, who now know we have spilled too much blood to think of pulling out.
Meanwhile, the Ulstermen get champagne. Parcels for the dead continue to arrive for some weeks, and are shared among the living. The most successful battalions are earmarked for elite "stormer" duty, which guarantees higher casualties; by 1918 very few original members are left. The generals learn, and the tactics which work on the Somme eventually become the tactics of the whole army.
No Man's Land reverts to fields and meadows and the trees mostly grow back. Experts think it will take another 500 years to remove all the unexploded bombs.
In the distance, the Thiepval Memorial Credit: Amberley Publishing
6:37PM
The evening train back to reality
Ed Liveing has been lucky. He has a place on a hospital train – in the officers' carriage, no less, in a bed with soft sheets. Already it feels like being back in England: like taking the sleeper train from London to Glasgow.
"More wounded were brought or helped in – men as well as officers – till the white walls of the carriage were lined with bllod-stained, mud-covered khaki figures, lying, sitting, and propped up in various positions.
"The medical officer in charge of the train came round and asked us what we should like to drink for dinner.
"'Would you like to whisky and soda, or beer, or lemonade?' he questioned me. This sounded pleasant to my ears, but I only asked for a lemonade."
As the train puffs out of the station, Liveing glances back out of the window. The last thing he sees of the Somme is an aeroplane, wiggling slowly through the evening sky, dodging tiny little puffs of smoke.
6:26PM
"Men began to wonder, 'why?'"
Among those left alive, doubts and questions are beginning to germinate about how this was allowed to happen. Many soldiers are now realising just how badly their battalions or companies have been gutted
Lieutenant Ulick Burke, 2nd Devonshires:
“There was frustration. We’d lost so many people, and taken so little ground. And men began to wonder, ‘why?’ There was no feeling of giving up; they were just wondering ‘why?’ And when you came out into the billets, you saw these endless lines of walking wounded, and ambulances, and we wondered how long we could exist."
A.V. Pearson, Leeds Pals:
“The memories of those heartbreaking days will last forever. The name Serre and the date July 1st is engraved deep in our hearts, along with the faces of our ‘pals’, a grand crowd of chaps. We were two years in the making and ten minutes in the destroying.”
6:23PM
The medical corps are struggling to cope
Across the Somme front a massive movement of bodies has begun. Stretcher bearers, ambulances, nurses, doctors, are full to capacity moving the wounded off the battlefield and back to safety. Right now the process is only gearing up; darkness will be the real catalyst.
But the system is already jammed. Rawlinson formally requested 18 ambulance trains, and instead he has only three. Two more will turn up before midnight. Together they can carry 3,217 people off the front – but the Battle of the Somme has wounded 32,000.
It is impossible to know how many people will die while they wait at gridlocked clearing stations – to say nothing of those who are still out in No Man’s Land two days later.
6:10PM
The Londoners' last gambit
In the far north, near Gommecourt, the London Division's foothold has dwindled to almost nothing. They too will retreat after dark, a handful staying behind to distract the Germans while the rest scramble and crawl back over No Man's Land any way they can.
From the seven battalions that have attacked, over 1,700 men are dead; 200 are prisoners of ware, and 2,300 are wounded. One battalion, the London Scottish, has lost 616 of 871 men. The Queen's Westminster Rifles has no more officers.
6:00PM
All this blood for nothing
At 6pm exactly the 1st Recruit Company of the German 180th Regiment launches a massed assault on the Schwaben Redoubt.
Three waves of infantry crash against the Ulsters’ machine guns. None get through. A sudden thunder of British artillery flattens the third wave. It is as useless an attack as any the British have launched today.
Simultaneously a small patrol led by an ambitious German officer exploits a gap in the Ulsters’ defence and charges down 1,000 metres of trench, capturing four machine guns and relieving the Bavarians pinned down nearby.
There's only one ending. Under cover of darkness most Ulstermen will withdraw. The rest will be forced out.
5:46PM
Peace comes to Montauban
In the three-mile captured sector there is a strange calm, and soldiers are set loose to explore, to relax.
One group finds a dead German machine gunner chained to his gun by his ankle (which later sparks a rumour that the Germans man their guns with convicts). Another explores the lavish German dugouts with their electric lighting (“so much for the artillery preparation,” remarks one Tommy).
In just such a dugouts Paddy Kennedy finds a small black kitten, very nervous, and adopts it, fastening it in his pack. He also finds perfume, which his comrades sprinkle on their uniforms.
There are no orders. There is no plan – not yet. Kennedy spends the evening with some Pals of a different regiment, and the cat.
5:26PM
The casualty clearing station
Edward Living arrives at the casualty clearing station in the grounds of a chateau. For a long time he waits among the rows of stretchers, managing to score some bread and jam. Then his wound is “probed, dressed, and bandaged tightly” and he is loaded into a lorry.
“We turned a road leading to the station. Groups of peasants were standing in the village street and crying after us: ‘Ah!’ Les pauvres blessés! Les pauvres Anglais blessés!’ These were the last words of gratitude and sympathy that the kind peasants could give us.”
5:08PM
Malins gets his picture
As the fighting dies down, Geoffrey Malins films the roll call of the Seaforth Highlanders opposite Beaumont Hamel.
"I filmed them as they staggered forward and dropped down utterly worn out, body and soul. By an almost superhuman effort many of them staggered to their feet again, and formed themselves into an irregular line.
"In one little space there were just two thin lines – all that was left of a glorious regiment (barely one hundred men). I filmed the scene as it unfolded itself. The sergeant stood there with note-book resting on the end of his rifle, repeatedly putting his pencil through names that were missing.
"This picture was one of the most wonderful, the most impressive that can be conceived. It ought to be painted and hung in all the picture galleries of the world, in all the school and public buildings, and our children should be taught to regard it as the standard of man's self-sacrifice."
He has all the footage he needs. Soon he will be back in London to edit it. The resulting film, simply entitled The Battle of the Somme, is immensely popular. Although it includes pictures of men dying on camera, and of dead bodies, it only seems to inflame patriotic feeling. Malins gets the Military Cross.
4:41PM
A strange and terrible silence
Private Paddy Kennedy of the 18th Manchesters is walking slowly across No Man’s Land. Nobody shoots at him.
After the capture of Montauban he was sent back to the old British front line to fetch more grenades. The strangeness of easily strolling over what was once a kill zone is intensified by the fact that this may be the only sector on the whole front line where it no longer is. Wounded men lying in the hot sun call out to him, but he is under strict orders to come back soon and dares not slow down.
4:38PM
Burned alive in their dugouts
Inniskilling soldiers deliberately pull back to let the Germans refill their own trench. They hide in shell holes and wait. Once the Germans have gathered the all start throwing bombs into the trench. And when the last one explodes they charge in with bayonets. The Germans are wiped out and the Inniskillings start collecting their ammo.
Nearby, Young Citizen Volunteers use bangalore tubes – incendiary explosives designed to cut through barbed wire – to trap and burn the Germans alive.
4:18PM
Not one step back
British morale in the redoubt is falling apart. Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Crozier of the 9th Royal Irish confronts a "strong rabble of tired, hungry and thirsty stragglers." Where are they going, he asks? They can't give a straight answer. He marches them back to the water reserve, makes them drink, and shoves them back into action.
Minutes later he sees a larger and more determined group attempting to leave via the south. A young officer sprints up to them and stops them.
"They push by him. He draws his revolver and threatens them. They take no notice. He fires. Down drops a British soldier at their feet. The effect is instantaneous. They turn back to the assistance of their comrades in distress."
Crozier's own battalion is now at one tenth of its original strength.
4:11PM
Germans assault the Schwaben Redoubt
The south prong of the German counter-attack arrives. Infantry press along Staufen Trench, under fire from British machine guns on three sides. The German commander, not far off retirement, is surprised at close range by a British soldier and shot dead before someone can pass him a rifle.
But the sheer weight of bombs gives them momentum. The Germans are experts, working in teams of two – carriers and throwers. They lob in explosives, secure each traverse with bayonets and revolvers, and move up, erecting sandbag barriers behind them as they go. It's a rhythm, a war dance.
A soldier of the 14th Royal Irish Rifles recalls:
"There was a carpet of dead and dying Ulstermen and Germans. Blood lay like a layer of and, do you know, you couldn't tell one blood from the other..."
Edward Liveing checks out
Edward Liveingis carried out into the sunlight. He is leaving the battlefield.
“Outside, an orderly relieved me of my steel and gas helmets in much the same way as the collector takes your ticket when you pass through the gates of a London terminus in a taxi. Once more the stretcher was slid into an ambulance, and I found myself in company with a young subaltern of the Ks.
“He was very cheery, and continued to assert that we should all be in ‘Blighty’ in a day or two’s time. When the driver appeared at the entrance of the car and confirmed our friend’s opinion, I began to entertain the most glorious visions of the morrow – visions which I need hardly say did not come true.”
The engine starts and the ambulance sets off through picturesque country villages and dappled lanes.
3:35PM
Bombing raid on German reinforcements
On a railway station platform in Saint-Quentin, 36 miles east of the Somme, two infantry battalions are waiting to embark for the Somme. The German logistical machine is clicking into action.
Without warning three British aeroplanes pounce from above. One of them drops a bomb into the ammunition shed, producing a huge explosion. Ammo wagons in the station itself go off and soon the train itself is ablaze. In the crush to escape, 180 men are killed or wounded. The reinforcement is delayed by 18 hours.
Railways are one reason why the First World War favours defensive warfare. Neither side yet has good enough motor vehicles or fuel industries to mount large, long-range movements over new terrain. That means attackers can only move at the speed of a burdened horse, while defenders can rush in supplies directly from their cities.
3:34PM
"Thank God! At last! A Blighty wound!"
Edward Liveing has made it to the field ambulance station, far behind the British lines. After almost being shot in the face by his own side as he crawled towards a firing line before tumbling back down into his own trenches, he is safe – apart from the occasional shrapnel shells falling nearby. To get out of the sun he has been placed in the officers' hut.
One man has forgotten his own name and argues vociferously with an ambulance corporal. Another believes he is still fighting:
"Keep 'em off, boys, keep 'em off! Give me a bomb, sergeant. Get down! My God! I'm hit. Put some more of those sandbags on the barricade. These damned shells! Can I stand it any longer? Come on, boys. Come along, sergeant! WE mut go for them! Oh! My God! I must stick it!
Liveing cannot know it, but a crisis has developed. Despite Rawlinson's explicit requests, the Army has not provided enough ambulance trains. There is a gigantic backlog of moaning, screaming, dying men clogging up the casualty clearing stations. But not here.
3:16PM
Decision points
The Germans too are under severe pressure as the French advance rapidly in the south. Behind the lines, Generalleutnant von Stein is throwing everything at Schwaben that he can.
“In order to block a breakthrough on the left wing, I had to take battalion after battalion from the right wing, that had just defeated the attack. They had to be taken out, put on lorries and thrown against the left wing.”
As he orders out the final battalion, a staff officer objects: “Excellency, that is the last one!” Von Stein reponds: “Never forget this moment in your entire life. One has to find the right decision and commit the last, because the enemy can also be at the end of his tether.”
3:09PM
Panic spreads among the Brits
Von Bram’s three-pronged counter-attack is finally under way. Brits occupying the old German gun position at Grandcourt are charged twice with bayonets, forced out, and shot down as they flee.
The ejection sends a little spark of panic through the redoubt as the survivors dash for safety. Lieutenant Colonel F.O. Bowen, with the Belfast Young Brigade, recalls:
"We had to stop them at revolver point and turn them back, a desperate show, the air stiff with shrapnel, and terror-stricken men rushing blindly. These men did magnificently earlier in the day, but they had reached the limit of their endurance."
3:00PM
The jaws slowly close around the Ulstermen
The bruised and battered Ulsters are getting desperate. All afternoon they have been shelled, machine gunned, and attacked by waves of infantry, all from three sides at once. Now even field guns are being fired at them.
"We should call it a draw and I'll give you our garden in with it!" remarks one soldier to Private FG Gardener, a trench mortar operator. Squads of Germans can be seen moving through the communication trenches.
The sun beats down. One man tries to drink his own urine.
2:48PM
Fighting still rages at the Schwaben Redoubt
Friedrich Hinkel has been holding the southern flank of the Schwaben line, sniping at steel helmets and throwing grenades down at lost groups of Tommies. "These lads did not seem to know where they were in our trenches," he observes.
But his own men are being hunted from above by British aeroplanes. The pilots look for the little puffs of white cooling steam produced by machine guns as they cool, and swoop in on the crews, scattering their brains across the shattered trees.
"I am the only officer left. Please send instructions.”
At Gommecourt Cedric Dickens sends a final message.
“I have as far as I can find only 13 men left beside myself. Trenches unrecognisable. Quite impossible to hold. Bombardment fearful for two hours. I am the only officer left. Please send instructions.”
Howe is wounded in an abortive charge
The whistles blow and once again Philip Howe climbs out of the trench.
A single German machine gun opens fire. Its bullets graze Howe's face and punch through his rifle sling. The attack goes twenty yards before it takes so many casualties that it has to turn back. In three minutes 123 men have been killed or wounded.
2:31PM
"No time for rum now"
The nearby Green Howards are also attacking Fricourt. They have been promised a rum ration before they do, but not told when it will be. Suddenly a runner comes by shouting “zero. Over the top!”
“What about our rum issue, sir?” someone asks him. “No time for that now,” says their officer. “I’m taking it with me. We’ll drink our health in Jerry’s front line.”
2:29PM
No rest for the knackered
Lieutenant Philip Howe of the 10th West Yorkshires has already survived a lot. He has been over the top, into the German lines, shot through the hand, rescued, and returned again to the British line.
Now he is slightly disconcerted to find his trench filling with men from the 7th East Yorkshires. It seems that the corps commander has for some reason ordered an attack on Fricourt. Originally the plan was to surround Fricourt and only then assault it. It is not currently surrounded.
The 7th ask Howe to join their attack. How can he say no?
2:17PM
Retrieving the wounded under fire
Geoffrey Malins is filming two soldiers trying to get to a wounded man out in No Man's Land.
"Nearer and nearer they crept. We stood watching with bated breath. Would they reach him? Yes. At last!
"They passed me in the trench, a mass of perspiration. Upon the back of one was the unconscious man he had rescued. But 20 minutes after these two had gone through hell to rescue him, the poor fellow died."
Here is his footage:
Haig meets Rawlinson to discuss the battle
At some point after lunch, Haig and Rawlinson meet.
Haig is not in the business of criticising his subordinates. In fact his whole approach is to leave them alone. He is shy and doesn't speak well, which often causes misunderstandings. Other people think they are anticipating his desire when really they are imagining them.
So although both men discuss the situation in the Schwaben Redoubt, and both are aware of the penetration at Montauban, neither make any particular decision about it. No resources are reallocated, no plans change. Both men are content to let the situation play out along its current course.
"Our front line in an awful state"
Another message makes it back from Cedric Dickens in the German trenches:
“Sap absolutely impassable owing to shell fire. Every party that enters it knocked out at once…our front line in an awful state…”
1:40PM
Bodies pile up outside Thiepval
There is still no help for the Ulsters at Schwaben. Edward Percival is forced to throw his reserve division into fruitless sallies against Thiepval village. As they leave the forests and orchards his men are mown down by the same machine guns which have defeated all previous attacks.
Private J Wilson with the 1/6th West Yorkshires recalls:
“We went forward in single file, through a gap in what had once been a hedge. Only one man could get through at a time. The Germans had a machine gun trained on the gap and when it came to my turn I paused.
“The machine gun stopped and, thinking his belt had run out, or had jammed, I moved through. But what I saw when I got to the other side shook me to pieces. There was a trench running parallel to the hedge, which was full to the top with the men who had gone before me. They were all dead or dying.”
A brigadier orders his colonel to be at a row of apple trees in the village by 4 o’ clock. When told this is unlikely, he simply says: “Those are the orders.”
1:26PM
Londons pinned down at Gommecourt
At Gommecourt the 56th London Division are desperately clinging to the three trenches they have captured. German soldiers are dashing directly along the edges through heavy shell fire to throw their bombs down among the Brits. Again and again reinforcements try to reach them across No Man’s Land, to no avail.
Major Cedric Dickens of the 13th Kensingtons sends the following message:
“Shelling fearful. Mackenzie killed. Trench practically untenable, full of dead and wounded. Very few men indeed left.”
1:01PM
Germans at Schwaben try to regroup
Just north of the Schwaben Redoubt, the German counter-attack is beginning. Oberstleutnant Alfons Ritter Von Bram, sent to take control of the situation, arrives at a dugout crammed with wounded men and sets up his HQ.
To the south, Regiment 99 is on the brink of collapse as the British hit it again and again. Von Bram enlists the local artillery officer, who has been burning all his security documents before the Irish arrive.
12:54PM
Those left behind
In No Man’s Land the sun beats down on the men who are trapped in craters. Some keep their heads down, but others trade potshots with the Germans.
Albert McMillan peeps over the edge of his crater and fires at whoever he can see. Several times he is not quick enough to duck down and return shots ping off his helmet.
Outside Serre, Lieutenant RA Heptonstall of the 1st Barnsley Pals witnesses a macabre German pastime:
“From my shell hole I could see a dead man[probably from the Accrington pals] propped up against the German wire in a sitting position. He was sniped at during the day until his head was completely shot away.”
12:53PM
2,100 German prisoners taken
Near Montauban Lieutenant Kenneth Macardle sees "large parties" of German prisoners "laughing and dancing likie demented things full of mad joy...streaming back unguarded."
Some of them are fascinated to encounter members of the Royal Naval Air Service, presumably wondering why they can see naval uniforms in a land battle.
Gerhard Bahrmann is among them:
“This was the first time I had ever thought we would loe the war…that we held out for another two years, with soldiers not doubting or mutinying, was in fact amazing.”
12:32PM
Ghost town
Sergeant James Payne of the 16th Manchesters wakes up in Montauban. His teeth have been shot out but he is alive. But the streets are practically empty. Eventually he finds and helps a wounded corporal. Then they find a man who has lost an arm and a leg to shell fire:
“His left eye was hanging on his cheek, and he was calling out ‘Annie!’ I shot him. I had to. Put him out of his misery. It hurt me. It hurt me.”
Something snaps. The pair come across a captured German doctor who refuses to treat the corporal’s foot. Payne shoots him. Then he finds a German prisoner on a stretcher, tips him off, and puts the corporal on it instead.
12:23PM
The German rear is wide open – but nobody exploits it
Rawlinson is wrong. On the far side of Montauban the 17th Manchesters are looking into Bernafay Wood. It is empty and there are no Germans in sight. They're exhausted, so they lay down at the edge of an orchard and chewed on grass to help their thirst. Soon the wood is patrolled and found empty.
The British have opened a three mile gap in the German front. Some of them look down in astonishment on their own meagre trenches, realising only now how superior the German positions were. But some are looking in the opposite direction, and wondering why nobody is exploiting the situation.
The meagre force of Germans nearby is wondering the same. Emil Goebelbecker of the German 109th recalls:
"What puzzled me most all day was the lack of further forward movement by the British. The whole of our line had collapsed and it would have been a simple matter for them to have advanced much further than they did."
In a bizarre defiance of all future memory of this war, here is a chance, genuinely, to break through the enemy line. The Reserve Army – yes, with its cavalry – has been designed for precisely this task. It stays where it is.
Rawlinson stands down the cavalry
In his own HQ, Rawlinson writes in his diary:
“There is of course no hope of getting the cavalry through today.”
Indeed, he has ordered the Reserve Army to stand down, assuming that they have now been overtaken by events.
12:05PM
Haig: "I have great hopes of getting some measure of success"
At his headquarters, Field Marshal Haig composes a letter to Lord Esher, a well-connected political fixer who serves as the King’s eyes and ears. The attack, he writes,
“progressed well. I have great hopes of getting some measure of success… the wire has been more thoroughly cut than ever before, and also the artillery bombardment has been methodical and continuous…forgive a disjointed letter, but a battle is going on and the telegrams keep coming at every moment.”
File photo dated 01/01/22 of a portrait of Sir Douglas Haig, the British Army's commander at the Battle of the Somme Credit: PA
12:00PM
The battle is slipping away from the British
Noon. An estimated 50,000 British soldiers are dead or wounded. In his dugout, Siegfried Sassoon eats his last orange.
British commanders have committed nearly 100,000 more men into the battle since 08:30, to little effect. There is now complete failure on two thirds of the front, but substantial success around Montauban.
In that captured village a group of Manchester Pals emerge from a dugout in wearing German helmets and smoking cigars. They are met by an officer who tells them: “Yes, you all look very nice. But get some f---ing digging done!”
11:59AM
An abortive rescue attempt
Reginald Bastard has gotten back to the British trenches. The fourth battalion of his brigade, which was supposed to be supporting his advance, has been ordered not to follow. He rounds up every fit man he can find and strikes out into No Man’s Land.
They don’t get far. Machine guns reduce his group to thirty men. There will be no rescue for the boys at the German wire.
11:47AM
Stick to the plan
Lieutenant-Colonel Magniac’s battalion is down to 75 men. He has watched the others die on the wire outside Beaumont Hamel, where survivors are now trapped. Yet now his brigade commander orders another attack.
It’s difficult for officers on the Somme to refuse orders. Divisions are under pressure from their corps commanders. Brigades are under pressure from their divisions. And the plan specifies attack times for every battalion. Requests up the chain to deviate from the schedule are being denied, even where they make no sense to the commander on the ground.
Magniac sends 25 men across to rescue their comrades at the wire. Five of them make it.
11:46AM
Entente cordiale
To the south, the French have been doing very well. Their artillery really has pounded the Germans into submission. By moving in short sharp rushes they minimised their casualties.
At the border between the two battlefields Colonel Fairfax of the King's Liverpool Regiment and Commandant Le Petit of the 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry, grinned and linked arms to lead the advance.
11:39AM
A tale of two command networks
The formidable Ulstermen, deep in the German lines, are getting no support. Major-General Sir Edward Percival, commander of a nearby reserve division, urges his corps commander to let him move in to support them, following their line up the Schwaben Redoubt and widening the wedge from there. Instead he is told to split his forces and assist the other, unsuccessful attacks on either flank.
The Germans are not so picky. Within an hour of the Ulsters’ first assault Generalmajor Franz von Soden knows that they have taken Schwaben. Despite the desperate situation his troops are passing back accurate reports. He asks for backup, and is denied, so instead sends a subordinate to establish a temporary headquarters, round up whoever is available, and lead an immediate counter-attack.
11:29AM
Fog of war
Lieutenant Adrian Stephen is an artillery observation officer, but in the smoke he has been unable to observe anything. Only a string of optimistic reports has reached him:
“Our infantry have taken the front line without resistance.
“Prisoners are coming in.”
"From our point of view an entire failure"
Cecil Lewishas landed from his first patrol. In his logbook he writes:
“From our point of view an entire failure. Not a single ground sheet of Battalion or Brigade Headquarters was seen. Only two flares were lit on the whole of both Corps fronts.”
Only later will he realise that the Tommies could not light their flares because it would reveal their positions to German machine guns.
11:01AM
Phantom battalions
Among the British staff, confusion reigns. In his buried metal bunker in a wood facing Serre, Brigadier Hubert Rees, commanding the 94th Brigade, was smart enough to stop any further attacks once his first few units disappeared into "a perfect wall of explosives". As far as he can tell, his brigade is gone.
But now his division HQ is telling him that Serre has been captured. An aeroplane reports that his own dead troops are in the town. His bosses "urge [him] to support the attack with all the force at his disposal."
Rees is unimpressed. He has already lost two companies sent to reinforce a position which turned out not to exist. Instead he prudently declines to send any more men into the grinder.
10:52AM
Cut off in the German trenches
Lieutenant-Colonel Reginald Bastard followed his men across No Man's Land to a captured trench. As the only officer present he took command, yoked together three units, checked the dugouts and organised a defence.
But all morning they have been cut off by the German barrage in No Man's Land. His commanders don't appear to know he is there. Telephone cables are cut and runners can't get through. Casualties are mounting.
After repeated German counter-attacks he is finally forced out of the trenches and back to the wire. He leaves his men with instructions to hold out and races back into the deluge to get reinforcements.
Bastard's position is mirrored across the front. Many tenuous holdings have been given up or will soon be lost because there is no support.
10:43AM
The state of play at noon
Across the 16 miles of Somme front, roughly one third of the British battalions have gained their objectives. Another third are in precarious positions with heavy casualties. The final third have achieved nothing, at great cost.
In the centre, little has been achieved. The Ulsters are a knife thrust into the German line, but in danger. Hunter-Weston's attack near the Hawthorn Ridge has captured only one German position, the Quadrilateral Redoubt.
At Gommecourt, in the north, the 56th London Division used a smokescreen and tunnels to capture the whole German front line. A reserve battalion is now pushing ahead of them.
The complicated, rigid artillery plan is breaking down. In some places soldiers who are unable to take their objectives quickly enough get pinned down and repulsed because the bombardment lifts on to the next objective. Pleas to bring it back are lost in the noise.
10:27AM
British enter Montauban to no resistance
After a costly journey across No Man's Land the 17th Manchesters find their objective flattened by artillery. The only thing intact is a figure of Christ on the cross at a road junction. No living thing greets them save a band of surrendering Germans, and then, deeper in, a fox.
10:20AM
Germans surrounded and forced to surrender
Unteroffizier Gustav Luettgens suddenly finds his company is being shot at from behind. At first his men think it's friendly fire and they jump out of their trench, waving and shouting "higher! higher!" Then three more of them are being shot down and they realise they've been surrounded by the British.
"We had a conference as to whether or not to surrender. One or two wanted to fight on, but there were many in our regiment who were over forty and, unlike the younger men, they had families and were the first to suggest surrendering. In the end the others were swayed.
"We tied a handkerchief to a rifle and waved it and the English came and rounded us up."
They're lucky. Many of the British have been ordered – verbally, never in writing – to take no prisoners. And after advancing through those intricate German kill zones, few wish to.
10:09AM
British success at Montauban
Miles to the south of the Ulsters and the Newfoundlanders, near the town of Mountauban, things look very different.
Major-General Ivor Maxse, commander of the 18th Division, has taken the unusual step of planning for the possibility that the Germans won’t be destroyed by artillery. He has used every trick at his disposal to get his men close to the trenches before zero hour, from tunneling out into No Man’s Land to terrifying flame projectors capable of shooting out a 75-yard jet. It helps that he is within the range of French artillery, heavier than British. The Germans are scattered.
Private Jack Cousins describes very different orders than those given to the Newfoundlanders:
“It wasn’t a question of wandering around the countryside ooking for mushrooms. We had to get going. We were told, ‘don’t advance on your own! Go together at the same pace! If machine gun fire takes place, drop down flat to the ground!’”
It’s no cakewalk. Many die to machine guns and shells. But by 10am the British have captured the battle headquarters of the German 109th Regiment, far behind the lines.
A Livens flame projector
10:07AM
29th Division halts all attacks
The Newfies’ division commander, Major General de Lisle, finally hears about the fate of his leading brigades. He immediately calls off any further attacks.
He is too late to stop the pointless sacrifice of the 1st Essex, who should have been with the Newfoundlanders the first time but were not ready.
9:59AM
Ulsters out on a limb
The Ulsters have now penetrated into the fifth German line, ten minutes ahead of the planned artillery lift. Small mobile groups are charging down trenches unbalancing the Germans with sheer speed and aggression. They know that stopping for a moment could kill them.
One man wields a hand-made trench fighting weapon – a “pear-shaped lump of cast iron” on a metal stick which could break bones very efficiently. “We fought every second,” recalls Hugh Stewart. “There was no rest at all.”
But the attack is dangerously isolated. The division doesn’t realise how far its own troops have gotten and is not sending anyone to back them up. They are surrounded on all sides but one.
9:45AM
Wiped out? Well, get up and try again
Arthur Hadow reports to Major General Caley at brigade HQ. 89 per cent of the men who went over the top are killed or wounded, including all of the officers. Caley nevertheless tells him to round up any who are left and attack again.
Incredibly, Hadow obeys. But a more senior officer countermands the order before he can gather enough troops.
Newfoundlanders all but wiped out
The Newfoundlanders advance under heavy machine gun and artillery fire. Major Arthur Raley recalls:
“The only visible sign that the men knew they were under this terrific fire was that they instinctively tucked their chins into an advanced shoulder as they had done so often when fighting their way home in a blizzard in some little outpost..."
Some of them get to the gaps in the German barbed wire. But an earlier failed attack means the German gunners know exactly where these gaps are. Some men actually manage to reach the other side, dashing through, as one observer puts it, “as if bursting through a hedge.” Very few reach the trenches, and none who do survive.
A Scottish soldier who was watching from a nearby shell hole recalls:
“On came the Newfoundlanders, a great body of men, but the fire intensified and they wer wiped out in front of my eyes. I cursed the generals for their useless slaughter. They seemed to have no idea what was going on."
Monument to the Newfoundlanders in France today Credit: Alamy
9:28AM
The Ulsters hit a "wall of flame"
The Ulstermen have taken the Schwaben Redoubt, but the desperate Germans are holding them there. Overlapping fields of machine gun fire from the surrounding ridges cut them down.
To the south, Friedrich Hinkel tries to hold the line as defeated German soldiers stream back through the trenches towards them. The Ulsters are advancing behind the pennant of the Young Citizen Volunteers – a red hand and shamrock, tied to the barrel of a rifle in the front rank. Hinkel brings up his best marksman, a stuttering young farmer, and orders him to shoot the pennant-bearer. It works, and the advance falters.
Tommy Ervine, reinforcing the redoubt, runs down a trench throwing grenades into the dugout, shouting "divide that amongst yez!"
"Somebody shouts 'go that way', so I did. And sure enough somebody got me in the leg. I made for him – a German – and I got him, shot him in the face. THen I tried to walk abck and I couldn't. I'd been shot. A big fellow called Andy Robb pulled me back...I'd have liked to get in among them Germans with my bayonet because they'd mowed us down like pieces of wood...it was terrible...it was cruel."
Failure to take Thiepval is bleeding them all. The village continues to rake the Ulsters with machine gun fire. Artillery observers believe, wrongly, that it has been taken, and so British artillery stops firing on it.
Emblem of the Young Citizen Volunteers on a modern-day mural
Rawlinson: "The battle has begun well"
At his headquarters in Querrieu, Rawlinson considers the reports he is receiving.
“The battle has begun well. Bombardment was good and Stokes mortars seem to have a success. The villages of Serre, B. Hammel and Thiepvaal seem to be sticking us up but south the III, XV and XIII Corps seem to be getting on well. The French on our right are also going strong and have taken the Bois Favier.”
9:20AM
The Newfoundlanders begin their final walk
Arthur Hadow of the Newfoundlanders climbs out of his trench, carrying his thick ash walking stick. He makes the signal and the Newfies rush out, assembling quickly into their pre-arranged formation.
Their spirits are high. A rich society lady in St John’s has pledged to marry the first man to win a Victoria Cross. “Buxom Bessie or a wooden leg!” is now the battle cry.
But their attack route, ordered by a commander who has over-estimated the success of the early attacks, is in full view of the German defences. They start to walk, and within seconds they are dying.
In theory the 1st Essex should be beside them, but they are held back by congestion in the trenches. So the Germans have no other targets but the Newfoundlanders. They are loaded with equipment and ordered to walk, not run.
9:09AM
Haig told attack is progressing well
Haig receives reports which suggest the attack is “progressing well”. British forces are moving into Serre, he is told, and have also entered Thiepval. Neither of these things is true.
This is not his fault. The information coming back to him is wildly optimistic. Observers see the artillery lift as planned and assume the objectives are taken. Streams of German prisoners from the ones which are give the impression of victory. German signal flares calling down artillery are mistaken for British signal flares indicating success.
8:51AM
The Ulstermen break into the Schwaben Redoubt
Hugh Stewartcharges inside the German fortification with “a bayonet in one hand and a revolver in the other. “Give it them hot for the Shankill Road!” shouts one soldier. Grenades punctuate the melee.
All the time they are taking machine gun fire from the flanks, from the villages which have not yet been taken. One soldier remembers it as “a Belfast riot on the top of Mount Vesuvius”.
8:46AM
The Newfoundlanders' turn to die
"Has the enemy's front line been captured?" asks Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Hadow, commander of the 1st Newfoundland battalion. The reply from brigade HQ is short: "The situation is not cleared up." Does that mean he has to attack right now, without support? Yes.
The Newfoundlanders all made wills the previous night. They knew this would be violent. German shells are exploding all around them as the enemy puts down devastating fire into No Man's Land. They can see for themselves that the rest of the brigade has failed in its attack.
But the communication trenches leading to the front line are all blocked by wounded men from that particular disaster, and the Newfies cannot get through. That means they will have to climb out of their rear trenches and move to the front above ground – an extra 250 yards.
State of play at H+1
It is one hour into the Somme offensive. Roughly 30,000 British soldiers are already dead or wounded.
8:27AM
The last charge of the Lonsdales
In many places the British have managed to take parts of the German trench system. But anyone trying to reinforce them still has to cross No Man’s Land through a storm of artillery and machine guns.
In Authuille Wood the Lonsdales – a Pals battalion of the Border Regiment, drawn from Carlisle and Cumberland – leaves its reserve trench. These men have worked together – on the railways, in the iron ore mines, in the Carr’s biscuit factory – and they’ve trained together, on the racecourse in Carlisle. They have to move across open ground to their own front line before they even get to No Man’s Land.
The machine guns are waiting. Between the forest and the front line they lose around 250 men. In No Man’s Land they lose another 250. In all they lose 25 out of 28 officers and 519 ordinary soldiers out of 800.
This pattern is repeated across the Somme as brigade after brigade sticks to the plan.
8:19AM
Crawling back to safety
Edward Liveinglies by the German wire, listening to the chaotic noise. A familiar sergeant appears from the smoke. Their conversation is typically genteel.
"‘Hallo, K,’ I shouted.
8:16AM
The Salford Pals lose 60 per cent in minutes
In Thiepval Wood the next wave of Irish troops prepare themselves. Many intone the Lord's Prayer under their breath. Shells are falling into the forest and trees are burningall around them like absurd candles. The whistles blow.
Nearby the 2nd Salford Pals have been watching the carnage; they know they are next. Captain Thomas Tweed, from Eccles, has personally recruited many of these men from the dockyards and mines, just three years after quite possibly beating them up as a special constable during the 1911 Liverpool strikes. Now he has to watch them die. In the kill zones his hundred-strong company is reduced to 40.
A former shop assistant is sent back to call for reinforcements, but shot down as soon as he breaks cover. Tweed tries to write a second message but the notebook is shot out of his hands. The Salfords will be pinned down here for the next two hours.
8:06AM
Sausage and Mash
Near the village of La Boiselle the British are advancing up two fortified valleys, "Sausage" and "Mash". Within ten minutes of attacking 80 per cent of the first wave troops are dead or wounded. The first soldiers to reach the parapet disappear in the plume of a German flame thrower.
In Sausage the Germans wait until the Brits are very close and then let loose. They are so eager, and the slaughter so complete, that many of them stand up in the open on the lip of their trench to shoot down into the valley.
Haig: "Reports most satisfactory"
At his chateau headquarters, Haig reviews his messages.
“Reports up to 8am most satisfactory. Our troops had everywhere crossed the enemy’s front frenches.”
8:01AM
The second line
As the first wave of Ulstermen force their way further in, Germans they have missed pop up behind them and start shooting. Machine guns strafe them from the villages on either side.
The fighting is savage. Lewis gunner Hugh Stewart recalls:
"I had never killed a man with a bayonet before and it sent cold shivers up and down my spine many's a night afterwards just thinking about it."
The Ulstermen advance
One attack is working: that of the Ulster Division towards the Schwaben Redoubt.
Some are wearing orange sashes, while many sing traditional songs. It is, by popular agreement, the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. And by creeping up as close to the barrage as possible they have beaten the Germans to the parapet. Their battle cry: "Come on, boys! No surrender!"
They sweep into the trenches, moving quickly, throwing bombs down every dugout they can find. They need to be quick: the artillery lifts to its next target at 07:48.
7:43AM
At the German wire
At Gommecourt Edward Liveing has made it to the German wire. His sergeant is nowhere to be seen. Behind him, the fourth line has disintegrated. Men are kneeling and firing up at the German trenches and Liveing tries to order them forward, but cannot be heard.
Giving up, he turns and moves up towards the German trench when he feels a sharp warmth in his hip and drops to the ground. He assumes that a shell has gone off in a sodden crater and scalded him with boiling water. In fact, he has been shot.
7:42AM
Detachment
At his observation platform Rawlinson can see nothing. A few flashes are visible through the thick mist. There is very little he can do now to affect events.
7:42AM
The attack is quickly unravelling
All along the front the British are advancing into the kill zones. Those who reach the enemy trench line often find the barbed wire has not been cut. Thousands of soldiers are tangled up in it as they try to get through and hang there, jerking wildly as the Germans riddle them with bullets.
Near Fricourt two follow-up companies of the 10th West Yorkshires are caught in overlapping machine gun fire and all but wiped out. Two Edinburgh Pals battalions take fire from the side and lose several hundred men in a few minutes.
The Pals regiments are one of the most poignant features of the Somme. Heavy casualties mean small communities lose hundreds of people at once . The town of Accrington is 303 sons down in the space of 20 minutes.
Dense barbed wire in front of the German lines Credit: Library of Congress/Amberley Publishing
7:37AM
Friendly fire
One mine at Kasino Point has failed to go off. The Royal Engineer in charge of it watches in horror as infantry set off into No Man’s Land regardless. He now has a terrible choice: blow the mine, and risk killing his own men, or don’t blow it, and leave them to face the German defences alone.
He pushes the plunger. L/Cpl J Fisher, with the 10th Essex Battalion, describes what happens next:
“I looked left to see if my men were keeping a straight line and saw a sight I shall never forget. A giant fountain, rising from our line of men, about 100 yards from me. Still on the move I stared at this, not realising what it was. It rose, a great column nearly as high as Nelson’s Column, then slowly toppled over.
“Before I could think, I saw huge slabs of earth and chalk thudding down, some with flames attached, onto the troops as they advanced.”
The British take casualties, but the late detonation means Germans who have already re-occupied their trenches now go up in smoke. This is actually one of the more successful attacks.
7:36AM
Kill zones
To Aicheler’s right Unteroffizier Braungart is surprised to see two British officers leading a wave of infantry with drawn swords. His machine gun makes short work of them. Another crew nearby suffer a jam before a shell hit detonates their ammunition box.
The Germans are trained to operate their guns like industrial equipment. Instead of aiming at individual targets they lay down constant fire over a wide area in overlapping kill zones.
7:35AM
Desperate defence
At the Hawthorn Ridge redoubt the Germans are in crisis. Though some have beaten the Brits to the parapet, the Brits are now moving into the crater and the surrounding trench system.
Unteroffizier Aicheler and his machine gun team have been blown backwards into the bottom of their firing pit by the mine explosion. By the time they disentangle themselves and get their gun set up the British are inside a German trench just twenty meters away.
Aicheler opens fire, but after ten rounds the gun stops. “Back!” he shouts, pulling his men back into the next traverse, where they set up again and try to clear the jam. The British follow – and are cut down at point black range.
Now Aicheler turns his attention to a second British group. Within seconds he kills six men and the rest immediately surrender.
7:34AM
Keep turning the handle
Geoffrey Malins is still filming. You can still see some segments of what he filmed today: men going over the top, vanishing into the fog, silently falling over.
7:33AM
A premonition
Near Mametz, Captain Martin of the 9th Devonshires leads his men from a rear trench. A keen artist, he spent some time before the battle building a plasticine model of his sector, and became increasingly worried that the Germans would site a machine gun at the base of a crucifix just outside the town.
As his men leave the shelter of a small hill they are mown down by a single machine gun exactly where Martin predicted. He dies with them.
7:32AM
"A continuous hissing noise"
At Gommecourt Edward Liveing climbs out of his trench and waves his rifle to advance. The landscape in front of him is an endless moonscape pitted with shell holes and bodies.
“A continuous hissing noise” is audible all around him, “like a railway engine letting off steam”. It is the passing of German bullets. Ahead of him the second line is disappearing into the smoke, one man after another falling down. A terrified hare jumps up in front of him and runs into some yellowing grass. He keeps walking.
Heavy casualties
The Brits begin taking heavy casualties. This is not what they were expecting.
One private of the Bradford Pals is smacked on his helmet by a bullet as he climbs out of the trench and falls back, alive but dazed. Another with the Derry Volunteers watches his sergeant “disappear” as a German shell catches him in the throat.
In some sections the British have to bunch together as they pass through gaps in their own barbed wire. The Germans target those gaps. Dead bodies start to pile up in the narrow openings, each new soldier more vulnerable as he tries to climb over his comrades.
The Germans open up
The German machine guns sputter into life. Private Slater of the Bradford Pals recalls:
“For some reason, nothing seemed to happen to us at first. We strolled along as though walking in a park. Then, suddenly, we were in the midst of a storm of machine gun bullets and I saw men beginning to twirl round and fall in all kinds of curious ways as the were hit – quite unlike the way actors do it in films.”
7:30AM
Over the top
The first lines of men who have crept out into No Man’s Line now stand up and start moving. Those in their trenches take to their ladders. Across fifteen miles of front thousands of men step onto ground on which nobody has stood in daylight for nearly two years.
Attacking the crucial village of Montauban, Captain Nevill of the East Surreys has equipped each of his platoons with a football and offered a reward to whoever can get theirs into the German lines first. One ball is lettered:
“The Great European Cup
7:29AM
Zero hour
The British guns stop. An uncanny silence falls across the battlefield. The sound of birdsong is quite audible.
Some of the British now assume the barrage really has worked. “I walked up and down the footboards saying to the men, ‘it’s a walkover’,” recalls Lt M. Asquith of the Barnsley Pals. “I had almost a feeling of disappointment.”
Then, all across the line, officers blow their whistles.
The other mines blow
At La Boiselle, Beaumont-Hamel, Fricourt, Mametz, Lochnagar and Carnoy, gigantic plumes of earth reach into the air.
Cecil Lewis describes the view:
“The earth heaved and flashed, a tremendous and magnificent column rose up in the sky. There was an ear-splitting roar drowning all the guns, flinging the machine sideways in the repercussing air. The earth column rose, higher and higher to almost 4,000 feet. There it hung, or seemed to hang, for a moment in the air, like the silhouette of some great cypress tree, then fell away in a widening cone of dust and debris.
“A moment later came the second mine. Again the roar, the upflung machine, the strange gaunt silhouette invading the sky. Then the dust cleared and we saw the two white eyes of the craters”
He did not know then that the mine had been wrongly placed, and exploded in No Man’s Land. The Boisselle redoubt was intact.
7:28AM
First to the parapet
Hinkel’s men reach their positions and begin firing down into the smoke. “You made a good job of it, you British!” he yells, somewhat theatrically. “Seven days and nights you hammered on our door! Now your reception is going to match your turbulent longing to enter!”
British divisions already forming up in No Man’s Land are raked by German machine gun fire. The advance is failing before it has started.
7:24AM
The Germans react quickly
The German trenches near the mine are a mess. Men stumble around with punctured eardrums; others are buried in their dugouts, fighting to dig themselves out before they run out of oxygen.
But many of the defences are intact. Friedrich Hinkel hears the British heavy artillery lift off his line. Go time.
“Out, out!” he yells to his men, racing up out of the dugouts. Outside there is so much chalk in the air it resembles a snowstorm. Pre-sighted German artillery begins to shriek down onto No Man’s Land.
In ordering the mine to be blown ten minutes early, the local British commander, Lt Gen Hunter-Weston, has made a fatal mistake. His staff believe the time is necessary for the debris to settle. It also gives the Germans ample space to recover.
7:21AM
“You silly little bastard!”
Nearby Albert McMillan, a young soldier of the Public Schools Battalion, peeps up over the lip of the trench to watch the mine. The sight is impressive but sobering. Then the shock wave hits him and he is thrown down to the floor of the trench, winded.
His platoon sergeant stands over him: “You silly little bastard!”
7:20AM
Hawthorn Ridge becomes a pillar of flame
The Hawthorn Ridge mine goes off. Its force rushes upwards at nine miles per second. Entire German platoons vanish. Geoffrey Malins watches in awe:
“The ground where I stood gave a mighty convulsion. It rocked and swayed. I gripped hold of my tripod to steady myself. Then, for all the world like a gigantic sponge, the earth rose in the air to the height of hundreds of feet. Higher and higher it rose, and with a horrible, grinding roar the earth fell back upon itself, leaving in its place a mountain of smoke.
“From that second I was cold, cool, and calculating. I looked upon all that followed from the purely pictorial point of view, and even felt annoyed if a shell burst outside the range of my camera.”
As he turns his handle, men and pieces of planking blown high into the air begin to fall towards the ground.
Here is his film:
7:19AM
Waiting for the mine to blow
Geoffrey Malins grasps the handle of his camera and begins to turn. 35mm film feeds past the lens at 16 frames per second. His eyes are fixed on the Hawthorn Redoubt. Any moment now.
The seconds creep past. He keeps turning. Why hasn’t the mine gone off? Dear god, has it misfired? His exposure dial shows he’s used one thousand feet of film already and he is struck by the awful fear that he’ll run out before the blast. Sweat beads on his forehead.
Another 250 feet of film flicker by.
7:17AM
15 minutes to go
All officers in the Newfoundland regiments are instructed to synchronise their watches. In these times Newfoundland is not yet part of Canada. Its troops have come a long way to fight for the Empire.
Elsewhere, Ulster brigades use the bombardment as cover to advance to within 100 yards of the German trenches.
Many units have been instructed to walk calmly over the top towards the German lines so as to maintain their formation. But other units are doing things their own way, depending on the methods of the local commander.
7:13AM
'O Lord, do not forget me'
As he waits for zero hour, Edward Liveing repeats in his mind over and over again an old Cavalier prayer from the English Civil War, given to him by his father: “O Lord, you know how busy I must be this day. If I forget you, do not forget me.” His platoon is the third line of the attack.
“I have often tried to call to memory the intellectual, mental and nervous activity through which I passed during that hour of hellish bombardment and counter-bombardment, that last hour before we leapt out of our trenches into No Man’s Land.
“I had an excessive desire fore the time to come when I could go ‘over the top’, when I should be free at last from the noise of the bombardment, free from the prison of my trench, free to walk across that patch of No Man’s Land and opposing trenches till I got to my objective, or, if I did not go that far, to have my fate decided for better or worse…
“At one time, not very long before the moment of attack, I felt to its intensest depth the truth of the proverb, ‘carpe diem’. What was time? I had another twenty minutes in which to live in comparative safety. What was the difference between twenty minutes and twenty years? Really and truly what was the difference? I was living in the present, and that was enough. I am afraid that this working of mind will appear unintelligible. I cannot explain it further.”
7:06AM
Preparing for the blast
Geoff Malinshas reached his filming position and set up his camera. The Hawthorn mine is set to go off ten minutes before the main attack, at 07:20.
Behind him, three soldiers are making bets on who will get there first. An officer mops his brow, nervously clutching his swagger stick in alternating hands.
“You’re in a pretty rocky position,” says someone. “Fritz will be sure to plaster this front pretty well as soon as our men get over.”
“Can’t help it,” says Malins. “My machine must have a clear view.”
6:59AM
Rawlinson's fatal mistake
Over the past seven weeks the British have fired 1.7 million shells at the Germans. That should be enough. But the problem is quality.
Britain's war industry simply is not producing the right shells in the right numbers. One million of them are shrapnel, barely fit even to cut barbed wire without great skill. And the British artillery corps does not have great skill: not good enough, not yet.
6:52AM
The race to the parapet
At a fortified German position near Thiepval known as the Schwaben Redoubt, Unteroffizier Friedrich Hinkel is coordinating a dangerous defence – above ground.
He knows that at some point soon the British artillery will “lift” its fire away to his rear. He cannot allow his men to miss that moment – which means someone always has to be checking above ground.
Sentries dash outside into the shellfire every few minutes. Hinkel has propped a framed mirror against the side of his trench so he can see No Man’s Land from the steps of his dugout. Everyone knows where they have to be when the moment comes, and how many steps it will take to get there.
In the German dugouts
In fact, the Germans are not dead.
British trenches on the Somme were built in the assumption that they would be temporary. German trenches were much more serious affairs. Their dugouts were often thirty feet below ground; some had door bells, water tanks with taps, wooden stair cases, electric light, steel doors, real kitchens, even wallpaper.
Along the German line in dugouts just like these, the Germans are waiting tensely. They have endured seven days of this horrible bombardment – seven days without daylight, fresh water, sometimes without being able to bury their dead.
They know that when the bombardment stops there will be an attack. And when that happens, they will need to race out of their dugouts and man their posts before the British can reach the trench. In essence, they are about to engage in a race to the parapet. Whoever gets there first will live.
6:45AM
'All the Germans will already be dead'
Rawlinson’scertainty about the artillery has filtered down to his brigadiers, and from them to the lower ranks. The Newcastle Commercials (a "Pals" regiment made up entirely of clerical workers from Newcastle) have been told:
“You will be able to go over the top with a walking stick. You will not need rifles. When you get to Thiepval you will find the Germans all dead. Not even a rat will have survived.”
The 11th Sherwood Foresters were assured:
“You will meet nothing but dead and wounded Germans. You will advance to Mouquet Farm and be there by 11am. The field kitchens will follow you and give you a good meal.
And the 8th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry were told:
“When you go over the top, you can slope arms, light up your pipes and cigarettes, and march all the way to Pozieres before meeting any live Germans.”
Preliminary raids during the bombardment suggested that this optimism is misplaced. But junior officers who raised such concerns have not been well received.
"The greatest bombardment in the history of the world"
In his cockpit 7,500 feet above the battlefield, Cecil Lewis watches the hurricane bombardment.
“It was the greatest bombardment of the war, the greatest in the history of the world. The whole salient, from Beaumont Hamet down to the marshes of the Somme, covered to a depth of several hundred yards with the coverlet of white wool – smoking shell bursts!
“The clock hands crept on, the thrumming of the shells took on a higher note. It was now a continuous vibration, as if Wotan, in some paroxysm of rage, were using the hollow world as a drm and under his beat the crust of it was shaking. Nothing could live under that rain of splintering steel.
“A whole nation was behind it. The earth had been harnessed, the coal and ore mined, the flaming metal run; the workshops had shaped it with care and precision; our womenkind had made fuses, prepared deadly explosives; our engineers had designed machines to fire the product with a maximum of effect; and finally, here, all these vast credits of labour and capital were being blown to smithereens.
“It was the most effective way of destroying wealth that man had yet devised; but as a means of extermination (roughly one man for every hundred shells), it was primitive and inefficient.”
6:43AM
An accident with grenades
In Thiepval Wood near the river Ancre, Private Billy McFadzean of the Ulster Division is equipping himself with grenades.
Like many Ulstermen on the Somme McFadzean had initially joined the Ulster Volunteer Force – a theoretically illegal Protestant militia devoted to resisting Irish union with armed force. Ironically, it has previously bought rifles from Germany. But in the desperation of war, the UVF has been effectively integrated into the British Army.
Shells drop into the wood all around. Boxes of bombs are opened and emptied. One box falls to the floor of the trench, dislodging two pins. McFadzean throws himself on top of them just before they go off, killing himself but saving everyone else in the trench.
6:33AM
Lt Gen Rawlinson observes the action
In a specially constructed observation platform behind the British Line, Lieutenant General Henry Rawlinson watches the last stage of bombardment.
Rawlinson is a lifelong infantryman who fought in Sudan and South Africa before travelling the world to examine other nations’ armies. As commander of the Fourth Army, he is the man responsible for putting Haig’s plan into action. But because it’s a plan he disagrees with, he is also responsible for subverting it.
Hague, the old horseman, has assembled a large “Reserve Army” led by cavalry, which he hopes can be used to break through the German lines. But Rawlinson has continually resisted such ambitions. He has successfully manoeuvred for the cavalry to come under his own command, and shows every intention of keeping it sat where it is.
Rawlinson has faith that his artillery and infantry alone can do the job. In fact, he has refused his commanders permission to advance their soldiers to within 40 yards of the bombardment before it ceases. Nothing of the enemy, he says, will exist after the guns fall silent.
File photo dated 29/07/19 of General Sir Douglas Haig (left) with General Sir Henry Rawlinson leaving the Guildhall, London, after the visit of King George V and Queen Mary Credit: PA Wire
6:31AM
Bombardment begins
Edward Liveing has passed out rum to his men. He checks his watch, then turns to his corporal and says: "They'll just about start now."
"The words were not out of my mouth before the noise, which had increased a trifle during the last twenty minutes, suddenly swelled into a gigantic roar. Our guns had started. The din was so deafening that one could not hear the crash of German shells exploding in our own lines."
This is the last minute "hurricane bombardment". Every kind of artillery, including short-range but deadly trench mortars, is now being fired in unprecedented volume at the German positions.
The view from above
As the sun rises, Cecil Lewis is already in the air.
“We climbed away on that cloudless summer morning towards the lines. There was a soft white haze over the ground that the sun’s heat would quickly disperse.
“Soon we were in sight of the salient, and the devastating effect of the week’s bombardment could be seen. Square miles of country were ripped and blasted to a pockmarked desolation. Trenches had been obliterated, flattened out, and still, as we watched, the gunfire continued, in a crescendo of intensity.
“Even in the air, at four thousand feet, above the roar of the engine, the drumming of firing and bursting shells throbbed in our ears.”
Today they have two missions: first, to observe German artillery so that it can be targeted by British guns, and second, to watch for signal flares used by the infantry to request support. The information is then sent back to HQ via a primitive morse code radio or simply dropped there in weighted message bags.
"Purgatory, in all its hideous shapes and forms"
Geoffrey Malins, the official Army filmmaker, is caught in the chaos with a camera on his back.
All around him shells are falling, trenches and parapets collapsing. Men barge past with horrible wounds, flesh hanging off their arms. At one point he and his trench guide squeeze into a five-foot-high tunnel. By the light of an electric torch men pass ammunition down into the “bowels of the earth” in an endless chain, sweat shining on their bodies.
Finally they emerge into a forward trench in No Man’s Land, concealed from the enemy. Here, strangely, the shellfire is gone. It is all concentrated on the main line.
Malins gets the footage he needs and then checks his watch. HQ have tipped him off about the 30,000lb explosive mine which is about to go off under the German-held Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt. At 19 points along the front, sappers have painstakingly tunnelled to prepare what will be, collectively, among the largest man-made explosions in history.
He has just one hour to get to his filming position.
Credit: 24 Hours on the Somme/Amberley Publishing
6:17AM
Trenches clog with soldiers
The British trench system is in organised chaos as the clock ticks down towards 7:30 am - zero hour.
Soldiers moving forward to their assault positions clog the sodden, ramshackle alleyways, squeezing past each other with the absurd loads of ammunition and equipment their commanders have foisted on them.
Those who have found their place try to cook breakfast, bacon in a heated tin, trench coffee. Officers hand out rum to their men, sometimes handing out too much. Some are rendered incapable of obeying orders and must be pulled out of the line.
All the while German artillery is raining down, visiting random and sudden death upon the British.
Credit: 24 Hours on the Somme/Amberley Publishing
6:05AM
Sassoon breaks fast
In a stuffy dug-out near the village of Fricourt, the war poet Siegfried Sassoon eats breakfast with his fellow officers, using an empty ammunition box for a table.
Despite his increasingly bleak and horrifying poetry he has acquired a reputation for manic bravery on the battlefield – as well as the nickname “Mad Jack” – due to a series of near-suicidal exploits. Today, however, he will be spared action.
Pilots, to your machines
At a British airfield behind the lines, Lieutenant Cecil Lewis is tending to his plane.
At just 18 years old he is a charming if reckless adventurer with many flight hours under his belt. Fascinated by the strange sights of war, enchanted by the power and majesty of flight, and most enamoured of the local women, his motto is: “Live gloriously, generously, dangerously. Safety last!”
But the war in the air is taking its toll. Day after day of rolling the dice and surviving while his friends die without warning has given him a false sense of invulnerability, and a penchant for unnecessary risks.
For weeks now he has been photographing the battlefield, observing , shooting down German observation balloons (and sometimes French ones by accident). The Allies have complete superiority in the air.
Like many of the troops, he is convinced that today the German line will be broken, and the cavalry finally unleashed.
5:30AM
The hour approaches
To the south, in the centre of the British line near Ovillers, Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Bastard of the 2nd Lincolns reports with his fellow battalion commanders to brigade HQ for a final conference.
Their discussion is short. They synchronise their watches, wish each other luck, and go back through the intensifying German shellfire.
Unlike the Kitchener men, Bastard is a regular soldier, an Eton graduate and a veteran of the Boer War. Professionals like him and his men, as well as formerly part-time Territorials, make up about half the British force of the Somme.
They are a spirited lot: while on parade, an unknown man had heckled his brigade commander: "It's all right for you – you won't be there!" But the commander took it in good spirit, calling back: "No, I won't, but you will be." The previous night they held a concert in a field near the town of Albert, with loud renditions of popular songs.
A clear dawn
Lt Edward Liveingof the London Regiment has hardly slept.
For seven days British artillery has been pounding the German lines in preparation for the offensive. More shells have been fired this week than in the whole of the war so far. And tonight, the night before the “big push”, it has been particularly intense.
Liveing’s platoon is on the far north of the British advance, part of a huge diversionary attack aimed at the German-held town of Gommecourt. He recalls:
“The wind blew east, and a few fleecy clouds raced along the blue sky overhead. The sun was infusing more warmth into the air. There was a freshness and splendour of a summer morning over everything. In fact, as one man said, it felt more as if were were going to start off for a picnic than for a battle.”
5:00AM
Introduction: July 1, 1916
It is now 21 months since the greatest war in modern memory collapsed into an exhausted stalemate. The Allies and the Central Powers face each other across 12,000 miles of fortified trench, neither side able to break through.
Since December 1915 the French and the British have been planning a joint offensive to end the deadlock. Their goal was to attack on either side of the river Somme, a sleepy sector where both sides have settled into a comfortable routine. But in February the Germans struck first, drawing the French into a desperate struggle over their own soil at the Battle of Verdun . As casualties mounted the British were forced to take charge of the Somme offensive, which has now become a relief effort.
The task falls in part to "Kitchener’s Army" – two million volunteers who walked out of their factories, cricket clubs and insurance offices in that first golden flush of patriotic enthusiasm. Many have joined up with their friends, workplaces, football teams or unions; tiny communities have contributed whole battalions. What they are about to go through will change them forever: the largest battle of the First World War, the breaking of two armies, and the birth of the 20th century.
The night before the battle, Field Marshal Haig, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, writes in his diary: “With God’s help, I feel hopeful for tomorrow.”
The face of Lord Kitchener Credit: Alamy
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What was Elvis Presley's first film? | Love Me Tender (1956) - IMDb
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At the end of the Civil War, a Confederate team is ordered to rob a Union payroll train but the war ends leaving these men with their Union loot, until the Feds come looking for it.
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After serving time for manslaughter, young Vince Everett becomes a teenage rock star.
Director: Richard Thorpe
Deke Rivers is a delivery man who is discovered by publicist Glenda Markle and country-western musician Tex Warner who want to promote the talented newcomer to fame and fortune, giving him ... See full summary »
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Tulsa is a specialist in the US Army stationed in Germany. He loves to sing and has dreams to run his own nightclub when he leaves the army....but dreams don't come cheap. Tulsa places a ... See full summary »
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Having flunked graduation for a second time and needing cash to support his crabby (and thus unemployed) father, Danny Fisher takes a job as a singer in the King Creole nightclub - about ... See full summary »
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Chad Gates has just gotten out of the Army, and is happy to be back in Hawaii with his surf-board, his beach buddies, and his girlfriend. His father wants him to go to work at the Great ... See full summary »
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A troubled young man discovers that he has a knack for writing when a counselor encourages him to pursue a literary career.
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Charlie Rogers is a leather-jacketed biker who's fired from a singing engagement after getting into a fight with a group of college toughs. While riding his cycle to the next gig, an irate ... See full summary »
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When he finds out his boss is retiring to Arizona, a sailor has to find a way to buy the Westwind, a boat that he and his father built. He is also caught between two women: insensitive club singer Robin and sweet Laurel.
Director: Norman Taurog
West Texas in the years after the Civil War is an uneasy meeting ground of two cultures, one white. The other native American. Elvis portrays Pacer Burton. The son of a white rancher (John ... See full summary »
Director: Don Siegel
When he completes his military service Walter Gulick returns to his birthplace, Cream Valley, New York. He was orphaned as an infant and grew up elsewhere but always wanted to return to ... See full summary »
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Mike works on a boat in Acapulco. When the bratty daughter of the boat owner gets him fired, Mike must find new work. Little boy Rauol helps him get a job as a lifeguard and singer at a ... See full summary »
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Race car driver Lucky Jackson goes to Las Vegas to earn money to pay for a new engine for his motor car. Working as a waiter, he still finds the time to court young Rusty Martin.
Director: George Sidney
Edit
Storyline
Elvis plays Clint Reno, one of the Reno brothers who stayed home while his brother went to fight in the Civil War for the Confederate army. When his brother Vance comes back from the war, he finds that his old girlfriend Cathy has married Clint. The family has to struggle to reach stability with this issue. Vance is involved in a train robbery, while a Confederate soldier, of Federal Government money. There is a conflict of interest, when Vance tries to return the money, against the wishes of some of his fellow Confederates. Written by Pat McCurry <[email protected]>
HEAR ELVIS SING . . . "Love Me Tender" "We're Gonna Move" "Poor Boy" "Let Me" See more »
Genres:
15 November 1956 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
The Reno Brothers See more »
Filming Locations:
4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (magnetic prints)| Mono (optical prints)
Color:
Did You Know?
Trivia
In its opening weekend film it shot to #2 in Variety's list. Only James Dean 's film Giant (1956) had more viewers. See more »
Goofs
Elvis' hair is black during the final "Love Me Tender" reprise, but closer to blonde in the rest of the film. See more »
Quotes
Cathy Reno : [Clint has just been shot after defending Vance... Cathy "Kit" Reno rushes to his side and takes him into her arms] Just lie still.
Clint Reno : [gasping for breath] Kit... where's Vance? I gotta talk to him.
Vance Reno : I'm here, Clint.
Clint Reno : [crying] Vance, I didn't mean it! I swear I didn't mean it...
Vance Reno : [softly] I know you didn't, Clint. You don't have to tell me. Everything's gonna be all right.
Clint Reno : [looks at Kit, then at Vance] Everything's gonna be all right
[last lines... gasps, then dies... Kit weeps]
| Love Me Tender |
What sort of fish is a kipper? | Elvis Presley's First Recording Headed to Auction - Rolling Stone
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The origins of the recording, which has appeared on several compilations, are the subject of debate. One oft-disputed story claims that Presley recorded the disc as a present for his mother; but the singer ended up giving the item to his friend Ed Leek, who claimed to have given Presley four dollars to pay for the session. Although Graceland hasn't offered an auction estimate for the disc, Record Collector magazine previously listed it at $500,000.
Other listed items in the January auction, all of which have been authenticated by Graceland, include Presley's first driver's license (from 1952), a signed contract for a "Louisiana Hayride" radio show appearance in 1955 and an autographed 78 r.p.m. copy of Presley's debut Sun Records single, "That's All Right" (also from the Leek collection). All of the items are from private collectors, not Graceland's own collection.
This is Graceland's second memorabilia auction, following an event in August that featured Presley's Martin D-28 guitar, 1976 Cadillac Seville and a personal copy of the original script for his debut film, Love Me Tender, which came out in 1956.
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Where in Europe are the Cantabrian Mountains? | Cantabrian Mountains | mountains, Spain | Britannica.com
Cantabrian Mountains
list of Spanish monarchs
Cantabrian Mountains, Spanish Cordillera Cantábrica, mountain chain generally extending along the northern coast of Spain for approximately 180 miles (300 km). Scenic and well forested (with beeches and maritime pines), the mountains are of geologically similar origin to the Pyrenees , though classified as a separate formation. They comprise a series of high ridges rising inland from Torrelavega, in Cantabria and Palencia provinces, and crossing (east-west) Asturias and northern León toward Galicia . Fractures have sharply demarcated the range from the Castilian plateau (part of the Meseta Central) in the south and the Cantabrian coastlands in the north, but the eastern and western limits are indistinct. The eastern foothills south of Cantabria rise abruptly into the gigantic limestone mountains of the Europa Peaks , which include Torrecerredo (8,688 feet [2,648 metres]) and the Labra Peak (6,620 feet [2,018 metres]). The main ridge continues westward, usually less than 60 miles (100 km) wide but with elevations of 5,000 to 7,000 feet (1,500 to 2,000 metres). Most of the higher peaks—including Vieja, Prieta, Llambrión, Naranjo de Bulnes, and Espigüete—exceed 8,000 feet (2,500 metres) and are along the main ridge. West of the Narcea River valley, the ranges change their east-west trend and the Sierra de Rañadoiro runs almost north-south. The main ridge divides into the Sierra de Ancares and the Sierra del Caurel, to the northwest, and the Sierra de Gistreo and the León Mountains, to enclose the basin of El Bierzo, which is drained by the upper Sil River.
Sotres village in the Europa Peaks, Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain.
Mick Stephenson
These chains are a more impressive barrier than the Pyrenees. The Oviedo-León railway crosses the Pajares Pass at 4,524 feet (1,379 metres) and is one of the most difficult railway passes in Europe . Heavy river currents run northward from the mountains, forging deep valleys, while to the south the mountain’s longer rivers are used for irrigation. The region is economically important because of its iron and coal deposits and as a source of hydroelectric power for the coastal region. Cattle raising is still the dominant economic activity, however. Tourism in the area has increased in importance.
| Spain |
What type of animal is an ocelot? | Cantabria travel guide
Cantabria travel guide
Isabella Noble , Destination expert
14 October 2015 • 10:54am
An insider's guide to Cantabria, in Spain, featuring the region's best hotels, restaurants, bars, shops, things to do, attractions, and how to travel there and around. By Isabella Noble, Telegraph Travel's Cantabria expert. Click on the tabs below for the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop, including what to do on a short break.
Why go?
Ask any Cantabrian and they’ll proudly tell you the big secret to their beloved land’s success: "In summer we hit the beach, and in winter we go on mountain adventures". It’s this unique combination of landscapes and lifestyles – of breathtaking coast, quiet country, deep valleys, majestic mountains and characterful seaside towns – fused with fantastically fresh food and tremendous historical riches that makes this tiny region of northern Spain such a pleasure to explore. And yet, by Spanish standards, Cantabria remains relatively undeveloped, apart from the odd minor resort area here and there.
By Spanish standards, Cantabria remains relatively undeveloped, apart from the odd minor resort area here and there.
Lively bayside capital Santander is packed with elegant tapas bars, pretty plazas, lovely golden beaches and layer upon layer of history dating back to the first century BC, and will keep you more than entertained with its northern city flair.
Head out of town and you’ll come face to face with some of the oldest and most impressive cave art in the world, at Altamira and El Castillo. Scattered across western Cantabria lie the perfect little medieval village of Santillana del Mar, the Modernista marvels of Comillas, and some of Spain’s most stunning beaches, while the less-travelled east coast has its equal share of natural beauty. In the far south west, the magnificent Picos de Europa mountains rise to astounding heights, opening up some of the finest walking and adventure country in Spain.
When to go
Far from Spain’s main tourist trails, Cantabria escapes relatively unscathed from the hordes of summertime visitors who pack other parts of the country, and you’ll see very different sides to this beautifully green region, depending on when you choose to visit.
During winter (about November to February), it is usually mild on the coast by comparison with wintertime in the UK, and though it can be wet you can still expect a good few sunny spells. It will be cold and probably snowy up in the mountains. You’ll make huge savings on accommodation at this time of year.
In the far south west, the magnificent Picos de Europa mountains rise to astounding heights, opening up some of the finest walking and adventure country in Spain.
The busiest periods are, predictably, Easter, July and August, with summer months proving particularly popular for both the coast and the Picos. Hotel prices soar accordingly, and it’s a good idea to book well ahead. Late July and August are also prime fiesta season in Santander.
Overall, the best months to visit are May, June and September, when the crowds are down, prices aren’t skyrocketing and the weather is (usually) pretty well behaved.
Know before you go
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Who invented the Microwave Oven in 1945 in USA? | Microwave Oven
Microwave Oven
Greetings, The Southwest Museum of Engineering, Communication and Computation is seeking :
artifacts, books, papers, personal recollections, funny stories, newspaper clipping, magazines, catalogs, articles torn out of magazines, cartoons, prototype magnetrons, really early microwave ovens etc ANYTHING Is Fair Game!
The purpose is two-fold which consists of construction the display in the museum in Glendale Arizona and also as an addition to our web site.
thanks Ed Sharpe archivist for SMECC
Please check our web site at
to see other engineering fields, communications and computation stuff we
buy, and by all means when in Arizona drop in and see us.
address:
thanks Ed Sharpe archivist for SMECC
The microwave oven was invented as an accidental by-product of war-time (World War 2) radar research using magnetrons (vacuum tubes that produce microwave radiation, a type of electromagnetic radiation that has a wavelength between 1 mm and 30 cm).
In 1946, the engineer Dr. Percy LeBaron Spencer, who worked for the Raytheon Corporation, was working on magnetrons. One day at work, he had a candy bar in his pocket, and found that it had melted. He realized that the microwaves he was working with had caused it to melt. After experimenting, he realized that microwaves would cook foods quickly - even faster than conventional ovens that cook with heat.
The Raytheon Corporation produced the first commercial microwave oven in 1954; it was called the 1161 Radarange. It was large, expensive, and had a power of 1600 watts. The first domestic microwave oven was produced in 1967 by Amana (a division of Raytheon).
In 1967, Amana, a division of Raytheon, introduced its domestic Radarange microwave oven, marking the beginning of the use of microwave ovens in home kitchens. Although sales were slow during the first few years, partially due to the oven�s relatively expensive price tag, the concept of quick microwave cooking had arrived. In succeeding years, Litton and a number of other companies joined the countertop microwave oven market. By the end of 1971, the price of countertop units began to decrease and their capabilities were expanded.
Spencer, born in Howland, Maine, was orphaned at a young age. Although he never graduated from grammar school, he became Senior Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors at Raytheon, receiving 150 patents during his career. Because of his accomplishments, Spencer was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by the U.S. Navy and has a building named after him at Raytheon.
Percy Spencer, while working for the Raytheon Company, discovered a more efficient way to manufacture magnetrons. In 1941, magnetrons were being produced at a rate of 17 per day. Spencer set out to create a simpler magnetron that could be mass produced. The result was a magnetron that replaced precision copper bars with lamina and replaced soldered internal wires with a simple solid ring. These improvements and others allowed for the faster production of 2,600 magnetrons per day.
In 1945, Spencer created a device to cook food using microwave radiation. Raytheon saw the possibilities of this, and after acquiring Amana Refrigeration in 1965, was able to sell microwave ovens on a large scale. The first microwave oven was called the Radarange, and today, there are over 200 million in use throughout the world.
A Brief History of the Microwave Oven
By J. Carlton Gallawa , author of THE COMPLETE MICROWAVE OVEN SERVICE HANDBOOK
Like many of today's great inventions, the microwave oven was a by-product of another technology. It was during a radar-related
research project around 1946 that Dr. Percy Spencer, a self-taught engineer with the Raytheon Corporation, noticed something very unusual. He was testing a new vacuum tube called a magnetron (we are searching for a picture of an actual 1946 magnetron), when he discovered that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. This intrigued Dr. Spencer, so he tried another experiment. This time he placed some popcorn kernels near the tube and, perhaps standing a little farther away, he watched with an inventive sparkle in his eye as the popcorn sputtered, cracked and popped all over his lab.
The next morning, Scientist Spencer decided
to put the magnetron tube near an egg. Spencer was joined by a curious colleague, and they both watched as the egg began to tremor and quake. The rapid temperature rise within the egg was causing tremendous internal pressure. Evidently the curious colleague moved in for a closer look just as the egg exploded and splattered hot yoke all over his amazed face. The face of Spencer lit up with a logical scientific conclusion: the melted candy bar, the popcorn, and now the exploding egg, were all attributable to exposure to low-density microwave energy. Thus, if an egg can be cooked that quickly, why not other foods? Experimentation began...
Dr. Spencer fashioned a metal box with an opening into which he fed microwave power. The energy entering the box was unable to escape, thereby creating a higher density electromagnetic field. When food was placed in the box and microwave energy fed in, the temperature of the food rose very rapidly. Dr. Spencer had invented what was to revolutionize cooking, and form the basis of a multimillion dollar industry, the microwave oven.
(Click HERE to learn even more about Dr. Percy Spencer)
Nearly 6 Feet Tall, Weighing 750 Pounds
Engineers went to work on Spencer's hot new idea, developing and refining it for practical use. By late 1946, the Raytheon Company had filed a patent proposing that microwaves be used to cook food. An oven that heated food using microwave energy was then placed in a Boston restaurant for testing. At last, in 1947, the first commercial microwave oven hit the market. T
hese primitive units where gigantic and enormously expensive, standing 5 1/2 feet tall, weighing over 750 pounds, and costing about $5000 each. The magnetron tube had to be water-cooled, so plumbing installations were also required.
Initial Reactions Were Unfavorable
Not surprisingly, many were highly reluctant about these first units, and so they found only limited acceptance. Initial sales were disappointing...but not for long. Further improvements and refinements soon produced a more reliable and lightweight oven that was not only less expensive, but, with the development of a new air-cooled magnetron, there was no longer any need for a plumber.
The microwave oven had reached a new level of acceptance, particularly with regard to certain industrial applications. By having a microwave oven available, restaurants and vending companies could now keep products refrigerator-fresh up to the point of service, then heat to order. The result? Fresher food, less waste, and money saved.
New and Unusual Applications
As the food industry began to recognize the potential and versatility of the microwave oven, its usefulness was put to new tests. Industries began using microwaves to dry potato chips and roast coffee beans and peanuts. Meats could be defrosted, precooked and tempered. Even the shucking of oysters was made easier by microwaves. Other industries found the diverse applications of microwave heating quite advantageous. In time, microwaves were being used to dry cork, ceramics, paper, leather, tobacco, textiles, pencils, flowers, wet books and match heads. The microwave oven had become a necessity in the commercial market and the possibilities seemed endless.
The First "Radarange"
In 1947, Raytheon demonstrated the world's first microwave oven and called it a "Radarange," the winning name in an employee contest. Housed in refrigerator-sized cabinets, the first microwave ovens cost between $2,000 and $3,000. Sometime between 1952-55, Tappan introduced the first home model priced at $1295. In 1965 Raytheon acquired Amana Refrigeration. Two years later, the first countertop, domestic oven was introduced. It was a 100-volt microwave oven, which cost just under $500 and was smaller, safer and more reliable than previous models.
By 1975 Sales of Microwave Ovens Exceeded that of Gas Ranges
Technological advances and further developments led to a microwave oven that was polished and priced for the consumer kitchen. However, there were many myths and fears surrounding these mysterious new electronic "radar ranges." By the seventies, more and more people were finding the benefits of microwave cooking to outweigh the possible risks, and none of them were dying of radiation poisoning, going blind, sterile, or becoming impotent (at least not from using microwave ovens). As fears faded, a swelling wave of acceptance began filtering into the kitchens of America and other countries. Myths were melting away, and doubt was turning into demand.
By 1975, sales of microwave ovens would, for the first time, exceed that of gas ranges. The following year, a reported 17% of all homes in Japan were doing their cooking by microwaves, compared with 4% of the homes in the United States the same year. Before long, though, microwave ovens were adorning the kitchens in over nine million homes, or about 14%, of all the homes in the United States. In 1976, the microwave oven became a more commonly owned kitchen appliance than the dishwasher, reaching nearly 60%, or about 52 million U.S. households. America's cooking habits were being drastically changed by the time and energy-saving convenience of the microwave oven. Once considered a luxury, the microwave oven had developed into a practical necessity for a fast-paced world.
An expanding market has produced a style to suit every taste; a size, shape, and color to fit any kitchen, and a price to please almost every pocketbook. Options and features, such as the addition of convection heat, probe and sensor cooking, meet the needs of virtually every cooking, heating or drying application. Today, the magic of microwave cooking has radiated around the globe, becoming an international phenomenon.
Inventor Spencer
Doctor Spencer continued at Raytheon as a senior consultant until he died at the age of 76. At the time of his death, Dr. Spencer held 150 patents and was considered one of the world's leading experts in the field of microwave energy, despite his lack of a high school education.
On September 18, 1999, Dr. Percy LaBaron Spencer was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and took his place in history alongside such great inventors as Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers and George Washington Carver.
More to come on the fascinating history and development of the microwave oven...
Note: Photo of Percy Spencer and Patent provided courtesy of The Spencer Family Archives
Picture of the earliest microwave oven provided courtesy of The Lemelson-MIT Awards Program's Invention Dimension web site, http://web.mit.edu/invent
Picture of Original Microwave Oven Patent by Doctor Percy L. Spencer
Courtesy Rod Spencer and the Spencer Family Archives
Copyright Information
Unless otherwise noted, all materials at this cite (including without limitation all text, html markup, graphics, and graphic elements) are copyrighted �, 1989-2001 by J. Carlton Gallawa. The material available through this site may be freely used for attributed noncommercial educational purposes only. We ask that due credit and notification be given the author.
Amana Radarange
Amana Refrigeration, a subsidiary of Raytheon Manufacturing Company, in 1967 introduced this first compact microwave oven, called the Radarange. It was a 115 V countertop model, retailing for $495, and cooked hamburgers in 35 seconds. The compact size was made possible by a small, efficient electron tube, developed in 1964 by the Japanese, which replaced older, bulkier tubes called magnetrons.
In 1968, tests by Walter Reed Hospital confirmed many fears that microwaves did, in fact, leak out of the ovens, but Federal standards set in 1971 resolved the problem. By 1994, ninety per cent of all US homes had such an appliance.
The first microwave ovens for home consumer use were introduced by Tappan in 1955, but few purchased them due to their large size (about like an electric stove) and high cost.
Microwave ovens were a spin-off of wartime RADAR, and invented accidentally by Percy LeBaron Spencer of Raytheon while working on a magnetron (radar tube) near the end of the war. As he passed the device, which generated microwaves, he noticed that a candy bar in his pocket began to melt. He experimented with eggs (they exploded) and popcorn (it popped). So, a "high frequency dielectric heating apparatus" was patented in 1945 by Raytheon, and a prototype built. The first microwave oven for commercial purposes (ships and hotels) was introduced in 1947 by Raytheon, and named the Radar Range. It stood five and a half feet tall, weighed 750 pounds, and cost $3000
30th Anniversary of Microwave Oven Marks Revolution in America�s Home Kitchens
| Percy Spencer |
Who was the second Pope after St. Peter? | The Invention of the Microwave Oven
The Invention of the Microwave Oven
The microwave oven was a happy accident.
Scientists invented the magnetron during World War II. This device emitted microwaves, which the British armed forces used to detect incoming German planes.
After the war, scientists continued to improve on the magnetron. In 1946, Percy Spencer, who was working for the Raytheon Corporation, was testing a new version of the magnetron when he noticed that the candy bar in his pocket had melted.
Spencer thought that the magnetron was responsible, and so he placed some unpopped popcorn kernels near the magnetron and flipped the switch. Presto! The popcorn popped.
After several more tests, Spencer and his fellow Raytheon scientists were convinced that they had a new invention on their hands. Spencer eventually created a big box that they would place food in for heating. They also discovered that exposure to too much radiation was bad for people.
The first microwave ovens looked like a cross between regular oven and a refrigerator. They were 5 feet tall and required a water pipe connection to cool the magnetron after use.
Not too many bought those first microwave ovens, but some did. Scientists kept experimenting and refining what they had. Finally, in the 1960s, the small countertop version that we know today was introduced.
Graphics courtesy of ClipArt.com
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What 1945 film won best picture, actor and director at the Oscars ? | 1945 Academy Awards® Winners and History
Spellbound (1945)
Actor:
RAY MILLAND in "The Lost Weekend" , Bing Crosby in "The Bells of St. Mary's", Gene Kelly in "Anchors Aweigh", Gregory Peck in "The Keys of the Kingdom", Cornel Wilde in "A Song to Remember"
Actress:
JOAN CRAWFORD in "Mildred Pierce" , Ingrid Bergman in "The Bells of St. Mary's", Greer Garson in "The Valley of Decision", Jennifer Jones in "Love Letters", Gene Tierney in "Leave Her to Heaven"
Supporting Actor:
JAMES DUNN in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", Michael Chekhov in "Spellbound", John Dall in "The Corn Is Green", Robert Mitchum in "The Story of G.I. Joe", J. Carrol Naish in "A Medal for Benny"
Supporting Actress:
ANNE REVERE in "National Velvet", Eve Arden in "Mildred Pierce" , Ann Blyth in "Mildred Pierce" , Angela Lansbury in "The Picture of Dorian Gray", Joan Lorring in "The Corn Is Green"
Director:
BILLY WILDER for "The Lost Weekend" , Clarence Brown for "National Velvet", Alfred Hitchcock for "Spellbound", Leo McCarey for "The Bells of St. Mary's", Jean Renoir for "The Southerner"
Now that World War II was over and a more optimistic mood swept across the country, glamour returned to the awards ceremony. But the Best Picture award was presented to producer/director/co-writer Billy Wilder's four-Oscar winning, socially-significant The Lost Weekend , a grim, realistic, downbeat drama based on Charles Jackson's best-selling novel and the first major Hollywood film to deal with the subject of alcoholism in a serious tone. Some consider Wilder's humiliation the previous year with his seven-time nominated film
Double Indemnity (1944) (with no wins) was one of the main factors for his tremendous win this year. This time, Wilder's Best Picture film won four of its seven nominations. This was also the first time that the Best Picture Oscar winner also won the prestigious top prize (known as the Grand Prix) at the Cannes Film Festival.
[The Best Picture winner in 1945 set a pattern for more adult, socially-responsible Best Picture winners in the 40's. Serious "social issues" films would win the Best Picture award in four of the next five years: e.g., The Lost Weekend (1945) ,
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) , Gentleman's Agreement (1947), and All the King's Men (1949) .]
The meaningful film, from Charles Jackson's adapted novel, won four major awards - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay. Director Wilder won Oscars for Best Director and Best Screenplay (shared with Charles Brackett). Brackett and Wilder were producers-directors of the previous year's
Double Indemnity (1944) . They would collaborate together in the future with A Foreign Affair (1948) and
Sunset Boulevard (1950) .
The Best Picture winner defeated the following four Best Picture nominees:
the classic film noir melodrama by director Michael Curtiz, Mildred Pierce (with six nominations and one win - Best Actress)
MGM's lively musical directed by George Sidney, Anchors Aweigh (with five nominations and one win - Best Musical Picture Score) - notable for an animated mouse named Jerry, from the "Tom and Jerry" cartoon, in a dance sequence with star Gene Kelly
director Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller with psychoanalytic content about an amnesia victim and a Freudian psychologist, Spellbound (with six nominations and one win - Best Dramatic Score)
Leo McCarey's The Bells of St. Mary's (with eight nominations and one win - Best Sound Recording), the sequel to the previous year's award-winning Going My Way (1944). This time, the film told the story of an easy-going priest who battles with the Mother Superior of parochial St. Mary's School.
[Note: The Bells of St. Mary's was the first sequel to be nominated for Best Picture. Other sequels later nominated for Best Picture included
The Godfather, Part II (1974) - a winner, and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - a loser, with another installment: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - a winner. The Bells of St. Mary's lost in four major awards categories: Best Picture, Best Actor (Bing Crosby), Best Actress (Ingrid Bergman), and Best Director (Leo McCarey) - all four were honored winners from the previous year!]
Two directors of the five Best Picture-nominated films were not nominated as Best Director: George Sidney for Anchors Aweigh, and Michael Curtiz for Mildred Pierce . They were replaced with the following two directors:
French director Jean Renoir (with his sole nomination) was nominated as Best Director for The Southerner (with three nominations and no wins), his most respected American film about the hardships of a Texas farmer who struggles to support himself as a Southern cottonfield sharecropper
Clarence Brown (with his fifth of six career nominations) was nominated as Best Director for National Velvet (with five nominations and two wins - Best Supporting Actress and Best Film Editing)
Debonair Wales-born Ray Milland (with his sole career nomination and Oscar win) won the Best Actor award for his stark portrayal of whiskey-soaked, boozing Don Birnam with writer's block on a five-day binge in the year's Best Picture winner The Lost Weekend . It was an about-face role for the lightweight comedy and romantic actor for over a decade, with Milland using increasingly desperate measures to obtain a drink, and eventually ending up hallucinating (with delirium tremens) in a hospital. Milland continued acting for many years, including starring as Ryan O'Neal's father in Love Story (1970) . [Other alcoholic roles that have earned Oscar nominations include: James Mason in
A Star Is Born (1954) , Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954), Susan Hayward in I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), and Jack Lemmon in Days of Wine and Roses (1963).]
The other Best Actor nominees included:
Bing Crosby (with his second nomination) reprising his role as Father O'Malley in the sequel The Bells of St. Mary's. Crosby was the first actor to be twice-nominated for playing the same role in two different films. [Others who have the same distinction include Peter O'Toole - as King Henry II in Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968), Al Pacino - as Michael Corleone in
Singin' In The Rain (1952) . Kelly did receive an Honorary Oscar in 1951.]
Gregory Peck (with his first of four unsuccessful nominations in five years - his fifth and final nomination was a winner in 1962) was nominated for his role as young Scottish missionary Father Francis Chisholm in 19th century China in director John Stahl's The Keys of the Kingdom (with four nominations and no wins). [Gregory Peck became a star after appearing in three films in 1945: Spellbound, The Valley of Decision, and The Keys of the Kingdom - his second film.]
Cornel Wilde (with his sole career nomination) was nominated for his role as pianist/composer Frederic Chopin in the biopic A Song to Remember (with six nominations and no wins).
The biggest winner of the awards ceremony in 1945 was longtime 20s-30s star Joan Crawford in a triumphant return to the spotlight for her Best Actress-winning performance in Michael Curtiz' melodramatic 'women's picture' Mildred Pierce . It was Crawford's sole career Oscar for her portrayal of a hardworking, sacrificial, middle-class mother figure (the title role) who found business success with a restaurant but personal tragedy with her spoiled daughter in the James M. Cain story of murder, larceny, blackmail and adultery. [She would be nominated (though not the winner) two more times, for Possessed (1947) and Sudden Fear (1952).]
The other Best Actress nominees included:
Ingrid Bergman (with her third nomination) as Mother Superior Sister Benedict in The Bells of St. Mary's
Greer Garson (with her sixth nomination) as poor Pittsburgh housemaid Mary Rafferty (who falls in love with wealthy coal mine owner Gregory Peck) in director Tay Garnett's melodramatic The Valley of Decision (with two nominations and no wins)
Jennifer Jones (with the third of four consecutive nominations in a career total of five) as amnesiac Victoria - who falls for the love letters written by an imposter in director William Dieterle's melodrama, Love Letters (with four nominations and no wins)
Gene Tierney (with her sole career nomination) as beautiful neurotic Ellen Berent - a pathologically possessive and jealous woman in director John Stahl's soap-operish Leave Her to Heaven (with four nominations and one win - Best Color Cinematography)
The Best Supporting Actor award was won by Irish actor James Dunn (with his sole nomination) as alcoholic father and waiter Johnny Nolan whose drinking habits frustrate his attempts to support his family in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn about turn-of-the-century Brooklyn tenement life, the debut feature film of future Oscar winning director Elia Kazan. [Kazan would be nominated for five career awards, winning twice for Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and
On The Waterfront (1954) .]
The other Best Supporting Actor nominees included:
Michael Chekhov (with his sole career nomination) as threatened psychiatrist Dr. Alex Brulow (and Ingrid Bergman's mentor) in Spellbound
John Dall (with his sole career nomination for his film debut) as Welsh mining boy Morgan Evans (taught by spinster schoolteacher Bette Davis) in director Irving Rapper's The Corn is Green (with two nominations and no wins)
Robert Mitchum (with his sole career nomination!) as infantry commander Lieutenant Walker in the Italian campaign in WWII in director William Wellman's The Story of G. I. Joe (with four nominations and no wins)
J. Carrol Naish (with his second and last career nomination) as Charley Martin - a war hero's father in director Irving Pichel's A Medal for Benny (with two nominations and no wins)
The winner in the Best Supporting Actress category was Anne Revere (with her second of three career nominations - and sole Oscar win) for her role as Elizabeth Taylor's supportive, strong-faced mother Mrs. Brown, who helps her daughter train for the Grand National race in director Clarence Brown's National Velvet (with five nominations and two wins - Best Supporting Actress and Best Film Editing).
The other Best Supporting Actress nominees included two co-stars:
Eve Arden (with her sole unsuccessful career nomination) as Mildred's knowing, wise-cracking, sidekick friend Ida in Mildred Pierce
Ann Blyth (with her sole unsuccessful career nomination) as the bitchy, spoiled daughter Veda Pierce in Mildred Pierce
Angela Lansbury (with her second of three unsuccessful career nominations) as innocent music-hall singer Sibyl Vane in writer/director Albert Lewin's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's classic novel titled The Picture of Dorian Gray (with three nominations and one win - Best B/W Cinematography)
Joan Lorring (with her sole unsuccessful career nomination) as young seductress Bessie Watty in The Corn is Green
Oscar Snubs and Omissions:
There were many serious omissions and problems with this year's awards. Why was Anchors Aweigh given a Best Picture nomination and four other nominations, when Edgar Ulmer's noir classic Detour was unrecognized? Another noir film was also un-nominated: Robert Siodmak's The Suspect. Edward G. Robinson and co-star Joan Bennett were un-nominated in two Fritz Lang noir films: The Woman in the Window (1944) and Scarlet Street.
Boris Karloff (never nominated for an Oscar in his entire career) was ignored in Val Lewton's superb B movie horror classic The Body Snatcher. Elia Kazan's feature directing debut film A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was denied Best Director and Best Picture nominations, and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Joan Blondell. John Ford's They Were Expendable also received only two minor nominations - the film's major star John Wayne was un-nominated.
Vincente Minnelli's and MGM's romantic drama The Clock received no nominations - it told about Alice Mayberry (Judy Garland in her first non-singing role), an all-American single working girl, and young soldier Corp. Joe Allen (Robert Walker) on two-day leave in New York. They happened to meet in Penn Station, fell in love, and hastily committed to marriage -- and because time ran out -- had the ceremony in a diner. Likewise, Michael Curtiz' multi-generational domestic epic Roughly Speaking was also devoid of nominations, particularly for Rosalind Russell's portrayal of real-life Louise Randall Pierson (the film's scriptwriter, based on her autobiographical novel), a strong persevering woman who endured numerous setbacks including two marriages, the Depression, polio and four children. It was a role that Bette Davis reportedly turned down.
And Robert Mitchum, who lost his sole Oscar nomination in 1945 for a minor role in The Story of G.I. Joe, wasn't even nominated for his better and greater roles for the rest of his film career, in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944),
| The Lost Weekend |
What is studied in the science of somatology ? | The Academy Awards through the years - Timelines - Los Angeles Times
The Academy Awards through the years
By Los Angeles Times Staff
Feb. 26, 2016 10:56 a.m.
The first ceremony made the Los Angeles Times’ front page under the headline “Film-Merit Trophies Awarded.” Coverage was all of one photograph and two paragraphs. Since then, the Academy Awards have become an event watched around the world. Scroll down for a year-by-year look at the Oscars.
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Shrine
May 16, 1929
The first Academy Awards at the Hollywood Roosevelt's Blossom Room (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
Before a large gathering of motion-picture celebrities and other notables, the first Academy Awards ceremony is held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Academy President Douglas Fairbanks handed out 15 statuettes for outstanding achievement in 1927 and 1928.
Best picture: “Wings”
Actor: Emil Jannings , “The Last Command” and “The Way of all Flesh”
Actress: Janet Gaynor , “Seventh Heaven,” “Street Angel” and “Sunrise”
Director: Frank Borzage , “Seventh Heaven”
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Other
April 3, 1930
"Broadway Melody" was released in 1929 and took top honors at the Academy Awards the next year. (MGM)
The Academy Awards are announced during a banquet attended by 300 academy members and their guests at the Ambassador Hotel. Academy President William C. deMille presents seven gold statuettes.
Best picture: “The Broadway Melody”
Nov. 5, 1930
Norma Shearer with her statuette for "The Divorcee." (Associated Press)
Conrad Nagel, vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, presents the statuettes at the third awards ceremony. The 600 attendees watch “Artistic and Otherwise,” a “sound recording film” by Thomas A. Edison on the industry’s progress in the last decade.
Best picture: “All Quiet on the Western Front”
Actress: Norma Shearer , “The Divorcee”
Director: Lewis Milestone , “All Quiet on the Western Front”
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Nov. 10, 1931
Marie Dressler and Lionel Barrymore after their wins. (Associated Press)
The notables of Filmland gather at the Biltmore Hotel for the annual banquet. U.S. Vice President Charles Curtis tells the 2,000 gathered: “To my mind, the motion-picture industry is one of man’s greatest benefactors — it is great in size, in reputation and in worth.”
Best picture: “Cimarron”
Biltmore
Nov. 18, 1932
Wallace Beery, left, and Jackie Cooper starred in "The Champ." (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
Lionel Barrymore is the toastmaster at the annual awards banquet at the Ambassador Hotel. Walt Disney is given a special award for his series of Mickey Mouse cartoons. As the ballots are turned in they are dropped into a special machine and tabulated “in full view of the assembled guests.”
Best picture: “Grand Hotel”
Actor: Fredric March , “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and Wallace Beery , “The Champ”
Actress: Helen Hayes , “The Sin of Madelon Claudet”
Director: Frank Borzage , “Bad Girl”
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March 16, 1934
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with Katharine Hepburn in a scene from "Morning Glory" (Associated Press)
Katharine Hepburn, still a newcomer to Hollywood, wins her first Academy Award for her work in “Morning Glory.” “Little Women,” in which she also stars, finishes third in the race for best production behind “A Farewell to Arms” and the winner, a film adaptation of playwright Noel Coward’s “Calvacade.”
Best picture: “Cavalcade”
Feb. 27, 1935
Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in "It Happened One Night." (Columbia Pictures)
The humorist Irvin S. Cobb presents the gold statuettes at the Biltmore Hotel. In “a radical departure from all previous elections,” the balloting is done in the open and write-ins are allowed. Although she doesn’t win, Bette Davis receives the most write-in votes for her work in “Of Human Bondage.”
Best picture: “It Happened One Night”
Actor: Clark Gable , “It Happened One Night”
Actress: Claudette Colbert , “It Happened One Night”
Director: Frank Capra , “It Happened One Night”
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March 5, 1936
Bette Davis, center, with Victor McLaglen, left, and D.W. Griffith (Los Angeles Times)
Bette Davis and Victor McLaglen win by wide margins at the eighth film awards. Despite a boycott by the writers’ and actors’ guilds, the banquet reservations are sold-out two weeks earlier, according to Frank Capra, the academy president.
Best picture: “Mutiny on the Bounty”
Director: John Ford , “The Informer”
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March 4, 1937
Jean Arthur and Gary Cooper in "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (File photo)
Luise Rainer and Paul Muni, both Austrians, are accorded Hollywood’s highest acting honors at the academy banquet at the Biltmore Hotel. The academy for the first time recognizes supporting performances.
Best picture: “The Great Ziegfeld”
Actor: Paul Muni , “The Story of Louis Pasteur”
Actress: Luise Rainer , “The Great Ziegfeld”
Supporting actor: Walter Brennan , “Come and Get It”
Supporting actress: Gale Sondergaard, “Anthony Adverse”
Director: Frank Capra , “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town”
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March 10, 1938
Gale Sondergaard and Joseph Schildkraut star in "The Life of Emile Zola" (Warner Bros.)
Spencer Tracy wins for his role in “Captains Courageous” but misses the festivities — he is recuperating from surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital. Luise Rainer wins for the second year in a row. The academy presents its first Irving Thalberg Memorial Award to producer Darryl Zanuck .
Best picture: “The Life of Emile Zola”
Director: Billy Wilder , “The Lost Weekend”
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March 13, 1947
Harold Russell holds his two Oscars. (File photo)
Harold Russell, who had lost both hands in an Army training exercise, earns two Oscars, supporting actor and a special award, for his performance as a veteran struggling to adapt in “The Best Years of Our Lives.” Jack Benny serves as master of ceremonies.
Best picture: “The Best Years of Our Lives”
Actor: Fredric March , “The Best Years of Our Lives”
Actress: Olivia de Havilland , “To Each His Own”
Supporting actor: Harold Russell , “The Best Years of Our Lives”
Supporting actress: Anne Baxter , “The Razor’s Edge”
Director: William Wyler , “The Best Years of Our Lives”
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Shrine
March 20, 1948
Celeste Holm and director John Stahl at the Mocambo nightclub after her win. (Los Angeles Times)
Loretta Young’s unexpected win for lead actress is a “major upset,” according to The Times’ coverage. Overall, the night brings few other surprises, with the exception of a man arriving in a gorilla suit and making his way into the Shrine Auditorium before law enforcement intervenes.
Best picture: “Gentleman’s Agreement”
Supporting actress: Claire Trevor , “Key Largo”
Director: John Huston , “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”
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Other
March 23, 1950
Mercedes McCambridge, center left, John Ireland and Broderick Crawford, center right, in "All the King's Men" (Columbia Pictures)
Character actor Paul Douglas hosts of the 22nd Academy Awards. Though “All the King’s Men” takes the top award, “The Heiress” is the night’s biggest winner, taking home four of the eight Oscars for which it was nominated.
Best picture: “All the King’s Men”
Actor: Broderick Crawford , “All the King’s Men”
Actress: Olivia de Havilland , “The Heiress”
Supporting actor: Dean Jagger , “12 O’Clock High”
Supporting actress: Mercedes McCambridge , “All the King’s Men”
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz , for “A Letter to Three Wives”
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March 29, 1951
Judy Holliday starred with Broderick Crawford, center, and William Holden in "Born Yesterday." (File photo)
Fred Astaire is host and the RKO Pantages Theatre is the venue, but the night of the 23rd Academy Awards is all about “All About Eve.” The inside Hollywood tale enters the evening with a record 14 nominations. It ultimately wins six.
Best picture: “All About Eve”
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz , “All About Eve”
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March 20, 1952
Kim Hunter as Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire." (Warner Bros.)
Singer, dancer, comedian Danny Kaye, the evening’s host, is in the midst of his film career. The night’s top winner, “An American in Paris” is only the second best picture to be in color. The first, “Gone With the Wind” had won the top prize 12 years earlier.
Best picture: “An American in Paris”
Actor: Humphrey Bogart , for “The African Queen”
Actress: Vivien Leigh , “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Supporting actor: Karl Malden , “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Supporting actress: Kim Hunter , “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Director: George Stevens , “A Place in the Sun”
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Pantages
March 19, 1953
Shirley Booth laughs heartily as actor Fredric March prepares to give her a kiss on the cheek after she was presented with an Oscar. (AP Photo)
The first televised ceremony is close to a three-ring circus. The show spans the continent, with Bob Hope hosting in Hollywood and Fredric March in New York at the NBC Century Theatre. Cecil B. DeMille’s circus movie beats the favored nominee, “High Noon.” Many consider DeMille’s film to be the worst movie to ever win best picture.
Best picture: “The Greatest Show on Earth”
Director: John Ford , “The Quiet Man”
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Pantages
March 25, 1954
Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed win for their performances in "From Here to Eternity." (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
The second ceremony to be televised on NBC is again a bi-coastal affair, with Donald O’Connor hosting from the Pantages and Fredric March hosting at the NBC Century Theatre in NYC. Both the lead actor and lead actress awards were presented remotely by Gary Cooper and Shirley Booth, with O’Connor announcing the winners in L.A.
Best picture: “From Here to Eternity”
Actress: Audrey Hepburn , “Roman Holiday”
Supporting actor: Frank Sinatra , “From Here to Eternity”
Supporting actress: Donna Reed , “From Here to Eternity”
Director: Fred Zinnemann , “From Here to Eternity”
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March 30, 1955
Eva Marie Saint and Marlon Brando from a scene in "On the Waterfront" (Sony Repertory)
Bob Hope hosts the televised ceremony from Hollywood and Thelma Ritter hosts in New York. A rematch for lead actor between Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando, who were both up for the award three years earlier, ends with Brando getting his first Oscar, for his role in “On the Waterfront.”
Best picture: “On the Waterfront”
March 26, 1958
Alec Guinness in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (Columbia Pictures)
The first Oscar ceremony broadcast live on TV is an L.A.-only affair, featuring multiple hosts, including Bob Hope, Rosalind Russell, David Niven, James Stewart, Jack Lemmon and Donald Duck. “Peyton Place” is notorious for having nine nominations, but no wins.
Best picture: “The Bridge on the River Kwai”
Actor: Alec Guinness , “The Bridge on the River Kwai”
Actress: Joanne Woodward , “The Three Faces of Eve”
Supporting actor: Red Buttons , “Sayonara”
Supporting actress: Miyoshi Umeki, “Sayonara”
Director: David Lean, “The Bridge on the River Kwai”
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April 6, 1959
Susan Hayward wipes the brow of fellow winner David Niven. (Los Angeles Times)
The telecast from the Pantages Theatre is noted for its shortness. In fact, the broadcast ends 20 minutes earlier than expected, leaving host Jerry Lewis attempting to fill time. This marks the last time anyone says the Oscars ceremony is too short.
Best picture: “Gigi”
Director: Billy Wilder , “The Apartment”
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April 9, 1962
Sophia Loren, left, in "Two Women" (Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences)
Bob Hope hosts the awards for the seventh time. The ceremony lasts over two hours, a first. Lax security allows a New York City cab driver to get up on stage and award Hope with his own homemade Oscar statuette.
Best picture: “West Side Story”
Actor: Maximilian Schell, “Judgment at Nuremberg”
Actress: Sophia Loren , “Two Women”
Supporting actor: George Chakiris, “West Side Story”
Supporting actress: Rita Moreno , “West Side Story”
Director: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, “West Side Story”
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April 8, 1963
Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Universal Studios)
Frank Sinatra hosts the awards from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, but he almost doesn’t make it into the building. The singer forgets his parking sticker and is turned away from the parking lot by security. He has to park his own car and hustle over to the auditorium.
Best picture: “Lawrence of Arabia”
Actor: Gregory Peck , “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Actress: Anne Bancroft , “The Miracle Worker”
Supporting actor: Ed Begley, “Sweet Bird of Youth”
Supporting actress: Patty Duke , “The Miracle Worker”
Director: David Lean, “Lawrence of Arabia”
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April 13, 1964
Sidney Poitier and Lilia Skala in "Lilies of the Field" (File photo)
Jack Lemmon hosts in Santa Monica. “Tom Jones” picks up best picture and is the only film in history to get three supporting actress nominations. Sidney Poitier’s win is greeted with a roar of approval.
Best picture: “Tom Jones”
Director: George Cukor , “My Fair Lady”
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April 18, 1966
Shelley Winters as the abusive mother in "A Patch of Blue" (MGM)
The Oscars are broadcast in color for the first time. Bob Hope hosts again. The two most nominated films, “Doctor Zhivago” and “The Sound of Music,” are also two of the biggest box-office hits of all time.
Best picture: “The Sound of Music”
Actor: Lee Marvin, “Cat Ballou”
Actress: Julie Christie, “Darling”
Supporting actor: Martin Balsam, “A Thousand Clowns”
Supporting actress: Shelley Winters , “A Patch of Blue”
Director: Robert Wise , “The Sound of Music”
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April 10, 1967
Walter Matthau with presenter Shelley Winters (File photo)
A strike by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) threatens to derail the Oscars, but is settled with just hours to spare. Bob Hope is back for his 16th time as host and quips when the show returns from commercial without a cue: “I’m not ready for another crisis.”
Best picture: “A Man for All Seasons”
Actor: Paul Scofield, “A Man for All Seasons”
Actress: Elizabeth Taylor , “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Supporting actor: Walter Matthau , “The Fortune Cookie”
Supporting actress: Sandy Dennis, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Director: Fred Zinnemann , “A Man for All Seasons”
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Santa Monica
April 10, 1968
Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger in a scene from "In the Heat of the Night" (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
Hollywood is changing and the Oscars ceremony reflects it. While lavish holdovers of the previous era are still in evidence (“Doctor Dolittle”), they seem out of place with the crop of New Hollywood productions, including “The Graduate” and “Bonnie and Clyde.” Bob Hope hosts again.
Best picture: “In the Heat of the Night”
Actor: Rod Steiger , “In the Heat of the Night”
Actress: Katharine Hepburn , “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”
Supporting actor: George Kennedy , “Cool Hand Luke”
Supporting actress: Estelle Parsons, “Bonnie and Clyde”
Director: Mike Nichols, “The Graduate”
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April 14, 1969
Oscar winner Barbra Streisand sports a transparent bell bottom jumpsuit. (Associated Press)
It’s a tie! The academy awards the lead actress Oscar to Barbra Streisand for “Funny Girl” and to Katharine Hepburn for “The Lion in Winter.” It’s the first time the ceremony has been held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles.
Best picture: “Oliver!”
Chandler
April 7, 1970
John Wayne accepts his Oscar as presenter Barbra Streisand looks on. (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
The Oscars are held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The show is picketed by blacks protesting the lack of black musicians in the orchestra and Latinos upset about portrayals in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” John Wayne picks up his first Oscar, for “True Grit,” and comments: “I should have put on that eye patch 35 years ago.”
Best picture: “Midnight Cowboy”
Actor: John Wayne , “True Grit”
Actress: Maggie Smith, “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”
Supporting actor: Gig Young , “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”
Supporting actress: Goldie Hawn, “Cactus Flower”
Director: John Schlesinger, “Midnight Cowboy”
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Chandler
April 15, 1971
George C. Scott is seen in a 20th Century Fox handout photo from the 1970 movie "Patton." (AP Photo / 20th Century Fox)
“Patton” makes what The Times calls an “astonishing” sweep, earning eight Oscars, including lead actor for George C. Scott, who had previously said he would refuse the honor. The ceremony introduces an award for original song score, which goes to the Beatles for “Let it Be.”
Best picture: “Patton”
April 2, 1974
A man later identified as Robert Opel streaks behind host David Niven. (Associated Press)
Tatum O’Neal, 9, gets a sustained ovation for her unexpected win. Katharine Hepburn , a three-time winner, makes her first appearance at the awards in order to present the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award to producer Lawrence Weingarten. David Niven is at the podium when a streaker makes his way across the stage.
Best picture: “The Sting”
Actor: Jack Lemmon , “Save the Tiger”
Actress: Glenda Jackson, “A Touch of Class”
Supporting actor: John Houseman, “The Paper Chase”
Supporting actress: Tatum O’Neal, “Paper Moon”
Director: George Roy Hill, “The Sting”
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April 8, 1975
Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone in "The Godfather Part II" (Paramount Pictures)
Wins by Art Carney and Ellen Burstyn are crowd-pleasers. Carney gets an extra ovation when he thanks his agent for urging him to take the role with the advice: “Do it! You are old!” Francis Ford Coppola has a big night, personally taking home three Oscars for “The Godfather Part II.”
Best picture: “The Godfather Part II”
Actor: Art Carney , “Harry and Tonto”
Actress: Ellen Burstyn, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”
Supporting actor: Robert De Niro, “The Godfather Part II”
Supporting actress: Ingrid Bergman , “Murder on the Orient Express”
Director: Francis Ford Coppola, “The Godfather Part II”
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Chandler
March 29, 1976
R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) and Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (Fantasy Films)
“Cuckoo’s Nest” sweeps the Oscars, marking the first time since 1934’s “It Happened One Night” that one film claims four top awards — best picture, lead actress, lead actor and director. Octogenarian Mary Pickford accepts a special Oscar in a segment filmed earlier at her famed estate Pickfair.
Best picture: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
Actor: Jack Nicholson , “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
Actress: Louise Fletcher, “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
Supporting actor: George Burns , “The Sunshine Boys”
Supporting actress: Lee Grant, “Shampoo”
Director: Milos Forman, “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
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March 28, 1977
"Rocky" star and screenwriter Sylvester Stallone at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion. (Ron Galella / WireImage)
Peter Finch becomes the first actor to win a posthumous Oscar, for his role in “Network.” During the show, Sylvester Stallone, who wrote and starred in best picture winner “Rocky,” jokingly spars on stage with boxing great Muhammad Ali, who kids him about “stealing my script.”
Best picture: “Rocky”
Supporting actor: Jason Robards, “All the President’s Men”
Supporting actress: Beatrice Straight, “Network”
Director: John G. Avildsen, “Rocky”
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April 3, 1978
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in "Annie Hall" (File photo)
Box-office blockbuster “Star Wars” fails to take any top awards but does secure six regular and one special Oscar. Woody Allen is a no-show and Vanessa Redgrave’s fiery, political acceptance speech draws boos and hisses.
Best picture: “Annie Hall”
Actor: Richard Dreyfuss , “The Goodbye Girl”
Actress: Diane Keaton, “Annie Hall”
Supporting actor: Jason Robards, “Julia”
Supporting actress: Vanessa Redgrave, “Julia”
Director: Woody Allen, “Annie Hall”
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April 9, 1979
Jon Voight and Jane Fonda (Los Angeles Times)
Two controversial films about dealing with the war in Vietnam win top honors. Jane Fonda speaks in sign language during her acceptance speech. John Wayne and Laurence Olivier, both in poor health, get standing ovations when they appear on stage.
Best picture: “The Deer Hunter”
Actor: Jon Voight, “Coming Home”
Actress: Jane Fonda, “Coming Home”
Supporting actor: Christopher Walken, “The Deer Hunter”
Supporting actress: Maggie Smith, “California Suite”
Director: Michael Cimino, “The Deer Hunter”
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April 14, 1980
Jack Lemmon, Meryl Streep and presenter Cloris Leachman (Los Angeles Times)
“Kramer vs. Kramer” wins five Oscars, including best picture, director, lead actor and supporting actress — Meryl Streep’s first Oscar win. She beats out fellow “Kramer vs. Kramer” actress Jane Alexander for the award. Johnny Carson hosts.
Best picture: “Kramer vs. Kramer”
Actor: Dustin Hoffman, “Kramer vs. Kramer”
Supporting actor: Melvyn Douglas , “Being There”
Supporting actress: Meryl Streep , “Kramer vs. Kramer”
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March 31, 1981
Robert De Niro holds his best actor Oscar for "Raging Bull." ( AP Photo)
The ceremony, hosted by Johnny Carson, is scheduled for March 30 but postponed a day after the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. The acting winners are all under 40. De Niro declines to talk about any connection between “Taxi Driver” and the attempt on the president’s life.
Best picture: “Ordinary People”
Actor: Robert De Niro, “Raging Bull”
Actress: Sissy Spacek , “Coal Miner’s Daughter”
Supporting actor: Timothy Hutton, “Ordinary People”
Supporting actress: Mary Steenburgen , “Melvin and Howard”
Director: Robert Redford, “Ordinary People”
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March 29, 1982
Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn in "On Golden Pond" (Universal Studios)
“Chariots of Fire” beats out “Reds,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “On Golden Pond” and “Atlantic City” for best picture. Henry Fonda wins lead actor for “On Golden Pond” at age 76, setting a record as the oldest winner in the category. His only previous acting nomination was four decades prior for “The Grapes of Wrath.” Johnny Carson hosts.
Best picture: “Chariots of Fire”
Chandler
April 9, 1984
James Brooks, left, Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson won awards for "Terms of Endearment." (Los Angeles Times)
“Terms of Endearment” wins five of its 11 nomination categories, including best picture. Linda Hunt wins the supporting actress Oscar for “The Year of Living Dangerously,” in which she played a male photographer. It’s the first time an actor wins an Oscar for portraying a character of the opposite sex. Johnny Carson is back as host.
Best picture: “Terms of Endearment”
Actress: Shirley MacLaine , “Terms of Endearment”
Supporting actor: Jack Nicholson , “Terms of Endearment”
Supporting actress: Linda Hunt, “The Year of Living Dangerously”
Director: James Brooks, “Terms of Endearment”
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March 25, 1985
Haing Ngor, right, and Sam Waterston in "The Killing Fields"
“Amadeus” wins the top prize, but the ceremony is best remembered for Sally Field’s acceptance speech: “The first time I didn’t feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!” Jack Lemmon hosts.
Best picture: “Amadeus”
Chandler
March 24, 1986
Cher presented Don Ameche with the supporting actor Oscar for his performance in "Cocoon." (Lennox McLendon / Associated Press)
“Out of Africa,” nominated in 11 categories, wins seven Oscars, including best picture and best director. The night’s big story is the total shut out of “The Color Purple,” also was nominated in 11 categories. Jane Fonda, Alan Alda and Robin Williams co-host.
Best picture: “Out of Africa”
Actor: William Hurt, “Kiss of the Spider Woman”
Actress: Geraldine Page, “The Trip to Bountiful”
Supporting actor: Don Ameche , “Cocoon”
Supporting actress: Anjelica Huston , “Prizzi’s Honor”
Director: Sydney Pollack, “Out of Africa”
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March 30, 1987
Tom Cruise, left, and Paul Newman in "The Color of Money" (Fox Broadcasting Co.)
Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan co-host the event — the last ceremony to have multiple hosts for 20 years. “Platoon” wins best picture, director, and two other Oscars. Oliver Stone thanks everyone for “this Cinderella ending.”
Best picture: “Platoon”
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci , “The Last Emperor”
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March 29, 1989
Tom Cruise, left, and Dustin Hoffman in a scene from "Rain Man" (United Artists)
“Rain Man,” the story of man whose autistic savant brother inherits their father’s fortune, takes four of the eight Oscars for which it is nominated. The producers change the traditional line “And the winner is…” to “And the Oscar goes to…” But the show goes down in infamy for an opening act that featured Rob Lowe singing with Snow White.
Best picture: “Rain Man”
Actor: Dustin Hoffman, “Rain Man”
Actress: Jodie Foster, “The Accused”
Supporting actor: Kevin Kline , “A Fish Called Wanda”
Supporting actress: Geena Davis, “The Accidental Tourist”
Director: Barry Levinson, “Rain Man”
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March 26, 1990
Brenda Fricker kisses Oscar at the 62nd Annual Academy Awards. (Ron Galella / WireImage)
Billy Crystal hosts the ceremony for the first time. The show is held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, half the size of the Shrine Auditorium, and producer Gil Cates has to limit the number of tickets for Academy members.
Best picture: “Driving Miss Daisy”
Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, “My Left Foot”
Actress: Jessica Tandy , “Driving Miss Daisy”
Supporting actor: Denzel Washington, “Glory”
Supporting actress: Brenda Fricker, “My Left Foot”
Director: Oliver Stone , “Born on the Fourth of July”
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March 25, 1991
Kevin Costner in "Dances With Wolves" (Ben Glass / Orion Pictures Corp.)
Billy Crystal hosts for the second time (he even won two Emmys for the gig). Reba McEntire performs, dedicating the song to her road manager and seven band members who died in a car crash earlier that month. “Dances With Wolves” wins seven Oscars, including best picture.
Best picture: “Dances With Wolves”
Actor: Jeremy Irons, “Reversal of Fortune”
Actress: Kathy Bates, “Misery”
Director: Kevin Costner , “Dances with Wolves”
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Shrine
March 30, 1992
Billy Crystal, in a mask like Hannibal Lecter was forced to wear, greets Anthony Hopkins on stage. (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
Billy Crystal hosts for the third consecutive telecast. “The Silence of the Lambs” sweeps the top five categories, including best picture, actor, actress, director and adapted screenplay. Jack Palance, 72, surprises the audience by doing push-ups on stage.
Best picture: “The Silence of the Lambs”
Actor: Anthony Hopkins , “The Silence of the Lambs”
Actress: Jodie Foster, “The Silence of the Lambs”
Supporting actor: Jack Palance , “City Slickers”
Supporting actress: Mercedes Ruehl, “The Fisher King”
Director: Jonathan Demme, “The Silence of the Lambs”
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March 29, 1993
Gene Hackman and Marisa Tomei (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“Unforgiven” wins four Academy Awards, including a best director Oscar for Clint Eastwood — his first. Some criticize the theme, “Women and the Movies,” as hypocritical. Considering it’s also the year of “Basic Instinct,” one female screenwriter suggests “year of the psychotic woman” as more appropriate.
Best picture: “Unforgiven”
Director: Robert Zemeckis , “Forrest Gump”
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Shrine
March 25, 1996
Mel Gibson, left, Bruce Davey, center, and Alan Ladd Jr. with their Oscars for "Braveheart." (Los Angeles Times)
In what was considered a wide-open year for best picture contenders, “Braveheart” beats out an eclectic slate of films, “Apollo 13,” “Babe,” “Sense and Sensibility” and “The Postman (Il Postino).”
The awards came amid a political protest by African American activists led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, seeking greater minority representation in Hollywood
Best picture: “Braveheart”
Actress: Susan Sarandon , “Dead Man Walking”
Supporting actor: Kevin Spacey , “The Usual Suspects”
Supporting actress: Mira Sorvino, “Mighty Aphrodite”
Director: Mel Gibson for “Braveheart”
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March 24, 1997
Cuba Gooding Jr. won for "Jerry Maguire." (Los Angeles Times)
Cuba Gooding Jr. wins as expected for supporting actor in “Jerry Maguire.” But Lauren Bacall, 72, is upset in the race for supporting actress, losing to Juliette Binoche. Bacall’s nomination was the first of her 53-year career and came for her performance in “The Mirror has Two Faces.”
Best picture: “The English Patient”
Actor: Geoffrey Rush, “Shine”
Supporting actor: Cuba Gooding Jr. , “Jerry Maguire”
Supporting actress: Juliette Binoche, “The English Patient”
Director: Anthony Minghella, “The English Patient”
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Shrine
March 23, 1998
James Cameron won three awards for "Titanic," for director, best picture (as producer) and film editing. (Reed Saxon / Associated Press)
It is a night to remember for “Titanic.” The epic drama continues its passage into film history by winning best picture and 10 other Oscars, tying 1959’s “Ben-Hur” as the most honored film in Academy Awards history. The wins come not long after the film supplants “Star Wars” as the highest-grossing film in Hollywood history.
Best picture: “Titanic”
Director: Steven Spielberg , “Saving Private Ryan”
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March 26, 2000
Michael Caine and Kevin Spacey (Los Angeles Times)
“American Beauty” wins five Oscars: best picture, actor, director, original screenplay and cinematography. It is the first best picture Oscar for DreamWorks, the studio founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.
Best picture: “American Beauty”
Actor: Kevin Spacey , “American Beauty”
Actress: Hilary Swank , “Boys Don’t Cry”
Supporting actor: Michael Caine, “The Cider House Rules”
Supporting actress: Angelina Jolie, “Girl, Interrupted”
Director: Sam Mendes, “American Beauty”
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March 25, 2001
Presenter Angelina Jolie poses backstage with Benicio Del Toro. (Los Angeles Times)
Steven Soderbergh wins the directing Oscar for “Traffic.” It marks only the fifth time that a director not honored by his peers in the Directors Guild of America nabs the Academy Award.
Best picture: “Gladiator”
Director: Ron Howard , “A Beautiful Mind”
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Kodak
March 23, 2003
Adrien Brody surprises presenter Halle Berry with a kiss. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Wins for Adrien Brody and director Roman Polanski for the Holocaust drama “The Pianist” shock, drawing gasps and sustained applause from the audience. The tall, lanky Brody gives a long, passionate kiss to the previous year’s lead actress Oscar winner, Halle Berry, who presents him with the award.
Best picture: “Chicago”
Actress: Nicole Kidman , “The Hours”
Supporting actor: Chris Cooper, “Adaptation”
Supporting actress: Catherine Zeta-Jones, “Chicago”
Director: Roman Polanski, “The Pianist”
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Kodak
Feb. 29, 2004
Renée Zellweger, left, and Charlize Theron pose with their Oscar statuettes. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” the final installment of the hugely successful trilogy, makes a clean sweep of all its 11 nominations. Voting came after an abbreviated awards season that cut short Oscar campaigning by a month.
Best picture: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
Actor: Sean Penn, “Mystic River”
Supporting actress: Cate Blanchett , “The Aviator”
Director: Clint Eastwood, “Million Dollar Baby”
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March 5, 2006
Ang Lee director of "Brokeback Mountain." (Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press)
“Brokeback Mountain,” among the year’s best-reviewed and most controversial films, wins an Oscar for director Ang Lee, the first non-white director to win. But “Crash” proves the spoiler for best picture. Jon Stewart hosts.
Best picture: “Crash”
Actress: Reese Witherspoon , “Walk the Line”
Supporting actor: George Clooney, “Syriana”
Supporting actress: Rachel Weisz, “The Constant Gardener”
Director: Ang Lee, “Brokeback Mountain”
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Kodak
Feb. 25, 2007
Forest Whitaker accepts his Oscar for lead actor for his performance as Idi Amin in "The Last King Of Scotland." (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Forest Whitaker makes a clean sweep of the 2007 awards season, winning an Oscar, Golden Globe and a BAFTA award for his portrayal of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. But Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” steals the spotlight, snagging best picture, director, adapted screenplay and film editing.
Best picture: “The Departed”
Director: Martin Scorsese , “The Departed”
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Feb. 24, 2008
Daniel Day-Lewis, Tilda Swinton, Marion Cotillard and Javier Bardem (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
For the first time since 1964, all four acting awards go to non-American thespians. Brits Tilda Swinton and Daniel Day-Lewis take home supporting actress and lead actor, and French actress Marion Cotillard and Spanish actor Javier Bardem secure lead actress and supporting actor.
Best picture: “No Country for Old Men”
Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”
Actress: Marion Cotillard, “La Vie en Rose”
Supporting actor: Javier Bardem , “No Country for Old Men”
Supporting actress: Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton”
Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men”
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Feb. 22, 2009
Kate Winslet, left, Sean Penn and Penélope Cruz (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Health Ledger’s family accepts his posthumous award for supporting actor as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” a little more than a year after he died at 28 of a prescription drug overdose. Kate Winslet finally wins — it is her sixth nomination — and tells the audience she’s been dreaming of the moment for years.
Best picture: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Actress: Kate Winslet , “The Reader”
Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Supporting actress: Penélope Cruz , “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
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March 7, 2010
Mo'Nique accepts her Oscar for her performance in "Precious." (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
James Cameron’s blockbuster “Avatar” loses the best picture race in an upset to Cameron’s ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow’s film “The Hurt Locker.” “Precious” actress Mo’Nique thanks the academy for honoring the performance “not the politics” and pays tribute to the late Hattie McDaniel.
Best picture: “The Hurt Locker”
Supporting actor: Christoph Waltz , “Inglourious Basterds”
Supporting actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
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Feb. 27, 2011
Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Melissa Leo and Colin Firth (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“The King’s Speech” takes home top honors, beating out nine other heavyweight contenders. Colin Firth experiences “stirrings” that might become dance moves and Melissa Leo releases an “F-bomb” that rocks the censors.
Best picture: ‘The King’s Speech’
Actor: Colin Firth , “The King’s Speech”
Actress: Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
Supporting actor: Christian Bale, “The Fighter”
Supporting actress: Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”
Director: Tom Hooper, “The King’s Speech”
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Kodak
Feb. 26, 2012
Colin Firth presents Meryl Streep with her first Oscar since 1983. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
For the first time, a French filmmaker, Michel Hazanavicius, wins the directing Oscar; he made the black-and-white film “The Artist.” Christopher Plummer, at 82 the oldest winner to date, holds the statuette aloft and says: “You’re only two years older than me, darling, where have you been all my life?”
Best picture: “The Artist”
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What was Hugh Hefner's jet plane called ? | Photos inside the Big Bunny Playboy jet - Business Insider
The Big Bunny had a disco inside its main cabin.Courtesy of Playboy Enterprises
In the late '60s, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner purchased a customized plane called "The Big Bunny."
A stretch version of a DC-9, it had the capability to go anywhere in the world — and it did, taking Hefner and his celebrity clientele everywhere from Africa to Europe.
Estimated to cost about $5 million, it was outfitted with custom lighting and painted black, which was revolutionary for the time. He called his stewardesses "Jet Bunnies."
Though the famed plane was only used for six years, it certainly left behind a legacy of its own.
With the help of Playboy Enterprises, we've put together a collection of photos that will take you through the famed jet's history, from its wild disco parties to its luxurious amenities.
View As: One Page Slides
Hefner purchased the plane when he was 43. He had the 119-foot plane custom-made for him after a 1966 trip to London. "I saw the future when I was in London: The sexual revolution was going on and the miniskirt had just arrived ... I decided then and there to get the jet," he said in a piece he wrote for the Wall Street Journal in 2010.
AP/George Brich
Source: Wall Street Journal
He had spotlights installed on the wing tips so that the iconic rabbit could be seen flying through the air at night. He also asked permission from the federal government to paint it black. "I designed the Big Bunny jet to stand out," he wrote in the WSJ. "Nobody had a black plane at the time. It was like The Ugly Duckling."
Courtesy of Playboy Enterprises
Source: Wall Street Journal
Hefner's Jet Bunnies had worked in the Playboy clubs in Chicago and Los Angeles and trained at Continental Airlines' stewardess school. Uniforms that were designed by Walter Holmes — with contributions from Hefner himself — included rabbit ears and tails, black boots, and white aviator scarves.
Courtesy of Playboy Enterprises
Black mini dresses were made out of a striking leatherette material. "They look as though they had just stepped out of a Bond movie," Hefner wrote in an issue of Playboy from 2010.
AP
Hefner's home-away-from-home was made for luxury. The 38-passenger plane had a living room and conference area, where in-flight meals included grand dishes like lobster and roast beef.
Courtesy of Playboy Enterprises
Its main compartment had a fully stocked bar and a discotheque where parties would often take place. For in-flight entertainment, the plane was also equipped with two film projectors and a video machine.
Courtesy of Playboy Enterprises
Hefner's personal quarters included an elliptical bed that could be accessed through its own gateway. It came complete with silk and Tasmanian opossum fur covers. The Big Bunny also had a powder room and showers for optimal comfort.
AP
For roughly six years, the Big Bunny took Hefner everywhere from Greece to Tanzania. "I loved the convenience of the jet ... It was literally a floating apartment with a bedroom, a living room, a dining room and a disco area in the back," Hefner said in the WSJ.
Courtesy of Playboy Enterprises
Hefner would use the plane to get to and from his homes in Los Angeles and Chicago while taping episodes of "Playboy After Dark," with frequent guests that included artist LeRoy Neiman and poet Shel Silverstein.
AP/George Brich
He would travel with friends like director Roman Polanski before lending the plane to others. Elvis Presley and Sonny and Cher leased it during their concert tours, while "Twilight Zone" creator Rod Serling would sometimes film onboard the plane. In 1975, the Big Bunny transported around 40 Vietnamese orphans from San Francisco to their new homes in Denver and New York.
AP/Michel Lipchitz
It was also where Hefner and his then-girlfriend, Barbi Benton, would spend time together. The two took trips to destinations like Germany, London, and Monte Carlo while she was filming, and to places like Spain, Kenya, and Italy when vacationing with friends.
AP/Bob Dear
Pictured here, Hefner leaves in his Mercedes-Benz limousine with the Playboy jet in the background.
AP/George Brich
The Big Bunny was quite the crowd-pleaser, and people would often come to greet Hefner and his friends when they landed. According to Playboy, during one stop in northern Africa, a Moroccan sultan even catered a traveling beach party for them.
AP/Edward Kitch
It flew the skies until 1975, when it was sold to Venezuela Airlines. It was used as a commercial airliner for Aeromexico until 2004. "It was a great toy and it was a great gift to give," Hefner said in the WSJ. "When anyone asks me if I ever miss the plane, I reply, 'Only when I fly.'"
Courtesy of Playboy Enterprises
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Famous composer, Handel, originally studied what? | what was hugh heffiners jet plane called
what was hugh heffiners jet plane called
Hugh Hefner's jet plane is called Big Bunny.
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What European nation was the first to drink tea ? | Tea's Arrival in Europe
Tea's Arrival in Europe
By James Norwood Pratt
When the Dutch brought the first tea to Europe in 1610, England's Good Queen Bess had been dead seven years, Shakespeare had six years to live, and Rembrandt was four years old. After decades of Portuguese middle-manship, the Dutch East India Company had been formed in 1602, to establish bases in Indonesia and Japan and trade directly with the Orient. And by 1637 the Company's directors, the Lords Seventeen, were writing their governor general in Indonesia: "As tea begins to come into use by some of the people, we expect some jars of Chinese as well as Japanese tea with each ship." They got their jars on a regular basis thereafter, it appears, for within a few years tea had become a fashionable, if expensive, beverage among high society at The Hague. And if it sometimes cost the equivalent of a hundred dollars or more per pound, so what? The people Vermeer pictured for us in rooms rich with colored maps and intricate Oriental carpets were nothing if not affluent. At first they bought their tea from apothecaries, who added it and other such luxury items as sugar and ginger and spices to their line of medicines. By the year of Vermeer's death (1675, six years after Rembrandt's), tea was being sold in grocery stores to rich and poor alike and was in general use throughout Holland.
It is about this time we find a certain Dr. Bontekoe advising his Dutch readers to use eight or ten cups of tea daily, hastily adding he sees no reason to object to fifty, one hundred or two hundred cups, as he frequently consumed that much himself! The good Dr. Bontekoe met a premature end from a fall for which tea was no cure; his detractors thought him in the pay of the Dutch Fast India company, which had made him a handsome honorarium for the impetus he'd given their tea sales. Tea became a daily necessity in Dutch life as quickly as people could learn how to enjoy it.
In the light of more recent history, it seems strange that tea drinking encountered no official intolerance in Europe-no rabid prohibitionists, no self-perpetuating anti-drug agency. You can, however, trace the spread of tea from Holland by the proliferation of medical Viewers with Alarm. Even before regular imports began, the first of these had warned in a Latin treatise that tea "...Hastens the death of those that drink it, especially if they have passed the age of forty years." This same medical authority, Dr Simon Paulli, also assured his readers that "girl's breasts that are rubbed with the juice of hemlock do not grow thereafter, but remain properly small and do not change the size they are." Prior to Bontekoe's pronouncements, even a Dutch physician, prejudiced by a moldy batch it sounds like, could deride tea as "groats and dishwater, a tasteless and disgusting beverage!" Soon after tea reached Germany we find a German medico gravely blaming tea for the "dried-up" appearance of the Chinese and exclaiming, "Down with tea! Send it back!"
The mid-1600s saw tea set off the kind of raging debate the French are famous for, a prominent Parisian doctor becoming the first to denounce it as "the impertinent novelty of the century." A colleague of his was soon complaining that "the Dutch bring tea from China to Paris and sell it at thirty francs a pound, though they have paid but eight or ten sous in that country, and it is old and spoiled into the bargain. People must regard it as a precious medicament..." You can just see how he must have shook his head. Nonetheless, before the century is finished, poems to tea appear in French. In one of her letters, Madame de Sevigne finds it worthy of note that a friend of hers takes her tea with milk-imagine!-and the aged Racine, who died in 1699, begins every day drinking tea with his breakfast. There is a painting in the Louvre by a certain Olivier depicting perhaps the most famous French tea. It is entitled Tea a l'anglaise in the Grand Salon of the Temple with the Court of the Prince de Conti Listening to the Young Mozart, and it is dated nigh a century after the honest de Sevigne gossip. It is precisely this depiction of how the French nobility gave an "English-style" tea party that assures us the French had given up on tea for themselves. Once the "novelty of the century" had worn off, almost all Frenchmen returned to the beverages traditionally associated with their national life-wines, mostly cheap and occasionally divine, and dark-roasted coffee. The Germans likewise, after the first flurry of excitement, came to ignore the new drink, preferring their old and true favorite, beer. A European tea merchant of 1700 would have recognized only two growing markets outside Holland-England and Russia.
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What bird is the symbol of Children's Penguin books ? | Tea Consumers, Tea Trade, and Colonial Cultivation | University of Minnesota Libraries · University of Minnesota Libraries
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Tea Consumers, Tea Trade, and Colonial Cultivation
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by Thomas Breed
At first glance, tea hardly seems a necessity. But to many Europeans of the early modern period, it was an attractive enough commodity to draw them around the world to China, and attractive enough to motivate them to attempt to grow it themselves in their various colonies. The English, Dutch, and Russians consumed the beverage in mass quantities, and all of them followed this pattern.
Europe was introduced to tea during the early 17th century. The first printed mention of it is even earlier, in 1550, in the Navigationi e Viaggi by Gian Battista Ramusio of Venice, who describes it as Chai Catai, or tea of China (Britannica 738). The first ship known to have brought tea to Europe was possibly Dutch, and arrived circa 1610 from Macao (Toussaint 597). The first Englishman to write about tea was R. L. Wickham of the East India Company in 1615, in a letter from Japan (Britannica 738). The first Russian source describes a caravan carrying tea in 1618 (Toussaint 601).
Pierre Pomet, Histoire generale des drogues, traitant des plantes, des animaux, & des mineraux, Paris: Loyson & Pillon, 1694, p. 143.
Tea did not begin as a necessity for England, though it quickly became one. It was first imported as an exotic medicine, then was promoted as a safe alternative to gin, and finally as a mass consumed product (Schirokauer 388). It was first sold in London at Garways Coffee House in 1657 (Britannica 738). Not much later, Oliver Cromwell began taxing tea (Toussaint 597). Eventually, tea came to account for a tenth of the British tax income, and henceforth became a drink of national importance not only culturally but also politically. Culturally, tea became a staple. Britain imported 15 million pounds of tea annually (Schirokauer 388). Consumption had increased 200 fold from 1700 to 1750, though this increase only includes tea which was actually taxed. Smuggling was rampant, both for the sake of profit and as a political protest (Schivelbusch 79-80).
A more explosive protest resulted in the 18th century when parliament, in order to help the East India Company overcome financial difficulties, allowed them to bypass American middlemen and sell large quantities of Chinese tea directly to American distributors. The ensuing uproar contributed to the American Revolution (Palmer 341-42).
The Netherlands also imported large amounts of tea. By 1770, they imported two thirds as much as Britain (Toussaint 598). Besides Britain, Holland was the only West European country to popularly consume tea (Ibid 597). Dutch ships competed with British to bring tea the most quickly from China to Europe in the Tea Race. This was not only important from the standpoint of sportsmanship, but also for the quality of the tea. The longer it remained on a ship, the more likely it was to be spoiled (Ibid 598). This led the British and Dutch to consider importing their tea by land across Russia. The Russian tariffs made the tea too expensive, however, and the scheme was abandoned (Ottuv 853).
The most notable difference between the West European and Russian tea trades was the means of transport. Russian tea was brought by caravan. The earliest official record of tea being drunk was in 1638, by Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the first of the Romanovs. He received it as a gift from a Mongol Tsar. In 1679, a trade agreement was established between Russia and China to regularize the tea trade. Following this, both the amount of tea imported and consumed increased dramatically (Bolshaya 11).Most of this tea was brought by caravan. This resulted in better tasting tea, according to the Dictionnarie de Cuisine, which identified St. Petersburg and Moscow teas as the best (Toussaint 601).
William Coxe, Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America. London: J. Nichols, 1780, p. 211.
As an alternative to buying it from China, all three countries sought to grow their own tea. In Britains case, tea caused a massive trade imbalance, in which British exports to China equaled only one tenth of the cost of tea imported (Schirokauer 389). Presumably, the Netherlands suffered similarly. After the mid-eighteenth century, the Russians were able to better penetrate the Chinese market with sea otter pelts, allowing them to avoid such trade imbalances (Bobrick 220). Russia was unable to satisfy its demand for tea through the caravan trade alone, however, and was forced to buy tea from British ships (Ottuv 852). Eventually, they also tried to grow their own tea.
All three countries could have solved their problem by simply raising the price of tea. In Britain and the Netherlands, this would have paid for its extra cost, while in Russia, this would have been a natural reaction to an insufficient supply. But in all three countries, mass consumption was considered preferable to allowing tea to become a luxury item. As a result, the search for cheaper places to grow tea began.
The Dutch grew their own tea in Indonesia. By 1892, the majority of their tea was imported from Java (Ottuv 852). In 1826, J.I.L.L. Jacobson had smuggled tea out of China, and established its cultivation in the Dutch East Indies (Britannica 738).
The British centered their tea production in India. In 1823, tea was discovered growing in northern India, but the British did not organize its cultivation until 1834, under the direction of Governor General Lord William Henry Cavendish (Britannica 738). By the 1880s, Indian tea supplanted Chinese tea in the British market (Ottuv 852). Soon afterwards, Indian tea was the most popular tea everywhere, except in Arabia, which continued purchasing Chinese tea (Toussaint 598). The British success depended on the more efficient usage of fertilizers and labor (Schirokauer 457).
Russia had also begun to cultivate tea in its colonies. In 1814, N.A. Garvis attempted growing it in the Crimea, but failed. In 1847, in Ozurgeti, now in southwestern Georgia, teas was successfully grown. Soon after, its cultivation began in other Russian regions of the Caucasus (Bolshaya 11).
Tea was also cultivated in other parts of the world. Experiments in Africa, South America, and California ensued during the second half of the 19th century. (Ottuv 852). In 1890, tea was cultivated for a short time in South Carolina (Americana 341).
Johan Nieuhof, lAmbassade de la Compagnie orientale des Provinces Unies vers lEmpereur de la Chine, Leiden: Jide Meurs, 1665, p. 74.
In conclusion, the difficulties of importing tea from China to Europe led the importers to begin growing tea in other parts of the world. In Britain and probably the Netherlands, cost was the primary factor, while in Russia it was availability. In all three countries, the mass appeal of tea demanded that a solution, other than simply raising its price, be found. In all three countries, the solution adopted was its cultivation in their warmer colonies. While tea is not a necessity of life, its appeal to consumers and their influence decided the course taken by both business and government. From that standpoint, the trade in tea can be seen as a marker between the modern and premodern worlds.
Bibliography
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Who was the first woman to run a Sub 5 minute mile ? | First Women's Sub-5:00 Mile was 60 Years Ago Today | Runner's World
First Women's Sub-5:00 Mile was 60 Years Ago Today
Diane Leather of the U.K. ran 4:59.6 on May 29, 1954.
By Austin Schempp Thursday, May 29, 2014, 1:55 pm
AFP /Getty Images
May 29 marks the 60th anniversary of a great moment in miling.
No, it’s not the 60th anniversary of the first sub-4:00 mile. That was May 6. But 23 days after Roger Bannister ’s 3:59.4 mile made headlines around the world, another British runner quietly broke another barrier. On May 29, 1954, Diane Leather ran the first recorded sub-5:00 mile by a woman.
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According to Mel Watman’s book All-Time Greats of British Athletics, Leather was a 21-year-old chemist who ran for the Birchfield Harriers track club when she ran a 4:59.6 mile at the Midland County Championships in Birmingham, England. While being the first to break 5:00 was a significant achievement, Leather wasn’t necessarily surprised to have done so, given that she had run 5:00.2 three days before her 4:59.
In an article published in the Sunday Mercury in 2004, Leather said breaking the record was “exhilarating” and that she wasn’t mad about the lack of publicity surrounding her mile.
Leather, who had started running to get in shape for field hockey, continued competing and got much faster after her initial sub-5:00. In May 1955, she ran 4:50.8, and lowered her world best to 4:45.0 in September 1955. That time lasted for seven years as the mile record before New Zealand’s Marise Chamberlain ran 4:41.4 in December 1962.
During the past six decades, much has changed for Leather and women’s running.
Leather married Peter Charles in 1959. The following year, she ran in an 800 meters preliminary heat at the 1960 Olympics. At the time, 800 meters was the longest distance for women in the Olympics. Leather retired from competitive running in 1960.
The IAAF, the sport's international governing body, didn’t recognize the women’s mile as a world record event until 1967. The first official women’s mile record holder was Anne Rosemary Smith of the United Kingdom, who ran 4:37.0 in June 1967. The current record is 4:12.56, set by Russian Svetlana Masterkova in 1996. One reason the record has lasted so long is that “milers” more often run 1500 meters, which is 109 meters shorter than a mile and the distance contested in the Olympics and world championships.
Leather’s record mile time is now a mark that many high school girls run. As of this writing, the fastest U.S. high school girl of the year is Alexa Efraimson, with a time of 4:32.15. The 10th fastest U.S. prep girl in 2014 is Taylor Werner, at 4:48.25. Last year, Mary Cain ran the fastest mile ever by a U.S. high school runner, 4:32.28, at an indoor meet. (Cain ran 4:24.11 at an indoor meet in January 2014, but the time doesn’t count for high school purposes because Cain is now a professional runner.)
Leather, 81, lives in England and was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2013.
| Diane Leather |
ABC and NBC are TV networks in which country ? | This Running Legend Was The First Sub-5 Minute Miler
This Running Legend Was The First Sub-5 Minute Miler
By Andrew Strutt with Jessica Sebor Published Oct. 10, 2014 Updated Dec. 20, 2016
1 of {count}
Back to Start
Sixty years ago, on a humble track in England, hundreds of spectators watched as a runner blazed through a 1-mile race. Powered by talent, training and a courageous heart, the athlete shattered a time barrier previously thought to be impossible.
Fans of track and field know this to describe the feat of Roger Bannister, a British medical student who was the first man to run a mile in under 4 minutes on May 6, 1954. However, another runner shares an almost identical story: On May 29 of that same year, Diane Leather, a 21-year-old chemist at the University of Birmingham, became the first woman in the history of the sport to break 5 minutes.
Rising Star
Diane Leather was born on January 7, 1933, in Streetly, Staffordshire, England. The daughter of a distinguished orthopedic surgeon, Leather grew up in an academic household. At the time, it was common for girls to go through primary education, leave school at 15 and work in low-level jobs until they married.
Leather, however, studied to be a chemist, securing a job as a micro-analyst after graduation. She bucked convention in her personal pursuits as well. In lieu of traditionally feminine pastimes, she became a field hockey player—and to get in shape for games, Leather started running.
While watching the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Leather was inspired by the female runners she saw on TV. She decided to join a local running club, the Birchfield Harriers, and began to compete in local races. Her natural talent for the sport quickly shone through, and less than a year later, she was one of the best runners in the country.
At the English Cross Country Association’s national championship in 1953, Leather took home first place. That summer, she anchored a 3 x 880 yard relay and ran her team to an official world record of 6:49.
Running Long
Leather’s commitment to racing fast and training hard would be impressive today, but in the context of the 1950s, it is nearly impossible to fathom. At that time, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) only allowed women to officially race distances shorter than 800 meters, while the Olympic committee didn’t even allow that.
In 1928, the Olympics had offered the women’s 800 meters, but after reports of runners collapsing at the finish surfaced (which were later debunked), the organization pulled this distance from the program, deeming it unsafe for female competitors. The distance would not be reinstated until 1960.
Therefore, the inspiration Leather gained from the Helsinki Games had been only from four track events: the 100 and 200 meters, 80-meter hurdles and 4 x 100 meter relay.
Public opinion of women’s athletics was often unsavory as well. In 1938, American sports journalist Paul Gallico wrote in World Sports, “It is a lady’s business to look beautiful, and there are hardly any sports in which she seems able to do it.” In her memoir Marathon Woman, Kathrine Switzer , the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1967, remembers being warned that running would turn her into a lesbian and cause her uterus to fall out.
Breaking Through
Still, just as Bannister was attempting to push through a boundary many thought beyond the realm of human achievement—Leather was doing the same. With no precedent for her achievements, no road map for her training and no role models to look up to, in 1953, Leather was poised to race into uncharted territory.
On May 26, Leather was ready to make history at Midland Championships at Birmingham, just 70 miles from where Bannister had made history a few weeks be-fore. At the semi-finals of the women’s mile, a crowd with press cameras gathered to witness Leather’s attempt. The young scientist won the heat, but missed the mark by mere tenths of a second, crossing the line in 5:00.2.
Undeterred, she set her sights on the final mile race three days later. When the day came, she led from the gun and, on the final lap, everyone was looking at the clock. Leather charged down the backstretch as the clock ticked toward the 5-minute mark.
She dipped across the line and the announcement came through: The time was 4:59.6. Leather had achieved something spectacular.
While Bannister’s feat had been plastered across newspapers, Leather’s was a more quiet affair. Her achievement garnered some local coverage but no national newspapers recognized this event.
More astonishingly, Leather was denied the official world record. Because the IAAF did not recognize the women’s mile (as it was deemed too dangerous), an official record could not exist. Still, Leather was undeterred. She would go on to race even faster. Her work on the track was far from over.
Pushing Farther
Later that summer, the 21-year-old Leather achieved an official record in the 880-yard race. Her time of 2:09 took a huge 2.6 seconds off the previous best. Then on July 17, she broke her third and final record in the 3 x 880 yard relay, slicing 3 seconds off the record she had set the year before.
In 1954, Leather was awarded the Lord Hawke trophy for best woman athlete, and the following year, she won the national cross-country championships for the third year in a row. On Sept. 21 at the White City stadium in London, Leather reduced her mile record further, taking it down to 4:45. That time, although still not recognized officially, stood for more than seven years.
In 1960, the Olympic committee reversed the 1928 decision and allowed women to race in the 800 meters. At 27, Leather finally made it to the games as the captain of Great Britain’s team. Although her time at the race was far slower than her best, she had made it to the sporting event she’d watched on television as a young girl. The 1952 Olympics had inspired her to begin running—and the 1960 Olympics would be the last race of her career. Leather announced her retirement that year.
Living Legend
Following her retirement, Leather went on pursue a career in child protection and raise four children. After working through her 70s, she now enjoys her retirement and continues to sup-port the sport from the sidelines.
While she may not have been granted the same renown as Roger Bannister, who has since accepted a knighthood and seen his likelihood bronzed in statues and six-pence, Leather’s legacy continues to live on.
This spring, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of her and Roger Bannister’s historic achievement in running, both gave their names to a trophy at the Bupa Westminster Mile. At the race, nearly 600 women (just a few dozen shy of the men) followed in the footsteps Leather had long ago paved.
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In which classic novel was Brookfield School featured ? | Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 )
Background
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) is the British-made, classic, sentimental tale of much-loved English schoolteacher guiding many generations of schoolboys through almost 60 years of education at the fictitious Brookfield School, from his early career days as a young classic scholar to his slightly doddering old age.
The screenplay for director Sam Wood's melodramatic film, made at MGM's British studio, was based upon James Hilton's short novel of the same name, first published in the British Weekly and then in The Atlantic Monthly (April 1934 issue). The story was built upon Hilton's own experiences with a senior Master of Classics at a private elitist school in Cambridge. For authenticity's sake, the tearjerker picture, from MGM's British studio, was filmed at the Repton School that was founded in 1557, with actual students and faculty serving as extras in the cast.
Robert Donat won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1939 (his sole Oscar win), becoming one of the few non- Gone With the Wind victors - he defeated some of the most famous nominated performances in film history - Clark Gable's performance as Rhett Butler, James Stewart as Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , and Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights .
Although the film was honored with seven Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture (Victor Saville, producer), Best Actress (Greer Garson), Best Director, Best Screenplay (Eric Maschwitz, R. C. Sheriff, and Claudine West), Best Sound Recording and Best Film Editing, Donat's Best Actor category was the only victor.
The film was remade three times: Herbert Ross' big-budget musical drama/romance Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) with Peter O'Toole as the schoolmaster in an Oscar-nominated performance (he won the Golden Globe award for Best Actor - Musical or Comedy), as a 1984 BBC-TV mini-series with Roy Marsden, and as the 2002 made-for-TV movie for Masterpiece Theatre with Martin Clunes in the title role.
The Story
At the conclusion of the opening credits, the film acknowledges: "our gratitude to the late Irving Thalberg, whose inspiration illuminates the picture of 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips'".
The film opens within the quadrangle of the revered Brookfield School, founded in 1492:
...one can almost feel the centuries...Gray old age, dreaming over a crowded past.
A train whistle blows, signaling the arrival of chattering, excited boys for the beginning of the new school term. As all the pupils, each wearing a hat, file into a building for an all-school assembly, they carry on the time-honored tradition of the British boys' school called 'call-over.' [The film ends with the same tradition.] A master stands at the doorway with a list of the names of each pupil, and the boys file past and call out their last name.
It is the late 1920s - the head of the school announces a "small disappointment" for the students:
For the first time in fifty-eight years, Mr. Chipping has been unable to attend first-day assembly. Chips - and you'll allow me to refer to him as 'Chips,' seeing that thirty-seven years ago this autumn, he gave me a thrashing for sheer-bone laziness. Well, Chips has a cold, and a cold can be quite a serious thing for a young fellow of eighty-three.
Old schoolmaster 'Chips' was ordered to stay at home by the school's doctor, "but it was quite a battle. Our old friend was finally induced to surrender, and he is now sitting under violent protest by his own fireside."
At the same moment, a doddering, tardy Mr. Charles Chipping (nicknamed "Mr. Chips") (Robert Donat), the retired master who still lives on the school grounds, ignores his doctor's orders and is glimpsed shambling along in full academic garb (with mortar board and walking stick) toward the assembly. Locked out because he is a late-comer, Mr. Chips passes the time with a young, first-time student named Dorset by speaking about the building's stone tablets that memorialize former students or "stinkers":
Mr. Chips: So, you're a stinker, eh?
Student: A stinker, sir?
Mr. Chips: A new boy. That's what we call them here. Stinkers... (he points to a tablet which reads: "Sir Francis Drake 1552")
Student: Drake! Was he here, sir?
Mr. Chips: Yes.
Student: Was he a stinker too, sir?
Mr. Chips: To be sure he was. But he grew out of it. And so will you.
He is asked about his school position by Dorset, prompting him to reflect back to his first year:
Mr. Chips: I was a master once. I've taught thousands of boys, right back to 1870. But I gave it up, gave it up fifteen years ago.
Student: I say, you must be terribly old, sir.
Mr. Chips: Well, I'm certainly no chicken, no chicken.
When he hears the singing of the school song, he mouths the words to himself: "A beautiful song." The elderly Chips is thoroughly revered by the young boys and greeted warmly at the conclusion of the assembly. He protests to the Headmaster and doctor that there was "interference" and he is really "sound as a bell." After being introduced to a new History master, a young graduate named Mr. Jackson (David Tree), Chipping remembers how it "took time - too much time" to become a beloved old schoolmaster:
Jackson: You seem to have found the secret in the end.
Chips: Hmm? What? The secret? Oh, yes, in the end. But I didn't find it myself, Mr. Jackson. It was given to me by someone else. Someone else. Mr. Jackson, when you go into class tonight to take evening school for the first time, remember you're not the first master who stood there and felt afraid.
His story at Brookfield is told through flashback memories, as he dozes as an old codger in front of a fire at Mrs. Wickett's (Louise Hampton) place just across from the school:
A long time ago, yes. A long time. Things are different now. (He hears other voices: "Chips at Brookfield. Discipline, Mr. Chipping, discipline," and the last names of boys during a typical 'call-over.')
He remembers how he arrived in 1870 at Brookfield Boys School as a shy, withdrawn 24 year-old Latin master, wearing a bowler hat. Appearing eager but uncertain as a novice on the "Brookfield special" train full of new "stinkers," he is an easy target for the boisterous pranks of rowdy, lower school boys: "I'm new too. It's not easy to begin with," he reassures another first-time student. From the very first, he expresses his resolve to be headmaster of Brookfield:
You know, it means everything to me to come to Brookfield....I'll get on, I know I will. Headmaster of Brookfield - that's something worth working for.
However, at the school "as is customary, he is taking lower-school for preparation." Some of the more experienced masters offer their warnings and advice to the newcomer: "You mustn't let them rag you. Take a quiet look around for drawing pins in your chair. Or rat traps in your desk." According to one old-timer, "the boys are a bit restless the first day. New masters are an exciting bloodsport with them."
As anticipated in the first day in the classroom, he is deliberately provoked and intimidated as a new teacher by the lower-school students. During his stiff entrance into the room, the boys tip off his hat with a wire, and humiliate the lenient novice by kicking it around on the floor and dirtying it. [One of the boys is Peter Colley (Terry Kilburn), the first in a succession of many generations of Colleys who are taught by Chips - a technique to show the passage of time and continuity between each family.] When he finally maintains a short moment of order, he instructs them: "You will employ the hour in writing an essay on the book you were given to read during the holidays. I understand this was Kingsley's Westward Ho."
In the midst of the exercise, the boys repeatedly and playfully disrupt the study session and cause a humiliating commotion - his first class becomes a complete disaster when they tackle him and disarrange his gown. The noisy chaos and bedlam brings the headmaster Dr. Wetherby (Lyn Harding) to the room. He takes control of the class and threatens to cane every one of the students the next day: "You will present yourselves at my study tomorrow afternoon in alphabetical order at intervals of three minutes, starting at three o'clock. I believe I can promise you that I have lost none of my vigor."
After prayers, the earnest Mr. Chipping is chastised and reprimanded by the head of the school for not controlling his class and exercising authority:
Our profession is not an easy one, Mr. Chipping. It calls for something more than a University degree. Our business is to mold men. It demands character and courage. Above all, it demands the ability to exercise authority. Without that, I think any young man should ask himself seriously if he has not perhaps mistaken his vocation. When a man is young, Mr. Chipping, there are many other walks of life open to him.
Reluctant to resign the teaching profession so soon, he thereafter attempts to prove himself. Grateful that he has been given a second chance, Mr. Chipping returns to the classroom with a stronger resolve to be stern and avoid further embarrassment: "They will not do it again, Mr. Bingham, I assure you," he informs another master.
As a strict disciplinarian with no regard for the school's cricket matches, he keeps his class in for an afternoon to punish them, thereby preventing one of the best athletes in the class from participating in the all-important, crucial competition: "I had entirely forgotten about the cricket match...and my attention was drawn to the fact by my class in such an insolent manner that I thought it invitable to go back on my decision." To uphold his authority, the boys slave away under his humorless tutelage the afternoon of the athletic contest - he is unyielding and one of the boys, Peter Colley, blames him for the school's loss: "We've lost the cup. It's not just us. It's the whole school. We know you don't care how the fellows feel." He apologizes for possibly losing their friendship and becoming the most unpopular teacher in the school, but it is too late:
Boys, I should like to say that my judgment in the first place was hasty and ill-advised. And no one regrets more than Dr. Wetherby that my authority had to be upheld. If I've lost your friendship, there's little left that I value.
Almost twenty years pass, illustrated in a montage of rugby and cricket matches, call-overs, school traditions, and the death of the headmaster in 1888. Leading a fairly lonely and rather dull, austere life, and soon becoming aloof, his existence at Brookfield is distant and he is only cooly respected by others. At the end of one of the school's terms, a group of faculty masters assemble, where one of them remarks about a futuristic book written by the unknown H.G. Wells: "It's his first. He'll never come to anything. He's too fantastic" - a tie-in to the next scene of Chipping's denial of a promotion.
Chipping's announced goal is to become housemaster with the retirement and departure of the present master during the following term, but he is passed over for the promotion by the headmaster because of his lack of warmth and vision. His ability as a demanding, classroom taskmaster is cited as the reason:
You are the senior master and normally the vacancy would go to you. That is why I feel that in fairness to you, I should tell you personally why the governors and I have decided to appoint Mr. Wilkinson. We felt that with your unusual gifts of getting work out of the boys that you'd rather concentrate on teaching and leave the rather tiresome job of housemaster to someone with special gifts in that direction...I doubt if Mr. Wilkinson will ever turn out as many minor Latin poets as you have.
Dismayed by the decision that deprives him of the position that he craved, Chipping returns to his dark room, looking even more withdrawn and deserted. Everyone is leaving him for the holidays. He always vacations in the same place in England, further evidence of his lack of camaraderie and alienation from others. One of his teaching associates, a German master named Max Staefel (Paul von Hernreid, later Paul Henreid), attempts to bring him out of his isolation with a suggestion to join him for a walking tour of his "old country" - through Tyrol. Chipping is astonished to be asked to "go abroad...it's quite out of the question," and he resists. But he is cajoled to accompany his fellow teacher for his first summer vacation in Europe - at over 40 years of age.
| Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
What is Paddington Bear?s favourite sandwich filling? | Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 )
Background
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) is the British-made, classic, sentimental tale of much-loved English schoolteacher guiding many generations of schoolboys through almost 60 years of education at the fictitious Brookfield School, from his early career days as a young classic scholar to his slightly doddering old age.
The screenplay for director Sam Wood's melodramatic film, made at MGM's British studio, was based upon James Hilton's short novel of the same name, first published in the British Weekly and then in The Atlantic Monthly (April 1934 issue). The story was built upon Hilton's own experiences with a senior Master of Classics at a private elitist school in Cambridge. For authenticity's sake, the tearjerker picture, from MGM's British studio, was filmed at the Repton School that was founded in 1557, with actual students and faculty serving as extras in the cast.
Robert Donat won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1939 (his sole Oscar win), becoming one of the few non- Gone With the Wind victors - he defeated some of the most famous nominated performances in film history - Clark Gable's performance as Rhett Butler, James Stewart as Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , and Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights .
Although the film was honored with seven Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture (Victor Saville, producer), Best Actress (Greer Garson), Best Director, Best Screenplay (Eric Maschwitz, R. C. Sheriff, and Claudine West), Best Sound Recording and Best Film Editing, Donat's Best Actor category was the only victor.
The film was remade three times: Herbert Ross' big-budget musical drama/romance Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) with Peter O'Toole as the schoolmaster in an Oscar-nominated performance (he won the Golden Globe award for Best Actor - Musical or Comedy), as a 1984 BBC-TV mini-series with Roy Marsden, and as the 2002 made-for-TV movie for Masterpiece Theatre with Martin Clunes in the title role.
The Story
At the conclusion of the opening credits, the film acknowledges: "our gratitude to the late Irving Thalberg, whose inspiration illuminates the picture of 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips'".
The film opens within the quadrangle of the revered Brookfield School, founded in 1492:
...one can almost feel the centuries...Gray old age, dreaming over a crowded past.
A train whistle blows, signaling the arrival of chattering, excited boys for the beginning of the new school term. As all the pupils, each wearing a hat, file into a building for an all-school assembly, they carry on the time-honored tradition of the British boys' school called 'call-over.' [The film ends with the same tradition.] A master stands at the doorway with a list of the names of each pupil, and the boys file past and call out their last name.
It is the late 1920s - the head of the school announces a "small disappointment" for the students:
For the first time in fifty-eight years, Mr. Chipping has been unable to attend first-day assembly. Chips - and you'll allow me to refer to him as 'Chips,' seeing that thirty-seven years ago this autumn, he gave me a thrashing for sheer-bone laziness. Well, Chips has a cold, and a cold can be quite a serious thing for a young fellow of eighty-three.
Old schoolmaster 'Chips' was ordered to stay at home by the school's doctor, "but it was quite a battle. Our old friend was finally induced to surrender, and he is now sitting under violent protest by his own fireside."
At the same moment, a doddering, tardy Mr. Charles Chipping (nicknamed "Mr. Chips") (Robert Donat), the retired master who still lives on the school grounds, ignores his doctor's orders and is glimpsed shambling along in full academic garb (with mortar board and walking stick) toward the assembly. Locked out because he is a late-comer, Mr. Chips passes the time with a young, first-time student named Dorset by speaking about the building's stone tablets that memorialize former students or "stinkers":
Mr. Chips: So, you're a stinker, eh?
Student: A stinker, sir?
Mr. Chips: A new boy. That's what we call them here. Stinkers... (he points to a tablet which reads: "Sir Francis Drake 1552")
Student: Drake! Was he here, sir?
Mr. Chips: Yes.
Student: Was he a stinker too, sir?
Mr. Chips: To be sure he was. But he grew out of it. And so will you.
He is asked about his school position by Dorset, prompting him to reflect back to his first year:
Mr. Chips: I was a master once. I've taught thousands of boys, right back to 1870. But I gave it up, gave it up fifteen years ago.
Student: I say, you must be terribly old, sir.
Mr. Chips: Well, I'm certainly no chicken, no chicken.
When he hears the singing of the school song, he mouths the words to himself: "A beautiful song." The elderly Chips is thoroughly revered by the young boys and greeted warmly at the conclusion of the assembly. He protests to the Headmaster and doctor that there was "interference" and he is really "sound as a bell." After being introduced to a new History master, a young graduate named Mr. Jackson (David Tree), Chipping remembers how it "took time - too much time" to become a beloved old schoolmaster:
Jackson: You seem to have found the secret in the end.
Chips: Hmm? What? The secret? Oh, yes, in the end. But I didn't find it myself, Mr. Jackson. It was given to me by someone else. Someone else. Mr. Jackson, when you go into class tonight to take evening school for the first time, remember you're not the first master who stood there and felt afraid.
His story at Brookfield is told through flashback memories, as he dozes as an old codger in front of a fire at Mrs. Wickett's (Louise Hampton) place just across from the school:
A long time ago, yes. A long time. Things are different now. (He hears other voices: "Chips at Brookfield. Discipline, Mr. Chipping, discipline," and the last names of boys during a typical 'call-over.')
He remembers how he arrived in 1870 at Brookfield Boys School as a shy, withdrawn 24 year-old Latin master, wearing a bowler hat. Appearing eager but uncertain as a novice on the "Brookfield special" train full of new "stinkers," he is an easy target for the boisterous pranks of rowdy, lower school boys: "I'm new too. It's not easy to begin with," he reassures another first-time student. From the very first, he expresses his resolve to be headmaster of Brookfield:
You know, it means everything to me to come to Brookfield....I'll get on, I know I will. Headmaster of Brookfield - that's something worth working for.
However, at the school "as is customary, he is taking lower-school for preparation." Some of the more experienced masters offer their warnings and advice to the newcomer: "You mustn't let them rag you. Take a quiet look around for drawing pins in your chair. Or rat traps in your desk." According to one old-timer, "the boys are a bit restless the first day. New masters are an exciting bloodsport with them."
As anticipated in the first day in the classroom, he is deliberately provoked and intimidated as a new teacher by the lower-school students. During his stiff entrance into the room, the boys tip off his hat with a wire, and humiliate the lenient novice by kicking it around on the floor and dirtying it. [One of the boys is Peter Colley (Terry Kilburn), the first in a succession of many generations of Colleys who are taught by Chips - a technique to show the passage of time and continuity between each family.] When he finally maintains a short moment of order, he instructs them: "You will employ the hour in writing an essay on the book you were given to read during the holidays. I understand this was Kingsley's Westward Ho."
In the midst of the exercise, the boys repeatedly and playfully disrupt the study session and cause a humiliating commotion - his first class becomes a complete disaster when they tackle him and disarrange his gown. The noisy chaos and bedlam brings the headmaster Dr. Wetherby (Lyn Harding) to the room. He takes control of the class and threatens to cane every one of the students the next day: "You will present yourselves at my study tomorrow afternoon in alphabetical order at intervals of three minutes, starting at three o'clock. I believe I can promise you that I have lost none of my vigor."
After prayers, the earnest Mr. Chipping is chastised and reprimanded by the head of the school for not controlling his class and exercising authority:
Our profession is not an easy one, Mr. Chipping. It calls for something more than a University degree. Our business is to mold men. It demands character and courage. Above all, it demands the ability to exercise authority. Without that, I think any young man should ask himself seriously if he has not perhaps mistaken his vocation. When a man is young, Mr. Chipping, there are many other walks of life open to him.
Reluctant to resign the teaching profession so soon, he thereafter attempts to prove himself. Grateful that he has been given a second chance, Mr. Chipping returns to the classroom with a stronger resolve to be stern and avoid further embarrassment: "They will not do it again, Mr. Bingham, I assure you," he informs another master.
As a strict disciplinarian with no regard for the school's cricket matches, he keeps his class in for an afternoon to punish them, thereby preventing one of the best athletes in the class from participating in the all-important, crucial competition: "I had entirely forgotten about the cricket match...and my attention was drawn to the fact by my class in such an insolent manner that I thought it invitable to go back on my decision." To uphold his authority, the boys slave away under his humorless tutelage the afternoon of the athletic contest - he is unyielding and one of the boys, Peter Colley, blames him for the school's loss: "We've lost the cup. It's not just us. It's the whole school. We know you don't care how the fellows feel." He apologizes for possibly losing their friendship and becoming the most unpopular teacher in the school, but it is too late:
Boys, I should like to say that my judgment in the first place was hasty and ill-advised. And no one regrets more than Dr. Wetherby that my authority had to be upheld. If I've lost your friendship, there's little left that I value.
Almost twenty years pass, illustrated in a montage of rugby and cricket matches, call-overs, school traditions, and the death of the headmaster in 1888. Leading a fairly lonely and rather dull, austere life, and soon becoming aloof, his existence at Brookfield is distant and he is only cooly respected by others. At the end of one of the school's terms, a group of faculty masters assemble, where one of them remarks about a futuristic book written by the unknown H.G. Wells: "It's his first. He'll never come to anything. He's too fantastic" - a tie-in to the next scene of Chipping's denial of a promotion.
Chipping's announced goal is to become housemaster with the retirement and departure of the present master during the following term, but he is passed over for the promotion by the headmaster because of his lack of warmth and vision. His ability as a demanding, classroom taskmaster is cited as the reason:
You are the senior master and normally the vacancy would go to you. That is why I feel that in fairness to you, I should tell you personally why the governors and I have decided to appoint Mr. Wilkinson. We felt that with your unusual gifts of getting work out of the boys that you'd rather concentrate on teaching and leave the rather tiresome job of housemaster to someone with special gifts in that direction...I doubt if Mr. Wilkinson will ever turn out as many minor Latin poets as you have.
Dismayed by the decision that deprives him of the position that he craved, Chipping returns to his dark room, looking even more withdrawn and deserted. Everyone is leaving him for the holidays. He always vacations in the same place in England, further evidence of his lack of camaraderie and alienation from others. One of his teaching associates, a German master named Max Staefel (Paul von Hernreid, later Paul Henreid), attempts to bring him out of his isolation with a suggestion to join him for a walking tour of his "old country" - through Tyrol. Chipping is astonished to be asked to "go abroad...it's quite out of the question," and he resists. But he is cajoled to accompany his fellow teacher for his first summer vacation in Europe - at over 40 years of age.
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Which 1978 film featured gangs called the T Birds and the Pink Ladies? | Grease (1978) - Synopsis
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Synopsis
In 1958, during their summer vacation, Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) meet at a beach. Scenes from their holiday are shown, but then the summer ends, and Sandy and Danny say their last good-byes. Danny seems to not want to let Sandy go, but Sandy is due to return to Australia. She is upset, thinking that this is the end of their romance and that they will never see each other again. Danny tries to comfort her by telling her that "it's not the end, it's just the beginning".
However, Sandy's family has a change of plans and does not return to Australia, but Danny is unaware of this. Sandy enrolls at Rydell High School as a foreign-exchange student, where Danny is a student, as is Sandy's new friend Frenchy (Didi Conn), a member of the schoolgirl clique "The Pink Ladies."
Danny is the leader of the boys' gang, "The T-Birds." Kenickie, second-in-command of the T-Birds, encourages Danny to tell them what he did over the summer, while the Pink Ladies likewise persuade Sandy. Through "Summer Nights" Sandy and Danny describe their vacation, and it is made clear that Danny is exaggerating; at the time, however, neither is aware of the other's presence at the school.
Encouraged by the preppy school spirit girl, Patty Simcox (Susan Buckner), Sandy joins the Rydell cheerleaders. The Pink Ladies decide to reunite Danny and Sandy, but Danny wants to protect his cool image, and his behavior towards Sandy causes her to storm off in tears. Danny stares after her for a moment, but then quickly turns back into a cool guy and goes off with his friends.
Frenchy attempts to cheer Sandy up by inviting her to a sleepover at her house with the rest of the gang; Sandy comes along, but Rizzo soon gets fed up with Sandy's goody-two-shoes behavior: Sandy chokes on a cigarette, cannot stand the taste of wine, and is horrified at the idea of having her ears pierced. Frenchy insists and takes her into the bathroom, but Sandy vomits at the first sight of blood. Frenchy announces to Jan (Jamie Donnelly) and Marty (Dinah Manoff) that she is dropping out of Rydell and going to beauty school, which she calls a very strategic career move. Rizzo (Stockard Channing) has had enough and lampoons Sandy, and even Frenchy joins in, singing the sarcastic "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee."
The T-Birds arrive outside Frenchy's house. Rizzo leaves the sleepover and she and Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) flirt, then Kenickie invites her into the car, and dumps the other T-Birds. Danny leaves of his own accord while Rizzo and Kenickie drive off together and the other T-Birds go for pizza. Marty, the flirtatious member of The Pink Ladies, decides to write to one of her (numerous) pen pals, while Sandy goes outside, and decides that in spite of everything, she still loves Danny, singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You", a poignant love song that was added for the movie and was a big hit as a single.
The scene shifts to Rizzo and Kenickie making out passionately in the back seat of his new car. They plan to take things a step further, but Kenickie's condom breaks. Rizzo, however, is unable to resist Kenickie, and they decide to have sex anyway. They are soon interrupted by Leo (Dennis Cleveland Stewart), leader of rival gang The Scorpions, who damages Kenickie's car.
While at work repairing the car, the T-Birds fantasize about what it will look like when it has had a paint job, singing "Greased Lightning". Soon Danny gets the other T-Birds convinced that the rickety old car could actually be a "major piece of machinery". Later, Danny meets Sandy at the Frosty Palace, and tries to apologize for his actions. He sees that Sandy is sharing a soda with Tom Chisum (Lorenzo Lamas), a jock, and decides that if that's the sort of man she likes, he's going to join the jocks to impress her.
We next see Danny's disastrous performances in basketball, wrestling, and baseball, where he keeps losing his temper. He finally finds his ideal sport in running, until the sight of Sandy distracts him, and he falls. Sandy leaves Tom Chisum to see if Danny is alright, and they are seemingly reconciled.
Danny attempts to go to the Frosty Palace with Sandy so that they can be alone and not worry about ruining his image in front of his friends. They end up discovering the T-Birds and Pink Ladies are already there and Danny finds it hard to charm Sandy without looking weak in front of his friends. After everyone leaves the malt shop, Frenchy, who has been hiding her pink hair under a scarf, imagines a guardian angel to tell her what to do with her life, who turns out to be Frankie Avalon singing "Beauty School Dropout".
Later, Danny takes Sandy to the school dance, where the TV show National Bandstand plans to broadcast live. Rizzo, now angry with Kenickie, takes the rival gang's leader, Leo, to the dance, thus enticing Kenickie to take the rival gang leader's girlfriend, Cha Cha DiGregorio (Annette Charles) who is also Danny's ex-girlfriend. The disc jockey Vince Fontaine (Edd Byrnes) is attracted to Marty and the two flirt. The dance features several well-known songs from the '50s covered by Sha Na Na. During the dance-off, Rizzo leaves in a huff, seeing Kenickie dancing with Cha Cha, and Danny and Sandy are one of the few couples still in the dance-off. But soon, Sonny pulls Sandy away from Danny, and Cha Cha starts dancing with Danny. Sandy realizes that Cha Cha was one of Danny's past girlfriends and a much better dancer. Sandy leaves the gym upset, and Danny and Cha Cha end up winning the contest. When they share their spotlight dance, three of the T-Birds run in front of the camera and moon the crowd.
Later, Danny takes Sandy to a drive-in movie. Danny tries to remove the class ring he is wearing to give it to her, but in doing so he accidentally elbows Sandy in the chest. Danny gives Sandy the ring and she kisses him on the cheek, saying she realizes now he respects her. The scene cuts to Marty and Rizzo in the drive-in's restroom. Rizzo's unprotected sex with Kenickie has come back to haunt her--she tells Marty she missed a period. One of the T-Birds, Sonny (Michael Tucci), overhears Marty accidentally proclaiming to couples making out outside the restroom to make way for the "lady with a baby", and asks Marty what she meant so she tells him the story and the rumor spreads quickly. When Kenickie asks Rizzo why she didn't tell him about it, she lies and tells him it isn't his out of anger. He thanks her sarcastically, and leaves her standing by herself. Marty has also suffered as a result of her crush on Vince Fontaine--she reveals to Rizzo that she caught him trying to put an aspirin in her Coke.
Back in the car Danny has his arm around Sandy. His hand lingers above her chest and she sees it and he starts trying to make out with her. She screams, gets out of the car, slams the door on Danny, throws back his ring (which she calls a "piece of tin"), and leaves the drive-in. Danny laments losing Sandy again, and reveals the true extent of his feelings for her in the song "Sandy" he is helpless without her.
The next scene is the race between Leo and Kenickie in the Los Angeles River. Kenickie asks Danny to be his second, and Marty gives Kenickie a lucky penny. She drops it, and as Kenickie bends down to pick it up, he gets knocked out when one of the T-Birds opens the car door. As a result, Danny has to race in Kenickie's place. Sandy sits on the hill watching the neck-and-neck race, which Danny manages to win. While she is happy to see Danny win, she has misgivings about her own image, reflected in the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)". As the T-Birds and Pink Ladies celebrate with Danny, Frenchy spots Sandy and goes over to her. Sandy thinks that Frenchy can help her win Danny's heart, and asks to go over to her house to take advantage of Frenchy's suspect fashion skills.
On the last day of school carnival, Danny arrives, wearing a letterman's sweater (earned through track) over his usual black attire. Sandy arrives wearing a black leather jacket, red peep-toe high heeled sandals, skintight black pants, off-the-shoulder top, curled hair, and smoking a cigarette abandoning her usual modest clothing. Danny finds her extremely attractive, falling at her feet, and then the two reunite, singing the upbeat "You're the One That I Want" (another song added for the movie, and a hit single before the movie even came out). Kenickie and Rizzo get together after Rizzo screamed from the Ferris wheel that she is not pregnant after all, and everyone sings the big finale, "We Go Together", and Danny and Sandy fly off in Danny's car and disappear into the sky.
Synopsis
| Grease |
In which series does Kiefer Sutherland play CTU agent Jack Bauer? | Hit musical Grease on Silja Line! - Tallink & Silja Line
Read more »
Greasers, swing skirts and muscle cars
Grease is a musical written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The premiere was in the famous Kingston Mines blues club in Chicago. The 1978 film adaptation, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, was a huge success.
The musical is set in Rydell High School in the 1950s. Grease is a story of young love and all the drama that comes with it. The audience follows the love story between Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko. The story also features group pressure and identity issues of the youth during those times.
Danny is the tough guy at school, the leader of a boys' gang called the T-Birds. A girl gang called the Pink Ladies buzzes around these greasers, and Sandy, a newcomer to the school, wants to join them. The story of these young people is driven forward by fantastic music and amazing songs. A swinging journey into the world of musicals!
The Grease musical is produced by the award-winning Belinda King Creative Productions company. In the creative team there are renowned musical director, vocal coach and choreographer who, who have previously worked with productions in London's West End, such as The Lion King, We will rock you and Saturday Night Fever. In this Silja Line’s version the cast consists of 15 professional performers who sing and act. Music is played by a live band.
What, where, when?
•1st show: 17:00–18:45 (Swedish time)
• 2nd show: 19:45–21:30 (Swedish time)
Duration of the show is 105 minutes, including a 15 minute interval. The bars in Atlantis Palace are open during the performance. The musical contains some intense scenes, which is why the recommended minimum age for the show is 12 years. The musical is performed in English.
Customers who have booked tickets in advance are directed to their seats in their order of arrival. If you have not booked your ticket in advance, you can request available seats at the entrance of Atlantis Palace once the people who have booked their tickets in advance have been shown in.
An early bird catches the best seats
Make sure you have the best seats and book your trip and tickets for the musical well in advance.
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Who did Val Kilmer portray in the film The Doors? | The Doors (1991) - IMDb
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| Biography , Drama , Music | 1 March 1991 (USA)
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band The Doors and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison , from his days as a UCLA film student in Los Angeles, to his untimely death in Paris, France at age 27 in 1971.
Director:
Randall Jahnson (as J. Randal Johnson), Oliver Stone
Stars:
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The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Director: Oliver Stone
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
Director: Oliver Stone
A New Orleans DA discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
Director: Oliver Stone
A biographical story of former U.S. president Richard Milhous Nixon, from his days as a young boy to his eventual presidency which ended in shame.
Director: Oliver Stone
A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider who takes the youth under his wing.
Director: Oliver Stone
The final movie in Oliver Stone's Vietnam trilogy follows the true story of a Vietnamese village girl who survives a life of suffering and hardship during and after the Vietnam war. As a ... See full summary »
Director: Oliver Stone
A man heading to Vegas to pay off his gambling debt before the Russian mafia kills him, is forced to stop in an Arizona town where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong.
Director: Oliver Stone
An American photojournalist gets caught in a political struggle at El Salvador in 1980.
Director: Oliver Stone
Edit
Storyline
Oliver Stone's homage to 1960s rock group The Doors also doubles as a biography of the group's late singer, the "Electric Poet" Jim Morrison. The movie follows Morrison from his days as a film student in Los Angeles to his death in Paris, France at age 27 in 1971. The movie features a tour-de-force performance by Val Kilmer, who not only looks like Jim Morrison's long-lost twin brother, but also sounds so much like him that he did much of his own singing. It has been written that even the surviving Doors had trouble distinguishing Kilmer's vocals from Morrison's originals. Written by Denise P. Meyer <[email protected]>
Taglines:
"There are things known and things unknown and in between are The Doors." -- Jim Morrison See more »
Genres:
Rated R for heavy drug content, and for strong sexuality and language | See all certifications »
Parents Guide:
1 March 1991 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
140 min
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (analog 70 mm prints)| CDS (digital 35 mm and 70 mm prints)| Dolby SR (analog 35 mm prints)
Color:
Did You Know?
Trivia
In the film, the band is signed after being fired from Whiskey-a-Go-Go. In real life, they were signed by Elektra Records on August 18, 1966. Whiskey-a-Go-Go fired the band on August 21, after Morrison used acid induced, profane, Oedipus Rex lyrics. See more »
Goofs
In the film, a female photographer sexily encourages Morrison to take his shirt off, resulting in the iconic "Young Lion" photo first seen in the Village Voice, and later used as the cover photo for the Doors 1985 "Best Of" album. The photographer was actually a man, Joel Brodsky. See more »
Quotes
Andy Warhol : Somebody gave me this telephone... I think it was Edie... yeah it was Edie... and she said I could talk to God with it, but uh... I don't have anything to say... so here...
[giving Jim the phone]
– See all my reviews
The Doors is unapologetically a film about sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. For 140 minutes we follow Doors singer Jim Morrison from his days as an aspiring film student at UCLA to his death in Paris in 1970 at the age of 27. Writer-director Oliver Stone based the story of the film on some 150 transcripts detailing the life and character of Morrison. The result is far from flattering. The Doors paints a picture of a man enamored with death, his own inevitable demise more a relief than an agony.
Death stalks Morrison wherever he goes from a young age. As a child driving through the New Mexico desert with his family, Morrison happens across the site of a car accident littered with dead and dying Navahos. We watch the young Morrison endure what seems to be a sort of possession rite by spirits of the dead natives. Years later he'll profess to be a shaman and from what we see on screen, he might well have believed it to be true. Native American spirits dance alongside Morrison as he sings on stage. Whether these were real or simply an acid fueled hallucination is left deliberately unclear by Stone. Likewise, a death-like character (Richard Rutowski) shadows Morrison throughout his life as a rock singer. Whether this indicates Morrison saw death as a friend, was actually accompanied by Rutowski (who was a real life friend of Morrison), or was simply hallucinating remains ambiguous. What is clear is the following: in his great desire to self destruct, Morrison drank whiskey like water and spent an inordinate amount of time on precarious ledges outside Hotel windows thirty stories up.
Kilmer's performance as Morrison is easily the finest of his career. Raw, nervy, deliberately off putting and confrontational, moments of sobriety are few are far between for this insecure egomaniac. At times I didn't feel as though I was watching a portrayal of a character long deceased so much as a documentary. From threatening suicide repeatedly to quarreling constantly with police at concerts, scenes of bad behavior are many but moments of insight are few and far between. This doesn't seem a shortcoming on behalf of director Stone so much as an accurate depiction of the highly acidic Morrison as he truly was; this was a man who didn't want to be understood. This was an artist on the constant edge of oblivion; an iconoclast who refused to be loved and was close to intolerable whenever possible. Of course it's less than a pleasant experience following the venomous creature that Morrison became for the film's final hour as he goes from alcohol induced nervous breakdown to drug fueled indecent exposure, but I for one appreciate Stone's refusal to Hollywoodize the life and death of Morrison. Kilmer abandons completely all instinct for self preservation on screen, submerging himself in a performance that can only be described as his magnum opus.
Meg Ryan leads the supporting cast as Pamela "Morrison" Courson, Morrison's longtime lover and common-law wife. Ryan seems lost in the role but thankfully spends a minimal amount of time on screen as Morrison was a firm supporter of the "free love" social movement. Indeed, he spends more time with journalist and witchcraft enthusiast Patricia Kennealy (Kathleen Quinlan), an amalgam of several Morrison lovers who suffered through his frequent alcohol and drug induced impotence. A very fine Michael Madsen is wasted as actor Tom Baker, a friend of Morrison's whose relationship is grossly underdeveloped. The only performance among the supporting cast worthy of praise is that of quirky character actor Crispin Glover in a cameo as Andy Warhol, a scene that is absolutely spellbinding.
Some may criticize The Doors for glamorizing a life of excess; this film gives younger viewers the idea that drugs and promiscuous sex are fun, critics may charge. Those who would are missing the point entirely. As are those who would interpret this film as the cautionary tale of a life wasted. Little about the character we view on screen is glamorous. It seems no accident that Morrison died as he did. This was a man obsessed with death; his demise seems more a moment of wish fulfillment than tragedy. My only significant criticism of the film is that the title is certainly a misnomer; this could have easily been titled "The Jim Morrison Story" as there is not a single scene on screen without the eccentric singer while the remaining members of the band are relegated to obscurity. Call it art imitating life once more.
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| Jim Morrison |
Who played the title role in the 2002 film, Mr Deeds? | View All Critic Reviews (59)
Audience Reviews for The Doors
Jim Morrison: This is the strangest life I've ever known. "The Ultimate Story of Sex, Drugs & Rock 'N' Roll" The Doors is about the best movie I could imagine being made about Jim Morrison and The Doors. Although the film may be named The Doors; it would probably make more sense if it were titled Jim Morrison, because that's really what this film is about. The sad fact is that Jim Morrison was The Doors and although the other three had amazing talent, they always seemed to be left in the shadow of Morrison. This film captures that aspect of the band extremely well. Oliver Stone attacks the story of Jim Morrison as he would any other story, with the most controversial topics that came up in Morrison's life. Although with Morrison as his subject, it really wasn't too hard to find controversy. Whether it be Morrison experimenting with acid and peyote, getting black out drunk, screwing every girl that came to his concerts, rebelling against authority, or possibly showing his privates at a concert; Jim Morrison is controversy. Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison makes complete sense. Kilmer looks the part and when I say that, I mean it. He looks like Jim Morrison in a way I've only seen from one other biopic and that was Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. Kilmer does do a good job in a very complicated and difficult role. The supporting cast fills in around him nicely as well. The Doors is a movie I really enjoyed as a Doors fan. I also love how Oliver Stone created the perfect drug infused, alcoholic, opinionated atmosphere that I would have to believe surrounded Morrison his whole life. If you're a fan of The Doors, this is an absolute must watch. For everyone else, it may still be worth a look, as it is a great music biopic.
Melvin White
Super Reviewer
A good, psychedelic movie about the band the Doors, Kilmer is good playing Morrison, one of his best roles. I liked this movie.
Aj V
Super Reviewer
Oliver Stone's Biopic on The Doors is somewhat an imperfect attempt at telling the story of the legendary rock band of the same name. I say imperfect because most of the events that happen in the film are exaggerated. Some of the original members have claimed that Oliver Stone has ignored their input when they were making the film for his creative liberty. What we have here is a semi fictional biopic with the facts twisted around to make the story seem more dramatic. Some events in the film never did happen. This a film that is a perfect example of what happens when you sacrifice truth for fiction. But I guess it doesn't really matter as long as the film is entertaining. The film is definitely an awesome journey through the 60's. A nostalgic piece of psychedelic rock and peace and love abound in this film as Oliver Stone takes us on an unforgettable journey of the legendary rock band. The cast that he has assembled here is great especially Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison. Kilmer deliver delivers the best performance of his career in The Doors. Val Kilmer did his own vocals for Doors songs and thats one of the high points of the film. Despite the flaws, Kilmer's acting saves this film. This isn't the best biopic on a band, but it definitely isn't the worst. The thing that may be conflicting is the fact that the film focuses more on Jim Morrison than the band itself. As far as I'm concerned, This film should have been titled differently. Besides for Kilmer the rest of cast do a fine job at portraying the real people. Even if it's not 100% accurate, and it's most definitely not, The Doors is still a pretty interesting film to watch and enjoy. I thought the film was good, but flawed, but by no means terrible. Stone is still able to paint a vivid portrait of the 1960's, and succeeds fairly well in doing so. If you're a Doors fan, check this one out. But just remember that Oliver Stone fictionalized most of the story to make this film more dramatic. If it wasn't for Val Kilmer awesome portrayal of Jim Morrison, this film would be a total faillure but it isn't.
Alex roy
Super Reviewer
Kilmer and Ryan weren't the right cast, but the actual movie was well written and definitely right in its assessment.
Spencer S.
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What is the name of Bob the Builder?s cat? | Free Knitting Chart: Pilchard, Bob the Builder's Cat
Work Pilchard's whiskers using stem stitch after blocking.
Copyright 2001 Sarah Bradberry
| Sardine |
Who plays Mrs Overall in Acorn Antiques? | Free Knitting Chart: Pilchard, Bob the Builder's Cat
Work Pilchard's whiskers using stem stitch after blocking.
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In which sci-fi TV series did Dirk Benedict play Lieutenant Starbuck? | Dirk Benedict interview | Lt. Starbuck | Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica. Hard to say, but...
...Easy to watch!
...Easy to watch. What a time of your life this is. This show has all the earmarks, and has an enormous amount of talk about it, and you're starring in it. What's the feeling, Dirk?
Well, actually doing this show has been such hard work. I've sort of been insulated from... everybody else gets the excitement of this show -- the anticipation -- we're working 14 hours a day on the sound stages. So, I go to work at 7 in the morning and come home at 10 or 11 at night, then I get up and go to work and on weekends I get ready for the next week. So it's been a very... a lot of hard work. It will ease off a bit once we go on the air, we'll be able to... It hasn't really brought... It's destroyed my private life of course, because you don't have time to do anything. I haven't been to a movie for five or six months.
I wonder what kind of satisfaction it is to do something which is obviously is going to explode all over the country -- being an enormous success -- considering the acting background that you've had.
Yeah, it's really strange.
What satisfaction is there now -- working so hard, not being able to see the results or hear the applause at the moment. What kind of feeling is that? You feel you're in a vacuum sometimes, I wonder?
Absolutely. The publicists, the agents, the mangers, those are the ones that get in on the excitement, because they go to the lunches. They know what's going on, because they can watch the news. I can't even watch the news because I'm working too damn much, so... But I must say that I've been an actor all my career, not somebody who is -- I was never really aiming for what is happening to me. So, I'm really involved in the work and in the challenge in creating this character, Lt. Starbuck, and doing the best I can with it. It's been -- because it's a well written part - a challenge and it's a rewarding character to play. It's kept my attention. I've really not been concerned with the other aspects of it -- the publicity and what it will mean to Dirk Benedict once it goes on the air. Other people will see the show, they see the work, they see what everybody has contributed, they will see me in it. It will bring about different things to do and it will change my life, I'm sure. Although I don't think it will make it impossible for me to live the life I have been living up until now, which is one of relative obscurity. (laughs) I don't know.
Let me ask you about this role. We've seen these Starbuck guys, I think, in various films like Close Encounter [of the Third Kind], Star Wars or whatever. In your mind, is he more fleshed out than the kind of roles we're accustomed to seeing in these films? Is he a fully dimensional guy?
Well, in the first three hours, the premiere show, on September 17th, he isn't, because there isn't time. There are so many stories going on. It takes time for each character to have his... In the first show he's a really rather dashing con man, who loves to have fun. He really has a great sense of humor about everything and is always -- [there's a ] similarity between Starbuck and Maverick, James Gardner's part Maverick. In the later shows, there's a development of the character which all along was to be there, but it takes time. In the later shows there's a serious side to his nature. I mean, he's a very passionate fellow -- Starbuck -- and I enjoy that. He's a man of action, and not an analytical mind, and not somebody who sees the overview -- the larger picture -- not one who's concerned with the safety of all the people on the battlestar Galactica. He's really -- moment to moment, individual to individual -- and really wants to have fun. He wants to have a good time. When he's in a situation where the costs are high, he's there, but... I enjoy the immediacy of him as a character. I always saw Hamlet as a man of action, rather than somebody who sat around saying... It's just that he's a...
Starbuck is a man of action?
Yes!
What is Battlestar Galactica?
You mean what's actually a battlestar? A battlestar is the warcraft. It's a spacecraft design for fighting, like a battleship on an ocean -- it's a battlestar. The fleet, of the people of which I'm a part of, of the civilization I belong to, there are many of them, and they're all destroyed except one, and that's the Galactica. There are many of them and they'd all have different names, but the Galactica is the sole surviving battlestar after the almost complete destruction of our society by the Cylons. So Battlestar Galactica is the name of the ship they we are protecting as we move through space in search of Earth.
This presumes then that these are human beings that have been living in space all this time -- unbeknownst to us -- who are now seeking refuge on Earth. Human beings coming from outer space to Earth. Is that the assumption of the show?
Yes... and it isn't necessarily taking place in the future. Battlestar Galactica happens at a point in time, in the continuum of time.
I rather you say what I said, that these are human beings who are actually living in space, trying find refuge on Earth. Why won't you say that?
Oh, Battlestar Galactica has to do with a people civilization, who are living in space and are in search of help from another people, living on a planet called Earth. So we are looking for Earth who are - you can call them distant cousins, but we are in outer space looking for the place where you and I are now sitting, having this interview.
So this presumes -- as we have always wondered on our planet -- whether there is life...
...There is life out there. Yes. Absolutely. It goes on out there, and the people are very similar to us. Although if it was happening at this very particular point in time, they would be -- the people of Battlestar Galactica -- would be further advanced technically. But in point of fact, it could be happening a million years ago or 6,000 years ago. When we do find Earth, we could come into the Egyptian time -- the time of the Egyptians -- or Atlantis.
So they're not little green men from Mars -- these people on Battlestar Galactica?
No. They dress differently. The language that we use is a little different -- it's a little more formal. There is not "Hey there!" and "What's happening?" There is no... I mean, my character swears a lot.
Drat?
Frack! (both laughing) Felgercarb. So there's even a difference in language. But the emotions, the psychological, mental, emotional, sentimental characteristics of the people are the same, which is interesting. Because we do need other people in the show, who are also beings living in outer space, but who are different.
We have been now immersed in a whole state of supernatural films, space films [like] Close Encounters [of the Third Kind], Star Wars, Star Wars II is coming up, Superman is coming up soon. We're very heavily into the supernatural realm now. Most of the films we've seen along this line, Dirk, are action-adventure films. The characters are kind of secondary. How do you rate Battlestar Galactica along this line? Is it just an action-adventure film in space, or is there a point to these stories? Is there an overall or underlying theme?
Well, it is an action-adventure show. It has a great deal of action and is a tremendous adventure. My character has a lot of Errol Flynn in it -- dashing, jumping, saving and rescuing girls. But the concept of the show never was to be strictly -- by Glen Larson, the executive producer -- to be strictly an action-adventure. He's very concerned. He's a man who's very involved with spiritual matters. He has a spiritual side to his nature. All the scripts have that quality. There are many parallels drawn with the Biblical concepts in our show. There are definitely moral, religious concepts being developed in the show. [There's] a discussion of freedom. What is freedom? The subjugation of one people by another, and even prejudges. So, it has that, which is what I think will make the show something of really merit. Everybody knows and everybody that sees it, you don't have to... It doesn't take 30 seconds to realize it. It's going to be one of the most exciting shows for many, many years and maybe even many years to come from an action-adventure standpoint. The thing that we are all working on -- actors, writers, producers -- is to develop the other side of it.
Was there a fear perhaps or an apprehension, with the enormous success of Star Wars, and the precedent that that film set or 2001[: A Space Odyssey] or Close Encounters [of the Third Kind]? How could you possibly top those effects? That kind of action on the big screen on a small screen. Even if you could, what could you do that they haven't done? Was that an apprehension at all?
Well, the producer would really be the one to answer that -- Glen Larson. But you see, Glen Larson is really smart. He's got John Dykstra involved in this project.
Who did Star Wars...
Before Star Wars came out, John Dykstra was involved with Glen Larson putting together this. John Dykstra didn't do everything that he wanted to do when he did Star Wars. He had other tricks up his sleeve, other things he wanted to try. He's a very imaginative, creative guy. The challenge of using the small screen -- he's come up with some things that surprised himself. I saw him on an interview with Regis Philbin on television the other night and he was talking about that very thing. There are many problems they had to deal with. So it's very exciting stuff. There are a lot of things that are unique to Battlestar Galactica.
What do you want this to do for you as an actor, career wise?
Well, it's the standard answer, which is to provide the opportunity to do interesting parts in worthwhile projects. I've been an actor for many years in theatre. I want to do Hamlet. I'll go anywhere and do it. As the business is, if you have any sort of name quality, then people will come to see Dirk Benedict, who is playing. They'll come to see me. There are several parts in theatre that I would like to do.
Who have you seen do Hamlet on stage?
I've seen a production at the now defunct APA, Riverdrive Theatre in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I saw Ellis Rabb do it. Other than that I've never seen it on stage. It's the only stage production of Hamlet I've ever seen. I was supposed to do it several times. I've been going to do it and things fell through at the last minute. The only other TV show I ever did came through and that postponed my Hamlet. So it's been right there and I've been preparing for it on three different occasions, and it never quite materialized, but it will.
It's a noble ambition for a young actor. It's probably one of the greatest parts ever written and aside from that, is that the only reason why you want to do it? Or does it state everything that you feel in life? Is it what you're about and you find this all wrapped up in this marvelous character?
Well no. I must say acting is never -- there is no part written that I don't... Very few people would argue that Shakespeare is the biggest playwright that ever lived. The tremendous diversity in the material he wrote is just unbelievable. The fact that one man wrote all that. Still, and all, Hamlet does not say it all... you know, I want to do other things in life as well. I mean, they're other means of expressing oneself; writing, I played the piano. I have a great involvement in well-being and various ways to achieve that. I want to grow food. And I want to... there are many things that I want to do. So, the answer is that acting at any level, in any material, in any part will not fulfill me completely. There are other things.
One of the biggest fulfillment in acting, I take it, would be playing Hamlet for you?
Yes, yes. I would like to do Mercutio. There are several things.
Which one of the soliloquies do you like the best in Hamlet? "O that this too too solid flesh would melt."
Yes...
"Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew."
Listen, I have a scholar here. You can quote more of Hamlet than I could.
That's my favorite Shakespearean play too. Marvelous.
I would like to play Hamlet while I am still of a young look, and playing him as a man of action. I mean, he gets himself in problems, because he is always making rash decisions. I always wondered how a man could... He makes mistakes, but he doesn't ask "Should I or shouldn't I?" He kills Felonious. That's a pretty rash -- he doesn't stop and doesn't hesitate. That's a pretty... thing that he does when he is with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern... Did you see him on that ship and taking over? He's like Errol Flynn.
We're going to see a young Shakespearean actor doing Battlestar Galactica...
...doing Battlestar Galactica, doing Starbuck.
And I wish, Dirk, that while you still have that lean and hungry look -- young Dirk, hath that lean and hungry look...
Yes. Oh, yes.
...that you'll still be able to play Hamlet too, before you grow too fat with the success of Battlestar Galactica.
Ah, let it never happen. Keep life simple.
Okay. All the best, Dirk.
Thank you.
Follow Up:
...about being in a show, and getting into a situation like I am now, is being invited to the Muhammad Ali/Leon Sphinx fight, because I have followed Muhammad Ali's career since 1962. I always thought there's a human being that has more going on than there, than a man who simply wants to be champion. And as his career's gone on, I really believe Muhammad Ali used boxing to have a platform to manifest other dreams in reality. I don't doubt for a fact that they'll be political, you know, and he'll at least be an ambassador...
He's the best known man in the world.
That's right. That's right. And through what avenue? He's a boxer. He's a prize fighter. He gets in a ring...I think he's a very multifaceted...I've read some of the things that he's written, and [seen] some of the interviews with him, with rather offbeat publications, where he gets down to some fundamental philosophies of life, and...He's got something going, and I love the idea that in a ring, at that level of physicality of fighting, you know, is somebody that used it, to do other things.
I think the ladies in the audience will want to know finally, Dirk, your attitude about this whole Hollywood syndrome -- as an attractive young guy who's starring in a new television show, who has a Broadway training... Are you caught up in this Hollywood routine?
Well no, I don't have any social life in Hollywood to speak of. I've never been part of the Hollywood social life. I've always had worthwhile women in my life. I guess the only... Galactica is not going to improve that aspect of my existence.
You never know who you are going to meet up there. What do you mean it won't improve your existence? You might meet some wild creatures up there, in space...
Oh, yeah. Listen, I've met some of those already. I have an affair with a "socialator". You probably don't know what a "socialator" is. That's a highfalutin Galactican word for a "prostitute", but it has entirely different... it's in a different time and a different part of the universe and a "socialator" -- the planet she comes from, it was a respected profession and it is not looked upon as a ["prostitute"]. So it's very hard for her and she can't understand why they... when I discover her she's having stones -- not literally - but figuratively thrown at her by the people around her. And then I come in, take her hand, and treat her as a human being. Oh sure, it's wonderful. Starbuck meets some wonderful girls. He has always got an eye out.
How about Dirk Benedict? He must meet some beauties too?
Yes, I've been lucky in that area, actually. I've had my heart broken a few times, because I always... my dream is too big, I want too much. If I could just settle for a pretty face or a good time.
You can't just settle for pretty face. Nobody can.
No. But to find somebody with a complete, a wide variety of qualities. Because my life spans a great... from Montana to Hollywood -- people don't realize it, really. They don't really know.
It's not a direct flight. You've got to take a lot of planes to get here.
Right. It's a big difference. On all levels.
Has this lifestyle overwhelmed you because of your Montana background?
It would have, if I wanted. If this is the lifestyle that I wanted to live, it would overwhelm me, because I could start to think: "Gee, I can do that. I can have a swimming pool." but I really don't want any of it, so it won't happen.
It's a very seductive place, isn't it?
I know it is. I know it is, that's why I'm glad it didn't hit me when I was 25. Because I reached a point through various experiences where I realize that it's just not what -- it's just not me. There's no necessity for it. There's no need in truth for those things. Because you can't have those things without giving up something else. It takes time, it takes energy, it takes out of your life and life is short enough. There's not enough time to do things that are important.
Are you anxious about being married? Immediately or soon or...
I tell you the truth, I wish I was married right now. I would prefer it I was with the woman that I imagine in going into this that way. Because, you know...
Roots, you'd have roots...
You'd have roots, you'd have a base, you'd have a center, and you'd have somebody to... Because you attract all the wrong women for all the wrong reasons -- which is not to say that you don't need people that are interested in sharing... But you don't have that much time to become visible. The celebrities I've known -- it's hard to get close to them. The people they are surrounded with are the people that are interested in being around somebody who has some sort of name value. It's an insulation that goes on.
Part of the Hollywood syndrome. Stay with the names. We are all part of it.
I guess.
Be with the winners. Be with the ones on top. Don't be with the ones...
Yeah, everybody's always looking to see who is the hit of the season. But life goes on. Galactica at some point will be a memory-- as will all of us.
I hope not.
As will all of us.
I hope not for a long time.
Well, I don't think so. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Happy flying.
As Muhammad Ali said... They said he was all about his lifestyle. He's got this incredible house in Chicago. He said: "I can go back to pump gas." It was an interview with Barbara Walters. I don't know if you saw that? He made a comment about it. He said: "I could give this all up -- the entourage and the houses. I could be happy and pump gas."
Would you be happy doing that?
Not pumping gas, no. But, yes...
What you were doing in Montana, I mean?
I would never do... I worked on... I would never do what I did in Montana. But yes, living in Montana within a lifestyle that -- I've created that situation for myself for some time. At some point in time I'm going to live a life of a... self sufficiency. You do not depend on Con Edison - you could cook on wood. You grow your own food and you... That's the challenge it seems to me in this day and age -- is just to find freedom. You are talking about freedom. We are all imprisoned by all of this. We are dependent on freeways, and General Mills, and General Motors, and the gasoline. We just got a taste of what will happen to the gasoline situation. What good will all of these service stations do, and all these cars, when you pull in, and there is no gas. You might as well... plus I did a show with Gloria Swanson, who is married to a wonderful man called William Dufty. He wrote Butterflies are Free.
At that point in time I had been studying food as a means of improving one's health. Then I met her which was no coincidence, although it seemed so at the time. And I did this show and she's somebody who is well-known for her -- being a health food junkie. She introduced me to ways of taking it further. I've become quite involved with the study of food in terms of health.
It will be fascinating following Starbuck on screen, and in life, and again I wish you the very best.
Thank you.
| Battlestar Galactica |
Which legendary music festival took place in 1969? | Dirk Benedict Interview - Universal Chat Room
Dirk Benedict Interview - Universal Chat Room (May 14 1997)
Moderator: Greetings Universal Chatters and welcome to another live moderated chat! Tonight we're privileged to have at the Backlot Café Mr. Dirk Benedict. Dirk has starred in numerous films and television shows, including the A-Team and Battlestar Galactica, in which he starred as Lt. Starbuck. He also starred in Universal Studios' Sci-Fi film Sssssss, where he played man who was transformed into a snake!!!
Ladies and Gentlemen.....it's chat time. Please welcome Lt. Starbuck himself....Dirk Benedict. Dirk, I have to ask one question first, have you ever chatted on the internet before?
Dirk Benedict: This is my first chat and I hope it's not a disappointment for everybody. It's nice to know at my age there are some things I still haven't done
Spicoli: Did you always know that you wanted to become an actor?
Dirk Benedict: I never knew I wanted to become an actor. I fell into it in college quite by accident. If it wasn't for alcohol I might never have become one. On a dare and while inebriated, I tried out for the spring musical and the rest is history.
Donnaf: We hear you've written a play. Will it be in New York? If so, when?
Dirk Benedict: Yes I've written a play. Two plays. Good plays. It's under consideration. We're hiring a new director so it slowed up. But it will be done either in NY or LA sometime in the next year And the play I'm talking about is called Acting Becomes Her. It's about the last girl in Hollywood never to have breast implants.
Moody 2: Dirk, how has Starbuck changed over the last 18 years and will you return if the series comes back?
Dirk Benedict: How has Starbuck changed? You mean Dirk Benedict? Amazingly I haven't changed all that much considering it's been 17 years. My costume still fits. The answer as to whether I'll be in it or not if it's revived is up to Universal Studios. They tend, like in America to worship youth, so the odds are not good. Write your letters!
Kryton: What was your most favourite character to play in your career?
Dirk Benedict: Hamlet. In NY. 1988. Off Broadway. My second book called And Then We Went Fishing is about the death of my father and it's very similar to Hamlet's story. My second favorite part is Starbuck.
Pandora: Mr. Benedict before I read your books I was lost. I almost gave up because of my illness, but after reading your books it was like the fog had been lifted. The answers I was searching for where always within me and I didn't realize it. Thank you for writing your book Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy. You opened my eyes.
Dirk Benedict: "Everybody's life has a purpose. Mine has been to share my journey of recovery from cancer by changing my diet and my book Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy tells that story and really is my manifesto.
Moody 2: It's so good to have you visit. Do you have a computer and do you visit the BSG mail list? You have a lot of fans there and on The A-Team mail list.
Dirk Benedict: I only have a word processor. I'm not on the Internet. Relatively illiterate, a bit anti-technology. And a very reclusive personality. A hermit, really, all of which doesn't lend itself to getting on the Internet. Also, I don't have the time, really. Because of the many things I am doing or attempting to do. It would take away from my writing.
Kryton: Dwight Schultz played the zany Murdock. Was he as crazy off camera?
Dirk Benedict: Dwight Schultz should get papers proving he's not crazy. Because he'll never get me to stand up for him as being a sane human being. My best friend and I have yet to ask him to dinner [laughs hysterically]. He's nuts. He's certifiable.
Mojo: Are you going to any conventions anytime soon?
Dirk Benedict: Send invitations and a medium sized check. I would like to for many reasons. One is to share and sell my book and my story, Kamikaze Cowboy. There's alot of Starbuck in Kamikaze Cowboy. I did Battlestar Galactica right after surviving cancer but told noone until I wrote the book some years later.
Jinxed1: Whatever happened to that little robot dog from Battlestar?
Dirk Benedict: We ate him. Who asked for too much money which is one of the reasons we were canceled. [throws his head back, cackling with glee]
Ororo: How are your kids?
Dirk Benedict: Beautiful, bright boys. And the real focus of my life at the moment being a single father with custody. And at this moment they're waiting for me to come home. And big Battlestar Galactica fans!
Deselle: Has there been a decision about the A-team movie as to whether they are going to use the original actors and characters? We'd all love to see you and the other two guys in the movie.
Dirk Benedict: As far as I know, they go back and forth. They being Universal and Stephen J. Cannell, the writer/creator. On the one side if they use big movie stars they feel they reach a larger audience. On the other side, it wouldn't be the original cast and they're not sure how much it would affect box office. George of course has passed. But the other three of us are alive and well and willing I assume. As far as a cameo, I don't think so.
Moderator: What was Mr. T like off the set?
Dirk Benedict: That would be like dating your ex-wife after she married someone else. Oh, man! I could go on for hours. Mr. T never stopped talking. And after 2-3 years, when we all stopped listening, he still never stopped talking. A very, very, very funny guy. Quite unlike the character he played in the TV show. Ergo, he's a very good actor. He giggled all day long. Probably because of all the money he was making. He's a very happy guy, great fun to work with. One day he called 2 construction workers, both of whom were bigger than him And had been giving him a bad time for being dumb and rich at the same time Which was only half true. And he called them down to have fisted cuffs. Needless to say, neither one of them showed up. A very, very loyal human being. And I miss working with him as much as anything about the show because he would always loan me 20 bucks when I needed it. The set of the A-Team was total chaos because Dwight, T and myself are all compulsive talkers.
Jinxed1: What was your favorite episode of Battlestar?
Dirk Benedict: I have 2. The first is the one with Fred Astaire, the title of which escapes me - The Man with 9 Lives I think. He and I became friends. It was a very good episode I thought about Starbuck and his erstwhile Father. And the other was actually from 1980. Starbuck Returns - the last episode. Just basically Starbuck and a Cylon stranded on a planet. Great fun.
Edith: What is the most favorite thing about Montana that you enjoy?
Dirk Benedict: Oh, man! It's not the women. Or the lack thereof. It's the wide open spaces. Lack of people. And it's my home, my roots, so I have many old, old, friends. Very old. It's wild. It still has some wildness to it.
Vinnys: Have you ever been on a soap opera?
Dirk Benedict: Never. Early in my career in NYC I was offered several soaps. And despite my financial situation, I declined because basically, they're too serious. I enjoy comedy. I would do a serious film or play but in a long-running series, it would be too hard for me if there were no laughs.
Mojo: Where do we write to Dirk?
Dirk Benedict: Send it to my agent. 20th Century Artists, 15315 Magnolia Blvd., Ste 429, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403.
Pandora: Mr.Benedict How do you like chatting on the net?
Dirk Benedict: So far, so good. It's a bit slow for me.
Chloe25: What character that you have played is most like you in real life?
Dirk Benedict: Two. One was Starbuck. And the second was from a pilot called Trenchcoat in Paradise. And of course, Hamlet, but we can't go into that. I'm not revealing my deep psychological problems
Vinnys: I am only 10 years old, what advice would you give me if I wanted to be an actor?
Dirk Benedict: 1. Have as many life experiences as you can. Listen to your heart and your dreams. And when you're older, take advantage of every possibility to act because practice makes perfect. Well, maybe not perfect, but it's important to do, to do, to do, to do. Or become a famous weightlifter and then you'll soon be a movie star.
Thor9: Do you have any of the Props from BSG?
Dirk Benedict: says, "Other than the cigars? And one or two of the ladies.... no. No, the answer is no. Nothing. I have a picture of Fred Astaire and myself and a belt he gave me as a present and a beautiful gold cigar lighter Lorne Greene gave me. And that's it, but I have millions of memories which noone can take from me and for which I would not trade for any material things.
Supa: Dirk, is there any director you would like to work with (Quentin Tarantino for example)?
Dirk Benedict: Well, you're trying to hurt my feelings. I haven't been invited to those particular parties. There's a long list. Tarantino, Spielberg, Emma Thompson. There's just too long a list to go into. I think there are many wonderful drirectors today, one of whom is Fraser Heston for whom I did work on a Castle Rock film called Alaska. A wonderful director who will do many, many wonderful movies in the future. I would like to work with Spielberg before I die. I offered to do craft service on his next film.
Bitsy33: Who is your favorite Actor?
Dirk Benedict: Oh, uh, male? Albert Finney. This is hard. There's alot of wonderful actors. Number 2 is Anthony Hopkins. Female is Jodie Foster.
Kryton: You did a movie with Linda Blair about a returning Vietnam vet getting harassed by folks in a rural setting [Ruckus. Will there be a sequel?
Dirk Benedict: By the way, of the leading men movie stars out there today, Mel Gibson I think is a wonderful actor. There should be. I saw Linda a couple months ago. She looks fabulous, she looks the same 15 years ago when we made that movie. A sequel, I doubt it. We had Ben Johnson, Richard Farnsworth, Matt Clark.
Scallywag: Ever acted in a stage production or movie outside the USA?
Dirk Benedict: Many movies. No stage outside the US. My first film written by Maya Angelou, the wonderful poetess, writer and friend was shot in Sweden starring myself and the late Diana Sands. There should be a sequel to that movie. It was way ahead of its time in its theme of interracial love. It was called Georgia, Georgia. A very good movie.
Edith: Have you flown airplanes most of your life or is it a hobby?
Dirk Benedict: It's a hobby, an addiction. Having your life in your own hands has always appealed to me. I began flying in 1980 and will continue until they ground me.
Jinxed1: You describe yourself as a dreamer and a romantic...What do you dream?
Dirk Benedict: Of romance.
Chrispappas: Will you/have you written a third book?
Dirk Benedict: I will. I have 200-300 pages of it but my divorce 2-1/2 years ago made it impossible for me to finish. I will finish it though. My publisher is harassing me.
Vinnys: Would you act in a movie like Volcano?
Dirk Benedict: [laughs hysterically] If I could play opposite Pierce [Brosnan], yes. Whoops, all those eruptions begin to look alike. Well, Tommy Lee Jones and I started out together. The answer is yes. But I think it would be one volcano too many. Like A Bridge Too Far. But given that I'm not a big movie star, it could be a movie about a toilet that overflows [laughs hysterically, throws his head back, cackling with glee].
Ororo: (This might be too personal- sorry!) When were you/are you happiest, and why?
Dirk Benedict: I was happiest in 1988 playing Hamlet with my six month pregnant wife as Ophelia. It was the happiest time in my life except for now. I'm always happiest in the company of my 2 boys. Truly. So I take them with me everywhere. Which is why I haven't had a date in two and a half years. By the time they're old enough to go on a date with me the date will go off with them and leave me.
Capkirk: With the religious theme that some of the episodes that BG had (i.e. the one with the angels) was Glen Larson a spiritual guy or what is the story?
Dirk Benedict: Number one he is very spiritual. He was raised in the Mormon church and a member at that time. I don't know if he still is. I assume so. I think all science fiction has a strong spiritual aspect to it because of the nature of it, pushing the envelope of the human experience.
Bezerker: Do you hang out with Richard Hatch alot? You two have a good chemistry together onscreen.
Dirk Benedict: No, I don't. I've seen him twice since the show was taken off the air. I visited him once in the hospital where he had a nervous breakdown [laughs hysterically]. Sorry, everyone, that's a joke. So, no, I haven't. I just saw him a month ago for the 2nd time. But we did have a chemistry, I agree.
Chloe25: I see that you are a native of Montana, do you pursue a lot of outdoor sports? Skiing, hiking, mountain biking?
Dirk Benedict: One of the reasons I moved back. Yes. The answer is yes. A great deal. I'm living on a house on a lake that Battlestar built. So I've been coming here for a long time.
Edith: I hope Dirk has a wonderful career as a writer and I hope he never sees sad times again.
Dirk Benedict: Oh, thank you, that's very, very nice although I'm sure I will see sad times as we all do, but the trick is to realize that without those sad times, we wouldn't enjoy the sweet ones as much when they come along as they inevitably do and will as long as you believe.
Moderator: Dirk...thank you so much for chatting with us...that was easily the most enjoyable chat we have ever had!!! Honest...thanks again. Hey...can people order your book?
Dirk Benedict: It's been wonderful chatting. I will leave you with the hope that you will all get and read my book, Confession of a Kamikaze Cowboy and I say that not for monetary reasons, but because it is my way of sharing any understanding of the way to have health and happiness that I have learned in this lifetime. And I'll see you on the screen. Soon, I hope. And you're all invited to dinner if you can make it by 8pm montana time to Holly's Lake House on the shores of Flathead Lake.
Moderator: Thanks Dirk....come back and chat with us again soon.
Dirk Benedict: Oh, one more thing. Before I forget. To get the book, call the following number: 1-800-548-5757. And tell them Dirk sent you. Enjoy
| i don't know |
What nationality is actor Russell Crowe? | Russell Crowe - Biography - IMDb
Russell Crowe
Biography
Showing all 137 items
Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (5) | Trivia (72) | Personal Quotes (47) | Salary (7)
Overview (4)
5' 11½" (1.82 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Russell Ira Crowe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to Jocelyn Yvonne (Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe, both of whom catered movie sets. His maternal grandfather, Stanley Wemyss, was a cinematographer. Crowe's recent ancestry includes Welsh (where his paternal grandfather was born, in Wrexham), English, Irish, Scottish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Maori (one of Crowe's maternal great-grandmothers, Erana Putiputi Hayes Heihi, was Maori).
Crowe's family moved to Australia when he was a small child, and Russell got the acting bug early in life. Beginning as a child star on a local Australian TV show, Russell's first big break came with two films ... the first, Romper Stomper (1992), gained him a name throughout the film community in Australia and the neighboring countries. The second, The Sum of Us (1994), helped put him on the American map, so to speak. Sharon Stone heard of him from Romper Stomper (1992) and wanted him for her film, The Quick and the Dead (1995). But filming on The Sum of Us (1994) had already begun. Sharon is reported to have held up shooting until she had her gunslinger-Crowe, for her film. With The Quick and the Dead (1995) under his belt as his first American film, the second was offered to him soon after. Virtuosity (1995), starring Denzel Washington , put Russell in the body of a Virtual Serial Killer, Sid6.7 ... a role unlike any he had played so far. Virtuosity (1995), a Sci-Fi extravaganza, was a fun film and, again, opened the door to even more American offers. L.A. Confidential (1997), Russell's third American film, brought him the US fame and attention that his fans have felt he deserved all along. Missing the Oscar nod this time around, he didn't seem deterred and signed to do his first film with The Walt Disney Company, Mystery, Alaska (1999). He achieved even more success and awards for his performances in Gladiator (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001).
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gustaf Molin <[email protected]>
Spouse (1)
( 7 April 2003 - present) (separated) (2 children)
Trade Mark (5)
Often works with directors Ron Howard and Ridley Scott .
Often plays characters based on real individuals
Frequently plays fathers or family who have usually suffered a loss
Trivia (72)
Cousin of former New Zealand international cricketers Jeff Crowe and Martin Crowe .
Lost his front tooth playing rugby when he was ten. Never got it fixed until, at the insistence of the director for The Crossing (1990), who paid for it out of his own pocket.
First lead role when he was 25.
Tried a music career as a rockabilly singer sporting a large pompadour hairdo, playing under the name Russ Le Roq. Titled his first single, "I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando ". Later admitted that he had never even seen a Brando movie when he wrote and recorded the song. Ironically, he went on later to play Jor-El in Man of Steel (2013), the same character that Brando iconically performed in Superman (1978).
After filming Gladiator (2000), he and some friends took a 4,000 mile motorcycle trip around Australia.
Owns a 560-acre farm in 7.5 hours North-West from Sydney.
Dropped out of high school.
Russell's rock group is named 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. They played their first American concert following Russell's success in Gladiator (2000) in Austin, Texas in August 2000. The tickets for the concert were selling for over $500 on e-bay.com.
(September 5, 2000) Suffered a shoulder injury, which will require surgery, while filming Jodie Foster 's Flora Plum . It is uncertain if the film will have to be recast.
Has starred in three films based on articles from Vanity Fair magazine. The Insider (1999) was based on a story by Marie Brenner named "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Proof of Life (2000) was based on the article "Adventures in the Ransom Trade" by William Prochnau . A Beautiful Mind (2001) was originally published in Vanity Fair as an excerpt of Sylvia Nasar's book about John Forbes Nash.
He turned down the role of Logan/Wolverine in X-Men (2000) because he did not want to play another similar role to the Maximus from Gladiator (2000), which he just completed. Crowe felt the characters were too similar by having the same animal totem - the wolf, and thought the movie was a cartoon, which it is not his cup of tea.
(August 16, 2001) He and his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992).
Proudly displayed his grandfather's British Honours medal (MBE) while making his Oscar Winner speech in 2001.
Has indicated an interest in taking out Australian citizenship due to the amount of time and energy he spends Down Under (keeping his New Zealand citizenship as well).
His ancestry includes English, German, Irish, Maori, Norwegian, Scottish, Swedish and Welsh. Russell's paternal grandfather was from Wrexham, Wales. Russell's maternal great-grandmother, Erana Putiputi Hayes Heihi, was Maori, and as a result, he is registered on the Maori electoral roll in New Zealand.
When Crowe's acceptance speech for his Best Actor award during the British Film Awards was edited, Crowe shoved the producer of the show, Malcolm Gerrie , against a wall and cursed at him, telling him: "Who on Earth had the... audacity to take out the best actor's poem? I'll make sure you never work in Hollywood." He later issued a full apology.
Ranked #28 in Premiere magazine's 2002 annual Power 100 List.
Following his involvement in a brawl in a London restaurant, Russell stated that he was under a lot of stress and announced that he was going back to Australia to relax and spend more time with his father and his longtime girlfriend singer, Danielle Spencer . [November 2002]
Discovered by British actor and musical director/writer Daniel Abineri , who gave Crowe his first professional acting role in a New Zealand tour of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Abineri later awarded Crowe the title role in his first stage musical, "Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom", which premiered in Melbourne in 1989.
Ranked #30 in Premiere magazine's 2003 annual Power 100 List.
Met spouse, Danielle Spencer in 1989 when they co-starred in the film The Crossing (1990). Their co-star of the film, Robert Mammone ( The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003)), was one of Crowe's groomsmen at their wedding.
Son-in-law of actor Don Spencer .
Took violin lessons in preparing for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) because his character, Jack Aubrey, played the violin several times during the movie.
He wrote a song about Jodie Foster called "Other Ways of Speaking" with his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.
Jodie Foster considers him a very good friend.
He was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Australian society and Australian film production.
(January 29, 2004) Dislocated his shoulder while training for his upcoming boxing movie, Cinderella Man (2005). The injury delayed filming for two months.
On June 7, 2006, he formed a partnership with Australian businessman Peter Holmes a Court to buy a controlling stake in his favorite sports team, the Australian NRL team South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Was accepted into the prestigious drama school, The National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), in Sydney.
Ranked #97 on VH1's 100 Hottest Hotties
Good friends with Nicole Kidman . She also mentioned him in her Oscar acceptance speech when she won Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Hours (2002).
Premiere magazine ranked him as #49 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005).
Once he was cast as Bud White in L.A. Confidential (1997), he read in the book that his character was the largest cop on the police force, off-putting for him due to his medium-sized frame (just under 6 feet). To capture a "big guy" presence, Crowe lived in a tiny flat in which he could barely fit through any of the doors. This experience, he said, made him come to the set feeling like a giant.
His former band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, used to cover a song by Newfoundland band, Great Big Sea. While filming Cinderella Man (2005) in Toronto, Crowe met Alan Doyle , lead singer of Great Big Sea. The two ended up composing several songs together, working in Toronto and Australia, and Doyle produced Crowe's 2005 album "My Hand, My Heart".
When his wife was pregnant with his first child Charles, he gave up drinking alcohol with her.
Is friends with Richard Tognetti , who gave him violin lessons for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003).
His next album (tentatively titled "My Hand, My Heart") is produced by Alan Doyle , lead singer for the Canadian band, Great Big Sea .
He attended Vaucluse Public School in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney for part of his Infants and Primary Education in the 1970s.
Formed a new band, named The Ordinary Fear of God.
His performance as Jeffrey Wigand in The Insider (1999) is ranked #23 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
A Beautiful Mind (2001) is ranked #93 on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time (2006).
Was among the guests at Nicole Kidman 's and Keith Urban 's wedding
Despite liking the script very much, turned down About a Boy (2002).
Turned down the role of Aragorn in Peter Jackson 's Lord of the Rings trilogy since filming on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) would coincide with Ron Howard 's A Beautiful Mind (2001). However, Crowe really loved the idea of filming a movie in his home country, New Zealand, for an extended amount of time.
Turned down the role of Sgt. Norm "Hoot" Hooten in Black Hawk Down (2001) due to scheduling conflicts.
Lives in a penthouse on Woollomoollo Wharf in Sydney, the Penthouse was reportedly sold to Crowe and wife Danielle Spencer for over $13.75 million.
Is close friends with Texas Governor Rick Perry .
Lobbied California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger against executing Stanley "Tookie" Williams. [December 2005]
The role of James J. Braddock ( Cinderella Man (2005)) is his personal favorite.
Nearly finalized a deal to reunite with director Michael Mann on Collateral (2004), but scheduling conflicts with Eucalyptus, a doomed film project, prevented him from taking the role, which later went to Tom Cruise .
Two opportunities of working with fellow Australian and good friend, Nicole Kidman , have fallen through. In 2005, they were set to star in Jocelyn Moorhouse 's Eucalyptus, which fell through due to disputes over the screenplay. And in 2006, Crowe dropped out of Australia (2008), Baz Luhrmann 's long-gestating romantic Outback epic, due to a disagreement over a cut in Crowe's salary.
Was director Oliver Stone 's dream choice for the title role in Alexander (2004).
Was considered for the role of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and its ensuing sequels.
His earnings in 2001 were estimated at $15.4 million by "Business Review Weekly".
Has starred in five movies in seven years (1997-2003) that ended up being nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. ( L.A. Confidential (1997), The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)). Gladiator (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001) won. A similar achievement was done by William Hurt in the 1980s, he starred in five movies nominated for Best Picture in only six years between 1983 and 1988 but none of them won.
Was slated to star alongside Nicole Kidman in the movie adaptation of Murray Bail's novel "Eucalyptus", but this project was dropped.
Initially turned down L.A. Confidential (1997) because he doubted whether he could convincingly play such a tough character.
Is a huge fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL.
Friends with University of Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr .
Is a huge fan of English Football side Leeds United AFC.
According to Forbes magazine, his movies averaged $5 of gross income for every dollar the actor got paid, making him the most overpaid celebrity in the business. [December 2007]
Crowe's maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who, according to Crowe, produced the first film by New Zealander Geoff Murphy and was also named an MBE for filming footage of World War II.
Gained 63 pounds for his role in Body of Lies (2008).
Was the original choice for the role of Stonewall Jackson in Ron Maxwell 's Civil War epic, Gods and Generals (2003). Crowe was interested at first but later dropped out. The role went to Stephen Lang instead.
Quit smoking for the sake of his children in 2010, but subsequently relapsed.
Became a father for the 1st time at age 39 when his wife Danielle Spencer gave birth to their son Charles Spencer Crowe on December 21, 2003.
Became a father for the 2nd time at age 42 when his wife Danielle Spencer gave birth to their son Tennyson Spencer Crowe on July 7, 2006.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 12, 2010.
He, Marisa Tomei , Marcia Gay Harden and Adrien Brody are the only actors to win an Oscar without being awarded for the same performance in none of its predecessor awards (Golden Globe, Critics Choice Awards, SAG and BAFTA). Marisa Tomei and Marcia Gay Harden were not even nominated for those awards for their performances in My Cousin Vinny (1992) and Pollock (2000), and Crowe's only award for Gladiator (2000) before the Oscar was the Critics Choice award.
As of 2014, has appeared in six films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: L.A. Confidential (1997), The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) and Les Misérables (2012). Of those, Gladiator (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001) are winners in the category.
Has starred in two films from DreamWorks's Best Picture Oscar winning streak, which was three years in a row.
In June 2010 Crowe, who started smoking when he was ten, announced that he had quit his 60-a-day habit. This attempt later proved unsuccessful, and in November 2010 he admitted that he was still smoking heavily.
Personal Quotes (47)
One of the most painful things of the L.A. Confidential (1997) character I played was that the author, James Ellroy , kept telling me that Bud White wasn't a drinker. I said, "Come on, this is 1953. He's a blue-collar bloke, a cop. You're telling me he doesn't sit around with the boys after his shift and have a beer?". And Ellroy says, "Absolutely not." So for five months and seven days, I didn't have a drink. It's probably the most painful period of my life.
[on winning the Best Actor Oscar] If you grow up in the suburbs of anywhere, a dream like this seems kind of vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable. But this moment is directly connected to those imaginings. And for anybody who's on the downside of advantage, and relying purely on courage, it's possible.
It's not really what I'd call a movie. I was stunned that Miramax wanted to buy it. I mean it's really rude. It showed me in a really bad light. It's also shoddily made. It's cobbled together. [expressing surprise that a low-budget documentary of his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, has been picked up for worldwide distribution]
[on meeting Robert De Niro ] I felt this tap on my shoulder and I turned around and, you know that De Niro fellow? Well, he didn't say a word. He didn't say "Hello", "Good evening" or anything or "Hi, I'm Robert". He just looked at me and he nodded his head and he smiled. And he walked off.
You don't have to like an actor to do a scene with him. You don't have to like a director. But it's just better if you do. And I think, you know, you've got to begin that with respect.
All that stuff, this public persona of me - let's call him "the wild man" - that is not helpful. It doesn't make me more of a box office draw. It's the quality of my work that makes people want to go to my films.
I always say I've given 24 insufficient performances and I'm looking forward to the time in my life when I'll do something that I think is good. There's always stuff you can do better, stuff that maybe you didn't uncover enough. But if you do something that you truly believe is perfect, then that's got to be the last movie you do.
I'd like to play passionate women, but no one will let me.
If there's anything about someone's life that's important enough to make a movie about it, I have to take responsibility to get all of it right. It's a huge responsibility.
The older I get, the crotchetier I'm going to get about that integrity. I don't think, just because you have the public's attention, it's now a prerequisite for you to completely sell out your moral center. I don't think that's okay. If I ever stop being the guy that can answer your question straight and look you in the eye and give you my opinion, then I should stop making films.
I'm still excited by it. I still love the process. I want to make movies that pierce people's hearts and touch them in some way, even if it's just for the night while they're in the cinema; in that moment, I want to bring actual tears to their eyes and goosebumps to their skin. That's what motivates me, and it may sound strange but if you're not focused on the audience, why are you bothering to make a movie?
[on Robert De Niro ] He has disappointed me many times over the past ten years, with his performances in substandard movies.
When I arrived in Sydney, I spent 22 weeks in this $50-a-week place with just a bed, a cupboard and the toilet halfway down the corridor. For the first time my parents were some distance away. I did a lot of thinking and realized I appreciated what my father had instilled in me. People think that because there is a dole there they should use it, and there are a lot of ways to misuse the system. I believe in singing for my supper. I'll never accept a grant because what I do should be able to be founded purely on free enterprise.
[on Oliver Reed ] Mate, he did that to himself. I have little time for the Oliver Reeds of this business. I'm not pleased that he's gone. In fact, I never had a drink with Oliver, because I didn't want to encourage him. I'll go for long periods without a drink. When I'm on the farm by myself, it's not something I even think about. But I'm not afraid to have a beer in front of a studio executive. That doesn't make me a wild man.
I'm at the bottom of a well. I can't communicate how dark my life is right now. I'm in a lot of trouble. I'll do my best to solve the situation in an honorable way. I'm very sorry for my actions. I will spend the rest of my life if it takes it, trying to make it up with my wife. I'm pleased that my son isn't able to compute what's going on at the moment because that would be a heartbreaking thing. One thing that I don't want to do is imply that I'm trying to make out it's somebody else's fault It's not, I know it's my fault, I've got to face up to it and deal with it. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, I'm just looking at what the situation is - it's a seven-year jail sentence.
After The Insider (1999), I know the exact chemical compounds in a commercial cigarette, but I've been smoking since I was 10. I know it's terrible, but I am a great fan of irony.
I believe if you take on characters for a living you can't make yourself into an icon in order to sell a pair of shoes.
I had a good laugh when Clooney tried to compare doing ads for suits, a car and a drink to what I do as a musician. An endorsement is about money. My music is from the heart.
I do my bit to improve the world but I think it's very important to get things done on the quiet. I'm sick to death of famous people standing up and using their celebrity to promote a cause. If I see a particular need, I do try to help. But there's a lot that can be achieved by putting a cheque in the right place and shutting up about it.
I don't do ads for suits in Spain like George Clooney or cigarettes in Japan like Harrison Ford . And on one level, people go, "Well, more fault to you, mate, because there's free money to be handed out." But to me it's kind of sacrilegious - it's a complete contradiction of the f**king social contract you have with your audience. I mean, Robert De Niro 's advertising American Express. Gee whiz, it's not the first time he's disappointed me. It's been happening for a while now.
I'd move to Los Angeles if Australia and New Zealand were swallowed up by a huge tidal wave, if there was a bubonic plague in England, and if the continent of Africa disappeared from some Martian attack.
Dani was three weeks early last time, she gave birth just a few days after she was chased down the street by four photographers. Nobody cares, particularly the photographers, nobody cares to focus on what that is. She was just walking down the street with her girlfriend and they rushed her - four of them all surrounded her. So she panicked and slipped and all this sort of stuff. If I'd been there that would have been a really serious situation. I tell you right now, they will be tarred and feathered if they hassle my pregnant wife again.
[on The Passion of the Christ (2004)] Well if what I've heard about it is fair dinkum that he spent $25 million making a movie that's shot in Aramaic and Latin and he's intending to release it without subtitles, I think he's got to get off the glue. What's the point of making a movie where people can't understand what's going on? I don't understand that. If you want it for reality or whatever, I think, "Wow, what an amazing idea," but also what a waste of time if nobody can get what the point is. Well, if we know the story, if we know it that well, why did he bother making it again? Mr. Gibson, get off the glue!
I'm a virtuoso in my job in that there's not an actor I can't go into a scene with and be absolutely confident that, whatever is required of my character, I can do it.
I just didn't want to work on that movie in the type of environment that was being created because of the needs of the budget. I do charity work, but I don't do charity work for major studios.
[on turning down the role of Morpheus in The Matrix (1999)] Well, The Matrix - I just didn't get it. I couldn't get past page 42. That world was just not interesting to me.
[on his selectivity of his next film] With the Lord of the Rings, if I did that I couldn't have done A Beautiful Mind, and I just had to do A Beautiful Mind. You can't do it all, and the people who try to usually end up not being able to focus at a certain level after a while. I mean, if I'm going to drink a bottle of wine, I drink a really good bottle of wine.
[on what attracts him to prospective films] I respond to the call that says, "It's 185 A.D. You're a Roman general. You're being directed by Ridley Scott ." That's something my imagination can get a hold of.
In wars, no one wins, everyone loses. There are no heroes, there's only dead people. Movies can really change things and... it becomes an educational process and I think that's the healthiest way of attacking anything. That's what I'm looking for.
[on an upcoming remake of the Robin Hood story] If you go back into the mythology, you get Robin the Beheader, who would chop off your head and your hands, take your money and keep it. So we'll have a look at that.
He was a gentle, beautiful man, a fine actor, a loyal friend. I feel deeply for his family - on the passing of friend and fellow actor, Heath Ledger .
[on spirituality] I think there's a karmic cycle, which is very, very obvious: you run around acting like a dick, and you get your ass kicked. The world just works that way.
People might say I'm uncompromising but really I am just a very straight-shooting man. If you look me in the eye and shake my hand I expect you to keep your end of the f***ing bargain. I do. It's simple.
[on theatre] Every now and then I get sort of romantic about it. But I've also got that cynical part of me where, when I read somebody saying, "I'm going back to the theatre. I'm going back to my roots," I'm like, "Oh, can't get a job, hey?".
[on studio demands for a sex scene in Gladiator (2000)] I'm sorry boys, but it doesn't suit the character. We can't be avenging the death of the wife and child, and stop for a bit of nookie along the way. I'm sorry, it's not gonna happen.
(July 2010) Do the maths - I have been smoking for 36 years, I would continuously lie to myself about how much I smoked. I was smoking 40 on an easy day, but on a day when I would be up at 4am and still up at midnight, then it was 60-plus and it just got to the point where my body was telling me I had to stop.
[1997, on L.A. Confidential (1997)] You go into these movies to play an American, you know. That's part of the fun of it for me. I can be an Australian in Australian films.
[1997, on perfecting accents] I was too kind of brave and proud to want a dialect coach because I thought that showed weakness in my armor. But then you just learn it's a more efficient way of doing it. A dialect coach is really important because it takes a certain technical responsibility off your shoulders. Otherwise, it would be very disruptive, because you've got to focus on the internal life of the character. The language is easy if you're not focusing on it, you know.
[on Oliver Reed ] He drank himself to death. He sat on a bar stool until he fell off it and carried on drinking... lying in his own piss and vomit, he continued to drink till he passed out. What did the tabloids say he drank on the day he died? Something like thirty beers, eight or ten dark rums and half a bottle of whiskey. In the end, he created such a weird energy around him that no one drinking with him cared.
[from his 2002 Oscar acceptance speech] When you grow up in the suburbs of anywhere, a dream like this seems kind of vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable. But this moment is directly connected to those childhood imaginings. And for anybody who's on the downside of advantage and relying purely on courage, it's possible.
[Speaking to Mark Lawson about his character in Robin Hood (2010)] You've got dead ears, mate. You've seriously got dead ears if you think that's an Irish accent. Bollocks. I'm a little dumbfounded that you could possibly find any Irish in that character.
I don't regret any of the choices I've made in terms of films. Everything has taught me something. Sometimes I go through the list of films I've done and I'm pretty surprised at where I've gone. Sometimes you are lucky and everything falls into place and you get to do the thing that you want in a time that is right for you, and another time it doesn't happen. But if you keep chasing that or you keep waiting for it, then the thing that you do is essentially compromised, because I'm a performer, an actor, and so give me a script and let me go to work. To hang around waiting for the absolute perfect gig, I just don't think is a sensible thing to do. I've had a lot of mates who had wonderful opportunities when they were younger and they wait for the absolutely great thing and by the time that comes around - if it comes around - they've lost a lot of ground and they see a lot of people who were perhaps at a different status at a certain point, they have worked, and now they are the names that people turn to.
There is a website that's listed all of the movies I've turned down. Somebody sent it to me once and it was a very depressing read. Kingdom of Heaven (2005) is a very good example. Two-and-a-half years of working on that script with Ridley and then he got impatient and wanted to do it while I was in the middle of Cinderella Man (2005). It was like, "Excuse me, old fella, can't you just wait?" "No, I'm not waiting, just leave that movie..." "Well, I can't leave the movie, Ridley..." But that just happens; it's the nature of the business.
[Describing his early days as an actor] I don't subscribe to any form of acting. I wanted to learn more at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, but I didn't have the money, so I would take any acting job I could find and by the time I had enough money to enroll into the school I didn't really need to go, because while I was working, I gathered all the acting knowledge and experience.
[His approach to each role he plays] Preparation and research is a privilege: I love to do it, I'm very inquisitive I also know the more work I put into the character, the more apparent it'll be on the screen.
[Describing his work ethic]wasting time on a film set is not your privilege, being on the film set is the privilege, that's why Ron Howard and I get along really well, we both see making films as a privilege, we see the fact that someone's put money for us to work in a very expensive art form.
The reality break was that my kids never saw me smoke and Charlie is a little older at six and is in that phase where he is sneaking up on me all the time. I was in my office ... and I thought I heard my office door open and I looked around and couldn't see anything, so I had my cigarette. Later on I leant over to put my cigarette out and he was lying between the couch and the table and he very definitely saw me having a smoke. And that was my very last one.
Salary (7)
| New Zealanders |
Which film starring Meryl Streep in 1985, won 7 Oscars? | Russell Crowe - Biography - IMDb
Russell Crowe
Biography
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Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (5) | Trivia (72) | Personal Quotes (47) | Salary (7)
Overview (4)
5' 11½" (1.82 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Russell Ira Crowe was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to Jocelyn Yvonne (Wemyss) and John Alexander Crowe, both of whom catered movie sets. His maternal grandfather, Stanley Wemyss, was a cinematographer. Crowe's recent ancestry includes Welsh (where his paternal grandfather was born, in Wrexham), English, Irish, Scottish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Maori (one of Crowe's maternal great-grandmothers, Erana Putiputi Hayes Heihi, was Maori).
Crowe's family moved to Australia when he was a small child, and Russell got the acting bug early in life. Beginning as a child star on a local Australian TV show, Russell's first big break came with two films ... the first, Romper Stomper (1992), gained him a name throughout the film community in Australia and the neighboring countries. The second, The Sum of Us (1994), helped put him on the American map, so to speak. Sharon Stone heard of him from Romper Stomper (1992) and wanted him for her film, The Quick and the Dead (1995). But filming on The Sum of Us (1994) had already begun. Sharon is reported to have held up shooting until she had her gunslinger-Crowe, for her film. With The Quick and the Dead (1995) under his belt as his first American film, the second was offered to him soon after. Virtuosity (1995), starring Denzel Washington , put Russell in the body of a Virtual Serial Killer, Sid6.7 ... a role unlike any he had played so far. Virtuosity (1995), a Sci-Fi extravaganza, was a fun film and, again, opened the door to even more American offers. L.A. Confidential (1997), Russell's third American film, brought him the US fame and attention that his fans have felt he deserved all along. Missing the Oscar nod this time around, he didn't seem deterred and signed to do his first film with The Walt Disney Company, Mystery, Alaska (1999). He achieved even more success and awards for his performances in Gladiator (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001).
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gustaf Molin <[email protected]>
Spouse (1)
( 7 April 2003 - present) (separated) (2 children)
Trade Mark (5)
Often works with directors Ron Howard and Ridley Scott .
Often plays characters based on real individuals
Frequently plays fathers or family who have usually suffered a loss
Trivia (72)
Cousin of former New Zealand international cricketers Jeff Crowe and Martin Crowe .
Lost his front tooth playing rugby when he was ten. Never got it fixed until, at the insistence of the director for The Crossing (1990), who paid for it out of his own pocket.
First lead role when he was 25.
Tried a music career as a rockabilly singer sporting a large pompadour hairdo, playing under the name Russ Le Roq. Titled his first single, "I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando ". Later admitted that he had never even seen a Brando movie when he wrote and recorded the song. Ironically, he went on later to play Jor-El in Man of Steel (2013), the same character that Brando iconically performed in Superman (1978).
After filming Gladiator (2000), he and some friends took a 4,000 mile motorcycle trip around Australia.
Owns a 560-acre farm in 7.5 hours North-West from Sydney.
Dropped out of high school.
Russell's rock group is named 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. They played their first American concert following Russell's success in Gladiator (2000) in Austin, Texas in August 2000. The tickets for the concert were selling for over $500 on e-bay.com.
(September 5, 2000) Suffered a shoulder injury, which will require surgery, while filming Jodie Foster 's Flora Plum . It is uncertain if the film will have to be recast.
Has starred in three films based on articles from Vanity Fair magazine. The Insider (1999) was based on a story by Marie Brenner named "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Proof of Life (2000) was based on the article "Adventures in the Ransom Trade" by William Prochnau . A Beautiful Mind (2001) was originally published in Vanity Fair as an excerpt of Sylvia Nasar's book about John Forbes Nash.
He turned down the role of Logan/Wolverine in X-Men (2000) because he did not want to play another similar role to the Maximus from Gladiator (2000), which he just completed. Crowe felt the characters were too similar by having the same animal totem - the wolf, and thought the movie was a cartoon, which it is not his cup of tea.
(August 16, 2001) He and his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992).
Proudly displayed his grandfather's British Honours medal (MBE) while making his Oscar Winner speech in 2001.
Has indicated an interest in taking out Australian citizenship due to the amount of time and energy he spends Down Under (keeping his New Zealand citizenship as well).
His ancestry includes English, German, Irish, Maori, Norwegian, Scottish, Swedish and Welsh. Russell's paternal grandfather was from Wrexham, Wales. Russell's maternal great-grandmother, Erana Putiputi Hayes Heihi, was Maori, and as a result, he is registered on the Maori electoral roll in New Zealand.
When Crowe's acceptance speech for his Best Actor award during the British Film Awards was edited, Crowe shoved the producer of the show, Malcolm Gerrie , against a wall and cursed at him, telling him: "Who on Earth had the... audacity to take out the best actor's poem? I'll make sure you never work in Hollywood." He later issued a full apology.
Ranked #28 in Premiere magazine's 2002 annual Power 100 List.
Following his involvement in a brawl in a London restaurant, Russell stated that he was under a lot of stress and announced that he was going back to Australia to relax and spend more time with his father and his longtime girlfriend singer, Danielle Spencer . [November 2002]
Discovered by British actor and musical director/writer Daniel Abineri , who gave Crowe his first professional acting role in a New Zealand tour of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Abineri later awarded Crowe the title role in his first stage musical, "Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom", which premiered in Melbourne in 1989.
Ranked #30 in Premiere magazine's 2003 annual Power 100 List.
Met spouse, Danielle Spencer in 1989 when they co-starred in the film The Crossing (1990). Their co-star of the film, Robert Mammone ( The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003)), was one of Crowe's groomsmen at their wedding.
Son-in-law of actor Don Spencer .
Took violin lessons in preparing for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) because his character, Jack Aubrey, played the violin several times during the movie.
He wrote a song about Jodie Foster called "Other Ways of Speaking" with his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.
Jodie Foster considers him a very good friend.
He was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Australian society and Australian film production.
(January 29, 2004) Dislocated his shoulder while training for his upcoming boxing movie, Cinderella Man (2005). The injury delayed filming for two months.
On June 7, 2006, he formed a partnership with Australian businessman Peter Holmes a Court to buy a controlling stake in his favorite sports team, the Australian NRL team South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Was accepted into the prestigious drama school, The National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), in Sydney.
Ranked #97 on VH1's 100 Hottest Hotties
Good friends with Nicole Kidman . She also mentioned him in her Oscar acceptance speech when she won Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Hours (2002).
Premiere magazine ranked him as #49 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005).
Once he was cast as Bud White in L.A. Confidential (1997), he read in the book that his character was the largest cop on the police force, off-putting for him due to his medium-sized frame (just under 6 feet). To capture a "big guy" presence, Crowe lived in a tiny flat in which he could barely fit through any of the doors. This experience, he said, made him come to the set feeling like a giant.
His former band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, used to cover a song by Newfoundland band, Great Big Sea. While filming Cinderella Man (2005) in Toronto, Crowe met Alan Doyle , lead singer of Great Big Sea. The two ended up composing several songs together, working in Toronto and Australia, and Doyle produced Crowe's 2005 album "My Hand, My Heart".
When his wife was pregnant with his first child Charles, he gave up drinking alcohol with her.
Is friends with Richard Tognetti , who gave him violin lessons for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003).
His next album (tentatively titled "My Hand, My Heart") is produced by Alan Doyle , lead singer for the Canadian band, Great Big Sea .
He attended Vaucluse Public School in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney for part of his Infants and Primary Education in the 1970s.
Formed a new band, named The Ordinary Fear of God.
His performance as Jeffrey Wigand in The Insider (1999) is ranked #23 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
A Beautiful Mind (2001) is ranked #93 on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time (2006).
Was among the guests at Nicole Kidman 's and Keith Urban 's wedding
Despite liking the script very much, turned down About a Boy (2002).
Turned down the role of Aragorn in Peter Jackson 's Lord of the Rings trilogy since filming on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) would coincide with Ron Howard 's A Beautiful Mind (2001). However, Crowe really loved the idea of filming a movie in his home country, New Zealand, for an extended amount of time.
Turned down the role of Sgt. Norm "Hoot" Hooten in Black Hawk Down (2001) due to scheduling conflicts.
Lives in a penthouse on Woollomoollo Wharf in Sydney, the Penthouse was reportedly sold to Crowe and wife Danielle Spencer for over $13.75 million.
Is close friends with Texas Governor Rick Perry .
Lobbied California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger against executing Stanley "Tookie" Williams. [December 2005]
The role of James J. Braddock ( Cinderella Man (2005)) is his personal favorite.
Nearly finalized a deal to reunite with director Michael Mann on Collateral (2004), but scheduling conflicts with Eucalyptus, a doomed film project, prevented him from taking the role, which later went to Tom Cruise .
Two opportunities of working with fellow Australian and good friend, Nicole Kidman , have fallen through. In 2005, they were set to star in Jocelyn Moorhouse 's Eucalyptus, which fell through due to disputes over the screenplay. And in 2006, Crowe dropped out of Australia (2008), Baz Luhrmann 's long-gestating romantic Outback epic, due to a disagreement over a cut in Crowe's salary.
Was director Oliver Stone 's dream choice for the title role in Alexander (2004).
Was considered for the role of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and its ensuing sequels.
His earnings in 2001 were estimated at $15.4 million by "Business Review Weekly".
Has starred in five movies in seven years (1997-2003) that ended up being nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. ( L.A. Confidential (1997), The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)). Gladiator (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001) won. A similar achievement was done by William Hurt in the 1980s, he starred in five movies nominated for Best Picture in only six years between 1983 and 1988 but none of them won.
Was slated to star alongside Nicole Kidman in the movie adaptation of Murray Bail's novel "Eucalyptus", but this project was dropped.
Initially turned down L.A. Confidential (1997) because he doubted whether he could convincingly play such a tough character.
Is a huge fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL.
Friends with University of Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr .
Is a huge fan of English Football side Leeds United AFC.
According to Forbes magazine, his movies averaged $5 of gross income for every dollar the actor got paid, making him the most overpaid celebrity in the business. [December 2007]
Crowe's maternal grandfather, Stan Wemyss, was a cinematographer who, according to Crowe, produced the first film by New Zealander Geoff Murphy and was also named an MBE for filming footage of World War II.
Gained 63 pounds for his role in Body of Lies (2008).
Was the original choice for the role of Stonewall Jackson in Ron Maxwell 's Civil War epic, Gods and Generals (2003). Crowe was interested at first but later dropped out. The role went to Stephen Lang instead.
Quit smoking for the sake of his children in 2010, but subsequently relapsed.
Became a father for the 1st time at age 39 when his wife Danielle Spencer gave birth to their son Charles Spencer Crowe on December 21, 2003.
Became a father for the 2nd time at age 42 when his wife Danielle Spencer gave birth to their son Tennyson Spencer Crowe on July 7, 2006.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 12, 2010.
He, Marisa Tomei , Marcia Gay Harden and Adrien Brody are the only actors to win an Oscar without being awarded for the same performance in none of its predecessor awards (Golden Globe, Critics Choice Awards, SAG and BAFTA). Marisa Tomei and Marcia Gay Harden were not even nominated for those awards for their performances in My Cousin Vinny (1992) and Pollock (2000), and Crowe's only award for Gladiator (2000) before the Oscar was the Critics Choice award.
As of 2014, has appeared in six films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: L.A. Confidential (1997), The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) and Les Misérables (2012). Of those, Gladiator (2000) and A Beautiful Mind (2001) are winners in the category.
Has starred in two films from DreamWorks's Best Picture Oscar winning streak, which was three years in a row.
In June 2010 Crowe, who started smoking when he was ten, announced that he had quit his 60-a-day habit. This attempt later proved unsuccessful, and in November 2010 he admitted that he was still smoking heavily.
Personal Quotes (47)
One of the most painful things of the L.A. Confidential (1997) character I played was that the author, James Ellroy , kept telling me that Bud White wasn't a drinker. I said, "Come on, this is 1953. He's a blue-collar bloke, a cop. You're telling me he doesn't sit around with the boys after his shift and have a beer?". And Ellroy says, "Absolutely not." So for five months and seven days, I didn't have a drink. It's probably the most painful period of my life.
[on winning the Best Actor Oscar] If you grow up in the suburbs of anywhere, a dream like this seems kind of vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable. But this moment is directly connected to those imaginings. And for anybody who's on the downside of advantage, and relying purely on courage, it's possible.
It's not really what I'd call a movie. I was stunned that Miramax wanted to buy it. I mean it's really rude. It showed me in a really bad light. It's also shoddily made. It's cobbled together. [expressing surprise that a low-budget documentary of his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, has been picked up for worldwide distribution]
[on meeting Robert De Niro ] I felt this tap on my shoulder and I turned around and, you know that De Niro fellow? Well, he didn't say a word. He didn't say "Hello", "Good evening" or anything or "Hi, I'm Robert". He just looked at me and he nodded his head and he smiled. And he walked off.
You don't have to like an actor to do a scene with him. You don't have to like a director. But it's just better if you do. And I think, you know, you've got to begin that with respect.
All that stuff, this public persona of me - let's call him "the wild man" - that is not helpful. It doesn't make me more of a box office draw. It's the quality of my work that makes people want to go to my films.
I always say I've given 24 insufficient performances and I'm looking forward to the time in my life when I'll do something that I think is good. There's always stuff you can do better, stuff that maybe you didn't uncover enough. But if you do something that you truly believe is perfect, then that's got to be the last movie you do.
I'd like to play passionate women, but no one will let me.
If there's anything about someone's life that's important enough to make a movie about it, I have to take responsibility to get all of it right. It's a huge responsibility.
The older I get, the crotchetier I'm going to get about that integrity. I don't think, just because you have the public's attention, it's now a prerequisite for you to completely sell out your moral center. I don't think that's okay. If I ever stop being the guy that can answer your question straight and look you in the eye and give you my opinion, then I should stop making films.
I'm still excited by it. I still love the process. I want to make movies that pierce people's hearts and touch them in some way, even if it's just for the night while they're in the cinema; in that moment, I want to bring actual tears to their eyes and goosebumps to their skin. That's what motivates me, and it may sound strange but if you're not focused on the audience, why are you bothering to make a movie?
[on Robert De Niro ] He has disappointed me many times over the past ten years, with his performances in substandard movies.
When I arrived in Sydney, I spent 22 weeks in this $50-a-week place with just a bed, a cupboard and the toilet halfway down the corridor. For the first time my parents were some distance away. I did a lot of thinking and realized I appreciated what my father had instilled in me. People think that because there is a dole there they should use it, and there are a lot of ways to misuse the system. I believe in singing for my supper. I'll never accept a grant because what I do should be able to be founded purely on free enterprise.
[on Oliver Reed ] Mate, he did that to himself. I have little time for the Oliver Reeds of this business. I'm not pleased that he's gone. In fact, I never had a drink with Oliver, because I didn't want to encourage him. I'll go for long periods without a drink. When I'm on the farm by myself, it's not something I even think about. But I'm not afraid to have a beer in front of a studio executive. That doesn't make me a wild man.
I'm at the bottom of a well. I can't communicate how dark my life is right now. I'm in a lot of trouble. I'll do my best to solve the situation in an honorable way. I'm very sorry for my actions. I will spend the rest of my life if it takes it, trying to make it up with my wife. I'm pleased that my son isn't able to compute what's going on at the moment because that would be a heartbreaking thing. One thing that I don't want to do is imply that I'm trying to make out it's somebody else's fault It's not, I know it's my fault, I've got to face up to it and deal with it. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, I'm just looking at what the situation is - it's a seven-year jail sentence.
After The Insider (1999), I know the exact chemical compounds in a commercial cigarette, but I've been smoking since I was 10. I know it's terrible, but I am a great fan of irony.
I believe if you take on characters for a living you can't make yourself into an icon in order to sell a pair of shoes.
I had a good laugh when Clooney tried to compare doing ads for suits, a car and a drink to what I do as a musician. An endorsement is about money. My music is from the heart.
I do my bit to improve the world but I think it's very important to get things done on the quiet. I'm sick to death of famous people standing up and using their celebrity to promote a cause. If I see a particular need, I do try to help. But there's a lot that can be achieved by putting a cheque in the right place and shutting up about it.
I don't do ads for suits in Spain like George Clooney or cigarettes in Japan like Harrison Ford . And on one level, people go, "Well, more fault to you, mate, because there's free money to be handed out." But to me it's kind of sacrilegious - it's a complete contradiction of the f**king social contract you have with your audience. I mean, Robert De Niro 's advertising American Express. Gee whiz, it's not the first time he's disappointed me. It's been happening for a while now.
I'd move to Los Angeles if Australia and New Zealand were swallowed up by a huge tidal wave, if there was a bubonic plague in England, and if the continent of Africa disappeared from some Martian attack.
Dani was three weeks early last time, she gave birth just a few days after she was chased down the street by four photographers. Nobody cares, particularly the photographers, nobody cares to focus on what that is. She was just walking down the street with her girlfriend and they rushed her - four of them all surrounded her. So she panicked and slipped and all this sort of stuff. If I'd been there that would have been a really serious situation. I tell you right now, they will be tarred and feathered if they hassle my pregnant wife again.
[on The Passion of the Christ (2004)] Well if what I've heard about it is fair dinkum that he spent $25 million making a movie that's shot in Aramaic and Latin and he's intending to release it without subtitles, I think he's got to get off the glue. What's the point of making a movie where people can't understand what's going on? I don't understand that. If you want it for reality or whatever, I think, "Wow, what an amazing idea," but also what a waste of time if nobody can get what the point is. Well, if we know the story, if we know it that well, why did he bother making it again? Mr. Gibson, get off the glue!
I'm a virtuoso in my job in that there's not an actor I can't go into a scene with and be absolutely confident that, whatever is required of my character, I can do it.
I just didn't want to work on that movie in the type of environment that was being created because of the needs of the budget. I do charity work, but I don't do charity work for major studios.
[on turning down the role of Morpheus in The Matrix (1999)] Well, The Matrix - I just didn't get it. I couldn't get past page 42. That world was just not interesting to me.
[on his selectivity of his next film] With the Lord of the Rings, if I did that I couldn't have done A Beautiful Mind, and I just had to do A Beautiful Mind. You can't do it all, and the people who try to usually end up not being able to focus at a certain level after a while. I mean, if I'm going to drink a bottle of wine, I drink a really good bottle of wine.
[on what attracts him to prospective films] I respond to the call that says, "It's 185 A.D. You're a Roman general. You're being directed by Ridley Scott ." That's something my imagination can get a hold of.
In wars, no one wins, everyone loses. There are no heroes, there's only dead people. Movies can really change things and... it becomes an educational process and I think that's the healthiest way of attacking anything. That's what I'm looking for.
[on an upcoming remake of the Robin Hood story] If you go back into the mythology, you get Robin the Beheader, who would chop off your head and your hands, take your money and keep it. So we'll have a look at that.
He was a gentle, beautiful man, a fine actor, a loyal friend. I feel deeply for his family - on the passing of friend and fellow actor, Heath Ledger .
[on spirituality] I think there's a karmic cycle, which is very, very obvious: you run around acting like a dick, and you get your ass kicked. The world just works that way.
People might say I'm uncompromising but really I am just a very straight-shooting man. If you look me in the eye and shake my hand I expect you to keep your end of the f***ing bargain. I do. It's simple.
[on theatre] Every now and then I get sort of romantic about it. But I've also got that cynical part of me where, when I read somebody saying, "I'm going back to the theatre. I'm going back to my roots," I'm like, "Oh, can't get a job, hey?".
[on studio demands for a sex scene in Gladiator (2000)] I'm sorry boys, but it doesn't suit the character. We can't be avenging the death of the wife and child, and stop for a bit of nookie along the way. I'm sorry, it's not gonna happen.
(July 2010) Do the maths - I have been smoking for 36 years, I would continuously lie to myself about how much I smoked. I was smoking 40 on an easy day, but on a day when I would be up at 4am and still up at midnight, then it was 60-plus and it just got to the point where my body was telling me I had to stop.
[1997, on L.A. Confidential (1997)] You go into these movies to play an American, you know. That's part of the fun of it for me. I can be an Australian in Australian films.
[1997, on perfecting accents] I was too kind of brave and proud to want a dialect coach because I thought that showed weakness in my armor. But then you just learn it's a more efficient way of doing it. A dialect coach is really important because it takes a certain technical responsibility off your shoulders. Otherwise, it would be very disruptive, because you've got to focus on the internal life of the character. The language is easy if you're not focusing on it, you know.
[on Oliver Reed ] He drank himself to death. He sat on a bar stool until he fell off it and carried on drinking... lying in his own piss and vomit, he continued to drink till he passed out. What did the tabloids say he drank on the day he died? Something like thirty beers, eight or ten dark rums and half a bottle of whiskey. In the end, he created such a weird energy around him that no one drinking with him cared.
[from his 2002 Oscar acceptance speech] When you grow up in the suburbs of anywhere, a dream like this seems kind of vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable. But this moment is directly connected to those childhood imaginings. And for anybody who's on the downside of advantage and relying purely on courage, it's possible.
[Speaking to Mark Lawson about his character in Robin Hood (2010)] You've got dead ears, mate. You've seriously got dead ears if you think that's an Irish accent. Bollocks. I'm a little dumbfounded that you could possibly find any Irish in that character.
I don't regret any of the choices I've made in terms of films. Everything has taught me something. Sometimes I go through the list of films I've done and I'm pretty surprised at where I've gone. Sometimes you are lucky and everything falls into place and you get to do the thing that you want in a time that is right for you, and another time it doesn't happen. But if you keep chasing that or you keep waiting for it, then the thing that you do is essentially compromised, because I'm a performer, an actor, and so give me a script and let me go to work. To hang around waiting for the absolute perfect gig, I just don't think is a sensible thing to do. I've had a lot of mates who had wonderful opportunities when they were younger and they wait for the absolutely great thing and by the time that comes around - if it comes around - they've lost a lot of ground and they see a lot of people who were perhaps at a different status at a certain point, they have worked, and now they are the names that people turn to.
There is a website that's listed all of the movies I've turned down. Somebody sent it to me once and it was a very depressing read. Kingdom of Heaven (2005) is a very good example. Two-and-a-half years of working on that script with Ridley and then he got impatient and wanted to do it while I was in the middle of Cinderella Man (2005). It was like, "Excuse me, old fella, can't you just wait?" "No, I'm not waiting, just leave that movie..." "Well, I can't leave the movie, Ridley..." But that just happens; it's the nature of the business.
[Describing his early days as an actor] I don't subscribe to any form of acting. I wanted to learn more at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, but I didn't have the money, so I would take any acting job I could find and by the time I had enough money to enroll into the school I didn't really need to go, because while I was working, I gathered all the acting knowledge and experience.
[His approach to each role he plays] Preparation and research is a privilege: I love to do it, I'm very inquisitive I also know the more work I put into the character, the more apparent it'll be on the screen.
[Describing his work ethic]wasting time on a film set is not your privilege, being on the film set is the privilege, that's why Ron Howard and I get along really well, we both see making films as a privilege, we see the fact that someone's put money for us to work in a very expensive art form.
The reality break was that my kids never saw me smoke and Charlie is a little older at six and is in that phase where he is sneaking up on me all the time. I was in my office ... and I thought I heard my office door open and I looked around and couldn't see anything, so I had my cigarette. Later on I leant over to put my cigarette out and he was lying between the couch and the table and he very definitely saw me having a smoke. And that was my very last one.
Salary (7)
| i don't know |
Name the male lead in the 1946 film The Big Sleep? | 1946 Academy Awards® Winners and History
Actor:
FREDRIC MARCH in
"The Best Years of Our Lives" , Laurence Olivier in "Henry V", Larry Parks in "The Jolson Story", Gregory Peck in "The Yearling", James Stewart in
"It's A Wonderful Life"
Actress:
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND in "To Each His Own", Celia Johnson in "Brief Encounter" , Jennifer Jones in "Duel in the Sun" , Rosalind Russell in "Sister Kenny", Jane Wyman in "The Yearling"
Supporting Actor:
HAROLD RUSSELL in
"The Best Years of Our Lives" , Charles Coburn in "The Green Years", William Demarest in "The Jolson Story", Claude Rains in
"Notorious" , Clifton Webb in "The Razor's Edge"
Supporting Actress:
ANNE BAXTER in "The Razor's Edge", Ethel Barrymore in "The Spiral Staircase", Lillian Gish in "Duel in the Sun" , Flora Robson in "Saratoga Trunk", Gale Sondergaard in "Anna and the King of Siam"
Director:
For the first time, a number of foreign-made films and stars from overseas were found in the various categories - a foreshadowing of things to come.
The Best Picture winner of the year was the three-hour long
The Best Years of Our Lives (with eight nominations and seven wins), a war-related film about the rough adjustment of returning and damaged WWII veterans (a hard-drinking ex-sergeant, a sailor with prosthetic hooks for hands, and an air force officer) to peacetime.
With a total of seven awards, director William Wyler's film won in all major categories in which it was nominated including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Film Editing, and Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
It was the last collaborative work of director William Wyler and independent producer Goldwyn. The award would be the first and only competitive Oscar that producer Samuel Goldwyn would ever win. [Given Goldwyn's long and distinguished involvement in some of the best films ever made, including Arrowsmith (1931/32), Dodsworth (1936) , Dead End (1937),
Wuthering Heights (1939) , The Little Foxes (1941), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and The Bishop's Wife (1947), it is remarkable that
The Best Years of Our Lives was the only production of his to ever receive the top award.]
Director William Wyler had previously directed and received his first Oscar for the award-winning 1942 Best Picture Mrs. Miniver - another film detailing homefront courage in Britain. Wyler's 1946 tale of three returning servicemen (including Oscar-winning Best Actor Fredric March and Best Supporting Actor Harold Russell) to the homefront following WW II and their painful re-adjustments was an intelligent, moving, almost three hour-long, post-war drama. [It set the standard for future award-winning films about returning veterans and the aftermath of war, including Best Picture winner The Deer Hunter (1978) and its acclaimed competitor Coming Home (1978).]
The Best Picture winner defeated Laurence Olivier's involvement (as producer, actor, and director) of the experimental Shakespearean cinematic masterpiece from the UK, Henry V (with four nominations and no wins) - about the medieval monarch who defeated the French at Agincourt. [Olivier also received a special Honorary Oscar Award for his "outstanding achievement...in bringing Henry V to the screen" - but was denied a nomination as Best Director.] It was Olivier's first and most successful directorial effort, for the stylized Technicolor film.
The other Best Picture nominees were:
Somerset Maugham's tale, by director Edmund Goulding, The Razor's Edge (with four nominations and one win - Best Supporting Actress) of a wealthy young man's (Tyrone Power) search in the world for the truth about life
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' heartwarming tale The Yearling (with seven nominations and two wins - Best Color Cinematography and Best Color Interior Decoration) about a young boy's love for a yearling fawn in the post-Civil War period
Frank Capra's own favorite film, the inspirational and heartwarming
It's A Wonderful Life (with five nominations and no wins), the classic film about a man who is ultimately saved from suicide and realizes how important his life has really been. [This last-mentioned film had five nominations (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Sound Recording, and Best Film Editing) but it was unable to capture a single award!]
It must be noted that four performances in two years with characters who were alcoholic were honored with lead and supporting awards:
1945: Ray Milland, Best Actor for The Lost Weekend (1945) ; James Dunn, Best Supporting Actor for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
1946: Fredric March, Best Actor for
The Best Years of Our Lives ; Anne Baxter, Best Supporting Actress for The Razor's Edge
In the Best Actor category, 49 year-old Fredric March (with his fourth of five career nominations) made a comeback by winning his second Best Actor award (his first was fourteen years earlier for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931/32)) as anguished, middle-aged, banking executive - and returning war veteran and ex-sergeant Al Stephenson in
The other Best Actor nominees were:
Laurence Olivier (with his third nomination) as young King Henry V of England in Henry V
Larry Parks (with his sole career nomination) as the legendary singer Al Jolson in director Alfred E. Green's biopic The Jolson Story (with six nominations and two wins - Best Sound Recording and Best Musical Score); Parks received the nomination, but mostly lip-synched while Jolson provided the singing
Gregory Peck (with his second nomination) as Florida farmer Pa Baxter in The Yearling
James Stewart (with his third nomination) in his most memorable and famous role as George Bailey in one of the most-loved fantasy films ever made - although it was less popular at the time of its release -
It's A Wonderful Life . [Although Gregory Peck was nominated for The Yearling, he should have been nominated instead for his role as the bad son, Lewt McCanles, in Duel in the Sun .]
Olivia de Havilland (with her third nomination of five career nominations) received her first Oscar for her teary, sentimental performance as middle-aged business-woman Josephine Harris who becomes a self-sacrificing unwed mother to her own illegitimate child (John Lund, who believes she is his aunt, played both roles - the pilot by whom she has the baby AND her grown son) in Paramount's soap opera by director Mitchell Leisen To Each His Own (with two nominations and one win - Best Actress). De Havilland had previously lost two other times (as Best Supporting Actress in
Gone With The Wind (1939) , and as Best Actress in Hold Back the Dawn (1941)), one of them to her sister Joan Fontaine for Suspicion (1941) five years earlier. Her award would turn out to be the first of the star's two career Best Actress Oscars out of a total of five nominations (her other Best Actress win was for The Heiress (1949) ). In contrast, Joan Fontaine won only one career Oscar out of three Best Actress nominations. (Fontaine was nominated three times, for
Rebecca (1940) , Suspicion (1941) and The Constant Nymph (1946), and only won in 1941.)
In particular, De Havilland faced strong competition in 1946 from the favored Rosalind Russell (with her second of four unsuccessful nominations) for her title role in director Dudley Nichols' Sister Kenny (the film's sole nomination) - the film biography of the legendary Australian nurse who treated infantile paralysis. The other Best Actress competitors included:
Jennifer Jones (with her fourth nomination) as the sultry, impestuous half-breed Pearl Chavez in Selznick's heavily-promoted melodramatic Western by director King Vidor titled Duel in the Sun (with two nominations and no wins)
English actress Celia Johnson (with her sole career nomination) for her performance as Laura Jesson - the long-suffering housewife longing for love in director David Lean's Brief Encounter (with three nominations and no wins)
Jane Wyman (with her first nomination) as Ma Baxter (Gregory Peck's wife) in The Yearling
Real-life amputee Harold Russell, with hands replaced by hooks -- a sentimental favorite -- won the Best Supporting Actor award in his portrayal of courageous and resourceful returning sailor Homer Parrish. He also received an Honorary Oscar (probably designed to be a consolation prize because it was assumed that he would lose the bigger award) - he became the only performer to take home two Oscars for a single role in one film. It would be Russell's first and only screen appearance until 1980, when he played a small part in Inside Moves. [Russell's win marked the first time that an actor had ever won a Best Supporting Actor award in his first film.]
Other Best Supporting Actor nominees were:
Charles Coburn (with his third and last nomination) as Alexander Gow (Dean Stockwell's great-grandfather) in The Green Years (with two nominations and no wins)
William Demarest (with his sole career nomination) as Al Jolson's friend/mentor Steve Martin in The Jolson Story
Clifton Webb (with his second unsuccessful career nomination) as snide socialite Elliott Templeton in The Razor's Edge
Claude Rains (with his fourth and last unsuccessful career nomination) in one of his greatest roles as the tortured yet treacherous spy/husband Alexander Sebastian in Alfred Hitchcock's excellent thriller,
Notorious (with two nominations and no wins)
The Best Supporting Actress Oscar went to 23 year-old Anne Baxter (with her first nomination) for her performance as the tragic, alcoholic Sophie Nelson after her family is killed in The Razor's Edge. Other Best Supporting Actress nominees were:
legendary film actress Lillian Gish, whose career spanned films from 1912 to 1987, with her sole Oscar career nomination for her role as Laura Belle McCanles (cattle baron Lionel Barrymore's wife) in Duel in the Sun . [Much later, Gish received an Honorary Award in 1970 by the Academy, her only Academy laurel.]
Ethel Barrymore (with her second of four career nominations in the 1940s) as dowager Mrs. Warren who lives in a spooky house in director Richard Siodmak's gothic suspense thriller The Spiral Staircase (the film's sole nomination)
British actress Flora Robson as mulatto servant Angelique Buiton in director Sam Wood's version of Edna Ferber's romantic novel titled Saratoga Trunk (the film's sole nomination)
Gale Sondergaard (with her second and last career nomination) as Lady Thiang (King of Siam's - Rex Harrison's - wife) in director John Cromwell's non-musical version of Anna and the King of Siam (with five nominations and two wins - Best B/W Cinematography and Best B/W Interior Decoration)
Six English films exerted their influence on Hollywood in 1946, receiving a total of eleven nominations among them. Besides Henry V and Brief Encounter , there were four others: Perfect Strangers (US title: Vacation From Marriage), The Seventh Veil, Caesar and Cleopatra, and Blithe Spirit. The group of British films won three Oscars (Special Visual Effects for Blithe Spirit, Original Screenplay for The Seventh Veil, and Original Story for Vacation From Marriage). Two other foreign films received screenplay nominations: one of the masterpieces of French cinema, Children of Paradise, and Federico Fellini's first nomination for Open City, a landmark Italian film known for creating the neo-realistic movement in post-war Italian cinema.
Ernst Lubitsch, known for his "Lubitsch" touch and sophisticated comedies, was awarded a Special Honorary Award for "his distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture." His last directed film was his first Technicolored film from three years earlier, Heaven Can Wait (1943), with three nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Color Cinematography.
Oscar Snubs and Omissions:
British director David Lean's first nomination as director was for one of the greatest romantic tearjerkers ever made, the superb small-scale but effective Brief Encounter , but the film was denied a Best Picture nomination. (It was a very different work from his future epics, such as
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) and
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) .) Another British film - from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Stairway to Heaven (aka A Matter of Life and Death) was entirely overlooked. As already mentioned, Laurence Olivier received a special Honorary Oscar Award for his "outstanding achievement...in bringing Henry V to the screen" - but was denied a nomination as Best Director.
Citizen Kane's (1941) cinematographer, Gregg Toland, was responsible for the outstanding deep-focus photographic work in the Best Picture winner of 1946, but he was not nominated for his achievement. In the Best Picture race, The Razor's Edge and The Yearling were given nominations while a number of other pictures should have been. One of Alfred Hitchcock's finest films,
Notorious was denied a nomination for Best Picture (it received only two losing nominations, Claude Rains for Best Supporting Actor and Ben Hecht for Best Original Screenplay). And where was recognition for either Cary Grant or Ingrid Bergman in truly unforgettable roles? Bergman's performance in
Notorious was much better than her Oscar-winning role in Gaslight (1944) .
One of the most obvious omissions of the year was the lack of nominations for Gilda , the sexy film noir starring a ravishing Rita Hayworth as femme fatale Gilda (noted for her memorable "Put the Blame on Mame" glove-striptease) engaged in a perverse menage a trois between Glenn Ford and George Macready.
Many of the roles in
The Best Years of Our Lives were denied possible acting or supporting acting nominations:
Myrna Loy (never nominated) as Fredric March's loving and faithful wife
Dana Andrews (never nominated) as the returning Air Force officer
Virginia Mayo as Dana Andrews' strumpet wife
Teresa Wright as March's proud daughter
Other roles, all in
It's A Wonderful Life , that went unnominated included Donna Reed as James Stewart's girlfriend/wife Mary Hatch/Bailey, Beulah Bondi as Stewart's mother, Lionel Barrymore as the miserly, mean, and arrogant wheelchair-bound Mr. Potter, and Henry Travers as Clarence the angel.
Films which were bypassed for nominations include the un-nominated
The Big Sleep (both Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall deserved nods) and John Ford's
My Darling Clementine (Henry Fonda certainly was due an Oscar nomination). [Raymond Chandler was nominated for his original screenplay for The Blue Dahlia, but
The Big Sleep , based on a Chandler novel, received no such recognition.]
In the Best Director race, Hitchcock was denied a nomination for
Notorious . And Best Director nominee Robert Siodmak's under-appreciated film noir The Killers (with four unrewarded nominations) introduced actor Burt Lancaster in his first film role as the Swede, and featured Ava Gardner as a ravishing femme fatale. And director Tay Garnett's film noir drama The Postman Always Rings Twice , based on James Cain's 1934 crime novel, received no nominations -- ignoring Lana Turner's white-hot, but icy role as femme fatale Cora Smith who enticed diner worker/drifter Frank Chambers (John Garfield) to murder her elderly, jovial husband Nick (Cecil Kellaway).
| Humphrey Bogart |
20, In London, what is the 'actual name' of the street 'known as' Petticoat Lane? | The Big Sleep (1946)[DVDRip][big_dad_eâ„¢] - 🔥Demonoid🔥
Details for The Big Sleep (1946)[DVDRip][big_dad_eâ„¢]
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Movies : Film-Noir : DVD Rip : English
The Big Sleep (1946) Theatrical Release
Director: Howard Hawks
The Big Sleep is a 1946 film noir directed by Howard Hawks, the first film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. It stars Humphrey Bogart as detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as the female lead in a film about the "process of a criminal investigation, not its results." William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthman co-wrote the screenplay.
In 1997, the U.S. Library of Congress deemed this film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," and added it to the National Film Registry.
1940s Hollywood produced a plethora of stylish, film noir thrillers but, in your humble narrator’s opinion at least, none beat 'The Big Sleep' for overall coolness and entertainment value. The film is based on Raymond Chandler’s 1939 novel and features his hard-boiled private detective Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart), who becomes caught up in the affairs of aging millionaire General Sternwood and his two beautiful daughters. Hired to investigate who is blackmailing Sternwood’s younger daughter Carmen over unresolved gambling debts, Marlowe swiftly realizes (as do we) that the whole situation is much more complex than he initially thought.
In terms of plot, this film definitely could make a claim for being one of the most convoluted and bewildering ever written. However we soon realise that the actual storyline is of supreme unimportance. There are lots of deaths, an exciting shoot-out and something about drug addiction and (less overtly!) a pornography racket. But what the film really focuses on is the smouldering chemistry between Marlowe and Vivian Sternwood (a wonderful Lauren Bacall) who is Carmen’s older sister. The innuendo-ridden, wise-cracking dialogue between them works a treat. As the central character, Bogart plays his world weary private eye persona to wryly sardonic, whiskey-drenched perfection. Add a brooding soundtrack by Hollywood legend Max Steiner and unexpected bursts of humour (the number of women throwing themselves at Bogie throughout the film eventually becomes a bit much!) and you have a fabulously escapist, seductively sleazy tale. Go see.
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What kind of creatures are Sam, Merry and Pippin in the Lord of the Rings trilogy? | The Lord of the Rings
"The Lord of The Rings required a commitment from our cast to learn how to swordfight, horseback ride, canoe, learn Elvish, climb mountain peaks and at the same time bring the magic and magnetism of Tolkiens characters to the screen. They were up to the task."
Barrie M. Osborne, producer
At the core of the story in The Lord of the Rings are the cultures that make up Middle-earth: Hobbits, Dwarves, Humans, Elves, Wizards, Trolls, Ents, Orcs, Ringwraiths and Uruk-Hai.
Each culture has its own rich way of life, its own customs, myths, ways of dress and even style of fighting. Each is fully developed in The Lord of the Rings, creating the essence of a living, breathing world just beyond our own history.
For example, Hobbits are gentle and close to nature, an almost child-like group who live off the land. With an average height of 36", the furry-footed creatures dwell deep in furnished holes on the sides of hills. They love the simple things in life: smoking pipes, eating, and, of course, storytelling. They live to around 100 years old, with the age of 33 marking the start of adulthood.
Elves, on the other hand, are noble, elegant, magical beings whose time is running out and who seem to possess a bittersweet sense that they are now about to pass into myth. Although they could be slain or die of grief, elves are immortal in that they are not subject to age or disease.
Dwarves are short but very tough, with a strong, ancient sense of justice and an abiding love of all things beautiful. Small in stature, they live to be about 250 years old.
Wizards are supremely powerful but can use that power for good or for evil, depending on where their hearts lie.
Men in The Lord of the Rings are a fledgling race just coming into their own.
Other creatures are even more fantastical: the leaf-covered Ents try to protect their brethren, the trees; the misshapen Orcs fight for Saruman; and the sinister, black-cloaked Ringwraiths are neither living nor dead but cursed to live in the twilight world of Sauron.
To bring these remarkably diverse beings to life would require a cast of true versatility and also a cast willing to spend months in the deep heartland of New Zealand bringing life to a literary legend. It would require a group of actors who could carry their characters through three chapters of climactic changes.
In the first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring, the actors get a chance to introduce their characters and their individual quests. At the center of it all is the storys 36" hero Frodo Baggins, the shy but forthright hobbit who assumes the responsibility for destroying The Ring. Despite the help of the Fellowship, it is Frodo who must bear the burden of The Ring and resist its constant temptations of evil. For the actor to play Frodo, the filmmakers chose 20-year-old Elijah Wood for his energy, innocence and charisma.
"Elijah has a sincerity of purpose that just makes him a natural in the role," observes Barrie M. Osborne. "He is capable of taking the character through a real transformation, which begins with The Fellowship of the Ring."
Wood describes Frodo as "a very curious adventurer. Frodo lives in a time when most of his fellow hobbits want to stay with their own kind, but Frodo is very different in that he wants to leave and see the rest of the world and all its wonders."
Which is exactly what he does in The Lord of the Rings. As Frodo begins his journey, Wood was struck by how much like a person, rather than a fantasy character, the hobbit began to seem. "He became alive for me," he admits. "The way we shot the movie, everything was so real that we all believed that Frodo and the others really existed in history. Once I had on my prosthetic ears and feet for the first time, I knew what it was to feel like a hobbit. It sounds bizarre, but it felt the same as playing a historical character, as if hobbits had actually once been alive."
One of Frodos closest allies in his plight to destroy The Ring is the old and powerful wizard Gandalf, who begins to demonstrate his full powers and purpose in The Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf is played by renowned screen and stage star Ian McKellen , who was thrilled to take on such a magical role.
"I see Gandalf as the archetypal wizard," says McKellen. "I think in the creation of Gandalf, Tolkien was playing with ideas about wizards from stories and fairy tales throughout time. Gandalf is related to Merlin, and maybe even Prospero, but he also is very much his own man."
"When the story hops up and the journey begins and great things are at stake, he makes a real contribution to The Fellowship," he continues. "He shows his stuff as a warrior." Showing off that stuff was a perfect match with McKellens own innate nobility. Notes producer Barrie M. Osborne: "Ian McKellen has the stature to make you truly believe in Gandalfs power and wisdom."
Frodos quest to destroy The Ring begins with his cousin, Bilbo Baggins, an aged hobbit with a history of bravery played by Ian Holm . Holm says that "Bilbo is not unlike me. Hes quite grumpy on the outside but basically he has a heart of gold. He is a little fellow who things seem to happen to but when hes put to the test, he comes up trumps more than most people."
A longtime fan of Tolkiens novel, Holm likens playing such a renowned character to another character noted for its many interpretations. "I think playing Bilbo is a lot like playing Hamlet," he says. "I mean, this is my version of Bilbo, just as it would be my version of Hamlet. Hes an eternal character but as an actor you play it as you see it in front of you and trust in that."
Says Barrie M. Osborne of the choice of Holm: "He brings out all the nuances in Bilbos character he gets the crustiness of the hobbit, but more importantly, he reveals what lies underneath."
Three hobbit friends also join Frodo on his journey: Sam, Merry and Pippin, played by Sean Astin , Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd . Astin plays one of the trilogys most moving characters, the ordinary seeming Samwise Gamgee, who turns out to be the most extraordinary of friends to Frodo.
" Sean Astin is a wonderful choice for Sam because he brings a real joviality to the role, as well as an empathy for Sams struggles," says Osborne. "I think its also a real bonus that he and Elijah Wood are such good friends that closeness really shows in the relationship that develops between their characters."
Astin was drawn to a character that seems to define the best of hobbit-hood. "To me, he personifies decency, simplicity, honesty and loyalty, the ultimate hobbit," says Astin. "Most of all, he has an undying friendship with Frodo that is so strong, hes willing to face the adventure of the unknown to help him."
Astin also sees Sam as a man of the land. "I look at him as this kind of pastoral figure, a farmer whose hands are always in the soil," he comments. "Hes not the most sophisticated being in the fellowship, but he makes up for it with his earnest steadiness."
Dominic Monaghan , a young British actor who comes to the fore in The Fellowship of the Ring, brings out the quick-witted cleverness and fun-loving spirit of the hobbit Merry, formally known as Meriadoc Brandybuck, another of Frodos closest friends. "Like most hobbits, Merry always looks on the bright side of life," says Monaghan, "but I dont think even he realizes at first how brave he can actually be. As situations arise at the beginning of their journey, he starts to become pretty important."
Monaghan continues: "The main thing I wanted to get across in the beginning, with The Fellowship of the Ring, is that Merry is just this very sharp, sarcastic and funny boy who hasnt grown up yet. But hes about to go through incredible experiences and adventures that will change him into a new person."
For the comical hobbit Pippin, or Peregrin Took, the filmmakers chose rising Scottish actor Billy Boyd . Boyd was amused by his characters "knack for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time" but also moved by Pippins transformation throughout the odyssey. "One thing about Pippin right from the beginning is that his whole life revolves around friendship," points out Boyd. "He loves his friends in the Shire more than anything."
But when Pippin embarks on the journey to destroy The Ring with Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship, he discovers a world unlike anything hes ever imagined. "Suddenly, things turn very serious and dark for Pippin. Hes falling in marshes and meeting magical creatures and hed rather be back at the pub chatting with the ladies!" admits Boyd. "But thats what makes him so dynamic a character. He tunes into the fun and beautiful side of life, even in the middle of a war."
Also joining the Fellowship is the man Boromir, a valiant warrior who lacks respect for The Rings devastating power. Boromir is portrayed by Sean Bean , who liked that the character "brings the human element into the Fellowship. Boromir has the human qualities of being honorable and brave but also having a very clear opinion about everything." "In the beginning," he continues, "he sees The Ring simply as a solution to the problems of his people. But he finds out that it isnt quite so clear-cut, especially as he becomes susceptible to its powers."
Then there is Elrond, the elf of great powers who knows much about The Ring. Elrond is played by Hugo Weaving . Weaving adored playing such a wise yet wistful hero. "Elrond is so wise, so good, so noble and yet he also has, for a lack of a better word, a real humanity to him. There is a side of him that has been made desperate by the perpetual state of war. He has a real sense of how hard it is for people to get out from under evil," Weaving says.
The Fellowship is completed by an elf and a dwarf: Legolas, the sword-fighting son of an elf king, played by Orlando Bloom ; and Gimli, the stout-hearted axe-man who comes to represent the Khazad, the dwarves of Middle-earth, played by John Rhys-Davies . The comic contrast between the boisterous dwarf and the elegant elf becomes a constant source of humor and delight. Orlando Bloom explains: "Elves see dwarves as these muddy creatures who steal from the earth without giving back. But Legolas and Gimli grow to respect one anothers differences. They learn to rely on each other in battle and to laugh together."
Rhys-Davies loved that The Fellowship of the Ring kicks off something many people havent experienced in a long-time an epic, serial adventure. "I think today there is an enormous hunger for adventure and a dynamic life that can only be met in the imagination . . . or in movies like this one. Tolkien feeds that hunger, because in our hearts we want to be part of a heroic civilization like the elves, hobbits, dwarves and men of Middle-earth."
Facing off against the Fellowship is the evil Saruman, once the head of the Council of the Wise, who has since succumbed to the dark temptations of Saurons power. Saruman wants Frodos ring and is willing to use his specially bred Uruk-Hai grotesque, war-like creatures -- to get it. Perhaps no one could embody Saruman better than that long-time master, Christopher Lee .
Lee had played many mythical creatures before but had never been involved with a project like The Lord of The Rings. "This is the outright creation of an entire world," he says. "It brings together history and languages and cultures and makes a dreamscape come true."
Although Saruman lived around 7,000 mythical years ago, Lee sees his dark reflection all over the place in the modern world. "To my way of thinking, the evil that exists today isnt that different from what you see in Middle-earth. People will always crave power and Saruman wants Saurons power," he explains. "To me, he is not just the physical force of evil personified, he is also very real."
Another mysterious character introduced in The Lord of the Rings is Aragorn, a heroic man and warrior, played with trademark intensity by Viggo Mortensen . Mortensen got so into the role it was rumored he was living in the forest in Aragorns torn, mud-stained clothes! Says Peter Jackson: "Viggo embraced the character so completely its difficult to imagine the two being separate now."
Adds Barrie M. Osborne: "Viggo is the perfect actor to play a man who is struggling to redeem himself from his ancestry and his heritage. Hes incredibly dedicated. Hes the kind of an actor who one day had his tooth knocked out by a sword and actually asked if they could superglue it back on so he could finish the scene. He became Aragorn, and he brings a real power to the role."
Mortensen felt a strong personal connection to the project: "Im Celtic and Scandinavian, so I was raised on the myths Tolkien used to inspire The Lord of The Rings," he says. "Its part of my heritage." The actor was also intrigued by Aragorns primal, self-reliant brand of heroism. "He can survive in nature, live from it, read its signs and live happily, not needing anyone, not relying on anything but his own knowledge and discoveries," he observes. "But now he has to take on more responsibility, and its not clear where it will lead him."
Two of the major female characters in The Lord of The Rings are also introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring: the brave she-elf Arwen, who falls in love with Aragorn, played by the luminous Liv Tyler ; and the powerful, soul-probing Elf Queen Galadriel, played by Academy Award nominee Cate Blanchett .
Tyler was drawn to Arwen, the immortal elven princess. "To me, Arwen brings a real touch of femininity to the tale of Middle-earth," says Tyler. "In the midst of a war, she has fallen in love, and become the backbone and motivation for Aragorns fight."
Cate Blanchett was also drawn to her characters fascinating strength. "I loved playing Galadriel because she is so iconic. She is the one in The Lord of the Rings who truly tests Frodo," says Blanchett. "I also think she has a profound message to give about taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions. And, Yes, I have to admit I have always wanted to have pointy ears!"
Blanchett was astonished by how completely the world of Middle-earth and its many cultures had been thought out by the filmmakers. "By the time I started working, there was such a strong and real-life sense of the various cultures, their histories and their hopes for the future," she notes. "It was really like becoming part of a whole different universe. Ive never experienced anything like it before."
The entire cast underwent intensive training in ancient arts and languages for their roles. This included studying sword fighting with veteran sword master Bob Anderson ; learning horsemanship with head wrangler Dave Johnson ; and practicing the Elvish language with dialect and creative language coaches Andrew Jack and Roísin Carty .
Jack and Carty developed a unique accent and cadence for Elvish, based in part on Celtic, yet entirely unique in the world. In also training the actors in other dialects, they gave exercises during which the actors stood in front of a mirror, making curious noises and faces, learning to use their facial muscles in completely new ways. The result was that the actors each found their own accents spontaneously. Jack and Carty taught the actors as if they were learning a language from scratch, not just having them memorize script lines.
In addition to the technical training, every actor involved in The Lord of The Rings had to be in top physical condition not just because the Fellowship scales mountains, fords streams and fights physically intense battles throughout the trilogy, but because they had to withstand the 274-day shooting schedule. Says Dominic Monaghan, who plays the hobbit Merry: "We all started fitness programs well before production began and we worked with physical trainers throughout. Not only was the shoot physically challenging, with huge leaps and big battles and stuff like that, but the hours alone required physical conditioning and fitness. Anybody out of shape wouldnt have made it!"
Summarizes Peter Jackson : "For me the project really came to life when the cast came on board and brought their individual interpretations to the roles. They made it so much more realistic than I had ever imagined."
| Hobbit |
How are Eddie, Lily, Herman, Grandpa and Marilyn collectively known? | SparkNotes: The Lord of the Rings: Plot Overview
The Lord of the Rings
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Character List
The Fellowship of the Ring
The film begins with a summary of the prehistory of the ring of power. Long ago, twenty rings existed: three for elves, seven for dwarves, nine for men, and one made by the Dark Lord Sauron, in Mordor, which would rule all the others. Sauron poured all his evil and his will to dominate into this ring. An alliance of elves and humans resisted Sauron’s ring and fought against Mordor. They won the battle and the ring fell to Isildur, the son of the king of Gondor, but just as he was about to destroy the ring in Mount Doom, he changed his mind and held on to it for himself. Later he was killed, and the ring fell to the bottom of the sea. The creature Gollum discovered it and brought it to his cave. Then he lost it to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
The movie cuts to an image of the hobbits’ peaceful Shire years later, where the wizard Gandalf has come to celebrate Bilbo’s 111th birthday. The party is an extravagant occasion with fireworks and revelry, and Bilbo entertains children with tales of his adventures. In the middle of a rambling speech, however, he puts on the ring, which makes him invisible, and runs to his house to pack his things and leave the Shire. Gandalf meets Bilbo back in his house and tells him he must give up the ring. Eventually Bilbo agrees to entrust it to his nephew Frodo. Gandalf senses that the ring is gaining power over Bilbo. We see a flash of Mordor, and hooded horsemen, the ringwraiths, leave its gates. The scene shifts to Gandalf, who rushes to a library to sift through ancient scrolls. As the ringwraiths begin to close in on Bilbo’s house, Gandalf returns to Frodo and throws the ring into Bilbo’s hearth. Mysterious letters appear on the ring’s surface. Only then does Gandalf realize that this ring is actually Sauron’s ring. Gandalf explains to Frodo that the ring and Sauron are one. He longs to find it, and it longs to find him. Gandalf has learned that Sauron has kidnapped Gollum and that Gollum has revealed that Bilbo has the ring. The ring must leave the Shire or it will endanger all the hobbits. Gandalf cannot take it himself, since as a wizard he will wield too much power with the ring. He determines that Frodo must take it. Gandalf explains that if Frodo puts on the ring, it will draw Sauron’s agents to it. Suddenly, Gandalf discovers that Frodo’s friend Sam has been hiding outside and listening to Gandalf and Frodo. At first, Gandalf is furious at Sam’s eavesdropping, but then he recruits Sam to be Frodo’s travel partner and protector.
Sam and Frodo leave Bilbo’s house, and in very little time they have ventured further from the Shire than ever before. Merry and Pippin, two mischievous hobbits who are fleeing a farmer from whom they’ve stolen, encounter Sam and Bilbo and join their party. The ringwraiths ride by, and the hobbits narrowly escape detection. Frodo is tempted to put on the ring, but Sam stops him. This urge is Frodo’s first insight into the power and temptation of the ring.
The hobbits arrive at the town of Bree and enter the inn known as the Prancing Pony, where they are supposed to meet Gandalf, but the wizard isn’t there. The ring accidentally slips onto Frodo’s finger, alerting the ringwraiths to his whereabouts. A ranger named Strider introduces himself to the group of hobbits and urges them to be more careful. The wraiths arrive at the hotel, but the hobbits, thanks to Strider, are well hidden. Strider explains to them that the wraiths were formerly the nine human kings who had the nine human rings. They are hunting the ring because finding it is the only way they can come back to life.
Meanwhile, Gandalf has approached another wizard, Saruman, for counsel. Saruman already knows about the ring and Sauron’s attempts to regain power. He declares that Mordor cannot be defeated and that the two wizards must join with Sauron. Gandalf protests, and the wizards battle. Saruman wins and imprisons Gandalf atop Saruman’s giant tower in Isengard, called Orthanc. At his tower, Saruman is constructing a terrifying army with the intention of waging war on Middle-earth. A butterfly rouses Gandalf and takes a message from him, and a giant eagle comes and saves him.
Strider and the hobbits head for Rivendell, home of the elves. They stop at a hill called Weathertop, where Strider hands the hobbits weapons and suggests they make camp for the night. The hobbits foolishly light a fire at their campsite, and the ringwraiths spot them. The ringwraiths stab Frodo, but Strider fights them off and saves Frodo’s life. Arwen, an elf princess, finds the party and hurries to Rivendell with Frodo, barely evading the wraiths. Frodo is cured and wakes up to discover Gandalf by his side. Bilbo, who has aged significantly, is also at Rivendell, having just completed the book of his adventures, There and Back Again: A Hobbit’s Tale. Elrond, the king of the elves and Arwen’s father, tells Gandalf that the ring cannot stay in Rivendell but must go further. Pessimistic about the future of Middle-earth, Elrond claims that the time of the elves is over, the dwarves are too selfish to help, and men are weak. The ring survives because of Isildur’s weakness. Moreover, the line of human kings is broken, though the heir of Gondor, who has chosen exile, can reunite them.
Shortly after this declaration, we learn that Strider’s true name is Aragorn and that he is the heir of Gondor. We also learn that Aragorn and Arwen are in love and have been for many years. However, this love requires that Arwen sacrifice her immortality, one of the chief attributes of elves.
Elrond convenes a meeting and announces that the races must come together to defeat Mordor. Frodo presents the ring, and Elrond insists that it must be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom, where it was made. There is some disagreement as to who will undertake this arduous task, and eventually Frodo emerges. Others step forward to accompany Frodo, forming a fellowship of the ring. The fellowship includes the hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin; one elf, Legolas; one dwarf, Gimli; one wizard, Gandalf; and two humans, Aragorn and Boromir. Boromir is the son of the steward of Gondor, who has ruled the kingdom in the absence of the rightful king.
The fellowship sets forth from Rivendell. Saruman causes an avalanche of snow to block the group’s attempt to cross the pass of Caradhras, and they decide to enter the realm of the dwarves, the mines of Moria. Inside Moria, the party discovers that all the dwarves have been killed, and soon the fellowship is surrounded by an army of orcs, inhuman creatures that are also brutal, ruthless warriors. The orcs disperse, however, at the approach of a Balrog, a demonic creature from the underworld. The fellowship flees this creature as the mines collapse. Gandalf stays behind to battle the Balrog, which he sends collapsing to the depths of the mines. However, as the Balrog falls, it grabs hold of Gandalf’s legs and drags the wizard down with it. The fellowship emerges from the mines saddened by the loss of Gandalf, but Aragorn insists they have no time to mourn and must press on.
Coming to a forest, the Sylvan elves, led by Galadriel, the Lady of Woods, meet the fellowship. That evening, the Lady and Frodo speak in private. She asks him to look into a mirror, which is a basin of water, and tell her what he sees. He sees visions of the Shire destroyed, of his companions surrounded by orcs, and of the huge, fiery eye of Sauron. The Lady tells him he has seen visions of what will happen if his mission fails. She warns him that the fellowship is breaking and that one by one the ring will destroy them all. Frodo doubts his ability to accomplish his task on his own, but she says that as the ring-bearer, he is already alone. If he does not accomplish the task, no one will. The Lady encourages Frodo and gives him a parting gift, a star of light that will illuminate his path when all other lights go out. The next day, the fellowship departs in boats down the river. Meanwhile, Saruman has dispatched Uruk-hai, unusually large and powerful creatures whose sole mission is to destroy the world of men, after the party, with the instructions to kill everyone but bring the hobbits back alive.
After docking on dry land, Frodo wanders off, and Boromir follows. Frodo is determined to go off alone, but Boromir wants the ring. He is about to attack Frodo for it when Frodo puts on the ring and disappears. This is the longest period of time that Frodo has ever worn the ring, and he has his longest look yet at the fiery eye of Sauron. When Frodo takes the ring off, Aragorn is beside him. Frodo distrusts him, too, but Aragorn passes the test that Boromir failed. He tells Frodo to run off and turns to face the approaching army of Uruk-hai. Boromir also fights valiantly but is badly wounded. The Uruk-hai capture Pippin and Merry. Aragorn wins an epic battle with an Uruk-hai, then rushes to the fallen Boromir, who confesses that he tried to steal the ring from Frodo. Boromir says he has failed the group, but Aragorn tells Boromir he has fought bravely. Boromir swears allegiance to Aragorn, his rightful king, as he dies. Back at the river, Frodo regrets having the ring but remembers Gandalf’s words about his destiny. He departs in a boat, but Sam insists on coming along. Though he can’t swim, Sam jumps in the water, and Frodo is forced to rescue his flailing friend and pull him aboard. Once safe, Sam reminds Frodo that he made a promise never to leave him. On the water’s opposite side, Sam and Frodo climb a mountain and spot Mordor in the distance.
The Two Towers
The movie begins with Gandalf falling into the mine with the Balrog. As he falls, he catches his sword, which is dropping beside him, and stabs the Balrog. Then he lands in a body of water. This vision is just a dream of Frodo’s, however, not reality. Frodo and Sam seem to be going in circles, not making any progress on their way to Mordor. Frodo has a vision of Sauron’s fiery eye—the ring is beginning to take hold of him. Frodo and Sam smell something swampy, then stumble upon Gollum, a pale, hunched creature who used to be a hobbit. Gollum calls the hobbits thieves and accuses them of stealing his ring from him. After a brief fight, the hobbits subdue Gollum and place a leash around his neck. Sam doesn’t trust him, but Frodo pities him. In exchange for Gollum’s leading them to Mordor, they agree to remove the leash from his neck.
Meanwhile, Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn pursue the Uruk-hai, which carry Pippin and Merry. In the castle of Rohan, Éowyn and Éomer, the niece and nephew of King Théoden, tell the elderly, incapacitated king that Saruman’s army has severely injured his son the prince; he will soon die. Wormtongue, the king’s evil advisor, has Éomer banished. The Uruk-hai carrying Pippin and Merry are attacked by horsemen of Rohan, led by the banished Éomer, and Pippin and Merry escape in the confusion. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli reach the scene of battle shortly afterward. At first they fear there are no survivors, but then they find footprints leading into the woods, which indicate that the hobbits escaped.
In the forest, they come upon a white wizard, who turns out to be Gandalf. Gandalf says that a new stage of the war of Middle-earth is upon them: war has come to Rohan. He leads the others back to the edge of the forest and whistles for his horse, and then the four set off for Rohan. Asked to disarm before going to see the king, Gandalf holds onto his staff, which he uses to release Théoden from Saruman’s controlling spell. Théoden is transformed from elderly to middle-aged and from weak to strong, and he banishes Wormtongue. Soon villagers arrive at the castle, telling of an oncoming orc and Uruk-hai army. Théoden elects to move Rohan’s entire population to the fort at Helm’s Deep, which is what Wormtongue, who arrives at Saruman's tower, tells Saruman will happen.
Meanwhile, Pippin and Merry have discovered Treebeard, a giant walking tree, or Ent, which has promised to keep them safe. Sam, Frodo, and Gollum, having arrived at the gates of Mordor, are about to enter Sauron’s kingdom when Gollum suggests that they take a back entrance. Frodo defends Gollum to Sam. Frodo feels sympathy for the former ring-bearer, while Sam says that the ring is beginning to take over Frodo.
One night, as Frodo and Sam sleep, Gollum has the first of what will become a series of internal debates. Sméagol, his good side, wants to be obedient to Frodo, who has treated him so nicely. Gollum, his bad side, desperately wants the ring. Sméagol temporarily wins out, and the next day Gollum/Sméagol presents Frodo with a gift, a rabbit he’s hunted, which Sam cooks as a stew. As they eat, they see thousands of troops marching to Mordor, part of the army Sauron is assembling. These arriving soldiers are attacked by a group of humans led by Faramir, Boromir’s younger brother, who come upon Frodo and company and capture them.
In a dream, Arwen encourages Aragorn to stay the course and not falter. Her father wants her to go off with the other elves to eternal life. Aragorn tells her that their love is over and she should go. As his people head to Helm’s Deep, Théoden leads an army to fend off the approaching orcs. Aragorn appears to die as he falls over a cliff in the clutches of a hyenalike creature. However, he actually falls into a body of water, and dreams of Arwen kissing him. Aragorn’s horse resuscitates him and carries him to Helm’s Deep. Arwen’s father, Elrond, tells her that the time has come to leave Middle-earth. She wants to wait for Aragorn, but her father insists that Middle-earth can offer her only death. Even if Aragorn does manage to return, he is mortal and will eventually die. However, the Lady of the Woods tells Elrond that Faramir, who has taken Frodo captive, will seize the ring and then all will be lost. Do we elves leave Middle-earth to its fate? she implores Elrond. Do we abandon the fight and let them stand alone?
Faramir questions Frodo and Sam. He wants to know of his brother’s death. That evening, Faramir captures Gollum, who’s been following the troop. Faramir wants to kill the creature, but Frodo insists on sparing him. Later, Frodo tries to help Gollum escape, but Gollum misunderstands and thinks Frodo is complicit in his capture. He undergoes another round of Sméagol/Gollum debates, and Faramir comes to understand that Frodo has the ring. Sam explains that their task is to destroy the ring in Mordor, but Faramir says the ring will go to Gondor.
An army of 10,000 marches on Rohan, and Helm’s Deep prepares for battle. Aragorn says they must call upon their allies, but Théoden says they have none and that Gondor cannot be counted on. Things do not look good for Rohan, since the fighters are few and of generally low quality, but all try to be hopeful. Then an elf army of bowmen led by the warrior Haldir arrive. Sent by Elrond, they come to honor the ancient alliance between men and elves. The orcs and Uruk-hai arrive at the walls of Helm’s Deep beneath a pouring rain. The two armies face each other, and the combat begins when a single human lets an arrow fly. After that, a ferocious battle rages. The Uruk-hai raise ladders and scale the walls of Helm’s Deep. The elf-human army fights bravely, but the oncoming Uruk-hai are difficult to withstand. They pierce the castle walls and force the defending army deep within the castle. Haldir is killed in battle. Gimli and Aragorn fight bravely on the drawbridge, buying time for the rest of the defending army to regroup.
Meanwhile, the Ents have gathered to debate whether to go to war. They speak incredibly slowly and take a long time to make decisions. Eventually, despite Merry’s entreaties that they participate in the world, the Ents decide against going to war and encourage the two hobbits to return to the Shire. As Treebeard carries the two hobbits to the edge of the forest, however, he comes across a stretch of gutted forest and burnt trees. He blames Saruman for the destruction and decides to rally the other Ents to war.
Women and children flee Helm’s Deep for the safety of the mountains as Aragorn rallies the remaining soldiers to continue to fight. When all hope seems lost, Gandalf appears in the distance along with the riders of Rohan, led by Éomer, who charge the Uruk-hai. The Ents attack Saruman's tower and destroy its defenses. They open a dam and the rushing water floods the entire plain surrounding the tower. The battle of Helm’s Deep is won, but Aragorn and Gandalf see Mordor in the distance, buzzing with activity. The battle for Middle-earth, they know, has just begun.
Meanwhile, back in Gondor, where Faramir has brought his captives, Frodo stands face-to-face with a wraith riding a dragon and is about to hand him the ring when Sam intervenes. Angered, Frodo almost attacks his friend, then apologizes and begins to doubt his own strength. Sam encourages him with a stirring speech about heroism and fighting for good. Moved by Sam’s words, Faramir releases the hobbits.
The Return of the King
In a flashback, we see Sméagol, a hobbit, happily fishing with a friend. The friend falls into the water and reemerges holding a ring. Sméagol wants the ring and strangles his friend to death. After this, Sméagol slowly decays into the dirty, green, raw-fish-eating swamp creature Gollum. He says he forgot what life was like outside his cave. He even forgot his own name. Back in the present, Gollum awakens Frodo and Sam and hurries them along. Sam says he’s begun to ration the little food they have left.
Meanwhile, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf come upon Merry and Pippin celebrating on the flooded plain of Saruman's tower, which Treebeard now seems to control. Saruman is still alive, but he is powerless and isolated in his tower. Pippin spots a seeing stone in the water, and Gandalf grabs it and covers it up. At a memorial service and victory celebration at Rohan, Éowyn shares wine with Aragorn, with whom she is falling in love. That evening, Pippin steals the seeing stone from Gandalf and sees the fiery eye of Sauron. The stone nearly kills Pippin, who is revived by Gandalf. In the stone, Pippin saw a vision of Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, destroyed. He also saw Sauron but refused to give the Dark Lord any information about Frodo. Gandalf says this vision proves that Sauron plans to attack Minas Tirith, where he and Pippin head.
About to depart Middle-earth for immortal life, Arwen has a vision of a child that she and Aragorn will have. Quickly, she turns around and returns to Rivendell, where she beseeches her father, who has the gift of foresight, to tell her everything he has seen. She says she knows that death is not the only thing that awaits in her future, but also a child. She says that if she leaves now, she’ll regret it forever. She asks her father to reforge Narsil, the sword with which Isildur cut off Sauron’s finger, thereby releasing the ring.
Meanwhile, Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith, where Lord Denethor, who rules Gondor as steward in the absence of the king, already knows of the death of his son Boromir. Pippin offers his fealty in payment for Boromir’s life, claiming that Boromir saved his own. Gandalf calls upon Denethor to raise an army and call upon his allies. Denethor, however, knows about Aragorn and is afraid of losing power. Gandalf says he cannot resist the return of the king, but Denethor insists that Gondor belongs to him. Disobeying Denethor but following Gandalf’s instructions, Pippin lights the Beacon of Minas Tirith, with which Gondor calls its allies to help. Soon, beacons all across Middle-earth are lit, and Théoden decides that Rohan will answer the call.
Faramir and his men are gathered at Osgiliath, an outer fortress of Gondor, but lose a battle to an approaching orc army. Escaping to Minas Tirith, Faramir tells Gandalf he has seen Sam and Frodo. Denethor, who clearly favors the deceased Boromir over his surviving son Faramir, beseeches Faramir to retake Osgiliath. Faramir agrees, even though it is clearly a suicide mission. He and his men are promptly slaughtered as they ride into battle.
Gollum leads Sam and Frodo to a secret staircase that leads into Mordor. Frodo is pulled toward the front gates, and Sauron’s giant eye burns, sensing the nearness of the ring. Gollum tells Frodo that Sam will turn on him and come after the ring. As the hobbits sleep, Gollum throws away their remaining food after sprinkling crumbs on Sam to make it look like Sam ate the food himself. When they wake up, Sam discovers that the food is gone and accuses Gollum, who points to the crumbs on Sam’s cloak. Sam beats up Gollum and then asks Frodo if he needs help carrying the ring, which triggers Frodo’s doubts about Sam. Frodo decides that Sam, not Gollum, is the problem and decides to continue on with only Gollum.
At camp with the horsemen of Rohan, Aragorn dreams that Arwen has chosen immortality, thereby breaking her promise to him. He is roused by a messenger, who informs him a stranger has come. Aragorn follows the messenger into a tent where Elrond reveals himself and relates very different news about Arwen: she is dying, and her fate is tied to the ring. For Aragorn, saving Middle-earth is now bound up with saving the life of his love. Elrond also tells Aragorn he needs to enlist those who dwell in the mountain to fight against Sauron. These mountain-dwellers are crooks, murderers, and traitors, but they will respond to the king of Gondor. In an act that functions as a kind of coronation, Elrond presents Aragorn with the sword Anduril, which was forged from the shards of Narsil. Éowyn confesses her love to Aragorn, but he tells her he is committed to another. He rides into the mountain with Legolas and Gimli. The men of the mountain swore an oath to a previous king of Gondor but reneged, and Isildur put a curse on them, decreeing that they would never rest until they had fulfilled their obligation. Aragorn and company enter a cave in the mountain and come across a ghost king who says that the dead do not suffer to let the living pass. Suddenly, swarms of ghostly warriors appear. Legolas’s arrows are powerless against them, but Aragorn’s sword can stop their thrusts. He asks them to fight for him and regain their honor, marking the first time that he asserts himself as king of Gondor.
Dragged behind a horse, Faramir’s body arrives at Minas Tirith. The orc army catapults the heads of his dead companions into the city. Denethor bemoans the end of his line, but Pippin insists that Faramir is still alive. The attack on the city begins, but Denethor commands the soldiers to abandon their posts. Seeing that the king is losing his mind, Gandalf takes over command and orders the soldiers to prepare for battle. While the battle rages outside Minas Tirith, Denethor plans to burn Faramir and himself on a pyre. Pippin insists that Faramir is not dead, but Denethor is unconvinced. He lights the pyre, but Gandalf and Pippin rescue Faramir, and Denethor burns alone.
Gollum and Frodo arrive at a cave full of skeletons and giant spider webs. With his plan to steal back the ring falling into place, Gollum seems to disappear, and Frodo is suddenly alone and lost. Meanwhile, Sam, descending the stairs out of the mountain, comes upon the bread that Gollum dropped. He understands Gollum’s deceit and turns around. In the cave, Frodo gets stuck in a web. Using the gift given to him by the Lady of the Woods, he lights the cave and sees Shelob, a giant spider, coming toward him. Frodo cuts his way out of the web and escapes the cave, but Gollum attacks him. They struggle, and Gollum falls over a cliff. The Lady of the Woods reappears to Frodo and encourages him to complete his task. Frodo continues to Mordor on his own. However, Shelob creeps behind him, stings him, and spins a thick web around him. Sam arrives and fights off the creature, but Frodo is wrapped tight in a cocoonlike bundle of webbing, and Sam fears he is dead. Sam abandons the body when a few orcs come down the path. They pick up Frodo’s body and carry it off with them.
Giant elephants, carrying numerous reinforcements from Sauron, arrive on the battlefield of Minas Tirith. Having recently arrived at the battlefield, the riders of Rohan fight bravely, using their speed and agility to confront the elephants. Still, the battle appears to be going in Mordor’s favor. Pippin and Gandalf, within the castle, begin to philosophize about death. On the battlefield, the witch-king is about to kill Théoden, but Éowyn and Merry intervene. Merry distracts the creature, and Éowyn kills it. Théoden dies from his wounds, but he is proud of Éowyn and goes gladly into the afterlife. Meanwhile, a ship carrying Aragorn and his army of ghost men arrives, and the group overwhelms the orc army. The field is calm, and the battle seems won. Aragorn releases the men of the mountain, and they disappear. Pippin and Merry reunite on the battlefield.
Frodo awakes in Mordor. He is chained and half naked. His things have been taken from him, including the ring. Sam enters the orc stronghold where Frodo is held captive and rescues Frodo. When they are free, Sam tells Frodo that he, not the orcs, has the ring. He took it when he thought Frodo was dead. Though a little reluctant to return it to Frodo, he agrees to. The two friends dress in orc armor and go onto the plains of Mordor. They spot Mount Doom in the distance, Sauron’s fiery eye raging at its peak.
Back at Minas Tirith, Gandalf despairs about Frodo’s ability to complete the mission, but Aragorn says they must not give up hope. He suggests they march upon Mordor to distract Sauron. As Aragorn’s army approaches the gates of Mordor, Sauron’s orcs are drawn from the plains of Mordor to its front gate, and Sam and Frodo cross the plain unhindered. Nevertheless, the passage is far from easy. They have little water left. They drink the last drops and accept that there will be no return journey. As they struggle up Mount Doom, Sam encourages his friend with talk of the Shire and has to carry the weakened Frodo a good distance on his back. Gollum reappears, and Sam fights him as Frodo runs to the top of Mount Doom on his own. Standing above the fiery inferno of Mount Doom just as Isildur did years earlier, Frodo holds the ring above the volcano, but, like the former king, he cannot let it go. Instead, he declares the ring his and puts it on. Gollum has also managed to get to the top of the mountain and attacks Frodo. In the ensuing struggle, Gollum bites off the finger on which Frodo is wearing the ring and falls, clutching the ring, over a cliff and into the lava below, while Frodo survives by holding onto the cliff. Sam pulls him up as the ring disappears into the sea of fire. With the ring destroyed, Sauron’s eye burns out. The tower of Mordor begins to collapse and then explodes. Mount Doom erupts, flooding the plain with lava. Sam and Frodo are stuck on top of a giant boulder, with lava flowing all around. They prepare for their deaths, but Gandalf swoops by on a giant eagle and picks them up.
Frodo awakens in a luxurious bed with Gandalf by his side. The remaining fellowship is there, too. Aragorn is crowned king at a ceremony in Gondor. Placing the crown on his head, Gandalf announces the return of the king. Legolas and the elves arrive, along with Arwen. She and Aragorn kiss. Then the whole crowd bows before the four hobbits. The fellowship is declared over, and the fourth age of Middle-earth begins. The hobbits return to the Shire, and the four friends drink at a pub. Sam sees the girl he used to have a crush on and talks to her. Shortly thereafter, they are married. Frodo writes his adventures in the same manuscript in which Bilbo wrote his. It is called The Lord of the Rings. He finishes four years to the day after receiving his wound from the ringwraith, but he still hasn’t healed from the experience, and he, along with Bilbo and Gandalf, head off with the elves to eternal life. As he boards the ship that will carry them off, Frodo hands Sam his book. “The last pages are for you, Sam,” he says. Then the boat sails off. Returning to the Shire, Sam joins his wife and two children.
| i don't know |
In which city did Van Der Valk do his detecting? | Nicolas Freeling - Telegraph
Nicolas Freeling
12:02AM BST 22 Jul 2003
Nicolas Freeling, who died in France on Sunday aged 76, liberated the detective story from page-turning puzzle into a critique of society and an investigation of character.
He paved the way for those who, like Ruth Rendell and P D James on this side of the Atlantic, and Elmore Leonard and George V Higgins on the other, sought to enter the fictional mainstream and write good novels which can be re-read once the crime has been cleared up and the detecting done.
A self-declared follower of Simenon, who reciprocated the admiration and addressed him as "Cher collègue", Freeling's 13 Piet Van der Valk and 16 Henri Castang books are to his admirers the best of British romans policiers. Yet only one of them is set outside the Continent, and that in Dublin. Freeling lived nearly all his life in Holland and in France. As one critic observed, he is the only British novelist of consequence to have tackled modern Europe - though that judgment unfairly excludes John le Carre, who elevated the spy story in a comparable way.
Nicolas Freeling was born in London on March 3 1927. His background, which he dissected in his last book, a combined memoir and landscape of the Alsace village he lived in for the past 30 years, was shabby genteel. His mother, an ardent Communist turned Catholic, was a cousin of the Anglo-Irish Erskine Childers, who wrote the classic of suspense The Riddle of the Sands, and was executed in the Irish civil war. She left Nicolas's amiable, pottering father, and the boy's childhood and education were peripatetic and strange, being set in Southampton, Brittany and wartime Ireland.
After National Service with the RAF from 1947 to 1949, until his early thirties Freeling worked as a sous-chef in the French and British seaside luxury hotels which were trying, usually without success, to re-establish themselves after the war.
Years later, he took time off from the police novels to write Kitchen Book, a definitive memoir of this time. Influenced by, but transcending, the work of the New York author-restaurateur Ludwic Bemelmans, it is a masterpiece of food literature and recently inspired another New York chef, Antony Bourdain, to write his best-selling Kitchen Confidential.
Freeling steeped himself in Dickens, Kipling and Conrad in boyhood, and believed that the intense discipline fostered by old-fashioned kitchens equipped him to write. He and his Dutch wife, always known as Renee, had started a family when disaster struck. Working in Amsterdam, he availed himself of a traditional chef's perk and pilfered some meat for his family's use.
It was decided to make an example of him and he spent three weeks in a Dutch jail. Here he met an amused and irreverent policeman, the model for Inspector Van der Valk. Though he had written what he thought was a love story, Van der Valk strayed into it and his publisher, Victor Gollancz, decided it was a thriller.
Published in 1962, Love In Amsterdam and subsequent Van der Valk novels were very successful, the intimate and insider's portrait of a great city and a small country were absorbing; and the hero, and his French wife, Arlette, were sufficiently distinctive to stoke fiction readers' appetite for a serial.
There were film and television offers; a well-received television series with Barry Foster in the title role was made. There were three Van der Valk television series on ITV in the mid-1970s, and he returned for a further two in 1991-1992.
However, disaster struck again when Freeling decided, in 1972, to kill off Van der Valk and, unlike Conan Doyle with Sherlock Holmes, refused to resurrect him - though he did, reluctantly, later write three pot-boilers. Two of them starred Arlette and one resurrected an old case of Piet's.
The motive for this murder was simple. The Freeling family wished to educate their five children in France (he had fancied Germany, but his wife would not wear it). They moved from Holland to Strasbourg, and from Strasbourg to a small mining village in the Vosges nearby.
Twenty-four novels followed Van der Valk's demise in A Long Silence, most of them cases for Henri Castang, a senior policeman working in an unspecified town - Dijon crossed with Toulouse, perhaps - in central France. Loyal Freelingites believe these are the best British books about France (after Richard Cobb's). But Castang failed to capture the public imagination or the public purse. It would be surprising if their day did not come.
Freeling described himself and his family as European, Rhinelanders even. His literary style is, however, exaggeratedly English, as befits a fanatical admirer of Kipling and Anthony Powell. It is intimate and conversational, and gives a strong sense of presence from both author and characters.
He wrote an engaging literary-critical philosophy of crime writing, titled Criminal Convictions, and believed character cannot be drawn without making use of calamity, which is, of course, close to crime.
Freeling was the winner of the Gold Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association in 1964; the Grand Prix de Roman Policier (1964); and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1966.
He married Cornelia Termes in 1954; they had four sons and a daughter.
| Amsterdam |
Who directed the Oscar nominated film Mystic River? | Van der Valk Hotel Volendam Katwoude - The Netherlands on Hotels.nl
Van der Valk Hotel Volendam Katwoude
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The hotel rooms come with a flatscreen television, a safe, a desk, a sitting area, a telephone, a wake-up call, a radio, air conditioning, tea and coffee facilities, a fridge, and a bathroom with a bath and/or shower. In addition, Van der Valk Hotel Volendam has many facilities plus a whole range of possibilities for organising meetings. There is a free indoor pool in the hotel, as well as a whole legion of opportunities for exercise and relaxation. In the extensive Health Club guests can make use of the cardio- and power training equipment. The centre also has a sauna/relaxation area, a Turkish steam bath and a solarium. These facilities can be used at an additional charge.
The hotel's seven function rooms are perfect for any type of gathering for up to 300 persons. The various possible room set ups can accommodate corporate parties, receptions, or anniversaries, as well as seminars and business meetings.
iWhen would you like to stay at Van der Valk Hotel Volendam Katwoude?
Arrival
Facilities: Air conditioning, Carpet, Desk, Flatscreen television, Fridge, Hair dryer, Internet, Radio, Room service, Safe, Shower, Sitting area, Tea and coffee facilities, Telephone, Toilet, Toiletries, Wake-up call, Walk-in shower, Wardrobe, Washbasin.
Room size: 28 m²
Double Room Balcony - Promotion
Facilities: Air conditioning, Balcony, Carpet, Desk, Flatscreen television, Fridge, Hair dryer, Internet, Radio, Room service, Safe, Shower, Sitting area, Tea and coffee facilities, Telephone, Toilet, Toiletries, Wake-up call, Walk-in shower, Wardrobe, Washbasin.
Room size: 30 m²
Deluxe Room - Promotion
Facilities: Air conditioning, Balcony, Bath, Carpet, Desk, Flatscreen television, Fridge, Hair dryer, Internet, Radio, Room service, Safe, Shower, Sitting area, Tea and coffee facilities, Telephone, Toilet, Toiletries, Wake-up call, Wardrobe, Washbasin.
Room size: 32 m²
Triple Room Deluxe - Promotion
Facilities: Air conditioning, Balcony, Bath, Carpet, Desk, Flatscreen television, Fridge, Hair dryer, Internet, Radio, Room service, Safe, Shower, Sitting area, Tea and coffee facilities, Telephone, Toilet, Toiletries, Wake-up call, Wardrobe, Washbasin.
Room size: 32 m²
Score of 34 reviews Show all reviews
Further guest reviews will be added shortly.
Surroundings
Volendam is mostly known for its traditional costumes and its lively harbour. The town has many nice shops along 'De Dijk' (the dyke) and in the harbour there is a ferry that leaves for the island of Marken. One can find a similar kind of clothing styles on the island, as well as authentic houses built on stilts. Some nearby towns and cities include Edam, Purmerend, and Amsterdam which is less than 20 minutes away.
Food & Drink
A breakfast buffet is available daily. You can have breakfast from Monday to Friday from 06:30 until 10:30, and at weekends from 07:00 until 11:00. The à la carte restaurant Martinus is open from 12:00 until 23:00. Dinner is served between 17:00 and 23:00, and guests can enjoy lunch between 12:00 and 17:00. The hotel bar offers a nice setting for a few drinks or a cup of coffee with a slice of cake.
Details
FREE! Guests can make free use of wireless internet at the hotel.
Car park
The hotel offers free parking facilities for guests.
Children/extra beds
One child can stay in the parents' room. A cot can be added in the room at a charge of €9.50 per night, and an extra bed (only in a Deluxe Room) at a charge of €16 per night (on request). Breakfast for children aged between 4 and 11 years old costs €9 per person.
Internet
Free wireless Internet is available in all public spaces and hotel rooms.
Smoking policy
The entire hotel is non-smoking.
Pets
Not allowed.
Facilities
24-hour reception, Air conditioning, Bar, Breakfast, Computer (public), Currency exchange, Drinks Vending Machine/Items can be purchased at Reception, Dry Cleaners, Electric bike charging point, Electric car charging point, Family Rooms, Fax/Copy machine, Function room, Garden, Green Key certificate, Honeymoon Suite, Indoor swimming pool, Ironing service, Laundry, Lift, Lounge, Luggage storage, Meeting/Function Room, Outdoor Terrace, Play area for children, Restaurant, Smoking area, Snacks Vending Machine/Items can be purchased at Reception, Ticket service, Free WiFi. On request: Bike rental , Cot , Groups, Gym , Packed Lunch , Room service , Sauna , Sunbeds , Turkish steam bath .
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Reviews
All reviews are completed by our guests after their stay at the hotel Van der Valk Hotel Volendam Katwoude.
8.2
Frederique Destailleur (Families with young children)
January 1, 2017
Elegant, good restaurant, excellent service
– The rooms were very cold
10.0
Robin Richardson (Families with young children)
July 11, 2016
+ Wonderful countryside location, with all the Dutch hospitality you could wish for. Hotel staff exceptionally helpful, food and service excellent. We have stayed several times and love hiring bicycles from the hotel, swimming and sitting in the beautiful garden.
– no negatives
* my tip Lots to do a see all within easy cycling distance also very good bus service right outside hotel to Amsterdam, Edam, Marken and Monnickerdam.
9.6
Fabien PEIFER (Families with older children)
April 17, 2016
– the sound damping of rooms, we hear al the noices of the corridor
8.8
Carlton Mack (Older couples)
Great place away from the busy city
+ The staff was great, the location was quiet and pleasant, great area to ride bikes, bus to Amsterdam comes every few minutes.
* my tip Rent a hotel bike and ride to Volendam, Edam, and Marken. It s really a short ride and the towns are beautiful.
8.0
In the country, 20 minutes from Amsterdam
+ Too long to explain
– bad weather
* my tip Dijk s cafe, tasty but a little bit expensive Take your car to the west coast, look at the flowers in may and enjoy. Amsterdam of course.
7.6
A. Rossi (Families with young children)
– Room was far away from reception restaurant
10.0
+ Every things .. Near Amsterdam by bus... large room... countryside... breakfast... personnal kindly etc,etc...
– The weather (always rain )
– bed in 2 pieces and verry old
8.0
Quiet with large comfortable rooms.
+ Very quiet. Large comfortable room.
– Isolated in country
+ receptionist are very kind - server in the restaurant also
8.0
Lees (Families with young children)
Air con needed
+ Comfy beds and clean room
– Air conditioning was lacking and very much needed on the days we stayed, it made for a very uncomfortable few nights. I would have expected air con throughout the hotel in a hotel of this standard
10.0
flegg (Other)
what could be better
+ everything is wonderful, which is why I keep using van der valk hotels when in the Netherlands or belgium
– why have this box, if any one uses it, let me have their address and I will sort them out for you
7.8
Janssen (Families with young children)
aanrader bij mooi weer !
Kimp. (Families with older children)
Nice landside Hotel
+ wonderful hotel, pleasant staff, good food, good price.
– none for this hotel
A superb hotel with friendly,helpful staff.
+ Good parking. Excellent food. Helpful and friendly staff especially at Reception.
* my tip If one has a disability, request ground floor room. Room was spacious for three adults and the bathroom was excellent.
7.8
Nice hotel but have to call if you have children with you
+ Swimming pool is nice addition for rainy days
– We were 3 adults , 2 children (6 and8) and a baby, booked two rooms. They charged the baby cot and additional bed for the children. At the beginning, the lady on the reception was going to charge us 10euro a night for upgrading to lux room as the standard room won't take 3 persons in. We stayed on the Ibis before this hotel and NH Gent the night after, they gave us cot and additional bed without any additional charge.The waitress spilled my drink I paid and did not bother to replace it.
8.6
Craig (Young couples)
Relaxing spot in traditional Netherlands
+ Bus service to Amsterdam is direct from this location and it is frequent enough. It is also right next door to a cheese and clog store that is frequented by tour busses.
9.4
One of the best hotels of Amsterdam
+ Very Comfortableand convenient Rooms,Excellent Staff, Good Ambience.
– Connectivity from Central was not so good.Especially for late night travellers.Most of the hotels offer a complementary breakfast for this price, So i feel complementary breakfast should be included.
7.6
+ Clean, comfortable, good dinner and superb breakfast, kind service
– Can't stay with no car
10.0
W. Dailey (Travelling alone)
+ amazingly easy to find,friendly,helpful staff, excellent food ,reasonably prices and served in romantic up market atmosphere
– if there were any we didn't find them. Perhaps poor lighting in bathroom mirror area was our only bone to pick
9.2
Very nice hotel and good value for money,
+ As ever the hotel does not disappoint - a pleasant hotel with very friendly helpful staff.
– The mattress on the bed was not firm enough for my taste
7.6
– water liep niet weg in de douchebak
9.0
very goog locatain for war museums
+ very good hotel
– the gym could be opened early before 9am should be from 7am
8.8
attornet
+ close to volendam the fishermen's village ,clean and the front office desk ladies are magnificent
– no breakfast included in room price what makes the price in total expensive as there are others hotels nearby with breakfast included no free wifi
10.0
Gwilum Griffiths (Families with young children)
excellent value for money
+ Everything perfect for our two night stay with our grandchildren-the pool was a blessing when the weather threatened!
8.4
A place to to relax & recharge
9.2
Jean Koren (Families with older children)
Excellent hotel and good value for money.
+ Thids was our second vivist to the hotel and we enjoyed it very much. It is highly recommended for rural Holland and so close to Amsterdam - only a short bus ride away, but offers peace and quiet too. Lovely bar and good food. My daughter celebrated her wedding here and the food was superb. A thoroughly enjoyable stay.
– My only complaint is the price of the Internet connection. 25 Euro a day is far too expensive - the Golden Tulip only charges 5 Euro for wi-fi onnections.
9.4
Jean Koren (Families with older children)
Excellent hotel - definitely recommended.
+ The food was superb - we enjoyed an excellent meal with family in the dining room, where the service was very courteous and friendly. The bar is very inviting and relaxing, as is the terrace.We would definitely return to this hotel and recommend it to friends.
– We are used to very hard beds at home, so perhaps a softer mattress is typical of the Netherlands. As a woman, I would have liked a stronger light in the bathroom over the mirror for putting on make-up, but these are minor flaws.
9.4
Yossi Shaked (Families with older children)
Internet - WiFi Should be free!!!
+ Breakfast
– Internet - WiFi Should be free!!!
9.8
Enea Bonci (Families with young children)
Da consigliare per vedere l'Olanda in macchina
+ Eccellente soluzione
kevan knight (Young couples)
I have stayed at this hotel many times before and will keep on staying
+ The hotel is fantastic in its location and places of interest around it and was so very clean .
– Only one member of staff let the side down and that was a male member behind the bar who did not seam to enjoy his
9.2
Mark Schmidt (Families with young children)
Great place to stay and visit Amsterdam and the Coast.
+ Nice area for families. Pool, restaurant and bar were wonderful. Great place to bring the bikes and ride along the water. Great little villages nearby for exploring. Excellent wildlife to enjoy .
– Nothing really. The outdoor balconies are all linked together, so you do have some people passing by your big open windows, but not really a problem.
9.6
Michael Stoffels (Families with young children)
general manager
+ prima hotel voor deze prijs.
9.8
Anna (Friends)
I will suggest this hotel to anyone
+ very friendly and helpful staff; excellent breakfast; nicely furnished big rooms and bathrooms, quite a distance to Amsterdam but the bus stop is opposite the hotel and the transportation to Amsterdam is very convenient, I would certainly stay there again
– a double bed in fact consists of two single beds that go separate during the night, it`s hard to use it when people like to sleep close to each other
7.0
karen storer (Other)
+ Swimming pool - Restaurant both food and times available. Staff very helpful.
– Lack of flexibilty to check out later. There is more to a luxury room than size - bath robes would have been good.
8.8
Mrs Linda Robertson (Families with older children)
Volendam is a must see and this is the place to stay!
+ Very clean and comfortable hotel. Staff exceptionally helpful and friendly. Great location - nearby very pretty village of Volendam. Bus stop across road from hotel, bus takes approx 30 mins to Central Station, Amsterdam.
– Room located near keyed entry door which BANGED every time it closed!
7.8
Samand neil
+ Lovely hotel, staff really friendly.
– This hotel was advertised on the internet as having a jaccuzi it hasnt. it was one of the main points we booked for. It was also advitised as having a balcony, it was more like a window!!!
5.2
Leon Herman (Friends)
Great location, good access, has potential
+ Nice quiet location with a good bus service nearby, also has plenty of free parking. Nice size rooms.
– Breakfast service is not as good as it could be. Often have to wait for food to be brought out from the kitchen to replenish the buffet at breakfast. Reception staff are not overly responsive, will leave you standing waiting at reception while they chat. Downstairs smoking rooms have in-room coffee facilities whereas the rooms upstairs do not. The cleaning staff are not considerate to guests, they leave equipment in the passages in the way with electric cables lying across walk ways.
9.2
Alex Vidrevich (Families with older children)
+ Nice location. Staff very helpful.
9.2
9.2
Shannon VanderZwaag (Other)
+ Nice quiet area, minutes from Amsterdam, staff was very nice!! For groups we belong to the family of older and younger catagory, we have 4 children
– I did not think the indoor pool was large enough, esp. since they use the area as a fitness center for none hotel guests. However I understand the need to maintain a businesss and see the business aspect.
9.2
Steve (Travelling alone)
+ We arrived early but were still checked in. Very pleasant staff Clean and comfortable Room OK deal with movies + internet Separate shower from bath
– No tea and coffee making facility in room. Internet only access expensive (See plus points)
9.4
+ great hotel. couldn't ask for more, room was perfect.
– erm....bit too far away from Amsterdam.
10.0
leonard cela (Families with older children)
+ great hotel in a great location, great service will stay again in this hotel, thank you. regards Mr Cela
– none
| i don't know |
Who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the film Ray? | Ray (2004) - IMDb
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17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC
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| Biography , Drama , Music | 29 October 2004 (USA)
The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles , from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
Director:
From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video
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Won 2 Oscars. Another 52 wins & 51 nominations. See more awards »
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Two documentary filmmakers chronicle their time in Sonagchi, Calcutta and the relationships they developed with children of prostitutes who work the city's notorious red light district.
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In 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row.
Director: Bennett Miller
A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes ' career from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s.
Director: Martin Scorsese
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Alex Gibney exposes the haunting details of the USA's torture and interrogation practices during the War in Afghanistan.
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A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century."
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Edit
Storyline
The story of Ray Charles, music legend. Told in his adult live with flashbacks to his youth we see his humble origins in Florida, his turbulent childhood which included losing his brother and then his sight, his rise as pianist in a touring band, his writing his own songs and running his own band and then stardom. Also includes his addiction to drugs and its affect on his working life and family life. Written by grantss
Taglines:
The only thing more extraordinary than the music is the man behind it: Ray Charles. See more »
Genres:
Rated PG-13 for depiction of drug addiction, sexuality and some thematic elements | See all certifications »
Parents Guide:
29 October 2004 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story See more »
Filming Locations:
$20,039,730 (USA) (29 October 2004)
Gross:
Did You Know?
Trivia
Originally slated to be released on the first week of October 2004, but the delay at the start of editing prompted the film to be released two weeks later. According to director Taylor Hackford , the original editor quit the project one month after production started before Paul Hirsch was brought in. When Hirsch joined in, he wanted an additional two weeks to edit the earlier material (approved) and insisted to have a stand-alone work print - which became the Extended version of the film. See more »
Goofs
In the extended version, after Ray plays a country song for an audience for the first time and is discussing the lighting with Joe Adams, a "Cut!" can be heard at the end of the scene and (interestingly) is even shown on the subtitles. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Aretha Robinson : Always remember your promise to me. Never let nobody or nothing turn you into no cripple.
Ray Charles is survived by 12 children, 21 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren. See more »
Connections
(southern California) – See all my reviews
Let's get the flaw out of the way right off the top - the movie should have been much longer. Ray Charles was a brilliant, fascinating man who lead a complex, challenging life. There was simply no way to fit it all
or even touch on it all - in a standard length movie. Given that, the
makers of this film did an admirable (and I'm sure quite agonizing) job of putting together a film that could not tell the whole story yet managed to set forth a representative sampling of the man and his music. Ray Charles' strengths were evident throughout the film and his weaknesses were neither amplified nor sugar-coated. We could have wished for another hour chronicling his life after 1980, but I suppose that would have tended to turn the film into an homage and, while it would have also allowed for the resolution of several things that were left hanging at the end, on balance I guess it was better as presented.
Now for the big question: what are the criteria for an Oscar? The wife and I have seen untold numbers of films in our years, but we immediately agreed that we have never seen a performance the equal of Jamie Foxx's. The line between actor and character was not blurred - but rather it disappeared completely. We had heard much of the hype before seeing the movie, but this was uncanny. Foxx WAS Ray Charles. You didn't watch the movie with the feeling that you were watching Foxx do an outstanding job of portraying Ray Charles - you watched it somehow believing or understanding that you were watching Ray Charles himself. I don't know how else to put it. We were completely blown away. I'll admit that we haven't seen all of the other performances up for an Oscar this year, but that really doesn't matter. Foxx took this to a whole nuther level, one which we've never witnessed before and doubt that we may ever see again. I can think of no other movie I've ever seen in which a person playing a part so completely and convincingly became the person portrayed. We salute you, Mr. Foxx. We understand that the awarding of an Oscar has to do with much more than the performance, but whether or not you win, we want you to know that you have done something that is in a class absolutely by itself and you should take enormous pride in your unparalleled achievement.
P.S. The music was naturally great. I remarked to the wife that if there is one moment in the history of music to which I wish I could have been witness, it would have been the genesis (in Kansas City, wasn't it?) of What'd I Say? The film did a wonderful job with it - just wish I could've been there!
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| Jamie Foxx |
Which film studio released the first ever 'talkie'? | A Trail of Heartbreak: Leonardo DiCaprio's Near Misses at Oscar Glory
A Trail of Heartbreak: Leonardo DiCaprio's Near Misses at Oscar Glory
by Raphael Chestang 6:52 PM PST, January 14, 2016
Playing A Trail of Heartbreak: Leonardo DiCaprio's Near Misses at Oscar Glory
For more than 20 years, ET has followed Leonardo DiCaprio over the years as he went through four Best Actor losses at the Academy Awards. As he prepares for another Oscar ceremony this February, ET is looking back at his past four Oscar losses.
WATCH: The Oscar Nominations Are In!
1994
DiCaprio earned his first Oscar nomination at age 22 for the 1993 drama What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, in which he played Johnny Depp's developmentally-challenged younger brother. The film proved to be his breakout role and earned him a nod in the Supporting Actor category, but the award ultimately went to the more seasoned pro, Tommy Lee Jones for his memorable role in The Fugitive.
2005
The actor had to wait more than a decade before he was invited back to the big awards show as an Osacr nominee, but in that time, DiCaprio came into his own. He established himself as an undeniable talent as well as a bankable star with films like Titanic, Catch Me If You Can and Gangs of New York. He was finally nominated for a second time after playing the eccentric business tycoon Howard Hughes in The Aviator. The nod marked his first time being recognized in the Best Actor category, but he fell to Jamie Foxx, who won for his uncanny portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray.
WATCH: Leonardo DiCaprio Seems Hesitant About the Possibility of Starting a Family
2007
It wasn't long before the Academy gave DiCaprio another shot at Oscar gold, as he was nominated for portraying an opportunistic Rhodesian diamond smuggler in Blood Diamond. Despite the critical acclaim, the Academy decided it was Forest Whitaker's time to shine. More than two decades after his breakout role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the esteemed actor won the Oscar on his first (and so far only) nomination.
2014
DiCaprio was thought to be a frontrunner for his dynamic role as a hedonistic stockbroker in The Wolf of Wall Street, especially after he took home a Golden Globe. In the end, voters sided with the man who won the Globe in the drama category that year, Matthew McConaughey, for his portrayal of an AIDS patient in Dallas Buyers Club.
GoldDerby.com's Tom O'Neil offered a possible explanation as to why the talented actor has been overlooked so often.
WATCH: Leonardo DiCaprio Explains His Hilarious Reaction to Lady Gaga's Win and the Fact That It Broke the Internet
"Leo hasn't won in the past, because he suffers from what experts call 'Slap the Stud Syndrome,'" O'Neil told ET. "It's as if the old men in the Academy say, 'Look, kid, you got the looks; you got the money; you got the chicks. Here's one thing you can't have.' Look at our biggest stars who have never won an Oscar: Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise. Are you getting the message?"
This year, DiCaprio is once again an early frontrunner in the Best Actor category, which includes Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender and last year's winner, Eddie Redmayne.
The 2016 Oscars, hosted by Chris Rock, will take place on Sunday, Feb. 28 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California and will air on ABC.
| i don't know |
Which 1962 film starring Frank Sinatra was remade in 2004 starring Denzel Washington? | Amazon.com: The Manchurian Candidate: denzel washington, dan olmstead, jonathan demme: Movies & TV
The Manchurian Candidate
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Editorial Reviews
da diverso tempo ormai, il maggiore dell'esercito bennett marco non riesce a dormire. di giorno tiene discorsi ispirati elogiando le gesta del suo plotone nel deserto kuwaitiano e l'eroismo del sergente raymond shaw, che ha ricevuto la medaglia d'onore per aver salvato la pattuglia di marco. ma nottetempo, i ricordi del deserto si trasformano in presagi sinistri e terrificanti. in realta', marco sospetta che le cose non siano andare esattamente come dichiarato nei resoconti ufficiali e che forse shaw non e' il glorioso eroe che tutti pensano. quando shaw intraprende l'avventura politica, candidandosi alla vicepresidenza sotto l'ala protettrice della madre, la discussa senatrice eleanor prentiss shaw, marco decide di verificare i suoi gravi sospetti. ma con i vertici militari che mettono in discussione la sua salute mentale e il cordone della sicurezza che si stringe inesorabilmente intorno a shaw, marco si trovera' a scoprire una verita' scioccante e inimmaginabile prima che la corsa alla casa bianca si concluda.un libro, un film...questo film e' tratto dal libro il candidato della manciuria di condon richard
Product Details
| The Manchurian Candidate |
Which film has had sequels entitled The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome? | The Manchurian Candidate (2004) - IMDb
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In the midst of the Gulf War, soldiers are kidnapped and brainwashed for sinister purposes.
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Title: The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
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Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 11 nominations. See more awards »
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Edit
Storyline
When his army unit was ambushed during the first Gulf War, Sergeant Raymond Shaw saved his fellow soldiers just as his commanding officer, then-Captain Ben Marco, was knocked unconscious. Brokering the incident for political capital, Shaw eventually becomes a vice-presidential nominee, while Marco is haunted by dreams of what happened -- or didn't happen -- in Kuwait. As Marco (now a Major) investigates, the story begins to unravel, to the point where he questions if it happened at all. Is it possible the entire unit was kidnapped and brainwashed to believe Shaw is a war hero as part of a plot to seize the White House? Some very powerful people at Manchurian Global corporation appear desperate to stop him from finding out. Written by A Prentiss
....is anyone seeing the truth? See more »
Genres:
Rated R for violence and some language | See all certifications »
Parents Guide:
30 July 2004 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
Der Manchurian Kandidat See more »
Filming Locations:
$20,018,620 (USA) (30 July 2004)
Gross:
Did You Know?
Trivia
Liev Schreiber was handpicked by Paramount Pictures boss Sherry Lansing for the title role. See more »
Goofs
In the opening shot of Rosie's cousin's apartment, the shower door has swans etched on it. When Ben takes a shower, the swans are gone and the glass is pebbled. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Ben Marco : So why don't we just go directly right up in this route, straight in...
Laurent Tokar : Yes, I see the Captain enjoys the road less-traveled.
Ben Marco : No, the Captain enjoys not going down the highway, draggin' his ass so every Tom, Dick, Gaddafi can take a whack at it.
Solid, Topical and Worthy of the Original
1 August 2004 | by sinuous
(Austin) – See all my reviews
Manchurian Candidate is far closer to the original than you've probably heard, and even though it's not the exact movie, it hardly could have been.
That the original is truly relevant would count little for modern audiences, who seem to have a hard time drawing parallels from anything out of their memory. One glimpse of black and white, and funky old clothes, and most teenyboppers under the age of thirty are out the door. Since they would only sit through a first run update, it's truly fine that they have one. The wonder is, the update stands up to the original.
It even solves some of the problems of the first. Gone are the vaguely foreign looking actors standing in for Russians and Chinese agents. Gone are the poorly choreographed ju-jitsu moves.
And the new film retains the strengths of the original. Every performance is fine. Liev Schrieber is worthy of Laurence Harvey's original gut kicking performance (though it's Harvey by an edge). Washington's craft is more than a match for Sinatra's unevenly inspired work. (One of the wonders of the first is realizing that Sinatra -could- act, that he did things with rhythm and cadence because those were his only tools, and it worked. He was no method actor, but damn.) Streep's scenery chewing is frankly, perfect, because unfortunately, really disgusting people actually do exist, and the real ones are impervious to the critique that their behavior is over-the-top. Seen or heard any Fox commentators recently? Streep's Senator may be over-the-top, but the only thing that distinguishes her from the real thing is - surprise - she's only acting.
Make no mistake, both these films are paranoid thrillers, and the overly literal would say of either, "preposterous". But then, the overly literal don't usually get much out of anything that isn't underlined in Business Week with a magic marker. So if you fit in that category, go rent something less threatening.
On the other hand, if you are the nervous type...
The film's style is less dialog laden, it runs more on mood. But it really does kick in all the same places, the same incredible cynicism offset by the thinnest sliver of a wild, earnest Patriotism.
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| i don't know |
The Pebbles and Bam Bam Show is a spin-off from which animated series? | The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show | The Flintstones | Fandom powered by Wikia
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show
284pages on
File:1207270523 1-1-.jpg
animated series spin-off of The Flintstones produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions , which ran for 16 half-hour episodes from September 11, 1971, to September 2, 1972, and four 8-minute episodes (as part of The Flintstone Comedy Hour ) from September 9, 1972, to September 1, 1973, on CBS.
Contents
[ show ]
Synopsis
The show followed neighbors Pebbles Flintstone (voiced by Sally Struthers and in Season 2 by Mickey Stevens) and Bamm-Bamm Rubble (voiced by Jay North) as teen sweethearts. The episodes were set mainly in the duo's activities at Bedrock High School in the prehistoric town of Bedrock with their friends Moonrock (the school genius and resident inventor), Penny (a slightly overweight girl obsessed with being thin), Wiggy (who planned her day according to what it said in the daily horoscope and has big feet), snobby Cindy (Pebbles's rival) and her equally snobby boyfriend Fabian, Bad Luck Schleprock (whose favorite catchphrase was, "Oh wowsie wowsie woo woo. Miserable day, isn't it?"), and a motorcycle gang called the Bronto Bunch (Bronto, Noodles, Stub, and Zonk). Bronto's favorite catchphrase was, "Wait for your leader, you dummies!" (said whenever his gang took off without him). Fred , Wilma , Barney , and Betty were also featured on the show in supporting roles. Their favorite hangout was a fast food joint called Brontoburgers'.
A running gag that occurred throughout the run of the series was whenever Pebbles came up with an idea (good or not-so-good), she would say, "Yabba Dabba Dooozie!" (a play on her father's, "Yabba Dabba Doo!" from the earlier series) and Bamm Bamm would become exasperated with Pebbles' "crazy hair-brained schemes". Among Bamm Bamm's favorite catchphrases was, "Oh no! She's got that look in her eye!" (said whenever Pebbles came up with one of her nutty ideas). The series was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera , animation directed by Charles A. Nichols, and written by Neal Barbera, Walter Black, Larz Bourne, Tom Dagenais, Bob Ogle, Larry Rhine, Richard Robbins, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin. A second season of four new 8-minute episodes aired as part of The Flintstone Comedy Hour in 1972; episodes from both seasons were later featured as segments on the syndicated weekday series Fred Flintstone and Friends in 1977.
In the late 1980s, repeats were shown on USA Cartoon Express and later resurfaced on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained an abridged, inferior laugh track created by the studio.
Episodes (The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show)
Season 1 (1971–1972)
| The Flintstones |
Which long running BBC comedy was set in the coastal town of Walmington-On-Sea? | The Flintstones | Hanna-Barbera Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
The topic of this page has a wiki of its own: The Flintstones Wiki .
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is Hanna Barbera's first primetime network show, and the very first animated sitcom. It ran from 1960 to 1966 on the ABC network, airing 166 episodes.
Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions (H-B) for Screen Gems (Columbia Pictures' television unit), The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next door neighbor and best friends, the Rubbles . It was considered a parody of The Honeymooners but in a prehistoric setting.
It was the first prime-time animated series geared for adults, but kids could watch it also. While the show was originally co-produced and syndicated by Screen Gems, Warner Bros. Television later acquired the rights to The Flintstones after parent Time Warner's purchase of Turner Broadcasting System and its properties, including H-B.
Screen Gems/Columbia Pictures Television syndicated repeats of the program until 1981, when The Program Exchange picked up syndication on Columbia's behalf. In the mid-1990s, syndication moved to Turner Program Services, shortly after Turner's acquisition of H-B, and its acquisition of rights to The Flintstones from Columbia.
The popularity of The Flintstones spawned spin-off shows, television specials and movies. A new series, by Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane , was scheduled to debut on Fox in primetime in 2013, but was discarded at the scripting stage. [1]
Contents
[ show ]
The Flintstones (1960-66)
The Flintstones debuted on ABC at 8:30 p.m. EST on September 30, 1960, with its first episode, "The Swimming Pool". The first season ran for 28 episodes. The show did so well that ABC renewed it for five more seasons.
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971-72)
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show
"The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show" is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated spin-off of "The Flintstones" which ran for 16 episodes from September 11, 1971, to September 2, 1972 on CBS.
The show followed Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble in their teenage years as girlfriend/boyfriend. The episodes were set mainly in the duo's activities at Bedrock High School with their friends Moonrock, Penny, Wiggy, Cindy (Pebbles' rival) and her boyfriend Fabian, Bad Luck Schleprock and a motorcycle gang called the Bronto Bunch (Bronto, Noodles, Stub and Zonk). Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty were also featured on the show in supporting roles.
The Flintstone Comedy Hour (1972-73)
The Flintstone Comedy Hour
The program originally aired on CBS as an hourlong show from September 9, 1972, to September 1, 1973 on CBS. The show's first half hour included new segments with Fred and Barney, short gags, a dance-of-the-week and songs performed by the new Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm band called "The Bedrock Rockers", followed by four new episodes and reruns of The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show in the second half hour. The show also featured bad-luck Schleprock, Moonrock, Penny, Wiggy and the Bronto Bunch (Bronto, Noodles, Stub and Zonk) from The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.
For the 1973-74 season, CBS dropped The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show episodes and repackaged the first half-hour segments of The Flintstone Comedy Hour in reruns under the new title The Flintstone Comedy Show from September 8, 1973 to January 26, 1974; these segments were later featured on the syndicated weekday series Fred Flintstone and Friends in 1977. The program continued to air in rebroadcasts under The Flintstone Comedy Show title on USA Cartoon Express , Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
The Flintstone Comedy Show (1980)
The Flintstone Comedy Show
The Flintstone Comedy Show (not to be confused with the shortened, re-titled 1973 version of CBS' The Flintstone Comedy Hour) was a 90-minute show from November 22, 1980 to September 11, 1982 on NBC.
It contained six segments: “The Flintstone Family Adventures” (This segment featured the traditional antics and adventures of the Flintstones and the Rubbles.), “Bedrock Cops” (Fred and Barney as part-time police officers assisted by the Shmoo as a trainee under the direction of Sgt. Boulder. The trio fought crime in the city of Bedrock, most of the time chasing after Rockjaw, The Frankenstones' pet monster.), “Pebbles, Dino and Bamm-Bamm” (Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm with pet dinosaur Dino solving mysteries in the city of Bedrock. They would sometimes be accompanied by pals Penny, Wiggy and Moonrock.), “Captain Caveman” (Captain Caveman went under his "secret identity" of Chester the office boy who wore a pair of glasses and a tie, he required a coat rack and an elaborate transformation sequence to become Captain Caveman. Betty and Wilma work for Lou Granite at The Daily Granite.), “Dino and Cavemouse” (The segment featured The Flintstones’ pet dinosaur Dino pitted against a pesky little cavemouse in chase sequences similar to the old Tom and Jerry cartoons ) and “The Frankenstones” (This segment featured the Flintstones' neighbors, the Frankenstones: Frank; his wife, Hidea; their kooky daughter, Atrocia and Freaky, their teenage son who is friends with fellow teenager Pebbles Flintstone.). Also the series had a series of gags, educational spots, games, how-to-draw and a dance-of-the-week were featured in-between the six segments every week.
In 1982, reruns of the show were repackaged for two seasons under the title The Flintstone Funnies. Later reruns went under the titles of ”Flintstone Frolics" and “Back to Bedrock” on the cartoon channels Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
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The record ?I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing? was used to advertise which soft drink? | Coke Coca Cola Original I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing - YouTube
Coke Coca Cola Original I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing
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Uploaded on May 14, 2007
This is the original one I supposed.
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Who played 'Gandhi' in the film of the same name? | How the Mad Men lost the plot
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How the Mad Men lost the plot
The arrival of Facebook and Twitter appeared to threaten the advertising industry’s very existence. So what happened next?
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November 6, 2015
by: Ian Leslie
Even admen have souls, and some of them are enduring dark nights. Jeff Goodby is co-chairman of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, a San Francisco advertising agency responsible for some of the most famous campaigns of the 1990s, including ones for Nike and Budweiser. On his return from this year’s annual ad industry awards festival at Cannes in June, Goodby wrote a rueful piece for The Wall Street Journal. In the past, he said, the only true measure of success was whether the public knew and cared about your work. “You could get into a cab and find out, in a mile or two, whether you mattered in life, just by asking the driver.” Now, “No one knows what we do any more.”
Cannes, said Goodby, used to be a showcase for some of the most famous ideas in the world. This year, it felt more like a convention of industrial roofing specialists, discussing the latest in fibreglass insulation technology. Sure, there was ingenuity on display: content delivery systems, co-ordinated interactive installations. But when he got home and tried to tell friends from outside the industry what he had seen, they looked bored, even pitying.
An industry that used to compete with Hollywood is starting to wonder if it has become a colonial outpost of Silicon Valley. The prime spots on the Cannes beachfront this year belonged to Facebook and Google. A recent report from Accenture said that “marketing is so inextricably linked to technology that, by 2017, chief marketing officers are projected to spend more on information technology and analytics than chief information officers.”
Ten years ago, ad agencies thought they had hit on a new formula for success: move on from the blunt instruments of conventional advertising and embrace the laser-sharp selling tools of digital media. The industry’s about-turn was made partly out of an instinct for self-preservation, but also from a yearning to be aligned with the zeitgeist, in a world where glamour has migrated from Madison Avenue to Palo Alto. To some, however, it feels as if they have given up the ghost.
Goodby’s cri de coeur echoed the anxieties of others. In April this year, Giles Hedger, chief of strategy for Leo Burnett Worldwide, wrote a polemic for the industry’s UK trade journal, Campaign, bemoaning the domination of advertising by technology: “The belief that [the] marketing contract can be stripped of all its joyful subjectivity until all that remains between consumer and brand is transaction . . . is the fallacy of our time.” Hedger described his views as “heresy” but said he believed “the voices of sanity are growing around us”.
There is a schism in the church of brands. Ad agencies have fervently embraced the digital gospel. But by doing so, say the doubters, they lost sight of what made the industry valuable in the first place.
Coca-Cola’s 1971 “I’d like to teach the world to sing” ad marked a switch towards advertising that aimed to “lift the heart”
The series finale of Mad Men ended, fittingly, with an ad. A multiracial group of hippyish young people stand on a hilltop and sing a hymn-like song, while holding bottles of Coca-Cola. “I’d like to teach the world to sing”, which first aired in 1971, was the perfect ending to Mad Men for several reasons, but one of them is that it ushered in a new era of advertising.
Until the 1970s, advertising was regarded as a branch of sales. It was thought that ads existed to persuade the consumers you couldn’t meet in person of your brand’s unique attributes: Persil washes whiter. Then, Coke and others started to find success with ads that didn’t try to persuade anyone of anything. “I’d like to teach the world to sing” said nothing about how the drink tasted or whether it was more refreshing than its rivals. It simply lifted the heart a little and got everyone singing its song.
A mid-1980s Levi’s ad: the blend of sex, music and Americana made each new one a national event
From the 1970s onwards, the ad industry entered a creative golden age, making ads which millions enjoyed, quoted and sang. When I started in advertising in the 1990s, the industry was still confident. It had passed the point of peak hubris (which we can date to 1987, when the Saatchi brothers, bored one afternoon, tried to buy a bank) but it knew what it was for. We made famous stuff, and we made stuff famous. Every ad in the Levi’s campaign, for instance, with its combustible blend of sex, music and Americana, was a national event.
Early in the 21st century, the digital era arrived and the fame factory was repurposed. Big TV campaigns suddenly came to be seen as inherently inefficient and primitive. Finance directors, who had always regarded the money spent on advertising as suspicious — it seemed to work, but they couldn’t quite see how — seized the opportunity to hold ad agencies more accountable. Online, it was possible to measure exactly how many “impressions” an ad received, and (in some cases) which ones led to a sale.
Best of all, the internet appeared to solve what was known as the wastage problem. Put an ad for your coffee brand in a Coronation Street break and you’ll immediately reach a large section of your target audience. But not everyone who watches Coronation Street is thinking of buying coffee, or even drinks it — yet you’re paying for them anyway, since the bigger the audience, the higher the cost of the airtime. Online, you could just target the people who had bought your brand before, or were in the market for it; if you sold tents, Google’s data allowed you to target 18-year-old festival-goers. Marketers could even tailor their messages for different consumers, so that each selling claim was never less than relevant. No more wastage.
3 in 10,000
The clicks through that ads get from ‘engaged’ Twitter fans
As if that weren’t enough, social media offered new ways to talk to consumers. The buzzword was “engagement”, a concept that Google and Facebook began assiduously promoting. Advertising is conventionally a one-way communication, unless you count shouting at the TV. Social media allowed marketers to co-opt consumers by inviting them to share ads, enter competitions, and tweet or blog about the brand. Every self-respecting brand outfitted itself with a Facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter hashtag. Accountability, efficient targeting and free media: it was almost too good to be true. Marketing directors, cheered on by CFOs, management consultants and analysts, boasted about the increasing percentage of their budget devoted to “digital”. Ad agencies scrambled to reinvent themselves, hiring data scientists and social media specialists.
Everyone agreed that TV ads were not just wasteful, but crude and intrusive, and that viewers would use new technologies to avoid them (an undercurrent of self-loathing is never far from the industry’s surface). The entire edifice of mass marketing seemed to be crumbling. Why would you want to send the same message out to millions of people at a time, via a technology that first became popular when Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House? Why would you want to teach the world to sing, when you could offer your most cherished customers a personal encounter with your brand?
5%
Pepsi Cola and Diet Pepsi’s drop in market share the year Pepsi moved to digital ads
In 2010, Pepsi embarked on an audacious new marketing strategy. Foregoing its slot in the Super Bowl, America’s annual showcase for lavish TV ads, it diverted its TV budget into a social media campaign: the “Pepsi Refresh Project”. Consumers were invited to propose ideas that would have a positive impact on society, and Pepsi promised to fund the ones that gained the most votes, via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. “We wanted to explore how a brand could be integrated into the digital space,” Frank Cooper, then Pepsi’s “chief consumer engagement officer” explained.
The Refresh Project accomplished everything a social media campaign is supposed to accomplish: millions of Facebook likes and thousands of new Twitter followers. But it didn’t sell Pepsi. Pepsi Cola and Diet Pepsi both lost about 5 per cent of their market shares over the course of the year — a calamitous decline. The brand returned to TV. Bob Hoffman, a veteran American adman who blogs as the Ad Contrarian, has gained a large following for his savage critiques of digital hype. After Pepsi Refresh, he concluded, “only zealots and fools will continue to bow down to the gods of social media.”
The Pepsi debacle emboldened the ad industry’s other contrarians to point out that, despite the dazzling promises of digital, nearly all brands in mature categories still rely on conventional media. At the risk of being labelled Luddite, they suggested that although the internet has changed how the game is played, it has not changed its fundamental rules: mass marketing works; fame works; emotion works — and “legacy media”, especially TV, still do all of this better than the new.
Like many insurgencies, this one has been fired by a book. How Brands Grow (OUP, 2010), is by Professor Byron Sharp, of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute at the University of South Australia. Most marketing books are long on airy assertion and short on rigour. How Brands Grow is the opposite. It is empirical, closely argued and, in its sober way, incendiary. Sharp marshals a vast array of evidence from many different categories — soft drinks, motorbikes, concrete mixers — and identifies universal laws of brand purchasing. To date, nobody has seriously challenged his findings, though plenty have ignored them.
Sharp’s first law is that brands can’t get bigger on the back of loyal customers. Applying a statistical analysis to sales data, he demonstrates that the majority of any successful brand’s sales comes from “light buyers”: people who buy it relatively infrequently. Coca-Cola’s business is not built on a hardcore of Coke lovers who drink it daily, but on the millions of people who buy it once or twice a year. You, for instance, may not think of yourself as a Coke buyer, but if you’ve bought it once in the last 12 months, you’re actually a typical Coke consumer. This pattern recurs across brands, categories, countries and time. Whether it’s toothpaste or computers, French cars or Australian banks, brands depend on large numbers of people — that’s to say, the masses — who buy them only occasionally, leave long gaps between purchases and buy competing brands in between.
The industry yearned to be aligned with the zeitgeist, in a world where glamour has migrated to Palo Alto
If you work for a brand owner, the implications are profound. First, you will never increase your brand’s market share by targeting existing users — the task that digital media performs so efficiently. The effort and expense marketers put into targeting their own customers with emails and web banners is largely wasted; loyalty programmes, says Sharp, “do practically nothing to drive growth”. What seems like a prudent use of funds — focusing on people who have already proved they like the brand — is actually just spinning wheels.
Second, and paradoxically, a successful brand needs to find a way of reaching people who are not in its target market, in the sense of people who are predisposed to buy it. The brand’s advertising must somehow gain the attention of people who are not interested in it, have never bought it, or who bought it so long ago they can’t remember — so that when they are ready to buy, it automatically springs to mind. In the wastage is the value.
87%
The amount of television UK viewers still watch ‘live’
Advertising, says Sharp, works best when it doesn’t try and persuade, but merely makes us remember the brand at the point of purchase. He call this “mental availability”. Human beings have powerful spam filters: we screen out nearly all of the 30,000 or so brands in a supermarket. Advertising opens people’s eyes; you are simply more likely to notice a product in a store, or on a webpage, if you already know it. Gordon Brown, founder of market research company Millward Brown, suggested that advertising’s role is to make a brand “interesting” as it sits on the shelf.
The most effective ads don’t sell, but they do make people buy. By keeping the brand alive in your mind, Coke ads change the probability of you buying it in the next year by a minuscule proportion, a nudge so small that you almost certainly won’t notice it, which is why people often say that advertising doesn’t affect them. But that tiny effect adds up to millions of cans.
The John Lewis Christmas ads, which put emotion centre stage, have proved a particularly effective use of TV
Brands are not the rich sources of differentiation marketers like to think of them as, but short cuts through the complexity of decision-making. Most consumers aren’t aware of, or interested in, the difference between Nescafé and Kenco and don’t want to spend longer than they need to thinking about which they prefer. They just want to get coffee and get home. Marketers are usually surprised to hear this and find it hard to accept — they like to imagine that people who buy their brand are deeply attached to it. But the data show that even people who regularly favour one brand over others will pick a competitor if it happens to be more easily available or cheaper that day. In the words of Sharp’s mentor, Professor Andrew Ehrenberg: “Your customers are customers of other brands who occasionally buy you.”
Brand advertising, at best, does something very different to a search result, an email or a Facebook update
All of this makes “engagement” largely pointless. Light buyers aren’t fans of your brand. They don’t think of it as special or even unique. They aren’t much interested in whether your vodka is from Russia or Sweden, or how many times it has been distilled. No surprise, then, that they almost certainly don’t follow your brand on Twitter or visit its Facebook page, or that they can think of a thousand things they’d rather do than share a “digital experience”, let alone sign up to a “project”.
Even the people who do join brand pages on Facebook hardly ever click on them. The US company Forrester Research has found that the rate of engagement among a brand’s Facebook fans is seven in 10,000; for Twitter it is three in 10,000. People might watch ads on Facebook or YouTube, but that’s about all the interaction they want (Facebook itself recently conceded this point). A senior marketer at the drinks company Diageo, where Sharp’s book has been influential, put it to me bluntly. “After 10 or 15 years of f***ing around with digital we’ve realised that people don’t want to ‘engage’ with brands, because they don’t care about them.’
What if you were to invent a way of getting light buyers to recall your brand just as they are about to choose? Ideally, it would reach millions of people who aren’t particularly thinking about your product. You’d want them to see the same thing at around the same time, so that they can talk to each other about what they’ve seen, reinforcing each other’s memories of it. You would need to sneak up on them, since they have near-zero interest in hearing from you, indeed don’t want to. You’d need a form of content requiring negligible mental effort to process: one which comes in bite-sized chunks, but which is still capable of moving and delighting. It turns out there is an app for that: the TV ad.
TV is in healthier condition than anyone predicted 10 years ago. The average viewer watches nearly as much TV, on TV sets, as he or she always did, and now they watch programmes on mobiles and tablets too. We aren’t skipping ads any more than we used to: 87 per cent of viewing in the UK is “live”. A recent US study found that ad-skipping is declining; people are too distracted by their phones to bother. The passive nature of TV turns out to be its hidden weapon: it facilitates a détente between viewer and advertiser. The best ads make us pay attention and look up from our phones.
In the past few years, the success of the retailer John Lewis has gone some way to restoring the status of TV advertising. Few marketers have failed to notice how effective its Christmas ads have been. In one, a boy’s impatience for the big day turns out to be caused by his desire to give his parents their present. John Lewis largely forgoes persuasion for emotion, and for good reason. In the past 30 years, scientists have shown that we are much more likely to retain something mentally when we have a strong emotional response to it. Ads imprint themselves on the cortex when they touch the heart.
Les Binet, from John Lewis’s agency Adam & Eve DDB, is one of the industry’s most respected experts on advertising effectiveness. In 2013, on behalf of the IPA, Binet, along with Peter Field, conducted an analysis of the most successful UK campaigns of the past 30 years. They found that “the most effective advertisements of all are those with little or no rational content”, and that TV is the emotional medium par excellence. An online banner ad, however smartly targeted, is unlikely to make anyone grin, gasp or weep.
John Lewis ads are instantly recognisable, as are those from, for instance, the long-running campaigns for Walkers crisps or Jack Daniel’s. Since the amount of cognitive energy that people expend on brands is so tiny, they generally stick with what they know and reach for familiar things: a name, a pack, a logo. The challenge for any brand, then, is to be both interesting and consistent. Lucy Jameson, the CEO of Grey London, told me that her agency creates “long ideas”: tightly defined themes that are endlessly varied and refreshed.
Marketers consistently undervalue consistency. Diageo recently carried out an audit of all the endlines that it had attached to one of its biggest brands, Guinness, and were embarrassed to discover it had used more than 20 different slogans in 15 years. What’s more, when it asked people to recall an endline, the only one they remembered was “Good things come to those who wait”, which hadn’t run since 1999. Vast sums of money had been spent on campaigns which probably had short-term effects but barely left a trace in consumer memories.
The fame of a brand takes years of investment to build but, properly maintained, it becomes a gusher of cash, cascading down the generations — Warren Buffett, one of Coca-Cola’s biggest shareholders, has earned billions from this principle. But in the short term, the effects of advertising on consumer memories are very hard to measure. No wonder marketing directors get addicted to what Martin Weigel, of Nike’s agency Wieden + Kennedy, calls the “crack” of instant data: likes, shares, impressions.
Laurence Green, of London agency 101, distinguishes between two classes of advertising. There are ads for when you know what you’re looking for — if I want to find a plumber, I used to look in the local paper. Google is unbeatable at this, which is why it has wreaked havoc on the newspaper business. Then there is advertising which burnishes the aura of a brand in the minds of people who don’t yet want to buy it, by imbuing it with meaning. A soft drink can come to represent optimism, a chain of stores the warmth of middle-class homes. Google and Facebook, says Green, still haven’t shown that they can do this.
Don Draper’s successors instinctively understood the commercial value of fame, emotion and consistency. But they never quite defined it. We now know that brand advertising, at its best, does something very different to a salesperson, a search result, an email or a Facebook update. It injects a brand into the cultural bloodstream and, by doing so, books a spot in the most important media of all: people’s brains.
The question is whether this revelation has come too late to save the ad industry. The admen have allowed their lunch to be eaten by a host of specialists in digital, social media and data management. According to a report on the industry from the accounting firm Kingston Smith W1, ad agency profits averaged 10.7 per cent in 2014, their lowest level for seven years.
The contrarians are gaining ground, however. The vaunted efficiency of digital marketing has been undermined by the prevalence of fraudulent data. It is estimated that 50 per cent of online ad impressions are from “non-human traffic” — that’s to say, digital robots. The introduction of adblocking software to Apple’s latest operating system is talked of as a potentially fatal threat to online ads. Meanwhile, TV adspend is at a record high, boosted by the campaigns of digital businesses like Amazon, Facebook and Google.
If TV is in good shape, that is partly because it has given itself an upgrade: HD, bigger screens and better content — such as Mad Men. In fact the only part of the TV package that hasn’t improved is the ads. According to Kantar Media, in 1986, 28 per cent of people in Britain said they enjoyed the ads more than the programmes. Today, only 12 per cent say so.
Perhaps there is a moral here for any industry threatened by technological disruption. In the rush to reinvention, don’t forget your USP.
Ian Leslie is a writer who also works as a freelance strategist in the advertising industry. Twitter: @mrianleslie
Illustrations by Francesco Ciccolella
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Which actress played the part of Angie in EastEnders? | [PICS]EastEnders Cast Where Are They Now- 30 Years On
By Evoke Reporter -
11/02/2015
Though it feels as if it’s been part of the fabric of life for ever, EastEnders — the soap derided as the Shouting Cockney Show — is only just about to celebrate its 30th birthday.
It’s given us many of TV’s most memorable scenes, including the jawdropping row when Den Watts served his wife with divorce papers on Christmas Day, 1987, which ended with booze-sodden, battered Angie swallowing fistfuls of tablets and washing them down with vodka.
More than 30 million viewers in Britain alone watched that episode, and many complained it had ruined their Christmas. Perhaps they were right: it started a tradition for massive storylines over the holiday season, leading to shockers such as the Emmerdale plane crash in 1993 and Matthew Crawley’s fatal car smash in Downton Abbey in 2012.
But try as they might, no other drama can match EastEnders for its sheer ferocity. There have been so many murders in Albert Square that the UN should declare it a war-zone.
The show even opened with the discovery of a body, on February 19, 1985, and 30 years later all the characters are:
1. WENDY RICHARD (Pauline Fowler) SITCOM veteran Wendy also appeared in Are You Being Served?, Dad’s Army and a couple of Carry On films. Our favourite cheeky Cockney was actually born in Middlesbrough, in 1943. The matriarch of Albert Square, her 21 years on the show ended with an on-screen death in 2006. Wendy died from cancer in 2009, aged 65.
Then and now: Wendy Richard (Pauline Fowler) pictured with her on-screen husband Arthur (Bill Treacher) in the first year of the soap, 1985 (left) and pictured in 2006 (right)
2. ANNA WING (Lou Beale) LOU was the most formidable character of the original cast, Pauline and Pete’s mother, and a no-nonsense Londoner. Anna, who was 70 when the show began, was also a mighty personality: in the Fifties she had been the lover of poet Philip O’Connor, with whom she had a son. She left the show in 1988, but kept working right up to her death, aged 98, in 2013.
Then and now: Anna Wing, who played Lou Beale, was one of the show’s best-loved characters. She left the show in 1988, but kept working right up to her death, aged 98, in 2013
3. LINDA DAVIDSON (Mary Smith) MARY was one of the Square’s most controversial characters — a former punk rock groupie and drug user whose wild lifestyle put her baby’s life at risk. Barely literate, she couldn’t look after her child without her neighbours’ help, and earned her living by prostitution. Actress Linda dated co-star Nejdet Salih and left the show in 1988; now aged 50, she gave up acting to work in internet design and today runs a social media agency.
Then and now: Linda Davidson as punk rock groupie Mary Smith in 1986 (left) and today (right) running a social media agency
4. ROSS DAVIDSON (Andy O’Brien) ROSS was a PE teacher who played water polo for Scotland before acting. EastEnders was his first major part — he played the nurse who has an affair with the Vic landlady, Angie Watts. In his final scene, in August 1986, Andy rows with girlfriend Shirley: when she tells him to ‘drop dead’, he stomps out of the house and is flattened by a lorry … making him the first character to be killed off. Ross believed he was dropped because he was dating his co-star Shirley Cheriton. He died from cancer, aged 57, in 2006.
Then and now: Ross Davidson’s character Andy O’Brien was the first character to be killed off. Ross believed he was dropped because he was dating his co-star Shirley Cheriton. He died from cancer, aged 57, in 2006.
5. SHIRLEY CHERITON (Debbie Wilkins) DEBBIE was a professional middle-class woman whose East under suspicion for another killing — the death of Lucy Beale.
Then and now: Actress Shirley Cheriton, who left EastEnders in 1987, left with Ross Davison, was a favourite of series creator Julia Smith, who had also cast her in the hospital drama Angels. Now 59, she hasn’t appeared on TV since 2009.
EastEnders always teeters on the brink of melodrama. But we take it seriously because it has never been afraid to tackle big issues such as racism and drug crime. But what it does best is building up a mystery until the country is in a lather of speculation. In 1985, when 16-year-old Michelle Fowler refused to tell anyone who the father of her baby was, the game was given away when we glimpsed her lover’s car … it was Dirty Den Watts! Then there was Sharongate, the 1994 Walford love triangle featuring Den’s daughter and the gangster brothers Phil and Grant Mitchell.
The moment Grant (Ross Kemp) discovered his wife was sleeping with his brother has been voted the best moment in British soap history.
Lucy Beale’s killer will be revealed live on February 19 — 30 years to the day since the first episode. And, three decades of scandalous storylines later, many of Walford’s original stars are still household names …
End property was an investment as well as a home. The working-class locals thought she was stuck-up and pretentious. Actress Shirley, who left EastEnders in 1987, was a favourite of series creator Julia Smith, who had also cast her in the hospital drama Angels. Now 59, she hasn’t appeared on TV since 2009.
6. BILL TREACHER (Arthur Fowler) THE gruelling pace of filming EastEnders left stage actor Bill exhausted. Arthur saw his daughter pregnant at 16, his son infected with HIV and himself having a breakdown. Bill left in 1996 (‘by the time I finished, even the theme music was making me feel ill’). He later appeared in films including George And The Dragon in 2004. Now 84, he is retired.
Then and now: Bill Treacher, playing Arthur Fowler, was one of the show’s longest-serving stars. He was later in The Bill and is now retired
7. SUSAN TULLY (Michelle Fowler) SUSAN, now 46, grew up on a North London council estate and started acting through a community theatre school. Before EastEnders, she was familiar to viewers from the children’s series Grange Hill. She’s now a TV director, whose credits include Lark Rise To Candleford. She played Michelle until 1995, and the character was credited with saving EastEnders — viewing figures had slumped to seven million before the storyline of her secret pregnancy, aged 16, reeled viewers back in.
Then and now: Susan Tully, who started her career on Grange Hill, starred as Michelle Fowler untill 1996. She is now a director, whose credits include Lark Rise To Candleford
8. LETITIA DEAN (Sharon Watts) A GRADUATE of the Sylvia Young theatre school and another Grange Hill old girl, Letitia was born in the quaint English Home Counties, but claimed at her audition she was a Cockney. Her dirty laugh apparently won her the part of Den and Angie’s daughter. She left for the first time in 1995, and has returned to Albert Square several times — and is still on the show it today. Now 47, Letitia has also competed on Strictly Come Dancing.
Then and now: Leitia Dean as Sharon with onscreen husband Grant (Ross Kemp) in 1994 (left) and Dean filming scenes for Lucy Beale’s funeral last year (right)
9. GRETCHEN FRANKLIN (Ethel Skinner) BORN in 1911 into a showbusiness family, Gretchen was a dancer in Soho in the Twenties, a member of the tap troupe Four Brilliant Blondes and was also in Crossroads. As Ethel, she was the crony of Lou Beale and Dot Cotton, always to be found with a sherry and ‘my little Willy’, her beloved pug. She left EastEnders in 2000 and died in 2005, aged 94.
Gretchen Franklin in 1987 with Willy the pug (left) from Eastenders and pictured in 2005 shortly before her death (right)
10. WILLY THE PUG WILLY was spoilt, greedy and mischievous. The other characters couldn’t stand him: the local doctor complained bitterly about the mess Willy made on the pavements, and owner Ethel had to decline two marriage proposals when her suitors asked her to get rid of her precious pet. Willy was put down in 1992; two weeks later, the dog who had played him also died.
11. ROLY THE STANDARD POODLE LANDLORDS Den and Angie Watts never took much notice of daughter Sharon, but they poured their hearts out on their pooch. Whenever Den was in a rage, he’d grab Roly’s lead and drag the poor animal round the Square. Roly was nearly killed when Grant Mitchell set fire to the Vic for the insurance money, and died on screen when he was run over while chasing a cat in 1993. Roly’s real-life owner was EastEnders creator Julia Smith. He died in real life in 1995.
12. LESLIE GRANTHAM (Dirty Den Watts) DIRTY DEN was the original villain of Albert Square, a bully who shoved his wife around and got his 16-yearold daughter’s best mate pregnant. TV had never had such a hated character — and the actor who played him, Grantham, actually murdered a taxi driver in a 1966 robbery. During his ten-year prison sentence, he took up acting. His character Den was seemingly killed in 1989, but he returned from the dead in 2003. The renaissance didn’t last long: Grantham, who is now 67, was caught in a sex scandal in 2004 — and Dirty Den was killed off for a second time shortly after.
Then and now: Controversial character Dirty Den Watts (played by Leslie Grantham) with on-screen wife Angie (Anita Dobson) (left) and a brooding Den in 2004 (right)
13. ANITA DOBSON (Angie Watts) A REAL EastEnder, Anita wasn’t the first choice to play the Queen Vic landlady — when filming began, the role was taken by Jean Fennell. Jean was deemed ‘too classy’ and was replaced. In 1986, Anita had a No 4 hit with Anyone Can Fall In Love in 1986, produced by Queen guitarist Brian May — whom she married. Angie left EastEnders after three years. Anita, 65, has been on Strictly and will play Elizabeth I in an upcoming documentary.
Then and now: Anita Dobson was in the the soap for three years but was involved in many of its most memorable storylines. Married to Brian May, she is still acting
14. TOM WATT (Lofty Holloway) LOFTY, the Vic’s barman, was hopelessly in love with Michelle, and married her after she became a single mum … though she dumped him at the altar during the first ceremony. Watt left the show in 1988 to become a social worker. Now 58, he is a radio sports reporter and the ghostwriter of David Beckham’s autobiography.
Then and now: Tom Watt as Lofty in the soap with Susan Tully who played Michelle Fowler (left) and now, a radio sports reporter, appearing on This Morning (right)
15. LEONARD FENTON (Dr Harold Legg) THIS East End grammar school boy, the son of Jewish refugees from the Baltic states, was an army engineer in World War II. During a 50-year career in acting, he appeared in Z-Cars, Colditz and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. For 12 years, Fenton was Albert Square’s caring but irascible doctor. In 2004, Leonard made his debut as a theatre director.His character has returned to EastEnders three times over the years and, although Fenton is now 88, the doctor may yet be seen in the Square again.
Then and now: East End grammar school boy Leonard Fenton played Dr Harold Legg, who treated the main characters and is still acting at 88 and may appear again on the Square despite his age
16. ANDREW JOHNSON (Saeed Jeffery) SAEED owned a convenience store called First Til Last and was unhappily married to Naima (Shreela Ghosh), who refused to sleep with him. He started using prostitutes and making obscene phone calls to women. When he was found out, Saeed left the Square in shame in December 1985. Like his character, Andrew, 59, is from a mixed-race background, and reportedly was unhappy at the negative storylines foisted on Saeed. He moved to Hollywood and still works as an actor, in minor parts.
17. JOHN ALTMAN (Nasty Nick Cotton) HEROIN addict, racist, conman, killer and thief, Nasty Nick set the tone in the very first episode of EastEnders when he murdered the Square’s oldest resident for drug money. He killed again and very nearly poisoned his ‘dear old ma’, Dot. Written in at the last minute, Nick was never intended to be a lasting character, but is now in his sixth stint on the show and will play a significant part in the 30th anniversary episode. In real life, Altman, 62, struggled with a drink problem in the Nineties.
Then and now: John Altman has played bad boy Nasty Nick Cotton on and off for 30 years and is in his sixth spell in the soap
18. JUNE BROWN (Dot Cotton) NOMINATED for a BAFTA for her work as kind-hearted busybody Dot, 87-year-old June Brown’s career started at the Old Vic theatre school. She became the oldest dancer to take part in Strictly, in 2010, and appeared in West End hit Calendar Girls. The mother of six is the only EastEnders actress to have an entire episode to herself: in 2008 she performed a half-hour monologue, talking about her life as she recorded a tape for her husband, Jim Branning, who had suffered a stroke. That same year she was honoured by the Queen. Dot Branning (nee Colwell, previously Cotton) is still a Walford stalwart.
Then and now: Eastenders institution and Bafta-nominated June Brown is still playing Dot Cotton after many years in the soap
19. PAUL J. MEDFORD (Kelvin Carpenter) CURRENTLY starring in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Paul is a West End veteran. As Kelvin, he was the entrepreneur of Albert Square, who fell for an older woman and was humiliated when she publicly dumped. With Sharon and a group of friends, he set up a rock band, the Banned, but after some embarrassing gigs, Kelvin was forced to admit they were rubbish … but in real life their song Something Outa Nothing, credited to Letitia Dean and Paul Medford, reached No 12 in the British charts. Kelvin, now 47, left Walford in 1987 to do a degree in computer studies.
Then and now: Paul Medford played Kelvin Carpenter in the soap, and launched a pop career with co-star Letitia Dean. He became a West End veteran and and is in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
20. OSCAR JAMES (Tony Carpenter) TONY was Kelvin’s father, an easygoing builder with a nagging wife. While he was working at the Vic as an odd-job man, Tony became Angie’s lover: he thought it was a serious relationship, but she was only using him to get back at Den. After two years, including a stint as a minicab driver, Tony left to live in Trinidad. Oscar, 72, went on to perform Shakespeare.
Then and now: Oscar James, who played Tony Carpenter, was an odd-job man who became Angie’s lover but left the soap after two years. The 72-year-old, who appeared on children’s television, recently appeared in a Shakespeare production
21. SANDY RATCLIFF (Sue Osman) SUE WAS at the centre of the most bleak storyline British soaps had ever seen when her baby died from cot death syndrome in June 1985. When she and husband Ali finally had another child, their marriage broke up; Sue had a breakdown and was sectioned. After leaving the show in 1989, actress Sandy, 64, slipped into heroin addiction; she later retrained as a counsellor. One of her last public appearances was at the Old Bailey trial of her then boyfriend, Michael Shorey, who was found guilty of murdering two women.
22. NEJDET SALIH (Ali Osman) BORN a Cypriot Turk, Ali was married to Sue and ran the Bridge Street Cafe with her. He was a gambling addict and held nightly poker schools in the cafe after closing. He left Walford in 1989, after losing all his money at cards. The 56-year-old actor changed his name to Nej Adamson, and appeared in the final Carry On film in 1992, as well as playing a brigand in two Pirates Of The Caribbean movies.
Then and now: Ali Osman, played by Nejdet Salih, was Albert Square’s gambling addict who left after losing all his money in a card game. Mr Salih went on to build a successful film career
23. GILLIAN TAYLFORTH (Kathy Beale) THE biggest real-life scandal to hit the EastEnders cast exploded when a traffic cop approached a car parked off the A1 and found a couple engaged in a sexual act. Gillian, 59, insisted she was only giving her fiance, Geoff Knights, a tummy rub to soothe his stomach ache, and she sued The Sun newspaper for suggesting otherwise. The court didn’t believe her. During the early years of EastEnders, Gillian dated her co-star Nick Berry, who played her stepson. Her character, Kathy, was raped early in the show’s history, sparking a major TV controversy. Taylforth left the show in 1998, but returned three times. She was in soap Hollyoaks until this January.
Then and now: Gillian Taylforth, left as Kathy Beale during the trial of James Willmott-Brown, who was accused of raping her, and right during a recent stint in Hollyoaks
24. ADAM WOODYATT (Ian Beale) THE only member of the cast who has appeared on the show without a break for 30 years. Ian has been married five times, and is currently engaged to Jane, one of his exwives. One of his biggest storylines saw him shot by a hitman hired by another wife, Cindy. In 2012, Ian had a breakdown and ended up living at a homeless hostel. Adam, 46, won the Lifetime Achievement trophy at the British Soap Awards in 2013, after nearly 3,000 appearances on the show.
Then and now: A very youthful looking Adam Woodyatt as Ian Beale in 1989 with Cindy (Michelle Collins) left and at the British Comedy Awards 2014 (right)
25. NICK BERRY (Simon Wicks) NICK wasn’t in the first few episodes, but was drafted in after another actor left unexpectedly, having refused to play a scene where his character used racist language. Nick’s character, Wicksy, proved almost too popular — he was an instant pin-up and in 1986 Nick enjoyed a No 1 with his song Every Loser Wins. After five years on EastEnders, Nick, 51, went on to star in nostalgic police series Heartbeat, and now runs a production firm called Valentine.
Then and now: Nick Berry joined the show early on as SImon Wicks and it launched him to superstardom. He had a successful pop career, was the main character on Heartbeat and now runs a production company
26. PETER DEAN (Pete Beale) THE affable fruit and veg trader. He was Pauline’s twin, and a childhood mate of Dirty Den. In real life, Peter Dean’s family ran a stall in Petticoat Lane, and he attracted customers by bellowing out quotes from Shakespeare. Actress Prunella Scales heard him, and urged him to go to drama college. Pete Beale was killed off in a car crash in 1993. After converting to Buddhism, Peter swore off alcohol. Aged 75, he enjoys racing greyhounds and is still an actor.
Then and now: Fruit and veg trader Pete Beale, played by Peter Dean, was killed off in 1993
| Anita Dobson |
In mythology, who was 'Pax'? | Dirty Den gives Angie divorce papers for Christmas - EastEnders - BBC - YouTube
Dirty Den gives Angie divorce papers for Christmas - EastEnders - BBC
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Uploaded on Sep 6, 2008
Your chance to watch one of the most infamous EastEnders couples, Angie and Den Watts (Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson), crumble under the harsh glare of a buzzing Christmas Queen Vic! Remember the moment Den discovered the truth about his alcoholo loving wife? Watch the iconic video here and don't forget to click beneath the video to watch in high quality!
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From what plant is 'tapioca' obtained? | What Is Tapioca? | Wonderopolis
Wonder of the Day #511
What Is Tapioca?
Where do cassava plants grow?
How is tapioca used in cooking?
Tags:
Listen
Mmmm! You might recognize tapioca as those squishy “pearls" that give tapioca pudding and bubble tea their unique taste and texture . But what exactly is tapioca anyway?
Tapioca doesn't grow on trees like fruit or in gardens like a vegetable. Instead, it's a starch that's made from the root of a plant whose scientific name is Manihot esculenta.
This plant is native to much of South America and the Caribbean, but it is grown worldwide today. The world's main producers of the plant are Brazil, Nigeria and Thailand.
It goes by many different names around the world. In the United States, it's commonly called cassava, yuca or simply the tapioca plant. The word tapioca comes from the South American Tupí word — tipi'óka — for the starch .
After cassava plants are harvested, their roots are treated to remove toxins found in the plant. The starch is then processed into one of several popular forms: powder, flakes, sticks or ball-shaped “pearls." Tapioca pearls are the most popular form.
Tapioca is almost completely free of both protein and gluten . It's mostly carbohydrate with low amounts of saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. It's a staple food in some areas of the world. People on gluten -free diets often enjoy bread made with tapioca flour.
In addition to tapioca pudding and bubble tea, tapioca is often used as a thickening agent when cooking, especially in soups . Because tapioca does not have a strong taste of its own, it can be added to many dishes to thicken them without changing the taste too much.
The roots of the cassava plant have another interesting use. Besides making tapioca , the plant's roots can be used to make a substitute for plastic bags that are biodegradable .
Wonder Words (13)
Take the Wonder Word Challenge
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We’d love to give you a hint about tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day, but we can’t. It’s a secret!
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Ready to try tapioca? There's no better way to learn more about tapioca than by heading to the kitchen and whipping up some tasty tapioca treats!
Grab some friends or family members and get ready to cook. Check the recipes below and make sure you have all the ingredients. If necessary, head to the store to get any supplies you may need.
Tasty tapioca pudding is probably the food most people associate with tapioca. Head over to the Food Network website to check out Alton Brown's Tapioca Pudding recipe . What do you think? Do you like tapioca pudding? Does it taste like you thought it would?
Another tapioca treat that's starting to become very popular in the U.S., especially in areas with large Asian populations, is bubble tea. Never heard of bubble tea? Just go online to learn How to Make Bubble Tea . You never know. It might be your new favorite!
| roots of cassava plant |
Who was the 18th President of the USA from 1869 - 1877? | What Is Tapioca? | Wonderopolis
Wonder of the Day #511
What Is Tapioca?
Where do cassava plants grow?
How is tapioca used in cooking?
Tags:
Listen
Mmmm! You might recognize tapioca as those squishy “pearls" that give tapioca pudding and bubble tea their unique taste and texture . But what exactly is tapioca anyway?
Tapioca doesn't grow on trees like fruit or in gardens like a vegetable. Instead, it's a starch that's made from the root of a plant whose scientific name is Manihot esculenta.
This plant is native to much of South America and the Caribbean, but it is grown worldwide today. The world's main producers of the plant are Brazil, Nigeria and Thailand.
It goes by many different names around the world. In the United States, it's commonly called cassava, yuca or simply the tapioca plant. The word tapioca comes from the South American Tupí word — tipi'óka — for the starch .
After cassava plants are harvested, their roots are treated to remove toxins found in the plant. The starch is then processed into one of several popular forms: powder, flakes, sticks or ball-shaped “pearls." Tapioca pearls are the most popular form.
Tapioca is almost completely free of both protein and gluten . It's mostly carbohydrate with low amounts of saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. It's a staple food in some areas of the world. People on gluten -free diets often enjoy bread made with tapioca flour.
In addition to tapioca pudding and bubble tea, tapioca is often used as a thickening agent when cooking, especially in soups . Because tapioca does not have a strong taste of its own, it can be added to many dishes to thicken them without changing the taste too much.
The roots of the cassava plant have another interesting use. Besides making tapioca , the plant's roots can be used to make a substitute for plastic bags that are biodegradable .
Wonder Words (13)
Take the Wonder Word Challenge
Wonder What's Next?
We’d love to give you a hint about tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day, but we can’t. It’s a secret!
Try It Out
Ready to try tapioca? There's no better way to learn more about tapioca than by heading to the kitchen and whipping up some tasty tapioca treats!
Grab some friends or family members and get ready to cook. Check the recipes below and make sure you have all the ingredients. If necessary, head to the store to get any supplies you may need.
Tasty tapioca pudding is probably the food most people associate with tapioca. Head over to the Food Network website to check out Alton Brown's Tapioca Pudding recipe . What do you think? Do you like tapioca pudding? Does it taste like you thought it would?
Another tapioca treat that's starting to become very popular in the U.S., especially in areas with large Asian populations, is bubble tea. Never heard of bubble tea? Just go online to learn How to Make Bubble Tea . You never know. It might be your new favorite!
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What is the name of the canal linking Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in Canada? | Lake Erie Facts and Figures
Lake Erie is the eleventh largest lake in the world (by surface area), and the fourth largest of the Great Lakes in surface area and the smallest by volume.
Ninety-five percent of Lake Erie's total inflow of water comes via the Detroit River water from all the "upper lakes" -- Superior, Michigan and Huron -- the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and numerous tributaries. The rest comes from precipitation. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and is especially vulnerable to fluctuating water levels.
Wind setups (wind pushing the water from one end of the lake toward the other), usually from west to east, have produced large short- term differences in water levels at the eastern and western ends of the lake, the record being more than 16 ft (4.88 m).
The water provided by Lake Erie for waterborne commerce, navigation, manufacturing, and power production has led to intensive industrial development along its shore, but the basin's moderate temperatures have also encouraged recreation and agriculture.
Lake Erie is the warmest and most biologically productive of the Great Lakes, and the Lake Erie walleye fishery is widely considered the best in the world.
Point Pelee National Park in Lake Erie is the southernmost point on Canada's mainland.
References: Great Lakes Atlas , 1995, Environment Canada and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lake Erie brochure, 1990, Michigan Sea Grant
LENGTH: 241 miles / 388 km
BREADTH: 57 miles / 92 km
AVERAGE DEPTH: 62 ft. / 19 m.
MAXIMUM DEPTH: 210 ft. / 64 m.
VOLUME: 116 cubic miles / 484 cubic km.
WATER SURFACE AREA: 9,910 sq. miles / 25,700 sq. km.
TOTAL DRAINAGE BASIN AREA: 30,140 sq. miles / 78,000 sq. km.
DRAINAGE BASIN AREA BY STATE/PROVINCE:
Indiana: 1300 sq mi; 3300 sq km
Michigan: 5800 sq mi; 15,100 sq km
New York: 1600 sq mi; 4200 sq km
Ohio: 11,700 sq mi; 30,400 sq km
Ontario: 8800 sq mi; 22,800 sq km
Pennsylvania: 500 sq mi; 1400 sq km
SHORELINE LENGTH (including islands): 871 miles / 1,402 km.
ELEVATION: 569 ft. / 173 m.
OUTLET: Niagara River and Welland Canal
RETENTION/REPLACEMENT TIME: 2.6 years (shortest of the Great Lakes)
NAME: The greater part of its southern shore was at one time occupied by a nation known to the Iroquois League as the "Erielhonan," or the "long-tails," a tribe of Indians from which the lake derived its name. This name is always mentioned by the early French writers as meaning "cat"; Lac du Chat means "Lake of the Cat." Many attribute this reference to the wild cat or panther.
References: Great Lakes Atlas , Environment Canada and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1995
| Welland Canal |
What name is given to the sea stretching from Australia to New Zealand? | Lake Ontario - The Canadian Encyclopedia
Geography
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario occupies a bedrock depression originally produced by stream erosion and later modified by glaciation. Several glacial lakes of varying elevation occupied the basin before the current level and outlet were established about 11 000 years ago.
Lake Ontario is 19 000 km2 (10 000 km2 in Canada), with a drainage area of 90 130 km2, an elevation of 74 m, a mean depth of 86 m (max 244 m), length 311 km and width 85 km. It is the smallest in surface area and most easterly of the GREAT LAKES and eighth-largest body of fresh water in North America. The lake receives most of its water supply from the other Great Lakes through the NIAGARA RIVER and discharges into the ST LAWRENCE RIVER through the Kingston Basin at its northeast end. Other tributaries are the Genesee, Oswego and Black rivers in New York state and the Trent River in Ontario.
Lake Ontario occupies a bedrock depression originally produced by stream erosion and later modified by glaciation. Several glacial lakes of varying elevation occupied the basin before the current level and outlet were established about 11 000 years ago. The present basin has an elliptical plan with an east-west orientation and a complex lake bed reflecting its underlying rock structure and the effects of glaciation. The lakeshore is typically a low bluff of rock or glacial sediment with a narrow beach.
The intersection of older and higher glacial and lake deposits at the southeast end of TORONTO has produced the Scarborough Bluffs - spectacular, cathedral- like cliffs rising as high as 100 m above the lake. Other scenic shore features include the rocky coasts and islands of the Kingston Basin and the extensive sandy beaches at HAMILTON and Toronto on the Canadian side and Mexico Bay in the US.
Because Lake Ontario is deep and its winter climate is moderated by incursions of warm air from the southwest, its open waters rarely freeze in winter. From November to May the main body is well mixed at uniform temperature. From June through October the lake is stratified, with a warm upper layer 10-20 m thick and a cool lower layer. Temperatures at depths below 100 m are almost always less than 5°C. The average residence time of water in Lake Ontario is 8-10 years, compared with 3 years for Lake ERIE and more than 100 years for Lake SUPERIOR .
The first European known to have visited the lake was Étienne BRÛLÉ in 1615. The name Ontario is sometimes thought to be of Iroquoian origin, meaning "beautiful lake" or "sparkling water." It was first applied to the lake by Europeans in 1641 and appears on maps of North America as early as 1656. Conflict between the English and French and their Indian allies over the local fur trade inhibited European settlement until after the English takeover in 1763.
The first major group of settlers were LOYALISTS , many of whom settled on the north shore. The most vigorous campaigns of the WAR OF 1812 between the US and Great Britain were fought on or near Lake Ontario. (The vessels Hamilton and Scourge, lost in a squall during a naval engagement at that time, have been found on the lake bed near Niagara.)
Nearly one-quarter of the present population of Canada lives in southern Ontario near the lake. The "Golden Horseshoe," which encompasses the western end of the lake and includes the major cities of ST CATHARINES , Hamilton and Toronto, is the industrial heartland of the country. Urban centres on the lake east of Toronto include OSHAWA , PORT HOPE , COBOURG , BELLEVILLE and KINGSTON .
The other major factors promoting vigorous settlement and growth have been the productive farmland of southern Ontario and northwestern New York state, and access to ocean shipping via the ST LAWRENCE SEAWAY and to upper Great Lake ports via the WELLAND CANAL . Smaller craft can travel the RIDEAU CANAL from Kingston to Ottawa and the Trent-Severn Waterway between the Bay of Quinte and Georgian Bay.
Unfortunately, industrial and agricultural wealth has also led to the degradation of Lake Ontario water quality by pollution. Cautious optimism prevails, however, since the lake seems to be recovering as pollutant levels are reduced.
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Which British Prime Minister died whilst in office in 1865 aged 80 years? | A Point of View: Is it better to have leaders who are too old or too young? - BBC News
BBC News
A Point of View: Is it better to have leaders who are too old or too young?
5 May 2015
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Image copyright PA
At the start of this election campaign, none of the leaders of the main British political parties was older than 50. Some political eras favour younger leaders, and some prefer the experience of age - but which is better, asks the historian David Cannadine.
During the last few days, I've been pondering some remarks by David Brooks, an American journalist and New York Times columnist, though I haven't been thinking about their implications in quite the way he probably intended. He's just published a book entitled The Road To Character, in which he exhorts his readers to be less concerned with the achievements and the trappings of worldly success but instead to devote more time and effort to exploring and improving their inner selves.
In the course of a recent interview about his book, Brooks made this observation: "We get better at life as we get older," by which he meant that age brings with it a certain amount of maturity, perspective and thus self-knowledge, which might help us rethink and reconsider our long-term goals and priorities. Since all of us are indeed getting older, all of the time, we surely have a vested interest in hoping that Brooks may be correct. But in the context of our current general election, and of the seven party leaders who are fighting it, his words also open up some interesting perspectives and challenging thoughts.
The notion that only relatively young people can or should make it to the top in politics is a fairly recent development
Consider in this regard the politicians who debated the future of our country on television at the beginning of the campaign. The most venerable of them was Nigel Farage, who was born in 1964, and who celebrated his 51st birthday just a day after the magnificent seven appeared together on our screens. The youngest of them was Leanne Wood, the leader of Plaid Cymru, who was born in 1971 and who will only reach the age of 44 this December.
All the remaining five participants entered the world between 1966 and 1970 - Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Greens, is 49, both David Cameron and Nick Clegg are 48, Ed Miliband is next at 45 and Nicola Sturgeon is 44. So there we have them - seven party leaders, all them born within no more than seven years of each other. But this is more than just an extraordinary chronological coincidence, for with an average age of forty-seven, none of them can possibly be described as yet being old.
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption The leaders' debate, April 2015
It's also true that there are some significant precedents for British political leaders being no more than middle-aged. The aptly named Pitt the Younger became prime minister in 1783 when he was only 24, and he held the office almost continuously until his death in 1806, when he'd scarcely reached the same age that David Cameron and Nick Clegg are now. And for much of that time, Pitt's foremost opponent was Charles James Fox, who was only 10 years older than he was.
During the 1780s and 1790s, British politics was very much a young man's game, and the same was true for much of the 1960s and early 1970s, when Harold Wilson became prime minister in his late 40s and Edward Heath in his early 50s. That was indeed a turning point, for since Wilson and Heath, most British prime ministers have been on the young side. John Major and Tony Blair were in their mid-40s when they entered 10 Downing Street, while Margaret Thatcher and Gordon Brown were not all that much older.
Dates and ages of prime ministers
Prime minister
43
54 (resigned)
From this perspective, there's nothing particularly surprising or novel about the seven youthful figures who are currently in charge of Britain's political parties. But taking a longer view, the notion that only relatively young people can or should make it to the top in politics is a fairly recent development. For most of the 19th Century, and for the first two thirds of the 20th, public life was much more likely to be an old man's game where age counted and seniority mattered.
When Lord Palmerston died in office in 1865 at the age of 80, he had been prime minister almost continuously during the previous 10 years. Mr Gladstone may have been only in his late 50s when he formed his first administration in 1868, but he was in his early 80s when he embarked on his fourth and last premiership in 1892. When Winston Churchill first became prime minister in 1940, he was already an old age pensioner, and he was once again occupying 10 Downing Street when he celebrated his 80th birthday in November 1954.
Image copyright ALAMY
Image caption William Pitt the Younger became prime minister at the age of 24 and was dead by 46
To be sure, all three of these aging titans had their critics during their last years of office, when it seemed that they were desperately hanging on to power but to no good purpose. Palmerston appeared determined to thwart all attempts at domestic reform, and he was increasingly out of touch in the new Bismarckian world of international realpolitik. Gladstone, who was memorably denounced by Lord Randolph Churchill for being "an old man in a hurry", seemed obsessed with trying to pass Irish Home Rule, which he had not the remotest prospect of doing given the steadfast opposition of the House of Lords and of Queen Victoria.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Lord Palmerston (1784-1865)
Yet even their sternest critics also admitted that there was something heroic, perhaps noble, about such old men of power as these. In his final years, Lord Palmerston, who had been born as long ago as 1784, was one of the few surviving links to the far-off years before the French Revolution. Gladstone may have failed to carry Home Rule, but he was surely right to believe that was the best and most timely solution to Ireland's woes, as Queen Victoria's grandson, King George V, would later grudgingly concede.
And while Churchill failed to broker a detente between the US and Russia, he was undoubtedly correct in his belief that, sooner or later, the leaders of these two countries would have to do business with each other as, eventually, in the late 1980s, they did. Certainly, in the case of Gladstone and Churchill, it can be argued that old age brought with it not just experience, but also an increasingly urgent sense of what the big issues were on which they ought to focus their efforts.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption William Gladstone was prime minister in his 80s
That was also the defence of his own advancing years which Ronald Reagan, the oldest ever US president so far, famously mounted in his second presidential debate with Walter Mondale in 1984. Asked if he was not already too old to carry on doing such a demanding job, Reagan replied: "I will not make age an issue in this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience." At the time, it was an unanswerable riposte, but by the end of his second term of office, Reagan was in fact visibly ageing, and there were already rumours that he was suffering from the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
As an accomplished actor, Reagan just about got away with it, but one reason why we may now prefer our politicians to be middle-aged rather than elderly is that the 24-hour media is remorseless and merciless in its exposure of human frailty - as Hillary Clinton, who if elected in November 2016 would be an US president nearly as old as Ronald Reagan, may yet discover to her cost.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Ronald Reagan - the oldest ever US president
But it's a curious and unexplained paradox that in earlier times, when life expectancy was much lower than it is today, politicians were generally much older, whereas nowadays, when life expectancy is much greater, it's widely believed, at least in some quarters, that politicians ought to be younger. Yet in a country with an ageing population, and where 60 is supposed to be the new 40, it seems very odd that seniority and experience should be thought to be disqualifications for political leadership, as Menzies Campbell discovered to his cost in 2007, when he was effectively hounded from the leadership of the Liberal Democrats because he was deemed to be too old at 66.
But if we want a government to be more representative of the nation, then there should not only be more women and members of ethnic minorities appointed to it, but also more older people as well. And should all the contenders for our nation's highest political office have been born between 1964 and 1971? I'm not sure that they should. Let us hope that like the rest of us, all seven of them get better at life as they get older- and perhaps get better at politics, too.
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Earlier this year, the UK marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Winston Churchill. He is regarded by many as the greatest Briton ever, but for some he remains an intensely controversial figure.
| Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston |
Who fronted the band Culture Club? | Dropping The A-Word - The New York Sun
Dropping The A-Word
By DANIEL JOHNSON | October 18, 2007
http://www.nysun.com/opinion/dropping-the-a-word/64800/
We all want our leaders to be statesmanlike, but to be an "elder statesman" is political death. It is a strange paradox of western societies that, as the average age of voters increases year by year, we seem to expect those we elect to be, or at least to pretend to be, ever younger.
In other fields, age and experience are properly valued. Take literature: Doris Lessing has just won the Nobel Prize aged 88, while the two other living British literature laureates, V.S. Naipaul and Harold Pinter, are 76 and 78 respectively. Or take economics: Leonid Hurwicz, who led the American team that has just won the Nobel Prize, is 90. Or consider the esteem accorded to octogenarian former chairmen of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker.
Politics is another matter. This week witnessed a particularly dramatic case in Britain. The Liberal Democrats, Britain's third party, had their best ever result in the 2005 election under the convivial Charlie Kennedy, but he was rapidly deposed after it emerged that he had been concealing a serious drink problem. Other candidates dropped out due to sex scandals. Desperate for respectability, the party then elected Sir Menzies ("Ming") Campbell, its eminent expert on foreign affairs.
The trouble was that Sir Ming, as he became known, was in his mid-sixties and looks even older. Questions about his age and lack of dynamism never went away, especially after the Conservatives chose David Cameron, a generation younger, as their leader. The muttering rose to a crescendo in recent weeks after polls showed the Tories making gains at Liberal expense. The only thing that was keeping Sir Ming in place was the fear of a snap election. Once Prime Minister Gordon Brown flunked it, there was time for the Liberal Democrats to elect a new leader.
And so, last Monday, Sir Ming was unhorsed. His resignation was announced by two shifty-looking colleagues, while the gallant knight himself hid away in his elegant Edinburgh townhouse. Glimpsed at the window, Sir Ming's face was a picture of misery.
It is bad enough to have to admit to the world that you are in the job merely because your sobriety contrasts favorably with your predecessor's alcoholism. It is worse to be dumped because your colleagues have been going around saying: "I'd rather have Charlie drunk than Ming sober." Instead of a good ol' boy drinking whiskey and rye, he was a poor old boy drowning his sorrows in mineral water.
Could this episode have happened quite like this in America? Ronald Reagan was 69 when he was first elected President. Many senators are, as the title implies, senior citizens. The "gray vote" is better organized. Ageism is unacceptable.
And yet�I still wonder whether the troubles of Senator John McCain's candidacy have less to do with his support for the surge in Iraq than with the fact that he not only is old, but looks old. (Reagan didn't.) Out on the campaign trail, the senator regularly has to field questions about Alzheimers and other infirmities of old age. There is no comparison between Mr. McCain's record and, say, that of Barack Obama. But the A-word is inescapable.
In Australia, the same problem is afflicting an even more formidable politician: John Howard, Prime Minister since 1996 and many think the best Australia has ever had. At 68, he is younger than Reagan, Churchill or Adenauer when they first took over, but he is struggling to persuade Australians to give him a fifth term when the election is held next month.
There are few major differences on policy between Mr. Howard and his Labor opponent, Kevin Rudd; there is, though, an age gap of 18 years. True, Mr. Howard faced an even younger opponent (Mark Latham) in 2004, but won handsomely. This time, however, Mr. Howard has promised to retire within a couple of years even if, against the odds, he is re-elected yet again.
In general, democracies do not tend towards gerontocracy, though there are exceptions. Until the meteoric rise of Nicolas Sarkozy, France had been dominated by the same cast of characters since the 1970s: Giscard d'Estaing, Francois Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Jean-Marie Le Pen. But if France is not much of an advertisement for elder statesmen, Israel undoubtedly is.
Until Ariel Sharon was struck down by a stroke last year, Israeli politics had been dominated by the same battle-hardened generation of men and women who helped David Ben Gurion to found the Jewish state in 1948, including Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, and Yitzhak Shamir. One of them, Shimon Peres, is still the (non-executive) president at the age of 84. No other country has boasted such a generation of giants. Who can blame Israelis for their loyalty?
The truth is that age is no guide to political virtue � or vice. China is as sinister under Hu Jintao (a mere 65) as it was under Mao or Deng Xiaoping; Russia as hostile under Putin as under Brezhnev; North Korea as unpredictable under Kim Jong-Il as under Kim Il-Sung; Iran as dangerous under Ahmadinejad as under Khomeini.
Old age can occasionally be turned to advantage. Lord Palmerston, among the most popular of British prime ministers, was over 80 when he died in office in 1865. His Tory opponents once plotted to expose his latest affair. Benjamin Disraeli � himself quite a ladies' man � warned them: "Palmerston is now seventy. If he could prove evidence of his potency in his electoral address, he'd sweep the country."
I fear that Senator Clinton, like Queen Victoria, would not be amused � but Disraeli was right.
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Which is more substantial, Afternoon Tea or High Tea? | High Tea and Afternoon Tea -- What is the Difference?
Tea Resources
"High Tea" and "Afternoon Tea"
The "tea meals" referred to as high tea and afternoon tea originally started as social dining traditions in England and then spread to other English speaking countries in differing forms.
The primary distinction between differing tea meals is the time of day, food served, and the location of the tea meal, according to Marcus Stout, president of Golden Moon Tea Company.
Afternoon Tea
Afternoon tea, which is also referred to as low tea, includes a light meal typically eaten around 4:00 p.m. Traditionally, the tea and food are served on a lounge (or low) table, which is where it gets its name.
Loose tea is brewed and served in a teapot with milk and sugar. The tea is usually accompanied by a variety of sandwiches that may include cucumber, egg and cress, tuna, ham, and/or smoked salmon.
Scones (with butter, clotted cream and jam), cakes and pastries are typically served, as well.
While afternoon tea used to be an everyday event in certain cultures, in current times it is more likely to be a treat in a hotel, café, or tea shop. Although, some individuals still have a cup of tea and slice of cake or chocolate at tea time. Accordingly, many hotels now market and promote afternoon teas.
High Tea
As an early evening meal with tea served typically eaten between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m., this tea serves as a substitute for both afternoon tea and the more substantial evening meal.
The term comes from the meal being eaten at the "high" or main dining table, instead of the smaller lounge or low table.
Cold meats, eggs and/or fish, cakes and sandwiches are integral to the meal. Though in a family setting, it is less formal and may include small sandwiches, cookies, pastry, and fruit.
Like Low Tea, this tea meal tradition is no longer a daily standard and has been replaced by a more substantial meal that is served later in the day.
In recent years, high tea somehow became a word for exquisite afternoon tea. In traditional terms, this is not correct.
Excerpts from article by Marcus Stout, president of Golden Moon Tea Company .
Related Information - High Tea
| Tea (meal) |
What does a bad workman always blame? | High Tea | Definition of High Tea by Merriam-Webster
noun
Definition of high tea for English Language Learners
: an early evening meal at which tea and often cold meat and sandwiches are usually served
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What made you want to look up high tea? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
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In which soap would you find a garage known as The Arches? | EastEnders - Mirror
TV
EastEnders
A BBC soap opera that first landed on our screens in 1985, EastEnders continues to be one of the biggest shows on TV. It has also starred huge names including Barbara Windsor, Mike Reid and Leslie Grantham as the famous Dirty Den. It's particularly known for its dramatic Christmas scenes, which usually take place in the Queen Vic.
| EastEnders |
What is an Alto Cumulus? | EastEnders - Mirror
TV
EastEnders
A BBC soap opera that first landed on our screens in 1985, EastEnders continues to be one of the biggest shows on TV. It has also starred huge names including Barbara Windsor, Mike Reid and Leslie Grantham as the famous Dirty Den. It's particularly known for its dramatic Christmas scenes, which usually take place in the Queen Vic.
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In which European country would you find Tuscany? | Tour to Italy | Tuscany, Rome & Venice | Grand Circle Travel
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Accommodations: Parkhotel Luna Mondschein or similar
After breakfast, learn about the History of South Tyrol during exclusive Discovery Series discussion that spans from the Middle Ages to modern life in this part of Northern Italy.
Then set off on a walking tour in the company of an expert local guide introducing you to Bolzano's Austrian and Italian influences. Since medieval times, Bolzano has been a staging point on the route south through the Brenner Pass to Rome. In the Old Town Center, see vivid examples of Bolzano's Germanic Gothic history. Visit the Duomo, a 14th-century wonder featuring remarkable frescoes, and stroll the pedestrian-only Piazza Walther. You'll also enjoy a tasting at a local pub which cold brews their beers in the traditional German style.
This afternoon, enjoy an afternoon to make your own discoveries in Bolzano. Perhaps you'll visit one of the city's museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art, or the Museum of Natural History. You may also choose to visit the open-air market.
Or, join us for an optional excursion to Renon Mountain, which rises over Bolzano. You'll reach the mountain by cable car, taking in panoramic views of the city and surrounding areas. Continue by train to a nearby village where you'll have time to explore the town and learn more about local life. Then you'll continue to Unterrin for dinner in a local gasthof (tavern).
Day 12
View Extension Itinerary
Treasures of Tuscany - $125/person
Discover the rare beauty of Tuscany—from rolling hills dotted with vineyards, medieval towns, and sun-drenched castles, to delicious Tuscan dishes served with a glass of robust Chianti—on this optional morning tour. You’ll begin in the medieval hill town of San Gimignano, known as the “Town of Towers,” with free time to explore the narrow cobblestone streets twisting inside the walls of this quaint town. Then, travel through the marvelous Chianti wine country to the Castello Oliveto manor house, where you’ll take a tour of this magnificent 15th-century residence and its ancient wine cellar and enjoy an included lunch.
Siena - $125/person
On this full-day optional tour, you’ll explore the medieval walled city of Siena, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This hilltop city once rivaled Florence in wealth and power, and you’ll witness the lasting legacy of this golden age on a guided tour that takes in the Piazza del Campo—dominated by the soaring tower of Siena’s Town Hall—and the Siena Cathedral, a marvelous marble structure whose interior is adorned with the work of Italian masters from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Then, enjoy free time to explore the winding, automobile-free streets of the Old City on your own before an included lunch at a local trattoria.
Renon Mountain Tour & Tavern Dinner - $100/person
Join us as we discover Renon Mountain, which rises high above Bolzano. You’ll reach the mountain by cable car, taking in panoramic views of the city and surrounding vistas. Continue by train to a nearby village where you'll have time to explore the town and learn more about local life. Then you'll continue to Unterrin for dinner in a local gasthof (tavern).
Please note: Cable car may not operate on all departures. In this case, you will make the transfer by motorcoach.
Innsbruck - $145/person
Visit the capital city of Tyrol during this full-day optional tour to Innsbruck. Deriving its name from the Inn River, this historic city is flanked by the jagged Alps on all sides. You’ll travel over the Brenner Pass, and via the Europabrucke, the tallest road bridge in Europe. Enjoy a walking tour of the Old Town’s quaint streets, and the Market Square, with its 15th- and 16th-century houses. The tour will be rounded out by lunch in a local restaurant followed by free time to explore on your own.
Hotel Victoria
Located in the heart of Rome overlooking the Villa Borghese Park, this Superior-First-Class hotel is the perfect place to relax after exploring the city. Perhaps you’ll take advantage of the indoor and outdoor pools, or health club, or enjoy views from the panoramic terrace. The hotel’s on-site restaurant, the Belisario, is known for its regional Italian cuisine. Your air-conditioned room features a TV, wireless Internet access, and refrigerator.
| Italy |
Which is the busiest passenger ferry port in England? | Tuscany: Where to base yourself in Tuscany - TripAdvisor
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Comments (2)
This has to be the most frequently asked question in the Tuscany forum. There are a number of factors to be taken into consideration when choosing a base. The first one is to decide where you want to visit during your time in Tuscany . You need to buy a decent guide book and do some research on the region. You should then draw up a list of daytrips that you want to make. By looking at these locations on a map, a central location often becomes obvious.
The next factor to consider is what method of transport you plan to use while you are in Tuscany . If you want to explore the countryside, it really is essential to hire a car, or if you are not comfortable driving, to organise a private driver for your daytrips. Bus links tend to be localised and although train travel in Italy is very good compared to many other countries, access to rural areas is limited. Many people like to visit one or more of Tuscany ’s beautiful hilltop towns and villages, but one should bear in mind that any train stations near them will be down in the valley, often several kilometres away, and so it will be necessary to catch a bus up to the town. If you only want to visit major sights like Siena , Florence and Pisa , it might be worth saving yourself the cost of hiring a car and staying in a town or city with good transport links.
One daytrip that is best made by public transport is Florence . Not only are there the usual problems of heavy traffic, one way systems and expensive, and sometimes elusive, parking, but central Florence also has a limited traffic zone (ZTL). Residents have permits allowing them to drive in the centre, so it is very easy for tourists to follow them into the limited zone without realising it. Cameras record the licenses of cars entering the zone and, if you do not have the appropriate permit, eventually a hefty fine will find its way to you, via the car hire firm. Therefore, it is advisable to catch a bus, train or the new metro line into Florence , even if it means driving and parking somewhere and then travelling on into the city by public transport. Be aware that Pisa, Lucca, Siena , Arezzo and many smaller towns and villages also have ZTL zones, but in these places it is easier to park outside the zone and walk or bus into the centre, than it is in Florence.
The next thing to think about is whether you want to stay in the countryside, the city, or a town or village. Countryside villas can sometimes be remote and are often located on unmade roads. Staying in a city can be a problem if you have a car, but if you don’t have one, has all the advantages of restaurants, shops, museums, churches etc. being on your doorstep and good access to public transport if you want to day-trip to another city or town. Many people want to try to get the best of both worlds and stay just outside a town, but within walking distance of its amenities. Properties like this can be hard to find and even if you do find one that seems close to town, you need to consider that there may not be street lighting to light your way home in the evening or the route may be steep and so quite a trial in the heat of summer with heavy shopping bags to carry!
You also need to think about what kind of property you want to rent. There are a huge number of hotels, apartments and villas available in Tuscany . Tripadvisor’s hotel reviews are a great help in selecting a hotel, and now also includes reviews for B&B's and holiday rentals, apartments, villas, etc. When choosing a villa or apartment, you can pay more and go through a agency (their cut is usually between 15% and 45%), or you can search through the various websites carrying adverts from the owners themselves (though these sites are being increasingly high-jacked by large commission-based agencies). There are obvious advantages to dealing directly with an owner, but it is a good idea to choose somewhere with reviews left by previous guests, or one that has advertised with the website for some time. That way you can feel happy that you are really going to get what the advert promises. Choosing an ' agriturismo' can be a nice halfway house, where you can get a shared pool, the company of other guests, sometimes the possibility of an evening meal, while staying in beautiful surroundings, but at a more reasonable price than a private villa or hotel. Be aware that these are usually working farms, with associated farm noises! Also there is a great variation in the facilities and quality of such accommodation, so do your homework before booking.
Finally, many people mention a desire to stay somewhere with ’typical’ Tuscan scenery. Actually the scenery varies quite a lot. In the far north, Tuscany is mountainous and heavily wooded. As you move south generally, the mountains give way to hills, the woods thin out and by the time you get to southern Tuscany you have the rolling landscape of fields and cypress trees that most people think of as the ‘typical’ Tuscan scene. The Chianti region is one of the best for vineyards, if that is the vista you desire, and then there is the often overlooked coastline too. Every area of Tuscany has something beautiful and unique to offer, so if you do your research in advance, you can’t really go wrong.
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What weapons are used in fencing? | Weapons
Weapons
Learn to Fence
Weapons
Foil, epee and saber are the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. While it is not unusual for fencers to compete in all three events, an athlete typically chooses to hone their skills in one weapon.
Foil – The Sport of Kings
The foil is a descendant of the light court sword formally used by nobility to train for duels. The foil has a flexible rectangular blade, approximately 35 inches in length and weighs less than one pound. Points are scored with the tip of the blade and must land within the torso of the body. The valid target area in foil is the torso from the shoulders to the groin in the front and to the waist in the back. It does not include the arms, neck, head and legs. This concept of on‐target and off‐target evolved from the theory of 18th‐ century fencing masters who instructed their pupils to only attack the vital areas of the body – i.e. the torso. Of course, the head is also a vital area of the body, but attacks to the face were considered unsporting and therefore discouraged.
The foil fencer’s uniform includes a metallic vest (called a lamé), which covers the valid target area so that a valid touch will register on the scoring machine. The flexible nature of the foil blade permits the modern elite foil fencer to attack an opponent from seemingly impossible angles.
Epee – Freestyle Fencing
The epee (pronounced “EPP‐pay,” meaning sword in French), the descendant of the dueling sword, is similar in length to the foil, but is heavier, weighing approximately 27 ounces, with a larger guard (to protect the hand from a valid hit) and a much stiffer blade. Touches are scored only with the point of the blade, and the entire body, head‐to‐toe, is the valid target area, imitating an actual duel.
A full‐body target naturally makes epee a competition of careful strategy and patience – wild, rash attacks are quickly punished with solid counter‐attacks.
Therefore, rather than attacking outright, epeeists often spend several minutes probing their opponent’s defenses and maneuvering for distance before risking an attack. Others choose to stay on the defensive throughout the entire bout.
1996 was the first Olympics to feature team and individual women’s epee events.
Saber – Hack and Slash
The saber is the modern version of the slashing cavalry sword, and is similar in length and weight to the foil. The major difference is the use of the blade. The saber is a cutting weapon as well as a thrusting weapon; therefore, saberists can score with the edge of their blade as well as their point. The target area is from the bend of the hips (both front and back), to the top of the head. This simulates the cavalry rider on a horse. The saber fencers’ uniform includes a metallic jacket (lamé), which fully covers the target area to register a valid touch on the scoring machine. Because the head is valid target area, the fencer’s mask is also electrically wired.
If epee is the weapon of patient, defensive strategy, then saber is its polar opposite. In saber, the rules of right‐of‐way strongly favor the fencer who attacks first, and a mere graze by the blade against the lamé registers a touch with the scoring machine. These circumstances naturally make saber a fast, aggressive game, with fencers rushing their opponent from the moment the referee gives the instruction to fence. Athens was the first Olympics to feature a Women’s Saber event.
©2017 USA Fencing / SportsEngine . All Rights Reserved.
| Sword |
Which golfer Jack was nicknamed 'The Golden Bear'? | Fencing Equipment and History - Olympic Sport History
Sports
History
Swordplay has been practised for thousands of years, and modern day fencing began as a form of military training. It did not become a sport until around the 15th century.
Sword fighting and duels
Swordplay has been practised for thousands of years, as evidenced by carvings depicting fencers found in a temple near Luxor dating from around 1190 BC. From the 16th to the 18th century, duels were common, with combatants using a variety of weapons including quarterstaffs and backswords. Such bouts were bloody and occasionally fatal.
Birth of the sport
Fencing began the move from a form of military training to a sport in either the 14th or 15th century. Both Italy and Germany lay claim to its origins, with German fencing masters organising the first guilds in the 15th century, the most notable being the Marxbruder of Frankfurt, formed in 1478.
Rules of the game
Three innovations in the 17th and 18th century led to the popularity of fencing as a sport: the “foil” – a weapon with a flattened tip; a set of rules governing the target area; and the wire-mesh mask. Together, these developments ensured the safety of fencing’s participants.
Olympic history
Fencing was included for the first time at the 1896 Games in Athens, and has remained on the Olympic programme since then. The women’s fencing competition entered the Games in 1924 in Paris. Today, men and women compete in individual and team events, in which three types of weapon are used: foil, epee and sabre. The foil was, at first, the only weapon used by women, until the 1996 Games in Atlanta, when women’s epee was introduced. Women’s sabre appeared for the first time on the Olympic programme in Athens in 2004.
Among the figures who have marked this sport, Italy’s Nedo Nadi is the only fencer to have won a medal in every weapon in a single edition of the Games. In 1912, at the age of 18, he won in the foil. Then, after being decorated by his country for acts of bravery during the First World War, he won five gold medals in Antwerp in 1920, a historic and unequalled record: in the individual foil and sabre events, and in the team foil, epee and sabre events.
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In which Scottish City would you find Sauchiehall Street? | Sauchiehall Street Shopping in Glasgow | | People Make Glasgow
Add to Itinerary
First, an apology. Saw-kee-hall - it's really not the easiest of names for non-Glaswegians to say. Yet, once the pronounciation has been mastered Sauchiehall Street is a place you may want to head for its impressive array of popular brands. Everyone from the legendary Watt Brothers and M&S to TK Maxx is here, plus value retailers including Primark , BHS , Dunnes Stores and Deichman Shoes .
Beyond all this cost-effective temptation, you'll find the only BoConcept showroom in Scotland - the ultimate destination for contemporary furniture in this part of the style mile.
| Glasgow |
Which musician was known as 'Satchmo'? | | Glasgow Restaurant Association
A Little Taste of Italy Ristorante Teatro
61 Elmbank Street (between King's Theatre & Sauchiehall Street) , Glasgow, G2 4PQ
There are times when a name says it all. A Little Taste of Italy – Ristorante Teatro doesn’t quite manage…
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Which royal was once married to Lord Snowden? | Lord Snowdon, his women, and his love child - Telegraph
The Royal Family
Lord Snowdon, his women, and his love child
As revealed by The Sunday Telegraph earlier this year, Lord Snowdon has been co-operating on a sensational book likely to outrage the Royal Family. 'I am now happy for people to know about my life and I want to put the record straight on some things,' he tells Andrew Alderson.
By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter
11:21PM BST 31 May 2008
It was while Princess Margaret was attending a high-society party in New York that the hostess asked her politely how the Queen was keeping. "Which one?" she is reported to have replied with her typically razor-sharp wit. "My sister, my mother or my husband?"
The remark said it all about the extraordinary married life that the Queen's younger sister was pursuing in the mid-1960s with the Earl of Snowdon, a commoner affectionately dubbed the "first royal rebel" because of his disdain for convention.
The couple had married in May 1960 and their louche and, at times, reckless lifestyle of drug- and alcohol-fuelled affairs – and their fondness for mixing with actors, artists and pop stars – meant that the couple came to epitomise the "Swinging Sixties".
Now a semi-authorised biography of Lord Snowdon – to be published on June 12 – will reveal the full extent of the couple's hedonistic, some would say debauched, life together. Snowdon: The Biography has been given a stamp of authority because – as The Sunday Telegraph revealed in January – he has secretly spent four years co-operating with a project that promises to be the most sensational book on the Royal Family in recent times.
His frankness about his extramarital affairs, his refusal to deny persistent rumours that he is bisexual and the fact that the book is being published during his lifetime are expected to raise eyebrows among some senior members of the Royal Family, who prefer a "never complain, never explain" approach towards the public.
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Lord Snowdon fathered a secret love child just months before marrying Princess Margaret
31 May 2008
Official biographies of senior members of the Royal Family are traditionally published after their deaths to spare embarrassment to the subjects of the book, and their family and friends. However, Lord Snowdon, now 78, has preferred to tell his remarkable story publicly during his own lifetime.
"I am now happy for people to know about my life and I want to put the record straight on some things," he told me recently at his stylish west London home, where some of the best-known photographs of his half-century-long career adorn many walls. He revealed that he had met Anne de Courcy, the book's author, on numerous occasions and had allowed her access to his letters and papers. While remaining loyal to the memory of Princess Margaret, he also encouraged his own friends and friends of the Princess to talk freely to Ms de Courcy.
Lord Snowdon seems to have agreed that there should be no "no-go areas": he has been willing to talk about his troubled marriage, his bitter rift with one of Princess Margaret's closest friends and other controversial areas of his occasionally bizarre life.
For many, the book's greatest interest will be in Lord Snowdon's tangled – and at times tragic – love life. The book claims that he fathered an illegitimate child just months before marrying Princess Margaret, in May 1960. Polly Fry, a member of the Fry chocolate dynasty, was born on May 28, 1960, when Lord Snowdon and the Queen's younger sister were on the third week of their honeymoon. However, it was only in 2004 – when Lord Snowdon was 74 – that he apparently went along with her request to have a DNA test.
Polly Fry is understood to have become troubled by persistent rumours that Lord Snowdon – not Jeremy Fry – was her biological father. "When you reach a certain stage in your life, you just want to know…" she once said. Sure enough, the DNA tests – using two saliva samples – are said to have revealed that Miss Fry, now Polly Higson, had been fathered by Princess Margaret's former husband. Today Mrs Higson is 48, a married mother of five and lives in rural Somerset.
Yesterday, she confirmed the claims in the new book, but insisted that she did not want to say anything more. "It's all rather unnerving," she told me. Shortly before his first marriage, Lord Snowdon used to visit the Frys regularly at their home, Widcombe Manor, Bath.
The book claims that Miss Fry was conceived during a weekend when alcohol and "poppers" – amyl nitrite stimulants – had been in ready supply. "It was a pretty good free-for-all there," said one friend, of an intimate relationship between two allegedly bisexual men and one sexually liberated wife.
In a further twist, the book details how Jeremy Fry, who is now dead, had even been due to be best man at Lord Snowdon's wedding to Princess Margaret, but he stood down late in the day due to an alleged illness. In fact, although by this time it was not known who had fathered Mrs Fry's unborn child, Mr Fry had been convicted of a "minor" homosexual offence and fined £2.
It was apparently felt that if this – not the bizarre love triangle – emerged it would cause scandal at the royal wedding. Lord Snowdon then even briefly considered having Jeremy Thorpe, later to be the leader of the Liberal Party, as his best man but a cloud over the politician's sexuality ruled him out, too.
Quite how many lovers – both female and, possibly, male – Lord Snowdon has had will never be known. He certainly mixed freely in gay circles, although he once said: "I didn't fall in love with boys, but a few men have been in love with me."
In discussions with the author, Lord Snowdon has, however, been much happier to admit some of his female conquests. The book identifies Jacqui Chan, a former model and dancer, as his first real love.
As the then Antony Armstrong-Jones, he pursued a passionate relationship with Miss Chan, the stunning subject of some of his early photographs, and their love affair continued until shortly before he became engaged to Princess Margaret in February 1960. One well-known picture, taken by Lord Snowdon, shows Miss Chan turning the heads of three servicemen as she walks through Venice in 1956.
Lord Snowdon, who loved mixing in showbusiness circles, dated Miss Chan, who was Trinidadian born but of Chinese extraction, while she was working in the West End production of The World of Suzie Wong.
The book will also scrutinise the 20-year relationship that Lord Snowdon pursued with his mistress Ann Hills. It ended in tragedy when she committed suicide on New Year's Eve, 1996: she had been lonely over Christmas and had telephoned her lover to explain her unhappiness. The 55-year-old journalist died from a drugs overdose after writing a "letter of apology" to the love of her life.
She also instructed that Lord Snowdon's intimate gift to her – a jewelled 19th-century brooch that had once belonged to his mother – should be returned to him. Lord Snowdon has said that her death was "very sad, terrible, awful".
It is understood that Ms de Courcy details Hills' despair that she and Lord Snowdon were never properly a couple, but the author does not blame him for Ms Hills's suicide. Ms Hills, like her lover, boasted a strong libido: in 1977 she is said to have knocked on Lord Snowdon's door and said: "I am a journalist and want to do a story about you. But I also want to have an affair with you."
Lord Snowdon had lusted after and become captivated by Ms Hills to almost the same degree that he had been attracted many years earlier by Princess Margaret's beauty and sense of fun. After their wedding, however, neither Lord Snowdon nor the Princess was faithful. They both pursued several affairs before divorcing in 1978, having had two children – Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto.
One of Lord Snowdon's most passionate extramarital affairs in the late 1960s was with Lady Jacqueline Rufus-Isaacs, the daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Reading and one of the most vivacious party-goers of her generation. But, as with many of his lovers, when the relationship ended they parted on good terms and she has always been discreet about their affair.
After Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret separated in 1976, he pursued and later married, Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, the former wife of a film director. The couple married in December 1978 and had one child, Lady Frances Armstrong-Jones.
However, Lord Snowdon was again unfaithful and they divorced in 2000 – after it emerged that he had fathered a son, Jasper, out of wedlock, with Melanie Cable-Alexander, a journalist. She now lives in Somerset and Lord Snowdon has had little direct involvement with his illegitimate son.
Today Lord Snowdon is frail and has to use a wheelchair or sticks because of a recurrence of his childhood polio. Many of his former lovers, including Ms Cable-Alexander, are also believed to have spoken to the author. Lord Snowdon has, however, not been given copy approval and so the biography will not be fully "authorised".
Princess Margaret died in 2002, aged 71, at the start of her sister's Golden Jubilee year. Some friends believe she married Lord Snowdon on the "rebound" from her ill-fated relationship with Group Captain Peter Townsend. Princess Margaret enjoyed several extra-marital affairs, notably a lengthy relationship with Roddy Llewellyn, a landscape gardener 18 years her junior.
Their romance had started in Mustique, the Caribbean island then owned by Lord Glenconner, and that was always a bone of contention between Lord Snowdon and his first wife.
According to the new book, Lord Glenconner – the former Hon Colin Tennant – had been dismissive of Princess Margaret's plans to marry a commoner. When Tony Armstrong-Jones visited Lord Glenconner's London home, the peer even made the photographer use the servants' entrance. Furthermore, when Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret married, Lord Glenconner gave a spacious building plot on Mustique as a wedding present, but he insisted it was a gift only for the bride, not the groom.
As a result of the snub, Lord Snowdon spent only a single night on Mustique and called it "Mustake". He was even less complimentary about Lord Glenconner throughout his first marriage, referring to him as "s**t".
The new biography is, however, not only crammed with tales of fast living, romantic tragedies and bitter feuds. It also takes a sympathetic look at the troubled childhood of the young Tony Armstrong-Jones, the son of Ronnie Armstrong-Jones, a barrister, and his wife Anne, the daughter of the wealthy banker Leonard Messel. The incompatible couple divorced when Tony was five and he had an uneasy relationship with his aloof but glamorous mother, who referred to him as her "ugly son".
As a young man, who had been educated at Eton and Cambridge, Armstrong-Jones initially intended to be an architect before switching career to become a photographer. Now, for more than 50 years, he has taken photographs of the Royal Family at work and play, including memorable images of his former wife and the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Only last year, he was chosen to take the official portrait of the Queen and Prince Philip for the Royal Mail's Diamond Wedding Anniversary pack of stamps.
Lord Snowdon, say his friends, remains on good terms with the royal couple: he is said to appreciate the way Prince Philip welcomed him when he first joined the Royal Family and to admire the Queen's professionalism.
Ms de Courcy's book will also highlight Lord Snowdon's tireless charity work on behalf of the disabled and the disadvantaged.
Lord Snowdon seems untroubled by the impact of the new biography or what it might say about him. "I wouldn't dream of reading it. I am not remotely interested in the book," he said.
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What was discovered in Klondike, Canada, in 1896? | BBC - History - Princess Margaret's wedding (pictures, video, facts & news)
Princess Margaret's wedding
Princess Margaret's wedding
06 May 1960
Princess Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey in the spring of 1960. It was the first royal wedding to be broadcast on television and more than 20 million viewers tuned in to watch it.
Photo: Princess Margaret and her husband, the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, wave from Buckingham Palace. (AFP/Getty Images)
Introduction
Princess Margaret's first public event with fiancee Antony
Princess Margaret's first public engagement with fiancee Antony Armstrong-Jones, at the Royal Opera House.
Princess Margaret's first public event with fiancee Antony Armstrong-Jones, at the Royal Opera House, following their surprise engagement announcement.
BBC preparations for filming Princess Margaret's wedding
Peter Dimmick explains the BBC's preparations for filming Princess Margaret's wedding.
Peter Dimmick explains the BBC's preparations for filming Princess Margaret's wedding, including camera positions in Westminster Abbey and along the parade route.
Highlights from Princess Margaret's wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones.
Highlights from Princess Margaret's wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey, London.
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More information about: Princess Margaret's wedding
How the couple met
Princess Margaret was the daughter of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, born 21 August 1930 at Glamis Castle - the first royal birth in Scotland since the 17th Century.
On VE Day in 1945, she mingled with the crowds outside Buckingham Palace along with her older sister Elizabeth, who was to become queen in 1952.
The young princess took an interest in the arts and fashion and was the centre of a young set of aristocrats, know as The Margaret Set.
In 1953 she fell in love with one of the Royal Household, Group Captain Peter Townsend. Because he was divorced, marriage to Margaret was judged unacceptable by the Church of England and the political establishment. Eventually, Margaret decided not to marry him.
The princess resumed her social life and, in 1958, was introduced to a Cambridge graduate who was making a name for himself as a photographer.
Anthony Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret were engaged in October 1959.
The wedding day
Thousands lined the streets to witness the Queen's younger sister get married. It was the first ever televised wedding, and 20 million viewers tuned in.
Princess Margaret made the journey from Clarence House to Westminster Abbey in the Glass Coach with the Duke of Edinburgh.
She dressed in white silk and sported a diamond tiara. Among the 2,000 guests in the church were the King and Queen of Sweden, and the traditional Church of England service was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
After the ceremony, the pair travelled to Buckingham Palace where they waved to a delighted crowd.
The newlyweds boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia on the Thames and set off for a honeymoon in the Caribbean.
Life after the wedding
Antony Armstrong-Jones (now the Earl of Snowdon) and Princess Margaret had two children, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones. Over time, Lord Snowdon tired of official engagements, saying "I'm not royal; I'm just married to one."
The couple officially separated in March 1976, and divorced two years later.
Princess Margaret was dogged by ill-health for many years. She suffered a nervous breakdown, had parts of a lung removed and badly scalded her feet in a bathing accident. The operation on her lung failed to stop her smoking.
In 1998, she suffered the first of a series of strokes. On 9 February 2002 she died peacefully in her sleep after another stroke. Her funeral took place at St George's Chapel, Windsor.
The Earl of Snowdon has continued with his photography work. He remarried in 1978 but later divorced in 2000. In 1999 he received a life peerage so he could keep his seat in the House of Lords.
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What wartime position did General Montgomery assume in 1942? | World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein
World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein
World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. Photograph Courtesy of the National Archives & Records Administration
Second Battle of El Alamein - Conflict:
The Second Battle of El Alamein was fought during World War II .
Armies & Commanders:
The fighting at Second El Alamein raged from October 23, 1942 until November 5, 1942.
Second Battle of El Alamein - Background:
In the wake of its victory at the Battle of Gazala (May-June, 1942), Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Panzer Army Africa pressed British forces back across North Africa. Retreating to within 50 miles of Alexandria, General Claude Auchinleck was able to stop the Italo-German offensive at El Alamein in July . A strong position, the El Alamein line ran 40 miles from the coast to the impassable Quattara Depression. While both sides paused to rebuild their forces, Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Cairo and decided to make command changes.
Auchinleck was replaced as Commander-in-Chief Middle East by General Sir Harold Alexander , while the 8th Army was given to Lieutenant General William Gott. Before he could take command, Gott was killed when the Luftwaffe shot down his transport. As a result, command of the 8th Army was assigned to Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery. Moving forward, Rommel attacked Montgomery's lines at the Battle of Alam Halfa (August 30-September 5) but was repulsed. Choosing to take a defensive stance, Rommel fortified his position and placed over 500,000 mines, many of which were anti-tank types.
Second Battle of El Alamein - Monty's Plan:
Due to the depth of Rommel's defenses, Montgomery carefully planned his assault. The new offensive called for infantry to advance across the minefields (Operation Lightfoot) which would allow engineers to open two routes through for the armor. After clearing the mines, the armor would reform while the infantry defeated the initial Axis defenses. Across the lines, Rommel's men were suffering from a severe lack of supplies and fuel. With the bulk of German war materials going to the Eastern Front , Rommel was forced to rely on capture Allied supplies. His health failing, Rommel took leave to Germany in September.
Second Battle of El Alamein - The Allies Attack:
On the night of October 23, 1942, Montgomery began a heavy 5-hour bombardment of the Axis lines. Behind this, 4 infantry divisions from XXX Corps advanced over the mines (the men did not weigh enough to trip the anti-tank mines) with the engineers working behind them. By 2:00 AM the armored advance began, however progress was slow and traffic jams developed. The assault was supported by diversionary attacks to the south. As dawn approached, the German defense was hampered by the loss of Rommel's temporary replacement, Lieutenant General Georg Stumme, who died of a heart attack.
Taking control of the situation, Major-General Ritter von Thoma coordinated counterattacks against the advancing British infantry. Though their advance was bogged down, the British defeated these assaults and the first major tank engagement of the battle was fought. Having opened a six mile wide and five mile deep inroad into Rommel's position, Montgomery began shifting forces north to inject life into the offensive. Over the next week, the bulk of the fighting occurred in the north near a kidney-shaped depression and Tel el Eisa. Returning, Rommel found his army stretched with only three days of fuel remaining.
Moving divisions up from the south, Rommel quickly found that they lacked the fuel to withdraw, leaving them exposed in the open. On October 26, this situation worsened when Allied aircraft sank a German tanker near Tobruk. Despite Rommel's hardships, Montgomery continued to have difficulty breaking through as Axis anti-tank guns mounted a stubborn defense. Two days later, Australian troops advanced northwest of Tel el Eisa towards Thompson's Post in an attempt to break through near the coast road. On the night of October 30, they succeeded in reaching road and repelled numerous enemy counterattacks.
Second Battle of El Alamein - Rommel Retreats:
After assaulting the Australians again with no success on November 1, Rommel began to concede that the battle was lost and began planning a retreat 50 miles west to Fuka. At 1:00 AM on November 2, Montgomery launched Operation Supercharge with the goal of forcing the battle into the open and reaching Tel el Aqqaqir. Attacking behind an intense artillery barrage, the 2nd New Zealand Division and the 1st Armored Division met stiff resistance, but forced Rommel to commit his armored reserves. In the resulting tank battle, the Axis lost over 100 tanks.
His situation hopeless, Rommel contacted Hitler and asked for permission to withdraw. This was promptly denied and Rommel informed von Thoma that they were to stand fast. In assessing his armored divisions, Rommel found that fewer than 50 tanks remained. These were soon destroyed by British attacks. As Montgomery continued to attack, entire Axis units were overrun and destroyed opening a 12-mile hole in Rommel's line. Left with no choice, Rommel ordered his remaining men to begin retreating west.
On November 4, Montgomery launched his final assaults with the 1st, 7th, and 10th Armored Divisions clearing the Axis lines and reaching open desert. Lacking sufficient transportation, Rommel was forced to abandon many of his Italian infantry divisions. As a result, four Italian divisions effectively ceased to exist.
Aftermath
The Second Battle of El Alamein cost Rommel around 2,349 killed, 5,486 wounded, and 30,121 captured. In addition, his armored units effectively ceased to exist as a fighting force. For Montgomery, the fighting resulted in 2,350 killed, 8,950 wounded, and 2,260 missing, as well as around 200 tanks permanently lost. A grinding battle that was similar to many fought during World War I, the Second Battle of El Alamein turned the tide in North Africa in favor of the Allies. Pushing west, Montgomery drove Rommel back to El Agheila in Libya. Pausing to rest and rebuild his supply lines, he continued to attack in mid-December and pressed the German commander into retreating again. Joined in North Africa by American troops, who had landed in Algeria and Morocco, Allied forces succeeded in evicting the Axis from North Africa on May 13, 1943.
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What began operating at Calder Hall in 1956? | World War 2 Events of 1942
World War 2 Events of 1942
World War 2 Events of 1942
With the Americans now on board, the Allies went on the offensive with the Operation Torch landings in North Africa.
There are a total of (360) entries in the World War 2 Events of 1942. Entries are listed below by earliest date to latest date.
January 1st - July 31st
Some 800,000 of Leningrad's citizens are evacuated through the frozen passage above Lake Lagoda.
January 1st - January 31st
1942
Over the course of the month, three Soviet armies, under the command of Major-General D.T. Kozlov, are called to the newly created "Crimea Front".
January 1st
The German U-boat fleet now numbers some 331 operational vessels.
January 1st - March 1st
1942
Off the east coast of the United States, some 216 vessels fall prey to the German U-boat scourge in this span.
January 7th
Along the Volkhov Front to the south of Novgorod, the Soviets launch a major offensive.
January 7th
1942
With progress over the Germans being made on several fronts, Soviet forces launch another offensive to try and encircle Army Group Centre.
January 9th
The Japanese begin their offensive against the dug-in American forces on the Bataan Peninsula.
January 11th
Three Japanese amphibious forces take on the Dutch East Indies.
January 11th
Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaya, falls to the invading Japanese 5th Division.
January 15th
Japanese forces invade Burma beginning their assault at Victoria Point.
January 19th
1942
The Japanese Army makes short work of the light British defenses, covering some 230 miles in reaching Tavoy.
January 23rd
The American defensive lines finally break.
January 25th
1942
The Soviet movement begins losing steam after consecutive weeks of fighting. Man and machine are beginning to show their limitations.
February 2nd
Adolph Hitler approves of the order for retreat for German forces at Rostov.
February 5th
Rostov is officially abandoned by General Manstein's forces.
February 6th
German General Manstein meets with Hitler and proposes a new German counter-attack against the Russians.
February 8th
The Soviet Army officially retakes the Russian city of Kursk.
February 12th
German Army Group Don is renamed Army Group South.
February 12th
German Army Group B is renamed Army Group Center.
February 14th
By this time, the Japanese have captured Borneo, Celebes and Sarawak.
February 14th
RAF Bomber Command issues its "Area Bombing Directive", allowing the legitimate bombing of civilian areas.
February 14th - February 18th
1942
Street fighting begins between the German I SS Panzer Corps and the Russian 3rd Tank Army and 40th Army forces in Kharkov.
February 14th
Russian General Vatutin and his South-West Front army reach the city of Kharkov.
February 15th
1942
Singapore eventually falls to the might of the Japanese assault resulting in the capture of some 60,000 Allied prisoners against the cost of 2,000 Japanese soldiers.
February 17th
Adolph Hitler meets with General Manstein to plan a German counter-offensive.
February 18th
German forces are officially driven from the Russian city of Kharkov.
February 19th
1942
The Japanese 1st Air Fleet conducts a surprise attack on Allied ships at Broome and Darwin. Twelve ships are sunk in the assault.
February 20th
1942
The Germans unleash their counterattack using the 4th Panzer Amry, 1st Panzer Army and the II SS Panzer Corps.
February 28th
1942
The Germans recapture lost ground and push elements of the Russian Army back. The German army reaches as far in as the River Donets while General Vatutin's forces are surrounded.
March 1st
The Avro Lancaster heavy bomber is inducted into RAF service.
March 1st - April 30th
Hitler and his commanders flesh out Operation Blue - in invasion of the oil-rich, Russian-held Caucasus.
March 1st - March 30th
The whole Soviet 2nd Shock Army is lost near Novgorod.
March 1st - March 30th
The Soviet offensive near Novgorod is stopped by German ground and air elements.
March 7th
1942
German General Hoth and his 4th Panzer Army form up and launch an offensive against the Voronezh Front near Kharkov.
March 8th
Japanese forces, numbering two battalions strong, land at Lae and Salamaua in New Guinea.
March 8th
The British Burma Army escapes anhilation in Burma.
March 8th
Rangoon, Burma falls to the Japanese.
March 8th
1942
By this date, the Japanese capture the Dutch East Indies with the occupations of Bali, Timor and Java.
March 8th
Street fighting throughout Kharkov erupts once more as German forces enter Kharkov.
March 14th
The 4th Panzer Army surrounds the city of Kharkov.
March 18th
The Germans complete the retaking of Kharkov.
March 18th - March 26th
1942
The Soviets and Germans both dig in within and around the city of Kharkov, preparing to fight another day.
March 20th
1942
British Convoy PQ13 sets sail for Russia but comes under fire from German U-Boats. Five of the 19 ships are lost.
March 28th
234 RAF bombers drop incendiaries on Lubeck. 12 aircraft are lost.
March 28th
The British utilize the "Gee" electronic navigation system for the first time.
April 1st
The Japanese aircraft carrier Ryujo enters the Bay of Bengal.
April 1st - May 31st
1942
Over a two month period, German forces are resupplied and strengthened before a major offensive - Operation Bustard - to remove the Soviets from the Kerch peninsula. Among the resupply deliveries are 33 massive artillery pieces meant to destroy the Soviet defensive works at the fort in Sevastopol.
April 3rd
No fewer than five Japanese Navy aircraft carriers reach the Indian Ocean.
April 4th
1942
A small contingent of British Royal Navy vessels operating in the Indian Ocean are warned of the arriving Japanese Navy force.
April 4th
Admiral Sir James Somerville detaches a force to intercept the arriving Japanese fleet.
April 5th
Hitler issues the official Fuhrer Directive for Operation Blue.
April 6th
1942
The Imperial Japanese Navy unleashes a surprise attack, with some 120 aircraft, on British forces at Columbo Harbor, Ceylon.
April 6th
Twenty-six Allied aircraft are destroyed.
April 6th
1942
The British Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk by the Japanese air strike.
April 6th
The British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Tenedos is sunk by the Japanese air strike.
April 9th
The HMS Hermes is one of four Royal Navy ships sunk by Japanese Navy aircraft.
April 9th
American forces fighting on the Bataan Peninsula finally surrender to the Japanese.
April 9th
An 85-strong Japanese Navy aircraft contingent attacks airfields and targets of opportunity at Trincomalee, Ceylon.
April 30th
1942
Spring over Russia brings about seasonal rains turning once solid and dependable ground into a muddy nightmare for both armies. As such, offensives are limited or stalled altogether.
April 30th
German Army forces partially regroup and recover from the constant barrage of Soviet offensives.
April 30th
1942
By this time, over 1 million German soldiers have been killed in action since the start of Operation Barbarossa.
May 3rd
1942
American intelligence intercepts various Japanese communications and is able to piece together the intention to invade Port Moresby, New Guinea.
May 3rd
1942
An Imperial Japanese Navy carrier force sets sail on patrol around the Solomons looking for American carrier battle groups.
May 3rd
1942
Forces of the Imperial Japanese Army land at Tulagi of the Solomons island group. Subsequent develop ensures a base of operations for Japanese logistics in the region.
May 4th
The Japanese invasion force leaves Rabaul, New Britain, heading towards Port Moresby, New Guinea.
May 4th
1942
USS Yorktown launched strike aircraft south of Guadalcanal. At 6:30AM, the American Navy aircraft spot and subsequently target Japanese land emplacements and sea vessels in the area.
May 5th - May 6th
Foul weather limits detection of either carrier force across a two day span.
May 5th
1942
The Japanese enact an offensive to take Corregidor Island, a strategic point providing access to Manila Bay.
May 6th
Corregidor Island falls to the Japanese, giving the invaders control over Manila Bay.
May 7th
The USS Neosho and the USS Sims are sunk by Japanese aircraft.
May 7th
The Japanese invasion of Port Moresby is called off.
May 7th
1942
Allied Task Force 44, headed by Royal Navy Rear-Admiral Crace, moves in to intercept the Japanese invasion force. However, the force is prematurely spotted by Japanese reconnaissance aircraft resulting in a counter-assault of the Task Force by Japanese Navy warplanes. Crace and his force never make the intercept.
May 7th
The Allies spot the Japanese Covering Group escorting the invasion force.
May 7th
1942
The USS Lexington and the USS Yorktown launch their attack planes and sink the Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho in the process.
May 8th
At 6:10PM, the USS Lexington is a complete loss. She is scuttled and sunk.
May 8th
By 6:00PM that evening, nearly all of the USS Lexington's sailors have been rescued.
May 8th
1942
German General Manstein leads his 11th Army onto the Kerch Peninsula towards the city of Sevastopol.
May 8th
Lieutenant-General von Manstein launches his assault.
May 8th
The Japanese invasion force heads back to New Britain.
May 8th
1942
Some 27 Japanese aircraft are launched under the cover of darkness in the hopes of locating the Allied Task Force. They come up empty and only six aircraft return safely home.
May 8th
Just past dawn, the Japanese and American carrier groups spot one another.
May 8th
At 9:25AM, Japanese and American warplanes take to the skies.
May 8th
1942
At 2:47PM, the American carrier USS Lexington is hit by a Japanese torpedo, causing a major explosion in her generator room.
May 8th
1942
At 11:40AM, US Navy warplanes manage to score devastating hits to the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku, severely damaging her.
May 9th
Despite numbers against him, Japanese Vice-Admiral Takagi is ordered to send his warplanes aloft.
May 9th
1942
The Japanese aircraft do not locate the American fleet and any further actions are called off, effectively ending the Battle of Coral Sea.
May 12th
Soviet ground forces launch a pre-emptive offensive against German-held Kharkov.
May 12th
German forces enact Operation Fridericus and attempt to take Izyum.
May 14th
1942
The convoy system is formally adopted by the United States in an effort to protect its merchant shipping in the Atlantic.
May 15th
Sevastopol is cutt off from the rest of the Soviet Union by German Army elements.
May 15th
Manstein's offensive results in the taking of the Kerch peninsula from the Soviets.
May 15th
Burma falls to the Japanese.
May 15th
Manstein begins planning his next major offensive to take Sevastopol - this becomes Operation Sturgeon.
May 20th
The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division begins training for Operation Rutter on the Isle of Wight.
May 25th
1942
A large Imperial Japanese Naval force sails for Japan towards Midway Island. The force Is made up of four task forces. One is charged with the invasion of the Aleutian Islands off of Alaska while the other three are to take Midway Island itself and assail the responding USN fleet. One group contains the required four aircraft carriers.
May 26th
1942
Group Cruewell, made up of the Italian X and XI Corps, launches an assault on the northern portion of the Gazala Line in an attempt to divert Allied forces from the real attack coming from the south.
May 26th
1942
Rommel begins his offense against the Gazala Line, made up of some 50 miles of British defenses.
May 26th
1942
Beginning at 7:00PM, the German 90th Infantry Division, the 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions and the Italian XX Corps under Rommel launch their offensive along the southern portion of the Gazala Line.
May 27th
German forces south of Bir Hacheim make progress and begin to move northwards.
May 27th
The 1st Free French Brigade at Bir Hacheim holds off the German progress.
May 28th
The final Imperial Japanese Task Force leaves mainland Japan.
May 28th
While trying to take Sidra Ridge, German Panzer force casaulties begin to mount significantly.
May 30th
1942
RAF Bomber Command attack Cologne with 1,046 aircraft in the first of their "1,000 Bomber" raids.
May 31st
Rommel orders his forces to begin defensive preparations across a 10 mile stretch.
May 31st
1942
As the Allied defense along the Gazala line holds, Rommel is forced to change tactics, now concentrating his forces against the British 150th Brigade near Sidi Muftah.
June 1st - June 30th
1942
June of 1942 marks the single worst month of Allied shipping losses, totaling some 834,000 tons of goods at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
June 1st
Nearly 30% of German tanks have been lost in Rommel's offensive.
June 1st - June 3rd
A German pocket develops near Sidi Muftah.
June 2nd
600 German artillery guns open fire on Sevastopol.
June 3rd
1942
The Northern Task Force begins its operation to take the Aleutian Island chain and divert USN forces to the region.
June 4th
1942
At 5:00PM, the Imperial Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu is set ablaze after being struck by no fewer than five direct bomb hits from aircraft of the USS Enterprise.
June 4th
At 9:00AM, USS Yorktown launches her aircraft with Nagumo's carrier force as the prime target.
June 4th
1942
By 3:00PM, the crew of the USS Yorktown has abandoned their carrier. The damaged vessel is towed by USN ships.
June 4th
By 2:30PM, the USS Yorktown is severely damaged but does not sink.
June 4th
At 12:00PM, Imperial Japanese Navy bomber aircraft strike against the attacking USS Yorktown.
June 4th
The three Japanese carriers - Kaga, Soryu and Akagi - are struck with bombs and ultimately sunk.
June 4th
1942
At 10:25AM, a follow-up strike made up of 37 Dauntless dive bombers finds the Japanese carriers - now stocked with armed and fueled aircraft on their decks.
June 4th
The initial American assault on the Japanese carrier strike force is over by 10:00AM.
June 4th
1942
All incoming USN Devastator attackers are shot down by Japanese Zero fighters in the span of six minutes.
June 4th
The first wave of USN carrier dive-bombers has difficulty in locating their Japanese targets.
June 4th
1942
At 9:18AM, Nagumo reacts to the American presence and changes the course of his Carrier Strike Force.
June 4th
1942
Between 9:30AM and 10:00AM, Torpedo planes from the USS Enterprise and USS Hornet begin their attacks on the Japanese carriers.
June 4th
1942
At 8:37AM, aircraft of the second Japanese strike force returns to their respective carriers for rearming and refueling.
June 4th
At 8:20AM, a surprised Nagumo receives his first report of American carriers in the area.
June 4th
At 7:52AM, USS Enterprise and USS Hornet launch their dive bombers and torpedo planes.
June 4th
1942
American fighter aircraft take heavy losses but force the Japanese Navy to launch a second attack.
June 4th
1942
At 7:28AM, a Japanese reconniassance plane spots spots ten undetermined USN surface ships 200 miles northeast of the Japanese Midway invasion force.
June 4th
1942
At 4:30AM, the bombing of Midway Island begins with aircraft from Vice-Admiral Nagumo's First Carrier Strike Force.
June 5th
The Japanese carrier Hiryu is scuttled.
June 5th
1942
The Allies attempt an offensive to drive the German pocket back from Sidi Muftah and fail. 230 Allied tanks are lost in the attack.
June 6th
The island of Kiska is taken by Japanese forces.
June 6th
1942
The USS Yorktown, now severely damaged and in tow of US Navy forces, is targeted and sunk by a Japanese submarine.
June 6th
1942
The British 150th Brigade is utterly destroyed under the German assault, resulting in 4,000 British prisoners of war.
June 6th
The German Luftwaffe is called in to bomb Sevastopol.
June 7th
The island of Attu is taken by Japanese forces.
June 7th
1942
The German artillery guns cease fire on Sevastopol. The bombardment on the Soviets has spanned five days.
June 7th
The German 11th Army begins their assault on Sevastopol from the north at 2:30AM.
June 10th
1942
The 1st Free French Brigade at Bir Hacheim can hold no more and retreat under the mounting German pressure.
June 11th
The German Army breaks out of their pocket near Sidi Muftah.
June 11th
The German-allied Romanian Mountain Corps and 30th Army Corps launch their attack on Sevastopol.
June 11th
1942
German forces breaking out near Sidi Muftah target the British 7th Armored Division near El Adem.
June 11th
The Allies go into full retreat as the Germans advance.
June 12th - June 16th
1942
The German offensive against Sevastopol is repulsed by the 180,000 or so Russian soldiers holed up in the city.
June 17th
Manstein launches another assault on Sevastopol.
June 18th
1942
The city of Tobruk, defended by the 2nd South African Division, is completely surrounded by German forces.
June 20th
1942
At 7:00PM, the German 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions have made it past Tobruk's first line of defense, making headway into the city.
June 20th
Artillery shells and Luftwaffe bombs rain upon Tobruk.
June 20th
Rommel begins his offensive against the defenders in Tobruk.
June 21st
1942
The 2nd South African Division under Allied General Klopper officially concede defeat and hand control of Tobruk to the Germans.
June 27th
1942
The Soviet Army is encircled and defeated at Kharkov, netting the Germans some 250,000 Soviet prisoners.
June 27th
German forces complete their capture of Izyum.
June 27th - July 28th
Convoy PQ17 loses 34 of its 36 ships to Geman U-Boats and surface ships.
June 27th
British convoy PQ17 sets sail from Reykjavik, Iceland.
June 27th
The Romanian and German army forces capture key hilltop positions near Sevastopol.
June 28th
The German Army turns its attention towards the Volga.
June 28th
The German 2nd Army and 4th Panzer Army launch their attack towards Voronezh near Kursk.
June 28th
By this date, over 90% of the Soviet defensive fortifications have fallen to the Germans.
June 28th
German forces reach the outskirts of Sevastopol.
June 30th
1942
Evacuation of Russian soldiers from Sevastopol begins with help from the Soviet Black Sea Fleet under Vice-Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky.
June 30th
German General Paulus attacks at Belgorod.
July 1st - July 31st
1942
The Allies received word on the construction of a strategic Japanese airfield (Henderson Field) on the island of Guadalcanal, part of the Solomon Islands. As such, plans are set in motion to curtail construction of the endeavor. US Navy and Marine forces spring into action.
July 1st - July 22nd
1942
The First Battle of El Alamein takes place with Erwin Rommel hoping to put a dent in the Allied defense near El Alamain. Rommel's forces consist of his Afrika Corps and three Italian troop corps.
July 1st
German General Erwin Rommel attempts to break through the Allied defensive perimeter at El Alamein.
July 1st
One last German push secures strategic positions throughout the city of Sevastopol.
July 1st - July 31st
1942
Hitler orders two directives in the operation against Leningrad. The first calls for its immediate encirclement and the second for its immediate destruction from land and air.
July 2nd
The Soviet city of Sevastopol officially falls to the Germans.
July 2nd
1942
The last of the Soviet forces are evacuated by sea leaving little to stop the German onslaught.
July 3rd
The Allies put up a stubborn defense, repelling Rommel's offensive.
July 4th
Sevastopol officially falls to German control.
July 4th
1942
German control and the subsequent round up on the city nets some 90,000 Soviet army prisoners of war.
July 6th
The German 6th Army reaches the Don River.
July 6th
The Soviet city of Voronezh falls to the German Army.
July 6th
The German 6th Army moves on Stalingrad.
July 7th
1942
This date is set aside for Operation Rutter - the amphibious landing at the port city of Dieppe in occupied France.
July 7th
1942
Bad weather cancels this original date for Operation Rutter. Discussions begin on whether or not to nix the entire endeavor. It returns to the planning stages under a new name - Operation Jubilee.
July 7th
1942
German General Field Marshal List takes command of the new Army Goup A, made up of the 1st Panzer Army and the 17th Army.
July 9th
The German Army begins its move towards Rostov.
July 9th
1942
German Army Group South is renamed Army Group B and placed under the control of Field Marshal von Bock.
July 13th
Adolf Hitler assigns General Paulus and his 6th Army to take Stalingrad.
July 13th
General von Weichs takes control of Army Group B from Bock.
July 17th
Hitler diverts the 4th Panzer Army away from Stalingrad and sends them towards the Caucasus.
July 19th
1942
German U-boats off the eastern coast of the US are relocated to better assault the merchant fleets streaming across the Atlantic.
July 21st
Japanese Major General Horii and his 18th Army land near Buna.
July 22nd
Major General Horii and his 18th Army march towards Port Moresby.
July 22nd
The Japanese Army gain ground on the US, Australian and Papuan Infantry Regiment defenders.
July 23rd
1942
Rostov falls to the German Army Group A, netting some 83,000 Soviet prisoners as a result.
July 23rd
Hitler issues a supplemental directive to Operation Blue requiring his 6th Army to take Stalingrad.
July 28th
1942
The macabre resolution of "not one step backwards" is issued by Stalin to his generals and troops.
August 1st
1942
De Havilland DH 98 Mosquito twin-engine fighters are assigned as "Pathfinder" units charged with lighting up ground targets via flares and incendiary ordnance for ensuing RAF heavy bombers.
August 1st - August 30th
Churchill replaces 8th Army leader Major-General Neil Ritchie with General Bernard Montgomery.
August 1st - August 30th
1942
German forces are strengthened by the arrival of another Italian division, a German parachute brigade and more tanks.
August 1st - August 30th
British Prime Minister relieves General Auchinleck with General Harold Alexander as Commander-in-Chief, Middle East.
August 1st - August 31st
1942
Any further convoys passing to the Arctic to Russia are suspended for the time being as resources are pressed for service in the Allied landings occurring in North Africa.
August 4th
Elements of the German Army cross the Aksay River towards Stalingrad.
August 6th
The German Army crosses the Kuban River near Armavir.
August 6th
US Navy and Marine forces position themselves near Guadalcanal.
August 7th
Elements of the German Army attack Soviet forces near Kalach.
August 7th
Amphibious forces spearheaded by the United States Marines begin against the Japanese-held island of Guadalcanal.
August 8th
The amphibious landings largely conclude by this date.
August 8th
Just outside of Guadalcanal, the islands of Tulagi and Gavutu fall to the Allies.
August 8th
Japanese bombers attack US forces at Henderson Field.
August 8th
1942
By the end of the day and facing next to no opposition, the US soldiers capture and secure Henderson Field.
August 8th
1942
A large contingent of Imperial Japanese Navy warships heads out of Rabaul towards Savo Island to strike at US Navy transports there.
August 8th
1942
Naval battles ultimately ensure between the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy for control of Guadalcanal.
August 9th
1942
Three US and one Australian cruiser are sunk by the Japanese Navy during the morning hours.
August 9th
1942
The German German Army captures the strategic port of Yeysk and Krasnador on the Sea of Azov.
August 9th
Army Group A captures the Maikop oil field on the Black Sea.
August 14th
The Japanese Army gains vital territory leading up and into the Owen Stanley Range.
August 14th
German forces cross the Kuban river near Krasnador.
August 14th
The Japanese Army takes control of the village of Kokoda.
August 14th
The Japanese Army reaches Isurava just outside of Port Moresby.
August 18th
1942
A Japanese counteroffensive sees an amphibious landing take place at Taivu. This landing zone is just 32 miles east of Henderson Field.
August 19th
1942
By 2:00 PM, all survivors of the Dieppe invasion have been rescued. Left behind are 3,367 casualties, wounded, prisoners of war or missing.
August 19th
1942
By 11:00 AM, disaster has completely befallen the invaders. Many are trapped, forced back or dead to a prepared German defense.
August 19th
1942
At 5:35 AM, Allied armor makes it to the beach. Over half of the tanks are lost in the action.
August 19th - September 30th
A Soviet offensive aimed at smashing through the German lines fails.
August 19th
1942
At 3:48 AM, several Allied invasion vessels run into a German convoy, which actively engages the ships, ruining any chance the Allies held in the element of surprise. This event is a fore-telling of the day to follow.
August 19th
1942
At 4:30 AM, Canadian soldiers wade ashore and take on the German coastal batteries at Berneval, Puys, Pourville and Varengville.
August 19th
This date is targeted for Operation Jubilee.
August 19th
1942
At 5:20 AM, the main invasion force - made up of the 14th Army Tank Regiment, the Essex Scottish Regiment, and the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry - come ashore.
August 19th
1942
4,962 Canadian soldiers, along with 1,000 British troops and a 50-man contingent of American US Army Rangers set sail on no fewer than 237 boats towards Dieppe.
August 19th
Operation Jubilee is officially put into action.
August 19th
1942
German General Paulus and his 6th Army is ordered to attack the Soviet city of Stalingrad.
August 20th
The first of thirty-one US fighter aircraft arrive at Henderson Field.
August 21st
1942
Japanese ground forces attempt attacks against Henderson Field and American forces at Tenaru. The Japanese troops make little headway and are themselves encircled.
August 21st
Nazi-allied French leader Marshal Petain celebrates the German victory over the Allied invasion at Dieppe.
August 22nd
1942
The Japanese attackers at Henderson Field and Tenaru are ultimately destroyed, forcing Colonel Ichiki to commit ritual suicide.
August 22nd
German land forces advancing into the Caucasus are stopped.
August 23rd
1942
US naval patrol aircraft spot the incoming Japanese convoy, radioing positions back to the main task force.
August 23rd
1942
The Imperial Japanese Navy enacts a plan to resupply their forces at Guadalcanal under the cover of three aircraft carriers made up of the IJN Ryujo, the IJN Shokaku and the IJN Zuikaku.
August 23rd
Army Group B reaches the Volga River.
August 23rd
The Battle of the Eastern Solomons begins.
August 24th
The US Navy claims a Japanese aircraft carrier. The carrier is attacked and sunk.
August 24th
1942
The Japanese Navy lose their seaplane carrier - the IJN Chitose - to American dive bombers at 5:40PM.
August 24th
1942
At about 4:41PM, the USS Enterprise is the victim of Japanese dive bombers and takes several direct hits but manages to keep fighting.
August 24th
1942
Dive bombers and torpedo bombers from the USS Enterprise manage critical hits against the IJN Ryujo and sink here where she stood at 3:50PM.
August 24th
At 3:15PM, American carrier aircaft from the USS Enterprise manage hits on the IJN Shokaku.
August 24th
1942
Task Force 61, comprised of the USS Enterprise, USS Saratoga and the USS Wasp head to intercept the Japanese convoy.
August 24th
1942
US naval patrol aircraft once again spot the incoming Japanese convoy. Positions are sent to Task Force 61.
August 24th
1942
Task Force 61 sets up at locations east of Malaita Island in preparation for the battle. Aircraft are launched form the American carriers beginning what is known as the Battle of the Eastern Solomons.
August 25th
Stalingard is officially under siege by the Germans Army.
August 25th
1942
The Japanese Navy completes an amphibious landing at Milne Bay to establish a beachhead and open a second front on New Guinea.
August 25th
The Japanese Navy loses a pair of transport ships enroute to the Solomon Island chain.
August 25th
1942
The Battle of the Eastern Solomons ends with the Japanese Navy claiming at least 90 aircraft lost while the American Navy enjoys victory with 20 aircraft lost in the fray.
August 26th
1942
The 18th Australian Brigade, utilizing valuable intelligence reports, meet the arriving Japanese amphibious forces head-on and hold the Japanese beachhead at Milne Bay.
August 29th
1942
A further 600 Japanese Army soldiers are landed at Milne Bay to help strengthen the beachhead.
August 30th
1942
Rommel begins a new offensive starting from Bab el Qattara that becomes the Battle of Alam Halfa near El Alamein. The objective is the high ridge at Alam Halfa some 13 miles through the Allied defensive perimeter in the south.
August 30th
1942
American General Douglas MacArthur employs his superiors for additional firepower and troop strength to help hold Papua.
August 31st
1942
By this date, the Japanese have completed their takeovers of the Caroline Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Marianas Islands and a portion of the Solomon Islands. This is the farthest that the Japanese Empire would reach in the Pacific.
September 1st - September 30th
German progress throughout the Casucasus is slowed by Soviet resistance and fuel/supply shortages.
September 1st
Germany Army elements, backed by Romanians cross the Kerch Straits.
September 1st
The Germans establish a bridgehead over the Terek River.
September 1st - September 30th
The month is spent ironing out plans for the Allied invasion of German-occupied North Africa.
September 2
1942
Rommel's assault is thwarted, his tank forces suffering high losses in the attack - and his army is pushed back to Bab el Qattara.
Setember 2nd - September 26th
Convoy PQ18 reaches Russia despite losing 13 of her ships.
September 2nd
1942
Convoy PQ18 sets sail for Russia, comprised of some 40 ships and beefed up protection through 17 destroyers. The escort carrier HMS Avenger provides air cover.
September 3rd - October 23rd
1942
General Montgomery decides to make El Alamein a war of numbers and stockpiles his supplies to eventually try to overwhelm the Germans.
September 3rd
The Germans enact an offensive aimed at the heart of Stalingrad.
September 4th
1942
With the Allied resistance holding off further advance, the Japanese Army begins a formal withdrawal of the island.
September 4th
Japanese casualties at Milne Bay amount to 1,000 killed amidst the fighting.
September 6th
The strategic Black Sea port city Novorossiysk falls to the Germans.
September 7th
US Marines enact a surprise amphibious landing against Japanese strongholds at Taivu.
September 8th
1942
The US Marine landings result in the destruction of vital Japanese supplies and the recovery of important operational data.
September 10th
100,000 incendiary bombs are dropped on Dusseldorf by no fewer than 476 RAF bombers.
September 12th
1942
Some 6,000 Japanese Army personnel are used in a final thrust against the Americans at Henderson field. Among the attackers is the Japanese 35th Brigade.
September 13th
1942
Japanese forces come within a half-a-mile of Henderson Field before being stopped and, ultimately, driven back.
September 14th
1942
At the end of the Henderson Field offensive, the fanatical Japanese have lost at least 1,200 soldiers in the fighting.
September 15th - October 7th
The Japanese begin building up their forces to reclaim Henderson Field.
September 15th
The Soviet Army is unleashed on Voronezh.
September 24th
The German Army makes headway toward Tuapse.
September 25th
1942
With winter upon the German Army once more, Hitler orders a halt to any major offensives around Leningrad.
September 26th
1942
Despite gains along the Kokoda Trail, the Japanese supply line begins to run thin and halt any further advance.
September 26th
Australian Army forces hold fast to territory near Toribaiwa.
September 26th
1942
The Japanese Army slowly begins to retreat back through the Kokoda Trail, finally realizing its perilous stuation.
October 1st - October 31st
1942
With a lull in the fighting, Soviet forces near Leningrad are able to receive much needed supplies and reinforcements.
October 6th
Malgobek falls to the German Army.
October 9th
The Soviet government hands all military powers to the Soviet Army.
October 10th
1942
Japanese reinforcements are shipped to the west and disembarked at Tenaro, some 20 miles from American forces.
October 11th
The IJN Furutaka officially sinks at 12:40AM.
October 11th
1942
At midnight, the Japanese convoy is in retreat and gone from the region in roughly 30 minutes.
October 11th
1942
At 11:32PM, US Navy warships fire upon IJN vessels in the convoy, sinking the IJN Fubuki and damaging the IJN Furutaka and IJN Aoba, which themselves begin sinking.
October 11th
1942
A Japanese Navy convoy headed through the Eastern and Western Solomons is intercepted by a US Navy force, beginning what is known as the Battle of Cape Esperance.
October 15th
1942
American soldiers of the 32nd US Division complete an amphibious assault near Pongani and Wanigela on Papua.
October 18th
The German drive against Tuapse is stopped by the Soviets.
October 23rd
1942
Some 20,000 Japanese fighters, including elements of the 2nd Division and 17th Army, undertake a new offensive under the direction of General Maruyama.
October 23rd
XXX and X Corps begin their assault on Axis nothern positions.
October 23rd
1942
At 10:00PM, British XIII Corps hits the German 21st Panzer Division and Italian Brescia and Folgore Divisions in the south of the German defensive wall as a diversion to its north-bound actions.
October 23rd
The Allied counter-offensive begins through Operation Lightfoot, a massive artillery bombardment of dug-in German forces.
October 14th
1942
Adolf Hitler stops all further offensives against Soviet targets in the region for the year and orders his commanders to hold their positions until 1943.
October 25th
1942
Japanese Navy supply ships make their way offshore of Guadalcanal where land forces there are attempting to take Henderson Field.
October 25th
Four Allied brigades have managed to break through the German defensive lines.
October 25th
The Germans enact a new offensive in the Caucasus.
October 25th
1942
Montgomery enacts Operation Supercharge and pulls some diversionary forces from his southern attacks to reinforce the north where losses continue to mount.
October 25th
Allied mine-clearing operations begin while combat continues
October 26th
1942
A USN Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat scout plane spots the Japanese waterforce and relays their position.
October 26th
1942
USS Enterprise launches a wave of Dauntless dive bombers in search of the Japanese group. Some 22 total aircraft are launched.
October 26th
1942
A PBY Catalina, capable of limited bombing, misses its mark as it attempts to hit several Japanese aircraft carriers at 2:50AM.
October 26th
The IJN carrier launch around 110 aircraft in response.
October 26th
72 aircraft are launched as a combined force from USS Enterprise and USS Hornet.
October 26th
The USS Hornet is cleared of all crew by 11:40AM.
October 26th
1942
After some 3,500 casualties are netted against the Japanese attackers, the offensive stalls and is ultimately called off.
October 26th
US Navy and IJN aircraft formally meet in air to air combat by 8:15AM.
October 26th
1942
The USS Hornet takes a critical hit at 9:15AM from attacking Japanese Navy dive bombers and torpedo bombers. The IJN forces claim two torpedo hits and a further six bomb hits against her.
October 26th
The crew of the USS Hornet begin evacuation procedures aboard their doomed ship.
October 26th
1942
The crippled IJN carrier Zuiho is hit by another four bombs, bringing her tenure at sea to an official close at 9:18AM.
October 26th
1942
US Navy aircraft are launched from USS Enterprise and USS Hornet but fail to locate the Japanese ships.
October 26th
The Americans signal a withdrawal of all forces form the battle.
October 26th
The US Navy sends Task Force 16 and 17 to intercept the Japanese resupply action.
October 26th
At 7:40AM, USN dive bombers damage the IJN carrier Zuiho.
October 26th
1942
USS Enterprise receives several direct hits from IJN dive bombers against her flight deck and forward elevator.
October 26th
USN bombers score several key direct hits against the carrier IJN Shokaku at 9:30AM.
October 27th
1942
Destroyers of the IJN come across the remains of the USS Hornet and launch torpedoes against her, sending her to the bottom of the Pacific.
November 1st
Japanese Army troops have taken to reinforcing their existing defenses at Buna, Gona and Sanananda.
November 1st
The Caucasus town of Alagir is captured by the Germans.
November 1st - January 31st
1942
Neither force can claim much action during this span. In time, US forces number some 58,000 troops while Japan can claim 20,000-strong.
November 2nd
The Caucasus town of Ordzhonikidse is captured by the Germans.
November 2nd
1942
As more and more Allied armor crosses through the German perimeter, Rommel orders his battle-weary forces on an eastward retreat, keeping his forces within easy access to the North African coast.
November 4th
1942
British X Corps makes a substantial gain in capturing Tel el Aqqaqir, running straight through the beleagured Axis lines, effectively ending the Battle of El Alamain in favor of the Allies. The victory is a major one for the Germans are in full retreat throughout North Africa. The action officially ends all Axis presence on the continent.
November 7th
1942
Three Allied task forces - the US Western, Central and the British Eastern - approach the coast of North Africa.
November 8th
At Oran, French coastal guns destroya US transport with 200 soldiers aboard.
November 8th
The US Western and Central task forces tangle with Vichy French opposition.
November 8th
French General Mast surrenders to the British Eastern Task Force.
November 8th
The Allied invasion forces reach North African shores.
November 9th
The first French cease-fires begin to ring out across Algeria and Morocco.
November 9th
1942
US forces tangle with a suprisingly stout French defense. It was believed that the two country's histories would have brought France to surrender rather than fight a former ally.
November 11th
1942
French Admiral Jean Francios Darlan joins French General Alphonse Juin in calling an all-out cease fire for French forces throughout Africa.
November 11th
The British Eastern Task force capture the strategic airfield at Djidjelli via Bougie from Algiers.
November 12th
British paratroopers land near Bone and take the nearby airfield.
November 12th
German paratrooper forces attack the British paratroopers near Bone but are repelled.
November 12th
German paratroopers move into the area near the airfield at Bone.
November 15th
Australian forces continue their march from the west against Japanese-held areas.
November 15th
US forces continue their march from the south against Japanese-held areas.
November 15th
Army Group A reaches as far as Ordzhonikidze and Mt. Elbus.
November 15th
American paratroopers land at the airfield near Youks les Bains
November 16th
Allied forces begin their move into German-held Tunisia.
November 16th
British paratroopers land and capture the airfield at Soul el Arba.
November 17th
The Allies take Sidi Nsir.
November 19th
1942
The Soviets push forward a new two-part offensive - Operation Uranus - north of Stalingrad and break through the Romanian-held defenses.
November 20th
The Allied assault on the strategic city of Medjez el Bab begins.
November 20th
German General Manstein is appointed the commander of Army Group Don.
November 20th
Part 2 of Operation Uranus is enacted at the southern end of Stalingrad.
November 22nd
1942
Two elements of the Soviet Army meets at Kalach, effectively encircling the German 6th Army at Stalingrad.
November 25th
1942
In an effort to resupply their troops, the German Luftwaffe is called upon to exercise airdrops of vital supplies to the German 6th Army.
November 26th
Medjez el Bab falls to the Allies.
November 30th
1942
Despite the consistent progression throughout North Africa, the Allied invasion offensive grounds to a halt in the face of growing German resistance at key junctions. The total liberation of North Africa will have to wait.
November 30th
1942
German General Paulus and his 6th Army is contained by the fierce resisting Soviets in Stalingrad, putting Hitler's plans on hold.
December 9th
The Australian Army liberates the village of Gona from the hold of the Japanese Amry.
December 12th
1942
While Hitler rejects any plea from the German 6th Army to retreat from their position, the 4th Panzer Army is used through Operation Winter Storm in an attempt to relieve the beleaguered German troops at Stalingrad.
December 14th
1942
Allied Australian and US forces continued their maches against the Japanese, taking territory through fierce firefights.
December 16th
The Italian Army goes into full retreat from the Soviet advance.
December 16th
German Army forces are called off from further offensives at Tuapse.
December 16th
The Soviet Army puts Operation Little Saturn into effect and attacks Rostov.
December 21st
Soviet relief forces and supplies headed for Stalingrad are stopped at Myshkova.
December 23rd
All further attempts to relieve Stalingrad are put on hold, indefinitely.
December 24th
1942
The Soviet Army launches a fresh attack at Kotelnikovo, routing its Romanian defenders and putting them into full retreat.
December 28th
German Army Group A is given the official order to retreat from the Caucasus region.
December 31st
1942
The Battle of Barents Sea takes place. Convoy JW51B comes under attack from German surface ships comrpised of the battleships KMS Admiral Hipper and KMS Lutzow along with 6 destroyers. Six British destroyers are up to the task as they repel the much larger force at the cost of two Royal Navy destroyers. No merchant vessels are lost to enemy fire. The loss in battle forces the resignation of German Navy Admiral Raeder and leaves Adolph Hitler hungry for blood.
By Engagement
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What famous painting was stolen from the Louvre in Paris in 1911? | The Theft That Made The 'Mona Lisa' A Masterpiece : NPR
The Theft That Made The 'Mona Lisa' A Masterpiece
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The Theft That Made The 'Mona Lisa' A Masterpiece
The Theft That Made The 'Mona Lisa' A Masterpiece
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The right eye of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." On Aug. 21, 1911, the then-little-known painting was stolen from the wall of the Louvre in Paris. And a legend was born. Associated Press hide caption
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Associated Press
The right eye of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." On Aug. 21, 1911, the then-little-known painting was stolen from the wall of the Louvre in Paris. And a legend was born.
Associated Press
If you were standing outside the Louvre in Paris on the morning of Aug. 21, 1911, you might have noticed three men hurrying out of the museum.
They would have been pretty conspicuous on a quiet Monday morning, writer and historian James Zug tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz. "Sunday night was a big social night in Paris," he says, "so a lot of people were hung over on Monday morning."
The men, three Italian handymen, were not hungover. But they might have been a little tired. They'd just spent the night in an art-supply closet.
And on that morning, with the Louvre still closed, they slipped out of the closet and lifted 200 pounds of painting, frame and protective glass case off the wall. Stripped of its frame and case, the wooden canvas was covered with a blanket and hustled off to the Quai d'Orsay station, where the trio boarded a 7:47 a.m. express train out of the city.
They'd stolen the "Mona Lisa."
Famous, Overnight
Before its theft, the "Mona Lisa" was not widely known outside the art world. Leonardo da Vinci painted it in 1507, but it wasn't until the 1860s that critics began to hail it as a masterwork of Renaissance painting. And that judgment didn't filter outside a thin slice of French intelligentsia.
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"The 'Mona Lisa' wasn't even the most famous painting in its gallery, let alone in the Louvre," Zug says.
Dorothy and Tom Hoobler wrote about the painting's heist in their book, The Crimes of Paris. It was 28 hours, they say, until anyone even noticed the four bare hooks.
The guy who noticed was a pushy still-life artist who set up his easel to paint that gallery in the Louvre.
"He felt he couldn't work as long as the 'Mona Lisa' wasn't there," Tom Hoobler says.
But the artist wasn't alarmed. At that time, there was a project under way to photograph the Louvre's many works. Each piece had to be taken to the roof, since cameras of the day did not work well inside.
"So finally he persuaded a guard to go see how long the photographers were going to have the painting," Tom Hoobler says. "He went off and came back, and said, 'You know what, the photographers say they don't have it!' "
All of a sudden, James Zug says, "the 'Mona Lisa' becomes this incredibly famous painting — literally overnight."
A New York Times headline from August 24, 1911, reported the investigation into the disappearance of the "Mona Lisa." The New York Times hide caption
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The New York Times
A New York Times headline from August 24, 1911, reported the investigation into the disappearance of the "Mona Lisa."
The New York Times
Mark of Shame
After the Louvre announced the theft, newspapers all over the world ran headlines about the missing masterpiece.
" 60 Detectives Seek Stolen 'Mona Lisa,' French Public Indignant ," the New York Times declared. The heist had become something of a national scandal.
"In France, there was a great deal of concern that American millionaires were buying up the legacy of France — the best paintings," Dorothy Hoobler says. At one point, American tycoon and art lover J.P. Morgan was suspected of commissioning the theft. Pablo Picasso was also considered a suspect, and was questioned.
And as tensions were escalating between France and Germany ahead of World War I, "there were people who thought the Kaiser was behind it," Hoobler says.
After a weeklong shutdown, the Louvre re-opened to mobs of people, Franz Kafka among them, all rushing to see the empty spot that had become a "mark of shame" for Parisians.
Meanwhile, the thieves had made a clean getaway. They were three Italians: two brothers, Vincenzo and Michele Lancelotti, and the ringleader, Vincenzo Perugia. He was a handyman who had worked for the Louvre to install the very same protective glass cases he had ripped from the "Mona Lisa."
Perugia hoped to sell the painting. But the heist had received so much attention that the "Mona Lisa" became too hot to hock, Zug says.
"Within days, newspapers were offering rewards. [Perugia] could have brought it in, but I think the main reason he didn't do that is he was worried about being arrested — and that the story was so big that he probably didn't think he could get away with it."
So Perugia stashed it in the false bottom of a trunk in his Paris boardinghouse.
Of the more than 35,000 works of art in the Louvre, perhaps none is more popular than the Mona Lisa. KIKE CALVO/AP hide caption
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KIKE CALVO/AP
Of the more than 35,000 works of art in the Louvre, perhaps none is more popular than the Mona Lisa.
KIKE CALVO/AP
A Masterpiece Returned
Twenty-eight months after he snatched it from the Louvre, Perugia finally made a pass at selling the "Mona Lisa" to an art dealer in Florence.
But the dealer was suspicious. He had the head of an Italian art gallery come take a look at the painting.
A stamp on the back confirmed its authenticity.
"They said, 'OK, leave it with us, and we'll see that you get a reward,'" Tom Hoobler says. Perugia went back home. But half an hour later, to his surprise, the police were at his door.
"He said later that he was trying to return it to Italy — that he was a patriot and it was stolen by Napoleon — and he was trying to return it to the land of his birth," James Zug says.
And so, with much fanfare, the painting was returned to the Louvre. Perugia pleaded guilty to stealing it, and was sentenced to just eight months in prison.
But a few days after his trial, Dorothy Hoobler says, World War I broke out. Suddenly, the drama of an art heist was off the front pages.
"This seemed like a very small story," she says.
James Zug recently wrote about the Mona Lisa for the Smithsonian Magazine.
| Mona Lisa |
What nation-wide event took place in England, starting in 1642? | Paris art heist: Picasso & Matisse stolen by lone robber from Museum of Modern Art | Daily Mail Online
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A lone thief is believed to have carried out one of the most daring – and lucrative – art heists in history yesterday.
The ‘burly man’ stole masterpieces worth tens of millions of pounds from a Paris gallery in an early morning raid.
He broke into the Museum of Modern Art and made off with works by Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani.
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The haul is reckoned to be worth anything from £170million to £430million – although French officials attempted to play down the value of the stolen paintings.
Last night it emerged that, incredibly, the gallery’s alarm system had been broken in some rooms since March 30.
The security system operator had ordered spare parts to fix it but had not yet received the equipment from the supplier, officials admitted.
There were also fears the thief may have had people ‘on the inside’ helping him.
There were three security guards in the building at the time, but each has told detectives that they ‘saw nothing’.
Confirming the raid was the most costly in the history of French art, Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe called it ‘an intolerable attack on Paris’s universal cultural heritage’.
CCTV footage caught the ‘heavily disguised, burly figure’ jumping through a smashed window at around 6.50am.
He is then believed to have forced a lock to gain access to the most valuable works in the building, which lies just across the
Seine from the Eiffel Tower. The canvases are thought to have been cut from their frames and taken away in a bundle.
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Some Paris officials put the value of the works at under £100million. But art historians said they could be worth four times that. Earlier this month a Picasso sold for a world record of £70million at auction.
‘They are wonderful works – the very best that the artists produced,’ a source close to the inquiry said. ‘Police are speaking to all of us in case people on the inside helped the burglar.’
Because the paintings – detailed right – are so well known, it is thought it would be impossible to sell them on the open market.
The Modern Art Museum has been a Paris landmark since it was opened in 1961, and had been considered one of the most secure in Europe.
Yesterday it was shut to all visitors with a sign on the main door reading: ‘Closed for technical reasons.’
Meanwhile officers from the Brigade de Repression du Banditisme, the French police’s elite armed robbery unit, were scouring the building for clues.
£15m: George Braque's 'Landscape with Olive Tree' was also taken. The paintings are so famous that they can not be sold on the open market, experts said
£15: Amedeo Modogliani's 'Woman with a Fan' (left). £15m: Fernand Leger's 'Still Life with a Chandelier'
The suspected thief was captured on one of numerous CCTV cameras inside the building. It was unclear why those monitoring the screens did not summon police as soon as they saw him.
‘He was heavily disguised with a hood and face covering,’ said an officer at the scene.
Insiders working for low pay in the gallery are often suspected of helping art criminals, said the officer. Sometimes those
involved leave clues suggesting a break-in, when in fact they simply used keys, he added.
France has traditionally been at the centre of the international art theft underworld, with paintings regularly stolen to order. The total world trade in stolen art is thought to be worth £4billion. In 2007 two
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Picassos worth £50million were stolen from the Paris home of the artist’s granddaughter, Diana Widmaier.
Twelve Picasso paintings valued at around £17million were stolen from the French Riviera villa of another of his grandchildren, Marina Picasso, in 1989. Picasso is the most stolen artist in the world because of his prolific output, recognisable signature and valuable works.
There are more than 500 missing Picassos on the London-based Art Loss Register of stolen works.
The most famous art raid of all was the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris.
Italian immigrant Vincenzo Perugia hid in the museum overnight before getting away with the priceless painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It was finally returned in 1914.
The largest art theft – unless it is officially eclipsed by yesterday’s Paris raid – happened in Boston in 1990 when raiders took 13 works, worth a total of around £400million, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
A reward of £3.5million is still offered for information leading to their return.
BIGGEST ART THEFTS IN HISTORY
May 2010: A lone thief stole five paintings possibly worth hundreds of millions of euros, including works by Picasso and Matisse, in a brazen overnight heist at a Paris modern art museum.
February 2008: Armed robbers stole four paintings by Cezanne, Degas, van Gogh and Monet worth $163.2 million from the E.G. Buehrle Collection, a private museum in Zurich, Switzerland. The van Gogh and Monet paintings were recovered.
December 2007: A painting by Pablo Picasso valued at about $50 million, along with one by Brazilian artist Candido Portinari valued at $5 million to $6 million, were stolen from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art in Brazil, by three burglars using a crowbar and a car jack. The paintings were later found.
February 2007: Two Picasso paintings, worth nearly $66 million, and a drawing were stolen from the Paris, France home of the artist's granddaughter in an overnight robbery. Police later recovered the art when the thieves tried to sell it.
February 2006: Around 300 museum-grade artifacts worth an estimated $142 million, including paintings, clocks and silver, were stolen from a 17th-century manor house at Ramsbury in southern England, the largest property theft in British history, according to reports.
February 2006: Four works of art and other objects, including paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Monet and Salvador Dali, were stolen from the Museu Chacara do Ceu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by four armed men during a Carnival parade. Local media estimated the paintings' worth at around $50 million.
August 2004: Two paintings by Edvard Munch, The Scream and Madonna, insured for $141 million, were stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway by three men in a daylight raid. The paintings were recovered nearly two years later.
August 2003: A $65 million Leonardo da Vinci painting was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in southern Scotland after two men joined a public tour and overpowered a guide. It was recovered four years later.
May 2003: A 16th-century gold-plated Saliera, or salt cellar, by Florentine master Benvenuto Cellini, valued at $69.3 million, was stolen from Vienna's Art History Museum by a single thief when guards discounted a burglar alarm. The figurine was later recovered.
December 2002: Two thieves broke in through the roof of the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and stole two paintings by Van Gogh valued at $30 million. Dutch police convicted two men in December 2003, but did not recover the paintings.
December 2000: Hooded thieves stole a self-portrait by Rembrandt and two Renoir paintings worth an estimated $36 million from Stockholm's waterfront National Museum, using a motorboat in their escape. All paintings were recovered.
October 1994: Seven Picasso paintings worth an estimated $44 million were stolen from a gallery in Zurich, Switzerland. They were recovered in 2000.
April 1991: Two masked armed men took 20 paintings - worth at least $10 million each at the time - from Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum. The paintings were found in the getaway car less than an hour later.
March 1990: In the biggest art theft in U.S. history, $300 million in art, including works by Vermeer, Rembrandt and Manet, was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, by two men in police uniforms.
December 1988: Thieves stole three paintings by van Gogh, with an estimated value of $72 million to $90 million, from the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in a remote section of the Netherlands. Police later recovered all three paintings.
May 1986: A Vermeer painting, Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, is among 18 paintings worth $40 million stolen from Russborough House in Blessington, Ireland. Some of the paintings are later recovered.
August 1911: Perhaps the most famous case of art theft occurred when the Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by employee Vinczo Peruggia, who was caught two years later.
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Hong Kong was taken by the British in which year? | Why Did China Lease Hong Kong to Britain?
Why Did China Lease Hong Kong to Britain?
China
Why Did China Lease Hong Kong to Britain?
Hong Kong Harbor, taken sometime between 1900 and 1923, during British control of the island. Library of Congress Prints and Photos
By Kallie Szczepanski
Updated March 16, 2016.
The short answer to that question is that China lost Hong Kong to Great Britain in the Opium Wars , and later leased adjacent territories to the British under duress. Britain's reign over Hong Kong dates back to the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, which ended the First Opium War . But what is the longer answer?
Nineteenth-century Britain had an insatiable appetite for Chinese tea. However, the Qing Dynasty and its subjects did not want to buy anything that the British produced. The government of Queen Victoria did not want to use up any more of the country's reserves of gold or silver in buying tea, so it decided to forcibly export opium from the Indian Subcontinent to China. The opium would then be exchanged for tea.
China's government, not too surprisingly, objected to the large-scale importation of narcotics into their country by a foreign power. When just banning opium imports did not work, because British merchants simply smuggled the drug into China, the Qing government took more direct action.
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In 1839, Chinese officials destroyed 20,000 bales of opium. This move provoked Britain to declare war in order to protect its illegal drug-smuggling operations.
The First Opium War lasted from 1839 to 1842. Britain occupied the island of Hong Kong on January 25, 1841, and used it as a military staging point. China was defeated in the war, and had to cede Hong Kong to Britain in the aforementioned Treaty of Nanking. Hong Kong became a Crown Colony of the British Empire .
Status Changes of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories
At this point, you may be wondering, "Wait a minute, Britain just grabbed Hong Kong. Where did the lease come in, then?"
The British grew increasingly worried about the security of their free port at Hong Kong during the second half of the 19th century. It was an isolated island, surrounded by areas still under Chinese control. The British decided to make their authority over the area official with a legally binding lease.
In 1860, at the end of the Second Opium War, the UK gained a perpetual lease over the Kowloon Peninsula, which is the mainland Chinese area just across the strait from Hong Kong Island. This agreement was part of the Convention of Beijing that ended that conflict.
In 1898, the British and Chinese governments signed the Second Convention of Peking, which included a 99-year lease agreement for the islands surrounding Hong Kong, called the "New Territories." The lease awarded control of more than 200 surrounding small islands to the British. In return, China got a promise that the islands would be returned to it after 99 years.
On December 19, 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, in which Britain agreed to return not only the New Territories but also Kowloon and Hong Kong itself when the lease term expired. China promised to implement a "One Country, Two Systems" regime, under which for fifty years Hong Kong citizens could continue to practice capitalism and political freedoms forbidden on the mainland.
So, on July 1, 1997, the lease ended and the government of Great Britain transferred control of Hong Kong and surrounding territories to the People's Republic of China . The transition has been more or less smooth, although human rights issues and Beijing's desire for greater political control cause considerable friction from time to time.
| 1839 |
In which year did the Blitz on London start? | Lonely Planet Travel Guides and Travel Information
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Early inhabitants
Hong Kong has supported human life since at least the late Stone Age. Finds uncovered at almost 100 archaeological sites in the territory, including a rich burial ground discovered on the island of Ma Wan in 1997 and three hoards on the west coast of the Tuen Mun peninsula, suggest that the inhabitants of these settlements were warlike. The remnants of Bronze Age habitations (c 1500–220 BC) unearthed on Lamma and Lantau Islands and at around 20 other sites – as well as the eight geometric rock carvings that can still be viewed at various locations along Hong Kong’s coastline – also indicate that these early peoples practised some form of ancient religion based on cosmology. Other finds indicate Hong Kong’s Stone Age inhabitants also enjoyed a relatively nutritious diet of iron-rich vegetables, small mammals, shellfish and fish harvested far offshore.
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The five great clans
Just when the area that is now Hong Kong became an integral part of the Chinese empire is difficult to say. What is certain, however, is that by the time of the Eastern Han dynasty (AD 25–220), Chinese imperial rule had been extended over the region. The discovery of a number of Han coins on Lantau and Kau Sai Chau Islands and at several important digs, including the tomb of a senior Han warrior at Lei Cheng Uk in central Kowloon and So Kwun Wat southeast of Tuen Mun, attests to this.
The first of Hong Kong’s mighty ‘Five Clans’, Han Chinese whose descendants hold political and economic clout to this day, began settling the area around the 12th century. The first and most powerful of the arrivals were the Tang, who initially settled around Kam Tin (tì means ‘field’). The once-moated hamlet of Kat Hing Wai (wài means ‘protective wall’), which is probably the most visited of the remaining traditional walled villages in the New Territories, formed part of this cluster.
The Tang were followed by the Hau, who spread around present-day Sheung Shui, and the Pang from central Jiangsu province, who settled in what is now the area around Fanling. These three clans were followed by the Liu in the 15th century and the Man a century later.
The Cantonese-speaking newcomers called themselves bún-day (Punti), meaning ‘indigenous’ or ‘local’ – something they clearly were not. They looked down on the original inhabitants, many of whom had been shunted off the land and had moved onto the sea to live on boats. It is thought that today’s fisherpeople called, the Tanka, emerged from this persecuted group.
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An imperial outpost
Clinging to the southern edge of the Chinese province of Canton (now Guangdong ), the peninsula and islands that became the territory of Hong Kong counted only as a remote pocket in a neglected corner of the Chinese empire. Among the scattered communities of farmers and fisherfolk were pirates who hid from the authorities among the rocky islands that afforded easy access to the nearby Pearl River.
Hong Kong’s first recorded encounter with imperial China in the 13th century was as brief as it was tragic. In 1276 a group of loyal retainers of the Song dynasty (AD 960–1279) smuggled the boy emperor, Duan Zong, south to the remote fringes of the empire after the Song capital, Hangzhou, had fallen to the Mongol hordes sweeping China . Nine-year-old Duan Zong drowned when Mongol ships defeated the tattered remnants of the imperial fleet in a battle on the Pearl River.
The Punti flourished until the struggle that saw the moribund Ming dynasty (1368–1644) overthrown. The victorious Qing (1644–1911), angered by the resistance put up by southerners loyal to the ancien régime and determined to solve the endemic problem of piracy, in the 1660s ordered a forced evacuation inland of all the inhabitants of Guangdong ’s coastal San On district, including Hong Kong.
These turbulent times saw the birth of the Triads. Originally founded as patriotic secret societies dedicated to overthrowing the Qing dynasty and restoring the Ming, they would degenerate over the centuries into Hong Kong’s own version of the Mafia. Today’s Triads still recite an oath of allegiance to the Ming, but their loyalty is to the dollar rather than the vanquished Son of Heaven.
More than four generations passed before the population was able to recover to its mid-17th-century level, boosted in part by the influx of the Hakka (Cantonese for ‘guest people’), who moved here in the 18th century and up to the mid-19th century. A few vestiges of their language, songs and folklore survive, most visibly in the wide-brimmed, black-fringed bamboo hats sported by Hakka women in the New Territories.
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Arrival of the outer barbarians
For centuries, the Pearl River estuary had been an important trading artery centred on the port of Canton (now Guangzhou ). Arab traders had entered – and sacked – the settlement as early as the 8th century AD. Guangzhou was 2500km south of Peking, and the Cantonese view that the ‘mountains are high and the emperor is far away’ was not disputed in the imperial capital. The Ming emperors regarded their subjects to the south as no less than witches and sorcerers, their language unintelligible and their culinary predilections downright disgusting. It was therefore fitting that the Cantonese should trade with the ‘outer barbarians’, or foreign traders.
Regular trade between China and Europe began in 1557 when Portuguese navigators set up a base in Macau , 65km west of Hong Kong. Dutch traders came in the wake of the Portuguese, followed by the French. British ships appeared as early as 1685 from the East India Company concessions along the coast of India , and by 1714 the company had established offices and warehouses with ‘factors’ (managers) in Guangzhou to trade for tea, silk and porcelain. By the end of the 18th century, the flags of more than a dozen nations, including Britain, flew over the buildings along 13 Factories St.
In 1757 an imperial edict awarded the cohong (a local merchants’ guild), the monopoly on China ’s trade with foreigners, restricting the European traders. It was illegal for them to learn the Chinese language or to deal with anyone except merchants of the cohong; they could not enter Guangzhou proper but were restricted to Shamian Island in the Pearl River; they were allowed to remain only for the trading season (November to May).
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Opium & war
China didn’t reciprocate Europe ’s voracious demand for its products, especially tea, for the most part shunning foreign manufactured goods. The foreigners’ ensuing trade deficit was soon reversed, however, after the British discovered a commodity that the Chinese did want: opium.
The British, with a virtually inexhaustible supply of the drug from the poppy fields of India , developed the trade aggressively. Alarmed to see its silver draining from the country to pay for the opium and the spread of addiction, Emperor Chia Ch’ing (Jiaqing; r 1796–1820) issued an edict in 1799 banning the trade of opium in China , while his son and successor, Tao Kuang (Dao Guang; r 1820–50), banned the drug from Whampoa (now Huangpo) and Macau in 1820.
In Guangzhou the cohong and corrupt officials helped ensure the trade continued, and both sides amassed great fortunes. This was all supposed to change in June 1839 with the arrival of Lin Zexu, governor of Hunan and a mandarin of great integrity, who surrounded the British garrison in Guangzhou and cut off their food supplies, forcing them to turn over more than 20,000 chests of the drug.
The British chief superintendent of trade, Captain Charles Elliot, suspended all trade with China while he awaited instructions from London. The foreign secretary, Lord Palmerston, goaded by prominent Scottish merchants William Jardine and James Matheson, ordered the Royal Navy in Guangzhou to force a settlement in Sino-British commercial relations. An expeditionary force of 4000 men under Rear Admiral George Elliot (a cousin of Charles) departed to extract reparations and secure favourable trade arrangements from the Chinese government.
What would become known as the First Opium War (or First Anglo-Chinese War) began in June 1840. British forces besieged Guangzhou before sailing north and occupying or blockading a number of ports and cities along the Yangtze River and the coast as far as Shanghai . To the emperor’s great alarm, the force threatened Beijing , and he sent his envoy (and Lin’s successor) Qi Shan to negotiate with the Elliots. In exchange for the British withdrawal from northern China , Qi agreed to the Convention of Chuenpi (now Chuanbi), which ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain.
Though neither side, in fact, actually accepted the terms of the convention, a couple of subsequent events decided Hong Kong’s fate. In January 1841 a naval landing party hoisted the British flag at Possession Point (now Possession St) on Hong Kong Island. The following month Captain Elliot attacked the Bogue Fort in Humen, took control of the Pearl River and laid siege to Guangzhou , withdrawing only after having extracted concessions from merchants there. Six months later a powerful British force led by Elliot’s successor, Sir Henry Pottinger, sailed north and seized Amoy (Xiamen), Ningpo (Ningbo), Shanghai and other ports. With the strategic city of Nanking (Nanjing) under immediate threat, the Chinese were forced to accept Britain’s terms.
The Treaty of Nanking abolished the monopoly system of trade, opened five ‘treaty ports’ to British residents and foreign trade, exempted British nationals from all Chinese laws and ceded the island of Hong Kong to the British ‘in perpetuity’.
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British Hong Kong
‘Albert is so amused at my having got the island of Hong Kong’, wrote Queen Victoria to King Leopold of Belgium in 1841. At the time, Hong Kong was little more than a backwater of about 20 villages and hamlets. It did offer one distinct advantage for the British trading fleet, however: a deep, well-sheltered harbour that went by the Cantonese name hèung-gáwng (‘fragrant harbour’), so named after the scent from sandalwood incense factories that wafted across the harbour from what is now Aberdeen at the western edge of the island.
As Captain Elliot saw it, from here the British Empire and its merchants could conduct all their trade with China and establish a permanent outpost, under British sovereignty, in the Far East. But the British merchants in Guangzhou and the Royal Navy sided with Lord Palmerston; a small barren island with nary a house on it was not the type of sweeping concession that a British victory was supposed to achieve. Nonetheless, Hong Kong formally became a British possession on 26 June 1843, and its first governor, Sir Henry Pottinger, took charge. A primitive chaotic and lawless settlement soon sprang up.
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Growing pains
What would later be called the Second Opium War (or Second Anglo-Chinese War) broke out in October 1856. The first stage of the war was brought to an end two years later by the Treaty of Tientsin (Tianjin), which gave foreigners the right to diplomatic representation in Beijing .
Despite warnings from the Chinese, the British tried to capitalise on this agreement in 1859 by sending a flotilla carrying the first British envoy and minister plenipotentiary up the Pei Ho River to Beijing . The Chinese fired on the armada, which sustained heavy losses. Using this as a pretext, a combined British and French force invaded China and marched on Beijing . The victorious British forced the Chinese to the Convention of Peking in 1860, which ratified the Treaty of Tientsin and ceded the Kowloon peninsula and Stonecutters Island to Britain. Britain was now in complete control of Victoria Harbour and its approaches.
Hong Kong’s population had leapt from 33,000 in 1850 to 265,000 in 1900 and the British army felt it needed to command the mountains of the New Territories to protect the growing colony and provide water to it. When the Qing dynasty was at its nadir, the British government petitioned China for a land extension extending Hong Kong into the New Territories. The June 1898 Convention of Peking handed Britain a larger-than-expected slice of territory running north to the Shumchun (Shenzhen) River, and 235 islands, increasing the colony’s size by 90%.
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A sleepy backwater
While the hong – Hong Kong’s major trading houses, including Jardine, Matheson and Swire – prospered from their trade with China , the colony hardly thrived in its first few decades. Fever, bubonic plague and typhoons threatened life and property, and at first the colony attracted a fair number of criminals and vice merchants. Opium dens, gambling clubs and brothels proliferated; just a year after Britain took possession, an estimated 450 prostitutes worked out of two dozen brothels. Australian ‘actresses’ were based in Lyndhurst Tce, known as baak fàa gàai (‘White Flower Street’), in Chinese.
Gradually, however, Hong Kong began to shape itself into a more substantial community. Gas and electrical power companies sprang up, ferries, trams, the Kowloon-Canton Railway and the newfangled High Level Tramway (later known as the Peak Tram) provided a decent transport network, and land was reclaimed. Colonials flocked to the races at Happy Valley and visitors were as impressed with the colony’s social life as they were with its development. Nonetheless, from the late 19th century right up to WWII, Hong Kong lived in the shadow of the treaty port of Shanghai , which had become Asia ’s premier trade and financial centre – not to mention its style capital.
The colony’s population continued to grow thanks to waves of immigrants fleeing the Chinese Revolution of 1911, which ousted the decaying Qing dynasty and ushered in several decades of strife, rampaging warlords and famine. The civil war in China kept the numbers of refugees entering the colony high, but the stream became a flood after Japan invaded China in 1937.
Hong Kong’s status as a British colony would offer the refugees only a temporary haven. The day after Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, its military machine swept down from Guangzhou and into Hong Kong.
Conditions under Japanese rule were harsh, with indiscriminate massacres of mostly Chinese civilians; Western civilians were incarcerated at Stanley Prison on Hong Kong Island. Many Hong Kong Chinese fled to Macau , administered by neutral Portugal .
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The road to boomtown
After Japan ’s withdrawal from Hong Kong, and subsequent surrender in August 1945, the colony looked set to resume its hibernation. But events both at home and on the mainland forced the colony in a new direction.
Just before WWII Hong Kong had begun to shift from entrepôt trade servicing China to home-grown manufacturing. The turmoil on the mainland, leading to the defeat of the Nationalists by the victorious Communists in 1949, unleashed a torrent of refugees – both rich and poor – into Hong Kong.
When Beijing sided with North Korea that year and went to war against the forces of the USA and the UN, the UN embargo on all trade with China (1951) threatened to strangle the colony economically. But on a paltry, war-torn foundation, local and foreign businesses built a huge manufacturing (notably textiles and garments) and financial services centre that transformed Hong Kong into one of the world’s great economic miracles.
Much of Hong Kong’s success depended on the enormous pool of cheap labour from China , often directed by entrepreneurs seeking refuge from the Communist mainland. Working conditions in those early years of economic revolution were often Dickensian: 16-hour days, unsafe working conditions, low wages and child labour were all common. Refugee workers endured, and some even earned their way out of poverty into prosperity. The Hong Kong government, under international pressure, eventually began to establish and enforce labour standards, and the situation gradually improved.
Despite the improvements, trouble flared up in the 1950s and ’60s due to social discontent and poor working conditions. Feuding between Communist and Nationalist supporters in Hong Kong led to riots in 1957 and again in 1962 and 1966.
When the Communists came to power in China in 1949, many people were sure that Hong Kong would be overrun. Even without force, the Chinese could simply have ripped down the fence on the border and sent the masses to settle on Hong Kong territory. But though the Chinese government continued to denounce the ‘unequal treaties’, it recognised Hong Kong’s importance to the national economy.
In 1967, at the height of the so-called Cultural Revolution, when the ultraleftist Red Guards were in de facto control in China , Hong Kong’s stability again looked precarious. Riots rocked the colony, bringing with them a wave of bombings, looting and arson attacks.
Property values in Hong Kong plunged, as did China ’s foreign-exchange earnings, as trade and tourism ground to a halt. However, the bulk of the population – and, importantly, the Hong Kong police – stood firm with the colonial authorities. By the end of the 1960s, China , largely due to the intervention of Premier Chou Enlai, had come to its senses and order had been restored.
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A society in transition
After ‘a testing time for the people of Hong Kong’, as the Hong Kong Yearbook summed it up at the end of 1967, Hong Kong got on with the business of making money, which included improving the territory’s infrastructure. In 1973 the first ‘New Town’ – Sha Tin – was completed, marking the start of a massive and unprecedented public-housing programme that would, and still does, house millions of Hong Kong people.
Although Hong Kong’s stock market collapsed in 1973, its economy resumed its upward trend later in the decade. At the same time many of Hong Kong’s neighbours, including Taiwan , South Korea and Singapore , began to mimic the colony’s success. Just as their cheap labour was threatening to undermine the competitive edge of Hong Kong manufacturers, China began to emerge from its self-imposed isolation.
The ‘Open Door’ policy of Deng Xiaoping, who took control of China in the confusion after Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, revived Hong Kong’s role as the gateway to the mainland and it boomed. Underpinning the boom was the drive to rake in as much profit as possible ahead of 1997, when Hong Kong’s once and future master would again take over.
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The 1997 question
Few people gave much thought to Hong Kong’s future until the late 1970s, when the British and Chinese governments met for the first time to decide what would happen in (and after) 1997. Britain was legally bound to hand back only the New Territories – not Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, which had been ceded to it forever. However, the fact that nearly half of Hong Kong’s population lived in the New Territories by that time made it an untenable division.
It was Deng Xiaoping who decided that the time was ripe to recover Hong Kong, forcing the British to the negotiating table. The inevitable conclusion laid to rest political jitters and commercial concerns that had seen the Hong Kong dollar collapse – and subsequently be pegged to the US dollar – in 1983, but there was considerable resentment that the fate of 5.5 million people had been decided without their input and that Whitehall had chosen not to provide Hong Kong people with full British passports and the right of abode in the UK.
Despite soothing words from the Chinese, British and Hong Kong governments, over the next 13 years the population of Hong Kong suffered considerable anxiety at the possible political and economic consequences of the handover. In the anxious years leading up to the handover, thousands of Hong Kong citizens emigrated to Canada , the USA , Australia , the UK and New Zealand .
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Tiananmen & its aftermath
The concern of many Hong Kong people over their future turned to out-and-out fear on 4 June 1989, when Chinese troops massacred prodemocracy demonstrators in Beijing ’s Tiananmen Square. The events horrified Hong Kong people, many of whom had donated funds and goods to the demonstrators. As the Chinese authorities spread out to hunt down activists, an underground smuggling operation, code-named Yellow Bird, was set up in Hong Kong to spirit them to safety overseas.
The massacre was a watershed for Hong Kong. Sino-British relations deteriorated, the stock market fell 22% in one day and a great deal of capital left the territory for destinations overseas.
The Hong Kong government sought to rebuild confidence by announcing plans for a new airport and shipping port; with an estimated price tag of $160 billion, this was the world’s most expensive infrastructure project of the day. But China had already signalled its intentions loudly and clearly.
Hong Kong–based Chinese officials who had spoken out against the Tiananmen killings were yanked from their posts or sought asylum in the USA and Europe . Local Hong Kong people with money and skills made a mad dash to emigrate to any country that would take them. During the worst period more than 1000 people were leaving each week, especially for Canada and Australia .
Tiananmen had strengthened the resolve of those people who either could not or would not leave, giving rise to the territory’s first official political parties. In a bid to restore credibility, the government introduced a Bill of Rights in 1990, and the following year bestowed on Hong Kong citizens the right to choose 18 of the 60 members of the Legislative Council (Legco), which until then had been essentially a rubber-stamp body chosen by the government and special-interest groups.
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Democracy & the last governor
Hong Kong was never as politically apathetic as was generally thought in the 1970s and ’80s. The word ‘party’ may have been anathema to the refugees who had fled from the Communists or Nationalists in the 1930s and ’40s, but not necessarily to their sons and daughters.
Born and bred in the territory, these first-generation Hong Kong youths were entering universities and colleges by the 1970s and becoming politically active. Like student activists everywhere they were passionate and idealistic, agitating successfully for Chinese to be recognised as an official language alongside English. They opposed colonialism, expressed pride in their Chinese heritage and railed against the benign dictatorship of the Hong Kong colonial government. But their numbers were split between those who supported China – and the Chinese Communist Party – at all costs and those who had reservations or even mistrusted it.
The first to consider themselves ‘Hong Kong people’ rather than refugees from China , this generation formed the pressure groups emerging in the 1980s to debate Hong Kong’s future. By the end of the decade they were coalescing into nascent political parties and preparing for the 1991 Legco (legislative council) elections.
The first party to emerge was the United Democratic Party, led by outspoken democrats Martin Lee and Szeto Wah. The pair, initially courted by China for their anticolonial positions and appointed to the committee that drafted the Basic Law, subsequently infuriated Beijing by publicly burning copies of the proto-constitution in protest over the Tiananmen massacre. Predictably, China denounced them as subversives.
Chris Patten, Hong Kong’s 28th – and last – British governor arrived in 1992, pledging to his sceptical citizens to get democracy back on track. China reacted badly, first levelling daily verbal attacks at the governor, then threatening the post-1997 careers of any prodemocracy politicians or officials. When these tactics failed, China targeted Hong Kong’s economy. Negotiations on certain business contracts straddling 1997 suddenly came to a halt, and Beijing scared off foreign investors by boycotting all talks on the new airport programme.
Sensing that it had alienated even its supporters in Hong Kong, China backed down and in 1994 gave its blessing to the new airport at Chek Lap Kok. It remained hostile to direct elections, however, and vowed to disband the democratically elected legislature after 1997.
In August 1994 China adopted a resolution to abolish the terms of office of Hong Kong’s three tiers of elected bodies: the legislature, the municipal councils and the district boards. A Provisional Legislative Council was elected by Beijing , which included pro- Beijing councillors who had been defeated by democratic ones in the sitting Legco. The rival chamber met over the border in Shenzhen, as it had no authority in Hong Kong until the transfer of power three years later. This provisional body served until May 1998, when a new Legislative Council was elected partially by the people of Hong Kong, partially by business constituencies and partially by power brokers in Beijing .
As for the executive branch of power, no one was fooled by the pseudo election, choreographed by China in 1996, to select Hong Kong’s first postcolonial leader. But Tung Chee Hwa (1937–), the Shanghai -born shipping magnate destined to become the SAR’s first chief executive, won approval by retaining Patten’s right-hand woman, Anson Chan, as his chief secretary and Donald Tsang as financial secretary.
China agreed to a low-key entry into Hong Kong, and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops were trucked straight to their barracks in Stanley, Kowloon Tong and Bonham Rd in the Mid-Levels. On the night of 30 June 1997 the handover celebrations held in the purpose-built extension of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai were watched by millions of people around the world. Chris Patten shed a tear while Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin beamed and Prince Charles was outwardly stoic (but privately scathing, describing the Chinese leaders in a diary leaked years later to the British tabloids as ‘appalling old waxworks’).
So the curtain fell on a century and a half of British rule and the new chief executive Tung summed up Chinese feelings about the handover with the words: ‘Now we are masters of our own house.’
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The recent past
Visitors returning to Hong Kong since July 1997 would see and feel little material difference walking around the city today. China has been largely true to its word in allowing Hong Kong the high level of the autonomy it enjoyed under the previous regime. Apart from the ever-higher buildings and the ever-narrowing gap between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, business goes on as it did before the handover with ever-greater frenzy and bustle in this booming global financial and commercial centre. Perhaps the most striking thing for returning visitors from the West is the influx of a new breed of visitor: mainland Chinese, who now make up more than half the territory’s visitor numbers.
Not everything has been rosy since the handover, however, and the mainland stands accused of interfering in Hong Kong’s independence over a number of issues. Perhaps it’s not surprising. Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping’s policy of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ would always have its fault lines. His deft verbal fudge over the issue of just how much autonomy Hong Kong should enjoy continues to be tested over a series of issues: perceived attempts by the mainland to erode civil liberties and press freedoms; the debate over whether the rule of law is being maintained in the territory; and vocal calls for real democracy and better representation for all the territory’s people.
Clearly the mainland government wields huge influence both benign and malign but in most cases still prefers to tread lightly, honouring the spirit of the handover agreement to a great extent. Perhaps the real surprise should be that a monolithic one-party state (and one which theoretically remains a Communist one) has resisted daily tinkering in the affairs of a nakedly capitalistic city state based on the Western rule of law. A measure of just how successful the handover has been came in a 2007 BBC interview with Baroness Thatcher. Marking the 10th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China , Thatcher, to her own surprise, deemed China ’s overall performance a success.
There’s much debate about how much influence the mainland is bringing to bear overtly or covertly in Hong Kong. But might history one day identify an equal and opposite reaction going on, too? Hong Kong’s dazzling status and success arguably contains within it a kind of ‘soft’ power to influence thinking in the mainland. It might be hard to measure, but in the enclave that sheltered and inspired the fathers of powerful mainland movements (Sun Yatsen and Zhou Enlai) it should not be dismissed.
The fact remains, however, that true democracy still looks to be a long way off. Chinese people might now rule the roost but, more than a decade on from colonial days, the Legislative Council remains essentially toothless and ultimate power rests with the chief executive (and his ultimate masters), just as it did with the British governor.
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Hong Kong post-1997
Hong Kong might be a buoyant, self-confident place these days, but there were some bumps along the way. Almost as soon as the euphoria of the 1997 handover faded things started going badly in Hong Kong. A brutal economic recession, a plague and an ill-fated launch for the new airport helped to sandbag the new Hong Kong SAR in its early years.
The financial crisis that had rocked other parts of Asia began to be felt in Hong Kong at the end of 1997. A strain of deadly avian flu, which many people feared would become a worldwide epidemic, saw Hong Kong slaughtering some 1.4 million chickens. Following on from this was the ‘Chek Lap Kok-up’ of 1998, when the much-trumpeted new airport opened to a litany of disasters. Hong Kong was making world headlines again – but for all the wrong reasons.
The credibility of the SAR administration was severely damaged in 1999 when the government challenged a High Court ruling allowing residency rights for the China -born offspring of parents who became Hong Kong citizens after 1997. The ruling was based on certain clauses of the Basic Law – Hong Kong’s miniconstitution – that made 1.6 million people from the mainland eligible for right of abode in the territory. The SAR administration appealed to the standing committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China ’s rubber-stamp parliament, to ‘reinterpret’ these clauses. The NPC complied, and ruled according to what the law drafters ‘meant’ but had somehow failed to write into law. Once again many people felt that the government was acting in its own – and not their – interest.
Meanwhile, chief executive Tung Chee Hwa’s popularity declined rapidly. He was increasingly seen as Beijing ’s lackey, often dictatorial and aloof but strangely weak and indecisive in times of crisis. One example of the latter was his condemnation of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that had emerged in China in 1992 and had earned the wrath of the mainland government, which brutally suppressed the movement.
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History books
Foreign Mud by Maurice Collis (1946) – first published just after WWII, this is an excellent historical reconstruction of the sordid events leading to the First Opium War that Britain fought with China .
Hong Kong: China ’s New Colony by Stephen Vines (1998) – this excellent history continues where most books on Hong Kong leave off, examining the territory after the change in landlords. It pulls very few punches.
Hong Kong: Epilogue to an Empire by Jan Morris (1997) – this anecdotal history of the territory shortly before the handover moves effortlessly between past and present as it explains what made Hong Kong so unique among the colonies of the British Empire. It’s a dated but highly recommended read.
Old Hong Kong by Formasia (1999) – this fascinating large-format pictorial of old photographs comes in three volumes: Volume I covers the period from 1860 to 1900; Volume II from 1901 to 1945; and Volume III from 1950 to 1997.
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One country, two systems
Under the agreement signed by China and Britain, which is enshrined in a document known as The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, the ‘British-administered territory’ of Hong Kong would disappear and be reborn as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China . This meant the Hong Kong SAR would be permitted to continue with its current capitalist system, while across the border the Chinese would remain with China ’s version of socialism. The Chinese catch phrase for this was ‘One Country, Two Systems’.
In 1988 the details of this rather unorthodox system of government were spelled out in The Basic Law for Hong Kong, the SAR’s future constitution. The Basic Law, ratified by the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing in 1990, preserved Hong Kong’s English common-law judicial system and guaranteed the right of property and ownership. It also included the rights of assembly, free speech, association, travel and movement, correspondence, choice of occupation, academic research, religious belief and the right to strike. The SAR would enjoy a high degree of autonomy with the exception of foreign affairs and matters of defence.
As guarantees of individual freedoms and respect for human rights are written into China ’s own constitution, few Hong Kong Chinese held much faith in the Basic Law. The guarantees were seen as empty promises and quite a few felt the Basic Law provided Beijing with the means to interfere in Hong Kong’s internal affairs to preserve public order, public morals and national security.
Although Hong Kong under the British had never been more than a benignly ruled oligarchy, Whitehall had nevertheless promised to introduce democratic reforms prior to the handover. But it soon became apparent that British and Chinese definitions of democracy differed considerably. Beijing made it abundantly clear that it would not allow Hong Kong to establish its own democratically elected government. The chief executive was to be chosen by a Beijing -appointed panel of delegates; the people of Hong Kong would elect some lower officials. In the face of opposition from Beijing , planned elections for 1988 were postponed.
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The clamour for democracy
Despite his poor standing in the polls, Tung was returned for a second five-year term in March 2002 and moved to reform the executive branch, instituting a cabinetlike system within which secretaries would be held accountable for their portfolios.
Controversy continued to dog his time in office, however, most notably in March 2003, with the government’s failure to contain the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic at an early stage, provoking a torrent of blame. The outbreak killed 299 people, infected 1755 and all but closed Hong Kong down for weeks.
In July 2003 the government came under fire yet again over a deeply unpopular piece of new legislation. Called Article 23, which Beijing had added to Hong Kong’s Basic Law in the aftermath of the Tiananmen student movement of 1989, the bill dealt with acts ‘endangering public security’, such as treason, subversion and sedition. In the face of massive public protests – of 500,000 people or more – the government shelved the bill indefinitely.
At the end of the following year the government was forced to scrap the sale of a public-housing property fund worth US$2.7 billion just hours before it was due to list when a court sided with an elderly tenant’s challenge to the sale. It was a major blow to investors – something not lost on the leadership in Beijing .
Soon after, Chinese President Hu Jintao called on Tung to ‘reflect on the past’ and ‘learn from his mistakes’, a severe scolding by Chinese political standards. In March 2005 Tung announced his resignation as chief executive, citing overwork as the reason. His interim replacement was the bow-tie-wearing chief secretary Sir Donald Tsang, who straddled both Hong Kong’s regimes as financial secretary from 1995 to 2001 and had been knighted under Chris Patten in 1997. Tsang was elected uncontested in June 2005, two weeks after the nomination period closed.
Compared to the lacklustre Tung, Tsang was a welcome replacement for many. On good terms with the Beijing powerbrokers, he also sustained very high public approval ratings beyond the usual political honeymoon period (helped no doubt by a resurgent economy, and bullish stock and housing markets).
In 2007 Tsang stood again for election, and was elected with ease. He was the first chief executive not to stand unopposed. His contestant, prodemocracy activist Alan Leong, came a distant second, but for many who yearn for a truly democratic Hong Kong it is a sign of hope that Hong Kong people may one day see a government truly elected by them rather than by a cabal dominated by those loyal to local business and to the mainland powers that be.
Yearnings for democracy aside, more than 10 years on from the handover, the mood in Hong Kong is buoyant, thanks in large part to a resurgent economy taking an ever-fatter tithe from China ’s boom.
In the later years of the decade Hong Kong has a spring in its step and most of its citizens are proud to say they are citizens of the SAR as well, crucially, as subjects of China , however confusing and problematic that dual identity might sometimes seem.
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Which Roman landed in Britain in 55 BC? | Athena Review 1,1: Landings of Caesar in Britain, 55 and 54 BC
The Landings of Caesar in Britain, 55 and 54 BC
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Deal Beach in Kent.
This shoreline near Walmer Castle is probably in the area where Julius Caesar and his troops landed during the two Roman excursions to Britain of 55 and 54 BC. In the distance, the cliffs of Dover may be seen to the south. The beach is made up of small stones or shingles.
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[Fig.1: Area of Deal Beach where Caesar's ships probably landed (photo: Athena Review).]
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Caesar, the historian.
In 58 BC, Julius Caesar became governor and military commander of the Roman province of Gaul, which included modern France, Belgium, and portions of Switzerland, Holland, and Germany west of the Rhine. For the next eight years, Caesar led military campaigns involving both the Roman legions and tribes in Gaul who were often competing among themselves. The story has been preserved in Caesar's account, Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, originally published in 50 BC.
In the first century BC, Britain was settled by Iron Age societies, many with long-term roots in Britain, and others closely tied to tribes of northern France (fig.2). Commerce was flourishing, populations were relatively large, and at least seven different British tribes had their own coinages. Tribes in southwest Britain and Wales controlled considerable mineral wealth in tin deposits and copper mines.
For this period, Caesar is the only extant source providing first-hand descriptions of Britain. His observations, while confined to the southeast areas of Kent and the lower Thames, are thus essential to understanding those regions. While no doubt self-serving in a political sense when written, Caesar's account is nevertheless regarded as basically accurate and historically reliable both by earlier scholars such as C. Rice Holmes (1907), and by today's authorities including Sheppard Frere (1987).
Both the 55 and 54 BC Roman expeditions left from Boulogne (Portus Itius), and landed at Deal, a few miles northeast of Dover. In 55 BC, the Roman cavalry ships were forced back to Gaul by a storm, and Caesar's troops were confined to the shore. In 54 BC, a larger Roman expedition landed at Deal and penetrated inland along the River Thames.
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[Fig.2: Map of the crossings of Caesar over the English Channel.]
The first Roman landing in Britain (55 BC).
Caesar probably planned an expedition to Britain in 56 BC, a year when the Armorican tribes in the coast of Britanny revolted against the Romans with aid from the tribes of southern Britain. The operation was further delayed by battles with the Morini and Menapi, Belgic tribes who controlled the Straits of Dover.
Finally, on August 26, 55 BC, two Roman Legions (about 10,000 soldiers) under Caesar's personal command crossed the channel in a group of transport ships leaving from Portus Itius (today's Boulogne). By the next morning (August 27), as Caesar reports, the Roman ships were just off the chalky cliffs of Dover, whose upper banks were lined with British warriors prepared to do battle. The Romans therefore sailed several miles further northeast up the coastline and landed on the flat, pebbly shore around Deal.
The Britons met the legionaries at the beach with a large force, including warriors in horse-drawn chariots, an antiquated fighting method not used by the Roman military. After an initial skirmish, the British war leaders sought a truce, and handed over hostages.
Four days later, however, when Roman ships with 500 cavalry soldiers and horses also tried to make the channel crossing, they were driven back to France by bad weather. The same storm seriously damaged many of the Roman ships on the beach at Deal. This quirk of fate resulted in Caesar's initial landing force having no cavalry, which seriously restricted the mobility of the 55 BC operations. It was also disastrous for the planned reconnaissance since the legionary soldiers were forced to repair the ships and were vulnerable to the British forces who began new attacks.
Thus immobilized, the Roman legions had to survive in a coastal zone which they found both politically hostile, and naturally fertile. The need to procure food locally resulted in scouting and foraging missions into the adjacent countryside. Caesar reports abundant grain crops along a heavily populated coastline; and frequent encounters with British warriors in chariots. After repairing most of the ships, Caesar ordered a return to Gaul, thus curtailing the reconnaissance of 55 BC.
The second Roman expedition to Britain (54 BC).
The next year saw the Romans organize a much larger expedition to Britain, with a total of 800 ships used to transport five legions and 2000 cavalry troops, plus horses and a large baggage train. They sailed from Boulogne at night on July 6, and landed unopposed the next day on the beach between Deal and Sandwich.
Upon seeing the large size of the Roman force, the Britons retreated inland to higher ground. Caesar immediately marched inland with most of his troops to the Stour River, about 12 miles from the beach landing camp. At daybreak on the 8th of July, 54 BC, the Romans encountered British forces at a ford on the Stour (later the town of Canterbury). The Romans easily dispersed the Britons, who retreated to a hill fort or stronghold (oppidum), which from Caesar's description, is probably the hill fort at Bigbury, a site with earthwork and ditch enclosures mile and a half from the river ford. The Seventh Roman legion attacked the hillfort but were blocked out by trees piled in the entrance by the Britons. To advance, the Roman troops filled in the outer ditch with earth and brush, making a ramp across it, and then capturing the fort.
Bad news came for the Romans, however, shortly thereafter from the beach camp at Deal. An overnight storm had driven most of the Roman ships on shore. The main body of troops returned to the beach, to find at least forty boats completely wrecked. Security precautions required Caesar's army to spend ten long days building a land fort within which the entire fleet of 760 ships was transported. This, the second catastrophe for Roman ships in as many years caused by storms on the open beach, could have been averted had Caesar sailed only a few miles further up the coast to the protected harbor at Richborough (where the Romans landed when they next invaded Britain, in 43 AD).
[Fig.3: Tribes in Northern Gaul during Caesar's excursions to Britain, 55-54 BC.]
During this ten day hiatus, a large British force was briefly united under a single commander, Cassivellaunus, who ruled the Catuvellauni tribe on the north side of the River Thames. The army of Cassivellaunus met the Romans again at the Stour crossing. The Britons used chariot warfare, with two horses pulling a driver and warrior, the latter hurling javelins, then dismounting at close quarters to fight infantry-style. After a hard-fought battle, the Romans eventually drove back the Britons, and then pursued Cassivellaunus toward the Thames.
In the wooded terrain north of the River Thames, Cassivellaunus adopted scorched-earth, guerrilla-warfare methods, destroying local food sources and using chariots to harrass the Roman legions. But neighboring tribes who resented the domination by Cassivellaunus, including the Trinovantes and their allies the Cenimagni, Segontiaci, Ancalites, Bibroci and Cassi (the latter five tribes, known to us only through Caesar's account) then went over to the Romans.
Caesar thus learned from native informants the location of the secret stronghold of Cassivellaunus, probably the hill fort at Wheathampstead, located on the west bank of the River Lea, near St. Albans. Even as the Roman army under Caesar were massing outside his fort's gates, however, Cassivellaunus made the bold move of ordering his allies in Kent to attack the Roman beach camp at Deal. This attack failed, and Cassivellaunus then gave up. Yet the terms of surrender he negotiated with the Romans seem to have been moderate, as Caesar had learned of mounting problems back in Gaul, and wanted to return there. The Roman legions left Britain in early September, 54 BC. They were not to return again for 97 years, when the Claudian invasion of AD 43 began the active Roman conquest of Britain. Caesar's two expeditions, meanwhile, provided basic information on the terrain, inhabitants, and political, economic and military customs of Britain, our only direct historical record for that time period.
sources:
Caesar, Julius. (orig. 50 BC) Commentaries on the Gallic Wars. (transl. H.J. Edwards). Loeb Classical Library.
Frere, Sheppard. 1987. Britannia: A History of Roman Britain (3rd edition). London. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Holmes, T. Rice. 1907. Ancient Britain and the Invasions of Julius Caesar. Oxford. Clarendon Press.
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In which English city was Dick Turpin hanged? | A History of Roman Britain
A HISTORY OF ROMAN BRITAIN
By Tim Lambert
THE ROMAN CONQUEST OF BRITAIN
The written history of Britain really began in 55 BC when Julius Caesar led an expedition there. Caesar returned in 54 BC. Both times he defeated the Celts but he did not stay. Both times the Romans withdrew after the Celts agreed to pay annual tribute.
The Romans invaded Britain again in 43 AD under Emperor Claudius. The Roman invasion force consisted of about 20,000 legionaries and about 20,000 auxiliary soldiers from the provinces of the Roman Empire. Aulus Plautius led them. The Romans landed somewhere in Southeast England (the exact location is unknown) and quickly prevailed against the Celtic army. The Celts could not match the discipline and training of the Roman army. A battle was fought on the River Medway, ending in Celtic defeat and withdrawal. The Romans chased them over the River Thames into Essex and within months of landing in Britain the Romans had captured the Celtic hill fort on the site of Colchester .
Meanwhile other Roman forces marched into what is now Sussex, where the local tribe, the Atrebates were friendly and offered no resistance. The Roman army then marched into the territory of another tribe, the Durotriges, in what is now Dorset and southern Somerset. Everywhere the Romans prevailed and that year 11 Celtic kings surrendered to Claudius.
Normally if a Celtic king surrendered the Romans allowed him to remain as a puppet ruler.
Aulus Plautius was made the first governor of Roman Britain.
By 47 AD the Romans were in control of Britain from the River Humber to the Estuary of the River Severn.
However the war was not over. The Silures in South Wales and the Ordovices of North Wales continued to harass the Romans. Fighting between the Welsh tribes and the Romans continued for years.
Meanwhile in 60 AD the Iceni tribe of East Anglia rebelled. At first the Romans allowed them to keep their kings and have some autonomy. However in c. 50 AD the Romans were fighting in Wales and they were afraid the Iceni might stab them in the back. They ordered the Iceni to disarm, which provoked a rebellion. However the Romans easily crushed it. In the ensuing years the Romans alienated the Iceni by imposing heavy taxes. Then, when the king of the Iceni died he left his kingdom partly to his wife, Boudicca and partly to Emperor Nero Soon, however Nero wanted the kingdom all for himself. His men treated the Iceni very high-handedly and they provoked rebellion. This time a large part of the Roman army was fighting in Wales and the rebellion was, at first, successful. Led by Boudicca the Celts burned Colchester , St Albans and London . However the Romans rushed forces to deal with the rebellion. Although the Romans were outnumbered their superior discipline and tactics secured total victory.
After the rebellion was crushed the Celts of southern Britain settled down and gradually accepted Roman rule.
Then in 71-74 AD the Romans conquered what is now the north of England. They built a great town at York . The Romans also established a town at Carlisle In the years 74-77 the Romans conquered South Wales. Then in 77 AD Agricola was made governor of Britain. First he conquered North Wales. Then he turned his attention to what is now Scotland. By 81 AD the Romans had captured the area from the Clyde to the Forth. In 82 they advanced further north. In 83 the Romans won a great victory at Mons Graupius (it is not known exactly where that was). However in 86 the Romans withdrew from Scotland.
In 122-126 the Emperor Hadrian built a great wall across the northern frontier of Roman Britain to keep out the people the Romans called the Picts. However under the Emperor Antonius Pius the Romans again invaded Scotland. In 142-43 they defeated the Picts. The Romans then built a wall of turf with a stone base to protect their conquests. However the Antonine Wall, as it was called, was abandoned about 163. The Roman army withdrew to Hadrian's Wall.
THE END OF ROMAN BRITAIN
By the middle of the 3rd century the Roman Empire was in decline. In the latter half of the 3rd century Saxons from Germany began raiding the east coast of Roman Britain. The Romans built a chain of forts along the coast, which they called the Saxon shore. The forts were commanded by an official called the Count of the Saxon shore and they contained both infantry and cavalry.
However the Saxon raids were, at first, no more than pin pricks and most of Roman Britain remained reasonably peaceful and prosperous.
Then in 286 an admiral named Carausius seized power in Britain. For 7 years he ruled Britain as an emperor until Allectus, his finance minister, assassinated him. Allectus then ruled Britain until 296 when Constantius, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire invaded. Britain was then taken back into the Roman fold.
Portchester Castle, a Roman fort
In the 4th century the Roman Empire in the west went into serious economic and political decline. The populations of towns fell. Public baths and amphitheaters went out of use.
In 367 Scots from Northern Ireland, Picts from Scotland and Saxons joined to raid Roman Britain and loot it. They overran Hadrian's Wall and killed the Count of the Saxon shore. However the Romans sent a man named Theodosius with reinforcements to restore order.
In 383 some Roman soldiers were withdrawn from Britain and the raiding grew worse.
The last Roman troops left Britain in 407. In 410 the leaders of the Romano-Celts sent a letter to the Roman Emperor Honorius, appealing for help. However he had no troops to spare and he told the Britons they must defend themselves.
Roman Britain split into separate kingdoms but the Romano-Celts continued to fight the Saxon raiders.
Roman civilization slowly broke down. In the towns people stopped using coins and returned to barter. The populations of towns were already falling and this continued. Rich people left to be self-sufficient on their estates. Craftsmen went to live in the countryside. More and more space within the walls of towns was giving over to growing crops. Roman towns continued to be inhabited until the mid-5th century. Then most were abandoned. Some may not have been deserted completely. A small number may have still had a very small population who lived by farming land inside and outside the walls. However town life as such came to an end.
In the 5th century Roman civilization in the countryside faded away.
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Which treaty in 1957 led to the creation of the EEC? | The Treaty of Rome (1957) - The history of the European Union and European Citizenship
The Treaties of Rome (1957)
The signing of the Treaties of Rome
On 25th March 1957, two treaties were signed in Rome that gave birth to the European Economic Community (EEC) and to European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) : the Treaties of Rome. The signatories of the historic agreement were Christian Pineau on behalf of France, Joseph Luns from the Netherlands, Paul Henri Spaak from Belgium, Joseph Bech from Luxemburg, Antonio Segni from Italy and Konrad Adenauer from the Federal Republic of Germany. The Treaties were ratified by National Parliaments over the following months and came into force on 1st January 1958.
The Treaty establishing the EEC affirmed in its preamble that signatory States were "determined to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe". In this way, the member States specifically affirmed the political objective of a progressive political integration.
In fact, the brand new institution was a customs union. As a consequence, the EEC was colloquially known as "Common Market". The member countries agreed to dismantle all tariff barriers over a 12-year transitional period. In view of the economic success that freer commercial exchanges brought about, the transitory term was shortened and in July 1968 all tariffs among the EEC States were abrogated. At the same time, a common tariff was established for all products coming from third countries.
As a matter of fact, the common market meant exclusively free circulation of goods. Free movement of persons, capitals and services continued to be subject to numerous limitations. It was necessary to wait until the Single European Act , in 1987, when a definitive boost was given to establish a genuine unified market. This brought about the European Union Treaty in 1992.
The other essential agreement included in the Treaty of Rome was the adoption of a Common agricultural policy (CAP) . Essentially, the CAP enacted a free market of agricultural products inside the EEC and established protectionist policies that guaranteed sufficient revenues to European farmers, avoiding competition from third countries' products by guaranteeing agricultural prices. With the aim of financing the CAP, the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) was established in 1962. The CAP has continued absorbing most of the community budget, and its reform has been one of the most badly needed in recent years.
The Treaty of Rome also established the prohibition of monopolies, some transport common policies, and the grant of some commercial privileges to the colonial territories of the member States.
The Treaty of Rome signified the triumph of a very realistic and gradualist approach to building the EU. This method was personified by Jean Monnet . The failure of the CED demonstrated that tremendous obstacles lay in the path of the final construction of a political union. Consequently, the new strategy sought to adopt a process of integration that gradually incorporated diverse economic sectors and that established supranational institutions with increasingly political competences.. The EEC from its birth was based on a series of institutions: the European Commission , the European Commission , the European Assembly, later known as European Parliament , the Court of Justice and the Economic and Social Committee , whose competences were enlarged and modified in the diverse agreements and treaties that succeeded the Treaty of Rome.
To sum up, a process put in motion in which progressive economic integration was paving the way to the long term objective, the political union.
The Treaty that instituted the EURATOM tried to create the conditions for developing a strong nuclear industry. It was much less important than the treaty that brought into existence the EEC and, in fact, when people speak about the treaties of Rome refer, incorrectly, to the one which established the EEC.
The "British problem" and the enlargement of the EEC in 1973
The absence of the United Kingdom constituted the main political problem that the EEC had to face in its early years. The British government refused to participate for different reasons:
The importance of its commercial, political and, even, sentimental bonds with its colonies and former colonies, most of them integrated in the Commonwealth;
Its refusal to join a customs union. The British government defended the establishment of a free trade area, in which the internal customs rights were abolished, but national governments would maintain their competences of enacting their own tariffs with regard to third countries;
The fact that Britain was totally opposed to embarking on a project whose long-term aim was to surrender the sovereignty of national states to supranational European institutions. In other words, the British were, and many of them still remain, very far from the objective of an European political union.
After negotiations to integrate Britain in the EEC broke down, the British government proposed the foundation of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Austria and Portugal joined to that new organisation. It fell far short of any project of political integration, and constituted a mere free trade area.
Shortly, Britain realized its mistake. Whereas the EEC witnessed a spectacular economic growth, with growth rates in the sixties clearly superior to those in America, Great Britain continued its downward trend in relation to the Continent.
Therefore, in August of 1961 the British Prime Minister requested the beginning of negotiations on accession to the EEC. However, after starting negotiations, the French leader, Charles De Gaulle , in 1963 vetoed British accession to the EEC. He was resolved to build up a Europe of the homelands that would become a third superpower between the USA and the USSR, and was suspicious of the Britain�s close bonds with Washington. In 1967, when British Labour prime minister, Harold Wilson, again requested to join the EEC, the French general once more banned the accession of the United Kingdom.
Charles De Gaulle
De Gaulle , in spite of defending a strong Europe before USA and USSR, never believed in a politically united Europe. In his view, the national independence of France, the country that he tried boldly to maintain in a role of power, was an non-negotiable question. De Gaulle 's nationalism brought about the empty chair crisis in 1966 that kept paralysed the Community for seven months and that, finally, concluded with the Commitment of Luxemburg. France resumed its place in the Council in return for keeping the unanimity vote when major interests were at stake.
Only the resignation of De Gaulle in 1969, for reasons of home affairs, opened up the possibility of British accession.
After overcoming the tough opposition of a significant section of the British public that claimed to maintain an anti-European stance, negotiations came to an end in 1972. Eventually the United Kingdom joined the EEC. Denmark and Ireland accompanied it. The Europe of the Nine was born.
Edward Heath, British prime minister signs the accesion to the EEC (1973)
The Norwegian people, contradicting their own government's opinion, voted against entering the EEC. Henceforth, Norway has since stayed apart from the Community.
Progress in European integration and the enlargement to the "Europe of the Twelve" (1973-1986)
The 1973 economic crisis put an end to a period of impressive economic growth that European countries had enjoyed for a long time. Unemployment, inflation and crisis of traditional industrial sectors characterized the economic landscape of the EEC in the second half of the 70es and early 80s. In spite of the fact that some journalists coined the terms euroscepticism and eurosclerosis to refer to an integration process that seemed to fade, the fact was that, over these years, important advancements took place. Not only was a higher level of integration achieved, but the process of enlargement proceeded.
These were the key advancements:
From 1975 the denominated European Council was instituted as a periodical meeting of Heads of State or Government. This was tobe the institution where major long-term decisions would be agreed.
In 1979, the European Monetary System (EMS) came into force. At the same time, the European Currency Unit (ECU), direct predecessor of the Euro, was born. Member countries' currencies were tied in a narrow 2.5% band of fluctuation and national governments committed to coordinate their monetary policies. It was the first significant step toward monetary union.
First elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage were held in 1979.
The end of military dictatorships in Greece (1974), Portugal (1974) and Spain (Franco died in 1975) 3. made possible the accession of these nations. Greece, in 1981, and Spain and Portugal, in 1986, became new members of the EEC. The Community was enlarged toward the Mediterranean Europe. Spain managed to accomplish an old aspiration.
Spain's representatives signing the accesion to EEC (1986)
In 1984, a group of European MPs, chaired by the Italian Altiero Spinelli , introduced in Parliament a project of Treaty of the European Union. They intended to obtain the approval of a new treaty that substituted the old one signed in Rome and that constituted a great advancement in the European integration. In spite of not being passed by the governments, the scheme�s merit was that it anticipated the debate on the main advancements that would take place in the 90s.
Altiero Spinelli
In 1985, the three countries of the Benelux, France and Germany signed the Schengen Agreement . Most of the member States would join in subsequent years. It constituted the beginning of an ambitious initiative to guarantee the free movement of persons and the gradual removal of frontiers among the community States.
In the second half of the 80s, the integration process received an important political impulse, largely due to Jacques Delors . A French socialist, he was elected president of the European Commission in 1985. The first step was the enacting of the Single European Act in 1986.
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Name the British Prime Minister at the outbreak of WW1? | The Treaty of Rome - History Learning Site
Home » British Politics » The Treaty of Rome
The Treaty of Rome
Citation: C N Trueman "The Treaty of Rome"
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 27 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016.
The Treaty of Rome was signed on March 25th 1957. Many see the Treaty of Rome as the seedling that has grown into the European Union . The treaty introduced the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Commission.
Supporters of greater European co-operation had been buoyed by the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in April 1951. Two Frenchmen believed that this co-operation could be pushed even further – Robert Schuman and Jean Monet. Schuman, who had lived and studied in Germany, believed that, despite the recent memories of World War Two , both France and what was now West Germany could cultivate better relations. Monet was a businessman who believed that the only way for greater prosperity in both France and West Germany was for both countries to develop a better and more positive relationship. Konrad Adenaur, West Germany’s first post-war Chancellor shared the views of both Schuman and Monet. All three believed that greater co-operation between both nations would all but end any chance of another war between both nations.
Their views on co-operation were shared by Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium who also believed that the threat of war would be a thing of the past if all of Western European gave its support towards more co-operation.
In 1954, France rejected the idea of a European army that would have included German troops. Though this approach did not fit in with the ideal of greater co-operation, ironically it sparked off a process that was to lead to further European integration and co-operation. Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg) was concerned that both West Germany and France were becoming the dominant powers in Western Europe. Benelux suggested to West Germany, France and Italy (the six members of the ECSC) that representatives from all six nations should meet at Messina in Sicily to discuss the creation of a common market. A statement was issued that stated:
“The time has come to make a fresh advance towards the building of Europe.”
Representatives from the six countries met at Messina in June 1955. The meeting was chaired by Paul-Henri Spaak. The most important proposals were for a general common market and a European atomic energy authority. The idea behind a common market was for trade between member states to be tariff-free within the common market zone. Spaak believed that such a policy would have four major advantages:
1) A vast zone in Europe would be created that would have the same trading policy.
2) Such a zone would challenge the economic muscle of the United States.
3) The strength of combined resources would bring about expansion and greater prosperity.
4) There would be a rise in the standard of living for those who lived within the common market.
The theory generated by Messina ignored a number of practical realities. For example, no agreement was reached on the duty that would be charged by Common Market members on products coming into the Common Market from non-member states. Also no agreement was reached on a common agricultural policy for member states. However, the Messina Conference showed that there was a desire to move forward and to develop what had been started by the ECSC.
Britain had sent representatives to the Messina Conference in July 1955 but they were pulled out at the end of the year. Herbert Morrison had stated that if Britain joined the Common Market it would be:
“The end of Britain as an independent European state…….the end of a thousand years of history.”
As a result of the Messina Conference, France, West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Luxemburg signed the Treaty of Rome on March 25th 1957. The treaty came into force on January 1st 1958 and the Common Market more strictly became the European Economic Community (EEC) whereby trade by member states within the EEC was free of tariffs – the theory being that costs would be kept down and the people within the EEC would benefit, thus improving their standard of living.
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In which city was Terry Waite taken hostage in 1987? | BBC ON THIS DAY | 2 | 1987: Negotiator turned hostage
1987: Negotiator turned hostage
When Terry Waite went to Beirut in January 1987, he was placing himself in immense danger.
The American arms for hostages scandal - the Iran-Contra affair - led to accusations the peace envoy was more CIA stooge than humanitarian negotiator.
To confound his critics - and believing himself safe as a representative of the church - Mr Waite left once more for the world's most dangerous city.
I know myself well enough to realise I don't have purely altruistic motives.
I definitely felt desperately concerned about the hostages and their plight.
But also I was devastated by the political action that had been taken, which was duplicitous in my opinion. I felt my pride had been wounded and I wasn't just going to sit down and take that.
The story begins the day before I was kidnapped. There was an intermediary in Beirut who was a medical practitioner and I used to meet my contacts in his consulting room.
I went without guards, arms or a locater device
I went back to Beirut and for the first few days spent time visiting various people in the town, trying to pick up leads and I didn't get very far.
Then the telephone rang and I recognised the voice of my contact and he asked me if I would meet him.
I said I would - that's why I was there, I wanted to try and see if we could pick up the negotiation again.
I arranged to meet him at the doctor's consulting room and on the evening in question I went there without guards, arms or a locater device.
He said, "On previous occasions you've asked to see the hostages."
I said, "Yes, I have."
He said, "We haven't allowed it, but this time we're going to let you see them, because they're sick and they're very depressed as a result of all these happenings [the US arms for hostages scandal] in recent weeks."
'We will not keep you'
I said to him what any sensible person would have said:
"If I come with you, you'll keep me."
But he denied this.
I asked him to give me his hand and assurance that he wouldn't.
He stretched out his hand and said, "We will not keep you".
I told him he was asking a great deal and requested 24 hours to think about it. He agreed and said if I wanted to see the hostages I should come back to this place tomorrow night.
Emergency
I consulted with various people - the advice differed and really the decision was mine.
I felt that if I'd been given safe conduct, if the man was telling me the truth and if I didn't go and one of the hostages died, then I'd have to live with my conscience for the rest of my life.
And I didn't want to live with a bad conscience.
So the next night I went back to the doctor's consulting room and immediately I had the feeling that something was wrong, because as soon as I got there the telephone rang.
The doctor answered it and he said, "I'm sorry I've got to leave you, there's an emergency at the hospital."
I asked him to wait for a moment until the man came, but he said he had to go now - and he left.
And I remember pacing up and down in his consulting room thinking what I should do at this point. But I thought as I had come so far I should go through with it.
Underground garage
Then I heard the elevator come up and my contact stepped into the room. I was given a quick body search.
I was taken in a car, then we changed cars, then I was blindfolded, then we went to a safe house and I was given a change of clothing.
We were moved from house to house in order to shake off a tail. Then after three or four days he said, "Right we're going to see the hostages."
I was taken down in the night, put into a van and driven across town. We came to what I believed was an underground garage beneath a block of flats.
That was it - I was a hostage, no longer a negotiator
I was told to get out of the van and there in the floor there was a trapdoor.
He said, "Jump down."
I jumped down, was pushed across the room and the door closed behind me and when I took my blindfold off I was in a tiled cell.
Then I realised that was it: I was a hostage, no longer a negotiator.
You can read Terry Waite's account of his release by clicking on the link in the right hand column.
Terry Waite was kidnapped by the extremist Islamic Jihad group
The Archbishop's envoy was held captive for almost five years
In Context
Terry Waite was freed in November 1991 after almost five years in captivity - most of them in solitary confinement.
After his release he wrote a bestselling account of his imprisonment, Taken on Trust, and is now a full time author and lecturer.
Witness Stories
| Beirut |
Which Olympic Games first featured women's weightlifting? | BBC World Service | FAQ | Lebanon hostages released
Lebanon hostages released
Waite heard a BBC programme about himself whilst in captivity
In the 1980s, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, was arguably the most dangerous city in the world.
As civil war engulfed the country, Westerners were at constant risk of being kidnapped and held hostage.
Among them were a Belfast-born lecturer at the American University of Beirut, Brian Keenan, and a television journalist John McCarthy.
Both were captured by the militant Islamic Jihad group called Islamic Dawn in April 1986.
Solitary confinement
In the efforts to negotiate the release of these and other hostages, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy Terry Waite went to Beirut. In February 1987, he too was taken.
At first nobody knew where Waite had gone, and there were fears he had been killed. A group of journalists was even taken to a spot where they were told he had been buried.
In fact Waite was being held in solitary confinement in Beirut, tortured and even made to undergo a mock execution.
For four of the five years he was held, he was kept in solitary confinement, often blindfolded and chained to a radiator.
Radio through the wall
Eventually he realised he was being kept in the same building as other hostages.
Using a primitive form of code he found out that his neighbours included John McCarthy and Brian Keenan, who had also undergone torture and other forms of harsh treatment.
Terry Waite takes up the story: "I was in solitary confinement and I used to communicate with hostages in the cell next door by tapping on the wall in code," Waite said.
"You can't use Morse code on a wall because you can't differentiate between a dot and a dash, but you can use the laborious code of one for A, two for B, three for C.
John Waite, Terry Waite’s cousin, was and a World Service presenter
"It was then that I regretted my name was Terry Waite, because it's a long way down the alphabet when you want to communicate your name.
"However, I communicated with them, they had a radio and for about nine months I depended on the news being tapped through the wall. In the last six months my captors relented and I was given a small radio.
"I listened to the BBC World Service constantly and I was enormously grateful, particularly for the fact that at the time they were broadcasting virtually 24 hours-a-day to the Middle East.
"I heard my cousin John broadcasting on Outlook and that meant a great deal to me because John, in a subtle way, got me news from my family.
"He also broadcast on my birthday and played a piece of Bach's organ music for me as a gift from the family.
"It was a great source of hope and comfort to me, that something was getting through to me from my family."
Messages from Meridian
The messages from the other room included cricket scores tapped out by John McCarthy. He remembers how he listened to cricket commentaries on the World Service: “The sound of bat on ball from thousands of miles away was very, very haunting."
John Waite, Terry Waite’s cousin and a World Service presenter, recalls how his family’s ordeal ended: "There was a new play opening in London about the hostage situation and the World Service arts programme Meridian asked if I would go along to see this play," says John Waite.
"We did the recording - I made my comments and the programme was broadcast.
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In what year did the UK government ban 'Fox Hunting'? | Scotland bans fox-hunting | Politics | The Guardian
Scotland bans fox-hunting
Wednesday 13 February 2002 21.23 EST
First published on Wednesday 13 February 2002 21.23 EST
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Downing Street was warned last night that there will be "rivers of blood" across the British countryside if Westminster follows the lead of the Scottish parliament, which last night banned fox-hunting in a historic and symbolic move.
After more than six hours of debate, MSPs passed the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) bill by 83 to 36, with five abstentions. Even its supporters say the bill is a tortuous piece of legislation, riddled with potential loopholes, but the intent is clear:mounted fox-hunting, fox-baiting and hare-coursing will be a criminal offence in Scotland punishable by a £5,000 fine or up to six months in jail. There will be no compensation for those affected by the ban.
As the anti-hunt lobby celebrated last night, rural campaigners said they could circumvent the legislation and would challenge it in the courts.
It was a day of angry protests and impassioned, sometimes farcical debate, with Basil Brush puppets brandished in the chamber and celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson Wright stalking the streets of Edinburgh to drum up support for the hunting lobby.
There are 10 mounted fox hunts in Scotland, half of them based in the border regions, and they employ around 3,000 people. Hunting does not have the same elitist image as it does in the south, but the Scottish public has been overwhelmingly supportive of a ban, and the bill has been seen as a further test of Holyrood's willingness to ignore Westminster and pursue its own course. Pressure was growing on Downing Street last night to bow to its devolved administration and follow suit.
"This is one of those defining moments in the history of UK parliaments," said Graham Isdale of the Scottish campaign against hunting with dogs. "It is a momentous occasion because Scotland is taking a lead in the UK, in the rest of Europe, and possibly in the rest of the world."
Opponents say the bill is nothing more than destructive symbolism. "This is an attack by urban politicians on the rural way of life and it will be challenged," said Noel Collins of the Rural Rebels.
By early yesterday morning huntsmen were rousing their dogs for hunts across the country before descending on the border town of Kelso where a crowd of more than 1,000 gathered. "No surrender. We will never be beaten!" shouted Sam Butler, chairman of the Campaign for Hunting, as the crowd - tweed-clad and spoiling for a fight - roared their approval and the dogs among them whined and yelped.
David Thomas, spokesman for the federation of Welsh packs, from Llandrindod, mid-Wales, warned there would be a revolution if Westminster tried to copy Scotland's lead.
"We are prepared to fight for our way of life and even die for it. You will not need to send envoys to Palestine or go to Africa to sort out problems there, Mr Blair, because there'll be too much trouble here," he said. "There'll be rivers of blood in the countryside just because I want to get on a horse and hunt a fox."
The protests continued in Edinburgh, as MSPs gathered on the Mound for the start of the debate. The anti-hunt lobby stood vigil outside, draping police barriers with graphic images of dead foxes.
"This is such a huge occasion for us," said Susan Small, 27, from Edinburgh, an anti-hunt campaigner. "We are taking a hugely symbolic step. Scotland is saying to the world that it does not accept an outdated and barbaric practice. Who knows where this could now lead?"
Inside the chamber, MSPs grimly ploughed their way through more than 100 amendments covering everything from exemptions for dog walkers whose pets inadvertently kill wild animals to compensation and gamekeepers.
The bill was first introduced in late 1999 by the Labour MSP Mike Watson. An independent study commissioned by the Scottish executive in 2000 concluded that up to 300 jobs would be lost in rural communities. In July last year the parliament's rural development committee decided not to endorse the general principles of the bill but two months later it passed the first stage in parliament.
Under the legislation, anyone who deliberately hunts a wild mammal with a dog is committing an offence. There are numerous exceptions, including preventing the spread of disease, and supporters of the bill say they may leave the door open for fox-hunting in some form.
Yesterday Simon Hart, the Countryside Alliance's director of campaign for hunting, said policing the ban would be practically impossible: "It is a legislative nightmare and the police have better things to do than become involved in enforcing this."
In England, MPs backed a ban on fox-hunting by 373 to 158 in December 2000, but the bill fell for lack of time in committee stage in the Lords. In May 2001, Labour's election manifesto promised a free vote on the issue and a commitment to introduce a bill was included in the Queen's speech in June last year.
The former sports minister Tony Banks said the government's credibility now rested on it introducing a ban in the rest of the UK. "This is going to make a nonsense of the fact that we have an enormous majority in the House of Commons to ban hunting with dogs," he said. "Quite frankly the government has got to deliver. There is no excuse whatsoever. The credibility of the government is beginning to hang on this."
A series of defiant hunts has been planned across Scotland today. "This is going to be fought all the way," said David Barnett, huntmaster with the Fife fox hounds. "This is not the end of fox-hunting. This is not over."
Devolution divide
| 2001 |
The International Curling Championships have been won the most times by which country? | CBBC Newsround | Teachers | Citizenship 11 14 | Subject areas | Legal rights | Fox hunting debate
Fox hunting debate
Citizenship 11-14/KS3/Levels E&F
Crime and justice
On February 18 2006, the ban on certain types of hunting will be a year old.
Under the 2005 Hunting Act, packs of dogs cannot be used to kill wild foxes. There is no ban on hunt meetings taking place, and foxes can be killed by a bird of prey. They can also be flushed out by dogs and then shot - but only if no more than two dogs are involved.
Some people who enjoy hunting are now using techniques such as drag hunting, where dogs follow a trail laid in advance by a runner or rider dragging a lure.
But others say that hunting is still taking place without any changes.
Students debate the pros and cons of fox hunting.
Learning aims
Read out this story about the hunting ban.
Ask students:
As well as fox hunting, what other forms of hunting are banned?
It's illegal to hunt any wild mammal with a dog; the only exceptions being rabbits and rats. The ban will also apply to hare hunting, hare coursing, mink hunting and stag hunting.
Do you think fox hunting should be a banned?
What do you think about letting dogs flush out foxes to be shot?
Why is hunting with dogs a controversial issue?
Main activity
Explain how to hold a formal debate by reading out this guide.
Tell students that the motion is: This house supports fox hunting.
Divide the class into proposers and opposers. Ask them to research and write down arguments which either support or oppose fox hunting.
They can use these worksheets and our guide to help them.
Students are then selected to be:
chair
The rest of the class become "the floor."
Hold the debate.
Students vote twice:
1. They vote to support or oppose the motion, depending on which they thought were the most convincing and well constructed arguments. This may not necessarily be what they believe personally. The proposer, opposer and seconders must vote in role.
2. They vote according to their beliefs.
Extension activity
After the debate, each student writes a personal statement of their opinions.
They pick five arguments that match their viewpoint and include them in a report that starts "I support/I oppose banning fox hunts because..."
Plenary
Now that hunting with dogs, including fox hunting, is banned what might be next?
Allow students to vote with a show of hands on the following:
Fishing
Ask students: Are our attitudes to animals consistent?
Teachers' background
The parliamentary vote: Key dates
On September 15, 2004 MPs voted to ban fox hunting with dogs by a majority of 356 to 166.
On October 26, 2004, the House of Lords voted to amend the Hunting Bill. They overturned the hunting ban, and introduced instead a provision for licensed hunting.
On November 16, 2004, the House of Commons voted 321 to 204 not to allow some hunting to carry on with the new rules.
On November 17, 2004, the Lords voted by more than two-to-one against a ban but the next day MPs used the Parliament Act to push it through.
The Act has only been used against the Lords three times since 1949.
This means the Lords' opinion was overlooked and hunting was banned from 18 February 2005.
Last minute legal attempts by the Countryside Alliance to challenge the ban failed, after the High Court (28 Jan), and then the Appeal Court (16 Feb) rejected their claim that the Parliament Act (under which the Hunting Bill was forced through) was constitutionally invalid.
Previously, on March 18, 2003 the Commons voted to ban hunting by 386 to 175 and a day later the Lords voted to regulate hunting by 366 to 59. These votes gave both houses the opportunity to express their view on the three options which were put before them. These were: no change, government licensing and a total ban.
During the last hunting bill the option to ban hunting was chosen by the Commons by 373 to 158 votes. The House of Lords rejected this option in Spring 2001.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
72% of people think fox-hunting should be illegal.
MORI, January 2002.
In areas where hunting takes place nearly 60% of the community are opposed to a ban on hunting.
Burns Report 2000.
Fox facts
Before the breeding season, there are 250,000 foxes in Britain. The number doubles when the cubs are born, and over the following year it falls back to 250,000. This means 250,000 foxes die each year.
The 250,000 fox deaths each year include death from natural causes, road-kills and about 100,000 killed by shooting and snaring. The hunts say they account for 16,000 foxes.
HOW LAWS ARE MADE
| i don't know |
What's the lower age limit to join the Senior Golf Tour? | What Does It Take To Be A "Senior" Golfer? - Tee Times Magazine - Minneapolis/St. Paul
What Does It Take To Be A "Senior" Golfer?
RJ Smiley
It's Not Blue Hair, Hearing Aids Or A Cadillac
The question has come up..... How old is a senior golfer? The definition is not as easy as qualifying for Medicare. Here's how it works...
If you are age seventy or older and play golf you may safely say that you are a senior golfer. However, if you want to play on the PGA's Champions Tour you would be a senior golfer at age 50.
The United States Golf Association has two different ages that define senior golfers. Participants in the USGA Senior Open Championship must be age 50, but if you want to play in the USGA Senior Amateur Championship you must be age 55.
Women who play in the USGA Women's Senior Amateur only need to be age 50.
The MN Section of the PGA requires golfers to be age 50 to participate in the MN Senior Open Championship while the Minnesota Golf Association requires golfers to be age 55 to participate in the MGA Senior Amateur or the Senior Tour.
The MGA Women's Senior Amateur Championship requires golfers to be age 50 to participate. The Minnesota Public Golf Association requires golfers to be only age 50 to participate as a senior golfer in their men's and women's championships.
The age that defines a senior golfers varies from age 50 to age 65 at Minnesota golf courses. When calling your local golf course to ask about senior leagues and senior green fee rates you will want to ask, "HOW OLD IS A SENIOR GOLFER AT YOUR COURSE?" With that said, many golf courses will extent those rates to golfers who have grey hair and want to play with the other seniors golfers.
Bottomline - while being a "senior" golfer may not be as easy as qualifiying for Medicare, it's almost as confusing. You may very well be a certified senior golfer - somedays at someplaces sometimes.
Embrace the "senior" title. It has benefits.
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| fifty |
American 'Kelly Slater' is best known for which sport? | Five key exercises for senior golfers | PGA.com
Five key exercises for senior golfers
Physical therapist John D'Amico has a volunteer demonstrate the correct position for a hip stretch.
By Mark Aumann
Series: Golf Buzz
Published: Monday, February 02, 2015 | 5:09 p.m.
For most older golfers, doing a few knee bends and shoulder swings on the first tee is about the extent of their warm-up routine. And that's fine for the short term.
But John D'Amico, a Naples, Fla.-based physical therapist believes in order to keep playing long after retirement, senior golfers need to work harder to maintain what strength, stamina and power you have left -- because after a certain age, it's almost impossible to make great gains in physical fitness.
If you don't have it by then, D'Amico said, you won't be able to regain it.
SENIOR GOLFERS: Three modifications you can make to your game
"Fitness for life after 50 isn't about making great gains," said D'Amico, who owns Golf Fitness Edge and presented his findings as part of the PGA Merchandise Show last month. "In the long run, it's about slowing down loss. It's kind of like building a retirement account for your body that you can draw from.
"This is really important after age 70, because we lose the ability to produce greater amounts of power and strength -- two things that are critical to the golf game."
So how do you maintain your physical fitness later in life? D'Amico said there are five simple exercises anyone can do at home -- without expensive equipment -- that will go a long way to helping your flexibility, balance, strength and power.
In order, they are:
Single Knee to Chest Hip Stretch
Hip Hinge Goblet Squat
Standing Cross Body Crawl Pattern
Don't let the names fool you into thinking these exercises are complicated, D'Amico said. On the contrary, they mimic movements you learned to do early in your life.
Here's a description of each exercise, with illustrations.
Seated Thoracic Posture Restoration
1. Sit tall in a high-back dining room chair
2. Place a small bath towel rolled length ways at the level of the bottom of your shoulder blade
3. Gently push your mid back into the towel without pain for two minutes
4. Move the towel up your shoulder blades, holding each for two minutes gently without pain. The last towel position will be at the top of the shoulder blade
5. Perform this exercise 1-2 times a day
6. Watch TV or on converse with someone across the room to promote proper posture. Do not read, use phone, tablet or computer while doing this exercise, as this will negatively influence your posture
1. While sitting or standing straight in an upright torso posture, hands on lower ribs
2. Place hands on outside of lower ribs
3. Relax your body and take a normal breath
4. Feel your hands push away from your body as you breathe in
5. Feel your hands pull in as you breathe out
6. Five repetitions, five times per day
Single Knee to Chest Hip Stretch
1. Resting on a firm surface or bed (pillow optional) gently brace your stomach
2. Use a bed sheet to pull your thigh towards (not to!) your chest. Do not move past a point that the pelvis begins to rock on the low back. You may notice this as the point your straight leg begins to lift up
3. The total limit of this exercise is 120 degrees. This point may take months to attain
4. Perform for 90 seconds to two minutes each leg, one to two times per day
5. Perform gently without any pain
Hip Hinge Goblet Squat
1. Stand tall
2. Activate (gently brace) your stomach muscles
3. Arms Across your chest with 5-pound dumbbell or two-liter soda bottles in double-bagged plastic grocery bags at your chest
4. Maintain your head, spine and pelvic posture, as if you had a board nailed from the back of your head to your tailbone
5. Push your tailbone back and down as you begin to hinge hips, knees and ankles simultaneously Maintain the bottom of the dumbbell or seltzer bottle against your body throughout the exercise
6. Depth of squat is controlled by your ability to maintain your head, spine and pelvic posture
7. When learning this exercise it is best to perform five reps, four times per day
8. After learning this exercise and as a warm up for golf perform sets sets of 10 repetitions
Standing Cross Body Crawl Pattern
1. Standing with hands at shoulder level, lift one hand and the opposite foot six inches.
2. Return to original position
3. Repeat with other hand and foot
4. If balance is an issue you may stand at countertop and if necessary keep one hand at a time on counter
5. Perform this exercise 20 repetitions, five times per day
6. Try to perform this exercise rhythmically, and maintain your balance for safety
The result of doing these exercises should improve all the things that control the physical part of your golf game, D'Amico said.
"In developing a better body and better mind, we can develop a better body-swing connection," he added.
| i don't know |
Who is depicted atop the Ryder Cup trophy (golf)? | Interesting Facts About the Ryder Cup Trophy
By Brent Kelley
The creation of the Ryder Cup trophy began in 1926 when the competition's namesake put up money for it.
Samuel Ryder , a Brit, an avid golfer, and a successful businessman, commissioned a trophy in 1926 to serve as the prize in a proposed goodwill competition pitting British professional golfers against their American counterparts.
Ryder spent £250 to have the trophy created. It was designed by the Mappin & Webb Company in the form of a golden chalice, with the small figure of a golfer on top of the lid. That trophy is the Ryder Cup.
The Ryder Cup trophy first appeared in public in 1927 at a send-off for the British team departing Southampton, England, and sailing for Worcester, Massachussetts, for the first Ryder Cup match .
Ryder Cup Trophy Basics
The Ryder Cup trophy is:
17 inches in height;
Nine inches in width (handle to handle);
Four pounds in weight;
The cup sits atop a wooden base, around which is a gold band. On the band are engraved the scores of each Ryder Cup played.
continue reading below our video
10 Best Teams in the History of Baseball
Who Is the Golfer on Top of the Trophy?
Atop the trophy is the figure of a golfer. Is that little guy on top of the Ryder Cup representative of a real golfer? Yes. That figure is modeled on British professional Abe Mitchell, Samuel Ryder's friend and golf instructor. Mitchell played in three Ryder Cup competitions (although he was unable to play the first one in 1927).
Is Ryder's Original Cup Still Presented to Winning Team?
No - but that original Ryder Cup trophy is still in existence. According to the PGA of America, Samuel Ryder deeded the original trophy to The Professional Golfers' Association of Great Britain. Today, the PGA of GB&I still has the original trophy.
The PGA of America, meanwhile, owns an exact replica. A third identical copy is kept for touring purposes - when you see (or hear about) the Ryder Cup trophy being displayed somewhere (making a public appearance, as it were) it is this third trophy that is "on tour."
And each member of the winning Ryder Cup team receives a slightly scaled-down replica of the trophy to keep.
| Abe Mitchell |
Which boxer LOST the 'Thrilla in Manila'? | The 2010 Ryder Cup - The Ryder Cup Trophy
The Ryder Cup Trophy
Ryder Cup Friday Ticket Offer
ACCOMMODATION AND TRAVEL PACKAGES
Find out about the packages available for The Celtic Manor Resort with Ryder Cup Travel Services. Click here
The Ryder Cup Trophy
In 1927, English seed merchant Samuel A. Ryder presented the Ryder Cup to The Professional Golfers’ Association of Great Britain to place as a prize for an international competition between American and British professional golfers.
The Ryder Cup was commissioned for £250. The trophy stands 17 inches high, is nine inches from handle to handle and weighs four pounds. The golfing figure depicted on the top of the trophy reflects the image of Abe Mitchell, a former gardener himself and a friend and instructor of Samuel Ryder. A bout of appendicitis prevented Mitchell from competing in the inaugural Matches in 1927. But he returned to compete for Great Britain in 1929, ’31 and ’33.
| i don't know |
Which boxer broke Muhammad Ali's jaw in 1973? | Ken Norton, the man broke who broke Muhammad Ali's jaw, dies aged 70 - Telegraph
Boxing
Ken Norton, the man broke who broke Muhammad Ali's jaw, dies aged 70
Ken Norton, the former World Boxing Council heavyweight boxing champion who defeated Muhammad Ali in 1973, died Wednesday at a hospital in Arizona where he had been undergoing rehabilitation since suffering a stroke last year.
One of the greats: Ken Norton had an epic three match battle with Muhammad Ali Photo: EPA
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He was 70 and had congestive heart failure.
Norton belonged to a golden era of heavyweight boxers, and enjoyed fame and fortune. Norton was the second fighter to beat ‘The Greatest’ at his peak, with Joe Frazier having beaten Ali in 1971.
In a trilogy of fights with Ali, famously, Norton broke Ali’s jaw in round eleven of their first fight, for which he became legendary, and then lost in a rematch to Ali later in 1973 and then in 1976.
Ali officially won both return bouts narrowly, although many felt Norton truly deserved to get the decision their third fight, at Yankee Stadium in New York in 1976.
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In 1978, Norton won the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship when Leonard Spinks chose not to fight him, but went on to lose the crown to Larry Holmes by one point in a split decision in June that year. It is widely regarded as one of the top 10 heavyweight fights of all time.
&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Lennox Lewis - R.I.P. Ken Norton - Former World Heavyweight Boxing Champ. Prayers from my family to his. Bless!&lt;/noframe&gt;
Norton finished with a record of 42-7-1 with 33 knockouts, then becoming an actor, appearing in over 20 movies and working in popular series such as The A Team.
&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Mike Tyson - Today a great man passed away. A legend in the boxing world and a good man. Condolences to Ken Norton's family on this very sad day.&lt;/noframe&gt;
One of his sons, Ken Norton Jr., was a star linebacker at UCLA who played for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL and is now coach to for the Seattle Seahawks.
| Ken Norton |
In snooker, how many balls are on the table at the start of a game? | Ken Norton dies aged 70 | Daily Mail Online
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Former heavyweight champion Ken Norton, who defeated Muhammad Ali, has died at the age of 70.
Norton passed away in a care facility on Wednesday in Arizona after suffering congestive heart failure, his close friend and former manager Patrick Tenore has confirmed.
Norton had been in poor health for several years and will be remembered for breaking Ali's jaw in their first of three fights in 1973, in which he went on to beat him in a split decision.
VIDEO Scroll down to watch Norton break Muhammad Ali's jaw
Icons: Ken Norton, who fought Muhammad Ali three times, has died at the age of 70
Head-to-head: Ali (right) winces as Norton catches him with a left hook to the head in the '73 re-match
Losses: 7
Draws: 1
Ali narrowly won the second non-title fight encounter by a split decision six months later before he claimed a second victory over Norton on September 28, 1976, at the Yankee Stadium in New York to retain his heavyweight title.
Tenore said: 'It was early this (Wednesday) afternoon. Ken got congestive heart failure and passed away.
'He was recovering from a stroke a year ago. To my shock his wife called me said he he had passed away.
Legends: Norton (left), punched by Ali in 1976 in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York
Rest in peace: Norton pictured last year, before his long-running health battle ended in heart failure
'He was a fighter. He fought a tough battle and we thought he was out of the woods.
'He was a warm and generous man. He was a champion and a fighter and bright-eyed and anxious to see the next day and a dear friend of 20 years.
'Everyone will miss him. He never said a bad word about anyone.'
Norton won the WBC heavyweight championship in 1977 when Leonard Spinks chose not to fight him, before he lost the title to Larry Holmes in a very close split decision in June the following year.
Norton finished with a record of 42-7-1 and 33 knockouts.
Simply the best: Norton watches Tina Turner skip rope in Las Vegas in 1977
Following his boxing career, Norton made several film and television appearances before he suffered a near-fatal crash in 1986 when his car veered off the on-ramp to the Santa Monica Freeway in Los Angeles.
Despite being struck with ill health in later life, Tenore says Norton never blamed this on his professional boxing career, which began with a win over Grady Brazell in 1967 and ended with defeat against Gerry Cooney at Madison Square Garden in 1981.
'Ken Norton never blamed anyone for anything. He never had a bad word about boxing or any of his opponents. This is a man you have never heard say an ill word about anybody,' Tenore said.
Coming back: Norton weighing in ahead of his bout with Ali in 1976
'I used to tease him about his fights and say: 'You fought Ali three times and people joke and say you won the first one and Don King won the other two.' He said: 'No, Patrick, no. I was just beaten.'
'He never begrudged Mr Ali ever about winning those fights. He never begrudged boxing. He did have a speech impediment - in the 1980s his car went over a cliff in Los Angeles and a little girl caught it in the corner of her eye and called it in. He was in a coma for a year and he developed a speech impediment.
'I am travelling with him years after and people said: 'He's talking like he's punch-drunk.' I said: 'No, he's not punch-drunk. That was from an accident.'
Tenore also believes Norton's boxing style will be remembered for pushing Ali all the way in their three fights.
Silver screen: Norton in Mandingo in 1975, with Susan George as Blanche in a scene from the film
Taking the hits: Norton (left) and Larry Holmes do battle in 1978
He added: 'It did take Muhammad Ali by surprised but he (Norton) was very focused and a very tenacious and a great fighter.
'He was a very religious gentleman who was always kind to everyone.'
Reigning WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward took to Twitter to express his condolences following Norton's death. He tweeted: 'Just heard about Ken Norton passing. Met him last year in the Bay Area. Great champion & great man.'
George Foreman, a former two-time heavyweight champion, said on Twitter: 'They called us all handsome. Muhammad they called pretty. But The fairest of them all Ken Norton.'
The World Boxing Council said: 'The WBC regrets the passing away of our former champion Ken Norton. May he rest in peace'.
KEN NORTON - TIMELINE
1943: Born August 9, Jacksonville, Illinois.
1963: Starts boxing while in the United States Marine Corps, claiming a 24-2 record on the way to three All-Marine heavyweight titles.
1967: Turns professional and wins his first bout against Grady Brazell by knockout.
1968 - July 1970: Builds up a steady series of wins before he is beaten by Jose Luis Garcia on July 2, 1970.
1970: August: Beats Roy Wallace which heralds the start of a 14-fight unbeaten streak.
1973: March - Defeats Muhammad Ali in a split decision in San Diego to win the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) heavyweight champion title. Breaks Ali's jaw during the fight.
September - Ali avenges the loss to Norton, but only just, beating him in a split decision in Inglewood, California.
1974: Fights George Foreman for the WBC and WBA heavyweight titles in Caracas, Venezuela, but the bout is stopped in the second round with Norton losing by TKO.
1975: Regains his NABF title with a fifth round TKO defeat of Jerry Quarry before avenging the loss to Garcia by knocking him out in the fifth round.
1976: Fights Ali for the third time at the Yankee Stadium in New York. The world title was on the line after Ali regained it with an eighth-round knockout of Foreman. Ali narrowly wins to retain his title.
1977: Defeats Jimmy Young before being awarded the WBC heavyweight title as Leon Spinks signs to fight Ali in a rematch instead of WBC ranked number one Norton.
1978: Loses his WBC title to Larry Holmes in Las Vegas in his first title defence to a split decision.
1981: Loses his last ever professional bout to Gerry Cooney at Madison Square Garden then announces his retirement.
1986: Suffers a near-fatal car crash which leaves him with slow and slurred speech.
1989: Inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
2011: Following years of charity work, Norton begins to suffer from ill health.
2012: July - Suffers a debilitating stroke.
2013: September 18 - Passes away in a care facility in Arizona from congestive heart failure.
| i don't know |
In what year did Roger Bannister break the 4 minute mile barrier? | What We Mortals Can Learn from the 4-Minute Mile
What We Mortals Can Learn From the 4-Minute Mile
Written by Matt Frazier
The experts said it couldn’t be done
According to legend, experts said for years that the human body was simply not capable of a 4-minute mile. It wasn’t just dangerous; it was impossible.
Further legends hold that people had tried for over a thousand years to break the barrier, even tying bulls behind them to increase the incentive to do the impossible.
In the 1940’s, the mile record was pushed to 4:01, where it stood for nine years, as runners struggled with the idea that, just maybe, the experts had it right. Perhaps the human body had reached its limit.
The breakthrough
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier, running the distance in 3:59.4. As part of his training, he relentlessly visualized the achievement in order to create a sense of certainty in his mind and body.
Barely a year after Bannister’s accomplishment, someone else ran a mile in under 4 minutes. Then some more runners did. Now, it’s almost routine. Even strong high-schoolers today run 4-minute miles. [Note: this used to say “24 people broke the 4-minute mark within a year of Bannister. This is wrong; see the comments.]
What does this mean for us?
I don’t know about you, but for me, a 4-minute mile is probably not in the cards. (5 minutes? Maybe one day.) That’s not the point. The point is this: It took a sense of extreme certainty for Roger Bannister to do what was considered un-doable. He alone was able to create that certainty in himself without seeing any proof that it could be done.
But once he crashed through that barrier, the rest of the world saw that it was possible, and the previous record that had stood for nine years was broken routinely.
New Agers call it the Law of Attraction, scientists call it the RAS
I love this story. I don’t know how much of it is true; I sense that some of the details have become overblown in an effort to dramatize. Either way, it doesn’t matter. I’ve witnessed firsthand what a little certainty can do.
When you become certain of something, when every part of your makeup believes it because you focus on it every single day, something “magical” happens. Not New Age magical, but science magical. We have a system in our bodies called the reticular activating system (RAS) that helps our brains decide what information to focus on and what to delete.
When you have a clearly-defined purpose, a mission, and when you live every moment in a state of certainty that you’ll achieve it, you influence what your RAS filters out and what lights it up. As a result, you pay special attention things that help you achieve what you’re after, things you otherwise would have never noticed.
When I was trying to qualify for Boston , I wrote a post about how certain I had been that I’d do it, as documented by a grad-school application letter I wrote. There was no reason for this certainty. But I found it somewhere in myself, and it’s for that reason alone that I eventually did qualify last year. (You’ve seen the new page about all my best BQ posts , right?)
And now, it’s that way with ultramarathons. Before I knew that people even ran 100-milers, someone told me that a friend of mine was running them. I didn’t believe it; I thought something had gotten garbled in the chain of communication. But I found an ultra group and started training with them, guys and girls who do 50’s and 100’s all the time. They’re not superhuman; they’re runners like me. Some faster, some slower. But now I’m certain.
Later this year I’ll run a 50-miler (the JFK 50-miler is a likely candidate), and I’ll run a 100 after that. Of this I’m certain.
Where could you use a little certainty? What would it take, short of proof, to make you believe?
This post is part of a series on motivation for running . Check out the rest!
| 1954 |
Tennis star Steffi Graf was born in which country? | Four-minute mile: How Daily Express reported Roger Bannister's victory | History | News | Daily Express
00:00, Fri, Sep 26, 2014
The four-mile run happened over 60 years ago [PA/EXPRESS]
It was the behaviour of a Cross of St George flag flying on the steeple of St John's Church near the Iffley Road track in Oxford on Thursday May 6 1954 that persuaded the 25-year-old medical student to change his mind.
At 5.30pm on the appointed day it was blowing horizontal in a stiff wind but when Bannister came out of his dressing room 25 minutes later to see if conditions had improved he could see from a change in its flutter that the wind had dropped a little.
"Right, I'll try it," he said.
A modern-day athlete attempting to break a world record would do so only after weeks of training at altitude fuelled by a diet carefully prepared by a sports scientist, wearing running shoes fitted with lightweight ceramic spikes and on an all-weather synthetic track that married traction and shock absorption.
This being the amateur era, Bannister had spent the previous three weeks sitting his medical exams and on the morning of the attempt only took a train to Oxford after completing his rounds at St Mary's Paddington.
After joining friends for a ham salad lunch he changed into leather running shoes with spikes he sharpened himself on a grindstone, and prepared to make his record-breaking bid on a crunchy, uneven, cinder track.
At 6pm precisely he lined with his pacemakers Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher in front of an estimated 3,000 spectators.
How the Daily Express reported it [EXPRESS]
He ran the lap in 58.9 seconds - and ran straight into the almanacs of glory
Daily Express report
The Daily Express's front-page report described is as "an utterly English scene": "No tension.
"A couple of thousand people thinly lining the track.
"Straw-hatted boys lounging under golf umbrellas.
"And then: First lap - 57.5 secs. Second lap - 1 minute 58.2 seconds.
"Third lap - 3 minutes 0.5 secs. Could he do it?
"The fourth lap in 59.5 seconds?
"He didn't know then how fast he was running.
"But he ran the lap in 58.9 seconds - and ran straight into the almanacs of glory."
The story went on: "He finished fighting for breath, his head rolling with fatigue - and as he broke the tape he fell headlong into waiting arms.
"He was unconscious and so the last man at the track to realise his success."
In an interview later, he said: "I have never felt so good in all my life and I am so glad it took an Englishman to do this thing."
Roger Bannister on the day that he changed history [AP]
He celebrated a feat that the newspaper compared to the first breaking of the sound barrier by a jet plane with a pint of shandy at Vincent's Club in Oxford before heading for London to meet the press.
He then repaired to a club above the Royal Court theatre on London's exclusive Sloane Square where he enjoyed "a four-minute steak and several glasses of champagne".
The Daily Express also noted: "He was joined at the table by a tall fair girl in an off-the-shoulder green gown."
At 12.50am, he told the paper's reporter: "I feel like dancing until dawn and I may yet do."
Six weeks later the Australian runner John Landy beat Bannister's time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds by 1.5 seconds at a race meeting in Finland but in the world of record-breaking there are no prizes for coming second and it is the Brit who will be remembered by posterity for running the "miracle mile".
At the end of 1954, Bannister retired from competitive running to pursue his medical studies full-time and later became a consultant neurologist.
He had to stop running to keep fit after his ankle was crushed in a car accident in 1975 but resumed "shuffling" in 2008 after discovering a low impact Kenyan shoe made out of a section of car tyre.
Now 85, and a knight of the realm, he lives in Oxford, the site of his greatest triumph.
Meanwhile, the current fastest mile record is held by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, who ran a time of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds in 1999.
Sir Roger Bannister in April 2014 [REX]
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED IN 1954?
February 18: The Church of Scientology is founded in California based on the teachings of a science fiction writer called L Ron Hubbard, who claimed that an extraterrestial being called Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in spaceships.
Despite its eccentric teachings, Scientology has since attracted many high-profile adherents in Hollywood including Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
July 21: The Indo-China war ends after eight years and 300,000 deaths with the division of Vietnam.
The communist regime of Ho Chi Minh is to run North Vietnam from its capital Hanoi and the nationalist forces under prime minister Ngo Dinh Diem will rule the south from Saigon.
In addition the communists promise to recognize Laos and Cambodia as independent countries.
Washington was always unhappy with the French-led decision to agree to the break up of the country and, after China and the Soviet Union backed communist rebels known as the Viet Cong in South Vietnam in the mid-60s, the US intervened and sparked the Vietnam War which dragged on till 1975 costing the lives of 58,000 American soldiers.
October 28: The Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded to Ernest Hemingway "for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style".
December 2: The American Republican senator Joe McCarthy whose witch-hunt of alleged communists in American public life gave rise to the term McCarthyism, is censured by the Senate for conduct unbecoming to a senator.
The 67-22 vote brought to an end McCarthy's persecution of prominent figures in government and Hollywood on the basis of all too often unsubstantiated accusations.
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| i don't know |
What number is the yellow ball in a numbered set of pool balls? | Why are pool balls red and yellow? | Notes and Queries | guardian.co.uk
Why are pool balls red and yellow?
Julia Smith, Ipswich Suffolk
Because if they were green you would keep losing them.
Phil Cohen, Sydney Australia
... but I have a feeling pool tables use blue, not green???
Scottie, Sheffield UK
The styles of pool played in the UK are derived from American 8 Ball and also called 8 ball or "Blackball" to distinguish it from other versions of pocket billiards. Since the nomination of a particular ball is not necessary for a legitimate pot the individual colours and numbers were dispensed with in favour of distinct colours. Red's wavelength makes it very visible and for greatest contrast among the common six primary and secondary pigment colours, yellow contrasts most with it (imagine blue and green together in poor light or the use of red and green when the most common condition of colour blindness merges these two colours). Interestingly, the Word Pool-Billiard Federation illustrates the alternative colour schemes of blue and yellow balls in its official rules. As for the colour of the cloth, green is more common on this type of table (blue being more common on American tables)
David Cockling, Newport, Isle of Wight, UK
I am reminded of a "blonde" story I heard decades ago. Now that such things are in their "post-ironic" period, it can be told without fear. A blonde typist delivering some work to the CEO's office spotted a cue-ball and an eight-ball on his desk. She asked what they were, and he said: "Pool balls. I shoot pool in my spare time." The next week the typist happened to be delivering another draft to the CEO, and noticed that there were now a red ball and a yellow ball on his desk. "Why, Mr Smith!" she exclaimed. "You've shot another pool!"
Paul Thompson, Perth, Scotland
If David Cockling cares to look up 'Pocket Billiards' in Urban Dictionary via Google he learn that the colour of the balls is irrelevant as they would be hidden from vulgar gaze. One hopes.
Pete Wigens, Stroud, Glos UK
Imagine the unseemly squabbles that would break out were the balls to be all of the same colour.
Pete Wigens, Stroud, Glos, UK
Funny. Mine go blue or a deep rose pink, depending on how cold the water is.
Steven Beercock, Enna Italy
Where I come from pool balls are numbered. The high numbers have stripes and the low numbers do not
John Ellen, Rupanyup Australia
I'm now retired from the Amusement Trade... One reason the pool balls were changed to two colours was that it was easy to replace Red or Yellow balls if one went missing. Rather than break a set up just for one numbered ball.
Ron Martin , Worthing England
My late father Malc Ferris introduced red and yellow balls to the UK pool scene back in 1980, whilst working for Javelin Pool. He brought them over from Belgium where they were originally produced.
Lee Ferris, Manchester UK
| 1 |
By what name was the heavyweight fighter, Cassius Clay, better known? | ENGLISH POOL ASSOCIATION
The Game of Eight-Ball Pool is played with:-
A "Cue Ball" - being a white ball.
Fifteen "Object Balls" - consisting of:-
"Colours" - being a group of seven red balls, (or balls numbered 1 to 7) and a group of seven yellow balls (or balls numbered 9 to 15).
The "Eight-Ball" - being a black ball marked with a number "8".
A six pocket rectangular Pool Table with general characteristics as follows:-
The cloth will be marked with a "Spot" at the position where a straight line drawn diagonally from the centre of a side pocket to the centre of a corner pocket would intersect with a straight line drawn diagonally from the centre of the opposite side pocket to the centre of the other corner pocket.
The cloth will be marked with a "Baulk Line", being a straight line, drawn from cushion to cushion, parallel to, and one fifth of the length of the table from, the face of the cushion that lies the greatest distance from the Spot.
Definitions
Shot: A "Shot" begins when all balls stop moving from the previous Shot. A player "Plays a Shot" by striking the Cue Ball with the tip of the cue. A "Shot" ends when all balls stop moving from the current Shot.
Play: To "Play" an Object Ball is to play a shot that results in the Cue Ball's first contact with another ball to be with that Object Ball. To "Play" the Cue Ball is to strike it with the tip of the cue.
Ball On: At any time during a frame, a ball "On" is any Object Ball that the player may play without incurring a penalty.
Pot: A ball is "Potted" when it leaves the bed of the table, enters a pocket and remains in that pocket.
Visit: A "Visit" comprises one shot or a series of shots. Each visit lasts until the player fails to pot a ball "On". (Or until a foul is committed or the frame ends)
Turn: A players "Turn" at the table comprises one visit or, after most fouls committed by the opponent, two visits.
Frame: A Frame is one game of Eight-Ball Pool between two players or two pairs of players. A Frame is played from the opening break and usually through until the Eight-Ball is potted. (Note: there are other ways that a frame may end - see "Loss of Frame")
A player may concede a frame at any time.
Match: A Match is a predetermined number of frames of Eight-Ball Pool between two players, two pairs of players or two teams of players.
Player in Control: A player (and the player's partner in doubles) is deemed to be "In Control" of the frame from the time that the balls stop moving from the final shot of an opponent's turn until the balls stop moving from the final shot of the player's turn. There can be no instance, once a frame has commenced, that someone is not in control.
Object of the Game
The object of the game is to win by being the first player to Pot a group of Colours in any order and in any pockets and then Pot the Eight-Ball in any pocket.
When "On" a group of Colours, potting more than one ball of that Colour in the same shot is allowed. But a separate shot must be played to pot the Eight-Ball and win the game.
Playing from Baulk
Baulk is the rectangular area of the table that is bordered by the Baulk Line and the three cushions at that end of the table.
When playing from Baulk:-
The centre point of the Cue Ball must be in Baulk when a shot is played. (If the centre point of the Cue Ball is directly on the Baulk Line it is not deemed to be in Baulk.)
The Cue Ball can be moved into position by hand or with the shaft of the cue, but when touched by the tip of the cue, a shot is deemed to have been played.
The Cue Ball may be played in any direction.
If a player wishes to play from Baulk after a �Foul Snooker�, �Foul Jaw Snooker� or "Time Foul":- The player must verbally advise the referee of this choice and the referee will then recover the Cue Ball and hand it to the player or place it on top of, and in the centre of, the cushion at the Baulk end of the table for the player to retrieve by hand.
After an "In Off", �Foul Snooker�, �Foul Jaw Snooker� or "Time Foul" the player must endeavour to position the Cue Ball so as not to create a Foul Snooker. If the player claims a Foul Snooker from Baulk, the referee may choose to move the Cue Ball around to determine if there is any position in Baulk where the player would not be Foul Snookered. Whether such a position is found or not, the referee will announce the result and hand the Cue Ball back to the player or place it on top of, and in the centre of, the cushion at the Baulk end of the table for the player to retrieve by hand.
The Break
The Object Balls are racked with the Eight-Ball on the Spot.
In the absence of any competition / tournament rules to the contrary, a coin will be tossed to determine which player will break. If a series of frames is to be played (A Match), the break of each subsequent frame will alternate.
The first shot of a frame is called the "Break". To "Break", the Cue Ball is played at the triangle of Object Balls from Baulk. The frame is deemed to have commenced the instant that the Cue Ball is played
The Break will be deemed a "Fair Break" if:-
At least one Colour is potted. AND/OR
Four Object Balls (at least) are driven to a cushion.
If the Break is not a Fair Break it is a Non-Standard Foul and:-
The opponent is awarded two visits.
The balls are re-racked.
The opponent re-starts the game and is under the same obligation to achieve a Fair Break.
If the Cue Ball is potted on a Fair Break it is a Non-Standard Foul that is penalised by the turn passing to the opponent.
If the break is not a Fair Break and the Cue Ball is potted, the penalty for failure to perform a Fair Break applies. (See (b) above).
If the Eight-Ball is potted on any break, the balls are re-racked and the same player will break again. When the Eight-Ball is potted on the break, all other aspects of the shot are ignored. (Except if a Serious Foul or breech of the "Spirit of the Game occurs)
Legal Shot
On all shots, the player must:-
Cause the Cue Ball's initial contact with a ball to be with a ball "On", AND THEN
Pot a ball "On" OR; Cause the Cue Ball or any Object Ball to contact a cushion.
Failure to play a Legal Shot is a Standard Foul.
Exceptions:
On the Break, the conditions of a Legal Shot do not apply. {See (F) The Break}
When playing out of a Total Snooker a player is only obliged to meet the conditions of (1)(a) above.
Definition: A player is in a Total Snooker when it is impossible to play any part of any of the player's own Colour by way of a "straight line" shot. Leaving an opponent in a Total Snooker is not a foul.
If a player believes that a Total Snooker exists, the player may ask the referee for a ruling.
If the referee rules that a Total Snooker exists, the player's obligations under the "Legal Shot" rule are relaxed as follows:- The player need only cause the Cue Ball's initial contact to be with a ball "On". The requirement to pot a ball and / or cause a ball to strike a cushion is waived.
In a Total Snooker, the straight sections of the cushions DO come into consideration. If a player has to strike a cushion prior to impact with a "ball on", then a "Total Snooker" does exist.
Interpretations:
If the Cue Ball's initial contact is with an Object Ball that is touching a cushion, simply forcing that Object Ball into the same cushion does not constitute a Legal Shot.
If the Cue Ball and an Object Ball are touching the same cushion, simply forcing the Cue Ball and / or that Object Ball into the same cushion does not constitute a Legal Shot.
Deciding Colours
General
When Colours have not been decided the table is deemed to be "Open". When the table is open a player may play at either group of Colours.
Colours can never be decided on a foul shot.
Once Colours are decided, the player remains "On" that coloured group for the duration of the frame. The opponent remains "On" the opposite coloured group.
Playing a shot after neglecting to nominate a choice of Colours is a Standard Foul. Any balls potted on such a shot are left in the pocket and ignored for the purpose of deciding Colours.
On the Break
If no Colours are potted on the break the table is "Open".
If one or more Colours are potted on the break the player then has a right and obligation to verbally advise the referee of a choice of Colour before proceeding. Failure to do so is a Standard Foul. If a player is fouled under this rule the opponent faces an "Open" table.
If the player nominates a Colour that was potted on the break, the player is on that colour no matter what happens next.
If the player nominates a Colour that was not potted on the break, to be on that Colour, the player must pot a ball of that Colour on the next shot.
After the Break
If a player pots one or more balls of the same Colour, the player is then "On" that Colour.
If a player pots one or more balls of different Colours, the player then has a right and obligation to verbally advise the referee of a choice of Colour before proceeding. Once a colour is nominated in these circumstances, the player is on that colour no matter what happens next. Failure to nominate is a Standard Foul. If a player is fouled under this rule, the opponent faces an "Open" table.
Time Allowed
A player has a maximum of sixty seconds to play each shot.
The Referee will start timing when all balls have come to rest from the previous shot.
If the first thirty seconds elapses before a shot is played, the referee will call "Thirty Seconds" as a warning to the player. This call must be made the instant the thirty seconds has expired. A Referee should not postpone the call because it appears that the player is about to play a shot.
If a shot is not played within sixty seconds it is a Non-Standard Foul. The incoming player is awarded two visits from:-
Where the Cue Ball lies, or, if the player wishes
From Baulk.
The referee may decide to grant "Time Out", being a period when timing ceases:-
At the request of a player. (For example, something is obstructing the player or the player needs to leave the playing area.) and / or
Because the referee deems that it is warranted. (For example, the referee may call time out when making a close foul snooker decision or when searching for a piece of equipment requested by the player.)
When the referee has racked the balls the referee will call �Time Running�. The oncoming player then must play the break shot within 60 seconds.
Fouls There are four types of foul. Standard Fouls, Non-Standard Fouls, Serious Fouls and Loss of Frame Fouls. A player can only be penalised for one foul at a time. If two or more fouls are committed during a shot, the foul that carries the most severe penalty will apply.
Exceptions:
In the case of a Serious Foul and a Time Foul, the incoming player has the right to "Ball in hand". The penalty for a Time Foul still applies, even though a Serious Foul has been called and applied.
In the case of a Serious Foul and a Foul Break, the incoming player has the right to "Ball in hand". The penalty for a Foul Break still applies, even though a Serious Foul has been called and applied.
Standard Fouls Standard fouls are to be called by the referee as soon as they occur and the fouled player is in control, until all balls from that shot come to rest. The referee then awards two visits to the opponent.
Potting the Cue Ball - "In Off" { except on a Fair Break - see (F) The Break (4)(c)(1) }. The incoming player plays from Baulk { see (E) Playing from Baulk (d)(1) }
Playing from outside Baulk when obliged to play from Baulk. { see (E) Playing from Baulk (2)(a) }
Potting an opponent's ball. (except, when it is the properly nominated ball following a Foul Snooker or Foul Jaw Snooker)
Failing to cause the Cue Ball's initial contact with a ball, to be with a ball "On".
Accidentally striking the Cue Ball with any part of the cue other than the tip.
Accidentally striking an Object Ball with any part of the cue.
Playing a shot before all balls have come to rest from the previous shot.
Playing a shot before any balls that require spotting, have been spotted.
Touching the table while having a cigarette (lit or unlit) in hand or mouth.
Causing a cigarette (lit or unlit) to touch the table or enter the space directly above the table.
Touching the table while having a beverage container in hand.
Causing a beverage container or beverage to touch the table or enter the space directly above the table.
Touching the table when not in control of the frame. {See (C) Definitions (9) - Player in Control} Exception: When a players� turn is finished, that player has a maximum of ten (10) seconds to move away from the table. {See 11 below}
Not moving away from the table within ten (10) seconds of the time that all the balls stopped moving from the final shot of a turn at the table.
Coaching: - During a frame, a player is required to play without receiving any advice from other persons relating to the playing of the frame. Should a team member or bone-fide supporter of a player offer advice, the referee will issue a "First and Final Warning" to that person that a repetition will result in the player being penalised via a Standard Foul. Because it may not always be possible for the Referee to hear if a statement made to a player is advice, the referee may issue the First and Final Warning on the grounds that any statement made to a player, other than general barracking, is deemed to be coaching. In a tournament setting, a First and Final warning may be given once only, before the commencement of the day's play as a block warning to all players and spectators.
Leaving the playing area without permission. If a player needs to leave the playing area during a frame or match, "Time Out" must firstly be granted by the referee. { see (I) Time Allowed (5) }
Playing a shot after neglecting to nominate a choice of Colour when the obligation and right to do so existed. { see (H) Deciding Colours (1)(d) }
Playing A Push Shot or Double Hit of a type defined in (O) Push Shots and Double Hits.
Failing to perform a "Legal Shot". { see (G)Legal Shot }
After being awarded a Foul Snooker or Foul Jaw Snooker: - Playing an opponents ball or the Eight Ball without firstly nominating that ball.
Playing a shot while not having at least one foot touching the floor.
Failing to "Play Away" from a touching ball. { see (T) Touching Balls (1)(a) }
A ball remaining off the table. {see (U) Balls Off the Table}
Players body or clothing touching any ball.
Accidental Jump shot, miscue, or when forcing the cue ball to a cushion and the rebound jumps a ball. (If the Cue ball leaves the bed of the table and misses an Object ball that would have been struck had the Cue Ball not left the table on an otherwise identical shot, the Cue Ball is deemed to have jumped over that object ball). A break shot that results in the pack being jumped will be deemed to be not a Fair Break (see 4b). Also note M5 serious fouls
Non-Standard Fouls Non-Standard fouls are to be called by the referee as soon as they occur and the fouled player is in control, until all balls from that shot come to rest.. The referee will then impose the relevant penalty. Non-Standard Fouls are so called because the penalty and / or options of the incoming player may vary.
Failure to perform a Fair Break. { see (F) The Break (4)(a)&(b) }
Failure to play a shot within 60 seconds of the time that the balls came to rest from the previous shot. { see (I) Time Allowed (4) }
Potting the Cue Ball on a Fair Break. { see (F) The Break (4)(c)(1) }
Serious Standard Fouls Serious Fouls are to be called by the referee as soon as they occur and the fouled player is in control, until all balls from that shot come to rest. The referee will replace the balls as near as possible to the positions they were in before the Serious Foul was committed and award two visits to the opponent.
Playing a shot out of turn (accidentally or deliberately).
A player who plays a shot at any time during a frame when the right to do so does not exist has played out of turn. (For Example, A player who plays a shot immediately after playing a foul or immediately after the referee has called a foul on that player, has played out of turn.)
Exception: - a shot played out of turn accidentally, that disrupts the balls to such an extent that the Referee deems it impossible to replace them, the referee will give the opponent the choice of either playing the balls from where they lie or replaying the frame. If the frame is replayed the same player is to break again.
Deliberately striking a ball other than the Cue Ball with the tip of the cue.
Deliberately causing any ball or balls to be moved in a manner other than that which may result from playing a normal shot.
Deliberately striking the Cue Ball with other than the tip of the cue.
Deliberate jump shot caused by elevating the cue on the shot, and forcing the cue ball to rebound from the bed of the table and causing the Cue Ball to Jump over any ball. (If the Cue ball leaves the bed of the table and misses an Object ball that would have been struck had the Cue Ball not left the table on an otherwise identical shot, the Cue Ball is deemed to have jumped over that object ball) Also note K22 standard fouls.
Deliberately interfering, by word or action, so as to disrupt an opponent�s play.
Loss of Frame Fouls
Committing a foul in the same shot that the Eight Ball is potted. (Except on the Break)
Potting the Eight Ball when a ball or balls of the player's own Colour are still on the table. (Except on the Break)
Potting the Eight Ball and the last ball or balls of the player's own Colour in the same shot.
Committing two Serious Fouls in the one frame.
Committing a Serious Foul that disrupts the balls to such an extent that the Referee deems it impossible to replace them as close as possible to their original positions.
Any deliberate attempt to prevent the opponent from potting the Eight Ball, when the opponent is on the Eight Ball, by way of a Serious Foul or other unsporting manoeuvre.
If a player breeches the "Spirit of the Game" to such an extent that the frame (or match) should be awarded to the opponent.
Push Shots and Double Hits
Definitions: Most shots commonly known as "Push Shots" in the game of "Snooker" are allowed in the game of Eight - Ball Pool. Generally, any shot played with speed will not be deemed to be a Push Shot regardless of the fact that the cue tip may have come into contact with the Cue Ball more than once.
Exceptions that are Standard Fouls:-
When, during the playing of a shot, the tip of the cue strikes the Cue Ball twice and the referee is able to actually see each contact.
When, during the playing of a shot, a player plays the cue so slowly through the Cue Ball that the cue tip remains in contact with the Cue Ball so as to be visibly pushing it along.
When the Cue Ball is played into a touching Object Ball. {See (S) Touching Balls}
Snookers
Definition: A player is Snookered when it is impossible to play the finest cut possible on both sides of any of that player's own Colour by way of a "straight - line" shot. Snookering an opponent is not a foul.
A player cannot be Snookered by a ball of the player's own Colour. That is, if one of the player's own coloured group is an obstructing ball, it will be ignored for the purposes of determining a Snooker.
A player cannot be Snookered on an Object Ball if the Cue Ball is touching that Object Ball.
A player cannot be Snookered by the straight sections of the cushions. If a straight section of a cushion is preventing the finest possible cut on the side of an Object Ball, that section of cushion will be deemed not to exist for the purposes of determining a Snooker on that Object Ball.
If an Object Ball is partly obscured by a curved section of a cushion (Jaw), this in itself does not constitute a Snooker.
Foul Snookers
Definition: When an opponent plays a foul shot and this results in the incoming player being snookered, the incoming player is deemed to be Foul Snookered.
If a player believes that a Foul Snooker exists, the player may ask the referee for a ruling.
If the referee rules that a foul snooker exists, the player initially has the following options:-
Play the Cue Ball from where it lies. {see (4) (a) below} OR
Ask the referee to remove the Cue Ball so as to allow the player to play from Baulk. {see (4) (b) below}
If the player chooses to play the Cue Ball from where it lies, the player may, if the player wishes, nominate the Eight Ball (but see (5) below) or any one of the opponent's Colour. The player can nominate a particular ball by verbal description of it or its position or by pointing at it. The Referee may ask for further information if any doubt exists as to which ball has been nominated.
Once nominated, a ball is deemed to "become one" of the player's Colour for the first shot of the first visit. The player may then play any of the player's own Colour or the nominated ball. If any of the player's Colour and/or the nominated ball is potted, the player continues with the first visit.
If the player chooses to play the Cue Ball from Baulk, a Foul Snooker may no longer exist. In this case the procedure under the heading (E) Playing from Baulk (2) (d) & (2) (e) should be followed. If the referee decides that a Foul Snooker does still exist, the player may nominate a ball and follow the procedure in (4) (a) above.
If the Eight Ball is nominated it may be played, but potting it will mean loss of frame.
If a player is "On" the Eight Ball and Foul Snookered: - The player may play a nominated ball or the Eight Ball and pot either or both of these balls, directly or indirectly, in any pocket or pockets. Assuming the player does not commit a foul:-
If neither the Eight Ball nor the nominated ball is potted, the player's first visit is complete.
If the nominated ball is potted and the Eight Ball is not, the player continues with the first visit.
If the nominated ball and the Eight Ball are potted, the player wins the frame.
If the Eight Ball is potted and the nominated ball is not, the player wins the frame.
If a Foul Snooker exists and the Cue Ball is touching an opponent's ball or balls, the player may, but is not obliged to, nominate one of those touching balls.
Foul Jaw Snooker
If an opponent fouls and the Cue Ball comes to rest on or near a Jaw (curved part of a cushion), and that Jaw is preventing the player from playing the finest cut possible on both sides of any of that player's own Colour by way of a "straight - line" shot, the player is deemed to be Foul Snookered and all the rules pertaining to Foul Snookers will apply.
Touching Balls
General
If the Cue Ball is touching an Object Ball, the player is obliged to "Play Away" from that Object Ball at an angle of more than 90 degrees. (That is, play the shot without causing the Cue Ball to make any initial further contact with that Object Ball)
If, when playing away from a touching ball, the touching ball rocks or moves without being contacted further, but simply because the Cue Ball is no longer there, no penalty will apply.
When Colours have been decided:-
Playing away from a touching Object Ball of the player's own Colour:- The instant a player plays away from a touching Object Ball of the player's own Colour, the player is deemed to have played that ball. Therefore, the player needs to then only pot a ball or cause any ball to strike a cushion to fulfil all the requirements of a Legal Shot.
Playing away from a touching Object Ball of the opponent's Colour:- The player must play away from the touching ball and then meet all the requirements of a Legal Shot.
Playing away from the touching Eight Ball when "On" the Eight Ball:- The player must play away from the touching Eight Ball and then need only cause any ball to strike a cushion to fulfil the requirements of a Legal Shot.
Playing away from the touching Eight Ball when not "On" the Eight Ball.:- The player must play away from the touching Eight Ball and then meet all the requirements of a Legal Shot.
Playing away from two or more touching Object Balls:-
If any of the touching Object Balls are of the player's Colour, the player will be deemed to have played away if the player plays away from any one of the touching balls of the player's Colour. That is, the player may play into any of the other touching balls. The player needs then to only pot a ball or cause any ball to strike a cushion to fulfil the requirements of a Legal Shot.
If none of the touching Object Balls are of the player�s coloured group, the player must play away from all the touching balls and then meet all the requirements of a Legal Shot.
When Colours have yet to be decided:-
Playing away from a touching Coloured Ball:- The instant a player plays away from a touching Coloured Ball the player is deemed to have played that ball. Therefore, the player needs to then only pot a ball or cause any ball to strike a cushion to fulfil all the requirements of a Legal Shot.
Playing away from a touching Eight Ball:- The player must play away from the touching Eight Ball and then meet all the requirements of a Legal Shot.
Playing away from two or more touching Object Balls:- If the player plays away from any of the touching Coloured Balls the player is deemed to have played that ball. That is, the player may play into any of the other touching Object Balls. The player needs to then only pot a ball or cause any ball to strike a cushion to meet all the requirements of a Legal Shot.
Balls Off the Table
It is a Standard Foul if a ball leaves the playing surface (other than being potted) and remains off the playing surface or doesn't return by its own means.
Definitions / Examples
"Playing Surface":- The Playing Surface of the table is the flat part of the table between the cushions
"By its own means":-
It is not a foul if a ball leaves the playing surface, runs along the top of a cushion, drops back on to the playing surface and comes to rest there or falls into a pocket.
It is a Standard Foul if a ball leaves the playing surface, comes into contact with a person or object that is not a part of the table and then returns to the playing surface.
"Off the Table":- It is a Standard Foul if a ball leaves the playing surface and comes to rest on other than the playing surface. (e.g. On the floor or on the top of a cushion)
"Spotted":- A ball is spotted when its centre point is placed on the spot or, if this is not possible, as near as possible to the spot in a direct line between the spot and the centre point of the cushion that lies the greatest distance from the Baulk Line. If this is not possible, as near as is possible to the spot, in a direct line between the spot and the centre point of the baulk line. If any of the following balls require spotting, they are spotted in the following order:-
Eight Ball then
Red Balls in any order (or balls numbered 1 to 7 in numerical order) then
Yellow Balls in any order (or balls numbered 9 to 15 in numerical order) Spotted balls should be placed as close to each other and any intervening balls as possible, without touching.
If a ball leaves the playing surface and remains off the playing surface, it shall be returned to the table:-
If it is the Cue Ball it is to be played from Baulk.
If it is an Object Ball (or Balls) it is to be Spotted.
Balls Falling Without Being Hit
Any ball that falls into a pocket at any time, without being struck, shall be replaced by the Referee to its original position, no penalty. Time will be re-started and the player in control continues with the visit.
Should any ball fall into the pocket after a shot is played and before balls come to rest, providing the fallen ball played no part in the shot, once all other balls have stopped moving, it shall be replaced as described above.
If a legal pot was made play continues with the same visit.
If no pot was made play continues with the next visit.
If a foul was made then the next player will continue with the appropriate penalty.
Should any ball fall into the pocket after a shot is played, but before balls come to rest, and the fallen ball would have been struck, then the Referee will replace all balls to their original positions
If no infringements of the rules were committed during the shot, or if the cue ball is potted as a result of a ball falling that the cue ball would have otherwise hit, the player who played will replay the shot or may play a different shot
If any foul was committed (other than as defined in a) above) then the next player will continue with the appropriate penalty.
Interference
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In 1950 who made the allegation that 205 State Department officials were 'card carrying communists'? | McCarthy says communists are in State Department - Feb 09, 1950 - HISTORY.com
McCarthy says communists are in State Department
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During a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy (Republican-Wisconsin) claims that he has a list with the names of over 200 members of the Department of State that are “known communists.” The speech vaulted McCarthy to national prominence and sparked a nationwide hysteria about subversives in the American government.
Speaking before the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator McCarthy waved before his audience a piece of paper. According to the only published newspaper account of the speech, McCarthy said that, “I have here in my hand a list of 205 [State Department employees] that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.” In the next few weeks, the number fluctuated wildly, with McCarthy stating at various times that there were 57, or 81, or 10 communists in the Department of State. In fact, McCarthy never produced any solid evidence that there was even one communist in the State Department.
Despite McCarthy’s inconsistency, his refusal to provide any of the names of the “known communists,” and his inability to produce any coherent or reasonable evidence, his charges struck a chord with the American people. The months leading up to his February speech had been trying ones for America’s Cold War policies. China had fallen to a communist revolution. The Soviets had detonated an atomic device. McCarthy’s wild charges provided a ready explanation for these foreign policy disasters: communist subversives were working within the very bowels of the American government.
To be sure, McCarthy was not the first to incite anxiety about subversive communists. Congress had already investigated Hollywood for its supposed communist influences, and former State Department employee Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury in January 1950 for testimony dealing with accusations that he spied for the Soviet Union during the 1930s. But McCarthy went a step further, claiming that the U.S. government, and the Department of State in particular, knew that communists were working in their midst.
“McCarthyism,” as the hunt for communists in the United States came to be known during the 1950s, did untold damage to many people’s lives and careers, had a muzzling effect on domestic debate on Cold War issues, and managed to scare millions of Americans. McCarthy, however, located no communists and his personal power collapsed in 1954 when he accused the Army of coddling known communists. Televised hearings of his investigation into the U.S. Army let the American people see his bullying tactics and lack of credibility in full view for the first time, and he quickly lost support. The U.S. Senate censured him shortly thereafter and he died in 1957.
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Which US pop artist created ?100 Campbells Soup Cans?? | Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, General: Economic and Political Matters, Volume I, Part 2 - Office of the Historian
Foreign Relations of the United States
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, General: Economic and Political Matters, Volume I, Part 2
113/2–1150: Telegram
The Deputy Under Secretary of State for Administration (Peurifoy) to Senator Joseph R. McCarthy 1
Washington, February 11, 1950—2 p.m.
In view of your statement carried by the press that there are “57 card-carrying Communists” in the State Department, 2 I respectfully request that you make these names public or submit them to the Department of State. It would seem to me that if you have this information, as a loyal American you owe it to your country to inform the officials responsible for any such characters existing in the government. As you know our employees have been checked and are being checked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the President’s loyalty program and if you have proof that there are card-carrying members of the Communist Party in this Department I assure you that they will not remain in this agency. I assume that you have given your information to the FBI. Therefore we will communicate with that agency immediately. Needless [Page 1380] to say, the thousands of loyal employees of this Department must not be placed under a cloud of suspicion and I should appreciate it if you will promptly publish the names of the departmental employees whom you say are members of the Communist Party.
John E. Peurifoy
The telegram was sent to the Senator at the Mapes Hotel, Reno, Nevada. ↩
Deputy Under Secretary Peurifoy’s reference was to press reports of Senator McCarthy’s speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, on Feb. 9, 1950. The precise contents of that speech quickly became the subject of contention. On Mar. 27, 1950, William E. Rine, Managing Director of radio station WWVA in Wheeling, sent to William O. Player, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, a 13-page “copy of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s speech made over WWVA in Wheeling on the evening of February 9”, in response to a telephone request by Player.
On Apr. 24, 1950, Adrian S. Fisher, the Legal Adviser to the Secretary of State, wrote Rine acknowledging receipt of the transcript sent on Mar. 27 and requesting whether “we could be informed by those who actually heard the speech being delivered whether the speech as actually delivered included the following language contained on page 7 of the text which you transmitted to us:
“‘And ladies and gentlemen, while I cannot take the time to name all the men in the State Department who have been named as active members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring, I have here in my hand a list of 205 … a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department.’”
Enclosed with Fisher’s request are notarized affidavits by Paul Myers, Program Director of station WWVA and Whittaker, the station’s news editor, stating that the transcript of the Senator’s speech given to the Department of State on Mar. 27 represented a true facsimile of the Senator’s remarks. All of the above documents are in Department of State file 113/3–2750.
↩
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In 1961 which famous dancer sought political asylum in Paris? | Dance in the 20th Century – Wish Upon a Ballet
Consultations
Dance in the 20th Century
In the 20th century we see many new happenings in the ballet world. Europe and Russia were advancing even more. Meanwhile ballet was coming to America.
Mikhail Fokine a graduate of the Imperial School in Russia pushed for even more expression from the dancers is his ballets around the turn of the century. He was able to realize his beliefs when he first started choreographing for the Ballet Russes. The Ballet Russes opened in Paris in 1909 under the direction of Sergei Diaghilev. They were a huge success especially because ballet had declined over the years in France. The Ballet Russes were also responsible for moving ballet into modern times. Their ballets were dramatic and exotic. Fokine created the famous ballets, Firebird (1910) and Petrushka (1911) for the Ballet Russes. Some of the famous dancers in the Ballet Russes were Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Enrico Cecchetti and George Balanchine. Nijinsky would later become the choreographer for the Ballet Russes and Cecchetti would later become famous for his method, the Cecchetti Method that is used today. The Ballet Russes existed until 1929 at the time of Diaghilev’s death. The dancers then scattered to other ballet companies around the world.
George Balanchine is often credited as the man who brought ballet to America. He was convinced by a man named Lincoln Kirstein to come to America from Europe when the Ballet Russes had ended after Diaghilev’s death. Balanchine agreed and together they formed the School of American Ballet in New York City in 1934. Its aim was to preserve the classical dance. Balachine would later run the New York City Ballet which began in 1948. The American Ballet Theater also began in 1940.
In the 60s and 70s Russian men were coming back into focus in ballet. Two famous Russian male dancers that are credited in bringing men back into the spotlight are Rudlof Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Rudolf Nureyev defected from Russia in 1961 while on tour in Paris. He then partnered with Margot Fonteyn. He worked with many European and American companies until his death in 1993. Mikhail Baryshnikov also sought political asylum in 1974 while he was on tour in Canada. He then became the principal dancer for the America Ballet Theater. He later became their artistic director in 1980. Baryshnikov was known for his excellence in technique.
There are so many other influential dancers and choreographers during this time. There was Jerome Robbins who choreographed for the New York City Ballet and added his jazz flavor to many of his works. Agnes de Mille’s choreography was fresh and her works have also become American classics. Other choreographers that should received mention are; Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp.
There are now many other American ballet companies that began in the 20th century. Some of them include, the San Francisco ballet, the Houston Ballet, and the Joffrey Ballet. The purpose of most ballet companies today is to create new works by new choreographers as well as preserving the works already in existence.
Because of these people mentioned as well as many others, ballet in America today is as influential as Russia and England.
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Whose controversial radio broadcast of H. G. Wells The War of The Worlds (1938) caused widespread panic in the US? | Woodlands Civic Ballet
The History of Russian Ballet
17th Century
Ballet in Russia was created by foreigners and yet it is most definitely "Russian". In the 17th century ballet was introduced into Russia by the second Romanov ruler Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich (1629-1676, reigned from 1645) for his wedding festivities.
Peter the Great (1672-1725, reigned from 1682) took a personal interest in dancing at his court by bringing in Western dances and taking part in them himself. With the help of his prisoners from the Swedish wars -- the Swedish officers -- he taught his courtiers.
18th Century
The dissemination of ballet in Russia and its deep rooted appeal to all Russians can be traced back to those nobles who, often living so far away from the capital, commanded their own entertainment, setting up ballet troupes often composed of serfs who had been trained at the Imperial School.
The formal beginning of Russian ballet can be traced back to a letter written in 1737 to the Empress Anne (1693-1740, reigned from 1730) by the teacher of gymnastics at the Imperial Cadet School. The letter states: "I humbly ask Your Majesty that I shall be given twelve children -- six males and six females -- to create ballets and theater dances using twelve persons of comic and serious character. These pupils, by the end of the first year ,will dance with cadets; in two years they will execute different dances; in three years they will not be less than the best of foreign dancers."
The request by Frenchman Jean Batiste Lande (died 1748 in St Petersburg) was granted on May 15, 1738 and the first Russian school of dancing was given two rooms in the Old Winter Palace. Later this school became the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet School. Imperial patronage always ensured that ballet in Russia remained a vigorous art form. Successive tsars invited foreign ballet masters to develop the art. The history of the Russian ballet consists of the gradual absorption of this foreign knowledge by the Russians themselves until the art became indigenous.
Catherine the Great, a great patron of the arts, established the Directorate of the Imperial theaters, giving it control over ballet. At a Moscow Orphanage in 1774 she started a ballet school under the direction of Filippo Beccari (?). In 1765 she brought the Italian dancer-composer-choreographer Domenico Angiolini (1731-1803) to St Petersburg. Angiolini composed the first heroic Russian ballet Semira in 1772. He was one of the first choreographers to move away from ballet as a divertissement, a mere history in costume, to a psychological drama.
19th Century
Charles-Louis Didelot
In 1801 Charles-Louis Didelot (1767-1837) sparked the first great period of ballet. He is considered to be the "father of the Russian ballet." His productions were seen at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theatre, latter called the Maryinsky, and later still the Kirov. He was invited to St Petersburg by Paul I. Didelot said that "ballet is an action explained by a dance" and from this premise created a plasticity of movement free from the conventionalities of baroque ballet, using effective changes of scenery, and combining the dance of soloists and the corps de ballet which prompted the developments of ensemble dance in the Romantic period.
In 1828 Didelot created the Prisoner of the Caucasus from the poem by Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) thereby laying one of the first foundations of Russian ballet; the choreographic illustration of national literature. Throughout the 19th century, however, Russian posters advertising ballet performances, still gave star billing to foreign dancers. Moreover, the music for ballets was also composed by foreigners. Similarly, there was foreign rule in the classroom right up to the beginning of the 20th century.
Ballerinas
The Russian ballet remained a mystery to the West, but as the European dancers returned from their Russian tours with stories of the beautiful theaters and the tremendous salaries paid guest artists, caused many of the great dancers and teachers to flood the Russian market: Jean-Batiste Lande, Louis Duport, Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Leon, Marie Taglioni, Lucile Grahm, Fanny Cerrito, Fanny Elssler, and Carlotta Grisi all danced in Russia.
Maria Danilova (1793-1810) entered the St. Petersburg school at the age of eight. Her talent soon attracted Charles-Louis Didelot's attention and she made her first appearance a year later; by the time she was 15 she was dancing with Louis Duport. She graduated from the academy in 1809. Her dancing was so light and elusive that it took the audience's breath away. Danilova was very fragile and the emotional pressures of performance and a short, unhappy, love affair with Duport undermined her health: She died of consumption at the age of 17.
Avdotia Ilyinitshna Istomina, (1799-1848) graduated from the academy in 1815 and within 5 years held the rank of primiere danseuse mime. She was a great beauty with jet-black hair and a beautiful figure. Her technique was flawless, and her elevation and pirouettes set her aside from the other dancers. Also, her acting abilities inspired Pushkin to write the ballet "Prisoner of the Caucasus" in 1836 for her. Because of a injury to her foot she danced less and less, finally retiring in 1836. She died of cholera 12 years later.
When Marie Taglioni took St. Petersburg by storm, Elena Andreianova (1819-1857), a ballerina who graduated from the Imperial Theater school, had to watch jealously from the wings. In time Andreianova became more powerful, because she was the lover of Alexander Guedenov, the director of the Imperial Theater. Elena was the first Russian Giselle, in 1842. Guedenov arranged a successful tour for her in Paris, but at La Scala she was less impressive.
In 1848, when Fanny Elssler arrived in St. Petersburg, the Russian dancers were again forced into the background. To keep peace, Guedenov sent Andreianova to Moscow. The Moscovites resented the invasion of the dancer from St. Petersburg, and on her opening night, instead of flowers, the audience threw a dead cat on stage. Elena fainted, and then she got a standing ovation. She did another successful foreign tour, but on her return she found that Guedenov had found a new "protegee." At 34 Andreianova was forced to retire. Not being able to handle the politics of the dance world, she moved to France, where she died at the age of 48.
Christian Johansson
In 1840s three foreign dancers (Christian Johansson, Jules Perrot - the founder of Romantic ballet - and Marius Petipa) came to St Petersburg. Both as dancers and ballet masters, they each of them had their own style which would be absorbed into the Russian classical technique. Marie Taglioni was respondsible for bringing her new partner, Christian Johanson (1817-1903), a Dane, to St. Petersburg. After Taglioni's contract expired, Johanson stayed and became a leading dancer and one of the most influential teachers of ballet. Johanson was responsible for keeping the male dancers a major part of ballet--a situation that did much to keep ballet viable in Russia, while it declined in the rest of Europe. He inculcated a strict pure technique that formed the basis of the Russian classical style for both men and women (he was the teacher of Anna Pavlova and Vatslav Nijinsky).
Ivan Valberkh
Ivan Valberkh (1766-1819) was the first famous native ballet master to be trained at the St Petersburg academy. He had studied with Gaspero Angiolini (1731-1803) and Canziani (?) in 1786. Literature, operas and plays were the sources of his choreography. He wanted to promote the Russian dancers and his patriotic ballets were the most popular. "Love for the Fatherland" was so inflammatory that many in the audience left the theater and enlisted in the war against Napoleon. He succeeded Canziani as ballet inspector of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater and director of the school in 1794. Later he reorganized the school in Moscow.
Marius Petipa
But by the late 19th century ballet in Russia was a stagnant form where the virtuoso demonstration of classical technique had become an end in itself while the narrative was enlivened only by character dances. It was Frenchman, Marius Petipa (1818-1910), who decisively refashioned this failing art form, structuring the haphazard tradition he had inherited, making a virtue of what would later be seen as its weakness - the deliberate lack of dramatic unity. It was the lack of quality symphonic music that had hitherto prevented a complete unification with the increasing complexities of ballet movement. It was Petipa who introduced the strict proportions between mime and dance, and established the ensembles of the corps de ballet and the precise rules for the order of dancing in a pas de deux.
Marius Petipa was still a leading dancer with the St. Petersburg ballet in 1862 when he created his first multi-act ballet for the tsar's imperial theatre, The Pharoh's Daughter, an incredible fantasy that included such Egyptian happenings as mummies awakening and poisonous snakes, much like an Indiana Jones movie. This ballet led to other ballets and eventually to what the world considers Classical Ballet.
In 1869 Petipa took over the position of Ballet Master in Chief to the Imperial Tsar. In his role of leadership Petipa created many multi- and single-act ballets for presentation on the imperial stages of Russia. In 1869 he went to Moscow and created Don Quixote for the ballet of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Then in 1877 he created La Bayadère for the Bolshoi Theatre in St. Petersburg, (There was a Bolshoi in both Moscow and in St. Petersburg - the word Bolshoi meaning "big").
In earlier years Petipa had choreographed the dances of les wilis in the second act of Giselle while acting as an assistant to Perrot and this form of female corps dancing representing shadows or spirits became known as ballet blanc and is common to Giselle, La Bayadère, and many other ballets.
Also in 1877 a ballet so popular its name and image represents classical ballet premiered in Moscow. Swan Lake, set to Tchaikovsky's first ballet score was the first of the "Big Three" of Russian Ballet. Originally set by Austrian Wenzel Reisinger, (1827-1892), Swan Lake has been reworked by many people including Joseph Hansen, (1842-1907), and then again by Petipa in 1895.
During the 1880s Petipa restaged in Russia two ballets that had been very successful in Paris. The first was Giselle which he had been involved in the first time, and the second was Saint-Léon's Coppelia, (originally presented in 1870). Interestingly enough, it was the music to Coppelia which inspired Tchaikovsky to write music for the ballet. With Petipa as the chief ballet master, many more Russian born and trained ballerinas danced on the imperial stages at this time than did at the beginning of Russian ballet. Now the Russians are known the world over as ballet dancers of extreme quality.
In 1890 the Italian ballerina Carlotta Brianza, (1867-1930), was chosen by Petipa to dance the title role in a new ballet called Spyashchaya Krasavitsa in Russian, La belle au Bois Dormant by the Francophile Russian Court, and The Sleeping Beauty in English. With music by Tchaikovsky composed "to spec" for Petipa, this ballet is the second of the Russian "Big Three" and is one of the great classical ballet masterpieces.
Then, continuing on their roll of success, in 1892 Petipa, Tchaikovsky, designer Ivan Vsevolozhsky, and assistant ballet master Lev Ivanov, (1834-1901), created The Nutcracker. This third of the Russian "Big Three" was based on a sweetened French retelling of the story by E.T.A. Hoffman. The Nutcracker has enjoyed huge popularity in hundreds of different versions as a "Christmas ballet."
In 1895 Petipa restaged Swan Lake including major choreographic additions. One of these was as the thirty two fouetté turns in the coda of the pas de deux from the ballroom scene. In 1898 Petipa choreographed his last ballet with any staying power. Raymonda is a three-act ballet with music by Alexander Glazunov. Similar in style to the three Tchaikovsky ballets Raymonda is very difficult to follow because it showcases an impressive variety of dancing more than it portrays its plot line.
20th Century
As the new century began, people started to get tired of Petipa's ideas and principles of ballet and looked for fresh ideas. By now the Russian ballet had surpassed the French ballet and many Russian dancers had become international stars. Probably the most notable ballerina of this time was Anna Pavlova, (1881-1931), who is known for dancing The Dying Swan.
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Mikhail Fokine
In 1907 Mikhail Folkine, (1880-1942), started to push the rules of costume in the imperial theatre. He felt that the "open parasol" look that all of the ladies wore was getting boring and pornographic, so with his Greek style ballet, Eunice, he made it look like the dancers were in bare feet, (to have bare feet or legs was against the rules of the imperial theatre), by having toes painted on the dancers' shoes. He also chose to use serious music, rather than dance music.
Sergei Diaghilev and Ballets Russes
In 1909 Sergei, (or Serge), Diaghilev, (1872-1929), created the Ballets Russes. This dance company started with strong Russian Character works. However, Le Pavillon d'Armide was the first ballet to be shown and it had a strong French influence. One of the dancers who performed in Le Pavillon d'Armide in both St. Petersburg and Paris was Vaslav Nijinsky, (1889-1950), who is known as one of the better jumpers of all time. Also presented in Paris by the Ballets Russes was a ballet formerly known as Chopiniana, because all of its music was by Chopin, but rechristened Les Sylphides, (different from La Sylphide but given a similar name because the Paris audience had recently seen La Sylphide), for the French public. Over the next several years, the Ballets Russes performed many ballets that have since become famous including Scheherazade, (1910), Firebird, (1910), and Petroucha, (1911). 4
One of the performers in Petroucha, playing a pantomime part because he was far past his dancing prime, was Enrico Checchetti, (1850-1928). Checchetti had also been known for dancing the roles of the wicked fairy Carbosse and of the Bluebird in Petipa's 1890 The Sleeping Beauty and later became famous as the creator of the Cecchetti method of teaching ballet. In 1913, Nijinsky created a new ballet called Le Sacre du Printemps, or The Rite of Spring. This ballet, set to Stravinsky's score of the same name actually had the audience fighting it was so dark in its mood.
The last major production of the Ballets Russes in Paris was in 1921 and 1922, when Diaghilev restaged Petipa's 1890 version of The Sleeping Beauty. The four month run of the show did not recoup the financial outlay of the show, and as a result it was dubbed a failure. However, The Sleeping Beauty rekindled the European audience's interest in the evening-length ballet. One young dancer and choreographer with the Ballets Russes was Georgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze, (1904-1983), whose name was later Frenchified to George Balanchine. He choreographed several works for the Ballets Russes, the most famous of which being Apollon Musagète in 1928, which has become a classic of the neo-classical ballets. Apollon Musagète, which later became Apollo, is a one-act ballet with a Greek look to it. After Diaghilev died Balanchine left the Ballets Russes and set out on his own for a while before ending up directing the dance company Ballets 1933. When that company folded he was invited to come to America by Lincoln Kirstein, (1907-1995). Kirstein knew almost nothing about ballet, and Balanchine know almost nothing about America, (except that it produced women like Ginger Rogers), and decided to take the offer and establish ballet in America. At this time Kirstein started his wish list of ballets he wanted to see in America; leading the list was Pocahantas.
In 1934 Balanchine established the School of American Ballet, which gave its first performance, a new piece called Serenade that same year.
20 - 50's
After the Russian Revolution ballet was saved by Anatoli Lunacharsky, the first ever People's Commissar for Enlightenment when he stated that art "creates human types and situations, which we live on from century to century and which are real to millions of people." After Lunacharsky, the Commissars allowed ballet as long as it was light and uplifting.
During the 1930s in Leningrad a ballerina made artistic director of the former Imperial Ballet, Agrippina Vaganova, (1879-1951), started to make her mark. It was in 1935 that the ballet became the Kirov Ballet. During her time as artistic director Vaganova had to deal with state regulations and do such things as change the ending of Swan Lake from tragic to uplifting. By the time the Kirov Ballet began to tour the west, Vaganova had died, however, we know her methods through her book, Fundementals of the Classic Dance, and once it was translated into English it became a "bible" of dance. In 1951, five years after her death, the Soviet government named the Leningrad Choreographic Institute after her.
Rudolf Nureyev
In 1961 the world spotlight moved to Rudolf Nureyev, (1938-1993). After Nureyev graduated from the Kirov academy he danced with the Kirov ballet, and made news around the world as the "next Nijinsky." However, when the Kirov began to organize a Paris and London tour, his offstage disregard for Soviet ideals almost kept him from going on the tour. Then, when he was the government recalled him to the Soviet Union in the middle of the tour, he instead sought political asylum in France. After defecting, Nureyev danced with Margot Fonteyn as a partner with many companies around the world, including the National Ballet of Canada and the Australian Ballet, becoming known with Fonteyn as "Rudi and Margot." Unfortunately for Nureyev, his hoped for association with Balanchine never materialized.
After 50's
Beginning in 1956, Russian ballet companies such as Bolshoi and Kirv (now the Saint Petersburg Ballet)performend in the West for the first time after the Russian revlutin. The intense dramatic feeling and technical virtuosity of the Russians made a great impact. Russian influence on ballet continues today, both through visits frm Russian companies and the activities of defecting Soviet dancers such as Rudlf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Barishnikov.
Source: the Catholic University of America Website
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For what crime was Al Capone finally convicted? | Capone goes to prison - Oct 17, 1931 - HISTORY.com
Capone goes to prison
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On this day in 1931, gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion and fined $80,000, signaling the downfall of one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s and 1930s.
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899 to Italian immigrants. He was expelled from school at 14, joined a gang and earned his nickname “Scarface” after being sliced across the cheek during a fight. By 1920, Capone had moved to Chicago, where he was soon helping to run crime boss Johnny Torrio’s illegal enterprises, which included alcohol-smuggling, gambling and prostitution. Torrio retired in 1925 after an attempt on his life and Capone, known for his cunning and brutality, was put in charge of the organization.
Prohibition, which outlawed the brewing and distribution of alcohol and lasted from 1920 to 1933, proved extremely lucrative for bootleggers and gangsters like Capone, who raked in millions from his underworld activities. Capone was at the top of the F.B.I.’s “Most Wanted” list by 1930, but he avoided long stints in jail until 1931 by bribing city officials, intimidating witnesses and maintaining various hideouts. He became Chicago’s crime kingpin by wiping out his competitors through a series of gangland battles and slayings, including the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929, when Capone’s men gunned down seven rivals. This event helped raise Capone’s notoriety to a national level.
Among Capone’s enemies was federal agent Elliot Ness, who led a team of officers known as “The Untouchables” because they couldn’t be corrupted. Ness and his men routinely broke up Capone’s bootlegging businesses, but it was tax-evasion charges that finally stuck and landed Capone in prison in 1931. Capone began serving his time at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, but amid accusations that he was manipulating the system and receiving cushy treatment, he was transferred to the maximum-security lockup at Alcatraz Island, in California’s San Francisco Bay. He got out early in 1939 for good behavior, after spending his final year in prison in a hospital, suffering from syphilis.
Plagued by health problems for the rest of his life, Capone died in 1947 at age 48 at his home in Palm Island, Florida.
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Who was known as the 'Sultan of Swat'? | acting rationallyal capone was finally convicted, Computer Engineering
acting rationallyal capone was finally convicted
acting rationallyal capone was finally convicted
Acting Rationally:
"Al" Capone was finally convicted for tax evasion. Were the police reacting on rationally?? To solve this puzzle, we must first look at how the performance of police forces is viewed: arresting and convicting the people who have committed a crime starting, because their success in getting criminals off the street is also a reasonable, if contentious, measure. Given that they didn't convict Capone for the murders he committed, they failed on that measure. More ever, they did get him off the street, so they succeeded in there aims. We must also look at that what the police knew and what they had experienced about the surrounding: they had experienced murders which they knew were undertaken by Capone, but they had not experienced any evidence which could convict Capone of the murders. More ever, they had evidence of tax evasion. As this got them off the street, we have to say they were acting rationally because they did. Â
This answer is controversial, and highlights the basic purpose why we have to much worry hard about how to assess the rationality of an agent before we consider building it.
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Which Russian revolutionary died of head wounds on 21 August 1940? | Trotsky assassinated in Mexico - Aug 20, 1940 - HISTORY.com
Trotsky assassinated in Mexico
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Exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded by an ice-ax-wielding assassin at his compound outside Mexico City. The killer–Ramón Mercader–was a Spanish communist and probable agent of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Trotsky died from his wounds the next day.
Born in the Ukraine of Russian-Jewish parents in 1879, Trotsky embraced Marxism as a teenager and later dropped out of the University of Odessa to help organize the underground South Russian Workers’ Union. In 1898, he was arrested for his revolutionary activities and sent to prison. In 1900, he was exiled to Siberia.
In 1902, he escaped to England using a forged passport under the name of Leon Trotsky (his original name was Lev Davidovich Bronshtein). In London, he collaborated with Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin but later sided with the Menshevik factions that advocated a democratic approach to socialism. With the outbreak of the Russian Revolution of 1905, Trotsky returned to Russia and was again exiled to Siberia when the revolution collapsed. In 1907, he again escaped.
During the next decade, he was expelled from a series of countries because of his radicalism, living in Switzerland, Paris, Spain, and New York City before returning to Russia at the outbreak of the revolution in 1917. Trotsky played a leading role in the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power, conquering most of Petrograd before Lenin’s triumphant return in November. Appointed Lenin’s secretary of foreign affairs, he negotiated with the Germans for an end to Russian involvement in World War I. In 1918, he became war commissioner and set about building up the Red Army, which succeeded in defeating anti-communist opposition in the Russian Civil War. In the early 1920s, Trotsky seemed the heir apparent of Lenin, but he lost out in the struggle of succession after Lenin fell ill in 1922.
In 1924, Lenin died, and Joseph Stalin emerged as leader of the USSR. Against Stalin’s stated policies, Trotsky called for a continuing world revolution that would inevitably result in the dismantling of the increasingly bureaucratic Soviet state. He also criticized the new regime for suppressing democracy in the Communist Party and for failing to develop adequate economic planning. In response, Stalin and his supporters launched a propaganda counterattack against Trotsky. In 1925, he was removed from his post in the war commissariat. One year later, he was expelled from the Politburo and in 1927 from the Communist Party. In January 1928, Trotsky was deported by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to Alma-Ata in remote Soviet Central Asia. He lived there in internal exile for a year before being banished from the USSR forever by Stalin.
He was received by the government of Turkey and settled on the island of Prinkipo, where he worked on finishing his autobiography and history of the Russian Revolution. After four years in Turkey, Trotsky lived in France and then Norway and in 1936 was granted asylum in Mexico. Settling with his family in a suburb of Mexico City, he was found guilty of treason in absentia during Stalin’s purges of his political foes. He survived a machine gun attack carried out by Stalinist agents, but on August 20, 1940, fell prey to Ramón Mercader, a Spanish communist who had won the confidence of the Trotsky household. The Soviet government denied responsibility, and Mercader was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Mexican authorities.
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Whose plays include Uncle Vanya and The Three Sisters? | Russia
Russia
Son of the emperor and heir
Haemophilia
Blood clotting disorder suffered by the Tsarevitch, Alexei
Romanov
The Tsars secret police
Menshevik
Policy to make people speak Russian, e.g. Finland
Pogrom
The rules by which a country is governed
Constituent Assembly
The body which writes the constitution
Soviet
Department of economic planning set up by Lenin
Rouble
Richer peasants They have a big farm
Abdicate
To give up the throne
Triumvirate
Three powerful men: Stalin, Zinoviev, Kamenev (1923-7)
Autarky
Royal palace in Moscow which is now a parliament building
Kolkhoz
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
NEP
A good produced that adds more wealth to the economy, e.g. tractor
Consumer goods
Goods that are used up, e.g. toilet paper
Summary of the Causes of the Russian Revolutions
Long Term
The Tsar weaknesses in his character and reactionary policies. His failure to understand his people.
The Tsar his failure to make political, social or economic reform.
Opposition to autocracy. The influence of Karl Marx, growth of revolutionary parties in Russia and the survival of revolutionary leaders abroad.
The failure of the 1904-5 Russo-Japanese war.
The failure of the 1905 revolution. This was:
A missed opportunity for the Tsar to control the revolutionaries.
A missed opportunity for the rebels to gain power in Russia.
NOTE: 1-4 are reasons for the 1905 revolution.
Short Term
All the long term causes came to a head during World War I. The defeat of Russia abroad intensified hardships at home at a time when domestic policy was controlled by weak and unpopular leaders the Tsarina and Rasputin.
The arrival of revolutionary leaders in Russia, notably Trotsky and Lenin.
The March 1917 revolution failed to give enough power to the workers (soviets) so the November 1917 revolution took place.
Nicholas II (1894-1917) and the Downfall of Tsarist Rule
Aims
To maintain the Romanov dynasty.
To maintain autocratic, Tsarist, power.
To maintain the Russian empire, by Russifying his lands.
By following these aims, the Tsar made himself increasingly unpopular and by 1917, his failure was complete (1917 he abdicated, 1918 he was shot.)
Reasons for the Tsars Failure (or causes of the Russian Revolution)
1. The Tsars Character
He was a loyal family man but he had serious defects of character. He was easily influenced by his wife (German), he ignore his ministers and he failed to understand the problems of his people (he was too remote from them). He was a reactionary and an indecisive autocrat. As a result, very little got done.
2. Refusal to accept reform
a. Political Although serfdom had been abolished in 1861, most Russians had no rights, there was no duma, few zemstvas and in 1895 the Tsar said that any plans for reform were senseless dreams.
b. Social In 1900, Russia was a sprawling landmass stretching across Europe and Asia. Its peasant population was uneducated and superstitious and differed in race and religion. The Tsar refused to introduce education, he preferred the local nobility to control the serfs and he censored the press. Furthermore, people who did not belong to his Orthodox Church suffered in pogroms (e.g. Jews). He continued to Russify his lands, offending the subject races in Finland, Poland, Turkistan and the Ukraine. The Tsar called this policy, one Tsar, one god, one nation. He could have used his energy to create more wealth for Russia.
c. Economic Russian farming was feudal (primitive), resources were unexploited and industrial output was low.
Country
1.5
(Figures are output, in millions of tons, in 1900)
The only economic reforms of the Tsar were the building of the Trans-Siberian railway, which reached Vladivostok in 1901, and a treaty with Germany was made to set up banks in Russia. He allowed no rights for workers, who were low-paid and living in hovels.
3. Opposition to autocracy
Press censorship and the Okhrana prevented the growth of opposition to the Tsar, so rebel leaders had to live abroad. One rebel group, the Social Democrats, met in London, in 1903, and after an argument they split into two new parties, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. Lenin led the Bolsheviks and based his ideas on the writings of Karl Marx (1818-1883). Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867). Lenin wrote Marxist ideas in Iskra until 1903, and in Pravda afterwards. These groups first put real pressure on the Tsar after the failure of the war with Japan.
4. Tsars Foreign Policy was Unsuccessful after 1904
The Trans-Siberian railway reached Vladivostok by 1901, and seeking popularity via a victory abroad, the Tsar decided to try and add Manchuria to his empire. Japan had the same idea.
Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
October 1903 Russia advanced into Korea
May 1904 Japan defeated the Russians at Mukden (Russians stranded in marsh land)
April 1904 Meanwhile the Russian Pacific fleet was defeated by Togo
October 1904 The Russian Baltic fleet set off for the Pacific, but on the way attacked Norwegian and British trawlers, mistaking them for the Japanese fleet.
May 1905 Russian Baltic fleet sunk by Togo at the Tsushima Straits (23 Russian ships were sunk, Japan lost 110 men).
Treaty of Portsmouth (USA 1905)
Russia had to vacate Manchuria.
Russia had to compensate Britain and Norway.
Japan secured rights in Manchuria.
Rather than gaining popularity, the Tsar was more unpopular at home and abroad.
5. The Revolution of 1905
The rebels had been active before 1905, e.g. they had killed Plehve, the Tsars chief foreign minister (1904). With the defeat of Japan in 1905, the unrest grew. In January 1905, 200,000 people led by Father Gapon peacefully marched to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to deliver a petition to the Tsar. The palace guards panicked and c.1000 people were killed on Bloody Sunday, and this led to revolt:
Tsarist policemen were attacked (St. Petersburg)
Peasants replaced landlords on the estates (Rural areas)
The Tsars uncle, Sergius, was blown up in the Kremlin (Moscow)
The people demanded a duma
As a result the Tsar presented the October Manifesto. To quell the riots, the Tsar offered a duma, but the dumas turned out to have no power, e.g. the 1906-8 duma was dismissed (dissolved), the 1907-12 duma was merely a puppet of the Tsar, and the 1912 duma was dissolved.
The 1905 revolution was a missed opportunity for the Tsar to control the rebels and for the rebels to gain control.
6. The Failure of Russia in World War I
In July 1914, Russia went to war with Germany and Austria-Hungary. I the first month it was successful, but in August 1914, at the battle of Tannenburg, Russia lost 160,000 men to the Germans, led by Field Marshall Von Hindenburg. The Russians began retreating. The Tsar went to the front to rally his troops and boost morale. Russian domestic policy was in the hands of the German Tsarina and the mad monk, Rasputin. She was seen as a German spy and he wasnt trusted. He dominated the Tsarina because he could control the Tsarevitchs haemophilia (through hypnotism). He debauched the court and was killed in 1916. He was poisoned with cyanide, shot near the heart, beaten with chains and then frozen ion the River Neva.
The people celebrated at the death of Rasputin, because they blamed him for the food and fuel shortages. Faced with desertions, mutiny and defeat, the Tsar returned to Petrograd, where he was forced to abdicate. The scene was set for revolution.
Gregory Rasputin (1871-1916)
Profile
Russian peasant mystic monk who was an influential figure at the Tsars court from 1905 until his death. Rasputin, who led a debauched private life, owed his position to his hypnotic healing power over the heir to the throne, the Tsarevitch Alexei (1904-18), a haemophiliac. From 1911 Rasputin, confidant in the protection of the Tsarina, interfered in politics securing for his nominees the highest appointments in the Church and State. At the same time, his alcoholic excesses and sexual orgies horrified many leading figures in St. Petersburg society, and the press began to comment adversely on his influence. Once the First World War began, he was popularly believed to be a German agent although the evidence is inconclusive. In December 1916 he was murdered by exasperated aristocrats. His activities discredited the monarchy (and, indirectly, the Church) in the eyes of the Russian people.
Rasputins Death
With the exception of certain Court ladies who were as if mesmerised by Rasputin, almost everyone close to the Palace was aware that the monks conduct and influence were leading the monarchy to the edge of the abyss. A plot was therefore hatched to assassinate him. One night in December 1916 he was invited to the home of Prince Yussupov who, along with the Tsars cousin, Grand Duke Dmitri, and Purishkevich, the monarchist leader in the Duma, had made all the necessary arrangements to dispose of him. It proved, however, more difficult than they had anticipated. He was fed cakes and wine liberally dosed with cyanide. The poison seemed to have no effect. Yussupov drew a pistol and shot the totally unsuspecting Rasputin in the chest, close to the heart. The others in the plot appeared on the scene from an upstairs room and pronounced him dead. One of them put on Rasputins overcoat and hat and they all left Yussupovs house, pretending to accompany Rasputin to his home. Yussupov, however, felt vague misgivings and decided to return. There in the basement was Rasputins body, just as it had been left. There was no sign of life, no heart or pulse-beat Yussupov has described what happened next:
All of a sudden, I saw the left eye open
. A few seconds later his right eyelid began to quiver, then opened. I then saw both eyes the green eyes of a viper staring at me with an expression of diabolical hatred. The blood ran cold in my veins. My muscles turned to stone
I stood rooted to the flagstones as if caught in the toils of a nightmare.
Then a terrible thing happened: with a sudden violent effort Rasputin leapt to his feet, foaming at the mouth. A wild roar echoed through the vaulted rooms, and his hands convulsively thrashed the air. He rushed at me trying to get at my throat, and sank his fingers into my shoulder like steel claws. His eyes were bursting from their sockets, blood oozed from his lips. And all the time he called me by name, in a low, raucous voice.
Yussupov managed to free himself but was unable to prevent his victim from bursting out of the house. Hearing Yussupovs shouts, Purishkevich arrived in time to fire several revolver shots at Rasputin as he tried to flee. This time no mistake was made. Rasputins body was retrieved from the icy waters of the River Neva some days later.
The murder of Our Friend (as the Tsar and Tsarina regularly referred to him in their correspondence) did nothing to avert the Revolution. It came too late to have any effect upon the course of events, and in any case Rasputin was much more a symptom than a cause of Russias ills.
Russian Revolutions March and November 1917
Note: sometimes these revolutions are dated as February and October 1917. Refer to the map showing Petrograd in November 1917.
St. Petersburg Leningrad: A note about names
In 1703 Tsar Peter the Great made St. Petersburg his capital. When Germany and Russia were at war in 1914 the city was renamed Petrograd, to lose the Germanic burg. In 1924 the city was renamed Leningrad in honour of the dead revolutionary.
March (February) Revolution 1917 (Middle Class Revolution)
In Petrograd in early March 1917 food riots, strikes and mutinies took place. On 8th March, troops and police, sent in to control the rebels, joined the rioters. Public buildings were seized, prisoners released and the Duma (a puppet of the Tsar) was dismissed.
A committee of ten Duma members formed a Provisional Government.
The Tsar hurried from the battlefront was seized and forced to abdicate in favour of his brother, Grand Duke Michael, who refused to accept office. The Royal Family were all arrested. Later, on 16th July 1918, it is though that the Tsar and Tsarevitch were shot at Ekaterinburg, though the fate of the Tsarina and her daughters is uncertain.
Meanwhile, (March 1917) the Petrograd soviet (Soviets, or workers councils, were elected after the October manifesto of 1905) of workers and soldiers issued orders as if it were the legitimate government. This rivalled the Provisional Government for authority. This caused confusion in Petrograd allowing socialist leaders to exploit the situation and to make plans of their own.
The first Premier of the Provisional Government was Prince Lvov with Alexander Kerensky (1881-1971) as Minister of Justice. Generally, the middle class supported the Provisional Government where as the proletariat supported the Petrograd Soviet. To gain popularity the Provisional Government promised reforms to the land and offered the Fins and the Poles their freedom. It also promised to set up a Constituent Assembly to draw up a constitution. The Provisional Government continued to fight in the First World War.
On 16th April 1917, Lenin and other exiles arrived in a sealed train at Finlandia station, Petrograd, from Switzerland. The German High command had arranged Lenins return, calculating that these leading socialists would undermine the Russian was effort, and so aid Germany. Lenin was not automatically popular with the people because he demanded a complete overthrow of capitalism, and end to war and the destruction of the provisional Government. The proletariat was won over to Lenin by his offer of Peace, Bread, Land and All Power to the Soviets. At his base at the Smolny Institute Lenin continued to woo the workers as he needed mass support to oust the Provisional Government.
On 25th July 1917 the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, tried but failed to take power. At the same time Kerensky replaced Lvov as Premier and though highly competent, Kerensky made the mistake of keeping Russia in the First World War. Russian offensives in the summer of 1917 were unsuccessful and consequently many soldiers deserted and officers were shot by their own men. Sensing growing opposition Lenin prepared for a coup, but he had to flee Petrograd as the secret police were closing in on him. With Lenin in Finlandia, Trotsky, who had arrived in Petrograd on 18th May 19178, continued to direct Bolshevik activities.
November (October) Revolution 1917 (Bolshevik/Proletarian Revolution)
General Kornilov, military commander of Petrograd, realised the threat of a Bolshevik take-over, and ordered troops to crush the soviets. Kerensky resented this, fearing Kornilov as a rival, and so had him arrested. This weakened the Provisional Governments military power, leaving the Bolsheviks intact.
Lenin returned from hiding, to Petrograd in October 1917.
On 7th November 1917, a secret meeting of Bolsheviks decided on an armed rising. The Petrograd Soviet ordered Red Guards, under Trotsky, to key parts of the city. They met little resistance. In a few hours they controlled railway stations, Post Office, barracks, banks and power stations. The crew of the cruiser Aurora mutinied and opened fire on the government headquarters and Kerensky escaped, finding his way to USA.
After a near bloodless revolution in Petrograd, a new Soviet Government, led by Lenin, was set up.
Reasons for Bolshevik Success (1917)
The Provisional Government was unpopular for keeping Russia in the First World War. (The Provisional Government would have been better off having loyal troops defending key parts of Petrograd in October/November 1917.)
The Provisional Government was unpopular for not providing food and fuel.
The Provisional Government was unpopular for being in the middle
It was looked upon as a lowly up-start by the ex. Tsarist supporters.
It was seen as a superior upper class by the Soviets.
The Bolsheviks were a well-disciplined party dedicated to revolution. Its members obeyed the political measures of Lenin and the military measures of Trotsky.
The Bolsheviks gained the support of half of the army and the Kronstadt navy. Much of the other half of the armed forces supported the Tsar, rather than the Provisional Government.
The Bolsheviks had popular policies as shown by Lenins slogans: Peace, Bread and Land and All power to the Soviets.
Profiles of Men in Russian History
1. Karl Marx (1818-1883) the father of modern communism
He was a German Jew who lived most of his adult life in England. He studied in the British museum and wrote Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867). Marx had two beliefs the Ideal State and the methods by which the ideal state could achieved.
Ideal state a state of perfection arrived at after a class struggle. This state would involve all men working for the good of others. There would be no need for crime or a police force, no need for money and all men would be equal. Marriage, families and religion would be swept away in the ideal state. (Marx was an atheist).
Arriving at the ideal state Marx said the ideal state would come in three stages, each marked by a revolution in class structure.
Stage 1 - Overthrow of Emperors and Kings, end of autocracy.
Stage 2 - Overthrow of nobility.
Stage 3 - The proletariat would gradually take power from merchants and industrialists.
Marxs theories are very idealistic. Communist countries today differ from Marxs ideas. Marxist foreign policy involved the spread of Communism worldwide.
2. Vladmir Ilyich Ulyanov - Lenin (1870-1924)
Born 1870 in Simbirsk in the Volga region. Father a school inspector. Very intelligent, he studied at Kazan University but gained his degree in Law at St. Petersburg in 1891. Believed in ideas of Marx and because of his activities he was arrested in 1897 and sent to Siberia where he married another revolutionary Krupskaya. Release in 1900. Lenin went to Switzerland, Germany and Britain. He became the leader of the Russian Social Democrats. His ideas reached Russia by way of his Socialist newspapers, Iskra (Spark) and after 1903 Pravda (Truth).
Revolution 1917 He was in Switzerland at the time of the February-March revolution, and was taken by Germans to Russia in sealed train. 16th April 1917 arrived at Petrograd. Soviet constitution prepared by Lenin idea of all power to the proletariat. By July authorities were after Lenin so he fled but kept contact with Trotsky and other revolutionaries. Lenin was instrumental in November 1917 in the final revolution at Petrograd. Lenin was in power 1917-1924. Lenin was shot in August 1918, by Dora Kaplan. He had his first stroke in 1922 and died 21st January 1924.
3. Trotsky (1879-1940)
He was the son of a Jewish farmer. Became a Marxist in 1897. Escaped from Siberia in 1902, fled abroad. Took part in 1905 revolution. 1917 joined Bolshevik party. As chairman of Petrograd soviet he seized power in 1917. He became commissar for war and headed the Russian delegation to Brest Litovsk, March 1918. He led the Red Army during the Civil War. Lenin chose Trotsky to succeed him, but Stalin ousted him. Trotsky was expelled from Communist party in 1927. He was assassinated in Mexico, by Stalins agents in 1940: hacked with an ice-pick.
Lenin (1917-1923) Summary Notes
Lenin had three problems in 1917:
Russia was still at war with Germany
He needed to extend Bolshevik power throughout Russia
Russia was in economic ruin
a. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3/3/1918)
Trotsky began negotiations with Germany in December 1917. The Treaty was not signed until 3/3/1918 and was humiliating for Russia because she lost coalfields and people. By leaving the war early Russia annoyed her allies, Britain and France. Lenin accepted the peace terms so that he could concentrate upon domestic affairs.
b. Extension of Bolshevik power throughout Russia
Lenin tried to increase popularity by giving land to the peasants, nationalising industry, and promising a Constituent Assembly. Such reforms were delayed because of civil war (May 1918 c.1920) between the Reds and the Whites. The Reds, led by Trotsky, won.
The Civil War extended into a war with Poland (1920-21). Peace was made at Riga (1921) and again Russia was humiliated, but Lenin was desperate for peace (for the first time since 1914).
Lenin called a Constituent Assembly to meet but there were only 14 Bolsheviks in it. Lenin dismissed it and wrote his own constitution (1923), making Russia a dictatorship, and changing its name to the USSR.
c. Coping with Economic Ruin
Russian agriculture, industry, communications, trade and workforce had been devastated by warfare since 1914. (Russia was under-populated in 1900.) Lenin followed two economic policies.
1. War Communism (Based upon Marxs Das Kapital)
The Red Army and navy personnel received the best of everything while they fought the Civil War. Capitalism (profiteering) was banned. By 1921 Russia faced mass starvation (Cannibalism) and the Red Navy mutinied, so in 1922, Lenin changed his policy to:
2. NEP New Economic Policy (1922-28)
Capitalism was reintroduced (e.g. piece rate). New rouble was introduced to reinflate the economy.
Lenin died in 1924.
Lenin: Russia (1917-24)
Introduction
Lenin had three problems in 1917. He needed to solve these to create the first ideal Marxist/Socialist State in Russia.
Continued war against the central powers
Bolshevik power did not extend far beyond Petrograd
The Russian economy was in ruins
Between 1917-24 Lenin ended Russias role in the First World War, extended Bolshevik power throughout Russia and began economic reform.
a. Russia left the First World War at THE TREATY OF BREST-LITOVSK (3rd March, 1918)
Since 3rd December 1917 Trotsky, as war commissar, had been negotiating peace with Germany. The Kaiser brought negotiations to a conclusion by advancing his troops five hundred miles into Russia in 1918. Under pressure at the Polish town of Brest-Litovsk, Trotsky agreed to the following:
Russian parts of Poland and the Baltic States were to be taken by Germany.
Finland, Georgia and the Ukraine (a German puppet state) to be independent.
Reparations of six thousand million marks to be paid to Germany.
By this treaty Russia lost 1/3 of her population and 9/10 of her coalfields. Her allies, Britain and France, felt betrayed, as they were left to fight Germany without Russia. Lenin accepted humiliating terms so that he could concentrate on domestic affairs.
NOTE: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was cancelled by the Treaty of Versailles (28th June 1919)
b. Extension of Bolshevik Power in Russia, the establishment of a communist dictatorship
After making peace Lenin aimed to place all power in Russia in Bolshevik hands. He:
attracted the support of the peasants by sharing out land
attracted the support of the workers by nationalising industry, transport and banks
attracted the support of the middle class by promising a constituent Assembly
used the Checka to deal with opposition but by May 1918 this opposition had mounted to Civil War.
Civil War (1918-1920)
Lenins government forces were called Reds. Opposition, consisting of Tsarist officers, Kulaks and Allied troops, were called Whites. International help was given to the Whites for three reasons:
Allies felt deserted when Lenin left the First World War, early
Allies disliked the Marxist aim of spreading communism worldwide
Lenin had cancelled all foreign debts and nationalised foreign investments in Russia.
The Fighting (from May 1918)
The Reds were centrally organised by Trotsky. The Whites had several weaknesses. They had no single leader, and no figurehead after the 16th July 1918, when the Tsar was killed. The Whites had no common purpose, argued amongst themselves, were scattered around Russia and help from abroad was less than effective. The Reds were successful in five areas:
In Southern Russia the Cossacks were defeated by November 1920
The Baltic states were defeated by October 1920
In Siberia the Czechs and Japanese, who helped the Whites, were defeated by February 1920, though Japan kept control of Vladivostok until November 1922.
British and French forces in Archangel, to the North of Russia left ion October 1920.
Polish forces in the Ukraine were more difficult to defeat, and the Civil War extended into :
The Russo-Polish War (1920-21)
Poland took advantage of the Russian Civil War to extend her eastern borders. Lord Curzon had settled the Curzon Line as the border between Poland and Russia in December 1919, but this separated some Catholics from living in Poland. Poland defeated Russia at the battle of the Vistula and at the Treaty of Riga 1921. Poland gained land to the east of the Curzon Land, including the city of Vilna.
End of War
By 1920/21 Russia was at peace after the civil/Polish wars and Lenin, confident that he had control of Russia, began to make political and social reforms.
Political Reform: The 1923 Constitution
The Constituent Assembly, called by Lenin, met in January 1918, but the Bolsheviks only had 14 seats. Lenin dismissed the CA, and after the Civil War, wrote his own constitution. This proclaimed the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). This was a union of equal ranking republics, which were ruled by a soviet that sent representatives to Moscow. Moscow was now the official capital, not Petrograd. Commissars (ministers) were appointed by a central committee and leading ministers sat on the Politburo.
Only communists could stand at elections. The USSR was a ONE PARTY STATE (Totalitarian).
Social Reforms
Bolshevik power extended to all walks of life. Only socialists could teach in schools and university. Schemes for literacy were begun.
The Orthodox Church was attacked in favour of Atheism. By 1921, the teaching of religion to minors (below 18) was forbidden. In 1926 and 1923 priests were arrested, e.g. Patriarch Tikhon.
c. Economic Reform
Russias economy had not been thriving under the Tsar. Civil and foreign wars had made it worse.
Using Das Kapital as his model, Lenin began economic reforms called:
War Communism
1917-18 Church and royalist lands were seized and shared among the peasants. Industry, shipping and banks were nationalised. Foreign debts were cancelled and foreign capital in Russian banks was declared the property of the state.
During the Civil War (1918-20) primer crops were requisitioned for the Red Army. Trade between individuals and all profit making was prohibited. Trade was under state control.
By the end of 1920 the Russian economy was in ruins:
Industrial output in 1920 was down to 20% of the 1917 level, and agricultural output in 1920 down to 30% of the 1917 level.
From 1921-2 a famine killed five million people, despite aid from the USA. Domestic pets were eaten and there were reports of cannibalism. War Communism was blamed for this.
War communism allowed the troops to have the best foodstuffs, so, when they too began to suffer, Lenin decided to change his policy. In March 1921, the Red Navy, at Kronstadt, mutinied, so Lenin ended the restriction of war communism and introduced:
The New Economic Policy (NEP)
Gosplan directed operations and kept state control of heavy industry, transport and foreign trade, but capitalism (profit making by individuals) was party revived:
Small industries could be privately owned.
Farmers had to pay a levy on crops produced, then any extra crops could be sold at profit.
A new coinage was introduced: the new rouble equalled 50,000 old roubles. This was an attempt to reflate the economy.
Effects of the NEP
Capitalism gave more incentive to the workers as factory owners introduced piece-rate to boost output. By 1929, industrial output was up to the 1914 levels.
More freedom in agriculture allowed the Kulaks to prosper, so output in foodstuffs increased.
The new rouble restored faith in the Russian economy at home and abroad. Other countries though capitalism had returned to Russia and wanted a share of Russian trade, e.g. 1921 GB Commercial Agreement with Russia, though Britain did not recognise the USSR formally until 1924.
1922 Treaty of Rapallo between Germany and Russia was on e of mutual economic aid. This was extended in 1926.
Stalin and USSR (1927-53)
Dispute with Trotsky, the period of the Triumverate (1923-27)
Aims
Economic Policy (The Third Revolution)
Agricultural Collectivisation (the Kolkhoz)
Government Reform (1936 new constitution)
Rule by Terror Purges & Treason Trials
A. Background & Career
He was born in 1879, Josef Djugashvili (He called himself Stalin, or man of steel, this shows he was egotistical.), the son of a cobbler, from Georgia. He was educated at a Seminary, but was expelled in 1899. For his revolutionary activity he was sent to Siberia, on two occasions, but he escaped (cunning). He helped Lenin in the October 1917 revolution and he was rewarded for his bravery (1918-20) in the civil war. The town of Tsarytsyn was renamed Stalingrad (now Volgograd). In 1917 he became commissar for nationalities and in 1922 he became General Secretary of the Communist Party.
B. Dispute with Trotsky, the period of the Triumvirate (1923-27)
By 1923 Lenin had been weakened by an assassination attempt (Dora Kaplan), he had a stroke in 1922, and died in 1924. He had name Trotsky to be his successor and had suggested that Stalin be demoted. After he died there was a power struggle, between Trotsky who was War Commissar and Lenins Triumvirate. (Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev). First of all Stalin cause Trotsky to fall out with Zinoviev and Kamenev. Trotsky was dismissed from the Politburo (Trotsky was exiled in 1929 and murdered in 1940) Next he caused Kamenev and Zinoviev to argue, and they were arrested (They were shot in 1936) With these rivals removed Stalin became sole ruler at the Party Conference in December 1927.
C. Aims
Stalins aims differed from Lenins in that he did not expect to spread Communism worldwide until Communism was secure in the USSR. He also wanted to achieve autarky in agriculture (via the Kolkhoz) and industry via the Five Year Plans.
D. Economic Policy (The Third Revolution)
He called it The Third Revolution to give the economy greater emphasis.
a. Agricultural Collectivisation (The Kolkhoz)
Lenin abolished the mirs, but Stalin was the first person to replace them with something permanent. Collectivisation involved grouping the mirs into Kolkhoz.
A manager and a committee were elected to run the Kolkhoz. This involved:
Selling some foods at a cheaper price to town workers.
A rota for workers
This system had its disadvantages:
It was not an incentive to produce cheap food for the cities.
The Kulaks lost in the share-out so farming suffered, because these most able farmers resigned or were shot. This was part of Stalins policy: To smash the Kulaks as a class.
Equal pay did not encourage high output.
Consequences:
Reorganisation caused chaos at first. Between 1932 and 1934, 12 million people died of famine.
Collectivisation caused unemployment in framing, but many were absorbed into industry.
Although in 1931, Stalin reintroduced some private firms, the Kolkhoz was to stay. By 1938, 85% of arable land had been collectivised.
Stalin had not achieved autarky but he had achieved collectivisation. Stalin had achieved change but not improvement.
b. Industrial Five Year Plans
Gosplan was responsible for industrialising the USSR. Stalin had three Five Year Plans before the Second World War, and each was a law. If targets were not reached workers were punished. Working in fear meant that targets were reached before the terminal date. Refer to the maps showing the places concerned, and some of the effects of, the three five year plans.
First Five Year Plan (1928-1932)
Its aim was to find new sources of raw materials. These were in plentiful supply but never been minded. Coal and iron were produced in the Urals and in the Kuzbass Basin. Oil was taken from Tashkent, and the waters of the river Dnieper were used for HEP. In four years 50% of the USSR had been industrialised and national income had increased from 27 billion roubles to 45 billion roubles.
Second Five Year Plan (1933-1937)
Like plan 1 it took only four years to complete and involved the production of investment goods (e.g. tractors, lorries and cargo ships). Factories were built near to centres of raw materials, e.g. a motorworks was built at Gorky and a tractor plant was built at Stalingrad. As an incentive to workers, medals were given, e.g. the Stakhanov medal. Technical colleges were built to train workers and to put an end to the sabotage of machinery but unskilled workers. Though the plan finished in four years, most workers were dissatisfied, because they had few consumer goods.
Third Five Year Plan (1937-1941)
The idea was to produce consumer goods (e.g. toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, light bulbs, umbrellas, shoes and shoelaces, cooking pots) but the plan was wrecked by the Second World War when the factories were turned over to making arms.
Results
Output suffered because workers were not encouraged to offer positive suggestions.
Cities grew in size, providing work for unemployed farm workers.
Output between 1927 and 1939 increased by about four times (Coal went from 35 to 145, coil from 12 to 40 and iron from 6 to 32 figures in millions of tons.)
Stalins industrial policy was more successful than his agricultural policy, but even this was ruined by war.
E. Government Reform (1936 new constitution)
In 1936 Stalin replaced Lenins 1923 Constitution. Stalin described the 1936 Constitution as the most democratic in the world
In reality the arrows should go downwards, because the USSR was a totalitarian dictatorship.
Stalins constitution looked impressive on paper as all over eighteen could vote in a secret ballot, but only communists could stand for election and voters merely signed a pre-selected list of names. They did not choose or exclude anyone.
Stalins system was also �litist, for example party members had preferential education, shopping facilities and even a special lane on the highways.
F. Rule by Terror Purges and Treason Trials
Censorship and propaganda were strict. There was no freedom of the press and no criticism of government. Stalin used his secret police, the NKVD and the OGPU, to make sure there was no opposition (dissidents).
Purges and Treason Trials
Stalin got rid of his rivals, Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev:
1929 Trotsky deported
1934 Kamenev and Zinoviev were arrested
Kamenev and Zinoviev were shot
1940 Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City by Jacson Mornard, an NKVD agent, with an ice-pick
However the supporters to Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev were still in the communist party, and Stalin wanted them purged. In 1934, Kirov, the head of the Leningrad soviet and Stalins friend, was killed by a member of the youth movement (called Komsomol). Stalin used this as an excuse to purge traitors (whom he called Trotskyites). Stalin had planned the death of Kirov.
Statistics on Purging
1934 of the 139 central committee members, 98 were purged and many were shot (70% purged)
1934 of the 1966 party conference members, 1108 were purged (56%), and many less important people were also purged, e.g. Kulaks. Stalin never admitted to the number of people he purged, but the number goes into millions
Methods of Purging
Forced accidents, forced confessions under torture, intimidation of family (e.g. kidnapping, beating up, deprivation of education, demotion or unemployment), mock trials (no defence lawyers), labour camps (gulags).
Conditions in Labour Camps
Conditions were cramped (20% lived in cages, 80% lived in swamps). The camps did not have a barbed wire perimeter fence because the surrounding land was so wild. The prisoners had nowhere to escape to. The diet was meagre (1/3 litre of vegetable soup twice a day, and � kilo of bread.) Water was drawn from contaminated sources, for example puddles. There was poor sanitation, and prisoners worked long hours in any conditions (-40�F, waist deep in snow). Clothing was poor and disease widespread (e.g. Influenza, bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria, frostbite). They were at the mercy of brutal and depraved guards; self-mutilation and suicide were common.
This information taken from two sources:
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Alexander Sclzhenitsyn
La Justice Sovi�tique Mora and Zwierniak 1945
Social Groups in Russia
Women in Russia
Background Women in Tsarist Russia
Women in Tsarist Russia were, on the whole, regarded as being of an inferior social standing to men, and were seen as being of little importance. Peasant women were often mistreated by their husbands, parents and in-laws, were exhausted by many pregnancies, and their work was considered to be of little value. The situation was very similar for the wives of landowners. Education of women was not taken seriously by many Russians. A woman could have her own property while married, and was often expected to run the estates, if her husband was away.
Women after the 1917 Revolution
The Bolshevik theory was to attempt to emancipate women make them equal in the eyes of men, give them jobs, welfare reforms and childcare, and to raise the status of the domestic work they did. The reality of life after the revolution made this difficult hardships caused by the Civil War, War Communism and rising unemployment made people cling to the old ways of life. Women without a mans support often abandoned their children, as without work they could not support them. A womens department was set up, laws were passed to enable women to obtain a divorce more easily and they were given support in their roles as mothers, e.g. maternity leave.
The Stalin Years
Stalin declared that the backwardness and inferiority of women had been solved. He said that in the USSR there were only active new women:
The triumph of socialism has filled women with enthusiasm and mobilised the women of our Soviet land to become involved in culture, to master machinery, to develop a knowledge of science and to be active in the struggle for high labour productivity.
(Pravda, 8th March 1937)
Women in the USSR were needed to bring about industrialisation. For the five year plans to succeed, the state needed women to work. Women were encouraged to be stakhanovki, workers who exceeded their output targets). The amount of working women increased dramatically:
1928 = 3 million
1940 = 13 million
During the Second World War this rose to 16 million 56% of the workforce. This was inevitable, as women were needed to fill the jobs left by men who had gone to fight. The war also saw women take on more high status jobs. Women went down mines, assumed positions of responsibility on farms, joined the armed services and even commanded male troops. During the war, women were told that there was no profession beyond the Soviet woman, but once men returned they moved back into more manual, unskilled jobs.
Most women were in low-paid light industry. Most jobs were clearly defined as male or female and very few women were involved in administration or soviets, especially in the countryside where traditional views on women remained unchanged. Women in rural areas still saw motherhood as an important job that stopped them contributing fully to the collective farm. This held up the success of collectivisation. Women were told to work all year round, not just at busy times, such as the harvest. They were told it was their duty to themselves and to the state to work hard. Women who increased their output targets were hailed as heroines E.N. Lebedeva set the famous world record for harvesting cabbages in 1946, and she was used in propaganda to encourage other women to be like her. Propaganda was used on a massive scale to put forward the idea that only by working could women truly be equal with men. Of course, women were still expected to produce children, as well as to work. To encourage childbirth, women were given motherhood medals.
Although women were expected to assume a different role that of worker in the USSR their social standing was still inferior to men and this was reflected in the low status of their jobs.
Stalins Economic Policies: Success or Failure?
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